THE GAME: Illinois Wesleyan (1-5, 0-3 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) hosts Wheaton (5-1, 2-1 CCIW) at 1 p.m. at Wilder Field at Illinois Wesleyan Stadium. The Thunder is No. 26 in this week’s D3football.com poll.

ONE WIN TO 500: IWU is 499-369-42 (.578) in 113 years of football. That win total is 21st among Division III schools heading into the season. The leader is Wittenberg with 650 wins in 111 seasons.

FOR THE RECORD: IWU is 66-32 in its last 98 games (.673) since 1995. The 32 losses have come to Wheaton (7); Augustana (6); Millikin (5); North Central (3); Carthage, Simpson, UW-Eau Claire and Elmhurst (2); and Mount Union, UW-LaCrosse, and Washington U. (1)...The Titans are 64-23 (.744) at home and 50-38-1 on the road (.580) under Eash... In 2004, IWU (3-7) had its first sub-.500 season since the 1993 team was 4-5. The Titans had been at .500 or better for 10 straight years.

THE OCTOBER STORY: In October, IWU is 49-34 (.613) in the Norm Eash era and was 2-3 last season in the month.

AT WILDER FIELD: Illinois Wesleyan is 53-16 (.779) at Wilder Field in the last 15 seasons (1991-2005). The IWU football facility is the fifth oldest football stadium in the country (1893), behind Wesleyan [Conn.] (1881), Williams [Mass.] (1883), Sewanee [Tenn.] and Amherst [Mass.] (both 1891).

TITAN NOTES: Illinois Wesleyan lost its third straight College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin game, falling 41-15 to Augustana on Oct. 15 in Rock Island. Junior fullback Adam Bohr (North Aurora, Aurora Central Catholic HS) scored the Titans' first TD on a 2-yard pass from senior quarterback Tom Kudyba (Des Plaines, Elk Grove HS) and sophomore running back Marcus Dunlop (Maywood, Proviso East HS) rushed for a 9-yard TD. Dunlop finished with 73 yards on 19 carries and Kudyba was 10 of 20 passing for 102 yards. The Titans, who trailed only 14-3 at the half, gained 255 total yards while Augie picked up 439 total yards, all via the rush. Junior Mike Berry (Crystal Lake, Prairie Ridge HS) kicked a 35-yard field goal in the second half. Junior Eric Esch (Bloomington HS) was the Titans’ leading tackler with seven solo and two assists while senior linebacker Damon Banks (Bellwood, Walther Lutheran HS) had four solo and three assists and senior Kevin Maliszewski (Glen Carbon, Edwardsville HS) had five solo with one assist... In CCIW games only, Dunlop is third in rushing with 103.7 per game...As a team IWU is No. 7 in total offense (281.0) and ranks No. 5 in total defense (368.0) against league teams.

KUDYBA’S CAREER: Senior quarterback Tom Kudyba (Des Plaines, Elk Grove HS) has completed 222 passes in 402 attempts for 2,191 yards in his career. He is No. 10 all-time in completions, No. 12 in passing yards, and his .552 completion percentage is No. 5 all-time at IWU.

DUNLOP PASSES 1,000 YARDS: Sophomore Marcus Dunlop (Maywood, Proviso East HS) now has 1,028 rushing yards in his two-season career, making him No. 19 all-time in an IWU uniform.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Chosen by Titan coaches to honor top players in the week’s game and practices. The “Titan Award” is new in 2003 to honor a player for work ethic, loyalty and spirit.
OFFENSE: Marcus Dunlop, sophomore, running back, Maywood (Proviso East HS)
DEFENSE: Mike Stephens, junior, end, Orland Park (Providence Catholic HS)
SPECIAL TEAMS: None selected
SCOUT (Offense): Tom Almanzo, freshman, receiver, Elk Grove Village (Elk Grove HS); John Nelson, freshman, line, Wheaton (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS)
SCOUT (Defense): Ron Watts, freshman, line, Hazel Crest (Hillcrest HS); Joel Schmillen, freshman, back, Normal (West HS); Alex Holmberg, freshman, linebacker, Oak Park (Fenwick HS)
TITAN AWARD: Adam Bohr, junior, fullback, North Aurora (Aurora Central Catholic HS)

CCIW IN THE RANKINGS: Three College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin teams are ranked among the top 26 in the weekly Division III poll done by D3football.com. North Central is No. 14 and Augustana is No. 21 while Wheaton is No. 26 and Carthage has dropped to No. 41 after two straight losses.

THE SERIES VS. THE THUNDER: Wheaton has a 26-22-2 lead over IWU in a series that dates back to 1922. Wheaton won last season, 42-25, at Wheaton and, in the last 20 meetings, Wheaton has a 14-5 lead with a tie in 1991. Norm Eash is 5-12-1 vs. Wheaton.

THE COACHES: Norm Eash (Illinois Wesleyan, 1975) is in his 19th season as head coach at IWU and has an overall record of 114-61-1 (.668) and a CCIW mark of 85-48-1 (.653) with league titles in 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, and 2001. Eash, the CCIW “Coach of the Year” in 1992, 1996 and 2001, is fourth in all-time CCIW coaching wins. Eash is second in victories at IWU, behind Don Larson (166 wins in 33 years, 1954-86)...Coach Mike Swider (Wheaton ‘77) has a 76-23 record in his 10th season as head coach at Wheaton and his 21st year as a member of their football staff. His .763 winning percentage is first all-time among Wheaton's 21 head football coaches. Last year, he led the team to its third straight NCAA Division III playoff appearance and the Thunder’s third straight 10-win season. Wheaton is 154-55-1 since Swider joined the staff in 1985.

SCOUTING THE THUNDER: The Wheaton Thunder football team created and capitalized on five Elmhurst turnovers to gain a 24-7 victory at Elmhurst on Oct. 15. All three Wheaton touchdowns came following an Elmhurst turnover that occurred in Bluejays territory. Elmhurst fumbled at its own 11-yard line three plays into the opening drive of the game and Wheaton senior Scott Ast recovered the ball. Wheaton took advantage of the field position three plays later when fullback Brad Thornton scored on a 2-yard TD run to give the guests a 7-0 lead with 12:52 remaining in the first quarter. Junior Chaz Black helped Wheaton get out to a 14-7 lead when he scored on a 1-yard TD run with 4:47 remaining in the first half. The 30 yard scoring drive was setup by an interception by Thunder senior Todd Travis. Andrew Day kicked a 37-yard field goal with 11:08 remaining in the third quarter to extend Wheaton 's lead to 17-7. With 6:26 remaining in the game Wheaton senior Jason Isaacson recovered a fumble. On the third play following the fumble, senior tailback Luke Bazacas scored a 27-yard run to give Wheaton a 24-7 lead with 5:12 left in the game. Wheaton had 260 yards of total offense (202 rushing, 58 passing) on 67 plays (3.9 per play). Elmhurst had 335 yards of offense (210 passing, 125 rushing). Jonathan Toal led the Thunder defense with 11 total tackles, an interception and two tackles for lost yardage. Jeff Grandy and Pete Ittersagen each recorded six total tackles. Tim March and Isaacson each made five tackles. Bazacas ran for 107 yards on 23 carries with one TD. Thornton had seven carries for 52 yards and a TD, while Black had 40 yards on 13 carries with a TD. Jeremy Chupp completed six of his 20 passing attempts for 58 yards.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Titans play the next two games on the road, facing North Park on Oct. 29 at 1 p.m. in Chicago and then playing at Carthage at 1 p.m. on Nov. 5 in Kenosha, Wis. The Titans will return home to face Millikin at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12, in the annual “Seniors’ Day” game.

EARLY START: In a check of records since 1965, the Sept. 3 season opener was the earliest home football game played in the modern era at IWU. In 2004, the Titans played at Simpson on Sept. 4, the earliest season start ever prior to 2005. Other early season openers have been on Sept. 7, 1985 (DePauw at IWU); Sept. 8, 2001 (IWU at Washington U.) and Sept. 8, 1984 (IWU at DePauw) and Sept. 9, 2000 (Washington U. at IWU). The IWU season in 1965 started on Sept. 25 with a home game against Illinois State.