EmailEmail
PrintPrint
District College Preview: IUP to face Division II's top player
Saturday, September 16, 2006

IUP's defense will be single-minded in its mission when the Indians (1-0) play host to East Stroudsburg (1-1) in a crossover Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference game at 6 p.m. today.

The mission: control Jimmy Terwilliger.

The task might not be impossible, but it certainly will be difficult.

Terwilliger, who won the Harlon Hill Trophy last season as the premier football player in NCAA Division II, passed for 343 yards and five touchdowns in a 45-14 victory against Lock Haven last week. It was the 23rd time he has thrown for more than 300 yards in a game and the 39th consecutive game he has thrown a touchdown pass, both NCAA records.

Wideout Evan Prall had nine catches for a school-record 254 yards and four touchdowns and scored a fifth touchdown on a punt return. He holds the school career record with 37 touchdowns.

IUP, coming off a 33-6 victory against Cheyney in Lou Tepper's debut as head coach, is led by Chris Morgan, the school's fourth all-time rusher with 2,638 yards, and quarterback Kevin Weidl, who has returned after missing last season because of a university suspension for disciplinary reasons for his involvement in an off-campus incident.

Weidl was the starter in 2003 and '04 and was second-team All-PSAC West both seasons.

Other key games:

Saint Francis (1-1) at Duquesne (1-1), 1 p.m. -- Duquesne, ranked No. 6 in The Sports Network NCAA Division I-AA Mid-Major poll, has defeated No. 10 Saint Francis seven consecutive times by an average of 32.5 points. ... Duquesne senior safety Todd Mills, who had a team-high nine tackles and an interception in a 27-7 victory against Robert Morris, is the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference defensive player of the week. Freshman defensive end Mykol Gardiner, who had two sacks and forced six fumbles, is co-rookie of the week. ... Duquesne sophomore cornerbacker Aaron Strader tied a school record with a 96-yard interception return for a touchdown against Robert Morris. ... Saint Francis senior tailback Todd Harris is the school's all-time rusher with 2,366 yards. Senior wide receiver Luke Palko has 217 career receptions for the most among active players in Division I-AA. Senior wide receiver Michael Caputo is the school's all-time leader with 25 touchdowns, 24 touchdown receptions and 154 points.

Robert Morris (0-2) at Butler (1-1), 2 p.m. -- Robert Morris, coming off a 27-7 defeat against Duquesne, has lost a school-record seven consecutive games. ... The Bulldogs ended an 18-game losing streak last week with a 30-20 victory against Indianapolis in which Alex Davis tied a school record with three interceptions. T.J. Brown passed for 235 yards and two touchdowns and Brian Holthause rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown. ... Robert Morris coach Joe Walton was displeased with the play of quarterback Erik Cwalinski after he completed just 9 of 22 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown against Duquesne. He threw two interceptions and was sacked five times. ... The only other times Robert Morris started a season with two losses were 1998 and 2001. ... Robert Morris won last season, 49-13, to lead the series, 3-0.

Bloomsburg (1-1) at Edinboro (2-0), 1 p.m. -- The crossover matchup in the PSAC features Bloomsburg's rushing attack against Edinboro's rushing defense. Bloomsburg is led by All-American tailback Jamar Brittingham, who set school records last season with 2,260 yards rushing and 32 touchdowns. Edinboro, led by linemen Chris Amico and A.J. Cousins, allows 39.5 rushing yards per game to rank eighth in the country. ... Scott Browning is 2-0 in his first season to join Sox Harrison in 1926 as the only other football coach in Edinboro football history to win his first two games as a rookie coach. No coach has started 3-0.

Westminster (0-1) at Carnegie Mellon (2-0), noon -- CMU's Travis Sivek, the school's fourth all-time rusher with 1,972 yards, leads a running attack that averages 282 yards per game. He has 231 yards and two TDs this season. ... CMU has yet to commit a turnover. ... CMU linebacker Jonathan Bodnar, a junior from Deer Lakes, is co-University Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Week. ... Westminster, the defending NAIA national champion at the time, defeated CMU, 50-0, in the most recent meeting in 1971.

First published on September 16, 2006 at 12:00 am
Phil Axelrod can be reached at paxelrod@post-gazette.com.