ROLLA, Mo. – Coming off a thrilling comeback win over Southwest Baptist, Missouri S&T's football team returns to Allgood-Bailey Stadium for Homecoming this weekend as the Miners host Upper Iowa in a 1 p.m. contest.

The Miners got a field goal from Layne Ryals (Louisburg, KS/Louisburg) with two seconds remaining to come away with the 42-40 win over SBU, improving to 3-2 overall and winning for the first time in Great Lakes Valley Conference play in the process.  S&T had to overcome deficits on three different occasions in the second half to earn the victory, its second of the season in last-second fashion.

Upper Iowa comes into Saturday's game at 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the GLVC after knocking off Lincoln 31-10 last week in Fayette, Iowa.  The Peacocks have won three straight games since an opening night loss to Drake, including a road victory over then-No. 24 Michigan Tech two weeks ago.

For Missouri S&T students with the hard hats, Saturday's game will also be the sticker game for the football season and will honor Owen Fraser, the NCAA Division II discus throw champion from the 2025 outdoor track & field season.

ABOUT THE MINERS: Missouri S&T outlasted Southwest Baptist in a back-and-forth contest last week, rallying three different times in the final 20 minutes to win for the third time this season.  The winning points came on a 23-yard field goal by Layne Ryals (Louisburg, KS/Louisburg) with two seconds left as the Miners drove 69 yards on their final drive after the Bearcats had taken the lead with 3:10 to play.

Ryals was one of three Miners to win Player of the Week honors this week – the first time one school has swept the three weekly honors since the GLVC began sponsoring football in 2012 – as he took the conference's special teams award.  Peyton Webster (Springfield, IL/Springfield), who had nine tackles and two interceptions, landed the defensive award and quarterback Jake Farrell (Scottsdale, AZ/Notre Dame Prep) was named as the winner on offense.

Farrell threw for a career-high 402 yards and three touchdowns, going 33-of-47 in the contest, and that performance also landed him the Offensive Player of the Week award from D2Football.com.  On the season, Farrell has completed 61.6 percent of his throws for a league-high1,418 yards and 12 touchdowns.

His leading target has been Reid Weber (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell), who had eight catches for a career-best 126 yards and two scores on Saturday and enters the weekend with a GLVC-leading 28 receptions for 354 yards and six touchdowns.  Sheldon Butler-Lawson (Junction City, KS/Junction City) has made 21 catches for 190 yards and Justis Braden (Liberty, MO/Liberty North) – who had a career-high nine grabs at SBU – has 18 receptions for 162 yards.

Evan Wells (Roxana, IL/Roxana) leads the Miners in the rushing department with 216 yards and scored his first career touchdown on Saturday, while AJ Harris (Wentzville, MO/Lutheran-St. Charles) – who also reached the end zone against the Bearcats – has 189 yards on the year.

The Miner defense is paced by linebacker Seneca Bradley (Clarksville, TN/Rossview) Jr., who has been in on 33 stops and also has three tackles for a loss. Justin Gniedziejko (Chicago, IL/Taft) has made 26 tackles on the year and Cameron Sturgell (Lamar, MO/Lamar), who had 11 stops along with Bradley on Saturday, comes into the game with 25 tackles on the season.

Bentley Hart (Brookland, AR/Brookland) leads S&T with seven tackles behind the line of scrimmage which ranks fourth in the GLVC, while Christian Kemp (Madison, AL/Bob Jones), who has five tackles for a loss, is the S&T sack leader with three as the Miners have reached the quarterback 10 times this season.

ABOUT UPPER IOWA: The Peacocks, picked to finish third in the GLVC after posting a seven-win campaign in 2024, have lived up to their billing thus far this season as they come into Saturday's game at 3-1 after winning their conference opener by a count of 31-10 over Lincoln on Saturday.  Upper Iowa received votes in this week's American Football Coaches Association national poll.

Quarterback Darryl Overstreet Jr. has completed a league-leading 73.2 percent of his passes this season (82-of-112) for 997 yards and 10 touchdowns after going 17-of-22 for 212 yards in the win over Lincoln.  He has two of the league's top pass catchers in Mante Morrow, who has 22 catches for 426 yards – his 106.5 yards per game and seven touchdowns lead the GLVC – and tight end Eddie Burgess, who has hauled in 17 balls for 204 yards.

Damon Head Jr. ranks eighth in the conference in rushing with 230 yards and a pair of scores, as he is part of a three-man combination at the running back position.  Jayden Gordon has rushed for 78 yards and Calvin Swinney has added 65 for a team averaging 117.5 yards per game on the ground and 387.5 yards a game overall.

Safety Tade Parsons leads the Peacocks with 28 tackles on the season, while linebacker Trevor Thompson has made 23 stops.  Defensive ends Demontay Mack and Shaquille Roman have combined for nine tackles for a loss and 4.5 sacks, while four different Peacocks have recorded interceptions.