Staying in Fulton for a second straight week, William Woods (0-3) makes the short trip down Westminster Avenue for a Week 3 contest against an opponent with the street's namesake, NCAA Division III Westminster College (1-1), at 6 p.m. Saturday at Kent and Judith Mueller Stadium.

Heading into the momentous matchup, the Owls scored their most touchdowns, two, in a single contest in only their third-ever game, a 52-13 defeat to St. Ambrose University last Saturday. Woods notched 368 passing and 74 rushing yards for 442 yards of offense. The Fighting Bees had 509 yards of total offense, 320 rushing and 189 passing.

The Owls are averaging 219.3 yards of offense per game, including 206 passing. WWU's offense is scoring 6.3 points per game. Opponents are averaging 519.3 yards of offense per game, 290.7 rushing and 228.7 passing. They are scoring 55 points per game.

Fresh off a 384-yard, two-touchdown and one-interception performance against St. Ambrose, Gabe Serri is the Owls' passing leader. This season, he has completed 47-of-113 passes for 543 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Serri has a 41.6 pass completion percentage, averaging 181 passing yards per game.

Joining Serri in creating quite the one-two punch for WWU's offense, Troy Oliver tallied a remarkable 14 receptions for 245 yards and two touchdowns versus the Fighting Bees last Saturday. On the year, Oliver has caught 22 passes for 330 yards (110 receiving yards per game) and three touchdowns - all team-highs. Jalen Becerra leads the Owls in yards per catch at 17.4, snagged their longest-ever pass completion (55 yards) and is No. 2 on WWU in receptions with eight.

Freshman linebacker Carter Holloway is Woods' tackles leader with 25 total (team-high 8.3 tackles per game), and he's tied with defensive back Lebron Mathews for the team lead in sacks (one) and defensive lineman Chris Smith in tackles for loss (two). Colton Jones is second on the Owls in tackles with 18, and Xavier McCoy is third with 17.

WWU is ranked fourth in the NAIA in punts (No.- yards) (26-802), 12th in tackles (216), 13th in fumbles recovered (three), 15th in penalty first downs (seven), 19th in pass completion-attempt-interception rate (51-121-3), 28th in passing yards (618), 31st in passing first downs (25), 32nd in fourth down percentage (50 percent) and punt return average (nine yards) and 38th in passing yards per game (206).

Saturday is the first official meeting between the Owls and Blue Jays, and it'll be Westminster's Homecoming, which should make for a lively atmosphere. Originally a university for women only, this is William Woods' inaugural football season, 28 years after it began to allow men to enroll. Westminster, initially an all-men's college until 1979, has had football since the 1890s.

Westminster sits at .500 (1-1), beating Manchester 23-3 on Sep. 7 in Fulton before getting shutout 42-0 by Sewanee last Saturday in Sewanee, Tenn.

The Owls and Blue Jays have first-year college head coaches: Julian Mendez for William Woods and Luke Butts for Westminster. 

On June 15, 2023, Mendez made WWU history when he was named the Owls' first-ever head football coach. He has 13 years of coaching experience at different college levels (NAIA, NJCAA and NCAA Division II) and high school (Class 6A Texas) football to the Owls, including as an associate head coach, offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator.

Butts took over the Blue Jays after serving 11 years at NCAA Division III Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, Ill. Last season, he completed his seventh year as the Foresters' defensive coordinator and sixth as linebackers coach after directing the cornerbacks for the previous five seasons. Butts was also Lake Forest's special teams coordinator for five years and served as the staff's recruiting coordinator, earning the opportunity to serve as associate head football coach in 2021.

In its first two games of the season, Westminster is scoring 11½  points per game. The Blue Jays are averaging 180 yards of offense per game, 102½ passing and 77½ rushing. Westminster's defense is giving up 276½ yards per game, 161 rushing and 115½ passing. Opponents are scoring 22½ points per game.

Keegan Zdybel is the Blue Jays' starting quarterback, and he's completed 15-of-37 passes (40.5 completion percentage) for 192 yards (96 passing yards per game), zero touchdowns and zero interceptions this season. He also leads Westminster's rushing attack, tallying 40 carries for 65 yards (32.5 rushing yards per game) and three touchdowns - all team-highs.

Aden Campbell is Westminster's top receiving target, with four receptions for a team-high 103 yards (51½ receiving yards per game) and no touchdowns this season; his longest reception was for 51 yards. Blue Jays wide receivers Gabe Dace and Payton Olsson - a graduate of Callaway County high school, North Callaway -  are tied with Campbell for a team-high four receptions, with Dace notching 40 receiving yards and Olsson 29 receiving yards.

On the defensive side, Aiden King is the Blue Jays' tackles leader with 14, averaging seven per game this season. Darvin Fowler has a team-high 2½ sacks and four tackles for loss. Daronne Wright has a team-high two pass breakups and one interception, and his one forced fumble ties Dillon Farrell for the team lead.

Westminster has totaled 18 punts for 593 yards, 141 tackles, one fumble recovery, 11 rushing first downs, seven passing first downs, two penalty first downs, a 16-43-1 pass attempt-completion-interception clip, 205 passing yards and 155 rushing yards. Additionally, the Blue Jays average 14.7 yards per kick return and 5.2 per punt return