#2 Mount Union Hosts Baldwin-Wallace With OAC Title on the Line
#2 Mount Union Purple Raiders (8-0, 7-0 OAC) vs.
Baldwin-Wallace Yellow Jackets (7-1, 6-1 OAC)
Sat., Nov. 5 - 1:30 pm - Mount Union Stadium (Alliance, Ohio)
TV (Tape Delay):
Joe Tait (play-by-play), Harry Paidas (color)
WIVM Ch. 39 (Sat. Nov. 5 at 6 pm; Sun. Nov. 6 at 1 pm)
SportsTime Ohio (Sun. Nov. 6 at 5 am; Mon. Nov. 7 at 12 pm; Thur. Nov. 10 at 5 am)
RADIO:
WDPN 1310 AM (Alliance): LISTEN LIVE
WRMU 91.1 FM (Alliance): LISTEN LIVE
LIVE STATS: http://livestats.prestosports.com/mountunion
Complete Mount Union Game Notes in PDF Format: CLICK HERE
BALDWIN-WALLACE:
THE GAME
No. 2 ranked Mount Union hosts Baldwin-Wallace in a key Ohio Athletic Conference matchup Saturday at 1:30 pm at Mount Union Stadium in Alliance.
A Mount Union win would clinch the Purple Raiders their 20th consecutive and 23rd overall OAC title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Football Playoffs.
Mount Union posted its second shut out of the season with a 42-0 victory over Otterbein. Backup quarterback Matt Piloto (Rotonda West, Fla./Lemon Bay) came in for an injured Neal Seaman (Louisville/Louisville) and tossed three touchdown passes while running back Jeremy Murray (Martins Ferry/Martins Ferry) who returned from an injury a week ago had 122 yards rushing with a touchdown. The defense forced four turnovers and held Otterbein to 15 yards rushing an 140 total yards. Junior defensive end Charles Dieuseul (Winter Haven, Fla./Lake Region) had a season-high nine tackles.
Baldwin-Wallace won its fourth-straight game with a 29-17 win over Muskingum. Quarterback Ryan O'Rourke tossed two touchdown passes, running back Tyler Lohr had 86 yards rushing and the defense had five sacks and forced four turnovers led by Sonny Hazelwood with 8.0 tackles, 2.5 sacks and forced a fumble.
MOUNT UNION FOOTBALL ON THE RADIO, TV AND ONLINE
All Mount Union football games will be broadcast on the radio on WDPN 1310 AM and WRMU 91.1 FM and simulcast online along with a LIVE STATS game tracker at http://athletics.mountunion.edu. You can also here the WRMU 91.1 FM feed on any phone by calling (330) 445-7900.
The remaining home games will also be shown on television via tape delay on regional sports cable channel SportsTime Ohio and WIVM TV52 (Stark County), WIVN TV29 (New Philadelphia), Time Warner Cable (ch. 989-Stark County, ch. 99-Tuscarawas County), Massillion Cable (ch. 21) and Clear Picture Cable (ch. 21-Wayne County). Image Video produces the broadcasts with Joe Tait, who just finished a 39-year run as the radio voice of the Cleveland Cavaliers, does the play-by-play and Harry Paidas handles the color commentary.
THE SERIES
This is the 50th meeting between the teams with Mount Union holding a 27-21-1 lead in the series that dates back to a 10-0 Mount Union win in 1896. The Raiders have won 16-straight meetings dating back to a 23-10 Baldwin-Wallace win in 1994 in Alliance.
THE COACHES
Larry Kehres (Mount Union '71) is 311-23-3 (.927) in his 26th season as head coach as one of the most successful coaches in college football history. His teams have won 21 OAC Championships, including the last 19 in a row, along with 10 of the last 18 NCAA Division III National Championships.
John Snell (Baldwin-Wallace '87) is 63-37 (.630) in his 10th season at his Alma mater. Snell spent eight seasons as an assistant coach for the Jackets before taking over as head coach in 2002. In his first season, he won OAC Coach of the Year honors leading B-W to an 8-2 season, then eight years ago he led B-W to a 10-2 mark with its first NCAA Playoff berth since 1991.
UP NEXT ...
The Purple Raiders finish the regular season next Saturday on the road at Muskingum. Kick off is slated for 1:30 pm at McConagha Stadium in New Concord.
SCOUTING THE JACKETS
Baldwin-Wallace features a balanced offense (191.2 rushing/193.1 passing) and a defense stout against the run (86.6 rushing yards allowed per game) that forces turnovers (+12).
A pair of juniors in running back Tyler Lohr (Kent Roosevelt) and quarterback Ryan O'Rourke lead the offense Lohr is third in the OAC in rushing averaging 93.5 yards per game while O'Rourke has completed 60-percent of his passes (115-of-193) for 1,432 yds with 12 TD's as the OAC's fourth rated passer. He has tossed touchdowns to nine different receivers with sophomores Gabe Adams (18 rec., 308 yds.) and Josiah Holt (21 rec., 227 yds., 2 TD's). Also look at sophomore Kevin Johnson, who caught a touchdown pass last week and one against Mount Union last year.
Baldwin-Wallace is second in the OAC with 33 sacks and has three seniors among the conference leaders in sacks. Derron Hamilton has an OAC-best 11 sacks, Sonny Hazelwood is third in the OAC with 6.5, while Max Wagner is tied for 4th in the OAC with 5.5 sacks. Another senior in linebacker Brett Thompson has four interceptions to lead a unit that has 16 total interceptions.
BY THE NUMBERS
161-6
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
61
game regular season win streak for Mount Union dating back to a 21-14 loss to Ohio Northern in Alliance on Oct. 22, 2005.
54
game home winning streak for Mount Union dating back to a 21-14 loss to Ohio Northern in Alliance on Oct. 22, 2005.
103
consecutive regular season road victories for Mount Union dating back to a 21-18 loss at Baldwin-Wallace on Sept. 28, 1991.
115-0
Since 1996, the Raiders record when winning the turnover battle.
160-1
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 that game, the Raiders had a +1 turnover margin.
THE RAIDERS in 2011
Mount Union returns 16 starters and 48 letterwinners in 2011.
300 WIN CLUB
With a 49-0 win over St. Lawrence in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Playoffs, Larry Kehres became the 11th coach in college football history to win at least 300 games. Here is a list of the others.
- 482 John Gagliardi * (Carroll, MT, St. John's, MN)
- 409 Joe Paterno * (Penn State)
- 408 Eddie Robinson (Grambling State)
- 377 Bobby Bowden (Samford, West Virginia, Florida State)
- 323 Paul "Bear" Bryant (Alabama, Maryland, Kentucky, Texas A&M)
- 319 Pop Warner (Georgia, Carlisle, Pitt, Stanford, Temple)
- 314 Roy Kidd (Eastern Kentucky)
- 314 Amos Alonzo Stagg (Springfield, Chicago, Pacific)
- 311 Larry Kehres * (Mount Union)
- 305 Frosty Westering (Parsons, Lea, Pacific Lutheran)
- 300 Tubby Raymond (Delaware)
* Active
DID YOU KNOW?
Senior wide receiver A.J. Claycomb (Medina/Medina) caught two touchdown passes against Otterbein. Claycomb missed the entire 2010 season with an injury and it was the first TD pass he caught since getting two against Marietta on Nov. 14, 2009. The eight catch performance brought him to 100 for his career that has spanned 38 total games.
MURRAY BOUNCES BACK
Junior running back Jeremy Murray (Martins Ferry/Martins Ferry) bounced back from an injury at Capital to run for 122 yards on 23 carries with two touchdowns last week. It was his seventh 100-yard rushing performance of the season and 14th of his career. He is the OAC's leading rusher with 1,093 yards. In 22 career games, Murray has 2,709 yards on 483 attempts with 35 TD's. He is in fifth on the school's all-time rushing list and is 584 yards behind fourth place spot of Russ Kring (3,295 yds. 1983-84, 86-87).
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
Much is made of the size of Mount Union's football roster but it was depth of that roster that was the story this past Saturday. Starting quarterback Neal Seaman (Louisville/Louisville) went down with an injury in the first series of the game and backup Matt Piloto (Rotonda West, Fla./Lemon Bay) also suffered a minor injury in the second series and freshman Kevin Burke (Westlake/St. Edward) entered for a series. Piloto, who has rotated in under center every game this season, returned the next series and went on to throw for three touchdowns as part of a 16-of-22, 223-yard passing performance. Two of his touchdowns were caught by senior A.J. Claycomb (Medina/Medina), who stepped up for injured junior receiver Jasper Collins (Geneva, N.Y./Geneva). For Claycomb, who missed all of last season with an injury, he had five catches for 88 yards and the touchdowns were his first since 2009.
DIRTY DOZEN
Seniors Chris Favazzo (Blacklick/Columbus St. Charles) and Alex Ferrara (Independence/Walsh Jesuit) along with junior Alex Nicholls (Galion/Galion) each had interceptions for Mount Union last week. Favazzo was the 12th different Raider to have an interception as the defense has 19 on the season. The Raiders also forced a fumble that gives them a plus-20 turnover ratio on the season.
PURPLE RAIDERS IN THE PROs
Wide receiver Pierre Garcon is in his fourth season as a member of the Indianapolis Colts and had seven catches for 66 yards receiving in their 27-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans. In his rookie season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Cecil Shorts III was inactive last week. Two Raiders in the NFL coaching ranks are Dom Capers, the defensive coordinator of Green Bay Packers and Nick Sirianni as the offensive quality control coach of the Kansas City Chiefs.
NEW TURF, NEW HOME UNIFORMS
Mount Union replaced its 10-year old AstroPlay surface with a new FieldTurf playing surface this past summer. Fans will notice that the football and soccer lines are permanent with two tones of alternating green and black end zones. The black also carries over to new Nike home purple jerseys that the Raiders will wear this season. Mount Union's newest teams -- men's and women's lacrosse will start varsity play in the spring of 2013 and their lines will be painted onto the field. New turf was put in the South end zone which moved the students and band to the North end leading to Mount Union warming up on North side and entering the stadium from the Northwest corner of stadium.
