EDINBORO Fighting Scots (1-8, 1-7 PSAC West) vs. SETON HILL Griffins (2-7, 2-6 PSAC West)

Date:  Saturday, November 8, 2014 
Site:  Edinboro, Pa.
Stadium:  Sox Harrison Stadium (6,000)
Kickoff: 12 noon 
Next:  Saturday, November 8 vs. Seton Hill -- 12 noon
Live Stats:   http://www.sidearmstats.com/edinboro/football/ 
Radio:  WFSE FM 88.9 -- Ron Raymond (play-by-play) and Mike Fenner (color commentary)
        http://www.boroonline.com. 

Edinboro Game Notes
Seton Hill Game Notes
PSAC Weekly Notes

The Game Story
Since snapping a five-game losing streak with a 56-28 win at Clarion, Edinboro has lost three straight games to fall to 1-8 overall and 1-7 in the PSAC West. The latest setback was a 29-7 loss at Slippery Rock as Edinboro's brutal 2014 schedule continued. Last Saturday's contest marked the final road game in 2014. The Fighting Scots conclude the season with home games against Seton Hill and Millersville. The 1-8 record is the worst after nine games since the 1955 team ended the year with a 1-8 record. In addition, the Fighting Scots must win both games to avoid setting a new record for losses in a season. Edinboro has lost eight games on three occasions -- 1955, 1987 and 1999.

Head coach Scott Browning knew that his 2014 schedule was very difficult, particularly the first five games, but it may have been even more arduous than he imagined. Along the way Edinboro faced the top two preseason favorites in the PSAC West, two of the top four teams in theEastern Division, plus a nationally-ranked team in Carson-Newman. The combined record of thefirst five opponents is 30-14, and eight of Edinboro's first nine opponents have winning records. All told, Edinboro's first nine opponents own a combined record of 51-29.

Seton Hill comes in with a 2-7 record and is 2-6 in the PSAC West. In their second year in thePSAC, the Griffins have wins over Lock Haven (27-16) and Clarion (30-16). They seek an end to a two-game losing streak after falling to Mercyhurst 49-32 last Saturday. However, Seton Hill has proven a dangerous opponent thanks to a wide-open aerial attack that ranks second in the PSAC and 12th in Division II with 325.7 yards per game. Along the way they have attempted 483 passes in nine games, yet have permitted just 11 sacks. At the same time, the Seton Hill defense is allowing 42.7 ppg. (14th in PSAC, 156th out of 167 teams in DII) and 489.9 ypg. (15th in PSAC and 160th in DII).

On TV/Radio
The Edinboro-Slippery Rock game can be heard live on WFSE FM 88.9, with Ron Raymond providing the play-by-play and Mike Fenner the commentary. 

The All-Time Series
Edinboro leads 1-0
The Fighting Scots won the first meeting with Seton Hill last year, 43-7 at Sox Harrison Stadium.

The Last Meeting
Edinboro 20, Seton Hill 7
The defense pitched a shutout and the offense received a yeoman's relief effort from Jon Girvin in the first-ever meeting with the Griffins. The lone points by Seton Hill came courtesy of a fumble return for a touchdown, but by that time Edinboro held a 36-0 lead. The defense limited Seton Hill to 116 total yards, forced four turnovers, recorded five sacks, and allowed justone third down conversion in 12 attempts. The offense, meanwhile, received a pick-me-up from Girvin, who entered on the third series, and featured a balanced effort. The redshirt freshman quarterback struggled in his first start a week earlier at California(Pa.), but he came off the bench to throw for two touchdowns and run for a pair of one-yard scores. His touchdown passes came on throws of seven yards to Marcus Johnson and eight yards to D'Andrea Vaughn. All told, he completed 18 of 28 passes for 150 yards and added 36 yards rushing. Johnson caught seven passes for 51 yards and had a 66-yard kickoff return. Jeremy Donaldson added a 22-yard TD run and matched his career high with 89 yards rushing. Freshman placekicker T.J. Hardy was perfect on three field goal attempts, two from 27 yards along with a 39- yarder.

Last Week
Slippery Rock 29, Edinboro 7
Edinboro played its final road game of the season and fell to 1-8 with starting quarterback Cody Harris on the sidelines with an injury. He was replaced by promising freshman Jake Sisson, who threw for 190 yards, including a 76-yard touchdown heave to Darren Massey. That score cut the Slippery Rock lead to 17-7 in the third quarter after The Rock had jumped to a 17-0 lead at the half. Edinboro was guilty of five turnovers, with three of those leading to touchdowns. SRU would build its lead to 23-7 after one of those as The Rock recovered a fumble in the end zone after Spencer Howell failed to handle the snap on a punt. SRU would clinch the game with a touchdown with just under three minutes to play following an interception. Sisson completed 14 of 32 passes in his first career start, but threw three interceptions. SRU sacked Boro quarterbacks six times. The Edinborooffense came up dry on three occasions inside the SRU 25. Anfreenee Williams had his third 100-yard rushing game with 111 yards on 17 carries, but the Scots still finished with just 53 yards rushing. Massey matched his career-high with 161 yards on six receptions. He boosted his season total to 68 catches to break the previous record of 64 held by Ryan Valasek. A bend-but-break defense gave up 438 yards as The Rock ran 93 plays. But they came up with numerous big stops while facing less than ideal field position all day.

Mercyhurst 49, Seton Hill 32
The Griffins fell to 2-7 in a game that featured 1,145 total yards, 14 turnovers, and 102 passes. FJ Williams broke the single-game receiving yards record with 261 yards on 11 receptions while catching passes from three different quarterback. Those quarterbacks combined for seven interceptions as the Griffins turned the ball over eight times, negating 651 yards in total offense, including 568 through the air. Seton Hill would take an early 6-0 lead but Mercyhurst would pull away thanks to five scores following turnovers. Drew Jackson came off the bench to complete 25 of 42 passes for 287 yards with 2 TDs and 2 INTs. Three receivers in all had more than 100 yards receiving, as Eric Brown caught 13 passes for 118 yards and Jarvis McClam had 8 catches for 107 yards with 2 TDs.

The Coaches
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 in his ninth season with a 55-43 record, and is in his 29th season as a member of the Edinboro staff. With last year's season-opening 35-34 win over Walsh, he became the third coach at Edinboro to reach 50 wins, joining Tom Hollman and Bill Mc- Donald. The win over Clarion was his 55th, moving him into sole possession of second place in career victories. 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 Mc- Donald 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, themost 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. The 4-6 finish in 2012 represented Browning's first losing season as head coach.

Isaac Collins (Rochester '94) is in his second season as the head coach at Seton Hill. He took over the Griffins' program a year ago after serving as the head coach at Widener the last three years, leading Seton Hill to a 1-10 finish. He led Widener to the 2012 Mid-American Conference championship with an 11-1 record. The Pride won the ECAC Atlantic South Bowl Championship. Collins was recognized as the 2012 MAC Coach of the Year. He compiled a 25-8 record during his three seasons, including a No. 8 ranking in the AFCA Division III Top 25. From 2006- 09, he served as the defensive coordinator for The Citadel. His 2007 defense led the Southern Conference in total defense. He has also served as an assistant coach at Delaware, Holy Cross, Lehigh, Columbia and Hobart.

Browning Comments ... on the Fighting Scots
"We gave a great effort at Slippery Rock. We put ourselves in a position to win but just made some errors at critical times. The tipped pass that ended up as an interception, the dropped snap on a punt. Slippery Rock is a good football team. You can't shoot yourself
in the foot against them. We did."

Browning Comments ... on the Grifffins
Seton Hill is scary. They throw the ball all over the field. If they're hot look out. People have had trouble getting to their quarterback. The have big wide receivers who are fast. Defensively they do some things to confuse you. Seton Hill has improved dramatically over last year. They come up here with a lot of confidence. We have to get off to a quick start."