Setting the Scene: The Wittenberg University Tigers open the 2002 season with a stern challenge as the Albion College Britons come calling. The Tigers are coming off an outstanding 2001 season that included a fifth consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference championship and fourth straight perfect run through the NCAC. Following a 9-1 regular season, the Tigers won a pair of NCAA Division III tournament games on the road before finally succombing to eventual national champion Mount Union in the quarterfinals.

The Tigers head into the 2002 campaign with extremely high hopes as 17 starters are back in the fold, including nine on offense. A 33-game regular season winning streak may have been snapped a year ago at Alma, but Wittenberg still has won 57 of its last 60 regular season games since Joe Fincham took the reins in 1996. Three of the last six regular seasons resulted in perfect 10-0 records, and the Tigers are riding a conference record 29-game NCAC win streak, dating back to the second-to-last game of the 1997 season.

The Britons went 8-2 a year ago and won the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association title, but they were shut out of the national tournament since the MIAA is without an automatic bid. Albion returns just nine starters to the lineup in 2002, but the Britons do have an experienced 29-man senior class and a tradition of excellence, including a 1994 national championship.

Community Day: Wittenberg is hosting Community Day on Saturday, Sept. 7 at Edwards-Maurer Field. Lunch will be served at 11 a.m. under a large tent at the north end of the stadium.

Tickets for both events will be sold at the gate, beginning at 11 a.m. and ending at 12:30 p.m. Meal ticket prices are $3 for adults and $2 for children. Game ticket prices are $5 for adult reserved seats, $4 for adult general admission, $3 for senior citizens and $2 for children.

Special pregame and halftime entertainment will be provided, including the popular campus musical group, the Wittmen Crew, the Cedarville Band and the Marine Corps Junior ROTC Color Guard. Fans are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs or blankets and, weather permitting, sit on the hill at the north end of the stadium, which overlooks the playing field.

Tigers on TV: Today's game is one of two Wittenberg football games this season that are scheduled for taping and re-broadcast by Time Warner Cable in the Dayton area. It is also one of 10 Tiger athletic events during the 2002-03 school year slated to appear on Time Warner, thanks to a generous gift to the university by an anonymous donor.

The Wittenberg-Albion football game is scheduled for cablecast tonight at 10 p.m., immediately following the Wittenberg-Cedarville men's soccer game that was originally taped on Tuesday, Sept. 3. It will also be aired on Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 10 p.m.

Announcers for today's football game are Marty Bannister on play-by-play and Xan Smith as the color analyst. Their announcing will be simulcast on radio (WULM 1600 AM) and television.

Tigers on the Radio: Wittenberg is blessed with outstanding radio coverage again in 2002, as the aforementioned Marty Bannister heads things up for a 10th straight year. He can be found on the radio dial in the same location, 1600 AM, but with new call letters. Formerly WBLY, the radio home for the Tigers is now WULM.

Bannister is joined in the booth today by former Tiger All-American offensive lineman Xan Smith, who provides color commentary, while Scott Leo will patrol the sidelines and provide insight and commentary for a third consecutive season. Coverage of Community Day festivities start bright and early at 9 a.m. with Springfield Sports Scene from the Edwards-Maurer Field Pressbox, and continue throughout the day.

Across the pressbox on Saturday, Robin Hartman and Albion Sports Information Director Bobby Lee will be providing analysis for the Briton Sports Network. They can be found on three affiliates in Michigan: WMKT 1270 AM in Charlevoix, WOAP 1080 AM in Owosso and WCAR 1090 AM in Livonia-Garden City.

The Rankings: Wittenberg is ranked No. 7 in three preseason polls (Street & Smith's, Lindy's and Don Hansen's National Football Gazette) and No. 5 by d3football.com. The Tigers finished the 2001 season ranked No. 7 in the latter poll as well. Albion is unranked in the preseason polls and did not finish among the top 25 a year ago.

Series History: This is the first meeting between the Tigers and Britons on the gridiron. Wittenberg has played nine games against current MIAA schools, compiling a 9-2 overall record (2-0 vs. Hope, 3-1 vs. Alma, 1-1 vs. Kalamazoo and 3-0 vs. Olivet).

Tigers in Season Openers: In the last six years under Joe Fincham, Wittenberg is perfect in season openers, defeating Bluffton twice, Baldwin-Wallace twice and Urbana twice by an average score of 39-11. The last season-opening loss for the Tigers came in 1994 at Evansville by a 14-13 count. The last season-opening home loss came in 1992 against Baldwin-Wallace by a 20-0 score. The last home-opening defeat (which was not the first game of the season) came in 1996 when Allegheny scored a 26-14 victory.

Streaks: Wittenberg heads into the 2002 season riding a 29-game NCAC winning streak, dating back to Nov. 4, 1997 at Wooster. Since that loss, which forced a three-way split of the conference title between Wooster, Wittenberg and Allegheny, the Tigers have claimed four straight NCAC crowns without a loss. No player on the current roster has ever lost an NCAC game.

That's not the only active streak Wittenberg carries into the 2002 campaign. The Tigers' regular season home win streak has reached 34 straight games, dating back to the second game of the 1996 season against Allegheny. In addition, Wittenberg has gone 10 full years since losing back-to-back games. At the end of the 1991 season, Ohio Wesleyan defeated Wittenberg, and then Baldwin-Wallace defeated the Tigers to open the '92 campaign. Since then, Wittenberg has played 109 games without losing two straight. The Tigers' record in that time is 97-11-1, including an incredible 91-6-1 during the regular season.

Preseason Honors: Wittenberg has produced 45 All-America football players over the last 39 years, including 29 first-team selections. If the preseason prognosticators are correct, this could be another banner year for Tigers and postseason awards. Senior tailback Daniel Grove is a preseason second team All-America choice by d3football.com, while senior center Adam McClain and senior defensive end Allen D'Andrea were preseason second team choice by Lindy's.

Case for the Offense: Grove, who is back after rushing for more than 1,200 yards in his first year as a starter, leads a potent offensive unit that averaged more than 39 points per game a year ago. Senior quarterback Greg Cornett will lead the air attack after throwing for the second-most yards in school history in 2001.

In addition, four starters on the offensive line, anchored by two-time All-NCAC choice Adam McClain at center, sophomore fullback Raymar Hampshire, senior tight end Erich Schoeneberger and junior wide receiver Skip Ivery are all back in the starting lineup this year. Attempting to fill the huge shoes of departed starters Michael Aljancic and Matt Leisure, both three-time All-NCAC choices, are senior wide receiver Adrian Crane and junior tackle Andrew Wheeler.

Replacing a Legend: While legend may be a strong word, Michael Aljancic certainly made his mark while wearing the Red & White. He finished his career with 147 career receptions, tops in school history.

Replacing him this year will be a job done by committee. Junior Skip Ivery started on the other side from Aljancic in 2001, and he brings his 38 career receptions back to the starting lineup. Despite a training camp ankle sprain, senior Adrian Crane is expected to start in Aljancics place, bringing 33 career receptions to the lineup. Backing them up are senior Josh McCoy, who is recuperating from a summer collarbone injury and has 11 career catches, senior Tim Horn, who has caught two passes in his career, and several freshmen, including Jered Glover and Braden Freeman, who is on the shelf after a training camp injury until at least midseason. 

That means that all of this year's receivers have a combined experience of 84 career receptions, or 63 less than Aljancic had by himself.

Creating a Legend: While a fleet of wide receivers attempt to replace Aljancic, running back is a position of security and strength for the Tigers in 2002. That's because senior tailback Daniel Grove is firmly entrenched in that spot after a breakout 2001 season.

Grove's 1,260 yards rushing last year ranks eighth in Wittenberg history for rushing yards in a season and moved his career totals to 1,942 yards and 30 touchdowns (186 total points) on 329 carries. That puts Grove within just 46 yards of the top 10 in school history for rushing yards and 42 points of the top five for scoring.

Career Rushing Att. Yds. YPC TD

1. Casey Donaldson (1997-00) 836 5,112 6.1 67

2. Dave Merritt (1975-78) 685 3,759 5.5 38

3. Marlon Perryman (1990-93) 644 3,567 5.5 27

4. Jon Warga (1987-90) 525 3,250 6.2 28

5. Aaron Powers (1993-96) 520 3,122 6.0 38

6. Marcus Booker (1993-96) 490 2,991 6.8 36

7. Gene Urbanski (1953-56) 563 2,837 5.0 35

8. Dana Williams (1979-82) 440 2,209 5.0 16

9. Glenn Hendrix (1971-74) 405 2,085 5.1 5

10. Tony Barrett (1985-87) 423 1,988 4.7 8

11. Daniel Grove (1999- ) 329 1,942 5.9 30

Case for the Defense: On the other side of the ball, the strength of a veteran defensive unit is at linebacker. Back after not playing football in 2001 is senior middle linebacker Dustin Goldsbury, a three-time All-NCAC choice and one of the most dominating defensive players in the nation. He is joined by senior Andy Pope, a two-time All-NCAC selection, and junior Andy Dooley, a transfer from Miami University.

Plenty of experienced players are on hand in the secondary as well, starting with fifth-year seniors John Hauser and Andy Waddle. Hauser is a three-time All-NCAC choice and made second-team All-Great Lakes Region a year ago. The corners are senior David Middleton, a returning starter, and junior Tim Gaal, who doubles as the team's punter. On the defensive line, three new starters join senior end Allen D'Andrea, an All-NCAC choice in 2001.

Today's Opponent: Albion is coming off an 8-2 season and the program's 32nd MIAA football championship. The Britons suffered huge graduation losses following the 2001 season, but they do have 29 seniors on the 2002 roster.

Offensively, Albion must replace quarterback Travis Rundle, who re-wrote the school record books in 2001, flanker John Bennink, who claimed school records for receptions and receiving yards in a season, and both starting running backs. Seniors Adam Auvenshine and Leon McDonald are the replacements at the wide receiver positions, while juniors Shaun Moon and Andy Kocoloski and sophomore Dustin Louwaert will lead the rushing attack in 2002. Under center for the first time is sophomore quarterback Mike Gough, and clearing the way will be three returning senior starters on the offensive line.

Defensively, most of the experience is at linebacker - seniors Nick Loafman, Brian Michael and Chris Stefanes are returning starters, while Tyler Alpers, another senior, logged playing time last season.

Free safety Jason Carpenter leads the secondary, and three linemen with game experience return to the lineup this year, led by junior Glen Brittich. A projected strength this year for Albion is at placekicker, where junior Andy Cline resides. He was an all-league choice a year ago, and also made Honorable Mention All-America.

Around the NCAC Today: Its the first week of the season, but not every team in the NCAC is in action today. Wabash is idle. Along with this game at Edwards-Maurer Field in Springfield, Baldwin-Wallace hosts Allegheny at 1 p.m., Earlham is at Rose-Hulman at 7 p.m., Franklin and Marshall travels to Oberlin at 1 p.m., Grove City takes on visiting Hiram at 1:30 p.m., Kenyon kicks off against homestanding Centre at 1:30 p.m., Waynesburg is at Denison at 1 p.m. and Wooster travels to Hope for a 1 p.m. start. All games are against non-conference foes.

The Coaches: Wittenberg is led by Joe Fincham, a 1988 graduate of Ohio University. Entering his seventh season at the helm, Fincham has a 63-7 overall record, including a mark of 42-2 in the NCAC and a regular season record of 57-3. His teams have claimed the last five conference titles, including four straight outright with undefeated records. Fincham, who ranks second in winning percentage in NCAA Division III history among coaches with five or more seasons, has been named NCAC Coach of the Year each of the last four seasons.

Craig Rundle, a 1974 Albion graduate, is in his sixth season guiding his alma mater. His teams have compiled a 35-13 record during that time and have won three MIAA titles and made on NCAA tournament appearance in 1998. Rundle made previous coaching stops at St. Mary's (Calif.) and Colorado College and has an overall record of 92-59-1.