Springfield, Ohio – The popular website D3football.com has published its annual preseason poll, and voters have placed the Wittenberg University Tigers 17th, matching their spot in the final poll of the 2014 season.
The Tigers, who are coming off a 9-2 record in the 2014 season that included the program's fifth North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) title in the last six years, were previously ranked 24th by Lindy's 2015 College Football Preview and 10th by The Sporting News. Wittenberg opens the promising 2015 season with a road trip to Capital at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5.
Head Coach Joe Fincham, who has won 173 games and led the Tigers to 12 NCAA Division III Tournament appearances since taking the reins in 1996, welcomes 15 starters and a total of 40 letterwinners back to the roster. That impressive list of returnees includes most of the central figures of an offensive attack that generated 37 points and more than 400 yards of offense per game in 2014.
Seniors Jimmy Dehnke (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson) and Sean Gary (Indianapolis, Ind./Decatur Central) shared the rushing workload last year, combining for more than 1,000 yards rushing and more than 300 yards through the air while scoring 13 times. The ground game will again be supplemented by a potent passing attack as Wittenberg returns its top three wide receivers in junior Luke Landis (Brookeville, Ohio/Brookeville), senior Corey Stump (Lima, Ohio/Central Catholic) and senior Zach Culvahouse (Fort Myers, Fla./Estero), who broke school records with 81 receptions and 1,179 yards in his first year as a starter.
Senior Zack Jenkins (Frostproof, Fla./Frostproof) is the man at the controls again in 2015 after racking up nearly 3,000 passing yards and 25 touchdowns while completing 60.3 percent of his passes in his first year as a starter.
Defensively, the Tigers welcome six starters back to the line-up, starting with senior tackle Josh Bannick (Enon, Ohio/Greenon), a two-time first-team All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) selection. Senior safety Winston Thomas (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) emerged as a standout a year ago, and senior cornerback Ryan Myers (Palm Harbor, Fla./University) is ticketed for his third straight year as a starter.
Wittenberg heads into the 2015 season seeking its NCAC-best 14th title since joining the conference in 1989. After opening the campaign against Capital, the Tigers will embark on their league championship defense with their first game on the newly re-installed turf at Edwards-Maurer Field against Ohio Wesleyan at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19.
Written By: Ryan Maurer