KICKOFF COVERAGE
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - The No. 13th ranked Royals make the trek southeast to the Land of Lincoln where they open up the 2022 NCAA DIII Football Championships at No. 15 Wheaton College (8-2, 8-1 CCIW). Both teams received at-large bids, five total in the field, to make it to this point. BU (8-2, 7-1 MIAC) is coming off a 28-10 loss to No. 5 Saint John's in the MIAC Championship game while the Thunder defeated North Park 54-14 in the regular-season finale. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.
Winner of Saturday's matchup moves onto the second round where they face the winner of Linfield and Pomona-Pitzer.
SERIES HISTORY
Series: BU trails 1-2
Last:Â BU won 15-10Â (Nov. 27, 2010, NCAA Playoffs Second Round) in Wheaton, Ill.
• Saturday will be the fourth all-time meeting between The Royals and Thunder. It's the first clash since 2010 when BU defeated Wheaton on the road 15-10 in the second round of the NCAA playoffs. The two previous meetings came in the regular season where Wheaton took both of those by a three-point margin each.
COACHES CORNER
ROYAL NOTES
• BU will be making back-to-back appearances into the postseason for the fourth time in program history. It's the second straight season that the Royals received one of the five at large bids. Last season the Royals received an at-large bid traveling down to Central (IA) where they were defeated 61-35.
Â
• The Royals are 11-10 all-time in the postseason with their last victory coming in the second round of the 2018 playoffs at North Central, 27-24. In opening round games, Bethel is 5-5.
Â
• Sophomore wide receiver Micah Niewald had nine catches, on 14 targets, for 130 yards and a touchdown in the loss at Saint John's. It was the fourth time this year and fifth in his career of recording 100-plus receiving yards.
Â
• Jacob Holmen had the lone interception for the Royals last Saturday picking off the SJU QB late in the second quarter. It was Holmen's second INT of the season and third of his career.
BY THE NUMBERS
7 – sacks allowed by the offensive line which ranks as the 10th fewest nationally at .7 a game.
Â
11 – postseason appearances, all which have come since 2000.
Â
.604 – strength of schedule mark that ranked fifth nationally. BU has played four teams this year that hold a top 20 strength of schedule mark. Â
KEEPING IT CLOSE
• The Royals have played in four games this year that were decided by less than a touchdown, the most in a single-season since 2012. In three of those the margin was by a field goal where BU is 2-1 in those games. Since 2000, the Royals are 36-25 in games decided by seven or less points.
NO. 1 IS NUMBER 1
• Jaran Roste became the Royals all-time passing leader following a 186-yard performance against St. Olaf. His now 8,430 career yards surpassed Scott Kirchoff and moved him eighth all-time in the MIAC. He is also the all-time leader with 44 rushing touchdowns, tied for sixth all-time in the MIAC, and 10,779 yards of total offense.
• A career-best performance of 423 yards, the second most in a single-game, on 34-of-39 passing yards, one completion shy of tying the single-game record, came against Hamline on October 8.
Â
TO SERVER AND PROTECT…THE QB
• The offensive line has been a brick wall protecting quarterbacks Jaran Roste and George Bolt. BU ranks 11th nationally and lead the MIAC allowing less than a sack a game. The Royals have only allowed seven sacks all season and in five games have not allowed one.
GET IN THE "RED ZONE"
• BU is 38-of-44 inside the 'red zone' this year with 30 touchdowns (20 rushing, 10 passing) and eight field goals. Most recently against Augsburg they were 2-of-2 and 1-of-1 at SJU. Seven times this year BU has scored in every red zone trip in a game. Their 86.4 success percentage ranks 22nd nationally and first in the MIAC.
• BU's opponents are 20-for-28 inside the red zone. They have scored 18 touchdowns and two field goals. The Royals' defense has recorded two interceptions and a fumble recovery when the opponent is inside the 20.
• Anthony Hockett had a timely interception in the end zone as the Auggies were looking to score on a second-and-10 play from the 17 early in the fourth. It was Hockett's third career INT.
WE'RE IN GOOD HANDS
• A core group of wide receivers has been a good compliment to QB Jaran Roste. Six different Royals have caught a TD pass this season, all of whom are sophomores.
• Micah Niewwald and Joey Kiddereach lead the squad with seven touchdown receptions. Niewald has a team-leading 869 yards that ranks 29th nationally and third in the MIAC. Kidder has 742 yards on 45 catches and averages 16.49 yards per catch.
SCOUTING THE THUNDER
• Both of Wheaton's losses have come to nationally ranked opponents in Trinity (Texas), ranked No. 9 during the season opener, and top-ranked North Central. The Thunder dropped the season opener 17-16 in OT to the Tigers, while the lone conference loss came at the hands of the Cardinals 33-20.
• The Thunder rank first nationally in first down offence moving the chains 275 times. They have the sixth best scoring offense at 45.7 points per game and are fifth nationally averaging 515.5 points. Defensively they allow 293.9 points a game ranking 63rd nationally.
GAMEDAY HAPPENINGS
Headed down to Wheaton? Join the Bethel Alumni office for a pregame tailgate on site that begins at 10:30 a.m.
Staying on campus? Come watch the game in the Robertson Center lobby area as the Bethel business department hosts a watch party!
Â
Â
