Complete Game Notes

GAME INFORMATION
Millersville (1-1) vs. Gannon (0-2)
Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011 - 12 p.m.
Gannon University Field - Erie, Pa.

SERIES INFORMATION
Series vs. Gannon: 1-0
Series Streak: Millersville, Won 1
First Meeting: 2010 - W, 29-26
Last Meeting: 2010 - W, 29-26

MEDIA INFORMATION
Audio Broadcast (MSBN)
Live Video
Live Stats

GAME OVERVIEW
•  Millersville travels to Erie, Pa., for the first time in program history to take on Gannon for just the second time ever. The first meeting between the schools in 2010 went down to the wire with Millersville winning 29-26. Bill Shirk threw for over 400 yards and Jamal Smith set a school record for receiving yards. Neither of those Marauders are with the team this year, and Gannon quarterback Zach Boedicker, who ripped Millersville for 186 yards passing, 85 yards rushing and three touchdowns is also gone. Tyler Batts, who rushed for over 100 yards in the game also moved on. There are plenty of new faces to this year's edition, but the teams look evenly matched once again.
• In week two, the Marauders shook off the game one loss to W.Va. Wesleyan to defeat Lock Haven under the lights, 21-20. The offense, which put up three points and 130 yards of offense in the opener, started to find some consistency. Millersville rushed for 111 yards and passed for 134.
• Dan Miller was an efficient 15-for-28 with three TD passes. Dominic Sanders set a career high with seven catches and two touchdowns. Defensively, Millersville allowed 105 yards rushing to Brandon Brader and 281 yards passing but generated four turnovers (three fumbles and an interception).
• Millersville enters week three ranked 15th in the PSAC in total offense and is one of just two teams averaging fewer than 200 yards of offense per game. Gannon's defense has surrendered its share of yards, ranking 12th in the league in total defense (423.0 yards per game).
• Gannon enters the game looking for its first victory after a 13-10 loss to Lake Erie in the opening week and a 41-13 home loss to Shippensburg in week two.
• Audio can be heard on the home of Millersville Athletics, the Marauder Sports Broadcasting Network (MSBN). The broadcast, featuring play-by-play announcer Domenic Panza, can be accessed at www.millersvilleathletics.com/MSBN.

ABOUT THE SERIES
• Millersville and Gannon have met just once but that game was a classic. Millersville pulled out a 29-26 victory at home behind a school record 252 yards receiving from Jamal Smith and five touchdown passes from Bill Shirk. Millersville had to rally twice in the second half to overcome deficits. Shirk and Smith hooked up on touchdowns from 75 yards and 37 yards. Shirk also piloted a nine-play, 82-yard drive for the game winning touchdown with 1:06 left in the game. During the drive, Millersville needed to convert a fourth-and-18 and did when Mike Jones hauled in a leaping catch.
• Millersville's defense pitched a shutout in the first half but allowed 26 second-half points and two touchdown runs of more than 40 yards. Prior to the game, Gannon was 2-0.

THE HEAD COACHES
• Millersville's Greg Colby is in his fourth season as head coach. He is trying to rebuild a program that has not posted a winning season since 2000. Before coming to Millersville, he spent most of his career as an assistant at the Division I level. 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.
•  Jim Kiernan enters his fifth season at Gannon and is coming off of a 6-5 campaign in 2010. He has completely turned around the program since his arrival in 2007. After a 1-10 record his first year, the team posted back-to-back winning seasons in 2009 and 2010. It was the first time the program had produced back-to-back winning seasons since 1995. Kiernan came to Gannon after a successful stretch as the offensive coordinator at Saginaw Valley State. His teams there posted two GLIAC Championships and five NCAA Tournament appearances. He also served as the offensive coordinator at Mercyhurst from 1995-97.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
• Gannon has fielded a football program for 24 years and Coach Kiernan has the team on the verge of history. The team is off to an 0-2 start, but if it can rally to a winning record, it would mark just the second time ever that Gannon produced three consecutive winning seasons. Last year, Gannon finished third in the PSAC West with a 4-3 league mark. 38 letterwinners are back from last year's team.
• Gannon ranked second in the PSAC in scoring defense last year and returns Randy Colling, who was a preseason All-America selection. Safeties Chris Cook and Khayree Connors-McChristian are both four-year starters. The defense played well in the opener, allowing 13 points to Lake Erie. However, it allowed  371 yards of offense, and against Shippensburg, Gannon was gashed for 475 yards of offense including 324 passing yards. Connors-McChristian and Cook both intercepted passes against Shippensburg.
• Gannon has struggled on offense, posting a total of 23 points in the two games. That mark ranks 14th in the PSAC. It's struggled mightily in the run game, averaging 78.5 yards rushing per outing. Last week against Ship, eight different players carried the ball at least once. Everett Tune Jr. and Alex Papson have received the bulk of the carries. Papson, however, is averaging just 2.1 yards per carry on 27 attempts. Tune Jr. is averaging 4.7 yards per carry on 15 attempts.
• Replacing Boedicker is proving difficult. Redshirt freshman Daniel Tapscott has started both games and has been lackluster in performance, hitting on 33-of-75 passes for 357 yards and three interceptions. His favorite target is Jonathan Jones. Jones has 13 catches for 160 yards. No other receiver has more than 51 yards receiving.

THE LAST TIME OUT FOR THE MARAUDERS
•  It came by the slimmest of margins, but Millersville will take the win. The Marauder defense generated four turnovers and the offense capitalized to top Lock Haven 21-20 in the Bald Eagles' home opener.
• Millersville pounced on two Lock Haven fumbles in the first quarter which resulted in touchdown catches from  Dominic Sanders and Mike Jones, giving the Marauders a 14-0 lead. Still, Lock Haven allowed Millersville little breathing room. The game wasn't even decided when junior safety Brian Knell sealed intercepted Jarryd Burkett's long pass attempt with 3:24 remaining. Lock Haven had one more chance from its own 21 with two seconds to go, but Gary Tillman made a sure tackle on Devin Sims with no time on the clock.
• The win was Millersville's sixth-straight over Lock Haven and quite a bounce-back after the week one rout at W.Va. Wesleyan.
• The turnaround was nowhere more evident than in the play of quarterback Dan Miller, who continued to knock off the rust. After just seven yards passing in week one, Miller completed his first nine passes and finished 15-of-28 for 134 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed 10 times for 32 yards.
• Miller dialed Sanders's number early and often. Sanders caught a career-high seven passes for 65 yards and two touchdowns. It was his third quarter, 20-yard touchdown grab that put Millersville comfortably in front 21-10.
• Mike Jones totaled 132 yards from scrimmage with 67 rushing on 20 carries and 58 receiving on six catches.

BIG DAY FOR DOM
•  Without Jamal Smith, the Marauders entered 2011 needing a No. 1 wide receiver. Coaches expected Dominic Sanders to step into that role. The redshirt sophomore produced a career day against Lock Haven. He hauled in seven catches for 65 yards and also made two touchdown catches. His first touchdown catch was a leaping grab in the back corner of the end zone that displayed his skill.  It was also his first touchdown catch since the season opener of the 2010 season. His third quarter touchdown proved to be the game-winner.

TAKE IT AWAY
•  Millersville's defense has generated six turnovers in two games--two against W.Va. Wesleyan and four against Lock Haven. At Lock Haven, Millersville recovered three fumbles, which was the most since recovering four at Cheyney in 2009. With four recovered fumbles on the season, Millersville is just one away from matching the entire 2010 total.
• Brian Knell has also recorded an interception in each of the first two games. He picked off two passes as a freshman in 2009 but did not have one in 2010. His pick against Wesleyan was his first since Oct. 24, 2009.

COATES RETURN
•  Redshirt freshman David Coates is quickly emerging as a dangerous kickoff return specialist. On eight returns, Coates has totaled 210 yards--an averaging of 26.2 yards per return. That average is good for sixth in the PSAC. Against W.Va. Wesleyan, he broke a long return of 60 yards.

COVERING THE KICKS
•  Millersville's special teams--especially the kickoff coverage--has been outstanding. The Marauders ranked first in the PSAC in that category, allowing a total of just 92 return yards on six kickoffs. With an average of 60.8 yards per kickoff, opponents are managing just 15.3 yards per return.
• Punt return yards are also hard to come by against the Marauders. Opponents have fielded 10 punts and average 4.0 yards per return.

BACK IN THE MIDDLE
•  The Marauders lost their top three tacklers in Jeff Longley, Shane Gross and Matt Sutjak. But the linebackers are a veteran group, especially with seniors Ryan Christian and Craig Gardner moving back into the starting lineup. Both players started games as freshmen in 2008. Christian was the team's third-leading tackler as a sophomore in 2008 with 81 stops, but he fell out of the starting lineup last year in favor of sophomore Pat Maloney. Maloney racked up 53 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss in just five games. Before his season ended with an injury he was in the nation's top five in tackles per game. Christian has played in 31 games and has 17 starts to his credit. Gardner has also played in 31 games.
• Maloney picked up right where he left off.  Through two games, he's been the team's most productive tackler with 12 stops including 10 solo. He also has a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.

A FAMILIAR FACE
• Jim Shiffer returned to Millersville in the offseason as the program's offensive line coach. After serving as the offensive coordinator at Kutztown and the head coach at Mansfield, Shiffer is back where he spent eight seasons from 1994-2001. Shiffer is a highly-regarded offensive line coach. He has spent 17 years in the PSAC. During his time at Millersville, he was part of three PSAC East Championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances. He also coached 10 offensive linemen to All-PSAC East honors. In three years at Mansfield, he developed 16 All-PSAC East players. He's a Lancaster County native, having graduated from Conestoga Valley High School and receiving a master's degree from Millersville in 1992.