THE MATCH-UP
• Millersville and IUP both enter week two with 1-0 records, beating NE-10 teams in week one. Millersville won 21-20 on the road at Pace while IUP scored a 24-13 home win over New Haven. IUP entered the national rankings this week, coming in at No. 24. That's hardly news for IUP, which has been ranked in the top 25 in 24 of the last 25 weeks.
• Millersville is looking for its first win over a nationally-ranked opponent since Nov. 10, 2001 when the Marauders knocked off then-No. 2-ranked IUP at home, 30-26.
• IUP has been a team of road warriors in recent years, going 18-3 on the road since 2015. IUP has won nine of its last 10 road games
• Historically, PSAC crossover games have been unkind to the Marauders. Millersville is 25-68-1 all-time against current PSAC West teams. Millersville has won just three games against the current PSAC West roster since 2007. IUP has won 10 of its last 12 regular season games against the PSAC East.
• Millersville has lost two consecutive home openers and are 5-13 in home openers since 2001. Millersville has also won four week two games since 2005.
• IUP has posted a winning record in nine consecutive seasons and has won at least eight games in six of the last seven seasons.
• Both head coaches have roots in the PSAC. Millersville's
J.C. Morgan spent 10 years as an offensive assistant at Shippensburg while IUP's Paul Tortorella enters his third season as IUP's head coach after serving as the defensive coordinator for 22 years. He also graduated from Slippery Rock.
• The defenses for IUP and Millersville excelled in week one. Millersville allowed just 4.5 yards per play, and that figure was third-best among all PSAC teams in week one. Millersville also allowed the fourth-fewest rushing yards in the opening week (97). IUP was out-gained 345-272 and allowed 146 yards rushing while totaling 109, but the defense picked off three passes and recovered a fumble. IUP started four offensive drives in New Haven territory.
• IUP running back Justice Evans was limited to 51 yards on 13 carries in week one but he rushed for over 100 yards three times in 2018 and in 2017, he was the PSAC West Freshman of the year after totaling 1,011 rushing yards. Evans' running mate, Samir Bullock, rushed for 94 yards on 10 carries against Millersville year and was All-PSAC West First Team as a freshman and sophomore in 2016 and 2017.
COACH MORGAN'S SCOUTING REPORT
• "Last week, a big positive was that we were able to get a lot of players playing time for the first time. It was the first opportunity for us to see how guys performed when the lights come on. We were pleased with a lot of the players who were playing for the first time."
• "I thought
Isaiah Onuschak and
Steve Sweeney both played very well. Being PSAC East Player of the Week on defense was a positive and a great way for Steve to start his career."
• "IUP has a very good offensive line, very good running back play, their quarterback is a big, strong kid who can deliver the ball, and he does have weapons at receiver."
• "IUP has talent and size, especially up front on the defensive interior. They are very skilled in the secondary. They have a lot of good athletes, but the one thing that sticks out is that they are a well-coached team. They have a great defensive system. The coaches have been together for a while and they do a great job of taking your strengths away and have the talent to do that."
• "With an opponent like IUP, playing a [a clean game] is a must. We are going to focus on making the adjustments. Not just turnovers but the entire operation. We have to do a lot of things cleaner to be more successful. Against IUP, you won't get away with those mistakes. We are excited about the opportunity."
THE LAST TIME OUT
•
IUP (vs. New Haven (W, 24-13)): Sophomore receiver Duane Brown scored two touchdowns and IUP overcame four turnovers to post a 24-13 season-opening victory over visiting New Haven. Brown scored on a 47-yard pass play and a 2-yard rush and book-ended the IUP scoring on the afternoon. He also had a 44-yard punt return that was brought back after a penalty. The Crimson Hawks threw three interceptions and lost a fumble, but used key defensive stops and forced turnovers down the stretch to stay in front.
•
Millersville (at Pace (W, 21-20)): Marauders erase a 10-point halftime deficit with 13 unanswered points in the third quarter. Millersville held Pace to just three second-half points including a stop on the Setters' final drive. A 42-yard field goal attempt with seconds remaining went wide, sealing the win for Millersville. Millersville out-gained the Setters 378 to 333 and held Pace to 97 rushing yards and a 3.2 average rush.
SERIES HISTORY
Series vs. IUP: 5-14
Series Streak: IUP, 6
First Meeting: 1988 (W, 27-24)
Last Meeting: 2018 (L, 7-41)
Largest Margin of Victory: 19 (2005)
Largest Margin of Defeat: 60 (2008)
Record at Home: 3-5
Most Millersville Points: 30 (2001)
Most Points Allowed: 63 (2008)
• Millersville is in search of its first win over IUP since Sept. 23, 2006 when the Marauders knocked off IUP 17-14 at Biemesderfer Stadium. Since then, IUP has won six in a row and has not allowed more than seven points in any of those six games. IUP has out-scored Millersville 44.8-3.8 over those six games.
• Saturday marks the first time that IUP has come to Biemesderfer Stadium since 2012. IUP won 41-7 in its last visit to Millersville and has won two in a row at Biemesderfer. Millersville is 3-5 all-time at home against IUP. It lost its first two match-ups at home, including NCAA second round playoff defeat in 1999. Millersville defeated IUP 10-9 in 2000, a game that was Coach Gene Carpenter's final game after 31 seasons as Millersville's coach.
• The first-ever meeting between the programs was also a NCAA playoff game. That came in the first round of the 1988 playoffs. Millersville won, 27-24.
THE LAST MEETING (IUP 41, Millersville 7 - Sept. 6, 2018)
• Millersville finished with 378 yards and out-gained the Crimson Hawks, who totaled 319 yards. Millersville redshirt freshman
Chris Dolan had a breakout game, totaling a career-high 10 catches, 137 yards and a touchdown.
Collin Shank completed 24-of-43 passes for 331 yards. The Marauders drove inside IUP territory seven times but came away with just seven points as three of those drives ended on turnovers, one on downs and one on the blocked field goal.
MAKING A FIRST IMPRESSION
• Of the 36 players that saw the field for Millersville in week one, 19 made their Millersville debut. The team's top three tacklers--
Isaiah Onuschak,
Steve Sweeney and
Jevon Thompson--were redshirt freshmen playing in their first career games. Onuschak led Millersville with 10 tackles, and all three players who scored touchdowns--
Kevon Newerls,
Bryan Malone and
K.J. Cartwright--scored for the first time in their collegiate careers.
• All three running backs, who combined for 29 carries, made their first career carries as Marauders. Seven of the 10 players who caught a pass made their first career reception.
AWARD-WINNING DEBUT
• Sweeney was named PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Week following his first collegiate game. He totaled nine tackles, two tackles for loss and broke up three passes. Seven of his tackles were solo stops. Sweeney was one of only six PSAC players to record at least three passes defended and was one of nine to record at least two tackles for loss.
RUNNING AWAY
•
K.J. Cartwright's 59-yard third quarter touchdown run against Pace was Millersville's longest rush from scrimmage since Oct. 5, 2017. It was just the third rush of 50 or more yards by a Marauder since 2015.
CAPTAINS
• Millersville's 2019 team captains were announced during the spring game. The group includes: junior quarterback
Collin Shank, redshirt junior left guard
Senesee Jalloh, senior wide receiver
Evan Morrill, junior defensive tackle
Lucas Bush, senior linebacker
Zac Button and senior linebacker
Cameron Boykin. The group represents six of the team's nine returning starters. All six are first time captains but half are juniors. Captain history at Millersville dates to 1965, and no team since then has had six captains.
A NEW LOOK
• Millersville's roster has seen significant turnover over the last two seasons. Of the 90 players on the roster at the close of camp, only 16 were members of the team two seasons ago. The Marauders have 41 true freshmen on the roster.
A STEADY CLIMB
• Millersville alum and defensive coordinator
Matt Sutjak has helped his group climb steadily up the PSAC rankings since taking over in 2016. From 2008-2015, Millersville ranked no higher than 14th in the PSAC in scoring defense. Sutjak's defenses have finished no lower than 12th in his three seasons. In 2017, Millersville posted its best total defense ranking in 19 years and its best scoring defense ranking in nine years. In 2018, the Marauders led the PSAC in passing defense, allowing just 184.0 yards per game at a 52.4 completion percentage.
FIXTURE IN THE MIDDLE
• Inside linebacker
Cameron Boykin has made 31 consecutive starts for the Marauders. He made eight in a row to close his freshman season and has started all 11 games each of the last two years. He is tied for third in the PSAC in career starts. Only IUP Jeff Arnold (37) and Edinboro's Brandon Anderson (34) enter the season with more. Boykin, a 2017 All-PSAC East Second Team selection, has 196 career tackles.
ACTIVE UP FRONT
• Few defensive lineman in the PSAC matched the production of
Lucas Bush through the first seven games of 2018. Bush totaled 54 tackles before missing the final four games with an injury. Twice he recorded double-digit tackles with a career-high of 12 against Slippery Rock. Bush was the team's second leading tackler at the time of his injury. Bush made three tackles against Pace.
EARNING #1
• In his two seasons as head coach, Morgan has held a preseason competition resulting in a player vote to determine which player will wear the no. 1 jersey. The jersey goes to the player who exemplifies Marauder Pride. For the second year in a row,
Zac Button will wear the jersey. Button's first year with the Marauders was an impactful one. He was named All-PSAC East Second Team, leading the team and ranking ninth in the PSAC in tackles with 88. His 13 tackles for loss were fifth among PSAC East players and the most by a Marauder since 2005. He recorded at least a half-tackle for loss in nine of 11 games.
FROM THE GRIDIRON TO THE MAT
•
Evan Morrill is a busy student-athlete. Now a senior, for the previous two seasons, he has finished football season in November and went straight to the wrestling room as a member of Millersville's wrestling team. Morrill had a breakout 2018, making 35 catches for 354 yards and a touchdown and then went 14-12 as Millersville's 184-pounder, finishing fourth at the NCAA Super Region 1 Championships--one place away from a NCAA Championships berth.
• Morrill has caught a pass in 19 consecutive games including a career-high nine for 77 yards in the 2018 season finale at Mercyhurst.
• Morrill has shown off his arm, too. Morrill is 3-for-6 as a passer with two touchdowns including a 51-yard pass in 2018.
• As the team's primary long snapper, Morrill made four special teams tackles in 2018.
FINE FIRST IMPRESSION
•
Chris Dolan made three catches in week vs. Pace, starting a follow up to a redshirt freshman season saw him make 45 catches for 498 yards, becoming the first freshman since 2014 and just the third in program history to lead the team in catches. He also set the program's all-time freshman record for receptions while ranking second among freshmen for yards.
• In weeks two and three, 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. That 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.
