STEVENS POINT, Wis. –The UW-Stevens Point football team (1-3, 0-1) heads to UW-Eau Claire (2-2, 0-1) on Saturday for the first road conference game of the season.

THE BASICS
Who:  UW-Stevens Point (1-3, 0-1) at UW-Eau Claire (2-2, 0-1)
When: Saturday, Oct. 6, 1:10 p.m.
Where: Carson Park – Eau Claire, Wis.
Follow the game: Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Pointers avoided a shutout in the league opener as Matt Urmanski (Edgar, Wis./Edgar) hit Steve Herra (Rockford, Ill./Boylan) for a 29-yard touchdown with 1:23 left in a 20-6 defeat to UW-Platteville last Saturday.  Sophomore Jahi Stigall (Chicago, Ill./DePaul College Prep) led UWSP in receiving with 85 yards on six catches.
 
BUSY BEHIND CENTER
Junior quarterback Matt Urmanski (Edgar, Wis./Edgar) threw for a career-high 302 yards and three touchdowns in the season opener against John Carroll. He ranks second in the conference with 139 passing attempts through four games, in passing yardage (229.8 per game) and in total offense at 249.8 yards.
 
SENIOR-LED DEFENSE
Senior linebacker Ryan Strick (Naperville, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) led the UWSP defense with 11 tackles against DSU and is second in the conference with 11.5 tackles per game.  Of his 46 takedowns on the year, 24 were solo tackles.  Fellow seniors Juleyan Givens (Bolingbrook, Ill./Plainfield East) and Omarri Johnson (Milwaukee, Wis./Riverside) have 18 and 16 solo tackles, respectively, for UWSP.
 
Johnson is tied for second in the league with three interceptions this season.  Sophomore OJ James (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) has two picks as UWSP is tied for second in the conference with eight interceptions.
 
KICKING GAME
Freshman punter Sam Bliese (Rice Lake, Wis./Rice Lake) has had a solid start to his career with 27 punts for an average of 37.5 yards, the fifth-best punting average in the WIAC.
 
Stigall is third in the league with an average of 24.4 yards per kickoff return this season. 
 
ABOUT UW-EAU CLAIRE
Following consecutive wins to begin the season, the Blugolds have dropped two-straight entering Saturday's matchup. 
 
Senior Brian Kulaga is third in the conference with 92.8 yards per game on the ground and UWEC is second in the league in rushing offense (182.2).  Fellow senior Scott Procter is averaging 98.8 yards passing for a Blugolds offense that is seventh in total offense at 289.8 yards per game.
 
Sam Romanski leads the UWEC defense with 28 tackles on the year and six sacks, the most in the WIAC.  Sophomore Alex Mashak is second with 23 tackles and has one of UWEC's two interceptions on the season.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
Saturday marks the 87th meeting between UW-Stevens Point and UW-Eau Claire and the Pointers hold a 48-33-5 lead in the all-time series, which dates back to 1919.
 
Last season, UWSP took an early lead and cruised to a 26-3 win in the Homecoming game for the Pointers.  ShamaJ Williams (Racine, Wis./Lutheran) ran for 147 yards on 20 carries and Urmanski scored twice on one-yard runs in the win.
 
The Pointers have won 23 of the last 30 meetings since 1988, including eight of the last 10 meetings.
 
THE COACHES
Head coach Greg Breitbach took the reins of the UWSP football program on July 2, 2018.  It is Breitbach's second stint at UW-Stevens Point after he served as an assistant coach under John Miech from 2003 to 2006.  He has since been head coach at Millersville University (DII) and offensive coordinator at the University of North Dakota.
 
Dan Larson is in his third season as the head coach at UW-Eau Claire with a 5-19 overall record with the Blugolds. Prior to joining UW-Eau Claire, Larson was the offensive coordinator at NCAA Division II University of Minnesota-Duluth. He began his collegiate coaching career at Marietta College (Ohio), where he spent a pair of seasons (2003-04) as the Pioneers' strength and conditioning coach, in addition to overseeing the running backs and punters. Larson was a three-year starter on the defensive line at UW-Eau Claire and, as a senior in 2002, captained the Blugolds while attaining All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) recognition.

UP NEXT
The Pointers head west again next week (Oct. 13) for a matchup at UW-La Crosse.  UWSP returns home on Oct. 20 for Homecoming with a 1:00 p.m. kickoff against UW-Stout.