DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) - The Loras football team welcomes Simpson to town on Saturday for an Iowa Conference showdown. With three teams tied at 2-1, Saturday's contest for the Duhawks could have big implications on the race towards the conference championship.

ALL-TIME SERIES RECORD AGAINST SIMPSON •••
Heading into Saturday, Loras has defeated the Storm nine times in their all-time series which dates back to 1925. Loras' last victory against Simpson before the 2014 season came in 2009, when the Duhawks topped the Storm, 45-21. Gavin Kaiser led the Duhawks on offense scoring three touchdowns despite just 36 total yards.

LAST MEETING AGAINST SIMPSON •••
Last season, the Duhawks traveled to Indianola and were victorious over the Storm, 27-24. Loras struggled to get going on the ground, mustering just 2.7 yards per attempt. Calvin Smith led the rushing attack with 86 yards and one touchdown. Quarterback Bob Kelly threw for 304 yards and one touchdown. The major game-changer came in the fourth quarter where with 9:20 to play, Maurice Young returned an interception 53 yards for the eventual game-winning touchdown.

SCOUTING THE STORM •••
Last weekend, the Storm secured an 18-15 victory over Coe College. Success in the running game was key for the Storm, rushing for 264 yards in total. Jordan Beem accumulated 193 of those yards on 34 carries. Beem's two touchdowns all but secured the victory for Simpson in the second half. The Storm running back will surely be a fixture in their gameplan against the Duhawks as he ranks third in the Iowa Conference with 114.2 rushing yards per game. However, Simpson has struggled with their passing attack this season. Starting quarterback Caleb Frye has passed for an average of 139.0 yards per game, lowest of any field general the Duhawks have faced this season. The Storm's most glaring weakness this season has been their inability to score in the red zone. Simpson has only converted 12-of-20 opportunites inside their opponents 20 yard-line. Having turned the ball over four times and missing two field-goals, Simpson will have to score against Loras' bottom ranked red zone defense to have success.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR AGAINST THE STORM •••
Loras heads into week seven having suceeded in both offensive facets of the game against Central. Nolan Baumhover threw for 434 yards and eight touchdowns. Baumhover has thrown five interceptions this season in contrast to his 20 touchdowns. Zach Minch also had success against the Dutch to the tune of 161 rushing yards on 23 carries. Minch also added the game-winning touchdown reception with 47 seconds remaining in the game. Last week against Coe, Simpson refused to let up on defense, allowing 57 yards rushing to the Kohawks. The rushing attack, while not the most important aspect of the Duhawks offense, will need to get get in rhythm early in order to help set up the deadly aerial assault. When Simpson has control of the ball, look for a completely different offensive scheme than what Loras runs. The Storm focus on offensive possession and hanging onto the ball for long periods of time. This season, Simpson has held the ball for an average of 32:06 minutes per game as opposed to the Duhawks' average of 27:50. Loras averages 40.8 points per game to Simpson's 22.0 despite the difference in time of possession.

OFFENSE LEADING THE WAY •••
The Duhawk offense has been lights out this year, breaking multiple school records in the process and making a splash in the national spotlight. Twice this season, Duhawk quarterbacks have been named to the D3Football Team of The Week. More impressively is that Loras has done this without opening day starting quarterback, sophomore Bob Kelly. Even in losses the Loras offense has shined, scoring less than 20 points just once all season. In each of their three wins, the Duhawks have surpassed 600 yards of offense, reaching 50 points on the scoreboard twice. Loras looks to extend their two-game winning streak this weekend against Simpson.

BAUMHOVER PACING HIS WAY •••
With four games left in the 2015 season, freshman Nolan Baumhover has already broken his fair share of school and conference records. Last week, Baumhover set the Iowa Conference record for most passing touchdowns in a game with eight. Previously, the Peosta, Iowa native had broken school-records for passing yards, completions, and touchdowns by a freshman. At his current pace, Baumhover is set to break school-records for pass completions, yardage, and touchdowns by the end of the  year. If everything pans out it's possible for Baumhover to break the IIAC record for touchdown passes in a season. With four games left, Baumhover needs 16 touchdowns to set the new record of 36.

PULLING AWAY IN THE RANKINGS•••
The Duhawks have made their place known in the national offensive rankings. In this weeks rankings, Loras is currently number two in terms of total offense, while they are ranked first in passing offense. While the honor alone is enough to celebrate, their dominance should also be noted. The average difference between most teams on the passing rankings charts is 8.475 yards. However, at the number one spot with an average of 431.2 yards, Loras sits 33.2 yards ahead of their second place competitor Puget Sound who has notched a respectible 398.0 yards passing per game.

PASSING GAME CONTINUING SUCCESS •••
Both Nolan Baumhover and Nik Schulte have had great seasons filling in for injured sophomore quarterback Bob Kelly. The offense as a whole has been historic regardless of who's under center. Out of the 3,534 total yards of offense gained by the Duhawks in 2015, 2,587 have been gained through the air. The 2,587 passing yards also go along with 28 passing touchdowns by the combination of Baumhover (20) and Schulte (8). With four games remaining, including visiting Simpson this weekend, the Duhawks look to continue their success on offense.

SURPASSING TEAMS OF SEASONS PAST•••
It's no secret that the Duhawks of this season are different than the teams of Loras past. The Duhawks offensive play alone has been both exciting and captivating from a football point of view. Just last season Loras scored a total of 203 points, averaging 20.3 points per game. This season the team has already surpassed those marks in their first six games with 245 points scored on an average of 40.8 per game. Loras has also recorded more total offense in six games this season (3,518) than the entirety of last season (3,517).