Friday, October 07, 2005

The Friday Tailgate

It's going to be a wet weekend for gridiron action here in the Mid-Atlantic Region ... thank goodness the schedule-maker has all three Conference games set for the turf, as Muhlenberg hosts Dickinson, Hopkins hosts Franklin & Marshall, and Gettysburg hosts McDaniel ... the only natural grass game is Newport News at Ursinus ... For more information on this week's games ... check out the Gameday section of our website.

Dickinson at Muhlenberg
The Red Devils and the Mules meet for the 61st time since 1923 ... after losing 11 straight games to Dickinson from 1988-98, Muhlenberg has reeled off six consecutive victories in the series ... the Devils have not won at Scotty Wood Stadium since 1997 (21-14) ... points could be at a premium, as Dickinson is fifth and Muhlenberg sixth in the CC in scoring offense ... 'Berg's offense is the most efficient in the red zone, producing points 85.7 percent of the time ... unfortunately, that's just 6 of 7 times inside the 20 ... listen to the game on WDCV-FM 88.3 or WMUH-FM 91.7.

Franklin & Marshall at Johns Hopkins
The Diplomats and the Blue Jays meet for the 57th time in a series that began in 1912 ... Hopkins trails, 33-21-2, in the series but has won eight straight from F&M ... the Blue and White's last win was a 20-14 win in Lancaster in 1997 ... the JHU defense is 1st in the CC allowing just 6.8 points per game ... F&M's offense is last in the Conference, scoring 10.5 ppg ... the Diplomat defense has not allowed a touchdown in two games ... listen to the game on WJHUradio.com.

McDaniel at Gettysburg
It's the annual renewal of the Route 97 border war when the Green Terror crosses the Mason-Dixon line to take on the Bullets ... Gettysburg has owned the overall series, 42-15-1, but McDaniel has won seven of the last eight games ... the Bullets captured a 30-20 decision at Musselman Stadium in 2003 ... the Terror averages 32.2 points per game, while the Orange and Blue surrenders 43.2 ppg ... McDaniel could be without RB Broderick Maybank in addition to DL Brett Raugh and QB Brad Baer ... listen to the game on WTTR-AM 1470.

Newport News Apprentice School at Ursinus
The Shipbuilders make their first-ever visit to Collegeville to take on the Bears ... Ursinus had its chances at McDaniel last weekend and had a chance to tie the game, before a penalty negated a 94-yard return that would have made it 28-26 ... freshman QB Nick Dye played the second half in place of the injured Vince Gallagher and played well ... there is no word on the starter this weekend.

NCAA Team Rankings (teams ranked in top 30)
Total Defense: 7-Johns Hopkins (215.5 ypg); 25-Muhlenberg (263.0)
Pass Efficiency Defense: 3-Johns Hopkins (73.9 points)
Scoring Defense: 4-Johns Hopkins (6.8 ppg)
Turnover Margin: 11-McDaniel (2.0); 30-Johns Hopkins (1.5)

NCAA Individual Rankings
Rushing: 27-Tom Sturges, Gettysburg (128.0 ypg)
Receptions per Game: 24-Anthony Triplin, Johns Hopkins (7.0 rpg)
Kickoff Returns: 9-Nathan Smith, Gettysburg (32.0 ypr)
Field Goals per Game: 4-Ben Scott, Johns Hopkins (1.8); 13-Matt Baney, Ursinus (1.3); 20-Matt Stark, Dickinson (1.0)
Punting: 19-Ben Scott, Johns Hopkins (40.3); 22-Corey Allen, McDaniel (39.9)
Interceptions: 8-Drew Abbamonte, McDaniel; Andrew Ackley, Dickinson; Ryan Sychterz, F&M (1.0)
Tackles: 6-Eric Dube, Dickinson (14.5); 13-Harold Barton, Gettysburg (13.0)

No comments: