Wheaton College football held its No. 1 Division III ranking through a bye week and now faces a road test at Augustana College on Saturday, Oct. 31.
The Thunder (7-0, 5-0 CCIW) remain atop the Division III Top 25 polls, according to the program's athletics department. Kickoff at Augustana's Charles D. Lindberg Stadium is set for 1 p.m.
Wheaton claimed the top spot for the first time in program history after a 13-10 comeback win at then-No. 1 North Central on Oct. 10. Kicker Caleb Ryan, in his first year with the program, drilled an 18-yard field goal with five seconds left to cap a rally from a 10-2 fourth-quarter deficit. That victory ended North Central's 53-game CCIW winning streak.
The Thunder then defended the No. 1 ranking for the first time, rolling past Carroll 41-3 on Oct. 17 at McCully Stadium. Wheaton piled up 486 yards of total offense.
Quarterback Mark Forcucci went 17-of-24 for 284 yards and four touchdowns, pushing his career total to 80 touchdown passes. Receiver Seth Kortenhoeven hauled in seven catches for 192 yards and a score.
Forcucci became just the second player in Wheaton history to surpass 8,000 yards of total offense, finishing the Carroll game with 8,094 career yards, according to the athletics department. Kortenhoeven crossed 4,000 career all-purpose yards in the same game, only the fourth player in program history to reach that mark.
On defense, linebacker Zeke Harris recorded 10 tackles against Carroll and now has 199 career tackles, 24th on Wheaton's all-time list. Harris posted 18 tackles, including a critical interception, in the North Central win.
The season opened Sept. 5 with a statement. Wheaton, then ranked fifth, upset No. 3 Mount Union 24-23 at McCully Stadium after Aiden Byrne blocked a game-tying extra-point attempt with 22 seconds left. The win snapped Mount Union's 85-game regular-season winning streak.
Head coach Jesse Scott said after that opener, "I am really excited for our team to come out of here with a win in week one."
Augustana (4-3, 3-2 CCIW) enters Saturday on a two-game winning streak, according to the Vikings' schedule page. The Vikings lost 35-7 at North Central on Oct. 3 but have since beaten Millikin 49-41 and North Park 35-12.
FloFootball noted that 15 undefeated teams remain in the Division III Top 25 after seven weeks, with UW-Platteville (6-0), St. John's (6-0) and UW-Whitewater (6-0) trailing Wheaton in the rankings.
A win at Augustana would move the Thunder to 8-0 and 6-0 in CCIW play heading into November.
