RIPON, Wis. - The last time Ripon played UW-La Crosse on the gridiron, Franklin D. Roosevelt was in office, the average cost of a new house was $3,450 and a gallon of gas was 10 cents. The year was 1935 and Ripon defeated La Crosse State Normal School, as it was called at the time, 13-0. Fast forward 81 years later, and the two teams will meet for a second time, this Saturday.

"It's a challenge to play a team that we're not familiar with, but the challenge is on them also," Ripon Head Coach Ron Ernst said. "The game of football is very simple in that it boils down to how well each team performs in 60 minutes."

That first meeting between these two teams also serves as the last time Ripon defeated a team from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC), a span of 11 games, although they have come close several times. UW-La Crosse enters this weekend with a 1-0 record after earning a convincing 45-14 victory at Luther College. The Red Hawks meanwhile are 0-1 after losing 40-30 at Concordia-Chicago last week.

"This weekend is going to be a great challenge for us, and we're looking forward to getting better as a football team," Ernst said. "Our goal is to improve this week, and with this being our final non-conference game, we're going to use it to prepare us for a tough Midwest Conference schedule."

Before Ripon gets into that grueling eight-game MWC slate, they must first tend to UW-La Crosse, who gained 284 rushing yards last week, while passing for 192 more.

"UW-La Crosse is a pretty balanced team. They have a good quarterback who runs well, a big offensive line, and receivers and running backs that catch the ball well and run hard. There isn't a lot that they struggle with," said Ernst.

The Eagles defense also played well last week, allowing just 89 yards through the air, but they did give up 224 rushing yards, which is an area that Ripon usually excels. Peter Krien is one player to watch on UW-L's defensive side of the ball. Krien finished last week's game with eight tackles (four solo), two sacks, and one interception.

"They have a very fast defense that runs to the ball well," Ernst said. "We'll have to execute on both sides and be solid on special teams in order to win this game."

Ripon's offense also showed some flashes of brilliance last week, scoring 30 second half points at Concordia-Chicago, but it wasn't enough to pull out the victory, partly due to getting shut out during the first two quarters. The Red Hawks defense was the complete opposite, only allowing seven points in the first half, but 33 in the second.

"The big thing we need to improve on is our consistency," Ernst said. "Last week was a tale of two halves where our offense played poorly in the first half and our defense played well, and the second half was the complete opposite for both sides of the ball.

Despite falling behind by 27 points early in the fourth quarter, Ripon rallied to cut that lead to nine. That showed a toughness and determination that can't be seen in the box score.

"Our players fought hard," Ernst said. "There was a point in the game where some teams would have folded, but our guys didn't. They continued to compete and that shows the character of the players in our program."

One aspect of Ripon's game that looks to be slightly different than past seasons is their passing offense. Against CU-C, Ripon quarterback Griffin McNeal threw for 259 yards, which marked the first time in 12 years that a Ripon quarterback has thrown for more than 200 yards in a single game. He also spread the ball around to six different receivers, with Cameron Mignone and Brent Anderson leading the way with four receptions apiece. Even with that success, there is always room for improvement.

"Our offense has to put our defense in better position and our defense has to get off the field and give the ball to the offense in better field position," Ernst said. "I'm looking for a total improvement across the board and we have a lot of work to do, but we're a young team and we're growing every week."

Ripon and UW-La Crosse will kickoff Saturday at 1:05 p.m. at Roger Harring Stadium in La Crosse, Wis. The game can be seen live at http://www.kqegtv.com/modules/web/index.php/id/344, with audio available at http://www.580wkty.com/. LiveStats will also be available for the game at http://www.sidearmstats.com/uwlax/football/.