SCOUTING REPORT - BUENA VISTA
After being picked to finish ninth in the preseason coaches poll, Buena Vista has turned heads in the first two weeks and enters Saturday with a 2-0 record. The Beavers opened with a 31-27 win over Mayville State in Week One before winning a thriller against Central in overtime, 39-38. Buena Vista is under the direction of first-year head coach Grant Mollring, who was previously the offensive coordinator at Hastings College in Nebraska. This season, the Beavers are averaging 440.5 yards of offense, including 338 yards through the air. Interestingly enough, Buena Vista's defense has shown signs of weakness and allowed opponents to average 509 yards, an area that potentially bodes well for Loras. Cole Miller leads the Beavers' offense under center, throwing for five touchdowns while completing 59.4 percent of his passes. The defensive unit is led by Zach Anderson and his nine tackles per game while Brady Illg enters with three pass break-ups and 2.5 tackles for loss.

KEYS TO THE GAME
The last time the Duhawks were at home, it was Aurora who snuck away with the win, 31-26. Loras was without senior Bob Kelly and nearly moved to 2-0 with true freshman Noah Sigwarth running the offense. On Saturday, expect the Duhawks to come out with a chip on their shoulder after last week's gut wrenching loss to Dubuque. In order for Loras to walk off Bierie Field on Saturday with a 2-2 overall record, they'll need to win the turnover battle and execute when in the red zone. Going back to week one against Elmhurst, the Duhawks handedly won both of those battles and came away with the 41-9 victory. Defensively, Loras is tasked with stopping an offensive style that they've grown accustomed to seeing as Buena Vista runs a similar high-tempo offense. Combine that with the limited passing success that the Spartans had last week, and the defense could be in for a big day.

KEY CITY CLASH RECAP
Despite coming up short in their bid to regain the "Key to the City", the Duhawks put the rest of the Iowa Conference on watch last Saturday, coming within three points of forcing overtime with the preseason favorite, Dubuque. Twenty-one of the Spartans' 27 points on Saturday came in the first quarter before the offense went cold. Senior Bob Kelly threw for a career-high 327 yards and targeted junior Brad Boelkow for 127 of those. Loras was 15-of-19 on third down conversions while the defense held Dubuque to 2-of-9. Senior Bob Brophy led the defense with 14 tackles, bringing his season total to 34.

NATIONAL RANKINGS
With three weeks in the books for the 2017 season, Loras ranks in the Top-20 statistically in three team categories, including third down offense, third down defense and fewest committed penalties. Additionally, junior Walter Ollie ranks second for kick return yards at 348 and senior Mason Quigley ranks 10th with a punting average of 42.5 yards as well as 12th for 1.67 field goals per game.

KELLY BACK UNDER CENTER
After missing week two's non-conference tilt with Aurora, Kelly worked his way back into the lineup for the IIAC opener. Despite throwing three interceptions, the St. Laurence prep set a career-high for passing yards with 327 and tossed a pair of touchdowns to Boelkow.

BOELKOW'S BIG GAME
Junior Brad Boelkow has proved to be a staple for the Duhawk offense. Against the Dubuque, Boelkow totaled 127 receiving yards and two touchdowns, bringing his career total to nine. Last season against the Beavers, Boelkow hauled in 10 catches for 155 yards and two touchdowns and can expect to be a vital part of this week's game plan.

TWO-HEADED RUSHING ATTACK
The two-man rushing package of senior Ike Cloward and junior Cody Mighell have proven to work in this offensive system so far for the Duhawks. Cloward leads the team with 256 yards on 59 carries, including a long of 42 yards and four touchdowns. Mighell enters week four with 170 yards on 45 carries with one touchdown. Even though the numbers have variance, Cloward and Mighell tag-teaming the rushing attack provides a balanced approach the the Duhawk offense.

QB PROTECTION
With time comes experience and that is exactly what is benefiting the Duhawks in the trenches this season. Four of the five starting offensive lineman are seniors who have combined to appear in 71 games entering this week. The play of Greg Cybulski, Zane Elliott, Joe Loch and Mike Shanahan, coupled with junior center Ryan Heinrichs, Loras quarterbacks have been sacked twice this season, which ranks third the Iowa Conference.

LOCK DOWN DEFENSE
When a defensive unit concedes 27 points in a game, at first look it may seem as if they didn't execute to their potential. However, for Loras, it's defensive unit shut down the Spartans offense and kept them out of the end zone for the final 36 minutes of Saturday's game, holding Dubuque to six points on two field goals. Loras held the Spartan's passing attack to 129 yards through the air, which included a completion for 50 yards.