Titans Take Aim At Falcons In WIAC Opener

Three of the league's premier offensive players will be in action when UW-Oshkosh and UW-River Falls meet in the conference opener on Saturday (Oct. 1) at Titan Stadium. The 2 p.m. contest features the WIAC leaders in rushing, receiving and total offense.

The Falcons bring a 0-3 record, but two of those defeats came to nationally ranked teams. UW-River Falls dropped a 45-22 decision to #4 St. Thomas (Minn.) and a 42-20 contest to #22 Trine (Ind.). During their non-conference game last week, UW-Eau Claire topped the Falcons by a 38-17 count.

Taylor Edwards carries UW-River Falls with a WIAC-best 361 rushing yards. The Falcons also own the league's top receiver in Nathan Brandt, who has 281 yards and three touchdowns on 18 catches. B.J. Letourneau handles the majority of the passing duties and owns 366 yards with two scores. UW-River Falls is converting 40 percent of its third downs to list second in the conference.

UW-Oshkosh (2-1) also knows how to put up points, averaging 35 per game. The Titans manhandled UW-Stout last week with 56 points and 535 yards of offense. Nate Wara (Jr. • Oshkosh) paces his team with both 551 passing yards and 300 rushing yards. Wara's 284 total yards per contest is tops in the WIAC. His big-play partner has been Caleb Voss (So. • Van Dyne), who ranks second in the conference with 238 receiving yards.

Jack Breese (Sr. • Kewaskum) leads the Titans with 30 tackles (second in the WIAC), while Matt Ainsworth tops UW-River Falls with 21. UW-Oshkosh's Andrew Thompson (Jr. • Greendale) enters the game as the WIAC's sack leader with three.

UW-River Falls owns a 34-19-1 record in the all-time series, but the Titans have won the past five meetings. During last season's 43-15 victory, Wara threw four touchdowns and Jeremy Roach (Sr. • Deerfield) found the end zone twice. UW-Oshkosh's defense put the game away by marking six sacks.