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Storyline
Lindenwood returns to the field this Saturday after having its bye last week. The Lions will be taking on a Benedictine squad that was nationally-ranked early in the season before falling out after being unable to knock off any of the other top four teams in the HAAC.

The bye week has been the first thing to stop Lindenwood's offense from reaching the endzone on Saturdays this year. The Lions are among the national leaders by averaging 58.1 points and 536.9 total yards a game. One reason for Lindenwood's offensive numbers is that the Lions rarely make mistakes. Lindenwood has just eight turnovers this year, four of which have come with backups in the game. Leading that charge is quarterback Philip Staback who has not thrown an interception since the third game of the year.

Lindenwood's defense stepped up in the second half last game, a 67-10 victory over Culver-Stockton. The Lions did not allow the ball on their side of the field in the final 30 minutes as it held their fourth opponent of the season to 14 points or less.

This week's game is the CollegeFanz NAIA Football Game of the Week. The network, launched by ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen, will broadcast the game over the internet.

A Lindenwood Win Would...
- improve the program to 104-110 all-time.
- improve the Lions to 52-16 under head coach Patrick Ross.
- increase Lindenwood's conference winning streak to 17 games.
- increase Lindenwood's home winning streak to 16 games.

A Lindenwood Loss Would...
- drop the program to 103-111 all-time.
- drop the Lions to 51-17 under head coach Patrick Ross.
- snap Lindenwood's two-game winning streak over Benedictine.
- be the first road victory for the Ravens in their last four games.

Historic Offense
As the regular season nears the finish line, Lindenwood's offense has a shot not only to rewrite the school record book, but also break several national records. The Lions are currently on pace to break several marks, including scoring average (58.1), highest average gain per play (9.1), and highest average gain per rush (7.7).

The current records for those categories are 54.7 points a game, 8.49 yards gain per play, and 7.0 yards gain per rush.

O'Bryant Touchdowns
Speaking of NAIA records, Denodus O'Bryant scored his third kickoff return touchdown versus Culver-Stockton, putting him one short of the NAIA season record. He would lead the NAIA in kickoff return yard average with 50.8 yards a return, but he doesn't qualify for the number of attempts as opponents try to kick away from him.

O'Bryant also has seven rushing touchdowns, three receiving scores, and one fumble return touchdown. His 14 touchdowns are among the NAIA leaders and four shy of the Lindenwood record set by DeDe Dorsey in 2005.

Efficient Offense
Lindenwood's offense has had 80 drives this season that have not started right before the end of a half. In those drives, they have scored 47 touchdowns and six field goals, scoring 66.3 percent of the time it touches the ball. Over the last four games, the Lions have scored touchdowns on 73 percent of its possessions with Philip Staback under center.

Making No Mistakes
Philip Staback has not thrown an interception over his last 88 passes. In that span, he has thrown 13 touchdowns and completed 75.0 percent of his passes.

Scoring Defense
Lindenwood's defense held its fourth team of 2009 under 15 points in the Culver-Stockton contest. The Lions are now allowing 18.1 points a game, which is on pace to be the third-best mark in school history.

Rush Defense
Lindenwood continues to make team's work for rushing yards, allowing just 2.7 yards per rush. With the exception of the Baker contest, the Lions have allowed just one rushing touchdown on the year.

Getting Off The Field
Over the last two games, the Lions defense has been on the field for 40 minutes a game. Lindenwood would like to lower that number by forcing Benedictine off the field on third and fourth downs.

On the season, the Lions defense have held the opposing team to 30 percent on third-downs, but opponents are 17-of-25 on fourth-down. Benedictine is good offensively in these situations, converting on 46.9 percent of third-downs and 54.5 percent of fourth-downs.

Up Next
Lindenwood will play outside Missouri for the first time, travelling to Lamoni, Iowa for a Nov. 7 game versus Graceland. 

About The Ravens
Benedictine enters this week's game with a 4-4 overall record and the Ravens are looking to move above .500 for the first time since a three-game losing streak ruined a 2-0 start for the team.

Like the Lions, Benedictine has a backfield by committee, led by DJ Matysek who is averaging 56.6 rushing yards a game and has seven touchdowns. Ryan Kelly is under and has thrown for 15 touchdowns and 176.4 yards a game. Conor Walsh leads the team with 39 receptions for 68.1 yards a game, and Chris Langley has caught nine touchdowns.

Chris Kline and RJ Nill have combined for 139 tackles this year and Keith Starr has a team-high 7.5 tackles for loss.

The Ravens have one of the top return man in the HAAC in Kenji Holloway who is averaging 14.7 yards per punt return and 33.3 yards per kickoff return.

Last Week
Benedictine jumped out to a 21-0 halftime lead and pulled away in the second half for a 49-7 victory over Culver-Stockton.

The Ravens rolled up 521 yards of total offense and held the Wildcats to 279 yards.

Andrew Puchinski had 114 rushing yards and DJ Matysek rushed for two scores. Ryan Kelly passed for 211 yards and three touchdowns. Conor Walsh had seven catches for 93 yards and one touchdown. The defense forced four turnovers, including three interceptions.

Head Coach Larry Wilcox
Larry Wilcox is in his 31st season as the head coach of Benedictine. He is third among NAIA active coaches with 211 all-time wins. Wilcox has won five HAAC titles and been named conference coach of the year four times.