BRIDGEWATER, Va. -- The Bridgewater College football team hosts Hampden-Sydney to open the ODAC schedule on Saturday, October 1, on a rainy afternoon in the Shenandoah Valley.

When: Saturday, October 1, 2022
Where: Bridgewater, Va.
Stadium: Jopson Athletic Complex
Kickoff: 2:00 pm
Gameday Forecast: Not ideal weather
    High: 55; Low: 49; Rain:  90%
Series Record: Hampden-Sydney  leads, 61-16

SCOUTING THE TIGERS: Hampden-Sydney sits at 1-2 on the early season after two one-possesion losses to Wabash and Widener, and a blowout 70-28 victory over Greensboro last time out. Melik Frost was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week and the ODAC Offensive Player of the Week after his performance against The Pride on Sept. 17. The junior rushed for 211 yards and four touchdowns in the win and also leads the team in rushing. James-Ryan Salvi leads the Tigers on the defensive side of the ball with 37 total tackles and two pass break ups.

HAMPDEN-SYDNEY HEAD COACH: Tigers head coach Marty Favret enters his 23rd year at the head of the football program in Farmville. Since taking over just before the new millenium in December 1999, Favret has tallied a 141-83 record and six Division III Playoff appearances including a single playoff victory in 2013 over Maryville (TN). Favret ranks second all-time in wins at Hampden-Sydney and has totaled five ODAC Championships. Prior to his time at H-SC Favret was the offensive coordinator at Catholic for six seasons and won an ODAC Championship there as well.

LAST MEETING: The Eagles and Tigers last met on Nov. 6, 2021 in Farmville. Tanner Bernard accounted for two early Hampden-Sydney touchdowns in the first quarter to give the home team a 14-0 edge. The Tigers added a 30-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to take a 17-0 lead into the break. BC received the second half kickoff and took their drive with a methodical 16-play drive stretching over nine minutes to make it a two-possesion game. The Tigers struck back with a long drive of their own capped off by a touchdown to extend their lead to 24-17. The Eagles muscled their way back adding a late TD with four minutes to go.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Bridgewater and Hampden-Sydney have played in almost 70 total contests in a rivalry that dates back to 1929. The Tigers hold a 61-16 advantage in the all-time head-to-head with the Eagles winning just three of the last 12 meetings. The last Bridgewater victory came in 2019 via a 51-7 count in the midst of an ODAC championship season.

ODAC PRESEASON POLL: The Bridgewater College football team was picked to finish sixth in the annual ODAC Football Preseason Poll. Randolph-Macon walked away with six of the eight first-place votes to top the yearly head coaches' survey, while Washington and Lee received the last two first-place tallies and Hampden-Sydney rounded out the top three.

HOME SWEET HOME: Sophomore defensive back Noah Hines is experiencing a stellar first season as a starter for the Eagles. In the last time out, Hines traveled back to his hometown area. The Raleigh native went to Rocky Mount, N.C. to play in front of friends and family and came away with a big interception to lead to a BC touchdown. Earlier this year, the DB claimed ODAC Defensive Player of the Week laurels after his pick-six helped the Eagles overcome a halftime deficit to beat Gettysburg.

I'LL TAKE THAT: The Bridgewater football team currently ranks at the top of the NCAA with 15 takeaways through the first three games of the season. The number is tied for most in not only Division III, but all four levels of NCAA football.

TWO IS BETTER THAN ONE: Bridgewater has utilized a two-quarterback system across the first three games of the season as Malcolm Anderson and Jaylen Wood have alternated time in each game. Both quarterbacks sport a completion percentage above 65% with the two combining for seven touchdown passes compared to just one interception.

READY FREDDIE: Junior wide receiver Freddie Watkins sees himself among conference leaders in touchdown catches in 2022. With three TDs through the first four weeks of the season, he is tied for the second most in the league. Two of those grabs came in the last game at N.C. Wesleyan as the first-year starter had four grabs for 67 yards and two scores.

POINT, BRIDGEWATER: The Eagles have tallied 135 through three games this season, which equates to 45.0 points per game. The number is third in the ODAC behind Hampden-Sydney and Randolph-Macon and over double what BC averaged by the end of last season (21.7 points per game).

BOMBS AWAY: Bridgewater senior punter Garrett Graves launched a 70-yard punt two weeks ago at N.C. Wesleyan to pin the Battling Bishops inside their own five yard line. The D3football.com Preseason All-American owns the longest punt in the ODAC and leads the conference with a 40.5 yard per punt average, which is 15th in Division III.

AROUND THE ODAC (WEEK 4): The entire ODAC opens conference play this weekend after the entire league observed the bye week last weekend. Guilford makes the trip to Ashland to take on No. 19 Randolph-Macon at 1 p.m. The Panthers of Ferrum will travel to Shenadoah to take on the Hornets also in the 1 p.m. time slot. Averett will play its first ODAC football game in Lexington against the Generals of Washington and Lee to round out the first ODAC slate of the season.

OTHER BRIDGEWATER TEAMS IN ACTION: It was scheduled to be another busy weekend for BC Athletics but two teams saw their games scrapped due to Hurricane Ian. Field hockey's non-conference game with Meredith has been canceled and women's golf's trip to the VSGA Intercollegiate is postponed. Volleyball will take a two game road trip over the weekend to take on Averett on Friday and Guilford on Saturday. Men's tennis is in Fredericksburg, Va. for the ITA Southeast regional this weekend and men's soccer is hosting Ferrum on Saturday afternoon for Senior Day. The women's soccer team is set to go to Guilford, pending updates with the weekend weather.

OTHER HAMPDEN-SYDNEY TEAMS IN ACTION: Three Tigers teams will be in action on Saturday including the football squad's trip to the Shenandoah Valley. The men's soccer team is slated to also make the trip to the Valley to take on No. 13 Washington and Lee. The men's tennis team is also at the ITA Southeast Regional like BC.

NEXT TIME OUT: Bridgewater returns to action next Saturday, October 8, as it hosts Shenandoah at 2 pm. During the game, the department will honor the 2022 Athletics Hall of Fame inductees.