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Live Video | Live Audio | Live StatsWASHINGTON, Pa. -- The No. 16/18 Washington & Jefferson football team will welcome Case Western Reserve to campus for the first time since 1984 on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. as part of the 2014 Homecoming & Reunion Weekend.
On Saturday, W&J will honor the 1994 football team that reached the Amos Along Stagg Bowl, the NCAA Division III Championship Game, as well as the 2004 NCAA Quarterfinalist team.
The Series: With the merger between Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve occurring in 1967, Washington & Jefferson has played Case Western Reserve University 16 times, holding a 9-7 record in those meetings. The two teams first took the field against one another in 1970 and the last meeting was in 1985, with both outcomes being a 20-13 W&J win.
The Head Coaches: Mike Sirianni (Mount Union, '94) owns a 107-24 (.817) record at W&J in his 12th season as head coach. The five-time PAC Coach of the Year and two-time South Region Coach of the Year (2004, 2012) is fourth among all active NCAA coaches in winning percentage (minimum of 10 years). The Presidents have made 10 postseason appearances under Sirianni. Greg Debeljak (John Carroll, '88) is in his 11th season at the helm of Case Western Reserve and holds a 75-34 (.688) record. He has led the Spartans to four UAA conference titles in the last seven seasons, including three-straight undefeated regular seasons from 2007-09.
W&J vs. The PAC: W&J holds a
317-134-10 (.698) winning percentage against current football-playing members of the Presidents' Athletic Conference. Washington & Jefferson has claimed 23 PAC Championships throughout the history of the league. W&J is 59-10 (.853) in conference games since Sirianni took over in 2003.
Bethany (70-21)Â Â Â Carnegie Mellon (27-32-5)Â Â Â Case Western (17-16-1)
Geneva (40-19-2)Â Â Â Grove City (37-13)Â Â Â Saint Vincent (6-1)
Thiel (43-22-2)Â Â Â Thomas More (5-5)Â Â Â Waynesburg (38-3)
   Westminster (34-2)
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The Last Meeting (1985, W&J 20, Case Western Reserve 13): After starting 3-0, W&J traveled to Cleveland to square off against Case Western Reserve in a classic match-up of two teams that had been ranked among the best in Division III the year before. CWRU was unbeaten during the previous season of 1984 and handed W&J its only defeat of that campaign. The Spartans featured All-American Mark Raiffi at linebacker, but behind PAC Defensive Player of the Year defensive tackle Orlando Williams, running back AJ Pagano and quarterback Rich Riotto, W&J upset the hosts, 20-13. Williams was named PAC Player of the Week following the victory.
Scouting Case Western Reserve: The Spartans snapped a two-game losing skid with a 33-19 win over Geneva last week. Quarterback Billy Beecher completed 21-of-39 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown. Brendan Lynch caught nine of those passes for 63 yards. Adam Hochman and Ethan Albers each had scoring catches. Anthony Canganelli carried 16 times for 90 yards and a score. Gavin Sandidge led the way with 12 tackles and a TFL on defense, while Tyler Doty had 1.5 TFL and a sack. The Spartans have the third-best scoring defense in the PAC, allowing 19.7 points per game and rank fourth in total defense at 334.2 yards per game. Despite playing in only three games, linebacker Everett Dishong has 8.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks.
700 Club: The Presidents joined the illustrious NCAA 700 Win Club with a 48-30 win over Carnegie Mellon on Sept. 20. In this the 123rd season of varsity football, W&J has amassed a .642 winning percentage (
703-383-40). Only two other NCAA Division III programs have reached 700 wins (Mount Union and Wittenberg). W&J became just the 25th program in all NCAA divisions to reach 700 all-time wins.
Complete list, updated Oct. 20:
913Â Â Â Michigan
880Â Â Â Notre DameÂ
880Â Â Â YaleÂ
878Â Â Â Texas
871Â Â Â Nebraska
854Â Â Â Ohio State
847Â Â Â Oklahoma
844Â Â Â Alabama
843Â Â Â HarvardÂ
829Â Â Â PennÂ
807Â Â Â Tennessee
802Â Â Â Princeton
801Â Â Â Southern California
773Â Â Â Georgia
759Â Â Â LSU
734Â Â Â Penn State
734Â Â Â Mount Union
732Â Â Â WittenbergÂ
731Â Â Â Auburn
717Â Â Â West Virginia
708Â Â Â Virginia Tech
707Â Â Â Syracuse
706Â Â Â Texas A&M
705Â Â Â Georgia Tech
703Â Â Â Washington & Jefferson
30 and Counting: W&J boasts 30-consecutive winning seasons as a football program. The Presidents 30 winning seasons rank fourth among all divisions of NCAA football behind Linfield (58), Florida State (37) and Mount Union (35). The last time W&J did not post a winning record was 1983 (3-5-1). That year, the top-grossing movie was Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, the top single was "Every Breath You Take" by The Police, a first-class stamp cost $0.20, and a gallon of regular gas cost $1.24.
House Recognition: The Pennsylvania House of Representatives recently appoved a resolution titled 'House Resolution 1073' that honors the Washington & Jefferson football team. It was introduced by state representative Brandon Neuman, who represents the 48th Legislative District right here in Washington County, and was unanimously approved. "Washington & Jefferson is a juggernaut in college football," said Neuman, a former college football player at the University of Richmond. "The school's football program is the 25th team in all National Collegiate Athletic Association divisions, and only the third NCAA Division III school, to reach 700 wins."
Oct-oob-yeah: With its 34-3 win at Bethany last week, W&J improved to 41-7 in the month of October under
Mike Sirianni.
Poll Us: W&J continues to climb in the national polls, coming in at No. 16 in the latest American Football Coaches Association Top 25 poll. The Presidents also moved up from No. 20 to No. 18 in the D3football.com Top 25 poll.
Ball Control: W&J is 22-3 when not committing a turnover under Sirianni. All three losses have come in the NCAA playoffs (2013, 2010 Mount Union; 2007 N.C. Wesleyan).
Play with a Lead: The Presidents led 17-3 through 30 minutes against Bethany and held on for the victory to improve to 85-3 when leading at halftime during Sirianni's tenure.
Start Strong: W&J is in the midst of its best start since 2009 when it was 7-0 heading into a match-up with also unbeaten Thomas More where the Saints won 14-7 in Washington.
Fast and Furious: The W&J offense has run 127 more plays than its opponents through five games (544-417). The Presidents are averaging 90.7 plays per game. Coming into the season, W&J had reached 90 plays in a game just twice under Sirianni and have already gotten there three times in 2014.
Never Slow Down: W&J boasts the No. 4 offense in the nation according to total offense (538.7 yards per game). Despite posting a season-low 452 yards of total offense against the Bison, W&J moved up two spots in the ranking.
National Leader: Junior RB
Ryan Ruffing leads the nation in two categories, rushing TDs (16) and scoring (18.0 points per game). His 16 rushing TDs are tied for third in all NCAA Divisions, while his 18 points per game leads all NCAA student-athletes.
Run Away: Senior LB
Jared Pratt leads W&J with 64 tackles, 55 of which have come on rushing plays, more than double the second-closest President (
Ryan Torrance, 26 rushing tackles). Pratt has been in double digits for stops four times and led the Presidents in tackles four times in four games this season.
Targets Acquired: WRs junior
Daniel Lis (53) and senior
Max Creighan (51) have accounted for 104, or 48.6 percent, of W&J's 214 passing targets from QBs
Pete Coughlin,
Kevin Mechas and
Alex Rowse.
Workhorse: Junior RB
Ryan Ruffing is averaging 5.3 yards on 99 carries on first down and 5.8 yards on 55 second-down carries. Of his 16 rushing touchdowns, 14 have come on first or second down. On second or third and short he has carried 38 times and picked up the first down on 29 of them.
Pick Six: Senior CB
Alec Schram had a career day at Bethany as he made a career-best eight tackles and registered his first interception as a Presidents,which he took four yards to the end zone after downing a punt by junior
Kevin Mechas at the Bethany two-yard line.
D-Fence: The Presidents surrendered just 232 yards of total offense to Bethany last week, marking the second-consecutive week W&J held its opponent to just over 200 yards. W&J had more yards (452) in its season-low showing than Bethany (232) and Grove City (201) had combined the last two times out. The Presidents have allowed fewer points out each time since giving up 30 to Carnegie Mellon in the program's 700th win on Sept. 20 (28 versus Thomas More, 14 at Grove City, three at Bethany).
And the Award Goes to...: Schram earned PAC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance at Bethany, while sophomore kicker
Blake Davis garnered Special Teams Player of the Week laurels. Both players netted ECAC Division III Southwest honors in the respective fields. Pratt earmed a spot on the D3football Team of the Week. So far this season, W&J has picked up 23 national and regional individual honors.
Saturday Special: A total of 22 W&J players have made at least one tackle on special teams this season. Freshman
Jordan Yates leads with 13 tackles, with Bethany marking the first time he didn't record a stop in the third facet of the game. Junior
Anthony Tutino and sophomore
Luke Merhaut, who led the Presidents with five special-teams stops in West Virginia, are tied for second at eight tackles apiece.