ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's football team seeks its first win in Great Lakes Valley Conference play and for the 2023 season Saturday when it closes out its three-game homestand with a visit from conference newcomer Upper Iowa to Allgood-Bailey Stadium.  Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Saturday's game is a rematch of a meeting that took place on Sept. 16 in Fayette, Iowa – a non-conference game between the squads – that was won by Upper Iowa 38-26.  The Miners led 13-0 and were on the cusp of scoring again when a fumble just outside the goal line swung the tide of the contest in UIU's favor, as the Peacocks drove for a touchdown off of that turnover to ignite a 31-point run.

S&T is coming off a 26-13 loss to 14^th-ranked Indianapolis in its GLVC opener on Saturday, a game it trailed in by just three heading into the fourth quarter.  The Miners fell behind 10-0, but came back to tie it on a 42-yard field goal by Layne Ryals (Louisburg, KS/Louisburg) and a one-yard touchdown run by Cameren Smith (Claymont, DE/Concord).  Ryals kicked another 42-yard field goal as the opening half ended, but the Miners could only muster 51 yards of total offense in the second half and were held off the scoreboard.

Quarterback Tyler Gioia (Huntington Beach, CA/Edison) completed 15-of-29 passes for 151 yards in the contest and enters play this weekend having completed 63.7 percent of his passes for 1,259 yards and 10 touchdowns.  Gioia's yardage figure leads the GLVC and is currently the most by any freshman quarterback in NCAA Division II.

CJ Wiggins (Yuma, AZ/Gila Ridge) leads the receiving corps with 26 catches for 397 yards and two touchdowns, while Blaize Klossner (Rolla, MO/Rolla) has 23 catches for 202 yards and a score. Tight end Justis Braden (Liberty, MO/Liberty North) had four touchdown receptions on the year and CJ Jarmon has three, while Smith has rushed for five touchdowns as he leads the Miners with 325 yards rushing.

Defensively, linebacker Justin Gniedziejko (Chicago, IL/Taft) leads the Miners with 35 tackles and safety Carson Prenger (Jefferson City, MO/Blair Oaks) has recorded 32 stops, while Justin Amaro (Wichita, KS/Goddard) has 6.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.  Defensive end Aidan Hurtado (Austin, TX/McNeil) has six stops for a loss is coming off a game with two sacks and a fumble recovery; he leads the Miners with 3.5 sacks on the season.

Saturday's game, which will be First Responders Night and Church and Community Organizations Night at S&T, will mark only the second time in program history that the Miners are playing a team twice in a season.  The previous instance came in 1945, right after the end of World War II, when S&T faced Missouri State two times when teams were playing limited schedules that season.

ABOUT UPPER IOWA: Like the Miners, the Peacocks dropped their conference opener on Saturday when they fell 30-13 at William Jewell. Upper Iowa trailed 10-7 late in the first half, but gave up two touchdowns in a span of 23 seconds in the final minute of the half.  The Peacocks outgained the Cardinals 357-350 in the game, but two interceptions led directly to the 14-point outburst at the end of the second period.

Upper Iowa has done the bulk of its offensive damage through the air, averaging 281.2 of its 393.8 yards per contest in the passing game.  Darryl Overstreet Jr. and Marcus Orr have split the duties behind center and while Overstreet has thrown for 710 yards and five scores, Orr has completed 74.7 percent of his throws for 687 yards and seven touchdowns.  Five of Orr's seven scoring passes came in the win over S&T on Sept. 16.

Mante Morrow has been the top receiving target for UIU with 30 receptions for 458 yards and four touchdowns; he is second in the GLVC in receptions and first in yardage.  Willy Camacho has 25 catches for 222 yards, while Jayden Mitchell – the top rusher for the Peacocks with 237 yards on the season – has also hauled in 18 passes for 147 yarsd and two touchdowns.  Upper Iowa has thrown for more than 275 yards in three of its last four games, but has only one game with 100 rushing yards.

Linebacker John Butsch leads the Peacocks in tackles with 40 on the season, including a team-high eight for a loss.  Trevor Thompson has made 24 tackles with six coming behind the line of scrimmage, while Ben Kamara and Zacarius Murray have 19 apiece.  Safety Tyler Owen shares the GLVC lead with three interceptions.