WISE - - Tusculum will look to halt a three-game losing skid while UVA Wise will look to improve on its 1-9 record on the road since 2019 when the two schools meet in Greeneville, Tenn. at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Saturday's contest will feature the top two sack men in the South Atlantic Conference. The Pioneers' Nelson Louis and the Cavaliers' Joel Burgess have each recorded five sacks to this point in the season as the pair of defensive linemen have been anchor for their respective units.

Thanks in large part to the pass rush, both teams have been among the league leaders in pass defense. Tusculum leads the league in passing yards allowed, holding opponents to just 165.7 passing yards per game. UVA Wise leads the conference and ranks fifth nationally in interceptions with ten. In terms of sacks, the Cavaliers are second in the league and seventh nationally at 4.2 sacks per contest while the Pioneers rank third in the SAC at three sacks a game.

Both pass defenses will face capable quarterbacks in Tusculum's Ivan Corbin and UVA Wise's Lendon Redwine. Corbin leads the league in passing yards per completion at 14.64 while ranking third in passing yards (1,391) and passing yards per game (231.8). The signal caller is also the league leader in total offense at 265.2 yards a contest. Redwine is the SAC's leader in touchdown passes (14), while also ranking second in passing yards (1,440), passing yards per game (240.0) and points responsible for (90).

With a win, the Cavs would be above .500 following seven games for the first time since 2016 and be in prime position for the program's first winning season since 2016.

The Pioneers have been the victim of several close losses. All four of the team's losses have come by one possession, including a double overtime loss to Chowan and an eight-point setback to No. 10 Wingate.

This will be the 12th all-time meeting between Tusculum and UVA Wise. The Cavs lead the all-time series 6-to-5 and are 2-2 all-time in Greeneville. UVA Wise's last trip to Tusculum resulted in a thriller as Dane Damron's team posted a 13-10 overtime victory in Damron's inaugural game as the head coach of the Cavs.

UVA Wise will return home next week to face nationally ranked Wingate in a 12 p.m. kickoff, it will be the third nationally ranked for the Cavs have played this season.