BRIDGEWATER, Va. -- The Bridgewater College football team is set for its first road trip of the season as it heads to Southern Virginia on Saturday afternoon. 

Bridgewater at Southern VIrginia
When: Saturday, September 9, 2023
Where: Buena Vista, Va.
Stadium: Knight Stadium
Kickoff: 1:00 pm
Gameday Forecast: Mostly Cloudy
    High: 80; Low: 70; Rain: 20%
Series Record: BC Leads 4-0 (Last Meeting: 2022)

WATCH LIVE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bseDTcPO9XQ
LIVE STATS: https://knightathletics.com/sidearmstats/football/summary

SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS: Southern Virginia is coming off a rough game one as it dropped a 45-0 contest at Christopher Newport to open the 2023 season. The Knights totaled only 54 yards of total offense compared to over 300 yards of offense allowed by the defense. Southern Virginia was held to just one third-down conversion and was 1-for-10 on the day in total. The team also surrendered 80 yards off eight penalties and managed to pick up just three first downs in the loss. Last season, the Knights finished 1-9, including a 1-6 mark in games within the USA South.

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA HEAD COACH:  Head coach Joe DuPaix returns to lead the Knights after spending the last several seasons on the Navy sidelines. Recently, Navy finished as the 20th-ranked team in the nation and had the ninth-best rushing attack in the nation in 2021. He returns to Buena Vista after coaching the Knights for a pair of seasons from 2016-17 when the team went 4-16. Prior to his time at SVU and Navy, DuPaix spent time at BYU, Cal Poly and Missouri-Rolla. DuPaix played at Southern Utah where he was the starting quarterback after earning Junior College All-America honors at Snow College in Utah. 

LAST MEETING: The two teams squared off at the Jopson Athletic Complex a year ago in Week 2 with the Eagles coming out on top 58-10. The game was close through the first half until a last-second 40-yard Hail Mary pass from Malcolm Anderson connected with Freddie Watkins to put BC up 24-10 at the break. The Bridgewater defense prevailed in the second half keeping SVU off the board and Aaron Moore returned an interception 20 yards for a touchdown. Anderson finished with three touchdowns through the air to three different wide outs. 

ALL-TIME SERIES: The Eagles have had their way with the all-time series as they have come out on top of all four previous match ups against Southern Virginia. This will be the third season in a row the teams face off after not playing in 2020-21 with Bridgewater outscoring the Knights 165-56 in the first four games of the all-time series. The sides first met in 2010 with BC battling for a 32-23 victory and has since not allowed more than 17 points in a game. BC averages over 41 points per game against SVU.

RUNNING MAN: Last season's NCAA Division III kick return individual statistical champion, Brendan Robinson, exploded for over 200 yards of kick return yardage in the Week One loss to Susquehanna. He also returned a kick 82 yards for a touchdown following a safety to get the Eagles within one score near halftime. Robinson also ranks 10th in all of Division III in all-purpose yards following one week of play. 

HAVE A NICE DAY: Bridgewater standout sophomore linebacker Aaron Nice set a new collegiate best with 13 total tackles in Week One against the River Hawks. Nice worked his way into the starting lineup last season and recorded a pair of games with 10 stops at the end of the season, including his 6.5 sack performance against Guilford to end the 2022 regular season. A second team All-ODAC pick from a year ago, Nice ranks second in the league in total tackles and in solo tackles (9). 

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: Sophomore receiver Ian Browne recorded his first collegiate catch and his first collegiate touchdown on a 55-yard catch-and-run from quarterback Malcolm Anderson last week. Browne, a native of Owings Mills, Maryland, did not see varsity action as a freshman last season and now appears at the top of the Eagles depth charts. 

PRESEASON POLL: Bridgewater was selected to finish second and garnered one first-place vote in the 2023 ODAC Preseason Poll that was released prior to the start of the season. The Eagles got 39 points to edge out Washington and Lee in third who has 37 points. 

OTHER SOUTHERN VIRGINIA TEAMS IN ACTION: Southern Virginia has a busy weekend on tap as the women's volleyball team heads to Lexington for a tournament at Washington and Lee and the men's soccer team takes on Penn College in Winchester on Friday. Joining the football team in action on Saturday are the cross country teams in Pennsylvania, volleyball wrapping up play at W&L, both tennis teams going to Guilford and both soccer teams in action, as well. 

OTHER BRIDGEWATER TEAMS IN ACTION: Plenty of action for the Eagles begins on Friday evening as the volleyball team heads to William Peace for the first day of the Raleigh Invitational, while Saturday's and Sunday's action features a majority of fall sports in competition. The field hockey team hosts Wooster on Saturday and Cedar Crest on Sunday, while the men's soccer team plays host to Wilson and McDaniel. The volleyball team goes across town from William Peace to Meredith for the second day of the Raleigh Invitational, while the women's soccer program features tough competition against nationally-ranked Carnegie Mellon and close out the weekend against Susquehanna.