Faulkner University

"ACA's headmaster, Ronnie Sewell, their athletic director, Denise Ainsworth, and football coach Greg Baker have all been very nice in letting us use their field to play this last home game. We're so excited to be so close to our university," Faulkner head coach Jim Nichols said. "I just want to thank everyone at ACA for letting us play at their field and stadium. Hopefully we can continue to keep a great relationship with them as the years come."

Nichols' team will continue to strive for offensive consistency and overall improvement as it rounds out this season and prepare for next. Despite a 21-point loss to UNC-Pembroke, Faulkner had arguably its best offensive showing last week. Faulkner's passing attack totaled 327 yards and paved the way to 15 fourth-quarter points.

Unfortunately, the offense stalled in or near the red zone on multiple occasions, and the ground game only found its way to a net of 13 yards on 25 carries.

Those struggles, coupled with the 508 yards surrendered by the Eagles' defense, added up to Faulkner's seventh loss of the season.

Still, Nichols continues to be pleased with the strides he has seen from his young team, which has found a way to move the ball more consistently and cut down on its turnover problems. Conversely, the first-year coach is proud of a defense that has displayed tremendous character in battling through a slew of personnel problems brought on by injuries.

"We talked this week about having two games left. We want to get better these last two weeks and try to end on a positive note. I worry sometimes about what losing can do," he said. "But I think everybody realizes that we're one the right road by the way everyone practices. They're practicing like we're 8-0."

Today, Faulkner faces off with a 3-6 team riding back-to-back wins. The Crusaders have outscored opponents 104-32 in their last two games. NGU's high-octane offense has only been held under 30 points three times this season. Tailback Rashad Cummings led the way last week with 219 of the team's total 305 rushing yards. He will look for his third consecutive 200-yard game against Faulkner today.

"They're one of the top offenses in DII. Our defense is really going to have to come and play this weekend. We've had a couple of weeks where our defense hasn't played that well," Nichols explained. "We're coming up against a guy that's been tearing up. We're going to have to come to play and hopefully we will."

Nichols knows his best bet will be ball control. He will have to get more from his stable of running backs than he did last week in order to keep the Crusader offense on the sidelines.

"We can't get into a shootout with this team. They are the type of team that can score on you in two plays," he said. "I think controlling the clock is going to be big. Our offense has really got to come out and establish getting first downs and trying to control the game clock."

That task may not come as easy as he would like as the NGU has improved greatly on defense since its early-season struggles.

"Their offense is a lot stronger than their defense is. But over the last couple of weeks their defense has really come on. I think this is the best team we've faced all year."

Win or lose, Nichols and his staff are genuinely looking for continued improvement from their young team in their ongoing efforts to build a program.

"Our main goal is to get better and lay the tracks down for this program," Nichols said.