UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio -- The John Carroll football team (5-1, 5-0 OAC) returns to Don Shula Stadium tomorrow after a road win over Ohio Northern to face the Capital Comets (0-6, 0-5 OAC). JCU comes into the matchup ranked #25 by D3football.com for the second week in a row. After defeating ONU 24-7 in their second conference road game, the Blue Streaks will host their fourth OAC game. JCU is looking to stay undefeated at home this year in the 101st game in Don Shula Stadium, and extend their October winning streak to 18. 

Capital comes in winless on the season, but has proven the ability to score 30+ points twice this year, and fell to #2 Mount Union last week. Capital is looking for their first win at Don Shula Stadium since 2006. John Carroll leads the all-time series 26-9-1.

THE OFFENSES

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The Blue Streaks are led under center by senior first-year starter, Joe Collins. Collins eclipsed 100 completions on the season last week against ONU. Collins has 14 touchdowns to just four interceptions. After three turnovers in the season opener against Washington & Jefferson, Collins has just one interception in conference play compared to 11 touchdowns. The quarterback is just 25 passing yards away from the 1,000 yard mark in OAC games. 

The JCU offense is looking to improve from just 88 net rushing yards last week. Demerius Goodwin and Evan McVay were each held under 50 yards last week. Despite a slower game, McVay eclipsed 500 yards rushing last week. The sophomore leads the team in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and total touchdowns. Someone else to keep an eye on in the backfield is the emerging Mason Sullivan. The sophomore scored two touchdowns on the ground last week against ONU. 

Last year, Brennan Fugh recorded a career-high 242 receiving yards and three touchdowns against the Comets. Fugh leads the team in yards over Joe Torok. Torok scored the one receiving touchdown for the Blue Streaks last week and led the squad with seven receptions. Leading the receiving group in touchdowns is fifth-year Tadas Tatarunas. The 6'6" red zone threat has four touchdowns this season and is third on the team in receiving yards after switching from quarterback last season. Tatarunas and Torok had a combined one reception against Capital last year, and are looking to break out this time around. 

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Trevor Harrison-Brawn is the likely starter against the Blue Streaks at quarterback. The graduate student has three consecutive games with over 100 yards passing and a touchdown. After splitting time with Ben Everson the first few games, Harrison-Brawn took over last week against Mount Union completing 10 passes for 113 yards and a score. It is possible they will continue to split time considering both players have struggled with turnovers. Combined they have nine interceptions and twelve touchdowns, as the Comets come into the game looking to improve their offense through the air. 

Both quarterbacks have proven the ability to run the ball as well. Everson is third on the team in rushing yards with 101 yards, while Harrison-Brawn has 76. Harrison-Brawn leads a team that has struggled to run the ball with two touchdowns. Capital has just 541 rushing yards as a team. Their leading rusher Drew Engle has just 130 yards. Lance Matthews also has 103 rushing yards. 

The Comet receiving core has plenty of receivers capable of scoring. Nine different players have recorded a receiving touchdown this year, with four receiving two. Aurelius Walters Jr. leads the team in yards with 242 and receptions with 13, adding two scores. Sam Pickett, Mike Elmore, and Justin McClelland have two touchdowns as well. The Comets are incredibly deep at receiver. They have 15 players with a reception, and 10 that have played in all six games. 
 

THE DEFENSES

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Last week against ONU the Blue Streak defense forced three turnovers. The defensive front is led by Bricker Thiel, who had two tackles for loss and a forced fumble. Thiel is third on the team in tackles and leads the team with 7 tackles for loss, with two sacks. Tyler Thimons joins Thiel in the front seven as the leading tackler with 48. Thimons has 22 solo tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, and a sack. The Blue Streak secondary is led by Josh McLean, who is third on the team in tackles with 35. McLean had four tackles and a pass breakup last week. McLean is joined in the secondary by Kiefer Askew, JonMarcus Roland, Dohntay Williams, and Justin Renner. Renner took the lead in interceptions last week with his second on the year. 

CAPITAL

The Comet defense is led by four players with over 40 tackles, led by Nick Fisanick with 60. Griffin McKinney (48), James Curtis (41), and Louie Hoerstein (40) round out an active defensive front for Capital. Hoerstein also leads the team with two interceptions. James Curtis and Jack Blaisdell have been in the backfield all season. Blaisdell has seven tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks to lead the team in both categories, and also has an interception. Curtis has six tackles for loss and two sacks as well. The Comet defense has struggled stopping teams from scoring, but has the capability to make plays when needed to stifle the Blue Streaks. 


The Blue Streaks and Comets kickoff from Don Shula Stadium at 1:30pm on October 22nd. John Carroll is looking for their first 6-0 conference start since 2016, and 6-1 overall since 2018, both years they went qualified for the NCAA Playoffs. Coverage can be found at jcusports.com with live video and stats.