Pioneers hit road to UW-Stout

The game: The University of Wisconsin-Platteville Pioneers' next stop on back-to-back road games is UW-Stout on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 1 p.m.

The records: Both UW-Platteville and UW-Stout are 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the WIAC.

The coaches: Mike Emendorfer is UW-Platteville's all-time winningest coach, compiling a 101-99 record in his 20th season. Emendorfer reached the 100 win mark with the 20-6 triumph over UW-Stevens Point on Sept. 29. He has taken the Pioneers to their only two NCAA III playoff berths in school history, in 2013 and 2016. Emendorfer is the WIAC's active leader in victories.  Clayt Birmingham is in his ninth year as the UW-Stout head coach after spending three years as the defensive coordinator.  He has a 35-52 overall record and guided his team last season to finishing 10^th in the nation in red-zone defense and eighth in third down conversions allowed. 

The Pioneers: The Pioneers are 4-4 overall and look to bounce back from a three week lull after falling to UW-Oshkosh, Eau Claire, and La Crosse.  Last week, UW-Platteville came back from a slow first quarter start to be edged in the final minutes in La Crosse while they tallied 422 yards offense to the Eagles' 317 and went 10 for 17 on third down conversions.

UW-Platteville continues to lead the WIAC in pass offense averaging 265.1 yards per game. Junior Brett Geisz made his first career start last week in La Crosse and went 28 of 34 attempts to jump into the lead in the WIAC for pass efficiency.  Senior running back Sean Studer sits second in the WIAC with 83.0 yards averaged per game and sophomore quarterback Colin Schuetz leads the league with 246.3 yards passed per game. 

On the Pioneer defense, sophomore Eric Siedenburg sits fourth in the league and is averaging 9.2 tackles per game with senior Ben Mogilevsky averaging 8.1 per game.  Senior Clayton Becker leads the defense in sacks for the season with 4.5 and 8.5 tackles for losses.

On special teams, senior kicker Michael Pratl is a perfect 33 for 33 on PATs on the year. 

The Blue Devils: UW-Stout comes off a 40-10 loss at home to No. 5 ranked UW-Whitewater in Menomonie, Wisconsin last weekend.

Sean Borgerding has completed 108 of 198 attempts with with six interceptions this season.  UW-Stout is averaging 383.3 yards per game with 223.1 in the air and 160.1 yards rushing.  Levy Hamer is Borgerding's primary target with 57 receptions this season for six touchdowns and an average of 99.0 yards per game. Keyshawn Carpenter has stacked up 122 carries with five touchdowns and averages 60.9 yards per game.

On defense, the Blue Devils' Levi Wolf leads with 30 solos, 40 tackle assists and one interception. Dylan Peterson has tallied up 7 TFLs for 30 yards, 4.5 sacks for 23 yards,  and one forced fumble.

The Next Game: UW-Platteville will wrap up the 2018 season at home as they host UW-Whitewater on Senior Day in the annual George Chryst Memorial Bowl game.  Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. in Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium.