WALTHAM, Mass. – Following their only bye of the regular season, the Bentley University Falcons will put their unblemished record, 12-game winning streak and lofty rankings on the line Saturday with Franklin Pierce University providing the opposition.

Kickoff on the Bentley Football Field is set for 1 pm. For those unable to attend, a webcast will be available on the NE10 Digital Network.

Bentley, whose 7-0 start is its best since the 2003 team carried a 10-0 mark into the NCAA playoffs, has climbed to number 11 in the AFCA Division II coaches poll and was listed at number one in this past week's NCAA Division II East Region rankings.

Franklin Pierce's record in their second season of varsity competition is just the opposite with the Ravens winless in seven games. They've played teams tough with their losses including two in overtime earlier this month.

Both teams faced Southern Connecticut in their most recent contest with Bentley spoiling the Owls' Homecoming two weeks ago, 34-20, and the Southern doing the same to Franklin Pierce last week, 43-24.

Coach Bill Kavanaugh's team will need to be careful not to look past the Ravens to next Saturday's opponent, New Haven. The two Northeast-10 co-leaders (both 5-0 NE10) will meet Nov. 6 in West Haven, Conn. in the penultimate game of the regular season. This Saturday, New Haven is at home against Assumption.

In the Southern victory, senior quarterback Stephen Sturm (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley HS) continued his strong play as he accounted for five touchdowns (one rushing, four passing) to push his season total to 20 and his career total to 62, including 51 passing.

Sturm has thrown at least one TD pass in eight straight games and multiple touchdowns five times this season. He's completed 60 percent of his passes this season and has 7,250 yards in career total offense, fifth in program history.

Eight different players have been on the receiving end of one or more of his scoring passes this season, with senior Noah Neville (Boston/Newton North HS) leading the way with four. He's also the team leader in reception and receiving yards, with 21 for 347.

The Bentley ground game has been the most productive in the conference (223.3) and has put up at least 200 yards five times in seven games. Nine NE10 players have at least 350 rushing yards and three of those are Falcons. Junior Nathaniel Larkins (Huntington, N.Y./John Glenn HS) has 510, grad student Andrew Brazicki (Franklin Park, N.Y./St. Thomas Aquinas HS) has 413 and Sturm Is at 354.

Brazicki is only 35 yards shy of becoming Bentley's first player with 2,000 career rushing yards since Bobby Tarr in 2012. Currently, only seven Falcons in program history have reached that milestone.

Defensively, Bentley ranks among the conference leaders in most categories and has only allowed 72 points before the fourth quarter this season. The Falcons have come up with a conference-high 16 takeaways and have the same number of sacks.

Linebackers Cole McCubrey (Boylston/Tahanto Reg. HS) and Salvatore Lupoli (Chelmsford/ Chelmsford HS) lead the team in tackles, with 65 and 53, respectively, McCubrey, a UMass graduate transfer, has reached double figures three times this season and as scored two touchdowns, once on a pick-six and once on a pass reception.

Senior defensive end Cedie Dashiell II (Buena Park, Calif./Buena Park HS) has been stuffing the stat sheet all season with seven sacks, five QB hurries, three forced fumbles and a recovery to go along with 35 tackles.

In junior EJ Burgess, Franklin Pierce will come to Waltham with the conference's leading rusher. He has run for 914 with eight touchdowns and an average of 5.7 yards per carry.     

Sophomore QB Drew Capanale) has been effective behind center. Nearly 60 percent of his passes have been on target, and he has 682 passing yards.

Defensively, Franklin Pierce is last in both scoring and total defense with their opponents averaging 36.9 points and 437.3 yards. They've forced nine turnovers but have seen their opponents convert third downs at a 57 percent rate.

After facing Franklin Pierce and New Haven, Bentley will finish the regular season at home on Nov. 13 with the second meeting of the season against Assumption.