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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
John Carroll's defense has been nothing short of outstanding. 
Ben Peskar

Week 6 Football Preview: Blue Streaks Looking for First 5-0 OAC Start since 2016

| By: Garrett Siegel, Senior Staff Writer
John Carroll's defense has been nothing short of outstanding. 
ADA, Ohio -- The John Carroll Football team (4-1, 4-0 OAC) will travel to Ada to face Ohio Northern (1-4, 1-3 OAC). JCU will be making the trip to Ada for the first time since 2018. 

With a win, John Carroll would improve to 5-0 in conference play for the first time since 2016, a season that included a road win at #2 Mount Union and ended in the NCAA Division III Final Four. John Carroll is playing their third road game of the year, second in OAC play. A win would also increase their road record above .500, while the team is undefeated at home. 

The Offenses
JCU
Joe Collins came into this season with just 16 passing attempts in his Blue Streak career and one touchdown. Now, the senior is averaging over 17 completions per game and has 13 passing touchdowns. 

Collins has led the offense to four wins, an undefeated conference record, a top 25 ranking, and eclipsed 1,000 yards passing last week. Collins is seeing the field well and running the offense extremely efficiently. Last week, Collins had three touchdown passes and no turnovers against Marietta. The Michigander has completed 78% of his passes two games in a row, and has three straight games with multiple touchdowns. 

While two weeks ago Demerius Goodwin led the running back crew, last week Evan McVay had a fantastic day. The sophomore 111 yards rushing on just six carries, and three total touchdowns, two receiving. McVay leads the team with 457 rushing yards and touchdowns with six. Goodwin is also finding his rhythm. He has three straight games with a touchdown and 304 rushing yards to form a great 1-2 punch with McVay out of the backfield. 
    
Brennan Fugh leads the team in receiving yards by over 100 yards with 402 total. Fugh trails just Tadas Tatarunas in receiving touchdowns with three this season. Fugh sprung for 106 yards on just four catches last week. Last year against ONU, Fugh had 127 receiving yards on eight catches with a touchdown. Joe Torok and Tadas Tatarunas are the other two main targets for Collins, as they are the other two Blue Streaks with over 100 receiving yards. 
ONU
The Polar Bear offense is led by two quarterbacks. Fifth year senior Trevor McConnell leads the team in passing yards with 510, and touchdowns with four. Meanwhile, freshman Adan Figueroa has 157 passing yards with two scores, and 135 yards rushing. While ONU has lost three straight games, they won their OAC opener against Capital. McConnell led that game with three passing touchdowns. This week, the offense is looking to bounce back after being shut out by Mount Union a couple weeks ago. 

Ohio Northern has struggled to run the ball this season. The Polar Bears have just 469 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns as a team. Fifth year senior Brock Martin leads the team with 236 rushing yards. Quarterback Adan Figueroa is second on the team with his 135 yards. Trevor McConnell and Jamir Hunley are the two players with those rushing touchdowns. The ONU offense is looking to improve and limit turnovers, as they have 13 in five games. 
Fifth year senior Austin Eck is the number one receiving target. Eck leads the team in yards with 288 and receptions with 25. Running back Brock Martin has 14 catches out of the backfield as well as a touchdown. ONU also has an interesting red zone threat in tight end Davey Burner. He leads the team with two touchdown catches and stands at 6'2" as a big target for the quarterback in tight windows in the red zone. 

The Defenses
JCU
Tyler Thimons has been flying around the field this year for the Blue Streaks. He leads the team by 11 with 40 total tackles. He is tied for second in tackles for loss with 4.5 as well. Bricker Thiel leads a defensive front that has been stellar all year, and leads the team with five tackles for loss and tied for first in sacks with two. 

The defense is holding opponents to less than 200 yards passing yards per game, and less than 100 rushing yards per game. A lot of that success comes from a steller secondary. 

Josh McLean is second on the team in tackles with 29. Four Blue Streaks have interceptions as well: JonMarcus Roland, Kiefer Askew, Dohntay Williams, and Justin Renner. Michael Palmer also scored a defensive touchdown last week, earning him OAC Defensive Player of the Week honors. 

ONU
Sophomore Dalton Tjong is having a breakout season. His 55 tackles lead the team by 22 and is third in the OAC. As a defensive back, Tjong has padded the stat sheet with 0.5 tackles for loss, an interception, and four pass breakups on the year. 

Josh Bever has been a game wrecker, as well. He is second in the OAC in sacks with six, has seven tackles for loss which is first on the team and leads the team in both statistics. 

Despite their record, the ONU secondary has been great this season. They have eight interceptions in five games as Austin Colon and Ed Manning each have two to lead the team. 

John Carroll leads the all time series 21-13, with ONU's last win coming in 2017 in overtime. That was also the last time JCU football lost in October. The two teams kickoff tomorrow at 1:30 pm in Ada. 
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