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WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The No. 11/14 Washington & Jefferson football team (9-0, 7-0) can make its 24th appearance in the NCAA playoffs happen with a perfect regular-season record with a Presidents' Athletic Conference "Backyard Brawl" win at Waynesburg (7-2, 5-2) on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 1:30 p.m.

The Series: The 42nd edition of the "PAC Backyard Brawl" features a Washington & Jefferson team that has already wrapped up at least a share of the PAC title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs for the 24th time. The Presidents hold a commanding 38-3 lead on the Yellow Jackets in the all-time series, including 10-straight victories. Waynesburg's last win came in Greene County on Oct. 25, 2003 (27-17).

The Head Coaches: Mike Sirianni (Mount Union, '94) owns a 110-24 (.821) 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 will be making their 11th postseason appearance under Sirianni next week. Rick Shepas (Youngstown State, '87) is in his 10th season at Waynesburg and enters this weekend's match-up with a 63-39 (.618) career record, leaving him two wins shy of the program record of 65 by Frank N. Wolf (1921-22, 1928-41).

W&J vs. the PAC: W&J holds a 320-134-10 (.700) winning percentage against current football-playing members of the Presidents' Athletic Conference. Washington & Jefferson has claimed 24 PAC Championships throughout the history of the league. W&J is 62-10 (.859) in conference games since Sirianni took over in 2003.
The Last Meeting (Nov. 11, 2013 - W&J 38, Waynesburg 13): W&J clinched its second-straight and 23rd overall PAC Championship with a 38-13 win in Washington to close out the 2013 regular season. The Yellow Jackets grabbed a 7-0 lead just 2:36 into the game, but a 17-point third quarter sealed the win and PAC title for the Presidents. Cornerback Sam Comly led the defense, which held Waynesburg to just 323 total yards and 46 rushing, with nine tackles, four pass breakups and two interceptions. Dion Wiegand carried 32 times for 137 yards and a touchdown, giving him 25 total TDs for the season, tying for then-second place on the W&J single-season list. Alex Baroffio scored on a 59-yard punt return and one-yard run in the third quarter to help the Presidents pull away. 

Scouting Waynesburg: The Yellow Jackets enter Saturday's game with the third-rated offense in the PAC, averaging 405.9 yards and 31.6 points. Waynesburg is third in scoring defense, yielding just 20.4 points per game, but sixth in total defense, surrendering 375.7 yards. Despite QB Carter Hill topping the league with 310 pass attempts, Waynesburg has allowed just 13 sacks through nine games. The defense is first in red zone scoring, allowing opponents points on 66.7 percent of trips. Hill is second in the conference at 239.0 passing yards per game and 2151 total yards with a 25-8 touchdown-to-interception ratio. RB Jake Forsythe is third in the league and 23rd nationally with 1,080 yards. WR Bernie Thompson is second in the PAC and 38th in the nation at 6.4 receptions per game. Nine defensive players for the Jackets have 40-plus tackles, led by Aaron Palmer's 63. Mike Lopuchovsky leads the squad with five interceptions and is second with 52 tackles. Zach Machuga is tops with 11.0 TFL, with Josh Tolliver right behind at 9.5 TFL and a team-high 5.5 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 .643 winning percentage (706-383-40). 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 Nov. 12:
915 - Michigan
883 - Yale
881 - Notre Dame 
880 - Texas
873 - Nebraska
857 - Ohio State
848 - Oklahoma
846 - Alabama
846 - Harvard 
829 - Penn 
808 - Tennessee
804 - Princeton
802 - Southern California
774 - Georgia
760 - LSU
737 - Mount Union 
735 - Penn State
735 - Wittenberg 
733 - Auburn
718 - West Virginia
708 - Texas A&M
708 - Georgia Tech 
708 - Virginia Tech
707 - Syracuse
706 - Washington & Jefferson

30 and Counting: At 9-0, W&J now boasts 31-consecutive winning seasons as a football program. The Presidents 31 winning seasons rank fourth among all divisions of NCAA football behind Linfield (58), Florida State (37) and Mount Union (35), all of whom have also clinched winning seasons. 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 approved 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 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."

Novembers to Remember: The Presidents own a 29-8 record under Sirianni in the month of November, including a 15-3 mark at home.

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).

Poll Us: W&J continues to climb in the national polls, coming in at No. 11 in the latest American Football Coaches Association Top 25 poll. The Presidents also moved up from No. 16 to No. 14 in the D3football.com Top 25 poll. The Presidents remain ranked fourth in the NCAA Division III South Regional Rankings, released on Nov. 12.

Seven Lengths: W&J racked up 701 yards of total offense at Thiel last weekend, signifying the first time it topped 700 yards in a game since a drubbing of Saint Vincent on Oct. 18, 2008. It marked one of just 13 times this season a Division III team has topped 700 yards of total offense. The Presidents hadn't topped 600 yards in a game since hanging 606 on Bethany three weeks later.

30's the New 20: If the Presidents reach 30 points against Waynesburg, it would be just the second time W&J has hit that number of points in every game during the regular season. The only time it occurred was in 2005 when W&J averaged 44 points per game en route to a 9-1 regular season.

Play with a Lead: W&J is 87-3 when leading at halftime during Sirianni's tenure. Oct. 25th's 34-24 win over Case Western Reserve was the only time this season the Presidents did not hold a lead through 30 minutes (trailed 9-6).

Can't Stop, Won't Stop: The Presidents have scored points in 34-of-36 (.944) quarters through nine games and have been shutout in a half zero times. The only periods that W&J has failed to light the scoreboard were the opening quarter of the season against Wooster and the second quarter against Case Western Reserve.

Never Slow Down: W&J boasts the No. 3 offense in the nation according to total offense (553.4 yards per game). W&J is also sixth in NCAA Division III at 47.7 points per game.

End Zone Dance: W&J has scored 58 offensive touchdowns already this season in nine games, the most since the 2010 squad produced 75 touchdowns in 12 games.

Who's Next?: Entering play this weekend, 14 of the 24 automatic bids to the NCAA Division III playoffs have been clinched, while 10 more AQs will be determined this week. The remainder of the 32-team field will be selected from two "Pool B" (schools from conferences with no AQ) and six "Pool C" (schools that have an AQ but did not win it). W&J will find out who and where it will play on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. with the pairings show on NCAA.com. The date is Saturday, Nov. 22 and the time is 12 p.m., noon.

There are 24 automatic bids to the 2014 Division III football championships. Here's who has clinched bids:
Chapman
Christopher Newport
Franklin
Hobart
Ithaca
Johns Hopkins
Mary Hardin-Baylor
MIT 
St. Scholastica
UW-Whitewater
Wartburg
Wash. & Jeff.
Wheaton
Wittenberg

National Leader: Junior RB Ryan Ruffing leads all NCAA Divisions in scoring at 17.3 points per game. His 23 rushing touchdowns are second in the nation behind a player with the week off. With an additional three touchdowns receiving, Ruffing has moved into sole possession of second place on the W&J single-season touchdown list. The record for total touchdowns is 34 (Chris Babirad, 1992).

Workhorse: Ruffing has topped 100 yards in nine-straight games to start the season, the longest such streak under Sirianni and the longest overall 100-yard streak during the head coaches regime. Ruffing's 196 yards on Saturday at Thiel was a new career high, surpassing the 193 he had against Carnegie Mellon earlier this year. He also broke off a career-long 63-yard TD run, the longest rush of his career by 25 yards. Ruffing is 146 yards from becoming just the third player in W&J's storied history to rush for 1,500 yards in a season (Babirad 91, 92; Nichols 01)

Home Run Hitters: Five of W&J's eight longest plays this season came in Saturday's win over Thiel, including the first play from scrimmage -- a 73-yard pass from Pete Coughlin to Jesse Zubik. In total, the Presidents had nine plays over 20 yards.

Targets Acquired: W&J has three wide receivers with 40 or more catches, 500-plus yards and five-plus TDs (Daniel Lis, 56-671-7; Max Creighan, 50-572-5; Jesse Zubik, 44-719-9). The last time W&J had three receivers with 40-plus catches, 500-plus yards and five-plus TDs was 2008 when David Ravida (86-956-8), Craig Besong (75-1186-16) and Luke Espe (67-803-8) accomplished the feat in 13 games when the season ended with an NCAA Quarterfinals loss at Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Give the Rook' a Look: Freshman WR Jesse Zubik earned his fourth ECAC Division III Southwest Rookie of the Week award and first PAC Offensive Player of the Week honor after a career performance at Thiel. He hauled in five passes for a career-best 190 yards and three TDs. He is the third different President this season with three receiving TDs in a game. In his last two contests he has five TDs and 291 yards on just eight catches, including a pair of 80-yard scores. Zubik had gone over 100 yards in each of W&J's last three games and four of five. His rookie numbers (44-719-9) have already surpassed all-time leading receiver Alex Baroffio's numbers in 11 games during his freshman year in 2010 (30 rec., 372 yards, 4 TD).

Three Bills: Sophomore QB Pete Coughlin has already topped 300 yards passing five times this season, matching the most since W&J Hall of Famer Bobby Swallow did it five times in 2008. Chris Edwards has the most in a single-season during Sirianni's tenure with seven games of 300-plus yards passing in 2005. Coughlin's 207 completions this year already rank fifth in W&J single-season history (Swallow has the school record with 295 in 2008).

Milestone Matched: With his five-catch performance at Thiel, Senior WR Max Creighan reached 100 career catches. In four seasons, he now has 103 receptions for 1,099 yards and eight scores.

Shut 'Em Down: The W&J defense has not allowed a point in 41.7 percent (15-of-36) of quarters this season.

Run Away: Senior LB Jared Pratt leads W&J and the PAC with 96 tackles, 74 of which have come on rushing plays, nearly double the second-closest President (Ryan Torrance has 42). Pratt has been in double digits for stops five times and led the Presidents in tackles five times this season. He has been in double digits nine times in 20 career games. With four more tackles, Pratt will become just the third President in the last 10 years to amass 100 tackles in a season (Gitlitz 07, 08; Sedunov 08).

Saturday Special: A total of 24 W&J players have made at least one tackle on special teams this season. Junior Anthony Tutino leads the way with 17 stops on special teams. Sophomore Luke Merhaut and freshman Jordan Yates are tied for second at 13 and freshman Zachary Walker has 11.