Complete Game Notes
GAME QUICK FACTS
Slippery Rock (0-1) at Millersville (0-1)
Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008 - 1 p.m.
Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium
Audio: Marauder Sports Broadcasting Network
TICKETS
Reserved Seat: $8
General Admission: $6
Senior Citizen: $3
Children under six: Free
MU Students, Facults, Staff with ID: Free
THE SERIES
Slippery Rock leads, 12-4-1
First Meeting 1938 (T, 0-0)
Last Meeting SRU 21, MU 5
Current Streak SRU, 3
ABOUT THE GAME
• Millersville suffered a 35-22 setback at Bentley in the 2008 season opener last week but looks to bounce back when it returns home to Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium. Audio coverage can be heard on the new home for Millersville athletics, the Marauder Sports Broadcasting Network (MSBN). MSBN is accessed by visiting the Millersville athletics' site (www.millersville.edu/~athletic).
• Head Coach Greg Colby's debut didn't go as planned as the Marauders suffered their third-straight season-opening defeat and lost for the sixth time in their last eight openers. History was not on Colby's side. Only one of the last 11 Millersville head coaches dating back to 1925 picked up a victory in his debut.
• Slippery Rock also dropped its season opener, falling 27-20 on the road at Seton Hill. While The Rock posted a 9-2 record in 2007, the team returned just eight starters (four on offense and four on defense). Redshirt sophomore quarterback Brandon Frohnapple—making his first career start—completed 13-of-35 pass attempts for 192 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Redshirt sophomore running back Ryan Lehmeier led The Rock rushing attack with 41 yards on 12 carries. Senior Corey Manfull, the No. 2 rusher in the PSAC a year ago, played only one series and had 26 yards on three carries. Josh Prigorac led Slippery Rock with four pass receptions for 66 yards. Kicker C.J. Barr hit field goals of 29 and 42 yards.
WELCOME HOME
• Millersville has had mixed results in recent home openers. In 2007, the Marauders downed Lock Haven 19-10. But in the last 10 seasons, the Marauders are 6-4 in home openers but have not won back-to-back home openers since winning three-straight from 1998-2000.
• Each of the last four season-opening wins have been closely contested as well. Along with the nine-point win a year ago, Millersville edged Glenville State 21-20 in 2005 and again in 2003 by a 27-25 score. Also, in 2000, the Marauders clipped Shippensburg 27-19.
THE HEAD COACHES
• Millersville head coach Greg Colby didn't see his head coaching debut go as planned, as the Marauders fell 35-22 to Bentley. Colby is now set to coach his first game in the confines of Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium.
• Colby spent most of his career as an assistant at the Division I level, but has served as a head coach. From 1979-86, he was the head coach at Schlarman High School and Naperville High School in Illinois. While at Schlarman, Colby led the team to back-to-back Illinois High School 2-A State Championships (1981-82).
• Colby has an impressive resume. He came to Millersville after serving as the defensive coordinator at Northwestern from 2002-07 during which time the Wildcats posted three-straight six-win seasons for the first time in 70 years. He was also the defensive coordinator at Kent State for four seasons and served as a defensive assistant at Michigan State under Nick Saban and at Illinois under Lou Tepper.
• Along with coaching in 11 bowl games, Colby coached an impressive list of defensive players including Pro Bowl players Simeon Rice, Kevin Hardy and James Harrison. He graduated from Illinois in 1976.
• While Colby is in his first season, Slippery Rock head coach Dr. George Mihalik is entering his 21st season at Slippery Rock. Few coaches in Division II have been as successful as he has compiled a 136-79-4 mark to become Slippery Rock's all-time leader in coaching victories. His accomplishments include three NCAA playoff bids and four PSAC West championships. His teams have become the mark of consistency, having suffered only two losing seasons since 1991.
• Mihalik received an Ed. D. in Safety Management from West Virginia University in 1986. His bachelor's and master's degrees are from SRU. He has been part of The Rock football program for 37 of the last 38 seasons, the only exception being the 1976 season in which he served as graduate assistant at the University of Kentucky of the prestigious Southeastern Conference.
ABOUT THE SERIES
• Millersville and Slippery Rock are old rivals having first met in 1938. That contest ended in a 0-0 tie. The two squads, however, have met just 17 times in the 69 years since that meeting. Slippery Rock holds a commanding 12-4-1 all-time edge over the Marauders.
• Slippery Rock shutout Millersville 38-0 the 1939 season to take a 1-0 lead in the series. That still stands as Slippery Rock's widest margin of victory in the series. After that game, the two teams did not meet again until 1976. Millersville's first win in the series came by a 35-0 score in 1977. Millersville's other victories were in 1981 (20-12), 1989 (27-24) and 2004 (17-14).
• Following Millersville's 1989 victory, the series saw a 10-year hiatus. Since resuming the series in 2000 and the two clubs have met in each season since, with Slippery Rock winning seven of those eight games. Slippery Rock has held the Marauders to fewer than 10 points in four of those games and fewer than 22 in all eight.
• Millersville's last win in the series came by a 17-14 score on Oct. 16, 2004. Millersville quarterback Dan Csencsitz hit 22-of-35 passes for 223 yards and a touchdown. Juan Jones led the Marauders with 60 yards rushing and a touchdown.
THE LAST MEETING
• Nate Crookshank threw for 293 yards and three scores to lead Slippery Rock University football past Millersville, 21-5, in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference cross-over game on Saturday afternoon at Bob DiSpirito Field at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium.
• Crookshank went 15-of-21 on the day and had touchdown passes of one, 22 and 75 yards. Wide receiver Paul Favers was on the receiving end of six passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Corey Manfull added 150 rushing yards on 25 carries. Overall, Slippery Rock had 458 yards of total offense. Defensively, the Rock recorded six sacks. Defensive end Cory Lacek led the way with three sacks.
• For Millersville, running back Cardoza Jacks paced the Millersville offense with 76 yards on 18 touches. Quarterback Jamal Smith hit on 6-of-14 passes for 72 yards. Running back Brad Lantz and wide out Randall Eggleton each made two catches. Defensive back Brandon Shelton led the defense with eight total tackles (five solo, three assists) and made an interception. Outside linebacker Marcus Banks also had eight tackles (four solo, four assists). The defense stopped two potential scoring drives by forcing and recovering two fumbles inside its five.
THE LAST TIME OUT
• Millersville scored first and took a lead in the third quarter, but Bentley's passing attack led by senior quarterback John White proved too much, as he rallied the Falcons to a 35-22 victory with 371 yards passing and four touchdowns Aug. 29 in Waltham, Mass.
• White hooked up with senior John Studley 10 times for 157 yards and two scores and also found Kyle Tuthill nine times for 183 yards and two scores. The potent offense and a pressuring defense that sacked the Marauders eight times kept Millersville offense off the field and without field position for the majority of Friday night's season opener. Millersville finished with 267 total yards of offense to Bentley's 474.
• Despite White's efforts, the Marauders jumped out to an early advantage, staving off Bentley's 12-play opening drive. Millersville red-shirt sophomore Jamal Smith turned the turnover into points, hitting converted running back Brad Lantz (Towanda/Towanda) for 43 yards on the second play from scrimmage. Millersville settle for an 18-yard John Banzhof field goal.
• The momentum appeared to be in the Marauders' favor after sophomore Matt Sutjak intercepted White early in the second quarter. Banzhof, however, couldn't convert from 44 yards, and White and Studley hooked up for 46 yards to give Bentley its first lead of the game.
Bentley added Luis Cotto touchdown 27 seconds before the half to build the lead to 14-3. Millersville finished the first half with 100 yards of offense and Smith was 1-of-6 through air.
• That quickly changed with Millersville scoring on its opening drive of the second half. Smith completed three-straight passes and teamed with Johnson on the ground to set up a nine-yard scoring strike to Derek Fry with 10:39 remaining in the third. It was Fry's first touchdown since his sophomore season of 2006. The lead changed hands when Dan McClellan picked off White and turned it into six points with a 42 yard return that gave the Marauders a 16-14 advantage.
• But from there, Bentley's offense took control. White and Tuthill connected from 15 yards with 3:20 left to retake the lead and White found Studley from six yards at the start of the fourth. After Millersville's ensuing position resulted in a punt, White led a four-play, 80-yard drive that culminated in Tuthill's second TD grab.
SCOUTING THE ROCK
• Slippery Rock posted an impressive 9-2 campaign in 2007 but lost all but eight starters. One of the key returnees is running back Corey Manfull, who finished second in the PSAC in rushing a year ago with 1,258 yards and an average of 6.3 yards per carry and 13 touchdowns. Slippery Rock's offense was one of the best in the league, averaging an impressive 35.6 points per game.
• To continue that impressive production, The Rock will need first-year starting quarterback Brandon Frohnapple to come through. Frohnapple, a red-shirt freshman, struggled in the team's 27-20 season opening loss at Seton Hill. He went 13-of-35 with an interception but did through a pair of TD passes. His favorite targets in the game were Josh Prigorac who led the team with four catches and Terry Grossetti who had four catches and two touchdowns.
• Manfull carried the ball just three times but averaged 8.6 yards per carry in those lugs.
• Defensively, The Rock was gashed for 20 first downs and 198 yards rushing. Seton Hill rushed the ball 51 times and was efficient in the passing game, completing 18-of-24 passes for 180 yards. Seton Hill also controlled time of possession, holding the ball for over 32 minutes while Slippery Rock managed just over 24 minutes of possession.
• Red-shirt freshman linebacker Zach Sheridan was impressive in his first start, recording a team-leading 14 tackles including two behind the line of scrimmage and a sack. Senior defensive end Tyler Boudreau was also active, totaling 12 stops, three for loss and a sack.
• Slippery Rock may have returned just eight starters, but there are six seniors starting on offense and seven juniors and seniors starting on the defensive side.
FIRST TIME NOT A CHARM
• History was not on Greg Colby's side in the Aug. 29 opener against Bentley. With the 35-22 defeat, new Millersville coaches are 6-12-2 all-time in their debut. However, picking up a win in the first game is no indication of long-term success.
• Only one of the last 11 Marauder coaches won their debut. Joe Trainer defeated Indiana (Pa.) 28-9 in 2005. Before Trainer's victory, the last coach to win his Millersville debut was Philip Aines in 1923. At that time, Millersville was known as Millersville State Normal School and his team defeated Stevens Trade School 13-7.
DEBUT EFFORTS
• Matthew Booker and Matt Sutjak each made positive impressions in their Millersville debuts on Aug. 29 against Bentley and each were on different sides of the ball.
• Booker, a freshman running back, totaled a team-leading 43 yards on nine carries for a team-best 4.8 yards per carry. His gain of 12 was the team's second longest of the game. He is the first freshman to lead the team in rushing in the season opener since Brad Lantz in 2006. Lantz rushed for 53 yards on seven carries in his rookie debut.
• Sutjak, a sophomore transfer at safety, registered a team-high and career-high nine tackles as well as his first career interception. Sutjak took the interception for a 23-yard return. The last player that led the team in tackles in his Millersville debut was Andrew Pough in 2006. Pough made eight tackles. The last Marauder to make an interception in his first game was Brandon Shelton in 2004 against Indiana (Pa.).
IN RELIEF
• On Aug. 29 against Bentley, red-shirt sophomore quarterback Bill Shirk came off the bench to complete a career-high 8-of-12 passes for a career-best 74 yards. His fourth quarter TD toss to Derek Fry was also the first touchdown pass of his career.
• Shirk's previous best outing was also against Bentley. In 2007, he completed a then career-high 6-of-9 passes for 50 yards.
PICK SIX
• Sophomore cornerback Dan McClellan turned defense into offense in the season opener against Bentley, taking a third quarter interception 43 yards for his first career touchdown. It was just the second interception of McClellan's career. Millersville has now had at least one interception return for a touchdown in eight-straight seasons dating back to 2001.
• The most notable playmaker in recent years was Brandon Shelton. Shelton returned five interceptions for touchdowns in his four-year career, including two in 2007 and two as a freshman in 2004.
• McClellan is just the fifth player in the last eight years to take a pick for a touchdown. Along with Shelton, Andrew Siggins performed the feat twice, returning one in 2005 and one in 2002.
MOVE PAYS OFF
• In an effort to bolster the receiving corps, the coaching staff moved senior Derek Fry from tight end to wide receiver. The moved paid immediate dividends for the coaching staff.
• While Fry entered the season with just 15 career catches and five touchdowns (all five coming in 2006), he hauled in a team-high and career-high six catches and totaled a career-best 47 yards in the season opener against Bentley. Fry also scored a career-high two touchdowns, bringing his career total to seven. In the Aug. 29 game alone, Fry matched his 2007 season totals in receptions (four) and yards (41).
DUAL THREAT
• While playing running back in his first two seasons at Millersville, Brad Lantz not only showed ability to run the football, but also catch the football. He not only led Millersville in rushing in 2007 and ranked second on the team in receiving. He made 15 catches for 119 yards to go with his 902 yards rushing. Including his receiving yards, Lantz finished the season with a team-leading 1,061 all-purpose yards and averaged 96.5 yards per game.
• His pass catching ability prompted the coaching staff to move him to wide receiver for the 2008 season. He made the most of the position switch, catching five passes for a team-leading 78 yards. On Millersville's second offensive play, Lantz made a 43-yard reception which is now the longest of his career. His previous long was a 36-yard catch on Sept. 30, 2006 against Kutztown. He now has four career catches of more than 30 yards.
MAKING CHANGES
• Not only did Millersville introduce a new head coach in Greg Colby and several new assistant coaches, but the PSAC picked up three new members in Mercyhurst, Gannon and C.W. Post.
• Mercyhurst and Gannon, both formerly of the GLIAC, will compete in the PSAC Western Division, and C.W. Post joins Millersville in the Eastern Division. The expansion brings the total number of football schools in the PSAC to 16, making it the largest football playing conference in Division II.
• In the wake of the PSAC expansion, the NCAA decided to create four “Super Regions.” These Super Regions pull together two regions. In the past, PSAC, NE-10 and WVIAC combined to create the Northeast Region. The PSAC, WVIAC and CIAA now make up the Atlantic Region and are apart of the East Football Super Region with the NE-10, NYCC and CACC of the New England Region.
• Now, to reach the NCAA Playoffs, a team must be ranked in the top eight in the region rather than the top 10.
THE END OF THE LINE
• There is no dispute that pass rushers are key to a top-tier defense, and Millersville is fortunate enough to have not just one, but two senior defensive ends that were both All-PSAC East honorees last season.
• Kevin Kershner was a first teamer in 2007 and Jarrod Linn was named to the second team for the second-straight season. Millersville enters the season as the only team in the PSAC to return two all-conference defensive ends.
• Both players made their presence felt in the season opener at Bentley. Linn totaled four tackles and registered a half sack. Kershner totaled three tackles including a half tackle for loss and a pass breakup.
• Kershner has 20 tackles for loss in three seasons and 7.5 career sacks. Linn has 8.5 for loss and 6.0 career sacks. He has also forced three fumbles and recovered two.
• The tandem has combined for 159 tackles in three seasons at Millersville.
NICE TO MEET YOU
• In addition to Greg Colby, Millersville football has added some new faces to the coaching staff. Among the newcomers are offensive line coach Derrick Roche, wide receivers coach Dave Keeny, tight ends coach Corey Adderly and intern Dondre Gilliam who will be helping with wide receivers and the return game.
• Roche was an All-American offensive lineman at Washington State and played in the 2003 Rose Bowl. He also spent the last three seasons at UTEP as a special teams assistant and program coordinator.
• Keeny served as the head coach at Kutztown from 1998-2005 and became the third winningest coach in school history.
• Gilliam was an All-PSAC wide receiver and returner while at Millersville from 1999-00.
• Also, changing responsibilities on the staff was Ron Rankin, who switched from the offensive line to the defensive line. Aubrey Kelly is now defensive backs coach instead of cornerbacks coach.
BY LAND AND AIR
• Millersville red-shirt sophomore quarterback Jamal Smith was named PSAC East Rookie of the Year in 2007, making him the first Marauder to earn that award since quarterback Drew Folmar in 1997 and just the second ever.
• He earned the award by impressing the opposition with his feet. In 2007, he rushed for a team-high five touchdowns and totaled nine on the season. His 1,440 yards of total offense led the team, and his 633 yards rushing was 352 more than any other quarterback in the league. Clarion Tyler Huether was second among quarterbacks with 281 yards.
• Smith's 633 yards is the most rushing yards by any quarterback in Millersville history and stands as the most rushing yards by a PSAC quarterback since before 2000. Only East Stroudsburg's Jimmy Terwilliger (503 in 2006) and Clarion's Adam Almashy rushed for more than 500 (513 in 2002) since Slippery Rock's Randy McKavish rushed for 641 in 2000.
• So far in 2008, Smith has scrambled for 38 yards and thrown for 90. He has rushed for 30 or more yards in eight of his 12 career appearances and for positive yards in 11 of his appearances. With his performance against Bentley, he has thrown for 90 or more in five of his last eight games.
WORK HORSE
• Brad Lantz has emerged as one of the most durable backs in the PSAC the last two seasons. He was named All-PSAC East Second Team last year aftering ranking sixth in the PSAC with 902 yards and an average of 82 yards per game.
• More impressively, he lugged the ball 234 times, which ranked second in the conference trailing only Bloomsburg's Harlon Hill nominee Jamar Brittingham. In the last two seasons, Lantz has totaled 1,759 yards and 12 touchdowns.
• Lantz is quickly advancing up the Millersville career records lists. In just two seasons, he has has moved into 13th-place in career yards and needs just 253 more to pass John Flamish (1998-2000) for 10th all-time. If Lantz stays on his current pace of 879 yards per season, he will finish his four-year career with 3,516 yards, placing him second to only the legendary Ricke Stonewall, who totaled 4,169 from 1981-84.
• Also, Lantz already ranks sixth in career carries with 427. He is on pace for 854 career carries, which would shatter Stonewall's record of 648. It would also place him fifth in PSAC history behind Bloomsburg's Jamar Brittingham (2004-07).
SHOOTING FOR TWO AND THREE
• Millersville landed eight players on the All-PSAC East team a year ago. Tackle Adam Cobb and defensive end Kevin Kershner were first team honorees, and Brad Lantz and Jarrod Linn were on the second team.
• Cobb was the first Millersville offensive lineman to be a first team selection since center Matt Doherty in 1998. If he earns first team honors in 2008, Cobb will be the first Millersville offensive lineman to be a two-time first teamer since guard Chris Smith in 1993-94 and the first tackle since Greg Faulkner in 1992-93.
• Linn could possibly be a three-time All-PSAC East pick. The most recent Marauder to be a three-time selection was cornerback Marcus Banks (2005-07) and defensive back Braden Steffey was a four-time honoree from 2000-03.
