. Setting The Scene: The Wittenberg Tigers have made small strides every week since the start of the 2005 football season, which started with a stunning shutout loss to Capital at home on Sept. 3. The Tigers showed flashes of solid play in losses to Dayton and Alma before playing a strong second half in a 31-6 North Coast Athletic Conference-opening victory over Denison on Oct. 1.
Next up for the Tigers is a road game against Earlham, a team that like Wittenberg is dealing with key injuries. While Wittenberg is without several starters, most notably senior quarterback Ryan Holmes, Earlham has several voids as well, most notably record-setting senior quarterback Justin Rummell, who threw for seven touchdowns in a win over Manchester early this season. Without him, the Quakers have not scored an offensive point in back-to-back losses to Wabash and Hiram to open the conference schedule.
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. Scouting The Tiger Offense: In recent years, the Wittenberg Tigers have been one of the most prolific offensive teams in all of NCAA Division III. Most recently, the Tigers ranked among the leaders in the NCAC and NCAA Division III in 2004 with averages of 45 points and 485 yards per game.
After the first shutout since 1992 in the 2005 season opener against Capital, the Tiger offense has rallied in recent weeks, thanks primarily to senior tailback Tristan Murray. After emerging as the Tigers' most consistent offensive threat a year ago, Murray, the No. 3 rusher in the NCAC a year ago with 132 yards per game and a robust 6.1 yards per carry average, stands atop the conference with 136.0 rushing yards and ranks second with 180.8 all-purpose yards per game.
Quarterback Ryan Holmes, a fifth-year senior who had started every game the last two years, led the NCAC and ranked among the nation's leaders in pass efficiency rating in 2003 and 2004. But he went down with an injury against Capital and his status at the midpoint of the season is still uncertain. Freshman Matt Brumfield filled in capably against Dayton, finishing with 104 yards on 14-of-19 passing against the Flyers, and junior Geron Stokes provided a spark against Alma with 217 yards and two touchdowns through the air in three quarters of work. Stokes is expected to make his second straight start against Earlham, a week after completing 12-of-18 passes for a workmanlike 135 yards through the air.
Senior wide receiver Jered Glover, who has led the Tigers in receptions in each of the last three seasons, is once again the key man in the aerial attack. With fellow senior wide receiver Braden Freeman now sidelined with an injury, Glover stepped up with five receptions for 43 yards and a 70-yard punt return for a score against Denison. The all-time leading receiver in school history, he leads an inexperienced corps of receivers, with the other four players who get steady playing time registering less than 30 catches and just one start among them.
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Jered Glover
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. Up The Charts: Jered Glover reached the top of the Wittenberg receiving mountain on Saturday, tying the school record for career receptions with 147 after hauling in five passes for 53 yards in the win over Denison. He started the day one behind Rod Miller, who had 143 catches between 1964 and 1967, and by game's end he had matched Michael Aljancic, who caught 147 passes from 1998-2001.
After leading the Tigers in receptions in each of his first three seasons in the Red & White, Glover was the team's second-leading receiver through the first three games of the 2005 season before coming on strong against the Big Red. His season totals now stand at 14 catches for 103 yards and one touchdown, giving him 147 receptions, 1,984 yards and 21 touchdowns for his career. Glover remains fourth in receiving yards, 130 shy of Skip Ivery for third in that category, and receiving touchdowns, three behind Ivery. Miller's 2,288 yards and 26 touchdowns are the current standards.
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. Scouting The Tiger Defense: Defensively, the Tigers allowed an uncharacteristic 29 points per game in 2004, but after giving up 133 points in the first three games of the 2005, they settled down against Denison to yield only a first-quarter touchdown. Wittenberg's first three opponents in 2005 are all averaging more than 30 points per game through the first half of the 2005 season, an indication that other teams have been equally challenged in finding ways to stop them.
The linebacking corps was led by freshman Lance Phillips with 22 tackles in the first three games before he went down with an injury in the second half against Alma. Junior Tyler Harmon, who missed two games due to injury himself, slid to the middle spot against Denison and led the Tigers with 11 tackles. He was an all-conference fullback each of the last two seasons. He is flanked by first-year starter Walter Bonham, who has been in the top five on the team in tackles in each of the first four games, and senior Anthoni Fazio, who has been a part-time starter throughout his career and made two big tackles for loss to almost single-handedly stop a Denison drive in the third quarter.
The defensive line pressured Denison constantly, led by senior end Chris Vennefron. A fifth-year player who is a starter for a second straight year, Vennefron recorded five tackles, including three for a whopping loss of 18 yards.
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. Defensive Dynamo: Junior safety Mitch Fonseca has been a force in 2005. After leading the Tigers with 68 tackles a year ago, Fonseca topped the team with double figure tackle totals in each of the first three games, including a career-high 18 stops in the season opener against Capital. He added eight more tackles in the win over Denison.
Fonseca leads the NCAC and 25th in the nation with 11.8 tackles per game in 2005, and he is second in the conference and 13th in NCAA Division III with 31 solo tackles through the first four games.
. Scouting The Quakers: Earlham ranked among the best in the nation offensively through the first two weeks of the season, but since quarterback Justin Rummell went down with an injury, the Quakers' offense has been stymied. After Earlham posted totals of 41 points in a loss to Rose-Hulman and 69 points in a win over Manchester, Earlham scored seven points in a loss to Anderson and two points each in losses to Wabash and Hiram to open the NCAC schedule.
Tailback Manny Myers is perhaps Earlham's most consistent offensive weapon as he averages more than 80 yards rushing per game. Wide receiver Joe White has 20 catches for 400 yards, good for a whopping 20 yards per catch average, but most of that came in the first two games. Freshman quarterback Mike Kern is expected to get the starting nod under center.
Defensively, linebacker Mike Thompson ranks among the NCAC and NCAA Division III leaders with 12 tackles per game.
. Tigers on the Radio: All Wittenberg athletic broadcasts can be heard locally on WUSO 89.1-FM, the university's student-operated station. They can also be heard around the world on the Internet thanks to Wittenberg's partnership with Stretch Internet. Wittenberg fans do not have to pay to listen to broadcasts, and anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can log in and listen.
Wittenberg is blessed with outstanding radio coverage again in 2005 as Marty Bannister heads things up for a 13th straight year. Bannister is joined in the booth each week by either Jim Scoby or Wittenberg senior Sean Golden, who has provided on-field insights and postgame interviews for home games the last two years. Scott Leo, the play-by-play announcer for the Tiger men's and women's basketball teams that last two years, is coordinating the broadcasts and handling pre-game duties each week.
. Coaches Show: Tiger Talk is back and better than ever in 2005, and the first show of the season is scheduled for Thursday at Joe's Route 40 Grill in Springfield. It can be heard locally on WUSO 89.1-FM and on the Internet from 8-9 p.m. Bannister and Leo host the show.
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Tristan Murray
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. Mr. Everything: Tristan Murray racked up 239 yards rushing in a little over three quarters of action against Dayton, one of the best defensive units statistically in NCAA Division I-AA. The Tigers' leading rusher and scorer in 2004 en route to NCAC Newcomer of the Year honors, Murray has been even better in 2005.
Murray not only leads the Tigers' rushing attack with an NCAC-best 544 yards (136.0 yards per game), he is second on the team in receiving with 151 yards on 12 catches. He stands second in the NCAC and ranks 16th nationally with 180.8 all-purpose yards per game, and his 136.0 rushing yards per outing is good for 21st in all of NCAA Division III.
In addition, Murray tops the Tigers and the conference with seven touchdowns, six on the ground, en route to 10.5 points per game. That average puts him 26th nationally.
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. Consistently On The Mark: Sophomore kicker Mark Porter got off to a rough start a year ago, but he missed just one extra point and one field goal in the final five games. He has continued his marksmanship in 2005, hitting all four of his field goal attempts and 7-of-8 PATs.
With 19 total points, he ranks third in the NCAC in points by kicking and fourth in scoring per game. His four field goals in three games (he never made an appearance against Capital in the opener) place Porter 11th nationally in field goals per game.
. Big Leg: Senior punter Jacob Thomas has picked up right where he left off in 2004. After breaking the school record for punting average in a season with 42.3 in 2004, Thomas has been even better so far in 2005 with an NCAA Division III-best 44.5 yards per punt. That average has been helped significantly by a 65-yard boot in the third quarter against Capital and a school record-tying 77-yarder in the second quarter against Alma.
With the Tiger offense struggling so far in 2005, Thomas has had ample opportunity to make up for a 2004 season in which he did not have enough punts to qualify for the NCAA Division III statistics. Thomas, who would have ranked second in the nation after topping the NCAC, was not recognized with any All-America honors. He was a first-team All-NCAC and second-team All-North Region honoree.
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Jacob Thomas
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. Punting Into The Record Books: Thomas' five-punt average of 51.4 against Alma was just 0.2 off the 29-year-old school record. Thomas' 77-yard punt against Alma tied the school record set by current special teams coordinator Matt Gallatin against Ohio Wesleyan in 1999.
. Series History: Wittenberg leads the all-time series 23-8. Since Earlham and Wittenberg joined the NCAC together in 1989, the Tigers have won 14 straight times, most by a wide margin.
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Ryan Holmes
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. Last Meeting: The Tigers made short work of the Quakers in 2004, scoring 20 points in the first quarter and 23 more in the second 15 minutes en route to a comfortable 56-14 victory.
The Tigers spread things around as 11 different players recorded at least one rushing attempt, four different players took snaps at quarterback and nine different players caught passes. Tristan Murray led the Tigers on the ground with 82 yards on 12 carries, Jered Glover topped the team with eight receptions for 121 yards and Ryan Holmes was solid with 230 yards on 15-of-20 passing.
Defensively, Chris Vennefron hit paydirt for the first time in his career on a 27-yard fumble recovery and return for a touchdown. Twenty-six different players recorded defensive statistics, and none of them managed more than five total tackles. Defensive end Dave Fleck led with five tackles, including 1.5 for a loss of four yards, and linebacker Joe Swanson with five tackles. Vennefron was also credited with four assisted tackles, including one for a three-yard loss.
. Last Week: Wittenberg used a key defensive stand late in the second quarter to springboard to a 31-6 victory over visiting Denison. It was Wittenberg's 16th straight win over the Big Red.
After Denison struck first on a 30-yard touchdown pass, Wittenberg responded with a 28-yard Mark Porter field goal and then took the lead four minutes into the second quarter on a nine-yard touchdown run by Tristan Murray. The half ended with a nine-play, 72-yard Denison drive that ended at the Tiger four-yard-line with just 24 seconds left.
The 10-6 halftime lead was extended to 11 points on a three-yard Murray burst and then Jered Glover broke the game open with a 70-yard punt return for a touchdown. Murray capped the scoring by bulling into the end zone from two yards out to cap a 17-play, 80-yard drive that consumed 8:34 off the fourth-quarter clock. The Tigers were paced by Murray's 120 rushing yards, Glover's 53 receiving yards and 12-of-18 passing for 135 yards by Geron Stokes, who made his first start under center.
. What A Difference: Wittenberg shot from fourth to first in the NCAC punt returns rankings after Jered Glover's 70-yard return for a touchdown against Denison. Glover, who has all 13 of the Tigers' punt returns in 2005, ranks 13th in the nation individually and first in the conference, while the team's punt return average is now 10th in all of NCAA Division III.
. The Coaches: Wittenberg is led by Joe Fincham, a 1988 graduate of Ohio University. In his ninth season at the helm, Fincham has a 89-17 overall record, including a mark of 58-7 in the NCAC and a regular season record of 83-13. His teams have claimed five conference titles, including four straight outright with undefeated records from 1998-2001. Fincham, who ranked second in winning percentage in NCAA Division III history among coaches with five or more seasons coming into the 2005 campaign, has been named NCAC Coach of the Year four times.
Earlham is led by Gerry Keesling, a 1982 graduate of the college. In his third season at the helm after 12 seasons as Earlham's offensive coordinator, Keesling has a 9-16 overall record.