Posted: Sep 06, 2003
Setting The Scene:
In college athletics, every program enters an occasional season with significant question marks. It's the transient nature of the business - athletes have just four years of eligibility, thus they are limited in how many years they can strive to achieve their national championship aspirations. But that creates new opportunities for athletes to make their mark, hence the situation facing the 2003 Wittenberg University football program.The Tigers open the 2003 campaign with just nine returning starters and just 24 returning letterwinners, paltry numbers for a program that has produced winning records every year since 1989 and above .500 marks in 46 of the previous 47 years. Questions abound, and even the most ardent of Tiger fans will have difficulty recognizing the individuals who will take the field at Albion's Spankle-Sprandel Stadium this weekend. This will be a baptism by fire for 19 freshmen and numerous sophomores and juniors who have seen little or no action to this point in their collegiate careers.
That doesn't mean Wittenberg's cupboard is bare. The Tigers have been carefully grooming several young quarterbacks to take the reins this year, and first up is junior Ryan Holmes, who has thrown just 16 passes in his career but was an all-state high school player. He will be protected by a veteran offensive line that includes returning all-conference guards Brad Kassner and Chad Thompson. And he will be throwing to one of the best receiving corps in the nation, led by 2003 NCAA Division III 100-meter high hurdles champion Skip Ivery.
Defensively, the Tigers' ranks were thinned out considerably after nine starters graduated from the 2002 team. Only safety Tim Gaal, who started at cornerback a year ago, and defensive tackle Jarrett Brown are back. That is where the greatest number of question marks are in need of answers, although several players who have started games in the past, including talented defensive back Mike Freeman, defensive tackle Clinton Tiggs and middle linebacker Gary George, are expected to make up for that lack of experience.
Albion, on the other hand, went through a similar experience a year ago and struggled to a 5-5 mark, including a 44-7 loss at Wittenberg on opening day. The Britons are a much more seasoned bunch in 2003, and the hope is that all of those young players who took their lumps last year will be ready to distribute a few this season.
Landmark Season:
Starting in the 1892 season, the Wittenberg University football program has played at least three games every year except 1943 and 1944 due to World War II. Entering the 2003 season, Wittenberg has played 992 games on the gridiron, meaning that the eighth game of this season, on Nov. 1 at Allegheny College, will be No. 1,000 in school history.Simply the Best:
The Tigers played their first North Coast Athletic Conference season in 1989 and finished in fourth place with a ho-hum 4-3 record. The next two years produced good but not great records of 6-2 and 5-3, but since then Wittenberg has put together six perfect conference campaigns and stands head and shoulders above the competition. Overall, the Tigers are 91-13 in NCAC action, good for an astounding .875 winning percentage. Since 1991, the percentage is even better - 76-5 (.938).Tigers Dominate 20th Anniversary Team:
Wittenberg has only been in the North Coast Athletic Conference since 1989, but the Tigers dominated voting for the conference's 20th anniversary team much as they have dominated the action on the field over the last decade. Sixteen Tiger players made the team, seven on offense and nine on defense.Earning mention on the NCAC 20th anniversary team were: running backs Casey Donaldson and Marcus Booker, wide receiver Michael Aljancic, offensive linemen Xan Smith, Mark Chubb and Ron Cunningham, kicker Jimmy Watts, defensive linemen Mike Sanders and Juan Howard, linebackers Andy Pope, Kent Rafey and Jason Whitehead, defensive backs Ken Pope, Bryan Magoteaux and John Hauser and return specialist Russ Fedyk. Wittenberg had twice as many selections as any other school.
Getting Defensive:
Offense sells tickets, but defense wins games. The Tigers led the NCAC in scoring and total defense in 2002, the 10th time in 11 years that Wittenberg has paced the conference in those categories. In 2003, the defense will have to be almost completely replaced, however, making for one of several interesting storylines heading into what looks like a rebuilding season.Who's Under Center:
Whether it is the most important position in football or not probably depends upon who is providing the answer. But there is no doubt that a key position on the football field is quarterback, and the 2003 Wittenberg Tigers have several individuals waiting in the wings to take their turn under center.Junior Ryan Holmes, who split time as the top back-up in 2002, won the job in preseason camp and will start this weekend at Albion. He was 8-of-16 for 110 yards with one interception and one touchdown in seven appearances a year ago.
Sophomore George Andress is listed as the No. 1 back-up. He has not thrown a pass in his college career. Senior Kurt Forrest, who has completed 17 of his 30 career passes for 187 yards, one interception and three touchdowns, and local product Chris Clark, an incoming freshman who led his team to the Division I state quarterfinals in 2002, are also on the travel roster.
And in the Backfield:
It's no secret the Wittenberg Tigers like to run the football, so another position of significance is the tailback spot. While the man clearing the holes will be Raymar Hampshire for a third straight season, the tailback spot was hotly contested during the preseason as record-setter Daniel Grove graduated last spring.Sophomore Adam Hewitt won the spot and will start this weekend's game. He started the game at Hiram in 2002 and scored two touchdowns. Freshman Joe Brumfield is listed as the No. 1 back-up. He is another local product, hailing from nearby Kenton Ridge High School. A total of six running backs are making the trip to Albion, four of them being freshmen.
Preseason Rankings:
Wittenberg opens the season ranked in the top 20 in three different publications: Street & Smith's, Don Hansen's National Football Gazette and Lindy's. The former puts the Tigers at No. 19 in the nation despite the fact that just nine starters are back in the fold. National Football Gazette puts Wittenberg No. 11. And the latter ranks Wittenberg No. 17. D3football.com ranked the Tigers among "others receiving votes" in a listing of the top 30 teams in the nation.National Football Gazette named senior offensive guard Chad Thompson a preseason second-team All-American. Wittenberg ended 2002 ranked in the top 10 in both the AFCA and National Gazette rankings.
Head Coach Joe Fincham:
Wittenberg is led by Joe Fincham, a 1988 graduate of Ohio University. Entering his eighth season at the helm, Fincham has a 73-9 overall record, including a mark of 48-3 in the NCAC and a regular season record of 67-5. His teams have claimed five conference titles, including four straight outright with undefeated records from 1998-2001. 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 four times.