A return to Middletown is a welcome sight for the Wesleyan football team, who come into Week 6 having lost consecutive games on the road to Colby and Tufts. The opposition on Saturday is a Bowdoin team that comes in with a 3-2 record and also having defeated the Cardinals 28-26 in Brunswick last season, which was the first Bowdoin win over Wesleyan since 2011. Coupling last season's loss to the Polar Bears with back-to-back defeats and it's safe to say the Cardinals will have some extra motivation come time for kick off on Andrus.
 
The last two meetings between these two sides have been back-and-forth high-scoring affairs, with Bowdoin winning 28-26 last season and the Cardinals taking a 38-35 decision in Middletown back in 2021. Last season's meeting saw the Cardinals dominate the statistics, outgaining the Polar Bears 502-261, but several miscues loomed large as Bowdoin took advantage of a poor punt in the first quarter, a muffed punt return in the second quarter, a pick-six in the third quarter, and two Wesleyan trips to the red zone that resulted in no points in the fourth. In 2021, Wesleyan held on as Charlie McPhee '22 scored on a 2-yard plunge with 1:06 remaining and later saw Bowdoin kicker Jotham Casey miss the potential game-tying field goal as the clock expired. Bowdoin totaled a massive 514 yards of total offense in that game while the Cardinals racked up 488 as the two sides combined for over 1000 yards of offense and 73 points.
 
Wesleyan comes into this meeting averaging 22.8 points per game in 2023, the fourth-highest total in the NESCAC while the defense is allowing 24.2 points per game. The Cardinals have given up the third-fewest yards per game (296.2) and have the NESCAC's second-best rush defense (90.2 yards allowed per game). The pass defense will be tested against a dynamic Bowdoin offense, as Wesleyan has allowed just over 200 passing yards per game, which ranks as the fourth-fewest in the league.
 
QB Niko Candido '25 has been incredible all year, putting up 1260 passing yards on a 55.6 completion percentage with 12 TD and just 2 INT. His 6:1 TD:INT ratio is second-best in the NESCAC while he also ranks second in completions (94). The receiving duo of WR Chase Wilson '25 and WR Thomas Elkhoury '24 have impressed all throughout the season, with Wilson coming in with 28 catches for 407 yards and 7 TD (2^nd in NESCAC) while Elkhoury has 31 catches (3^rd NESCAC) for 434 yards and 2 TD. Both average north of 80 receiving yards per game. RB Tyler Flynn '26 leads the team with 212 rushing yards on the season, ranking Top 10 in the NESCAC.
 
On the defensive side, LB Ben Carbeau '25 leads the Cardinals with 34 tackles while LB Jake Edwards '24 is second on the team with 33 tackles (24 solo) while leading the group with four tackles for loss. CB Wesley Abraham '25 has a NESCAC-leading three interceptions and nine pass breakups while CB Sean Walker '25 has six pass breakups to rank 5^th in the NESCAC. DL Declan Welch '26 and DL Jake Karmin '27 lead the team with two sacks each.
 
Both squads come in with a 3-2 record, with Bowdoin sporting wins over Williams and Bates at home along with a road win at Hamilton to open the season. A signature win for the Polar Bears came in a 20-0 triumph over the Ephs in Week 2, which signaled the first shutout win for Bowdoin since 1998 and the first time the team started 2-0 since 2005. The Polar Bears are a solid group across the board, with the NESCAC's third-best scoring offense (23.6) and defense (18.0). Bowdoin sports the best passing attack in the NESCAC, coming in at 284.4 yards per game as QB Andrew Boel has NESCAC-leading 1,350 yards with 10 TD through five games. The Polar Bear defense has been outstanding most of the season, generating the most sacks (16) of any team in the NESCAC while being one of just three teams allowing fewer than 100 rushing yards per game.
 
Boel spreads the ball around, with four Polar Bears coming into Saturday with double-digit reception totals on the season. WR Colton Fahey leads the team with 24 catches for 463 yards and 4 TD as the senior wideout is averaging 19.6 yards per catch (2^nd in NESCAC). TE Brendan King has been a weapon all season, sporting impressive all-around numbers at the position with 20 receptions for 286 yards and 4 TD. He has at least 57 receiving yards and 1 TD in 4-of-5 games this season. RB Andre Eden leads the rushing attack with 305 yards on the season (4^th in NESCAC). One area the Polar Bears need to clean up is penalties, as the Polar Bears come in with 33 penalties for 331 yards on the season, both tops in the NESCAC.