STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point looks to end its season and the careers of its 14-man senior class with a win when it hosts UW-River Falls for Senior Day on Saturday.
 
THE BASICS
Who: UW-River Falls (4-5, 3-3 WIAC) at UW-Stevens Point (4-5, 2-4 WIAC)
When: Saturday, Nov. 14 – 2 p.m.
Where: Stevens Point, Wis. – Community Stadium at Goerke Park
 
LAST TIME OUT
UW-Stevens Point overcame a 27-10 deficit to lead 31-27 with 2:17 remaining but UW-Stout scored the game-winning touchdown with 25 seconds to go as the Pointers fell 34-31 in Menomonie on Saturday, Nov. 7.
 
A nine-yard touchdown run by DeJuan Wright (St. Petersburg, FL/Keswick Christian) capped a string of three consecutive touchdowns to give UWSP the 31-27 lead. However, UW-Stout responded with a five-play, 80-yard drive ending with a two-yard touchdown pass from Hank Kujak to Reggie Kujak. The Pointers had a chance at a game-tying 56-yard field goal with two seconds remaining but the try came up short.
 
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GOOD AT GOERKE
Three of UW-Stevens Point's four victories this season have come at Community Stadium at Goerke Park, where the Pointers are 3-1 in 2015. The Pointers have won 10 of their last 13 home games after going 7-2 on their home turf since the start of last season.
 
RECORD WATCH
Senior wide receiver Matt Sosinsky (Princeton, WI/Princeton) needs 84 receiving yards to move into sixth in single-season program history. Sixth place is currently held by Barry Rose, who had 1,107 yards in 1991. Sosinsky would need 187 yards to move into fourth-place, as Rose (1989) and Jared Jenkins (2009) posted 1,210-yard seasons. If Sosinsky tops 70 yards against the Falcons, he will move into sixth-place in program history in career receiving yards.
 
Jesse Vervelde (Oostburg, WI/Oostburg) sits in fourth place in UWSP single-season history with 65 points this season. He needs four points to move ahead of Dave Schneider's total of 68 points in 1989 and eight points to overtake Ryan Graboski's total of 72 in 2008. Vervelde is two field goals behind Graboski's school record of 34 made field goals.
 
Aaron Karlen (Edgar, WI/Edgar) needs one full sack to pass Brandon Bruger's total of 9.5 sacks in 2010, which sits second in the UWSP single-season record book. Paul Schmitt (2001) and Tom Finco (1987) hold the single-season record at 11.0 sacks, meaning Karlen is 2.5 sacks away from a single-season program record. Karlen's 18.5 career sacks rank fifth in program history.
 
RUNNING THE BALL
UW-Stevens Point recorded its third game with at over 200 rushing yards this season in the loss at UW-Stout. The Pointers totaled 223 rushing yards in the game, led by Wright's 21 rushes for 123 yards and two touchdowns. Wright currently ranks third in the WIAC in rushing, averaging 72.9 yards per game.
 
UWSP is currently third in the WIAC in rushing offense (178.1 yds/game) and rushing touchdowns (17). The 178.1 yards per game average is the highest for the Pointers since 2001, when UW-Stevens Point averaged 222.0 yards a game on the ground.
 
UW-Stevens Point's rushing attack will be challenged by a UW-River Falls defense that ranks in the top 50 nationally in rushing defense (47th, 119.2 yards/game).
 
HIGH-SCORING OFFENSE
UW-Stevens Point has scored at least 27 points in eight of its nine games this season. The lone time the Pointers were held under that total was a 21-10 loss at No. 5 UW-Oshkosh on Oct. 17.
 
The Pointers are one of five WIAC teams to average over 30.0 points per game, ranking fourth (36.3) in the conference in scoring. That mark would represent the second-highest scoring average for an entire season in program history, just ahead of the 1993 team that averaged 36.2 points a game and behind only the 2003 team that averaged 39.4 points a game.
 
SENIOR DAY
Saturday's game will mark the final game in the careers for seniors Sosinsky, Karlen, Wright, Vervelde, Michael Smith (St. Petersburg, FL/Pinellas Park), Mike Longmeyer (Manitowoc, WI/Lincoln), Matt Gaffney (Menasha, WI/Menasha), Tyler Roberts (Ontonagon, MI/Ontonagon ), Grant Parsons (Green Bay, WI/Southwest), Connor Selvey (Elkhorn, WI/Elkhorn), Taylor Lucas (Brookfield, WI/East), Garrett Schaetz (Kewaunee, WI/Kewaunee), Reed Lehman (Edgar, WI/Edgar) and Dan Brown (Pewaukee, WI/Pewaukee).
 
The 14-man senior class has a career record of 18-21. Since a 2-8 year as freshmen, the class helped the Pointers improve to 5-5 in 2013 and 7-3 in 2014.
 
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UW-River Falls is coming off a pair of the top teams in the country. The Falcons lost 57-12 at No. 3 UW-Oshkosh on the road two weeks ago before falling 42-6 at home to No. 6 UW-Whitewater last Saturday.
 
Prior to those two losses, UWRF had won four of its last five games since starting the season 0-2. The Falcons are an even 3-3 in conference play and are 3-2 on the road this season.
 
After going 0-10 in 2013, the Falcons have steadily improved, going 3-7 in 2014 and 4-5 entering the final week of 2015. UW-River Falls' four wins this season are the program's most since 2001, when the Falcons were 4-5. The last time UWRF won at least five games in a season was 2000 when the Falcons went 6-4.
 
THE MONEY DOWN
UW-River Falls leads the WIAC in time of possession (33:47) this season despite converting just 36.4 percent of the time on third down. UW-Stevens Point's defense is allowing opponents to convert just 38.6 percent of third downs this season.
 
SACK MASTERS
UW-Stevens Point and UW-River Falls both rank in the WIAC's top-three teams in sacks this season. The Pointers are second with 26 sacks, led by Karlen's conference-best nine sacks, but were held without a sack last week. The Falcons rank third with 21 sacks and sophomore linebacker Geno Demike sits tied for fourth in the conference with 5.5 sacks.
 
THE COACHES
Tom Journell is in his fourth season as the head coach at UW-Stevens Point and has an 18-21 career record at UWSP. His teams have steadily improved from 2-8 in 2012 to 5-5 in 2013 and 7-3 last season. In 2014, he led the Pointers to a 5-0 start that saw the team ranked No. 13 in the country, the team's highest ranking since early 2009. Prior to becoming the Pointers' head coach, Journell was the team's defensive coordinator for four seasons, helping UWSP to a 19-9 record. He was the head coach at Elmhurst from 2004-07 and compiled a record of 22-18 over the four seasons. Journell also spent 15 seasons at UW-River Falls as the Falcons' defensive coordinator and assistant head coach.
 
The 2015-16 season is Matt Walker's fifth as the head coach at UW-River Falls. Walker has a career record of 10-39 with the Falcons but UWRF's four wins this season are the most in his tenure. Prior to coming to UW-River Falls, Walker was the head coach at DePauw University from 2006-09 and compiled a 22-8 record. In 2010, Walker was an offensive assistant at Butler, where he coached the tight ends, before leaving for River Falls.
 
SERIES NOTES
UW-River Falls leads the all-time series against UW-Stevens Point 40-30-3 since the teams first met in 1912. The Pointers' 30 wins against the Falcons are the team's second-fewest against any conference foe (13 against UW-La Crosse).
 
Despite trailing the all-time series, UW-Stevens Point has won 10 of the last 14 games against UW-River Falls, including five of the last six. Last season, the Pointers edged the Falcons 17-14 in River Falls.
 
The Pointers have won the last eight games against the Falcons at home. UWRF's last win at Community Stadium at Goerke Park was a 37-31 win on Nov. 8, 1997.