The Wittenberg University Tigers put the season on the line today in a crucial North Coast Athletic Conference showdown opposite the fired-up Wabash College Little Giants. The Homecoming game will be Wittenberg's second straight NCAC home game, coming one week after a 53-7 destruction of Denison at Edwards-Maurer Field. Prior to that, Wittenberg went 3-0 in non-conference games, defeating Albion 44-7 in the season-opener at home, Urbana 37-10 on the road on Sept. 14 and Thomas More 31-6 on the road on Sept. 28 following a bye week.

For the fifth time in seven years under Head Coach Joe Fincham Wittenberg is 4-0 out of the gates. Coming off an outstanding 2001 season that included a fifth consecutive NCAC championship and fourth straight perfect run through the conference, Wittenberg is ranked No. 4 in the American Football Coaches Association poll. The Tigers have won 61 of their last 64 regular season games since Fincham took the reins in 1996, including their last 11, dating back to the third game of the 2001 season, a 26-24 road defeat at Alma. Three of the last six regular seasons have resulted in perfect 10-0 records, and the Tigers are riding a conference record 30-game NCAC win streak.

Wabash was the preseason choice to finish second in the NCAC behind Wittenberg, just as the Little Giants did a year ago in Head Coach Chris Creighton's first season on the sidelines in Crawfordsville, Ind. But the Little Giants have designs on bigger things in 2002, and led by last year's NCAC Offensive Player of the Year Jake Knott, a senior quarterback, and preseason All-America tight end Ryan Short, the feeling is that Wabash will give Wittenberg all it can handle. The two teams lead the NCAC in almost every statistical category, and the Little Giants have matched the Tigers' 4-0 overall record to this point.

This weekend, Wittenberg will formally salute its newest member of the National College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind. in a ceremony at 12:40 p.m. at Edwards-Maurer Field.

Charlie Green '65 was immortalized in the hall on Aug. 10. He became the fourth Wittenberg athlete/coach to be elected by the National College Football Hall of Fame into its shrine, following in the footsteps of Ernie Godfrey, Bill Edwards and Dave Maurer.

Green was one of Wittenberg's greatest football players and the leader of several of its finest teams. The starter under center from 1962-64, Green guided Wittenberg to three straight Ohio Athletic Conference championships, the No. 1 ranking in the nation in the Associated Press College Division poll twice and a phenomenal 25-0-1 record.

Green was an All-America selection and OAC Most Valuable Offensive Player as a senior in 1964 after leading the conference in passing yards, passing yards per game, touchdown passes and total offense for a second straight season. He established 14 OAC records and had a pass efficiency rating of 189.0 in 1963, a mark that still ranks among the top 10 in NCAA history. Green finished his career ranked first in Wittenberg history with 5,575 passing yards and 61 touchdown passes - marks no one has even approached before or since.

Four Wittenberg greats will be inducted into the university's Athletics Hall of Honor in a special cerempony Saturday night at the Springfield Inn. Steve Allison '89, Maggie Brandon '72, Don Perkins (Honorary Class of '89) and George Winkhouse '50 join 127 other athletes who have been inducted over the last 17 years. The inductees will be honored at halftime of the Wittenberg-Wabash football game.

Allison was a three-year starter for the men's basketball team who was selected NCAA Division III All-America and the Ohio Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 1989. Wittenberg accumulated a 95-23 overall record in Allison's four years, and the Tigers advanced to the NCAA Division III Final Four in 1987. Allison's career point total of 1,561 still ranks No. 8 in school history. Brandon started every game for three years as a left wing on the field hockey team, and she was selected to play in the Great Lakes Sectional Tournament as a junior and a senior. In volleyball, Brandon started every game for three years and served as team captain as a senior, helping the Tigers to an impressive 31-2 four-year record. In basketball, she started every game for four straight years, leading the team in scoring and serving as captain as a senior. Brandon was also president of the Women's Recreation Association at Wittenberg, a four-year member of the softball team and a member of the university's first women's lacrosse team in 1972.

Perkins arrived at Wittenberg in 1970 and spent six years as the university's sports information director. He was named director of public relations in 1974 and held that position for 23 years. Perkins secured campus visits by Sports Illustrated and ABC-TV's "Wide World of Sports," successfully promoted 20 Wittenberg men and women athletes for All-America honors and wrote cover stories about Tiger coaches for the national publications Basketball Times and Football Weekly. Perkins was honored by Wittenberg with an Honorary Alumnus Award in 1989 and The Class of 1914 Award in 1993.

Winkhouse won eight letters in football and baseball at Wittenberg, and he was a team captain for both teams as a senior. After graduation, he worked as a teacher, coach and administrator in the Fairborn City School District, coached baseball for 24 years in the Springfield Babe Ruth League and was elected to the Clark County Baseball Hall of Fame and Miami Valley Coaches Hall of Fame.

Wittenberg is blessed with outstanding radio coverage again in 2002, as 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 by former Tiger All-American offensive lineman Xan Smith, who provides color commentary, while Scott Leo patrols the sidelines to provide insight and commentary for a third consecutive season.

All season long, WULM hosts weekly radio shows that focus on local sports and even Wittenberg athletic teams specifically. On Wednesdays, Leo hosts a sports show that includes interviews and analysis on high school and college sports teams other than football. On Thursdays, following a high school football show, Bannister hosts Tiger Talk, which includes interviews and analysis with Wittenberg Head Coach Joe Fincham and his players and assistant coaches.

This weekend's game against Wabash will be televised by Time Warner Cable in the Dayton area at 10 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 12 and 10 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 16. The programs can be found on Time Warner Cable systems on channel 25 or 69 in Dayton, channel 30 in the Dayton suburbs and channel 59 in communities further north. Subscribers are encouraged to check their local listings.

Wittenberg opened the 2002 season at No. 4 in the first American Football Coaches Association poll, released on Sept. 17, and the Tigers remain in that position three weeks later. Don Hansen's National Football Gazette ranks the Tigers No. 5 currently.

Prior to the season, Wittenberg was 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 AFCA poll.

Wabash has not achieved a national ranking from the AFCA, but the Little Giants were in the aforementioned national preseason polls, ranging from No. 19 to No. 30. In that latest AFCA poll, Wabash is just barely on the outside looking, listed with the second-most votes among the teams not in the top 25. In Don Hansen's, Wabash is 27th in a poll that lists 40 teams.

This is the fifth meeting between the Tigers and Wabash, which made the jump into the North Coast Athletic Conference prior to the 1999 school year and played football for the first time in the conference in 2000. Wittenberg has won all four previous meetings: 42-7 in 1964, 28-0 in 1965, 41-10 in 2000 and 14-3 in 2001.

Around the NCAC Today: Week 6 of the 2002 season features five NCAC games, all slated for 1 p.m.: Wabash at Wittenberg, Kenyon at Denison, Hiram at Allegheny, Oberlin at Wooster and Ohio Wesleyan at Earlham (CST).

One week after their school-record 33-game regular season win streak came to an end at Alma College, the Tigers rebounded to swarm the visiting Wabash Little Giants 14-3 in the NCAC opener for both teams.

Unlike the previous week, the Tigers' defense consistently bent but didn't break, yielding just a field goal on Wabash's opening drive. The potent Little Giants offense, featuring eventual NCAC Offensive Player of the Year Jake Knott and All-America tight end Ryan Short, managed just 102 total yards in the second half.

Trailing 3-0 after Wabash's Olmy Olmstead started the scoring in the first quarter with a 27-yard field goal, Wittenberg came right back as Daniel Grove capped a four-play, 25-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run, set up by an interception by cornerback Jason Jackson.

Insurance points were provided on a three-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Greg Cornett to wide receiver Michael Aljancic with 11:43 remaining in the third quarter. That seven-play, 25-yard drive was set up by a long kickoff return by Jason Stephan. Defensive end Allen D'Andrea and linebacker Nic Black led the Tigers with eight tackles each in the game. Wittenberg recorded 11 tackles for loss in the game.

Wittenberg added to its 30-game NCAC winning streak, dating back to Nov. 4, 1997 at Wooster, with last week's victory over Denison. 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 36 straight games, dating back to the second game of the 1996 season against Allegheny. In addition, Wittenberg has gone 10 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 112 games without losing two straight. The Tigers' record in that time is 100-11-1, including an incredible 95-6-1 during the regular season.

As a team, Wittenberg leads the NCAC in scoring offense (41.2 points per game), scoring defense (7.5 yards per game), pass efficiency defense (71.9), opponent first downs (41), red-zone defense (50 percent), opponent third-down conversions (19.0) and pass defense (123.5 yards per game). The Tigers rank second in pass offense (216.8 yards per game), rush offense (248.5), kickoff returns (23.0 yards per return), rush defense (68.2 yards per game), first downs (87), total offense (465.3 yards per game), third-down conversions (45.1) and total defense (191.8 yards per game).

Individually, junior wide receiver Skip Ivery leads the conference in receiving yards per game (76.0) and senior tailback Daniel Grove leads in scoring (19.5 points per game). Tiger quarterback Greg Cornett ranks second in passing yards per game (198.5) and Grove is runner-up in rushing yards per game (156.8) and all-purpose yards per game (169.8).

As a team, Wittenberg ranks No. 12 in total offense (465.3 yards per game), No. 4 in total defense (191.8), No. 14 in rushing offense (248.5 yards per game), No. 13 in rushing defense (88.7 yards per game), No. 9 in pass efficiency defense (71.9 rating), No. 11 in scoring defense (7.5 yards per game) and No. 11 in scoring offense (41.3 points per game).

Individually, Daniel Grove ranks No. 3 in rushing at 156.8 yards per game, No. 26 in all-purpose yards (169.8 per game) and No. 1 in scoring (19.5 points per game).

Wittenberg and Wabash are statistical mirror images thus far in the 2002 season. In terms of national rankings:
Total Offense: Wittenberg 12th (465.3), Wabash 11th (465.5)
Total Defense: Wittenberg 4th (191.8), Wabash 3rd (175.8)
Rush Offense: Wittenberg 14th (248.5), Wabash N/R
Rush Defense: Wittenberg 13th (68.3), Wabash 1st (30.3)
Pass Offense: Wittenberg N/R, Wabash 29th (269.0)
Pass Defense: Wittenberg 9th (71.9), Wabash 14th (79.5)
Scoring Offense: Wittenberg 11th (41.3), Wabash 17th (38.3)
Scoring Defense: Wittenberg t-5th (7.5), Wabash 14th (10.3)

Wittenberg is spreading it around almost perfectly on offense this year. The Tigers are averaging 216.8 yards per game through the air and 248.5 yards per game on the ground. Wittenberg has 172 rushing attempts this season and 105 passing attempts, but the difference in the average per attempt - 5.8 versus 8.3.

No more Michael Aljancic in the receiving corps. No problem. The 2002 group apparently has a motto that senior quarterback Greg Cornett has bought into as well. Share, and share alike.

No receiver has more than 17 catches this season, and three different players have at least nine receptions. Thirteen different receivers, including running backs, have hauled in at least one pass through four games.

Leading the charge is junior Skip Ivery, who has 17 catches for 304 yards for a 17.9 yards per catch average. It doesn't hurt that his first catch of the 2002 season was a school-record 94-yard touchdown reception against Albion.

Game by game, wide receivers Skip Ivery and Adrian Crane make catches. Since the start of the 2001 season, both have at least one reception in every game, including playoffs, putting their current consecutive games with a reception streak at 17 in a row each.

Senior tailback Daniel Grove has picked up where he left off a year ago by rambling for 630 yards on 78 carries in the first four games of the 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 on 329 carries. In combination with his performance thus far in 2002, Grove has moved into the top 10 in school history in both rushing yards and 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. Daniel Grove (1999- ) 407 2,572 6.3 44
9. Dana Williams (1979-82) 440 2,209 5.0 16
10. Glenn Hendrix (1971-74) 405 2,085 5.1 5
At Grove's current 156-yard per game rushing average, he is on pace to reach No. 4 on this list.

...Is quite a familiar refrain. Grove has scored 13 touchdowns so far in 2002 to lead the NCAC by a wide margin and rank first in the nation in scoring. He has now moved up to No. 2 on the Wittenberg career scoring list.
Career Scoring TP TD PAT FG
1. Casey Donaldson (1997-00) 408 68 - -
2. Daniel Grove (1999- ) 264 44 - -
3. Aaron Powers (1993-96) 254 42 *1 -
4. Ryan Walker (1997-00) 247 - 160-178 29-42
5. Dave Merritt (1975-78) 228 38 - -
Marcus Booker (1993-96) 228 38 - -
7. Gene Urbanski (1953-56) 212 31 26 -
8. Ron Murphy (1956-59) 210 34 *3 -
9. Greg Brame (1990-93) 187 31 - -
10. Jimmy Watts (1993-96) 181 - 115-128 22-35
* 2-point conversions

Grove has leapfrogged six Wittenberg greats - Gene Urbanski, Greg Brame, Dave Merritt, Marcus Booker, Ryan Walker and Aaron Powers - since the season started.

Wittenberg has completely dominated four straight opponents in 2002, but there has been one stretch in each game that has not featured such domination - the third quarter. In first quarters, Wittenberg holds a 50-3 advantage. In second quarters, the Tigers have a 70-7 edge. And in fourth quarters, Wittenberg has outscored the opposition 30-6. But in the third stanza, the advantage is just 15-14.

To beat Wabash, the Tigers will undoubtedly have to put together four full quarters.

Wittenberg is led by Joe Fincham, a 1988 graduate of Ohio University. Entering his seventh season at the helm, Fincham has a 67-7 overall record, including a mark of 43-2 in the NCAC and a regular season record of 61-3. 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.

Wabash is led by Chris Creighton, who has a 43-9 overall record in five seasons as a head coach and an 11-2 mark in two seasons in Crawfordsville, Ind. leading the Little Giants. In his first season leading Wabash, Creighton's team went 8-2 overall and 6-1 in the NCAC, finishing second behind Wittenberg. Most importantly to the Little Giant faithful, Creighton brought home the coveted Monon Bell, the award given to the winner of the annual Wabash-DePauw football game.