.pdf version

Live Stats | Live Audio

WASHINGTON, Pa. -- No. 20/22 Washington & Jefferson (4-0, 2-0) travels to winless Grove City (0-4, 0-2) at 7 p.m. on Saturday night, for W&J's fourth and final night game of the 2014 regular season.

The Series: Saturday marks the 50th all-time meeting between the two programs, with Washington & Jefferson holding a 36-13 (.735) record. The Presidents have won two straight after the Wolverines snapped a 12-game losing streak with a 24-21 victory at Thorn Field in 2011. The game marks the fifth meeting between the two programs under the lights since 2008.

The Head Coaches: Mike Sirianni (Mount Union, '94) owns a 105-24 (.814) 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. Chris Smith (Grove City, '72) is in his 31st season at Grove City making him the dean of PAC football coaches. He owns a 122-170-2 record (.418) record and led the Wolverines to 1997 and 1998 (co-champs) PAC titles.

W&J vs. The PAC: W&J holds a 315-134-10 (.697) 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 57-10 (.851) in conference games since Sirianni took over in 2003.The Last Meeting (Sept. 21, 2013 - W&J 41, Grove City 19): Senior running back Dion Wiegand established a then-career high with 172 rushing yards and five touchdowns to lead Washington & Jefferson to a 40-19 Presidents' Athletic Conference victory over Grove City at Robert E. Thorn Field. W&J racked up 475 total yards and 26 first downs in the win, including rushing 54 times for 320 yards.  Ryan Ruffing added 84 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. QB Pete Coughlin saw the first extended action of his career, taking over for the injured Matt Bliss and completing five-of-six passes for 48 yards and rushing eight times for 30 yards. For Grove City, QB Brian Pell completed 21-of-35 passes for 214 yards. Running back Steve Maskrey rushed for 48 yards and two touchdowns.

Scouting Grove City: The Wolverines are last in the PAC in scoring offense, posting just 6.8 points per game, thanks to a pair of shutouts (42-0 at Geneva on Sept. 13 and 35-0 last week vs. Waynesburg). The Grovers also yield 32.2 points per game, ninth most in the league. Grove City ranks ninth in total defense (387.5 yards per game) and must contain a W&J offense that leads the PAC and ranks fifth in the nation at 546.5 yards per game. Josh Peach leads the Wolverines in both rushing (45 att., 176 yds, TD) and passing (33-of-61, 340 yds, 1 TD, 4 INT). David Folkmire has caught a team-best 21 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns. Brandon Berringer and Bobby Tuttle lead the Wolverines with 36 tackles each, while Jason Skyrm has a team-high 7.0 TFL. Ned Hull and Joey Siefert have the only interceptions for the defense.

Youth Movement: The Presidents showcase just six seniors on their offensive and defensive depth charts for the season, including only three on offense. Of the 43 players listed on both sides of the ball, 22 are juniors (14 offense), 12 are sophomores (four offense) and three are freshmen (one offense). The 2014 Presidents have just 10 seniors on the roster.

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 .641 winning percentage (701-383-40). 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. 8:
912    Michigan
879    Yale 
879    Notre Dame
877    Texas
870    Nebraska
853    Ohio State
846    Oklahoma
842    Alabama
841    Harvard 
828    Penn 
806    Tennessee
801    Princeton
799    Southern California
771    Georgia
757    LSU
734    Penn State
732    Mount Union
731    Auburn
730    Wittenberg
715    West Virginia
708    Virginia Tech
706    Syracuse
706    Texas A&M
705    Georgia Tech
701    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.

Poll Us: W&J is ranked No. 20 in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25 poll after moving up from No. 25 in last week's rankings. The Presidents also broke into the D3football.com Top 25 poll for the first time since Week One in 2010, debuting at No. 22.

Oct-oob-yeah: With its 51-28 win over Thomas More last week, W&J improved to 39-7 in the month of October under Mike Sirianni. W&J is also 21-2 now at Cameron Stadium in October under the 12th-year mentor.

Ball Control: W&J held onto the football against the Saints, improving to 22-3 under Sirianni when not committing a turnover.

Play with a Lead: The Presidents led 31-21 through 30 minutes against Thomas More and held on for the victory to improve to 83-3 during Sirianni's tenure when leading at halftime.

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.

Lights, Cameras, Action: W&J is 26-1 all-time in 27 night games in Sirianni's 12 years. The only setback came last season at Bethany.

First and Foremost: Sophomore QB Pete Coughlin is completing 72 percent (34-of-47) of his first down passes this season. During second down his completion percentage increases slightly to 73 percent (36-of-49) and down to 58 percent (20-of-34) on third down. He has connected on all three fourth-down attempts.

Slick Six: Coughlin tied a school record against Thomas More with six touchdown passes. It was just the sixth time in school history that a W&J signal-caller tossed six scores. W&J Hall of Famer Bobby Swallow accomplished the feat three times in 2007 and Brian Dawson (200) and Chris Edwards (2004) each reached the mark. Coughlin also threw for 383 yards in the victory, the most by a Presidents' quarterback since Swallow tossed for 391 yards against Frostburg State in 2009. 

Use Lis: Junior WR Daniel Lis had a career game against the Saints, hauling in nine passes for 188 yards and three touchdowns. It was the highest single-game yardage total since Alex Baroffio recorded 207 yards against Waynesburg in 2011. It was the first time a W&J receiver caught three touchdown passes since...the game before against CMU when senior WR Max Creighan hauled in three scores.

Run Away: Senior LB Jared Pratt leads W&J with 42 tackles, 37 of which have come on rushing plays, more than double the second-closest President (Ryan Torrance, 19 rushing tackles). Pratt has been in double digits for stops three times and led the Presidents in tackles three times in four games this season.

Targets Acquired: Max Creighan has accounted for 23 percent of QB targets this season (34-of-142). Lis is second at 22 percent (32-of-142) and 16 of his 25 catches have gone for a first down, including all four touchdowns. Junior TE Michael Giampole has been targeted 27times, catching 14 passes.

Workhorse: Junior RB Ryan Ruffing is averaging 5.1 yards on 74 carries on first down and 4.4 yards on 38 second-down carries. Of his 12 rushing touchdowns, 11have come on first or second down. On second or third and short he has carried 25 times and picked up the first down on 19 of them.

Fresh Face: Freshman WR Jesse Zubik was named ECAC Division III Southwest Rookie of the Week after catching three passes for 52 yards and a touchdown, rushing once for six yards and recording 60 kick return yards for 118 all-purpose yards.

Long Plays: W&J has 25 plays of 20-plus yards from scrimmage this season and seven more on kick returns. 21 of the plays have been between 20-29 yards, seven have been between 30-39 yards, and two each between 40-49 yards and 70-79 yards. The passing game has accounted for 17, rushing eight and kick returns seven. Ruffing leads W&J with 10 plays of 20-plus yards (six rushing, four receiving). Lis and Creighan both have six plays over 20 yards.

Special Player: Freshman DB Jordan Yates has made a name for himself as a rookie on special teams. All 12 of his tackles this season have come on special teams to lead W&J. 10 of those stops have been on kickoff coverage with the other two on the punt team. Junior DB Anthony Tutino is second on the team with seven special teams stops, including a team-best three against Thomas More.