EDINBORO Fighting Scots (3-3, 1-2 PSAC West) at #22 IUP Crimson Hawks (5-1, 2-1 PSAC West)
Saturday, October 19, 2013 l 1:00 p.m.
George P. Miller Stadium (6,000) l Indiana, Pa.
Radio:  WFSE?88.9 FM
 
Date:  Saturday, October 19, 2013
Site:  Indiana, Pa.
Stadium:  George P. Miller Stadium (6,000)
Kickoff: 1:00 p.m.
Live Stats:  http://www.sidearmstats.com/iup/football/
Next:  Saturday, October 26 vs. Slippery Rock, 12 noon

Edinboro Game Notes (pdf format)
 
SERIES HISTORY

Series Record:  IUP leads 55-22-4
After posting back-to-back wins over the Crimson Hawks in 2008 and '09, Edinboro has lost the last three meetings to IUP, two via shutout.  Edinboro snapped a string of back-to-back shutouts a year ago, but still fell 26-10 at Sox Harrison Stadium. (NOTE:  The Edinboro and IUP accounts differ.  Edinboro records show a 16-6 win in 1926 which is not recognized by IUP)

THE LAST MEETING
2012 – IUP 26, Edinboro 10
At one point Edinboro led 22nd-ranked IUP 10-7 before the Crimson Hawks scored the final 19 points to avoid the upset.  After falling behind 7-0, the Fighting Scots scored the next ten points thanks to a pair of time-consuming drives.  Seth Hembree caught a six-yard touchdown pass from Cody Harris to cap a 19-play, 90-yard drive that ate up 8 minutes, 7 seconds.  That was followed by a 14-play, 62-yard march that lasted almost six minutes and ended with a season-long 39-yard field goal by freshman Sean Seefeldt.  After holding on to the ball for 21:18 in the first half, the offense was unable to get untracked in the second half, managing just two first downs and 42 total yards.
 
 
HEAD COACHES

EDINBORO
Head Coach:   Scott Browning (Ohio State '81)
Record at Edinboro:  52-32, eighth year
Career Record: 52-32, eighth year
 
Scott Browning (Ohio State '81) took over as Edinboro's 13th head coach on January 5, 2006, and in his first six seasons he tied the record for most wins by a coach during that period.  Browning is now in his eighth season with a 52-32 record.  With the season-opening 35-34 win over Walsh, he became the third coach at Edinboro to reach 50 wins, joining Tom Hollman and Bill McDonald.  Browning was certainly no stranger to Fighting Scot football when he was hired as head coach, serving as an assistant coach for the previous twenty years. While at Edinboro he has coached the offensive linemen, defensive backs and running backs, along with serving as the offensive coordinator.  Browning became the first head coach at Edinboro to debut with a win since McDonald in 1969 when the Fighting Scots opened the 2006 season with a 28-14 win at West Chester.  He went on to lead Edinboro to a 6-5 finish, the most wins ever by a first-year coach.  That was followed by a 7-4 finish in 2007.  His next two Fighting Scot editions recorded a school-record tying nine wins.  in 2008 Edinboro ended the year at 9-2 and was ranked 20th in the final AFCA?Top 25.  The Fighting Scots had a 9-4 record in 2009, making the NCAA?playoffs for the first time in his tenure.  Edinboro would end the year 24th in the AFCA?poll.  The Boro posted back-to-back 7-4 finishes in 2010 and 2011.  Last year's 4-6 finish represented Browning's first losing season as head coach. 
 
INDIANA(PA)
Head Coach:   Curt Cignetti (West Virginia '92)
Record at IUP:  24-6, third year
Career Record: 24-6, third year

Curt Cignetti (West Virginia '92) is in his third year at the helm of the football program at IUP, showing a 24-6 record.  The son of former legendary IUP coach Frank Cignetti, he led the Crimson Hawks to a 7-3 record his first year, then followed that up with a 12-2 finish a year ago.  IUP won the 2012 PSAC?Championship with a 41-10 win over Shippensburg, then defeated Shepherd (27-17) and New Haven (17-14) in the NCAA Division II championships.  Winston-Salem State finally ended IUP's season with a 21-17 win in the Super Region One Championship.  Now in his 31st year of coaching, Cignetti has an impressive resume' that includes  four seasons as wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator under Nick Saban at Alabama.  The Crimson Tide won the 2009 BCS national championship with a 14-0 record.  In addition to the national title, Cignetti was part of Alabama teams that posted a record of 33-3 over his last three regular seasons, including 29 consecutive regular season victories, won the 2008 and 2009 SEC West championships and earned a berth in the 2008 Sugar Bowl. Cignetti joined the staff at Alabama after spending seven seasons (2000-06) as the recruiting coordinator at North Carolina State while also coaching tight ends from 2000-02 and 2005-06 and quarterbacks during the 2003 and 2004 campaigns. The Wolfpack qualified for five bowl games during that time, including the 2002 Gator Bowl when N.C. State set a school record with 11 wins.  Cignetti has also had previous coaching stops at Pittsburgh, Davidson, Rice and Temple.  
 
RADIO/TV

Radio:  WFSE?FM 88.9 -- The Edinboro-IUP game can be heard live on WFSE FM?88.9, with Michael Fenner and Derek Nawrocki providing the commentary.   
Twitter updates at @BoroAthletics
 
THE GAME STORY

Edinboro looks to erase the nightmare that was a 55-14 loss at Gannon last week.  Tied at 14-14, the Fighting Scots would see the Golden Knights run off the final 41 points while picking up their first win ever against Edinboro.  The loss left the Fighting Scots at 3-3 overall and snapped a two-game winning streak.  They are now 1-2 in the PSAC West. 

IUP is also smarting after being knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten at Slippery Rock.  The Crimson Hawks entered the game ranked seventh in the AFCA?Division II?Top 25, but fell by a 42-16 score.  That loss dropped the Crimson Hawks to 22nd in the AFCA?Top 25 and 25th in the D2Football.com poll.  The PSAC's best defense was unable to contain Slippery Rock's prolific offense. SRU totaled 676 yards while dropping IUP to 5-1 on the season and 2-1 in the PSAC West.  IUP had allowed just 30 points total in its first five games, and 20 of those came in a 30-20 season-opening win at Sourthern Connecticut State.
Edinboro and IUP have played two common opponents -- California(Pa.) and Seton Hill.  The Fighting Scots suffered a 20-7 loss at Cal, while IUP prevailed at home by the same score.  Both defeated Seton Hill, Edinboro by a 43-7 score at home and IUP winning 26-0 at Seton Hill. 

The Edinboro defense had played strong ball the previous three games after a slow start, but gave up 611 yards to Gannon.  That marked the fourth-highest total ever allowed, and the 55 points were the most permitted in a regular season game since Scott Browning took over in 2006.  The 41-point margin of defeat was also the largest since a 65-16 loss to Bloomsburg in 1999. Edinboro had allowed just 369 total yards the previous two games while forcing seven turnovers.

The Fighting Scots have battled a host of injuries, although several players have returned recently.   The offense had been missing as many as four starters for several weeks, while the defense was minus three who opened the year in the starting lineup.  Most noteworthy is senior quarterback Cody Harris, who had accounted for nine of Edinboro's ten touchdowns in the first two games.  Harris has now missed the last four games and is listed as game-to-game.  Wide receiver Darren Massey made his first appearance since the first quarter of the season opener last Saturday at Gannon.    Tailback D'Andrea Vaughn, offensive guard Kyle Lanich, and wide receiver Kevin Sonnie have all missed at least one full game but are now back.  Leading receiver Marcus Johnson has missed the second half of both the Lock Haven and Gannon games with an injury.   The defense has had to force feed a number of youngsters, particularly at linevbacker where starters Chris Mitchell and Kyle Matula have suffered season-ending injuries.  Defensive ends Blaine Iskula and Domenic Princiaple have also missed at least one game with injuries.  One good bit of news for the defense has been the return of Cory Hayes, a projected starter at linebacker at the beginning of the year.  The junior made his first appearance in 2013 against Lock Haven and saw considerable action at Gannon.         

In addition to the numerous injuries, turnovers have proven a major story in 2013.  The Fighting Scots have turned the ball over just three times in their three victories, but 11 times in the three losses, including five against both Bloomsburg and California(Pa.). 

Despite the horrific outing against Slippery Rock, the IUP defense not only ranks among the best in the PSAC, but in Division II.  The Crimson Hawks lead the PSAC and are third nationally in scoring defense (12.0 ppg.), along with ranking first and eighth, respectively, in total defense (290.5 ypg.).  IUP has allowed just three passing touchdowns and has 13 interceptions.
Edinboro was picked to finish sixth in the PSAC?West in the coaches' preseason poll, while IUP was the preseason favorite. 
Edinboro head coach Scott Browning became the third coach at Edinboro to reach 50 career wins with the Walsh victory.  Now in his eighth season at the helm, the Fighting Scots are 52-32 under Browning.  They are looking to rebound from a 4-6 record in 2012, the first losing season under Browning along with the first since 2002.     

Three of Edinboro's six losses in 2012 came to nationally-ranked teams, and the Scots' first defeat in 2013 was also to a ranked outfit.  Edinboro dropped a 47-35 decision to 15th-ranked Bloomsburg, and California(Pa.) was among others receiving votes.  In 2012, the Scots lost to then-19th ranked Bloomsburg, 30-14, the opening week of the season, followed by a 24-14 loss to sixth-ranked California(Pa.) the following week.  Later in the season 22nd-ranked IUP handed the Boro a 26-10 defeat.  The combined record of the six teams Edinboro lost to was 52-18. 
       
LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Gannon 55, Edinboro 14
Tied at 14-14 early in the second quarter, Gannon would run off the final 41 points of the game to record its first-ever win the series.  Edinboro needed less than two minutes to take a 7-0 lead following the opening kickoff as Jon Girvin scored from a yard out.  After Gannon took a 14-7 lead, the Fighting Scots knotted the score on Jeremy Donaldson's four-yard TD run.  It was all Gannon after that, as the Golden Knights led 24-14 at the half and 41-14 after three quarters.  The Edinboro offense struggled over the final thirty minutes, managing just two first downs and 48 total yards.  The defense, meanwhile, allowed 353 yards as it spent most of the second half on the field.  Gannon had the ball for over 23 minutes in the second half.  All told, Gannon outgained Edinboro 611 to 258 total yards.       
       
Slippery Rock 42, Indiana(Pa.) 16
Seventh-ranked IUP suffered its first loss of the season as Slippery Rock's high-powered offense shredded one of the top defenses in Division II. The Rock finished with 676 total yards while handing IUP its worst loss since a 47-20 loss to Bloomsburg in 2010.  After leading just 7-0 after one quarter, SRU took a 28-3 lead at the half and boosted the lead to 42-3 after three quarters.  IUP's scoring came on a Brett Ullman 44-yard field goal, a 32-yard pass from Mike Box to Terrill Barnes, and a one-yard run by De'Antwan Williams.  Barnes was a bright spot with nine receptions for 160 yards, with Pat Carswell adding seven catches for 103 yards.  Box threw for 278 yards.                 
 
Browning Comments ... on the Fighting Scots
"We got off to a decent start.  It was 14-14 early in the second quarter.  The bottom line is they made the plays and we didn't. We had opportunities to make plays early that would have changed the game.  Once it got away, it snowballed.  We let them hang in there."
 
Browning Comments ... on the Crimson Hawks
"They're a lot like us -- a wounded dog.  They're a good football team, but everybody looks good to us right now."