SCOUTING THE COUGARS: The team, under ninth-year head coach enters this weekend at 0-2 overall with a pair of lopsided losses to begin the year. Through those two contests, the Cougars have been outscored 38-0 in the second half while combining for 32 first half points. This year's team, which was third in the UMAC standings in 2025 at 3-4, brings back 16 total starters, including all-conference players Juan “JT” Garza III and Dylan Young. Garza earned First Team recognition as a defensive back and punt returner while landing Second Team as a kick returner. Young, meanwhile, was named Second Team at defensive end.
The team has leaned on its passing game to do much of the work early on with 171.5 passing yards per game while the ground attack has been held in check with only 47.0 on the ground. Junior starting running back Sean-Keley Chinanga has carried the ball 20 times but for only 41 net yards. A year ago, the Cougards ranked third in the UMAC in rushing yards with Chinanga leading the team. First-year back Tyler Monson has a team-high 45 yards on 15 carries. Drake has passed for 314 yards and five scores despite being intercepted twice. He has completed just under 59 percent of his attempts. Senior wideout Manny Guy and sophomore Jordan Wilmes have each caught two touchdown passes and are two of four receivers averaging over 31.0 yards per game. Guy is second on the team with five receptions.
Defensively, the Cougars have been led by senior linebacker Arian Saenez with 27 tackles, including 1.5 for a loss, to go along with one interception. Junior linebacker Derrick Dohmen is right behind with 18 total stops and 1.5 for a loss. Young is off to another solid start to the year as he has eight tackles, one pass breakup, one quarterback hurry, a pair of forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. The unit has struggled in slowing down the run, however, allowing 249.0 yards on the ground per game.
ABOUT BUENA VISTA: The Beavers bounced back from a tough 41-14 home loss to Benedictine University (IL) in week one to chalk up a 26-14 road win at Lawrence University (WI) last Saturday. Through the first two weeks, the team has combined to outscore its opponents 13-10 in the first quarter and 13-7 in the fourth, but has been outscored by a combined 38-14 margin over the middle two frames.
BVU allowed over 200 rushing yards to the Eagles in the opener but bounced back last week and surrendered only 65 to Lawrence. It also trimmed down the passing yardage from 252 to 165. The unit has recorded one interception and recovered one fumble in each of the first two games to go along with three pass breakups. Junior Drew Volkmann and Elijah Romero each have 10 total tackles to help lead the charge with Romero also forcing and recovering one fumble. It's a balanced attack on this side of the ball with seven different players chalking up at least six total tackles.
It's been a balanced offensive attack for BVU out of the gate. On the ground, Fussell and Cink have split the load and both rank seventh and eighth, respectively, in the A-R-C by averaging 60.5ypg and 54.0ypg. The two have accounted for three of the team's four rushing touchdowns to this point, including two from Fussell. Through the air, Garcia ranks third in the league averaging 209.0ypg and completing over 71 percent of his pass attempts. He's had a variety of receivers to throw the ball to with Messerly leading the way and sitting fourth in the A-R-C in yards per catch at 19.1 He has eight catches for 153 yards and a touchdown overall. Dennis Sebastian leads the Beavers with 12 grabs for 92 yards with Cink bringing in seven out of the backfield for 45 total yards. The Beavers have also been improved in the kicking game with a pair of freshman doing the workload. Aaron Christian is now 2-of-3 on the year in FG attempts while Owen Fedje has been able to flip field position with the punt and already has one over 50 yards and a pair that have pinned opponents back inside the 20-yard line.
