2014 Mount Union Football
#3/3 University of Mount Union Purple Raiders (5-0, 4-0 OAC) vs Heidelberg University Student Princes (4-1, 3-1 OAC)
Saturday, October 18 - 1:30 pm - Mount Union Stadium (Alliance, Ohio)
TV: Joe Tait (play-by-play), Harry Paidas (color)
- SportsTime Ohio - Sat. 11 pm; Sun. 5 am; Mon. 12 pm (Time Warner Cable NEO ch. 308/1308)
- WIVM-TV 39 Canton - Sat. 8 pm; Sun. 1 pm (Time Warner Cable NEO ch. 989)
RADIO:
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COMPLETE NOTES IN PDF FORMAT - Click Here
THE GAME
No. 3 ranked Mount Union hosts Heidelberg for homecoming Saturday, Oct. 18 at 1:30 pm at Mount Union Stadium in Alliance.
Mount Union posted its second straight shutout with a dominant 62-0 win at Ohio Northern last week. Quarterback Kevin Burke accounted for six touchdowns as he passed for three on 327 yards passing while matching his career-high with three rushing touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Roman Namdar had a career-best 176 yards receiving. The defense held Ohio Northern to 130 total yards and the Polar Bears ran only two plays on the day in Mount Union territory
Heidelberg dedicated its new on-campus stadium with a 54-21 win over Muskingum last Saturday. Quarterback Michael Mees completed 13-of-20 passes for 237 yards with two TDs to Donteea Dye. Dye had a 154 yards receiving while Cartel Brooks ran for 101 yards and two scores.
THE SERIES
This is the 59th meeting between the teams with Mount Union holding a 45-13 lead in a series that dates back to a 34-0 Purple Raider win in 1910. Mount Union has won the last 25 meetings with Heidelberg's last win coming in 1988, 24-14 in Tiffin. Heidelberg's last win in Alliance was a 24-7 win in 1972 ... the same year the Student Princes won the Stagg Bowl.
THE COACHES
Vince Kehres (Mount Union '98) is 19-1 (.950) in his second season as head coach. He went 14-1 in his first season in 2013 to set an NCAA record for most wins (14) by a first year college football coach. He earned OAC Coach of the Year and Lee Tressel Ohio College Football Coach of Year awards. Kehres spent 13 years, eight as defensive coordinator, on the Raiders coaching staff for his father Larry Kehres. As either a player of coach, Vince Kehres has been part of 10 of Mount Union's 11 national championships.
Mike Hallett (Mount Union '94) is 45-30 (.600) in his eighth season as head coach at Heidelberg. Over the last three seasons, Hallett has led the Berg to a record of 29-7, with an NCAA playoff appearance. In his first season, Hallett snapped the school's 36-game losing streak and won OAC and D3football.com North Region Coach of the Year honors. Hallett also spent eight seasons at Thomas More (Ky.) and was head coach for the final three of those seasons with a 15-15 record to make his career record 60-45.
STORYLINES
Mount Union has out-scored its first five opponents 217-0 in the first half. The Purple Raiders are the nation's highest scoring team averaging 64.0 points per game and nation's best scoring defense allowing opponents 4.0 points per game.
This week's matchup features a pair of senior quarterbacks that are among top-5 in passer rating in all of college football -- Mount Union's Kevin Burke is the nation's highest rated passer at 210.5 while Heidelberg's Michael Mees is fifth at 197.6.
For the first time in school history, Mount Union has started a season with five straight games scoring 50 or more points in each game.
SCOUTING THE STUDENT PRINCES
Heidelberg features a veteran team with an explosive offense and an aggressive defense -- sound familiar. The Berg opened the season with a 72-7 win over Alma (Mich.) before falling 43-16 at John Carroll in the OAC opener. Since that loss, Heidelberg has won three straight games averaging 56.0 points per game.
Senior quarterback Michael Mees is fifth in all of college football in passer rating (197.6) and is at the controls of the OAC's No. 2 offense (532.6 yds/gm). He has completed 69.9-percent of his passes (79-of-113) for 1200 yards and 15 TD's. His top receiver is fellow senior Donteea Dye, who has an OAC-best 8 receiving TD's and is second in the conference in yards per game (114.0). In the backfield, All-American senior running back Cartel Brooks is second in the OAC in rushing (116.2 yds/gm).
On defense, junior linebacker and Marlington High School graduate, Clay Staib leads Heidelberg and is third in the OAC in tackles (10.6 per game). The Berg defense leads the OAC in interceptions with 10 and is second in sacks with 20. Seniors Cale Sandridge and Tim Littles along with junior Alex Rentz each have two INT's while senior Ben Poirier has 4.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss.
The special teams unit has blocked four kicks two blocks came last week against Muskingum from freshman Tony Morris and both were returned for scores.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 733 Mount Union has an NCAA III best 733 wins as a program.
- 200-8 Mount Union's win-loss record since 2000
- 55, 54 The Raiders hold the NCAA's two longest consecutive college football win streaks -- 55 from 2000-2003 and 54 from 1996-99
- 118 consecutive regular season road victories for Mount Union dating back to a 21-18 loss at Baldwin-Wallace on Sept. 28, 1991.
- 140-0 Since 1996, the Raiders record when winning the turnover battle.
- 185-1 The Raiders record since 1990 when winning the turnover battle. That lone loss was a 20-17 loss to Wisconsin-LaCrosse in a 1995 national semifinal game in Alliance. In that game, the Raiders had a +1 turnover margin.
- 11 The Raiders 11 National Championships (1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012) are a record for college football teams in a playoff format. Notre Dame has the most college football titles (11) for teams playing in a non-playoff format.
- 88 game regular season win streak for Mount Union dating back to a 21-14 loss to Ohio Northern in Alliance on Oct. 22, 2005.
- 77 game home winning streak for Mount Union dating back to a 21-14 loss to Ohio Northern in Alliance on Oct. 22, 2005.
BURKE NATION'S TOP RATED PASSER
Nicknamed "#PaulBunyan" by ESPN's QB guru George Whitfield -- Mount Union senior quarterback Kevin Burke (Westlake/Lakewood St. Edward) threw three TD's on 327 yards passing then ran for three more on eight carries with 65 yards on the ground.
Burke, an All-American and reigning Gagliardi Trophy winner, is the nation's highest rated passer in all divisions of college football this season with a passer rating of 210.5. He has completed 70-percent of his passes (89-of-127) for 1,479 yards and an OAC-best 17 TD's. He did throw an interception last week that ended a string of 127 pass attempts with out an interception dating back to last season.
Burke's three rushing touchdowns matched his career-high as he had three against Widener (Pa.) in 2012. He also crossed the 2,000-yard rushing plateau and now has 2,006 rushing yards on 376 career carries. His six total touchdowns in a game is one off his career-high of seven (5 passing, 2 rushing) that he had against John Carroll in 2012.
Burke has also been selected as one of 167 semifinalists for the 2014 William V. Campbell Trophy®, presented by Fidelity Investments®. There will be 16 award winners hosted at the New York Athletic Club, this December.
DOMINATING DEFENSE
Mount Union enters the week No. 1 in NCAA Division III in total defense allowing opponents an average of 137.2 yards per game. The Raiders are also No. 1 in pass defense (73.2 yds/gm), scoring defense (4.0 ppg) and first down defense (9.2 per game).
Last week, Ohio Northern ran just two plays in Mount Union territory. In five games, the opposition has ran a total of 300 plays with 48 of those (16-percent) on the Raiders' side of the 50-yard line. Mount Union is No. 2 in the nation in 3rd down defense as opponents are are 12-of-75 (16-percent).
Junior linebacker Hank Spencer (Greencastle, Ind./North Putnam) leads the unit with 24 stops. Senior lineman Josh Butler (Lorton, Va./South County) is second in the OAC with 6.0 tackles for loss and has a team-high 2.5 sacks while six different players have an intercption.
BETTER TO RECEIVE
You will have to excuse juniors Roman Namdar (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) and Taurice Scott (Alliance/Alliance) if they think it is better to receive than give as the two former quarterbacks both had career days as receivers last week at Ohio Northern. Namdar had a career-best 176 yards receiving on seven catches with a touchdown for his third 100-yard receiving game of the season, while Scott had a career-high nine catches and two touchdowns. The duo lead the team as they have combined for 50 catches, 900 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns over the first five games of the season.
Namdar tops the OAC in receiving yards per game (119.2) and is second in touchdowns with seven -- one behind the eight that Heidelberg's Donteea Dye has entering the week.
RUHNKE GOES LONG
Senior kicker Edward Ruhnke (Bayville, N.J./Central Regional) kicked a career-long 45-yard field goal at Ohio Northern last week. It was the longest field goal since Jay Carpenter kicked a school-record 47-yard field goal against Muskingum in 2007. Carpenter shares the mark with Ken Edelman, who booted a 47-yarder against John Carroll in 1990.
UP NEXT ...
Mount Union hosts Wilmington next Saturday, Oct. 25 at 1:30 pm at Mount Union Stadium. It is the annual Hall of Fame game and the 2014 class will be recognized at halftime.
