DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Defiance College Yellow Jackets will play their 2008 home opener on Saturday at 1:30 pm when they host Trine University. The meeting will be the third clash between the two programs in the past three years.

Today’s Game - Defiance and Trine will be locking horns for the third time in three years when they take the Coressel Stadium field on Saturday. The growing rivalry has already produced a pair of tightly contests games in the previous two meetings, with each game being decided in the closing moments.

Scouting Defiance - Defiance enters play on Saturday in search of its first win of the young 2008 campaign. The Jackets have struggled mightily on the offensive side of the ball, failing to log more than 160 total yards of offense in either of their losses to Muskingum or Adrian. Lewis Caralla has been the lone bright spot on offense, as the senior running back has accounted for 108 of DC’s 313 total yards of offense this season. The defense showed vast improvements in week two and will be anchored by Keith Snyder. The senior leads the squad with 29 total hits.

Scouting Trine - The Thunder will be taking the field for only the second time this season after using an off week to recover from a 41-13 shelling of Manchester College on Sep. 6. Trine is led by its quarterback, Eric Watt, who rushed for 7.7 yards per touch and three touchdowns in TU’s blowout of the Spartans. Watt also did damage with his arm, completing 10-of-20 passes for 152 yards. Preseason All-American linebacker Courtney Pearson will anchor a much-improved Trine defense. Pearson racked up seven solo tackles and 0.5 sacks in the season opener.

Last Meeting - Defiance built a 13-3 lead and held Trine out of the end zone through the first 57:30 of action, before watching the Thunder strike for a pair of touchdown passes in the final 2:30 to steal the 17-13 win on their home turf. Keith Snyder led DC with 16 tackles in the loss, while Travis Guisinger ended with 10.

Series History - Today’s contest will be the third all-time meeting between Defiance and Trine. The Thunder, formerly known as Tri-State, rallied for a 17-13 victory on year ago after DC held on for a 17-10 win in 2006.

Taylor’s Tally - DC Head Coach Robert Taylor is just one win shy of tying Dick Small (1954-1963) for sixth-place in school history with 24 career victories. Two more wins would move Taylor into a tie for fifth with Gary Shaefer (1979-1984).

Win #350 - Defiance enters play on Saturday on the doorstep of a milestone victory for the program. The Yellow Jackets have 348 victories dating back to 1900 and need just two more for the historic win number 350. DC’s 300th win came in 1997 with a 29-24 victory over Alma.

Around the HCAC - The non-conference meetings will continue around the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference on Saturday, with DC and Trine being one of five out-of-league games on the slate. HCAC competition will begin on Sep. 27 when MSJ hosts Rose-Hulman at 6:30 pm and open in earnest the following Saturday with four conference clashes on the schedule.

"Mike and Mike in the Morning" - Today’s game between Trine and Defiance was tabbed as "The Clash of Mother Nature’s Wrath" by ESPN Radio’s "Mike and Mike in the Morning". The radio duo of Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg began the special game-naming segment one week ago because the Ohio State and USC game was officially hyped as "The Collision in the Coliseum", and they thought it would be more interesting to name a lesser known game each week. They selected Maine and Stony Brook for their first-ever game-naming competition last week and decided on "The Battle for the Butter". This week’s name of "The Clash of Mother Nature’s Wrath" was selected over other nominations including "The Black Swamp Swashbuckle", "The Storm Versus the Swarm", "Unrest in the Midwest", "The Rumble in the Hive" and "The Better than the Bengals Football Extravaganza." The show will recap today’s game on their Monday morning show with video highlights and an interview with the winning coach. The show can be viewed on ESPN2 from 6-10:00 am on weekdays and can be heard worldwide on www.ESPNRadio.com.

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