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THE MATCH-UP
• Millersville is coming off a game in which it scored a season-high 34 points and threw for over 300 yards for the second time this season, but a short-handed defense (playing without four starters) resulted in Millersville allowing a season-high 511 yards of offense to Malone.
•
Collin Shank has played six full games this season and has topped 240 yards passing in five of them. He owns a 59.4 completion percentage which is fifth-best in the PSAC. Despite missing parts of two games, Shank still ranks third in the PSAC in completions with 123.
• Opponents have had success against Millersville in the run game in the last two weeks. Shippensburg rushed for 258 yards and three scores and Malone rushed for 251 and three scores. Allowing 4.6 yards per carry and 188 yards per game, Millersville ranks 13th in the PSAC against the rush. Bloomsburg, meanwhile ranks third in the PSAC in rushing offense, averaging 186.8 yards per game. Its 345 carries is the most in the PSAC. Bloomsburg has rushed for 592 yards on 104 carries in the last two weeks. Keeping the run game in check will be a priority for Millersville as Bloomsburg has thrown just 191 passes (third-fewest in the league) and has completed the fewest (96). Its 5.6 yards per completion is also last in the league. Bloomsburg has thrown for more than 175 yards just once this season.
• Alex Gooden rushed for 164 yards against the Marauders last season, and he is seventh in the PSAC in rushing average and is averaging 6.1 yards-per-carry.
• Millersville's defense has been outstanding at getting off the field on third down. The Marauders rank fourth in the PSAC, holding teams to a 34.3 percent conversion rate. The Marauders are also fifth in first downs allowed and have held teams to a 33.3 (5 of 15) success rate on fourth down conversions.
LAST WEEK
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Bloomsburg (at Lock Haven (W, 33-7)): Erik Benjamin threw for a career-high 190 yards and tied a career-high with three touchdown passes. Bloomsburg had its best offensive showing of the season on Saturday as it posted season-highs in points (33), total offensive yards (470), and passing yards (233) in the victory. Meanwhile, the defense limited the Bald Eagles to just 246 yards of total offense and only 10 first downs all afternoon. Alex Gooden led the Huskies' ground game with 94 yards on only 11 carries.
•
Millersville (vs. Malone (L, 34-38)): Millersville scored 17 unanswered points between the third and fourth quarters before Malone retook the lead with 3:23 left. Millersville then drove 52 yards to the Malone 2-yard-line but was turned away on four consecutive plays.
SERIES HISTORY
Series: 30-45-5
Series Streak: BU, 18
First Meeting: L, 0-42 (1916)
Last Meeting: L, 21-28 (2017)
Largest Margin of Victory: 72 (1981)
Largest Margin of Defeat: 43 (2003)
Record at Bloomsburg (since 1968): 9-16-1
Most Millersville Points: 72 (1981)
Most points allowed: 50 (2003)
• From 1971-1999, Millersville went 21-7-1 against Bloomsburg, but since the Huskies' 21-20 win in 2000, the Huskies have won 18 in a row. Millersville's last win at Redman Stadium came on Oct. 9, 1999 by a 31-21 final.
• In 1981, Millersville rushed for 559 yards against Bloomsburg. That stood as a PSAC record until 2017. Andy Brubaker's nine PATs in that game still stands as a Millersville record.
• In 1991, Millersville's Chris Fagan attempted 71 passes against Bloomsburg. That still stands as a Millersville record for pass attempts. Chris Pelczarski caught 18 of those passes and still holds the school record for receptions in a game. It was a PSAC record until 2015.
• Millersville is 9-16-1 at Bloomsburg since 1968.
THE LAST MEETING (Bloomsburg 28, Millersville 21 - Sept. 30, 2017)
• In the final minute, Jordan Villafane broke up a fourth-and-14 pass from
Tony Staffieri that could have tied the game. Alex Gooden rushed for 164 yards and Bloomsburg totaled 477 yards of offense while Millersville managed 249. Millersville recovered two fumbles. Staffieri threw two touchdown passes and rushed for one.
ON THE OTHER SIDELINE
• It might be a little strange for
Chris Palubinsky to look across the field Saturday and see Bloomsburg on the opposite sideline. Now Millersville's running backs coach, Palubinsky is a Bloomsburg graduate and was the team's starting quarterback in 2016 and 2017. As a senior in 2017, Palubinsky completed 148 of 287 passes for 1,898 yards and threw 11 touchdown passes.
FILLING IN AND STEPPING UP
•
Malik Diggs certainly made the most of his first career start. The redshirt sophomore was starting in place of
Lucas Bush, who was Millersville's second-leading tackler entering the game. Diggs delivered 15 tackles--the most by a Millersville defensive lineman in the "Statcrew Era" which dates to 2003, and he posted the most tackles by a Marauder and third-most by a PSAC player this season. Diggs had totaled three tackles in his four previous games played.
NO FLY ZONE
• Millersville's PSAC-best pass defense is holding teams to just 188.4 yards per game and is one of only three teams (West Chester and Bloomsburg) holding opponents to under 200 yards passing per game. The Marauders' 52.1 completion percentage allowed ranks second in the league. Millersville is one of only four teams in the PSAC to have equal or more interceptions than touchdown passes allowed.
•
Brendan Sherman ranks sixth in the PSAC with 10 passes defended. That's the most by a Marauder since Joey Pham's 17 in 2015.
TURNOVER-VILLE
• Millersville has generated 17 turnovers in the last five games after totaling just two in the first three. Millersville has picked off 11 passes in the last five games, and the 12 on the season is fifth in the PSAC.
• Five different Marauders have at least one interception and six others have fumble recoveries.
Ray Lopez,
Zac Button and
Marcel Mingo entered the season with zero career interceptions, and the trio has combined for nine this season.
FLAGS NOT FLYING
• Millersville was flagged just four times for 42 yards against Malone, and the Marauders rank first in the PSAC in fewest penalties against with 50 for 436 yards (54.5 per game). Millersville's penalty yards total is the best in the PSAC. Millersville has committed 35 fewer penalties than 16th-ranked Slippery Rock.
ZAC ATTACK
•
Zac Button played in 21 games at Lock Haven before transferring to Millersville, and in his eight games as a Marauder, he has recorded his first career interception (at IUP) and his first career sack (at West Chester). Now, Button has since totaled two interceptions, two sacks, three pass breakups, two quarterback hurries, a team-leading 12.0 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. He has a tackle for loss in seven of eight games and in six in a row. He totaled a career-high 13 tackles against Shippensburg. Button is tied for third in the PSAC in TFL and he has the most TFL by a Marauder since 2010.
CATCHING ON
• In weeks two and three, redshirt freshman
Chris Dolan totaled 19 receptions against top PSAC West competition (Slippery Rock and IUP). At IUP, Dolan made 10 catches for 137, becoming the first Millersville freshman since 2014 with 100 yards receiving. Both marks were career highs, and his yardage total was the most by a Marauder since
Kevin Wiggins totaled 144 yards on Oct. 8, 2016. Dolan also made his first career touchdown catch. Against The Rock, Dolan totaled nine catches for 97 yards, giving him the highest back-to-back reception total by a Marauder since Andy Neupauer's 21 catches against Bloomsburg (9) and Slippery Rock (12) in weeks six and seven of 2003.
• Dolan ranks fifth in the PSAC with 41 catches.
• Dolan is trending toward becoming just the second Millersville freshman (
Kevin Wiggins (2014) to lead the team in receptions and the first to ever lead the team in both receptions and yards. With two more catches, he will tie Millersville's freshman record for catches in a season, and he needs 43 yards to move into second place for yards by a freshman.
TWO SPORTS, NO PROBLEM
•
Evan Morrill continues to make an impact on the football field, starting every game at wide receiver and serving as the team's long snapper. Morrill has caught a pass in 15 consecutive games dating back to last season, and his six catches against Malone were a career high.
• Morrill has shown off his arm, too. Morrill is 2 for 2 as a passer with both completions going to
Joey Farley. His 51-yard touchdown pass to Farley against Malone was Millersville's longest pass play of the season.
• Morrill is also the starting 184-pounder for the Millersville wrestling team. Morrill went 13-13 with an 8-5 dual meet record in 2017-18. He won two matches at the NCAA Super Region 1 Championships as well.
CAPTAINS
• Millersville's players voted seniors
Brett Harris and
Trejon Dinkins and junior
Tommy Halloway as the team's captains for 2018. Dinkins in his second season with the Marauders. Harris is the team's second-most experienced offensive player with 33 starts. Halloway is just the 11th junior since 1956 to earn a captaincy.
GOING FOR 44
•
Morgan Faughnan has been the model of consistency for the Marauders. He has started 41 consecutive games--every game the Marauders have played over the last three-plus years. Faughnan entered the season No. 2 in the PSAC in consecutive starts, trailing only Alec Petrillo of Shippensburg, who started the season with 34. Only three players in the entire league had consecutive start streaks of 30 games or more. In 2017, he set career highs with 48 tackles, 3 1/2 sacks and 4 1/2 tackles for loss. He has made 11 tackles through three games in 2018.
TWO-WAY PLAYER
•
Joey Farley has made 7 of 11 field goals this season and has connected on 12 of his last 16 tries dating back to last season. He is also a perfect 44 for 44 in PAT attempts in his career. Farley is 7 for 8 on attempts inside the 40.
• Farley, however, is not just a kicker. Farley led the team with six catches and 62 yards receiving in week one. In week three against Slippery Rock, he made the longest catch of his career (43 yards) and scored his first career touchdown.
• In week eight against Malone, Farley recorded his first career two-touchdown game. He accounted for 20 of the team's 34 points in the game. He ranks 11th in the PSAC in scoring. He is the only player in the PSAC with a touchdown scored and a field goal made.
• Farley was named PSAC East Special Teams Athlete of the Week once in 2017.
NEW LEADERSHIP
• Millersville's staff is almost entirely brand new.
J.C. Morgan was named Millersville's head coach on April 30. Morgan hired eight new assistant coaches, with only Millersville alum and defensive coordinator
Matt Sutjak returning from last year's staff. Morgan is the 22nd head coach in the 123-year history of Millersville football. Of that long list, only John Pucillo (1925-29, 33-36), George Katchmer (1954-69) and Dr. Gene Carpenter (1970-2000) coached for more than five seasons. The last time a Millersville first-year head coach posted a winning record in his first season was John Pucillo in 1933, going 4-2.
• Unlike Millersville's previous three head coaches, Morgan is coming to Millersville from another Division II program, and a PSAC program at that. Morgan started at Shippensburg in 2005 and spent the last three as offensive coordinator. Morgan's staff is loaded with PSAC experience. Both coordinators--Sutjak and
Jeff Tomasetti--played and coached in the league. Special teams coordinator
Dan Beard and tight ends coach
Ron Kerr also coached at Shippensburg.
Tim Tobin was the defensive line coach for a PSAC Championship at Kutztown. Running backs coach
Chris Palubinsky was the starting quarterback at Bloomsburg just last season.
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