Football Opens 2015 Under Thursday Night Lights
9/1/2015 8:47:00 PM | Football
| MILLERSVILLE VS. URSINUS | |
|---|---|
 | Millersville Marauders 2015 Record: 0-0 Last Game: 9-21 L at Edinboro (2014) Coach: Greg Breitbach, 2nd season Roster | Schedule | Statistics |
 | Ursinus Bears 2016 Record: 0-0 Last Game: 47-31 W vs. Dickinson (2014) Coach: Peter Gallagher, 15th season Roster | Schedule | Statistics |
 | Game Information Date: Sept. 3, 2015 | Kickoff: 7 p.m. Location: Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium | Directions Live Stats | Live Audio (MSBN) | Live Video Twitter | Instagram | #HoistTheColors Series vs. Ursinus: First Meeting Series Streak: N/A First Meeting: N/A Last Meeting: N/A Largest Margin of Victory: N/A Largest Margin of Defeat: N/A Record at Biemesderfer: N/A Most Millersville Points: N/A Most Ursinus Points: N/A |
TICKET INFORMATION
www.muticketsonline.com
Reserved Seat: $10
General Admission: $8
Senior Citizen: $5
Visiting Students with ID: $5
Children under 6: FREE
MU Students: FREE with valid ID
Faculty and Staff: FREE with valid ID
GAME OVERVIEW
• Millersville opens the 2015 season at home under the lights for the third time in the last four seasons. It will be the fourth consecutive and fifth time in six years that Millersville has played its opener at Biemesderfer Stadium. Millersville is 50-59-9 all-time in season openers and 15-7-2 in openers played at home. The Marauders are also 36-19 all-time under the lights.
• From 1984-2000, Millersville went 69-17-1 at home. But since going 1-4 in 2001, the Marauders have won more than its lost at home just once (3-2 in 2004) and has gone 7-41 at home since 2007. The Marauders have also gone without a win at home in three of the last four seasons, losing 13 consecutive home games entering 2015.
• While Millersville is coming off back-to-back 1-10 seasons and is without a winning season since 2000, Ursinus has posted back-to-back 7-3 records and six consecutive winning seasons under the direction of Peter Gallagher. Gallagher, entering his 15th season, is Ursinus' all-time wins leader.
• On the opposite sideline, Greg Breitbach is entering his third season as the Marauders' boss. His first recruiting class of 2014 saw 11 true freshmen take meaningful snaps and the opening week depth chart has 12 freshmen, redshirt freshmen or sophomores in starting positions and 16 in back-up roles.
SERIES HISTORY
• Thursday marks the first-ever meeting between Millersville and Ursinus, and it is the first time Millersville has played a NCAA Division III opponent since it joined the Division II ranks in 1981. Millersville reached the Division III playoffs back in 1979, losing to Wittenberg in the first round, 21-14.
SCOUTING THE BEARS
• Ursinus was picked third in the Centennial Conference Preseason Poll after going 6-3 in league play a season ago. Eight Bears were named All-Centennial in 2014 and seven of them are back on the roster in 2015. The group includes a pair of defensive backs in Dysean Alexander and Kyle Adkins and two linebackers in James Roccograndi and Timothy Rafter. The top returner, however, is defensive end Steve Ambs, who was a Cliff Harris Award finalist in 2014 and D3football.com Preseason All-America Third Team pick to start this season. Ambs led the team with 12 sacks, 20.5 tackles for loss and was fourth in the Centennial Conference in tackles with 84.
• Nick Lundholm caught a team-high 32 passes for 415 yards in 2014 but he won't be on the receiving end of passes this season. Instead, he'll be the quarterback throwing the passes. Lundholm moves under center to replace the graduated Kevin Monahan, who threw for over 2,000 yards last season. Lundholm threw two passes as a sophomore in 2013 but has thrown a pass since. With Lundholm moving under center, the leading returning receiver is Safi Hasseeb, who caught 30 passes for 226 yards last season.
• Ursinus featured a balanced offense in 2014, averaging 209 yards throw the air and 135.8 on the ground. The Bears employed a tandem running back system in 2014 but Corey Kelly, who was second on th eteam with 562 carries, averaging 4.1 yards per rush with nine touchdowns, will be the featured back.
CAHILL UNDER CENTER
• After an open position battle through spring ball and fall camp, redshirt freshman Blake Cahill was named Millersville's opening night starter at quarterback. Cahill edged out a pair of veterans in J.J. Paige and Curtis Frye. Paige played in all 11 games last season and threw 89 passes, completing 47.2 percent for 380 yards and four interceptions. Frye missed nearly all of two seasons with knee injuries. He last played in 2013, completing 63 percent of his 54 passes without a touchdown. Cahill has yet to take a collegiate snap but threw for 2,915 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 588 at Red Lion High School. Cahill will be the first Marauder freshman to start the season opener since Jamal Smith in 2007. Smith won PSAC East Offensive Freshman of the Year that season but eventually became an All-PSAC East wide receiver.
• Breitbach is looking for consistency at the quarterback position. Remarkably, in just two seasons, seven different players have taking snaps for the Marauders. The last Marauder to start every game in a season was Bill Shirk in 2010. Cahill will be the fifth different quarterback in as many seasons to start a season opener.
SANELLI'S STREAK
• A mainstay of the offensive line entering his fourth season is Lenny Sanelli. The senior has started all 33 games since stepping onto campus in 2012, and his consecutive starts streak ranks second in the PSAC to only Bloomsburg quarterback Tim Kelly, who has logged 36 in a row.
TARGETING WIGGINS
• Sophomore wide receiver Kevin Wiggins became the first Marauder freshman in history to lead the team in catches by hauling in 43 for 402 yards. He also led the team with four touchdown catches. He caught a pass in all 11 games and his 64-yard TD reception in the season opener was the team's longest pass completion since 2010. While only a sophomore, Wiggins is a wiley veteran compared to the rest of the wide receiver corps. The other 10 receivers on the roster have combined for a grand total of one catch as Marauders. That catch was made by Sean Quarterman last season. Transfer C.J. Bostic may not have a catch as a Marauder but he is no stranger to making big plays. At Division III Becker College in 2011-12, Bostic caught 78 balls for over 1,100 yards. He has been away from the game for the last two seasons, though.
MAKING THE CALLS
• After handling the offensive playcalling duties in his first two seasons, Breitbach is handing over that role to Mike Wood, who spent 2014 as the team's wide receivers coach. It is a familiar role for Wood who won a Northeast-10 Championship and reached the NCAA Division II Playoffs as the OC at American International. Wood's offense at AIC led the NE-10 in rushing and he tutored the league's offensive MVP and lineman of the year. Breitbach will continue to coach the quarterbacks.
STRENGTH IN THE SECONDARY
• Millersville returns its starting secondary intact and the eight players on the two-deep have combined for 75 career starts. The leader among them is safety Rasheed Johnson, who has started 27 games including 21 of the last 22. Johnson has ranked in the top 20 in the PSAC in tackles in each of the last two seasons.
• Joey Pham developed into a strong cover corner in 2014, starting all 11 games (21 of the last 22) and ranked eighth in the PSAC with 13 passes defended. P.J. Santos tied for seventh in the league with four interceptions, recovered two fumbles and also returned a fumble for a touchdown. He had four interceptions in the last six games.
FRESH FACES IN FRONT SEVEN
• While the back end of Millersville's defense is veteran, there is not a single upperclassman listed as a starter in the front seven. The group includes three redshirt sophomores, a true sophomore, two redshirt freshmen and a true freshman. Drew Seaburg is the leader of the defensive line after starting all 11 games in 2014. The linebackers have a pair of returning starters in Sene Polamalu in Sean Dugan but redshirt freshman and Temple transfer Rob Varner and freshman Brendan Thompson will man the inside.
• While young, few players were as productive in 2014 as outside backers Polamalu and Dugan. Polamalu was voted the team's rookie of the year after leading the team with 8.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. Both he and Dugan picked up production down the stretch. Polamalu totaled seven TFL and 3.5 sacks in the last six games while Dugan, voted the team's most improved player, made 35 stops, 6.0 TFL and 2.5 sacks in the final five games.
BY COMMITTEE
• Not a single running back on Millersville's roster has a collegiate carry to his credit. Millersville suffered a tough blow when senior and 2014 leading rusher Myron Myles suffered a season-ending knee injury in camp. His injury leaves converted wide receiver Cimirrow Moat as the starter and true freshmen Phil Overton and Sheldon Snell as back-ups. Moat caught two passes as a wide receiver in 2014.
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