Game Notes vs. Wisconsin Lutheran

WAUKESHA, Wis. - After a long offseason and watching seven of the nine other conference schools open the season during last week's bye, the Carroll University football team is anxious to begin the 2023 season this weekend against Wisconsin Lutheran. Not only will it be the Pioneers' first game of the year, but that game will also double as the second-annual "Glazer Bowl" presented by Kwik Trip. The winning team will capture "The Golden Glazer" trophy, which has resided in Waukesha for the past year.

"We had a really good camp and our guys have worked hard to improve the little things," Carroll Head Coach Mike Budziszewski said. "They're excited to play in the Glazer Bowl and it's going to be a great atmosphere, so we're all excited to kickoff the 2023 season."

The atmosphere will be enhanced even further by being the only home night game of the season and with the students starting school this week, there's already an added buzz to campus.

"The night game adds a little bit extra flair to the day," Budziszewski said. "We played at Wisconsin Lutheran for the Glazer Bowl last year and had a phenomenal Carroll crowd that came to the game, so I anticipate an even bigger crowd this weekend."

Carroll is trying to duplicate what they did in last year's inaugural Glazer Bowl, which ended in a 54-7 victory for the Pioneers. In that game, the Pios broke a single game school record for most first downs (34), while also scoring the program's most points in a game (54) in 10 years.

"We're finally playing a lot of seniors and juniors, so it's good to have guys that have been in our system for a few years that are now seeing the majority of the playing time," Budziszewski said. "It's good to have a veteran group out there because it allows us to do more things."

The Pioneers return eight offensive starters from a year ago, including their top two running backs, top four receivers, and senior quarterback Josh Raby, who threw for 264 yards and a career-high five touchdowns in last year's win over Wisconsin Lutheran. Raby finished last season with 1700 yards, 19 touchdowns, and just seven interceptions.

"Offensively, we're very excited about our front five and our tailback group and we're looking to establish our run game early and often," Budziszewski said. "We also have all the main pieces of our passing game returning, so we want to play fast and take what the defense gives us."

Defensively, Carroll will deploy a defense that returns seven starters from a year ago, including three-fourths of their defensive line and All-Conference linebackers Will Campbell and Damon Loker.

"We have one of the best front sevens that I've ever coached," Budziszewski said. "Our defensive line is deep and explosive, our linebacking core is very exciting, and our secondary is led by All-Conference safety Jake Binkowski, and improves as a unit every single day."

Wisconsin Lutheran lost 24-0 to Lake Forest College last weekend in what was their opening game of the season. The Warriors passed for 136 yards, with nearly half of those (65) coming on seven receptions by Trevion Green.

"Wisconsin Lutheran plays hard and they're very well coached," Budziszewski said. "We have to make sure that we take care of the football. They are very RPO predicated, so we need to remain disciplined on defense, while taking care of the football on offense and matching the intensity that they bring to the game."

Saturday's game will begin at 6 p.m. at Schneider Stadium in Waukesha. It can be seen live at https://gopios.com/watch/?Live=133&type=Live, with LiveStats available at https://gopios.com/sidearmstats/football/summary;team=away. This game, along with every game this season, can also be heard live on WAUK radio at https://waukradio.com/.