GAMEDAY CENTRAL | Taylor vs Marian | Game Five

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UPLAND, Ind. - Taylor will play the first of back-to-back home games on Saturday, September 28, when it welcomes No. 7 Marian to Turner Stadium for a 7:00 pm start.

SCOUTING TAYLOR: The Trojans have showcased one of the most productive offenses in the NAIA through the first four weeks of the 2024 season to open at 4-0. TU enters week-five ranked No. 1 in the NAIA with 211 points, No. 1 with 30 touchdowns, No. 2 with 311.3 rushing yards per game, No. 2 with 18 rushing scores, No. 5 with 6.2 yards per rush and No. 5 with 523.3 total yards per outing.

SCOUTING MARIAN: The Knights enter at 3-0, coming off a three-point win over Concordia and a one-point thriller last week at Lawrence Tech. The seventh-ranked Knights allowed 644 total yards at LTU but still came out on top by forcing five total turnovers and scoring a touchdown with 45 seconds to play. MU has won 10-straight non-league regular season games since a loss to NCAA Division II Tiffin in 2021.

LAST MEETING: Marian bolted to a 28-0 halftime lead and pushed the margin to 34-0, before Taylor scored 20 points in the fourth to close the final spread to 34-20 in favor of the visiting Knights. Tirae Spence led MU with 132 receiving yards, while Jack D'Arcy caught seven passes to pace the TU offense and Aven Jones posted a game-high 15 tackles to anchor the Taylor defense.

SERIES HISTORY: Taylor is 1-16 all-time against Marian on the gridiron, and 0-3 against the Knights under the direction of fourth-year head coach Aaron Mingo.

LAST TIME OUT: TU rushed for seven touchdowns in its 67-35 win at Kentucky Christian, reaching 50 points in three-straight games for the first time in program history. Taylor scored touchdowns on seven of its first nine possessions for a 48-8 lead and ended with over 300 rushing yards for a third-straight game.

SCORE EARLY, SCORE OFTEN: Taylor has showcased a robust first-half offense through its first four games by finding the end zone on 18-of-25 offensive possessions before the half. In that span, Taylor has averaged 33.8 points in the first half, scoring at least 28 points before the break in each outing. 

PARTY LIKE IT'S 1999: At 4-0, Taylor is off to its best start since opening the 1999 season at 6-0. The Trojans went on to finish 10-2 that year, winning the MSFA Midwest League Championship and advancing to the second round of the NAIA Playoffs.

LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD: With 58, 52 and 67 points in its last three games, Taylor made history by putting at least 50 points on the scoreboard in three-straight games for the first time in program history. TU's current clip of 52.8 points per game would shatter the program record of 38.0 set in 2015.

RUNNING WILD: Through the first four weeks of the season, Taylor has surpassed 300 yards rushing in all but one of those contests. TU's 311.3 rushing yards per game this season rank the Trojans No. 2 in the NAIA entering the fifth week of the season.

LOVELESS HONORED BY MSFA: Carter Loveless was named the MSFA Mideast League Special Teams Player of hte Week after his performance in TU's 67-35 win at Kentucky Christian. Loveless became the seventh different Trojan to be recognized through the season's first four weeks by pinning KCU inside its own 20-yard line on each of his four punts and averaging 44.0 yards per attempt.

LUCKY NUMBER 7: Taylor's freshman tight end, Nathan Munson, has started his collegiate career with seven catches over TU's first four games. All seven of those receptions have ended with Munson in the end zone, as the rookie has hauled in touchdown catches of seven, 11, 21, 29, 58, 75 and 82 yards. With the seven touchdown catches, Munson ranks second in the NAIA in touchdowns caught, and currently leads all MSFA Mideast League players in scoring with 10.5 points per contest.

TROJANS IN THE NAIA RANKS: In addition to TU's lofty team ranks in the NAIA, some Trojans are showing up near the top of the individual leaderboards as well with Nathan Munson sitting No. 2 with seven receiving touchdowns and Jameson Chesser at No. 5 with 469 rushing yards.

TICKET INFORMATION: Fans looking to purchase tickets to any Taylor game can do so by visiting TaylorTrojans.com/tickets.

JOIN THE TROJAN CLUB: The Trojan Club is Taylor University's athletics booster organization that is comprised of alumni, supporters and friends of TU, with the purpose of raising funds to further advance the development of Taylor's intercollegiate athletics program. If you have not already, please consider joining by going to www.TaylorTrojans.com/Trojan_Club, or calling 765-998-4331.

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TROJAN SPORTS NETWORK: Taylor University is pleased to continue offering free live video webcasts of most home athletics events throughout the 2024-2025 year. If you are not able to come to the event, simply go to youtube.com/TaylorAthletics to catch the action. Be sure to click the subscribe button to make sure you do not miss any of the action.