Setting the Scene:
The Wittenberg University football team experienced some highs and lows in a rollercoaster 2005 season, which came to an end with records of 5-5 overall and 5-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference.
The Tigers opened the season with three straight losses while playing what was unquestionably the most challenging non-conference schedule among NCAC teams in 2005. The rest of the season was thrown into peril during those defeats when several standouts, including fifth-year senior quarterback Ryan Holmes (Oxford, Ohio/Talawanda), went down with injuries.
In spite of the rough start, the Tigers rallied to even their record at 3-3 and nearly toppled nationally ranked Wabash on the road on Oct. 22, falling 26-20 after holding a lead into the third quarter. After their two best performances of the season in home wins over Ohio Wesleyan and Wooster, the Tigers wrapped up the campaign on a down note with a 10-point loss at Allegheny.
Super Seniors:
The Senior Class: Twenty-nine seniors were listed on the 2005 roster, although three of them are planning to return to the team for one more go-around in 2006 thanks to red-shirt years taken during their careers.
Tailback Tristan Murray (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh), safety Will Block (Troy, Ohio/Troy) and safety Adam Hewitt (Piqua, Ohio/Lehman Catholic) have all decided to return for the 2006 season. Murray will be the featured back in the Tigers' rushing attack for a third straight year, while Block, a 2005 starter in the defensive backfield, and Hewitt, a 2004 starter at the same position, are both key players for a relatively young defense that will be tested, especially against teams like Capital, Alma and Wabash, all on the schedule in 2006 after ranking among the nation's best offensively last year.
Postseason Awards:
Murray, the conference leader in rushing and all-purpose yards per game and scoring, made the first team for a second straight year. He was joined on the first team by senior wide receiver Jered Glover (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown), senior tight end Nate Cherry (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's), junior offensive tackle Ted Londot (Utica, Ohio/Utica), senior defensive tackle Matt Stechschulte (Columbus Grove, Ohio/Columbus Grove), junior safety Mitch Fonseca (Miami, Fla./Christopher Columbus), sophomore kicker Mark Porter (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) and senior punter Jacob Thomas (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany).
Second-team honors went to junior center Tim Funke (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli), senior defensive tackle Tyler Jenkins (Circleville, Ohio/Logan Elm), junior linebacker Tyler Harmon (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian) and senior safety Will Block (Troy, Ohio/Troy), while honorable mention awards were bestowed upon Holmes, who was limited to just four games due to injury, and sophomore fullbackAndy Vanover (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe).
Thomas went on to earn American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III All-America recognition after averaging more than 41 yards per punt in 2005, tops in the NCAC for a second straight year and 10th in NCAA Division III. That followed a record-breaking 2004 season in which Thomas posted a school and NCAC-record breaking 42.3 yards per punt, which would have placed him second in the nation if he had met the minimum statistical requirements of the NCAA. In 2005, Wittenberg ranked first in the nation in net punting going into the final game of the season at Allegheny before dropping to second with an average of 37.2. The Tigers also led the NCAC in net punting average.
Thomas, a second-team All-North Region honoree in 2004, also was selected to the AFCA All-Star team that represented the United States against a Mexican National All-Star Team in the 2005 Aztec Bowl in Toluca, Mexico. He finished his career as the university's all-time leader in punting average.
Rounding things out, Murray earned second-team All-America honors from the National Football Gazette and first-team CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine College Division Academic All-District IV honors. Both were firsts for the Tigers' leading rusher and scorer in 2004 and 2005.
Tyler Jenkins emerged as a leader on the defensive line in his first year as a starter in 2005.
Record-Setters:
Murray put together a second season in the Red & White that nearly matched his inaugural one in 2004, when he posted 1,320 rushing yards, the seventh-highest total in school history, and 1,712 all-purpose yards, No. 3 in school history. All the 2004 NCAC Newcomer of the Year did for an encore was rack up NCAC bests of 124.4 yards per game and a total of 17 touchdowns.
After a slow start to the season, Murray exploded against Dayton, going for 239 yards rushing in a little over three quarters of action, including 181 in the first quarter alone (a school record) and 96 on the Tigers' first play from scrimmage. It was the second time in his career he has topped the 200-yard mark in a game. He also ranked second on the team with 29 receptions for 307 yards on the season, setting a school record for season receptions by a running back in the process.
In just two seasons, encompassing 20 games (19 starts), Murray has posted some tremendous numbers, in the process moving into the top 10 in school history with 2,564 career rushing yards and 228 total points. Murray stands eighth in school history in career rushing yards and seventh in career scoring.
Glover stands atop the Wittenberg receiving records after surpassing Michael Aljancic's previous mark of 147 receptions from 1998-2001. Glover finished his career with 167 catches after hauling in a team-best 34 in 2005. Glover led the Tigers in receptions all four years of his collegiate career.
Glover capped things with a record-setting total of 2,301 yards in addition to 24 touchdowns, third-most in school history.
Holmes capped his career with 4,560 career passing yards, the second-highest total in school history. He trails only National College Football Hall of Fame inductee Charlie Green, who threw for 5,575 yards between 1961 and 1964.
Holmes finished with 317 career completions (second in school history), 536 career attempts (third in school history) and 46 passing touchdowns (tied for second in school history). Finally, Porter drilled a career-long 43 yard field goal into a stiff wind in a 45-0 victory over Wooster, a highlight in a second consecutive outstanding season. He finished the season 9-of-14 on field goals, best in the NCAC and in the top 20 in NCAA Division III at 1.0 field goals per game (Porter did not play in the season opener).
For his career, Porter holds the school record for career field goal percentage at .703 (19-of-27). Ryan Walker, the school record-holder for points by kicking, currently has the career mark of .690 (29-of-42). Porter has 139 points in his career and is on pace to break Walker's career points by kicking record of 247.
The Coach:
Joe Fincham (Ohio '88) ends his 10th year guiding the Tigers with a 93-19 overall record. Fincham is 86-14 in regular season games, 62-9 against NCAC foes and 7-5 in five NCAA Division III Tournament appearances.
Fincham ranks third in school history in wins, behind only College Football Hall of Famers Bill Edwards (98 in 14 years) and Dave Maurer (129 in 15 years). Fincham's winning percentage of .830 ranks second among Wittenberg head coaches, behind only Maurer's .842.