2014 Mount Union Football -- NCAA Second Round
#3/3 University of Mount Union Purple Raiders (11-0) vs
#19/21 Washington & Jefferson College Presidents (10-1)
Saturday, November 29 - 12 pm - Mount Union Stadium (Alliance, Ohio)
TV: Joe Tait (play-by-play), Harry Paidas (color), Jim Ballard (analyst)
- SportsTime Ohio - Sat. 11 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:
LIVE STATS: Click Here
COMPLETE NOTES IN PDF FORMAT - Click Here
THE GAME
No. 3 ranked Mount Union plays No. 19/21 ranked Washington & Jefferson in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Division III Football Playoffs Saturday, Nov. 29 at 12 pm at Mount Union Stadium in Alliance, Ohio.
The Purple Raiders are 11-0 overall and one of 24 conference champions to claim an automatic bid as Mount Union won its 23rd straight and 26th overall Ohio Athletic Conference title. Mount Union is ranked No. 3 in both the AFCA (American Football Coaches Association) and D3Football.com Top 25 polls while being No. 1 in the NCAA Division III North Region poll which is used for seeding and at-large selections for the championship. Mount Union has an 83-14 record in NCAA Playoff games and the Raiders have advanced to the Stagg Bowl 17 times since 1993 with a record 11 National Championships.
Washington & Jefferson, ranked No. 19 in the D3football.com poll and No. 21 in the AFCA poll, won its 24th Presidents Athletic Conference title to claim the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs. The Presidents are making their 24th NCAA Playoff appearance with a 22-23 record in the tournament and advanced to the title game -- the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in 1992 and 1994.
The two schools are 82 miles apart and have been long time scrimmage partners while both coaches are Mount Union alums in Vince Kehres '98 for the Raiders and Mike Sirianni '94 at Washington & Jefferson.
THE SERIES
This game will be the seventh meeting between the teams with Washington & Jefferson holding a 4-2 lead in the series that dates back to 1913. Mount Union has won the last two meetings which have both in the NCAA Playoffs in Alliance -- a 55-0 win in a 2009 First Round game and a 34-20 win in a 2013 First Round game.
THE COACHES
Vince Kehres (Mount Union '98) is 25-1 (.962) in his second season as head coach has led the Raiders to a pair of OAC titles and been named OAC Coach of the Year twice. 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 and was Lee Tressel Ohio College Football Coach of Year. Kehres spent 13 years, eight as defensive coordinator, on the Raiders coaching staff for his father Larry Kehres. As either a player or coach, Vince Kehres has been part of 10 of Mount Union's 11 national championships.
Mike Sirianni (Mount Union '94) is 111-25 (.881) in his 12th season as head coach at Washington & Jefferson. The four-time PAC Coach of the Year and two-time South Region Coach of the Year (2004, 2012) is second among all active NCAA coaches in winning percentage (minimum 10 years). Sirianni was a three-year starter for the Purple Raiders and two-time All-OAC selection as a wide receiver and won a national championship in 1993. He also served three years as an assistant coach at Mount Union and had assistant coaching stints at Ithaca (N.Y.), Wilkes (Pa.) and Washington & Jefferson before taking over as head coach in 2002.
ON THE AIR
All Mount Union football games are broadcast on the radio on WDPN 1310 AM and WRMU 91.1 FM and simulcast online along with a LIVE STATS game tracker. You can also here the WRMU 91.1 FM feed on any phone by calling (330) 445-7900. The game will be shown on television via tape delay on regional sports cable channel SportsTime Ohio and WIVM TV39 (Canton) Image Video produces the broadcasts with Harry Paidas, former Mount Union quarterback Jim Ballard and hall of fame broadcaster Joe Tait on the call. Tait spent 39 years as the radio voice of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers and his now 28 years with Paidas of doing Mount Union football on television.
UP NEXT ...
The winner of this game will take on the winner of a matchup between John Carroll and Wheaton (Ill.) in a national quarterfinal game Saturday, Dec. 6 at noon at a location to be announced.
DID YOU KNOW?
Out of the 16 teams left playing in the NCAA Division III Football Playoffs -- three have head coaches that are Mount Union alums -- Vince Kehres '98 (Mount Union) and Mike Sirianni '94 (Washington & Jefferson) and Erik Raeburn '91 (Wabash).
SCOUTING THE PRESIDENTS
Youth has been served this season at Washington & Jefferson as the Presidents have gone 10-1 this season and won a Presidents Athletic Conference title with only eight seniors listed on a tentative playoff roster for this week.
On offense, the Presidents have the nation's No. 5 total offense heading into this week averaging 527.2 yards per game. The leader of the offense is sophomore quarterback Ryan Coughlin, who has completed 68-percent of his passes for 3,159 yards for 31 touchdowns while he has ran for 301 yards with two touchdowns. A year ago, Coughlin made his second career start against Mount Union in the playoffs and tossed three touchdown passes in the Raiders' 34-20 win. Sharing the backfield with Coughlin is junior running back Ryan Ruffing, who has ran for 1,543 yards on 301 carries with 25 touchdowns. Freshman Jessie Zubik (54 rec., 879 yds, 10 TDs) and junior Daniel Lis (76 rec., 837 yds., 8 TDs) are the top two receivers.
Senior linebacker Jared Pratt leads the defense with 114 tackles while junior lineman Jon Turner has 18 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks with four forced fumbles. The Presidents had eight interceptions at Wittenberg last week as junior Billy Kelley had three of those picks and leads the team with six on the season.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Mount Union has an NCAA III best 739 wins as a program.
- Mount Union has win-loss record of 206-8 since 2000
- The Raiders hold the two longest college football win streaks -- 55 from 2000-03 and 54 from 1996-99
- Mount Union has 120 straight regular season road wins since a 21-18 loss at Baldwin-Wallace on Sept. 28, 1991.
- Since 1996, the Raiders are 144-0 when winning the turnover battle.
- The Raiders are 189-1 since 1990 when winning the turnover battle. That loss was a 20-17 loss to UW-LaCrosse in a 1995 national semifinal game in Alliance. In that game, the Raiders had a +1 turnover margin.
- 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.
- Mount Union has won 93 straight regular season games dating back to a 21-14 home loss to Ohio Northern on Oct. 22, 2005.
- Mount Union has won 81-straight home games since a 21-14 loss to Ohio Northern in Alliance on Oct. 22, 2005.
700 CLUB
Mount Union and Washington & Jefferson are two of only three NCAA Division III programs to have won over 700 games. There are only 25 programs in college football with at least 700 wins and W&J played the other Division III team on the list -- Wittenberg -- last week.
915 - Michigan
884 - Yale
881 - Notre Dame
881 - Texas
873 - Nebraska
859 - Ohio State
850 - Oklahoma
848 - Alabama
848 - Harvard
830 - Penn
809 - Tennessee
804 - Princeton
803 - Southern California
776 - Georgia
760 - LSU
739 - Mount Union
736 - Penn State
736 - Wittenberg
734 - Auburn
718 - West Virginia
709 - Georgia Tech
709 - Virginia Tech
708 - Texas A&M
707 - Syracuse
707 - Wash. & Jeff.
BRACKETOLOGY
For the 10th year, the NCAA Division III Football Championship consists of a 32-team field. For perspective, in Mount Union's first appearance in the playoffs in 1985, the field was 16 teams. This year's field breaks down like this: Automatic bids will be given to 24 conference champions, two spots are for teams that are independents or in conferences not granted automatic bids and the final six spots are at-large bids.
Each team is allowed to only dress a total of 58 players for a game.
#BURKE4GAGLIARDI
Mount Union senior quarterback Kevin Burke (Westlake/Lakewood St. Edward) has been named one of 10 finalists for the Gagliardi Trophy given to the top all-around football player in NCAA Division III.
Fans can vote for Burke and the winner of the fan vote gets one vote for the award http://www.d3football.com/notables/2014/11/gagliardi-semifinalists-announced
With the win against Adrian last week, Burke is 40-1 as the Raiders starting quarterback since 2012. He is a two-time All-American that led Mount Union to a national title in 2012 and won the Gagliardi Trophy in 2013 as the Raiders went back to the national title game.
This season he led Mount Union to a 23rd straight and 26th overall Ohio Athletic Conference title and earlier this week won the OAC's Bob Packard Offensive Back of the Year Award for the second time in three seasons. A three-time All-OAC First Team QB he has led an offense that is No. 1 in the nation in total offense (601.8 yards/game) and scoring (61.0 points per game). He is the nation's No. 2 rated passer (187.6 rating) as he has completed 66-percent of his passes (189-of-286) for 2,975 yards with 32 touchdowns while rushing for 429 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground.
For his career, he has passed for 10,650 yards with 114 touchdowns, rushed for 2,316 yards and is second in Mount Union history with 12,966 yards of total offense (passing + rushing).
FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME
Mount Union had a pair of running backs and a receiver each go over 100 yards for the first time in their careers against Adrian last week.
Sophomore wide receiver Tim Kennedy (Hudson/Hudson) making his first start at receiver had seven catches for 127 yards. Kennedy, who was named All-OAC honorable mention this week, has 528 punt return yards this season which 23 yards from a new Mount Union single season record which is currently held by current assistant coach Chris Denton, who had 43 punt returns for 550 yards in 2012.
Junior running back Logan Nemeth (McBain, Mich./McBain) had a career-best 105 yards on nine carries all in the first half. In the second half, freshman Jamal Johnson (New Philadelphia/New Philadelphia) came in and churned out 104 yards on 10 carries.
The last time Mount Union had two running backs post 100-yard plus performances in the same game was against Washington & Jefferson in the 2009 NCAA Playoffs as Terrance Morring had 18 carries for 123 yards with two TDs and Scott Panchik had 15 carries for 102 yards with three TDs.
FIVE RAIDERS HEADLINE ALL-OAC TEAMS
Mount Union head football coach Vince Kehres, defensive coordinator Chris Kappas along with Kevin Burke, defensive lineman Tom Lally (Fairview Park/Lakewood St. Edward) and safety Alex Kocheff (Chagrin Falls/Kenston) all earned special awards as part of the 2014 All-Ohio Athletic Conference Football teams selected by the conference's 10 head coaches.
Kehres was named OAC Coach of the Year for a second straight season after leading the Purple Raiders to a 10-0 regular season record and conference title. A 1998 Mount Union alum, Kehres is 25-1 in his second season as head coach and is third Purple Raider coach (Larry Kehres and Ken Wable) to win the award since it began in 1968. His father, Larry Kehres, won the award six times.
Chris Kappas was named OAC Assistant Coach of the Year as in his first year as defensive coordinator, he is charge of a defense that finished the regular season as the nation's No. 1 rated total defense (199.8 yards per game) and scoring defense (7.8 points per game). He is the fifth Mount Union assistant coach to win the award since it started in 2001, joining Don Montgomery in 2001, Jeff Wojotowicz in 2004, Vince Kehres in 2006 and Geoff Dartt in 2013.
Burke claimed the Bob Packard Offensive Back of the Year Award, named for the former Baldwin Wallace head coach, for the second time in three years.
Lally is the Paul Hoernemann Award winner, which is given to the conference's top defensive lineman and named for the former Heidelberg coach that won five OAC titles. It is the sixth time in seven years that a Raider has won the award as Lally started all 10 games on the defensive line and had 38 tackles with a conference-best 16 tackles for loss with 4.5 sacks and three fumble recoveries.
Kocheff won the Lee Tressel Outstanding Defensive Back that is awarded to the conference's top defensive back. He leads the team in tackles with 49 stops, 7.5 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks with three interceptions and three forced fumbles. He is the 10th Raider to win the award named for College Football Hall of Famer and former Baldwin Wallace coach Lee Tressel.
All three players are on the All-OAC First Team along with wide receiver Roman Namdar (Southlake, Texas/Carroll), offensive lineman Michael Frank (Eastlake/Eastlake North), running back Bradley Mitchell (Detroit, Mich./South Lake), kicker Edward Ruhnke (Bayville, N.J./Central Regional), linebackers Cody Pogorelc (St. Petersburg, Fla./St. Petersburg) and Hank Spencer (Greencastle, Ind./North Putnam) along with defensive back Tre Jones (Twinsburg/Twinsburg). The All-OAC Second Team includes wide receiver Taurice Scott (Alliance/Alliance), offensive lineman Alex Goff (Mansfield/Madison) with linebacker Jonathan Gonell (Pembroke Pines, Fla./University School, Fla.), defensive linemen Josh Butler (Lorton, Va./South County) and Mike Furda (Wintersville/Indian Creek). Rounding out the selections are All-OAC honorable mention selections in wide receiver/returner Tim Kennedy (Hudson/Hudson) and wide receiver Sherman Wilkinson (Kettering/Fairmont).
CAPTAINS
Mount Union's players have voted four players -- quarterback Kevin Burke, safety Alex Kocheff, wide receiver Luc Meacham and linebacker Hank Spencer -- captains for 2014. Burke, Meacham and Spencer were all captains last year as well.
PURPLE RAIDERS IN THE PROs
** Wide receiver Pierre Garcon, a sixth round draft pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 2008. He spent four seasons with the Colts highlighted by playing in Super Bowl XLIV in 2009. He signed a free agent contract with Washington in 2012 and led the NFL and set a team record for receptions in 2013.
** Wide receiver Cecil Shorts III, a fourth round pick in by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2011, is in his fourth year with the Jags in 2014. He led Jacksonville in receiving in 2013.
** Tight end Kyle Miller played in a regular season game with the Indianapolis Colts in 2012 then was claimed off waivers by the Miami Dolphins and spent the rest of 2012 and 2013 there before being claimed by the Atlanta Falcons in 2014 where he is on the practice squad.
** Dom Capers enters 29th season as an NFL coach in 2014 and he is in his fifth season as defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers. The Packers won Super Bowl XLV. He has worked for seven different NFL teams including being the first head coach of the Carolina Panthers and was also the head coach of the Houston Texans.
** Nick Sirianni, brother of Washington & Jefferson head coach Mike Sirianni, is in his sixth season as an NFL assistant coach and second with the San Diego Chargers as quarterbacks coach. He spent four years as an assistant coach with the Kansas City Chiefs. The 2003 Mount Union grad spent two seasons as an assistant with the Purple Raiders and three seasons as an assistant at Indiana (Pa.).
