Running back Daniel Grove leads the NCAC in rushing
touchdowns because of efforts like this at Wooster.
Setting the Scene
The Wittenberg University Tigers hit the road again on Saturday to take on the Hiram Terriers. The four-time defending NCAC champions have much to play for as the 2001 season draws to a close - the Tigers can clinch a share of the North Coast Athletic Conference championship with a win against Hiram.
The Tigers, ranked 12th in the latest American Football Coaches Association poll, are 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the NCAC after last week's convincing 39-14 victory over previously unbeaten Ohio Wesleyan at Edwards-Maurer Field in Springfield. It was Wittenberg's third straight comfortable victory over a conference opponent after three games that went to the wire against Alma, Wabash and Allegheny.
The Tigers now have an inside track in their attempt to become the first team ever to win four straight outright NCAC titles and five in a row overall. After opening the season with lop-sided home victories over Urbana and Heidelberg, the Tigers lost at Alma to snap a 33-game regular season win streak. Since the start of conference action, however, the Tigers have shown their mettle by defeating Wabash and Allegheny in low-scoring home games and Denison, Wooster and OWU in blowout fashion.
Hiram is in its second season as a member of the NCAC, and the Terriers are coming off a 3-7 campaign in 2000. Under the direction of first-year Head Coach Mike Meyer, Hiram is 3-3 thus far in 2001, garnering wins over Bluffton, Mt. St. Joseph and Oberlin and taking losses against Earlham, Allegheny and Wabash. The Terriers have a game against Kenyon yet to make up, along with scheduled contests at home against Case Western and on the road at Wooster.
Scouting the Tigers
Wittenberg is 7-1, ranked No. 12 in the nation, and situated in its customary position atop the NCAC with a 5-0 record. But make no mistake, it has not been easy, despite five blowout victories among the teams seven wins in 2001.
Junior tailback Daniel Grove leads the team with 942 yards rushing and an NCAC-best 14 touchdowns after going for career highs of 31 carries and 259 yards rushing last week against OWU. Senior wide receiver Michael Aljancic has been sensational with 43 catches for 623 yards and eight touchdowns, including the biggest play of the year, the game-winner with 16 seconds left against Allegheny. Junior quarterbackGreg Cornett has played well in his first season under center, completing 111 of 184 passes for 1521 yards and 15 touchdowns. His efficiency rating of 152.32 just keeps getting better, now putting him second in the NCAC and 19th in the nation.
Defense, expected to be a strength for the Tigers in 2001 after they led the NCAC in total defense for the eighth time in nine years in 2000, has risen to the challenge. Junior linebacker Ryan Gresham leads the Tigers with 37 tackles. Senior defensive end Tim Daoust tops the squad and ranks among the NCAC's best in sacks with 7.5. Senior defensive tackle Juan Howard is among the best in the conference with 14 tackles for loss. And senior safety John Hauser leads the team and is among the best in the NCAC with four interceptions, including one each that led to a touchdown in each of the last two games.
Scouting the Terriers
The Hiram football program is in transition in 2001, as new coach Mike Meyer attempts to instill a winning tradition like the one at Hanover, where he played, and Ohio Northern, were he was a top assistant for the last 11 years.
Hiram is led offensively by running back Kris Giebel, who has 633 yards on 135 attempts in six games, good for a solid average of 105.5 yards per game. He has scored a team-high four touchdowns. Quarterbacking the team is Dwayne Pavkovich, who has 57 completiongs in 121 attempts for 592 yards and five touchdowns. He also has run for 141 yards on 54 attempts, making him the teams second most productive player on the ground. Pavkovich's favorite target through the air is Mike Sandy, who has 15 receptions for 211 yards in five games.
Defensively, Hiram is paced by senior linebacker Brad Maguth, who has 34.5 tackles. He is one of seven players with 20 or more tackles in 2001. Safety Joe Cleghorn leads the team in interceptions with three, while defensive tackle Reuben Turner is tops in sacks with 3.5 for 34 yards.
Last Meeting with Hiram
The Tigers scored on their first play from scrimmage and dominated visiting Hiram College for a 66-0 victory on Homecoming at Edwards-Maurer Field. The win clinched a share of the 2001 NCAC championship for the Tigers.
The 66 points were the most scored by the Tigers in 2000, and the shutout was the teams first as Wittenberg allowed just 64 total yards and five first downs. On the Tigers first offensive play from scrimmage, quarterback Anthony Crane hit wide receiverMichael Aljancic on a school record-tying 83-yard touchdown pass. PlacekickerRyan Walker added a 23-yard field goal, fullback Gary Henson had a career-best 39-yard TD run, tailback Casey Donaldson chipped in with a 17-yard TD burst, defensive tackle Juan Howard returned an interception 10 yards for a score, and wide receiverSteve DeGraffinreed caught a pair of touchdown passes as the Tigers built a 45-0 lead by halftime.
In the second half, no Wittenberg offensive starter played a down. Daniel Grovescored on a pair of touchdowns - from 43 and 22 yards out - and linebacker Nic Blackchipped in with a 35-yard fumble recovery. Wittenberg ran up 403 yards rushing and 590 total yards of offense. Donaldson and Grove both topped 100 yards rushing, Crane posted 183 yards and three touchdowns on just eight completions in one half of work, and Aljancic finished with 111 yards on three catches. Defensively, end Tim Daoust recorded seven tackles, including four for loss.
The Wittenberg/Hiram Series
The two teams will square off for just the third time this weekend, and the Terriers will be trying to turn around one of the most lopsided series imaginable. Wittenberg defeated Hiram in 1920 by a score of 82-7, and then last year, Hiram's first in the NCAC, the final was almost as bad, a 66-0 whitewashing on Homecoming in Springfield.
Last Week
The Wittenberg Tigers are used to perfect regular seasons, but won't enjoy one in 2001. So on 2001 Senior Recognition Day at Edwards-Maurer Field, the Tigers did the next best thing - they foiled Ohio Wesleyans bid for an undefeated regular season with a 39-14 victory.
The win was Wittenbergs 27th consecutive in NCAC action and moved the Tigers one step closer to an unprecedented fourth consecutive outright conference crown. It was the 10th straight time that Wittenberg had defeated OWU.
The Tigers jumped in front on a play that would become a recurring theme - or nightmare, for the OWU defense. Junior tailback Daniel Grove, who ran for a career-high 259 yards on 31 carries in the game, scored on an 11-yard run to cap Wittenbergs opening drive and give the Tigers a lead they would never relinquish. He went on to score three touchdowns to run his season total to a NCAC-best 14.
The Tigers opened the scoring in the second quarter as junior wide receiver Adrian Crane and junior quarterback Greg Cornett hooked up on a 36-yard pass play following a short OWU punt. After the Bishops scored a touchdown, Wittenberg got a pair of field goals from sophomore kicker Conrad Hindert sandwiched around a 72-yard touchdown run by Grove.
The third quarter was more of the same, beginning with Grove's third TD, this one coming from two yards out. Freshman fullback Raymar Hampshire capped Wittenbergs scoring with an eight-yard scamper.
While Grove was the feature story, there were the usual subplots. With All-NCAC senior wide receiver Michael Aljancic covered tightly on every play and managing just two catches for 15 yards in the game, the always efficient Cornett found plenty of other receivers. Sophomore wide receiver Skip Ivery led both teams with five receptions, while Crane led both teams with 105 receiving yards on four acrobatic receptions.
Defensively, senior linebacker Nic Black led the charge with seven total tackles, while junior linebacker Andy Pope was everywhere with 6.5 tackles and 1.5 sacks for a loss of 19 yards.
Streaks
The loss at Alma on Sept. 15 snapped Wittenbergs school-record regular season win streak at 33, dating back to Nov. 4, 1997 against the College of Wooster.
Wittenberg still has several streaks intact, however. The Tigers extended their regular season home win streak to 34 games with a perfect 5-0 mark this season. That streak dates back to the second game of the 1996 season against Allegheny. The Tigers have also reeled off 27 straight NCAC victories dating back to the 1997 loss at Wooster.
Finally, Wittenberg has gone nearly 10 years since losing back-to-back games. In 1991, Case Western Reserve and Allegheny both claimed wins over the Tigers. At the end of the '91 season, Ohio Wesleyan defeated Wittenberg, and then the Tigers were beaten in the '92 opener by Baldwin-Wallace before they reeled off eight wins and a tie to close the season. Since the loss to B-W, Wittenberg has played 104 games without losing two straight (not including a forfeit win over Oberlin in 1992). The Tigers record during that time is 93-10-1.
Spreading the Carries Around
Three different Wittenberg running backs have topped the century mark in 2001.Daniel Grove, who had more than 100 yards against Heidelberg, Alma and Wooster, freshman Justin Blackley, who needed just eight second-half carries against Heidelberg to pick up 106 yards, and freshman Alex Smith, who ran for 109 yards on 17 carries in the second half alone against Denison.
In addition, seven different players have scored rushing touchdowns this year, including three freshmen - Smith, Blackley and starting fullback Raymar Hampshire.Last year, only four players all year scored rushing touchdowns.
Back On Pace
A big game against Ohio Wesleyan has Greg Cornett back on track to reach several season passing records. With two games remaining, Cornett has 1521 yards, 111 completions and 15 touchdowns, putting him on pace for 1901 yards, 139 completions and 19 scores. The records are 2181 yards, 141 completions and 24 TDs.
Among the Best
Wittenberg is ranked first in the NCAC in scoring offense (40.0), scoring defense (13.4 ppg), total defense (277.1 ypg), pass efficiency (139.9), opponent pass defense (183.9 ypg), kickoff returns (23.8 ypr), turnover margin (1.50) and opponent fourth-down conversions (9.5 percent).
In the most recent NCAA Division III statistics, Wittenberg is tied for 17th in turnover margin, 19th in scoring defense, 12th in scoring offense, 28th in rushing defense (93.3 ypg), 23rd in rushing offense (221.8) and 29th in total offense (416.1).
Individually, only tailback Daniel Grove leads an NCAC statistical category, that being rushing touchdowns (14). Grove, fresh off the finest back-to-back games of his career, has moved to 26th nationally in rushing at 117.8 yards per game 17th in scoring at 10.5 points per game. In addition, quarterback Greg Cornett is 18th in pass efficiency at 152.3.
Still Have Eyes for Al
Senior wide receiver Michael Aljancic was on a pace for the greatest receiving season in Wittenberg history through the first five weeks of the season, but three consecutive blowouts have limited his playing time and the Tigers need to throw the football. Aljancic now has a career-high 43 catches in 2001, sixth-best in Wittenberg history, and 136 career receptions, second-most in Tiger annals.
Career Records
PASS RECEIVING No. Yds. Avg. TD
1. Rod Miller (1964-67) 143 2,288 16.0 26
2. Michael Aljancic (1998-00) 136 2,082 15.3
25
3. Jim Collins (1984-87) 116 1,560 13.4 11
4. Labon Storts (1997-00) 96 1,612 16.8 14
5. Ray Ward (1967-69) 95 1,308 13.8 13
6. Bob Cherry (1961-63) 90 1,790 19.9 27
7. Eugene Hardin (1994-96) 89 1,321 14.8 15
8. Russ Fedyk (1995-99) 85 1,317 16.8 14
9. Mark Peters (1991-94) 80 1,146 14.3 12
10. Chris Thompson (1990-93) 73 866 11.9 9
Aljancic is averaging just over five catches per game in 2001, projecting to a total of 53 for the season. That would tie the Wittenberg season receptions record set four years ago by Russ Fedyk. Aljancic has already established new career highs for receptions (43) in a season, and he is just 47 yards from his best season total of 670 yards receiving. In addition, Aljancic has already reached his top total of eight touchdowns in a season.
SEASON Records
PASS RECEIVING G No. Yds. Avg. TD
1. Russ Fedyk (1997) 10 53 954 18.0 10
2. Rod Miller (1966) 9 49 706 14.4 8
3. Jim Collins (1987) 10 46 557 12.1 7
4. Bob Cherry (1963) 9 45 886 19.7 13
5. Ray Ward (1969) 9 44 582 13.2 7
6. Michael Aljancic (2001) 8 43 623 14.6 8
7. Eugene Hardin (1995) 10 39 718 18.4 8
8. Michael Aljancic (2000) 10 39 670 17.2 8
9. Rod Miller (1967) 9 38 603 15.9 6
10. Ray Ward (1968) 9 37 534 14.4 5
Michael Aljancic (1999) 10 37 572 15.5 6
Coach of the Year
Joe Fincham is now 59-6 in his career. Perhaps even more impressive, Fincham is 55-3 in regular season games. Last year, he became the first Wittenberg coach to earn conference coach of the year honors three straight years. Dave Maurer won the award in the Ohio Athletic Conference three times in four years (1976, 1978, 1979) and Bill Edwards coached at a time when such awards were not given. Maurer and Edwards both also won national coach of the year on two occasions.
Photo by Lamont Campbell