Lenoir-Rhyne is the only undefeated team in the South Atlantic Conference halfway through the 2023 collegiate football season, and the Barton College Bulldogs have a chance to end that when they meet Saturday for a Week 7 battle in North Carolina.

Barton College, which relaunched its football program in 2020 after a 70-year hiatus, has shown continued improvement, and the Bulldogs already have surpassed their win total from a year ago.

The Bulldogs are coming off a conference win against Newberry that moved them to 5-1 overall for this season and 3-1 in SAC play, which means this week’s showdown with Lenoir-Rhyne offers Barton a chance to establish itself as a conference contender.

Lenoir-Rhyne, 6-0 overall, tops the Piedmont Division standings at 4-0, while Barton College, Limestone and Wingate are 3-1 and in position to at least share control. 

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In 2022, the SAC introduced a championship game to determine the conference winner. With the conference split into two six-team divisions (Mountain and Piedmont), the top team in each at the end of the regular season advances to the title tilt. 

Though Barton returned to the gridiron for the 2020 season, the Bulldogs weren’t officially part of the SAC race until 2022. In 2020-2021, they were 1-4. In 2021, they were 6-5. Last year, the Bulldogs were 4-7 overall and 3-6 in their formal SAC debut. 

In the heat of the 2023 campaign, Barton College is getting noticed and received votes in the American Football Coaches Association Division II Poll. 

Lenoir-Rhyne is strong once again and comes into Week 7 at No. 12 in the AFCA Poll.

Lenoir-Rhyne is coming off a 31-28 overtime win over Limestone that ended with a 20-yard walk-off field goal by freshman Jake Brown. 

Since getting back into the mix in 2020, Barton College has not found any success against Lenoir-Rhyne. In three tries, the Bulldogs are 0-3 against the Bears, while being outscored 134-33.

Their 2022 meeting at Barton was a 34-0 Lenoir-Rhyne blowout in which the Bulldogs only managed 141 yards, while giving up more than 500.

Oh, and this is homecoming week for Lenoir-Rhyne. 

When Is Barton College Vs. Lenoir-Rhyne?

Barton College will take on Lenoir-Rhyne at Helen & Leonard Moretz Stadium in Hickory, North Carolina, on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 2 p.m. ET.

How To Watch The Barton College Vs. Lenoir-Rhyne Football Game

Football action is streaming live on FloFootball and the FloSports app, including the Barton College and Lenoir-Rhyne football game during Week 7. 

Replays and postgame highlights also will be available on both platforms. 

What To Know About Barton College Football

Barton College is a program on the rise, and the Bulldogs already surpassed their win total from last season.

In last week’s 34-17 conference win over Newberry, junior quarterback Jaquan Lynch threw for four touchdowns and ran for another. He now leads the SAC with eight rushing touchdowns in 2023. 

Lynch’s five-touchdown performance against the Wolves earned him the nod for the WePlayed Sports South Atlantic Conference Football Offensive Player of the Week, which was announced Monday.

As the primary quarterback for the Bulldogs this season, Lynch is 66-for-115 for 1,010 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions. His top target, junior wide receiver Kameron Johnson, has 31 catches this year for 528 yards and four scores. He ranks second in the SAC with 88 receiving yards per game.

Junior running back Jordan Terrell is running circles around the competition, and he leads the conference with 155.7 rushing yards per game. He has run for 934 yards on 143 attempts and has found the end zone five times.

As a team, Barton College is fifth among the SAC’s 12 teams in total offense at 378.8 yards per game but 10th defensively, allowing 357.3 yards per game.

Junior linebacker Shane Perry leads the Bulldogs with 50 total tackles. He ranks third in the SAC with 8.3 tackles per game.

What To Know About LR Football

Lenoir-Rhyne also was recognized by the conference this week, as redshirt senior defensive back T.J. Blanding was named the WePlayed Sports SAC Special Teams Player of the Week.

The honor came after he returned a blocked field goal 84 yards for a touchdown and tied the Bears’ game against Limestone with less than five minutes left in regulation. He added a pair of tackles, an interception and a pass breakup, all of which helped Lenoir-Rhyne escape with a 31-28 overtime win. 

The Bears kept their perfect record in tact, and during their six-game winning streak in 2023, they’re outscoring their opponents 242-55 (or 40.33-9.17 per game). The team’s most lopsided win of the season was a 62-0 rout of Erskine on Sept. 16.

Despite the big point totals, Lenoir-Rhyne is only averaging 395.2 offensive yards per game – 224.3 on the ground and 170.83 through the air. That ranks fourth in the 12-team SAC.

The top rusher for the Bears is junior running back Dwayne McGee, who has 656 yards and seven touchdowns this year. He is second in the SAC in yards per game (129) and rushing touchdowns.

Junior linebacker Jon Ross Maye leads the Lenoir-Rhyne defense with 42 total tackles. 

What’s The Weather Forecast?

It’s going to be a warm one Saturday in Hickory, North Carolina, when Barton College and Lenoir-Rhyne meet for control of the Piedmont Division of the 2023 SAC Football standings.

Showers are expected in the morning, but there shouldn’t be anything more than some clouds in the afternoon. Winds will be mild at 5-10 mph, and the temperature will be in the mid-70s. 

The skies will clear even more into the evening, but temps will drop into the 50s.  

Archived Footage On FloFootball

Video footage from the event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloFootball subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscription.

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