MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College football team looks to snap a three-game losing skid on Saturday as it hosts the Setters from Pace University in a rare 2 p.m. start time at Grappone Stadium.

SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE HAWKS (1-5, 1-4 NE10)
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PACE UNIVERSITY SETTERS (1-5, 1-3 NE10)
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Saint Anselm is coming off a tough 31-22 road loss to Stonehill on Saturday. The Hawks built up a 15-10 lead at halftime, but Stonehill rattled off 21 of the game's final 28 points on the way to the victory in the Battle for the Ol' Bronze Hawk rivalry game.

Pace secured a thrilling victory over Franklin Pierce in triple overtime to lock down a 39-31 victory over the Ravens on the Setters' Homecoming Weekend. Each team had a touchdown in the first three quarters and the teams traded matching field goals in the fourth, forcing overtime.

Saint Anselm is pleased to welcome those attending Saturday's game as part of the College's Fall Open House.

LAST TIME OUT

• Saint Anselm carried the 15-10 advantage into halftime, thanks to two field goals by freshman Patrick Carroll (Stafford, Va.), a 17-yard receiving touchdown by senior Bobby Long (Bridgewater, Mass.) and a safety as a snapped ball from center on a Stonehill punt attempt sailed out of the end zone.
• Stonehill racked up 21 consecutive points to start the second half and held the Hawks scoreless in the fourth, overcoming the five-point deficit at halftime and locking down the win on their institution's Homecoming Weekend.
• Sophomore quarterback Drew Willoughby (Austin, Texas) completed 23 of his 44 passes on the day, throwing for 329 yards and connecting on two touchdowns. Freshman Carson Goda (Bradenton, Fla.) reeled in five catches for 116 yards and a touchdown with Long totaling six catches for 63 yards and a score. Eight Hawks caught at least one pass on the day.
• Junior Taylor Pawelkoski (Bradenton, Fla.) had a team-best 11 tackles including five of the solo variety. Senior Liam Flynn (Hanover, Mass.) also reached double-digit tackle totals, posting one of his team's three sacks as well – he had a 12-yard sack, the longest sack for a loss by either team.
• Senior Ryan Sullivan (Stoughton, Mass.) moved up to ninth place all-time in Saint Anselm history with 239 tackles across his five-year career on the Hilltop.

PREVIEWING PACE

• The Setters come to the Hilltop with a 1-5 overall record, most recently defeating Franklin Pierce in overtime. Across the last two full seasons prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pace was a combined 13-7 and logged back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in the team's Northeast-10 Conference history.
• Pace ranks third nationally in kickoff return defense, limiting opponents to just 12.94 yards on kickoff returns to date. They are 21st nationally in punt return defense (3.20 yards/return).
• Ramir Tann-Davis is ninth in the country with 165.67 all-purpose yards per game, averaging 64.3 receiving yards per game while also serving as the team's primary kickoff returner.
• Dustin Huseinovic ranks ninth in NCAA Division II with an average of 6.5 solo tackles per game. His 11 tackles per game is the eighth-best rate in the country.
• Nasier Givens, a defensive lineman, was named NE10 Defensive Player of the Week this week after posting two sacks alongside 10 tackles against Franklin Pierce on Saturday.
• Saint Anselm has 15 wins against Pace in the all-time series, far and away the most by Saint Anselm against any one opponent. The Setters, however, have won each of the last two games, including wins of 42-21 (2019) and 33-10 (2018). Prior to those two defeats, the Hawks had won 11 in a row over Pace.

DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS

• Saint Anselm sophomore Drew Willoughby (Austin, Texas) has been named the NE10 Rookie of the Week on three occasions this season. Earlier this season, he became the first Saint Anselm student-athlete to win the league's top rookie honors since Andrew Murphy '16 was so recognized in the three weeks spanning from Oct. 22-Nov. 5, 2012.
• His 47 pass completions against nationally-ranked Bentley on Oct. 2 was the second-most by a Division II quarterback so far this season. Braden Gleason of Emporia State hooked up with receivers on 48 passes, doing so against Central Missouri on Oct. 9.
• Versus Bentley on Oct. 2, Willoughby threw for 456 yards, a mark that stands as the eighth-highest single game total across the nation.
• Willoughby is ranked second among NCAA Division II quarterbacks with 30.17 completions per game. His 331.3 passing yards per game stands as the third-most by any signal-caller in the country and if the season ended prior to Saturday's game against Pace, the figure would top the single-season list for the Hawks.
• Willoughby has completed 181 passes in a Saint Anselm uniform across six career games. He already ranks eighth in career history in pass completions and needs just eight against the Setters to move into seventh place all-time.

ANOTHER LONE STAR STATE PRODUCT

• Junior Anthony Brown (Belton, Texas) earned the league's Special Teams Player of the Week honors on Sept. 27 after a strong game against Franklin Pierce.
• Brown had an all-around solid game for the Hawks at home against Franklin Pierce, scoring a 68-yard receiving touchdown thrown by Willoughby and later adding a 62-yard punt return for a touchdown (second-longest in team history) within the third quarter's final six minutes. He finished with five catches for 181 yards and two punt returns for 63 yards (fifth-most in single-game history).
• Among NCAA Division II student-athletes, Brown is third nationally with one punt return touchdown and leads the NE10 in receptions per game (5.5). He is second in the conference in receiving yards per game (82.5) and fourth in receiving touchdowns (5).
• Entering the contest against Pace, Brown ranks third in Hawks team history with 11.94 average yards per punt return. He is first in team annals in average kick return yardage (23.39) among qualifying student-athletes. His average yards per reception figure (13.69) is third all-time in team annals.

GETTING DEFENSIVE

• So far in 2021, the Hawks have combined to produce 48 tackles for a combined loss of 164 yards. On the flip side, Saint Anselm has conceded just 21 tackles for a loss so far this season.
• The Hawks have also registered 15 quarterback sacks this year and have given up just seven, thanks to a strong offensive line in front of Saint Anselm quarterbacks.
• Fifth-year senior Ryan Sullivan (Stoughton, Mass.) has posted 239 tackles since joining the team in 2017, ranking ninth all-time in career history.

CALL HIM "PAT"RICK CARROLL

• Freshman Patrick Carroll (Stafford, Va.) has booted home 18 extra points so far this season, ranking ninth all-time in team history in PAT's through just six career games.

NE10 PRESEASON POLL

• Saint Anselm was projected to finish sixth in the Northeast-10 Conference, according to the league's preseason coaches' poll released prior to the season. The Hawks have not placed sixth or higher in a season since the 2015 campaign (T-5th/10).
• New Haven tops the 2021 NE10 Preseason Coaches' Poll, earning six first-place votes.
• In 2019, Saint Anselm knocked off three of the league's top five programs in that season's preseason coaches' poll, downing New Haven, Assumption and Southern Connecticut State late in the year.

CHECKING OUT THE SCHEDULE

• The Hawks are currently slated to play 10 opponents in 2021, six on the road and four at home.
• Stonehill and Saint Anselm renewed their annual Battle for the Ol' Bronze Hawk on Saturday, Oct. 16. The rivalry reached its peak with a thrilling triple overtime contest to open the 2018 season – the Hawks booted a record five field goals, including three in overtime to extend the game, and Saint Anselm's defense posted 128 total tackles, the far-and-away team record.
• Saint Anselm rounds out its NE10 schedule on Saturday, Nov. 6 against Assumption, a team that was overwhelmed by the Hawks to cap the 2019 season. The Hawks racked up 61 points to knock off the team picked to finished second in the NE10 Preseason Coaches' Poll in 2019. The Hawks finished the season firing on all cylinders, racking up 721 yards of total offense, the second-most in any game in program history.
• The Hawks will end the regular season with a non-league fixture against Bluefield State out of Bluefield, W. Va., a program that will make its debut in 2021. The College will become a residential campus for the first time in 52 years and has centered the dramatic transformation of its institution with the addition of 12 total sports, including football.

GRANITE STATE SHOWDOWN

• Since the Saint Anselm football team returned as a varsity sports offering on the Hilltop in 1999, the Hawks have now racked up a 5-1 record against teams from the Granite State following this season's victory over Franklin Pierce. Saint Anselm is 4-1 in the modern-day series against Plymouth State University and is 2-0 against Franklin Pierce.
• Including the team's intercollegiate schedules prior to World War II (1934-1942), the Hawks now own a 10-3 record all-time in varsity intercollegiate competition against Franklin Pierce, Plymouth State and the University of New Hampshire (5-2 all-time).

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT HOME

• Saint Anselm snapped a five-season losing streak in its home openers with its 42-7 win over Franklin Pierce on Sept. 25. The Hawks had last claimed victory in a home opener on Sept. 20, 2014 against Bentley, winning by a 38-34 margin as part of a five-game winning streak to open the year.
• In the Hawks last home opener against an NE10 opponent, Saint Anselm came out on the losing end of a 57-54 slugfest against Stonehill that went three overtimes under the lights on Sept. 8, 2018.
• The Hawks posted a 3-2 record at Grappone Stadium in 2019, its first season above .500 at home since the 2002 season (3-2 home, 2-3 away; 5-5 overall).