ABOUT THE GAME

• Millersville football heads west to Erie, Pa., for a noon kickoff against Gannon. Millersville opened its season with a 33-7 win over Saint Anslem while Gannon fell by a 22-13 score on the road against Charleston. Millersville is seeking its first 2-0 start since 2005. Millersville has made the week two trip to a PSAC West opponent eight times since 2007 and is 3-5 in those games including a 21-17 week two win at Clarion in 2021. Dating back to last season, Millersville has won three of its last four road games and has won two of the last three road games against PSAC West opponents. Millersville has also won six of its last eight games overall since Oct. 1 of 2022. 
• Gannon went 4-2 at home in 2022 on its way to an 8-3 record. The Golden Knights went 1-2 against PSAC East teams last season and are just 3-12 against the PSAC East since 2017. However, two of those wins were against Millersville (2017 and 2022). 

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

• Millersville found a winning recipe in 2022 and carried that into the 2023 season: running the ball with efficiency, hitting big plays in the passing game, and playing stingy defense. The Marauders totaled 180 rushing yards, completed three passes over 20 yards and held Saint Anselm to 16 rushing yards in week one. Since the start of the 2022 season, Millersville is 6-1 when rushing for more than 100 yards and 4-0 when producing a 100-yard rusher. 
• Redshirt freshman Jaquan Howard picked up 110 rushing yards in his collegiate debut, becoming the fourth. Howard became the first Marauder to rush for over 100 yards in a season opener since 2012 and the first freshman since 2011 to rush for 100 yards in his debut. 
• Millersville was aided by a defensive touchdown with KeShaun Jones scoring on the longest fumble return by a Marauder since Jamal Battle's school record 100-yard return in 1998. The Marauders forced two turnovers in the week one win, also getting an interception from Gus Ross, which set up a Millersville touchdown. Ross now has three interceptions in nine career games. Millersville has picked off a pass in each of the last three games dating back to last season. Since week four of the 2022 season (nine games), Millersville's defense has picked off 10 passes and generated 17 total turnovers. 
• Rob Footman Jr. displayed his dual threat abilities in week one, rushing for 64 yards and two touchdowns while also throwing two touchdown passes. Footman served as the Marauders' primary quarterback in five games in 2022 as well, and Millersville is now 4-0 when he rushes for at least 45 yards. A sign of his development as a passer, Footman threw two touchdown passes without throwing an interception in week one. Last season, he threw an interception in each of the four games that he threw a touchdown pass. 
• Including the seven points allowed against Saint Anselm, Millersville has now held seven of its last eight opponents to 20 points or fewer. 
• Garrett Cox, an All-PSAC East First Team selection in 2022, picked up right where he left, earning the PSAC East and D2football.com Defensive Player of the Week awards in week one. Cox tallied 2 1/2 tackles for loss in week one and now has at least one TFL in 15 of 20 career games and in 10 of the last 12. He's also broken up a pass in three-straight games. 
• Millersville made plenty of plays behind the line of scrimmage in week one, tallying 10 TFL and four sacks. Ryan Aument's two sacks were the first of his career. Randy Okungu's was his first since week two of the 2022 season. 
   

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS

• Nate Mikell received his first start at quarterback for the Golden Knights in week one and completed 25-of-44 passes for 208 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Millersville will have to account for his running ability as Mikell led the team in rushing yards (43) and long rush (18). While Mikell averaged 4.8 yards per carry, Gannon's other four rushers totaled 22 yards on 23 carries. Antonio Wright rushed for 76 yards on 10 carries and broke a 45-yard run against the Marauders in 2022, but he was limited to -5 yards on seven totes in week one. 
• Donnell Mason served as Mikell's top target vs. Charleston, hauling in six catches for 72 yards. Millersville is familiar with receiver KeJohn Batiste as he made eight catches for 99 yards at Biemesderfer Stadium last season. Batiste was an All-PSAC West First Team selection in 2022 with 64 catches for 957 yards. He entered his senior season ranked 13th all-time in receiving yards and 16th in receptions. 
• While Gannon came out of week one with a loss, it totaled more first downs, more rushing yards and more passing yards than Charleston. The Gannon defense was stout, surrendered just 1.5 yards per rush and picking off two passes. Charleston finished with only 193 yards passing but did hit a couple of big plays with a 39-yard pass and a 49-yard pass. Zharell Walker recorded an interception and a team-high seven tackles. Kam Snell also picked off a pass. Tyler Tiggs and Reginald Hamlette Jr. broke up two passes apiece. 
• Special teams performed well for Gannon in week one with punter Donovan Warren averaging 37.4 yards on seven punts, dropping two inside the 20 without a touchback. Eric Scarpino went 2-for-2 on field goal tries, hitting a 27-yarder and a 35-yarder. 

SERIES HISTORY

• Gannon is 4-1 all-time against Millersville with four wins in a row in the series. The teams first played in 2010, and that was a memorable game for Millersville as Jamal Smith set a Millersville record with 252 receiving yards and caught touchdown passes of 37 and 75 yards from QB Bill Shirk. There haven't been many highlights for the Marauders in the four meetings since as Gannon has won the four games by an average of 33.3-7.8. Millersville has scored just four touchdowns in the last four games vs. Gannon, and quarterbacks have totaled two touchdown passes and eight interceptions in those losses. 
• A key to Gannon's success against Millersville has been running the football. In the last four meetings, Gannon has totaled 175, 221, 298 and 194 rushing yards with three 100-yard rushers. 
• Millersville is 0-2 all-time at Gannon (2011 and 2016) and including two games at Mercyhurst, Millersville is 0-4 when playing in the city of Erie. 
• THE LAST MEETING (Gannon 16, Millersville 10 (Sept. 10, 2022): Millersville had just pulled within six points and had Gannon backed up on its own 1-yard line with time ticking away in the fourth quarter. But Gannon's rushing attack, which it relied on all afternoon, flipped field position with one big run from Antonio Wright and effectively eliminated any hope Millersville had of a late rally. Gannon leaned heavily on running backs Melvin Blanks and Antonio Wright as the two combined for 223 yards on 48 carries. The Golden Knights held the ball for nearly 15 minutes more than Millersville. Outside of a 52-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Butler to Mekhi Alexander in the fourth quarter, Millersville struggled to move the ball with consistency. The running game managed 22 net yards, and Millersville totaled seven first downs to Gannon's 20. Only three of Millersville's 13 drives gained more than 10 yards. Special team mistakes cost Millersville as well. A blocked punt resulted in a safety in the first quarter, and in the third quarter, a muffed punt return preceded a 36-yard drive for a Gannon touchdown. 

THE LAST TIME OUT

• Millersville: Millersville 33, Saint Anselm (Aug. 31, 2023) - Backed up in the shadow of their own end zone early and often, the Marauders overcame those field position woes with 110 rushing yards from Jaquan Howard and a dynamic performance from sophomore quarterback Rob Footman Jr., who rushed for 64 yards and two touchdowns while also throwing for 154 and two more scores. Footman's 32-yard strike to Mekhi Alexander put the exclamation point on the victory with 2:33 remaining. The Millersville defense suffocated Saint Anselm's run game, holding the Hawks to 35 yards on 16 carries, and the Hawks mustered just 207 yards of total offense to Millersville's 334. After surrendering a nine-play, 71-yard drive that resulted in Saint Anselm's lone score, the Marauders gave up just 10 yards on Saint Anselm's next six drives. The Marauders forced the Hawks into five punts, an interception, a fumble and two turnovers on downs. 
• Gannon: Charleston 22, Gannon 13 (Aug. 31, 2023) - Gannon's strong defensive effort was spoiled by three big plays in the fourth quarter. It was 3-0 Charleston at the half, but a pair of field goals helped Gannon to a 6-3 lead with just over four minutes remaining in the third quarter. Gannon retook a 13-9 lead with 5:28 remaining in the game, but Charleston scored two touchdowns in the final four minutes. Charleston scored on a 49-yard TD pass and then turned over Gannon on downs at the 36-yard line, setting up the game-clinching score.