The Howard Payne Yellow Jackets are flying to Ohio in search of a second straight victory, as the five-time national champion Wittenberg Tigers await for a noon Saturday kickoff.

The Yellow Jackets (1-2) are coming off a 41-14 victory at Lyon College last week, while Wittenberg (0-1) has played just once, falling 24-14 to Baldwin Wallace.

In Howard Payne’s victory last week, the Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 38-0 halftime advantage.

“I was excited to see us start fast, we had good energy in the first half, but I was disappointed in how we played in the second half, I felt like we should have been more crisp,” said HPU second-year head coach Kevin Bachtel. “Defensively we played really well most of the game and they scored late on a blocked punt which was lazy on our part. To only give up 27 yards rushing is hard to do against anybody.”

HPU finished with 480 yards of total offense – 351 passing and 129 rushing – and allowed just 210 yards, including 27 yards on the ground.

“Zy (Gravitt) to Gus (Charles) is a big thing for us. Gus made some unbelievable catches on 50-50 balls,” Bachtel said in regard to some of the brightest spots from last week’s win. “Defensively, (Jacob) Korrodi played well again and has really stepped into his role and played well. Our front guys and linebackers are getting better, too. I see patience where there hasn’t been, and overall the unit’s playing pretty good.”

The Jackets enter Saturday’s contest averaging 25 points and 357 yards – 274 through the air and 83 on the ground – per game, with just two turnovers.

Quarterback Zy Gravitt has completed 42 of 71 passes for 782 yards with five touchdowns and one interception, while receiving leaders include Gus Charles (12-307, TD), Kristopher Creel (8-86), Jackson Meller (7-217, 2 TDs), and Klyderion Campbell (5-87, TD). Weapons out of the backfield include Blessing Ngene (105 rushing yards, TD), Kiante Stoker (61 rushing yards, 2 TDs), and Jalen Davis (47 rushing yards, TD).

Defensively, HPU is yielding 27 points and 332 yards – 195 passing and 137 rushing – per contest, with four takeaways.

Standouts include Kale Shaw (23 tackles, 1 for loss), Jacob Korrodi (22 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack), KC Cornelius (20 tackles, 1.5 for loss), Kadarius Carr (14 tackles), and Peyton Lowe (14 tackles, 1 for loss).

Regarding Wittenberg, Bachtel said, “They’re good and they’re big. The first time I turned on the film I thought I was looking at the University of Wisconsin. It’s going to be a huge challenge for us. Their front guys are really good up front on both sides of the ball. Athletically, we feel like we probably have a leg up on the them, but up front on the offensive line and defensive line they are really, really good, so that’s a concern. Offensively, they want to throw the ball a little more than I thought, but they’ve only played one game and they were behind most of it.”

The Tigers finished with 279 yards of total offense – 203 passing, 76 rushing – with three turnovers in their loss to Baldwin Wallace. Wittenberg put the ball on the ground six times but lost only two of the fumbles, threw an interception and missed a field goal attempt as well.

Quarterback Max Milton completed 22 of 37 passes for 203 yards with a touchdown and an interception, while Christian Manville rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown and also caught three passes for 45 yards. Kahleel Trent led all receivers with seven catches for 85 yards, Troy Teepe grabbed four passes for 36 yards and Earl Pope finished with two catches for 20 yards with a touchdown.

Defensively, Wittenberg surrendered 242 yards – 184 passing and 58 rushing – with one interception and one fumble recovery.

Leading the charge for the Tigers are Cameron Snurr (9 tackles, 1.5 for loss), Eli Renick (8 tackles, 2.5 for loss, 0.5 sacks), Tyre Smith (7 tackles, 1 for loss,1 sack), Nick Wadsworth (6 tackles, 2 for loss), Jourdan Stipe (5 tackles, 0.5 for loss), and Dalton Allen (5 tackles, 1.5 for loss, 0.5 sacks). Luke Jackson intercepted a pass and Trenton Carter recovered a fumble.

“We need to be able to run the football, we have to improve our run game,” Bachtel said in regard to the keys to victory. “We averaged 3 yards a carry last week which is good, but we’re facing a much different front this week. Also, if we can get our guys in space and find a way to get them the ball, that’s a huge key for us.

“Defensively, we need to be able to stop the run and make them one-dimensional where they have to throw because I think we’re better athletically. As far as special teams, we were pretty good on kickoffs, but we need to clean up the punts and we did that this week in practice and made some personnel changes.”