KU Football Fact Sheet #09-2007      KU vs. EDIN
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Homecoming, Hall of Fame Day this Weekend at KU

The Game

        The Kutztown University football team will host Edinboro University on Saturday, Oct. 27.  It will be Homecoming and Hall of Fame Day at KU.  Kickoff in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) crossover is set for 1:05 p.m. at University Field.              

        Kutztown evened its record to 4-4 on the season and picked up its first PSAC East win, improving to 1-2, with a 40-21 victory over Cheyney last Saturday. The Golden Bears have wins against Clarion (35-13), Shippensburg (28-16) and American International (55-20), with losses to Southern Connecticut State (52-30), Slippery Rock (45-9), Bloomsburg (49-32) and West Chester (21-0).

        Edinboro (5-3, 2-2 PSAC West) lost its second straight game last Saturday, falling to California (PA) 26-8.  The Fighting Scots had five straight wins before this two-game skid, defeating St. Anselm (58-3), Bloomsburg (42-41), Cheyney (41-23), Shippensburg (33-18) and Lock Haven (70-19).  The streak was halted vs. Indiana (PA) (27-7).  The Scots opened with a 32-16 loss to West Chester. 

Homecoming and Hall of Fame Day

        Saturday will be homecoming for Kutztown University.  In addition to the homecoming festivities, KU’s six new Hall of Fame inductees will be recognized at halftime.  This year’s class, which will be inducted Friday night, includes four whose achievements came in football.  They are James G. Bennett ’82, an all-conference offensive lineman on the 1980 PSAC East Championship team; Timothy P. Clancy ’92, the all-time leader in tackles in KU history; the late Mike Kullman ’91, an All-PSAC defensive back who went on to play in the NFL and coach at KU; and Dr. Al Leonzi, longtime coach and professor at Kutztown.  Also being inducted are Elizabeth A. Thoryk-Longenecker ’99, the only four-year All-American in KU athletics history as a member of the women’s swim team; and John Rozich ’01, a record-breaking catcher for the Golden Bear baseball team.

Electronic Coverage

        The game will be broadcast live on WEEU, AM 830, based out of Reading.  Mitch Gerhart and Matt Santos will call the action. The pre-game show begins at 12:50 p.m.  A live Webcast will be available at kubears.com via redzonemedia.com. 

        The game also will be televised by KUTV, with Mike Miller and Ashley Hartman calling the action.  Viewers in Kutztown and Eastern Berks County can see the game on Service Electric Cablevision (Channel 24) or Hometown Utilicom (Channel 41).  The game will be replayed on Sunday at 6 p.m., Monday at 3 p.m. and Tuesday at noon.  Service Electric in the Lehigh Valley (Channel 2) also is scheduled to show the game on Sunday, time to be announced.

The Coaches

        Kutztown’s second-year coach, Raymond Monica (North Alabama, ’90), is 8-10 in his career, after finishing 4-6 in his inaugural season. He has already equaled his win total from 2006.  Monica came to the Golden Bears from Division I-A Temple University, where he spent eight seasons as defensive coordinator.  Prior to Temple, Monica coached for nine seasons at the University of North Alabama, during which time the Lions won three NCAA Division II national championships from 1993-95.   This will be his first meeting with Edinboro.

        Scott Browning (Ohio State ’81) is in his second season as head at Edinboro.  Browning spent 20 seasons as an assistant coach, serving 10 seasons as offensive coordinator, with the Scots before taking over the reigns.  He has an 11-8 record.  This meeting will be his first against Kutztown as head coach.

The Series

        This is the seventh meeting between Edinboro and Kutztown, with the Scots leading the series 4-2.  EU won the last meeting in 2005 (33-7) at Edinboro.  The Scots had nine sacks and recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown.  RB Ulyssee Davis had 56 yards and a TD on six carries and NG Chris Amico had 2.5 for Edinboro.  RB Ty Dinnis had 58 yards on nine carries, and QB Shane Martin, playing for an injured Kyle Spotts, was 12-of-20 for 143 yards and a TD.  The Scots won the last meeting at KU in 2004 (23-14).  KU’s last win over Edinboro was in 2002 (14-10) and its only win at University Field vs. EU was in the teams’ first meeting in 1988 (34-22). 

Notable

        Kutztown is in the midst of a three-game homestand, its second straight year with three-straight home games...KU has lost its last three homecoming games, including vs. Edinboro in 2004...Kutztown will play all 11 games this season on artificial turf, a first for the program…against Cheyney, Dontay Wilson became the first player this season to lead KU in rushing yards in consecutive games.

Tracking the Golden Bears

        OFFENSE: Kutztown’s offense racked up 371 yards and had seven scoring drives against Cheyney.  After falling behind 7-0, KU rattled off 34 consecutive points to take control of the game.  RB Dontay Wilson (jr. Stamford, CT/Stamford) notched KU’s first 100-yard rushing game of the season, gaining a career-high 152 yards on 23 carries, with two touchdowns.  Kyle Spotts (sr. Tamaqua/Tamaqua) completed 10-of-27 passes for 171 yards and a TD.  He also scored on a QB sneak.  WRs Jason Uhlig (r-fr. Blue Bell/Wissahickon) and Terrell Davis (jr. Kennett Square/Kennett) got their first career starts.  Uhlig notched career highs with five catches for 91 yards, while Davis had his first four catches at KU for 70 yards and a TD. 

        The Golden Bears played the game without its two leading receivers, Elfren Quiles (sr. New Britain, CT/New Britain) and Will Brown (fr. Trenton, NJ/Ewing), as well as RB Ty Dinnis (so. Doylestown/Central Bucks West), who was the team’s leading rusher.

        Through eight games, KU’s offense averages 397.8 yards per game, including 138.1 rushing and 259.6 passing.  Spotts ranks second in the PSAC, averaging 258.6 yards passing per game.  He has completed 141-of-272 passes and has 19 touchdowns, with 10 interceptions.  He has completed passes to 12 different receivers this season.   Quiles leads the nation in receiving yards, averaging 136.7 yards.  He has 48 catches for a KU record 957 yards and seven TDs.  Brown had 225 yards and six scores on 21 grabs before being sidelined.  Alex Zukus (r-fr. Tuscarora/Tamaqua) has 19 receptions for 229 yards and two TDs.  TE Dan Onorato (jr. Malvern/Malvern Prep) has 16 catches for 145 yards and Uhlig has eight grabs for 137 yards.  Wilson leads the team with 338 yards and three TDs on 72 carries.  Dinnis has 313 yards and three scores on 89 rushes.  Cory McFadden (so. Freemansburg/Bethlehem Catholic) has 223 yards and a TD on 55 rushes. 

        KU’s offensive line, which ranks second in the PSAC East in sacks allowed, consists of center Evan Reese (so. Centre Hall/State College), guards Shane Kadlac (r-fr. Toms River, NJ/Toms River East) and Darrell Martin (jr. Stroudsburg/Stroudsburg), and tackles Mike Casciano (sr. Birdsboro/Twin Valley) and Tyler Romberger (so. Muir/Williams Valley). 

        DEFENSE: After allowing a game-opening TD to Cheyney, KU’s defense settled down to hold the Wolves off the board until late in the third quarter.  By then, KU had taken a comfortable lead.  The Golden Bears matched season highs with four takeaways and four sacks.  Safety Brian Bingnear (sr. Boothwyn/Chichester) and CB Justin Gibbs (sr. Pottstown/Pottstown) had interceptions, while LB Tom Cressman (sr. Sellersville/Pennridge) and DT Craig Croman (so. Pine Grove/Pine Grove) recovered fumbles.  DE Greg Rotkowski (fr. Macungie/Emmaus) had two sacks in his first start.  Cressman and DE Kevin Branco (jr. Hellertown/Saucon Valley) also had sacks.  Bingnear led the team with 11 tackles.  Safety Cory Porrino (sr. Orwigsburg/Blue Mountain) had seven hits.  Cressman finished with six hits and a forced and recovered fumble.  Safety Mike Gardier (so. Dunmore/Dunmore) had four tackles and three pass breakups.

                Through seven games, Kutztown’s defense averages 381.4 yards allowed per game, including 163.2 rushing and 218.1 passing.  Cressman paces the team with 72 tackles, including seven for loss and two sacks.  He has recovered three fumbles and has two interceptions.  Bingnear is right behind Cressman with 71 stops.  He has three interceptions and four breakups.  Gibbs has notched 52 tackles and has two interceptions and six breakups.  Gardier has 47 tackles, with four for loss and two sacks, along with five breakups.  Porrino has chipped in 41 tackles with four for loss and two picks.  DE Leroy Azubuike (sr. East Stroudsburg/East Stroudsburg South) has five sacks and eight tackles for loss among his 33 hits.  Branco is second on the team with four sacks and has eight tackles for loss. 

                SPECIAL TEAMS: Ryan Nye (jr. Bernville/Holy Name) was everywhere on special teams vs. Cheyney.  He scored on a fake field goal run of 3 yards, booted field goals of 33 and 26 yards, kicked four PATs, averaged 36.0 yards on five punts, kicked off eight times and had a pair of tackles on those kickoffs.  Chris Diaferio (fr. Collingdale/West Catholic) had a 25 yard kickoff return. 

        Nye leads the PSAC with a 42.1 punting average.  He is 2-for-3 on field goals, with a long of 33, and 5-for-6 on PAT kicks.  Wilson averages 26.9 yards on 22 kick returns.  He had a TD return of 94 yards against Shippensburg.  Dinnis averages 3.4 yards on eight punt returns.  Spotts is KU’s holder, while Pat Healey (r-fr. Washington Twp., NJ/Washington Twp.) serves as the long snapper.

Scouting the Edinboro Fighting Scots

        Edinboro is coming off a 26-8 loss to nationally ranked California (PA). The Scots outgained the Vulcans 310-298, but were hampered by three costly turnovers. QB Trevor Harris was 31-of-53 for 263 yards and a TD.  He also ran for 32 yards.    Rich Cerro caught eight passes for 89 yards and a score.  LB Y’Hoshua Murray had 16 tackles to lead the team. 

        Since scoring 70 points against Lock Haven, Edinboro has scored just 15 points in the last two games.  The Scots average 436 yards per game, including 144.1 rushing and a PSAC-best 291.9 passing.  Harris is the PSAC’s leading passer, averaging 270.2 yards per game.  He has completed 198-of-294 passes for 2,162 yards.  He has 21 TDs and has been picked off just five times.  Cerro has 41 receptions for 480 yards and four TDs.  Ryan Rybicki has 298 yards and five TDs on 34 catches.  Houston Brown leads the ground game with 424 yards and seven scores on 81 rushes.  Ulysee Davis has 267 yards and three TDs on 43 rushes. 

        Edinboro’s defense allows 362.4 yards per game, including 134.5 rushing and 227.9 passing.  LB Greg Sondag leads the team with 57 tackles, including five for loss and two sacks.  Murray has 54 hits, while safety Dan Skelton has 48 stops, with three interceptions and five breakups.  NG Chris Amico has 4.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss.

        Justin Gomes is 2-for-5 on field goals, with a long of 28.  J.D. Rogers averages 32.5 yards on 24 punts.  David Bostic has returned 12 kickoffs for an average of 24 yards.  Nick Marino has returned six punts for 9 yards. 

Kelly’s Sports, Ltd.

Player of the Game

        Dontay Wilson is this week’s Kelly’s Sports, Ltd., Player of the Game.  Wilson ran for a career-high 152 yards, including TDs of 1 and 47 yards.