The dog days of the schedule continue for the 1-6 Waynesburg University Yellow Jackets as they take a two-hour bus ride to face the Hiram College Terriers in Hiram, Ohio.

Coming off a bruising loss to the undefeated in Presidents’ Athletic Conference play Grove City Wolverines, the Yellow Jackets look to improve on both sides of the ball. 

“Offense and defense, a lot of up and down this year. I’m looking for more consistency in our style of play,” head coach Larry Wilson said. 

The offense of the Yellow Jackets is averaging just over 12 points per game and 251 yards per game, both of these numbers in the bottom three in the PAC. 

“The main thing the offense needs to do is just execute better, plain and simple,” senior running back Zayne Cawley said. “We just plan on sticking to what our offense is about but executing at a higher rate and consistently doing what we’re best at.”

Freshman quarterback Dominic Hickman got his first start of the season last week against Grove City and was the only Yellow Jackets quarterback to play all four quarters in a game so far this season. Wilson looks to call on him again as he is listed as the starter for this upcoming matchup.

“We’ve just been trying to find a path with the best quarterback in a situation,” Wilson said. “I wanted to see how Dom would do as a starter with a week of prep. For a freshman he played pretty well but there’s things that he learned and he’ll be executing at a higher level.”

Hickman has thrown for 607 yards and two scores on the season so far but the one issue for him is consistency to find his receivers. Hickman is averaging just south of 87 passing yards per game and through seven appearances he has thrown nine interceptions.

The Yellow Jackets defense has been the shining piece so far this season. Seven interceptions and 17 sacks are both more than the Yellow Jackets had through an entire season one year ago. On the road, the defense is giving up just 22 points per game and 257 yards per game. 

“Hopefully our style of play shows up early,” Wilson said. “Looking forward to see if they can set the tone for us to get this offense of Hiram uncomfortable.”

The hero of last year’s matchup was defensive back Marcus Crum Jr. As a freshman, Crum had two interceptions, one being game sealing, and a half a tackle for loss in the 35-27 win. Now a sophomore, Crum is now honed in on getting after the Terriers.

“What I look for out of our defense as a whole is really what we’ve been striving for all year: running, tackling and taking away the football,” Crum said. 

The defense’s goal going into the Terriers is to continue their ability to push the quarterback out of the pocket.

“Pressuring this quarterback to put him in panic mode and see him get careless with the football trying to make a play,” Crum said. “Keeping them out of the end zone by playing good coverage across the board and trusting our defensive line to pressure him and believing he’s gonna throw us a few balls.”

Hiram College Terriers:

Second-year head coach Xavier Dupree leads the Terriers into the 2026 season. The Terriers sit at 4-3, passing their win total from last season of three, and are 1-3 in conference play. 

Senior Sean Tejada returns as the quarterback for the Terriers. Tejada is tied for third in the PAC in passing touchdowns with 14 and is second in passing yards with 1,782. 

Tejada’s favorite target this season has been junior tight end Dylan Hargas. Hargas has hauled in 36 receptions for 464 yards and five touchdowns. Following Hargas is senior receiver Kevin Dycks who has 19 receptions for 421 yards and one score on the season.

For the Terriers defense it leans on sophomore defensive back Ocir Kimble to get the turnovers. Kimble is tied for the PAC lead with five interceptions and third in pass breakups with 10. Two other keys for the Terriers defense are freshman linebacker Kole Scott who leads the PAC in total tackles with 58 and junior linebacker Darius Cofield-Washington who is second in the PAC with 10.5 tackles for loss and tied for fourth in sacks with five. 

Kickoff for the PAC matchup between the Yellow Jackets and Terriers is at 3 p.m.  Saturday, Oct. 31.