Coming off of a 35-3 victory on the road against Hampden-Sydney, the Little Giant football team is more than ready to match up on the road this weekend against Allegheny College.
 
Coach Erik Raeburn, entering his 8th season as the Little Giant football team's head coach, reflects on the dynamic of the team going into a bye week and the Allegheny game week.
 
"I think that the combination of the guys having a great trip out to Hampden Sydney, getting a win on the road, and obtaining a rather convincing win gave the guys the confidence they need to approach this bye week and keep in mind that although we did come home with a solid win, there are still some things we can improve on."
 
Between the Hampden-Sydney and Allegheny games, the football team had a bye week, which has given rising starters a chance to settle into their positions after such a large senior class leaving last year. This year, however, Coach Raeburn is deciding to alter slightly the typical routine for the players during a bye week after noticing last year the players didn't come off of the bye week as strong as anticipated.
 
"This year, we're giving the players more days off during their bye week. We spent all day Sunday traveling, and we're giving the guys Monday off as well. We will practice Tuesday through Thursday and give the guys Friday and Saturday off as well. Sunday, we'll start gearing up for Allegheny."
 
This is atypical for the team, as they normally would jump right back into their full routine. Raeburn has decidedly changed the structure of their bye week to give players the opportunity to recover and get more rest.
 
"We're going to give the players more rest and a chance to heal up with the hopes that we'll come into the Allegheny game fresh and with our legs under us."
 
Although the Little Giants won handily over Allegheny last year for homecoming, Allegheny returns more starters than the Little Giants and it's no team to overlook. The leadership of the team carried over from last year and with that will be the memory of the shutout that Wabash gave to Allegheny just a year ago. They bring more experience to the table than they have in the past.
 
"We hope that our success last year gives our guys' confidence, but we have to guard against complacency. However, I don't foresee that being an issue. There are seniors who remember losing to Allegheny in 2012 in overtime when we should have won, and I think that will prevent any over-confidence or complacency."
 
The Little Giant team has won six of the last seven matchups with Allegheny.
 
When asked to give his input on the upcoming game against Allegheny, senior captain Eddie Cmehil stated, "We know we've got a better team than these guys but we've got to prove it. Freshman year they beat us and it ruined our season, and we remember that. We aren't going to let that happen this year."
 
Junior captain Connor Rice added, "We need to treat this like any other game, and stay focused. On any given day, any team can come out and win. We believe that we're the better team, we just need to go out there and show it."
 
Kickoff in Meadville, Pennsylvania is set for 1 p.m.