The Series: Washington & Jefferson trails Carnegie Mellon, 32-26-5, all-time in the series, but the Presidents have won three of the last four meetings. Prior to that, the Tartans had won 13 of 14 games. The last time the two teams played was in 1989 as CMU posted a 17-7 win at Mount Lebanon before leaving the PAC. The first meeting between the two schools came in 1906 when W&J defeated then-Carnegie Tech 34-0.
 

The Head Coaches: Mike Sirianni (Mount Union, '94) owns a 103-24 (.811) 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. Rich Lackner (Carnegie Mellon, '79) is in his 29th season as the head coach at CMU. Since being named the head coach in 1986, Lackner has led the Tartans to a 184-98-2 (.651) record, nine conference titles and two NCAA playoff berths. The all-time winningest coach at the school, Lackner was a four-year starter at linebacker, a three-time All-PAC pick, the 1976 PAC Defensive Player of the Year and was twice named an Academic All-American.
 

W&J vs. the PAC: W&J holds a 313-134-10 (.696) 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 55-10 (.846) in conference games since Sirianni took over in 2003.

Bethany (69-21)   Carnegie Mellon (26-32-5)   Case Western Reserve (17-16-1)

Geneva (40-19-2)   Grove City (36-13)   Saint Vincent (6-1)

Thiel (43-22-2)   Thomas More (4-5)   Waynesburg (38-3)

Westminster (34-2)
 

The Last Meeting (1989, Carnegie Mellon 17, W&J 7): In its 100th season, W&J entered 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the PAC, ranked fourth in the nation. The contest was the final PAC game of the year for both teams as CMU entered 3-1 in the conference and could tie W&J for the league title with a win. When the Tartans scored first, late in the first quarter, it marked the first time all season that W&J trailed. CMU added a field goal in the second quarter to hold a 10-0 lead at halftime. The Presidents got back in the game early in the third quarter on a touchdown pass by junior John Ivory to sophomore Larry Pitts to make it 10-7. Carnegie Mellon would intercept Ivory three times down the stretch and add another score to take the final, 17-7, and a share of the PAC title. George H.W. Bush was in the first year of his first team as the President of the United States the last time the two teams met.
 

Scouting Carnegie Mellon: CMU opened the season with a 30-0 setback at Case Western Reserve in the 29th-annual Academic Bowl, which also served as the PAC Kickoff Classic, as it was the first PAC game between the two schools since they re-joined the conference as affiliate members for the 2014 season. CMU's best scoring chance in the first half came on a 15-play, 63-yard drive to end the half, but it resulted in a block 19-yard field goal, leaving the score 14-0 CWRU at the break. Freshman quarterback Bryan Jangro completed 19-of-35 for 149 yards in the setback. Junior Chris Herrera led the Tartan receivers with five catches for 56 yards. Carnegie Mellon won the turnover battle, 2-1, with an interception by sophomore Samer Abdelmoty and a fumble recovery by junior linebacker Nico Comsa. Sophomore defensive back Jonathan Dyer led the Tartans with a career-high nine tackles, eight solo, while senior linebacker Eric Myers finished with a career-best eight stops.
 

Youth Movement: The Presidents showcase just seven seniors on their offensive and defensive depth charts for the season, including only three on offense. Of the 44 players listed on both sides of the ball, 21 are juniors (13 offense), 13 are sophomores (five offense) and three are freshmen (one offense). The 2014 Presidents have just 10 seniors on the roster.
 

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.
 

700 Club: The Presidents enter Saturday's contest with 699 all-time wins (699-383-40, .641) in this the 123rd season of varsity football. Only two NCAA Division III programs have reached 700 wins (Mount Union, 729 and Wittenberg, 727). With its third win, W&J will become just the 25th program in all NCAA divisions to reach 700 all-time wins. The Presidents currently rank behind Georgia Tech, the most recent member of the group at 703 wins.

Complete list, updated Sept. 15:

912 Michigan

876 Yale 

877 Notre Dame

876 Texas

868 Nebraska

851 Ohio State

845 Oklahoma

841 Alabama

838 Harvard 

828 Penn 

806 Tennessee

799 Princeton

798 Southern California

768 Georgia

756 LSU

733 Penn State

729 Mount Union

728 Auburn

727 Wittenberg

714 West Virginia

706 Virginia Tech

706 Syracuse

704 Texas A&M

703 Georgia Tech

699 Washington & Jefferson
 

Road to 700: A look back at some of the previous milestone wins in program history.

100 – W&J 29, Marietta 0 – Sept. 24, 1904

200 – W&J 12, Rutgers 9 – Nov. 30, 1916

300 – W&J 26, Wooster 0 – Nov. 16, 1935

400 – W&J 25, Bethany 20 – Nov. 10, 1973

500 – W&J 33, Rochester 6 – Oct. 20, 1990

600 – W&J 26, Westminster 17 – Oct. 4, 2003
For a more in-depth look back at the milestone victories, click here: http://gopresidents.com/news/2014/9/17/FB_0917143149.aspx
 

Start Strong: W&J's 56-21 win at Westminster marked the first time since 2009 that the Presidents began the season 2-0. That year, W&J opened 7-0 before a week eight loss to Thomas More. In 2010, the Presidents lost to Delaware Valley in week one and from 2011-13, W&J's loss came in week two (once to Delaware Valley and twice to St. John Fisher).
 

Flashin' Fifty: For the first time since 2000, W&J has posted back-to-back 50-plus point performances to open the season. That year, the Presidents topped 50 points in the first three contests, scoring 54 at Allegheny, 53 versus Randolph-Macon and 50 at Hanover.
 

Different Way to Score: W&J has already scored 12 rushing touchdowns this season in just two games. In Mike Sirianni's first season of 2003, the Presidents scored 13 rushing touchdowns...all year (11 games).
 

Keep Up: Through two games, W&J is averaging 96 plays per game and possessing the ball for 35:05. 
 

Knocking on the Door: W&J has been receiving votes in the D3football.com Top 25 poll since the preseason. In the most recent edition, W&J is listed as the top school in the "Receiving Votes" category, just 22 points from breaking into the rankings.
 

Moving In: Ryan Ruffing has made a habit of finding his way to the end zone this season. The junior running back has scored 10 touchdowns already, five in each of W&J's wins. His nine rushing touchdowns lead the nation by three, and his overall total is more than all but one quarterback in Division III has thrown for all season. He is on pace for 45 rushing and 50 total touchdowns this season, both of which would be NCAA Division III records. The all-divisions record for points per game in a season is 21.3 by NFL Hall of Famer Barry Sanders, who scored 234 points in 22 games during his Heisman Trophy winning 1988 season. Ruffing currently averages 30.0.
 

Catch Up: Senior WR Max Creighan went over the 100-yard mark against Westminster with seven catches for 104 yards. He became the first W&J receiver not named Alex Baroffio to top 100 yards since Hunter Creel on Oct. 13, 2012 against Westminster.
 

Go Deep: Sophomore QB Pete Coughlin tossed for 281 yards against Westminster, the highest total for a W&J passer since Matt Bliss threw for 339 against St. John Fisher on Sept. 14, 2013.
 

What's the Rush?: W&J is averaging more than 2.5 times as many rushing plays as passing plays so far this season. The Presidents have 124 rushing attempts compared to 49 pass attempts. 
 

Converters: The Presidents have converted 53.3 percent (16-of-30) of their third-down opportunities this season. After the first quarter, where W&J is 0-for-5 on third down,  the squad has converted 64 percent (16-of-25).
 

You Shall Not Cross: While the offense has done a good job maintaining drives, the defense has done well to end drives, holding opponents to 31.2 percent (10-of-32) on third down, including just 22.7 percent (5-of-22) after the first quarter.
 

Awards: So far this season, W&J football players have collected four awards, ranging from the conference to national level. After week one, Ruffing was named the PAC Offensive Player of the Week and a member of the D3football.com Team of the Week. Following his performance in week two, Ruffing earned PAC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second-straight week and was also named the ECAC Division III Southwest Offensive Player of the Week.