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Opponent: Pittsburg State
Time: Saturday, September 15th; 1:00 PM
Location: Plaster Stadium; Bolivar, Missouri

Bolivar, Mo. - The SBU Bearcats look to defend their home field this Saturday as they host defending NCAA Division II national champion Pittsburg State. The Bearcats are coming off of tough back-to-back losses to MIAA opponents but have seen excellent special teams play during both games.

The Coaches and the All-Time Series
Keith Allen has already engineered a significant turnaround at SBU, moving the 'Cats from 0-11 his first year as interim coach, to 5-6 in 2008, to the winning record of 6-5 in 2009, another winning record of 7-4 in 2010, and completed a third consecutive winning season in 2011 with a 6-5 record. Allen served as defensive and recruiting coordinator before being named SBU head coach in 2007. His past coaching experience has included stops at San Jose State, Quincy, TCU and Oklahoma.

Tim Beck enters his third season as Pittsburg State University's head football coach and his 26th year on the Gorillas' staff. Beck led Pitt State to the school's fourth all-time national championship and a 13-1 record in his second season leading the Gorillas. He earned NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year honors from Liberty Mutual, the Don Hansen Football Committee and FieldTurf™, as well as MIAA Coach of the Year accolades. Beck's all-time coaching record stands at 19-7.

Pittsburg State leads the all-time series against Southwest Baptist 19-0. The Gorillas won the last match-up 42-23 in 2007 at Plaster Stadium.

Scouting the Gorillas
Pittsburg State is coming off of their fourth NCAA Division II National Championship and are currently ranked #1 in the nation. The Gorillas took down two new MIAA opponents in weeks one and two, defeating Northeastern State 41-20 and Central Oklahoma 34-19.

Quarterback Anthony Abenoja leads the way for the Gorilla offense, averaging 337 yards through the air with a completion percentage of 69.1. Briceton Wilson is the leading rusher, averaging 57.0 yards per game on the ground, while John Brown is the leading receiver averaging 133.5 yards receiving per game.

On the defensive side of the ball, Nate Dreiling is the leading tackler for PSU with 17 tackles, while five different defenders have interceptions this season.