Preview Week 1: McKendree

McKendree University Bearcats, Great Midwest (D2)

Broadcast: FloSports 6 PM CST

When We Last Saw McKendree

2023 record: 5-6 (5-2, t-2nd GLVC)

This is the second year in a row that the Argos have met the Bearcats early the season, last year’s contest ended in a 38-10 UWF victory on the road. That loss was part of a rocky first half stretch of the 2023 season for the McKendree where they started 0-5, however the Bearcats bounced back big time in the back stretch. After going winless over the first five, they won each of their final five regular season contests and played a close post season bowl against a nine win Ashland squad. Interim head coach Jeff Rejfek is hoping to build on that late season momentum, and returns a ton from last years’ team, about 20 starters from the 2023 team. Critical returning pieces include All-GLVC players WR Yogi Flagler Jr. (116 receptions 1550 yards 15 TD in the past two seasons), who was an All-American candidate before an injury shortened 2023, and defensive lineman Sam Amponsah, who had 6.5 TFL last fall, as well as productive defensive backs Andrew Sherry (team leading 64 tackles) and Ethan Young (2nd in GLVC with 4 INT). They return starters at just about every position, and getting Flagler back to full speed should be a huge boon for returning starting QB Caleb Fisher, along with three more pass catchers who had at least 20 receptions and a score. They were able to score a big win against UIndy last fall, the eventual GLVC champion, and make their first post season appearance in a bowl game. A big x factor here is the replacement of long time head coach Mike Babcock, who was hired away by UCLA just weeks ago, with McKendree alum and tenured assistant Refjek.

Three Players to Know

Redshirt Senior Yogi Flagler Jr, WR 5’10” 175

Stats: 41 catches 406 yards 5 TD 9.9 YPC 81.2 YPG (5 games played)

Flagler was a player that was highlighted before last year’s matchup, when he was coming off of a 1000 yard 10 TD debut year with the Bearcats the year prior. A dynamic playmaker who can line up anywhere and do just about everything, he had 8 receptions and 87 yards against the Argonauts last year, but UWF was the only team that kept him out of the end zone for four quarters (Flagler was injured against Southwest Baptist). He has eight games with more than 100 yards and six games with multiple scores. He’s also an explosive kick returner, who’s dangerous on every change of possession.

Coming back from injury, the RS senior is going to be thrown into the fire right away with a tough UWF secondary. The Argos have two great returning cornerbacks, Elijah Williams and Virgil Lemons, and they should be up to the challenge of a talented pass catcher, what may be interesting is if Flagler can get matched up on a linebacker in the slot or how he fares one on one with one of the Argo’s safeties. He’s a player who gets his more often than not, he’s only got two games with less than 50 yards in 16 with the Bearcats, so it’ll be a good battle for everyone.

Redshirt Junior Tanner Hollerich, Defensive End 6’5” 240

Stats: 22 tackles 8.5 TFL 5.o sacks 1 forced fumble 1 hurry

Hollerich had a great second year on the field with the Bearcats in 2023, he lead or tied for the team lead in sacks (5.0) and TFL (8.5), which were good for 7th and t-17th, respectively. He really turned it on late in the season, which coincidentally is when the Bearcats really surged overall, piling up 4.5 of his 5 sacks and 5.5 of his 8.5 TFL during the final 6 games of the season, which included a 5 game win streak.

Junior Logan Turbyfill, Linebacker 6’4” 235

Stats: 68 tackles (47 solo) 8.5 TFL 1 sack 1 forced fumble 1 INT 5 PBU

Like Hollerich, Turbyfill was another Bearcat defender who had a significant second year bump, filling up the stat sheet in all phases of the game. He co-lead the team with 8.5 TFL, but really impacted the pass game with a turnover and five passes broken up. He’s a player with great size, who ,again like Hollerich, is coming off a hot end to 2023, 5.5 TFL 1 sack 1 INT 4 PBU in the last 6 games.

UWF is rebuilding on the offensive line, breaking in what will likely be two or maybe even three new starters along the front this year. They’re going to face an immediate challenge with these two, along with a couple of other returning McKendree defenders who return from last year’s team. How will the new OL lineup (lineups?) fare against a defensive front with both talent and experience, who should already be a pretty cohesive group week 1?

Matchup of the Week

McKendree Offensive Line vs UWF Defensive Line

Last year the Argonauts were a dominant defense, finishing near the top of the country in just about every stat that mattered. They sported a whole new look, going to a 4-3 look after years of a 3-3-5 base defense, and the offseason additions on the DL of John McMullen, Jacob Dorn, Byron Puryear, Collin Shaw, and Joel Vargas bolstered that unit into one of the toughest groups in the country. That unit really showed up in this game last year, with four Argos linemen combining to wallop the Bearcat OL for 8 TFL and 6 sacks, and allowing just 28 rushing yards (excluding sack yardage) on 24 attempts. This year the Argos look to have another rocking defensive line rotation, McMullen, Dorn, and Vargas have since moved on, but Puryear and Shaw return along with program vets Aiden Swett and Juice Williams, and a whole slew of new exciting additions. On the other hand, the Bearcats may have gotten the worst of the last meeting, but they’re doing something that is hardly heard of anymore; they return their entire starting five on the offensive line from last year. Cohesiveness on the OL is severely underrated, and despite being a unit that struggled in 2023, this could end up being a strength of the team with a couple of guys garnering honorable mention post season recognition, senior Billy Doyle IV and sophomore Damien Thomas. Can the Argonauts get off to a hot start against this group? The offense as a whole should be really tight, but does the talent advantage weigh in enough this early in the season? I think the coaching staff would like to see Puryear and company get to a hot start so they can get deep into the depth chart as soon as possible.

Prediction

UWF won the only meeting between these teams 35-3, and did it in stifling fashion, holding the Bearcats to negative rushing yards and outgaining them 529-135. The game could have been a lot worse, UWF had 15 penalties for 160 yards and threw a pick near midfield, but coach Nobles was willing to run the ball and shorten the game. This years’ team will be breaking in a ton of new offensive players against a defense that has the markings of a pretty good unit this fall, multiple returners at all levels with quite a few playmakers in the front seven. McKendree is picked 3rd in the GLVC while UWF came in 2nd in the GSC coaches poll. By all accounts, this should be a nice test for the guys in Green and Blue to start 2024. Without knowing how the QB and OL situations are going to look for UWF, its hard to really know how the score is going to bear out, but I do think the Argos have a significant talent advantage with a bunch of All-GSC performers returning, several more All-Conference level players transferring in, and a deep bench of guys biding their time to break out. Bringing back a ton of what you had last year is a very good predictor of improving the product on the field, so overall I think McKendree is a stiffer challenge than last year, but ultimately I think the defense is just going to be so disruptive its hard to imagine them being able to do enough. I wouldn’t be surprised to see another relatively (by UWF standards) low scoring game like last year, something like 28-7 or 31-10, while the Argos iron out the wrinkles in rebuilding game one.