MONMOUTH, Ill. - Perhaps a change of scenery will favor the Fighting Scots football team Saturday when they meet one of last year's Midwest Conference co-champions, the Ripon College Red Hawks, in a 1:30 p.m. game.

In their last 10 trips to Ripon, the Scots have recorded just two victories. Though short in quantity, the wins have been long on quality, as the 1972 team moved to 8-0 with a thrilling 40-30 triumph and the 1989 squad, which won a third straight MWC South Division title that year, edged the hosts in a memorable 3-2 contest.

For Saturday's game, the Red Hawks are taking after the NFL's Chicago Bears and are playing a home game on the road. The field that the school uses in Ripon is not fit for play, so the game will be played at the high school field in Markesan, Wis., about 15 miles southwest of Ripon.

Surprisingly, both teams will come into the contest winless on the year, but they both know that a victory will make them a solid contender to challenge St. Norbert for the league title.

Last week, the Scots fell 40-23 against Loras College, surrendering two late touchdowns to break open a close game. Meanwhile, Ripon was shut out in the second half in a 42-19 loss to Concordia (Wis.). The contests were similar in that both were close at halftime, but the opponents' ability to run the football wound up being the deciding factor. The Scots surrendered 249 yards on the ground after being very effective in that department a year ago. In their game, the Red Hawks allowed 279 rushing yards, and their guests outscored them 21-0 in the second half.

"I told our guys after the game that I don't care what the evolution of football becomes with West Coast offenses and the like - you still have to run the football, and you still have to be able to stop the run," said MC head coach Steve Bell, who fell to 1-2 in season-openers at Monmouth. "We didn't do either. Offensively, we were manhandled up front and defensively, we didn't play well at the linebacker level."

What Monmouth's poor running game meant was that Bell had to call a staggering number of pass plays. Quarterback Rob Purlee threw 43 times - the second-most attempts in school history - but he was productive, completing 25 for 383 yards, both school records. He connected on two scoring passes to Tyler Snyder, whose 168 receiving yards and 10 receptions put him second on the MC honor roll in both categories.

"Other than one glaring mistake, the guy (Purlee) was really making some plays," said Bell.

"He had a very, very good game. And Tyler was, basically, on."

However, said Bell, "I do not want to throw the football that much. We can throw the ball when we have to, but I like being able to run the ball so that we can eat the clock. We've just got to get better at it."

Not counting sacks, the Scots had just 37 yards on 28 attempts. Oscar Scott was the team's leading rusher with 10 yards.

"I thought the game was very evenly matched," said Bell. "Loras is a very good football team. We can be. We just made too many mistakes. We turned the ball over twice inside the 20, and they scored on both of them."

Bell felt the turning point came when the Scots came away empty on a third-quarter drive that reached the Loras 7-yard line. Monmouth wound up missing a game-tying 29-yard field goal, and the Duhawks scored 2:13 later on a 54-yard run for a 26-16 lead.

"The one overall bright spot is that now we've got a game under our belts," said Bell, who had 10 players making their first collegiate starts - defensive back Tyler Yarde, linebackers Jason Lydic and Justin Zigler, defensive linemen Jake Hushka and Andy Stumpf, offensive linemen Dan Wingler, Scott DePue, Matt Copple and Marshall Price and tailback Todd Sabean.

"Our goal is to win the conference," he said. "We've got a game under our belts against a non-conference team that was a big upgrade for us, and we accomplished some of the things we wanted to do.

"We know Ripon is going to be extremely well-coached," he added. "They're also very athletic, particularly in the defensive backfield. Like us, they had some holes to fill."

One example is at tailback, where All-MWC selection Troy DeVoe has graduated. Bell said his replacement, Luke Hagel, is also a good, athletic runner. Hagel rushed for 109 yards on 20 carries last week and caught five passes for 31 yards. He runs behind an experienced offensive line led by All-MWC selections Brad Day, Dan Lutter and Curtis Maurer. Other standouts for the Red Hawks include tight end Nick Vraney, linebacker Andy Uecker and defensive backs Nate Reblin and Travis LeRoy. Sophomore Matt Trickey has won the open quarterback position.

"Ripon's going to be very physical up front, so we're going to have to step it up," he said. "At the beginning of our schedule, we're seeing a lot of very physical teams. Loras was physical, Ripon is, and our next two opponents, St. Norbert and Beloit, are also physical teams."

Overall, Bell can live with the fact that Monmouth is 0-1 on the season. Falling to 0-1 in the MWC, though, with St. Norbert on the horizon, is no place the Scots want to be.

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