What: Concordia-Chicago at Beloit
Where: Strong Stadium, Beloit, WI
When: Saturday, Sept. 7, 5:00 PM

The 96th full season of Concordia University Chicago football, not to mention the first season of the Jason Aubry era, begins this weekend as the Cougars play the first of their 10 games and first of six road games as they travel to southern Wisconsin to take on the Buccaneers of Beloit College.

This will be the fifth meeting between the Cougars and Bucs, and CUC has won the first four meetings, including last year's 36-10 game at Concordia Stadium. This will be only the second time the teams have squared off on Beloit's field, the first time coming back in 1974.

Last season's game saw CUC running back Lance Moise set the tone with a 74-yard run on the first play from scrimmage, scoring the first of his two touchdowns moments later. The Cougars grabbed a 13-3 lead after one quarter and never looked back, eventually amassing 560 yards of offense with Moise accounting for 303 on 26 carries. 

The Cougars' back returns for his senior year on the heels of a 1,676-yard season in 2018, one which saw him lead all NCAA Division III rushers with 209.5 yards per game. Moise became CUC's most recent 1,000-yard rusher by game five last season, and at that pace, he may become Concordia's all-time leading rusher before the halfway point of this season, needing 544 yards to catch Khyree Copeland (3,957 yards, 2007-10).

The running of Moise is hardly the team's only offensive weapon. The Cougars have the luxury of seasoned wide receivers Corey Dooley, Da'Nas Pinellas and Eric Hoff, the latter earning the NACC's Freshman of the Year honor last season. Utilizing all these weapons will be freshman Jaxon Aubry after a successful prep career quarterbacking the Joliet West High School team. In turn, Aubry, Moise and the other offensive play makers can benefit from an experienced offensive line, which will add one new starter in Reece Prokop to the veteran unit of center Justice Silvera, guards Aaron Finkel and David Cherry, and tackle Brett Krueger. 

When CUC has the ball, they will look to dominate against a Beloit defense that allowed 43 points per game last season. The Bucs do return five seniors on defense including linemen James Miranda and Michael Lafayette, linebacker Andrei Prihodko, and defensive backs Xavier Haynes and Caleb Wachel. Lafayette and Wachel tied for third on the team with 60 tackles, while Lafayette's stats also included four quarterback sacks, one fumble recovery and two forced fumbles.

By contrast, Beloit's offense will rely on several young players to help them improve on a 16.8 points per game stat. Tyler Korous and Tyler Assiff are the lone senior starters, both at the wide receiver position. The Bucs will operate behind a sophomore quarterback in Curtis Luther, while junior running back Ethan Hansen will move into a starter's role at tailback. Beloit's offensive line is made up of two juniors and three sophomores, although size is an asset with the two guards and center weighing in at 320, 300 and 300 respectively.

Concordia's defense will see several players taking on increased responsibilities, with three seniors leading the way. Demetrius Rufus (12 pass break-ups) and Caleb Casey (66 tackles) begin their third year as starters and will anchor the secondary. Matt Henning had an impressive first season as a junior transfer in 2018, making 59 tackles, and he will play key roles as both a linebacker and special-teams member. Tyler Dudley will also move into a starting role after a freshman season of 32 tackles.

The defensive front for the Cougars returns Collin Salmon Jr. (31 tackles), while Kolson Ethan Pua moves up from a linebacker position. The two new starters in the line are sophomore Jeremiah Glenn at tackle and freshman Keshaun Paisley at end. 

"We are very excited to go up to Beloit and play this first game," says Aubry. "We feel good about the preseason we had, and we're looking to translate that into a big collective team effort on Saturday." Aubry voiced his pleasure with the Cougars' scrimmage against Lake Forest College and noted that, while the team learned much about themselves in recent weeks, "These early games will be about finding our identity as a team. Yes, there are certain things we can pretty much assume, such as having a strong running game, but with a new coaching staff, new players on both sides of the ball, we need these game situations to find out who we are and what we will look like."

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