Another week and another game that could be considered the biggest game of the year for the St. Lawrence University Football team as the Saints come off a bye week for a trip to Springfield College and a 1:30 pm start Saturday at Stagg Field in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The Saints (5-1 Overall and 3-0 Liberty League) sit alone at the top of the Liberty League standings and are in the driver's seat for the league championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Playoffs.

Springfield was sitting next to St. Lawrence in the standings until a stunning 22-21 loss last weekend to Merchant Marine dropped the Pride into a pack of three teams with Rochester and WPI with two league losses each. Rensselaer (who already lost to St. Lawrence) and Hobart (the Nov. 7 opponent for the Saints) are tied for second in the league standings with one loss each. The Engineers and Statesmen play each other this week so one of them will drop to the two-loss club.

The break in the schedule could not have come at a better time for the Saints who enjoyed an extra week to help some key players return to full strength for the final four games of the regular season.

The matchup between St. Lawrence and Springfield is interesting in that it pits the top passing team in the league against the top rushing team in the league. The Saints are number one in the league in passing yards per game, passing efficiency and scoring but at the bottom of the standings in passing defense which is OK this weekend since Springfield is near the bottom of the league standings with 51.9 passing yards per game.

Springfield has the top rushing offense with 304.3 yards per game gained on the ground but the Saints rush defense is ranked second in the league allowing 121.8 yards per game.

Last Year:

The Saints held Springfield to 159 yards rushing and kept the Pride off the scoreboard until late in the third quarter in a 21-7 win in Canton. Springfield was 1-for-7 for 47 yards passing and threw three interceptions while St. Lawrence scored twice through the air with each tight end (Mitch Gallagher and Matt Gardiner) catching a TD pass. Mike Lefflbine ran for a third TD with the second longest run of his career on a 29-yard scoring rush just before halftime.

Maurice Irby, Lefflbine and Jake Gnieser combined for 130 yards on 27 carries and Gallagher had nearly 100 yards receiving on eight catches. Alec Dietsch led the defense with 10 tackles and Leondre Simmon had a pair of interception while James Holley-Grisham added eight tackles and one interception. The Saints controlled the ball with more than 35 minutes of possession time.

Last Week:

While St. Lawrence was idle, Springfield played what should have been an easy win at Merchant Marine. The Mariners scored late and handed Springfield a 22-21 loss as Merchant Marine scored and successfully completed a pass for a two-point conversion to take a lead with 3:14 left to play.

Springfield drove down the field to near the 30-yard line but rather than attempt a 47-48-yard field goal, went for it on 4th-and-3 and came up two yards short giving the ball back to Merchant Marine who ran out the clock for the win.

Springfield quarterback Jake Eglintine was 1-for-3 passing and had 108 yards on the ground while Max Nacewicz led the Pride defense with 15 tackles with 10 solo and two for loss.

The last game for the Saints was Oct. 10 when St. Lawrence held off a late charge by Rensselaer for a 24-21 victory on Homecoming Weekend in Canton. The Saints scored all 24 points in the first half. Maurice Irby had his second consecutive 100-yard rushing performance with 108 yards on 12 carries including a career-long 59-yard scoring run on the second play of the game. Vincenzo Ferraro finished with 91 yards on two catches which included a 77-yard TD pass and catch which was the longest play from scrimmage for the Saints since 2010 and the longest pass play since 2008.

Making the Kick Count

Kicker Andrew Carvalho has attempted just two field goals this season but his 29-yarder with 1:11 left in the first half against RPI proved to be the difference in the 24-21 win for the Saints. For Carvalho, it was the first field goal made in 10 games with his last made field goal coming a year ago against RPI. In 2014, he made a 20-yarder that sparked a 24-point run in a 24-10 win. Carvalho only missed one field goal in the 10-game span with a missed attempt from 34 yards against Endicott earlier this year.

Football is still on his mind . . . for now

Leondre Simmon has a few things on his mind around this time of year as the St. Lawrence Men's Basketball team has started practice and Simmon is a starter for that team as well. The senior cornerback will finish the football season and jump to basketball whenever the Saints finish the football season. With the potential of football playoffs in November, Simmon could miss as many as seven basketball games. If the season ends with the regular-season finale against Merchant Marine, Simmon could potentially play both sports in the same day with the season-opener for basketball on the same day as the final football game on the schedule only later in the day with a 4 pm start against SUNY Oswego.

Red Zone Success

The St. Lawrence offense scored twice on long plays in the win over RPI two weeks ago. The offense has been very successful from in close as well. The Saints are ranked among the top 20 teams in the country in the Red Zone offense having missed just two opportunities this year. One miss was a missed field goal attempt in the Endicott game and a fourth down run by Mike Lefflbine that came up a yard short of the first down marker on the 19-yard line against Rochester. The Saints are 15-for-17 in the Red Zone and are tied for 17th in the country.

Leader of the Pack

Despite the week off, Chyron Brown-Wallace still leads the nation in Tackles for Loss. Brown-Wallace leads the country with 18 ½ tackles for loss and an average of 3.1 per game. The junior defensive tackle is also ranked No. 2 in the nation in quarterback sacks with eight solo and five assisted sacks for a total of 10 ½ and an average of 1.75 per game. Brown-Wallace has recorded at least a sack in each game and has registered 2 ½ sacks against Norwich and Rochester. He had two sacks against RPI.

Ring the Victory Bell

A tradition at St. Lawrence is to ring the Victory Bell outside Leckonby Stadium after each win. Although the team was idle last weekend, there were still bells ringing. This time it was Wedding Bells as Assistant Coach Dan Puckhaber used the off weekend to tie the knot as he married Barat Wolfe.