Date:  Saturday, November 7, 2015 

Site:  Greensburg, Pa.

Stadium:  Offutt Field (5,000)

Kickoff: 12 noon

Live Stats:   http://www.sidearmstats.com/setonhill/football/

Edinboro concludes the 2015 season with back-to-back road games, beginning with Saturday's contest at Seton Hill. This marks the third meeting between the two since Seton Hill joined the PSAC in 2013, but it will be the first time the contest has not been at Sox Harrison Stadium. The Fighting Scots suffered a school-record ninth loss on Saturday, a 52-10 setback to 13th-ranked Slippery Rock in the final home game of the season. Now 0-9 overall and 0-6 in the PSAC West, the Scots face a Seton Hill team that is only 2-7 and 1-5, respectively, but that one conference win was a 41-38 triumph over Slippery Rock. The Griffins also own a 27-10 win over Lock Haven. Both victories have come in Greensburg.  

Darren Massey continues to rewrite the Edinboro pass receiving records. He broke his own school record with 15 catches last week vs. Slippery Rock. That boosted his season total to 73 receptions, just seven behind his school-record of 80 catches set last year. He is now second in the PSAC in receptions per game and seventh in Division II. The junior also set the career record for receptions two weeks ago and now has 179 career receptions.

The recent loss to Clarion ensured a fourth straight losing season for the Fighting Scots. That marks the first time with four consecutive losing campaigns since a stretch of six straight losing seasons from 1997-2002. The nine-loss season represents the most losses ever by an Edinboro team.

A young Edinboro defense has faced numerous challenges throughout the year, and this game is no exception. Seton Hill comes in ranked third in the PSAC and 15th in Division II in passing offense at 304.7 ypg. Redshirt sophomore Christian Strong has thrown for 2,274 yards with 15 TDs.  

The Edinboro defense has been without its top performer, two-time All-PSAC linebacker Mike Shansky, since the first game. Youth has been very prominent on the defensive side of the ball. No fewer than eight different freshmen have started on defense, with a total of 37 games started by freshmen. Last week alone, six freshmen started against Slippery Rock. Consequently, the defense has struggled, allowing 40.0 ppg. (13th in PSAC), 487.9 yards in total defense (15th), and 247.0 in rushing defense (16th).

The recent loss at Gannon was the 10th loss in the last 11 road games for Edinboro, and the 12th in the last 14 road contests. The lone road win in the last 11 games came last year at Clarion.    
} The 2015 roster features 39 true freshman and 10 redshirt freshman. A year ago a total of 43 games were started by true freshman.
} Edinboro was picked to finish seventh in the PSAC West in the coaches' preseason poll after being picked to finish sixth the previous two years. The Fighting Scots finished in a tie for sixth in 2014. Seton Hill was picked to finish sixth in the PSAC West.

On TV/Radio
} The Edinboro-Seton Hill game can be heard live on WFSE FM 88.9, with Mike Fenner providing the play-by-play and Tyler Trumbauer the commentary. In addition, all Edinboro radio broadcasts will be aired by the Keystone Sports Network. The games will be broadcast on ESPN 92.7 FM in Erie and WWCB 1370 AM in Corry, Pa., in addition to being streamed live. 

The All-Time Series 
Edinboro leads 2-0
Edinboro has won both meetings between the two schools since Seton Hill joined the PSAC, with both contests played at Sox Harrison Stadium. This will mark Edinboro's first trip to Offutt Field.

Last Year's Game 
Edinboro 31, Seton Hill 27 
Edinboro held off the Griffins behind some late heroics from linebacker Kyle Matula and three touchdowns from Cody Harris. With Harris throwing touchdown passes of seven yards to Connor Hollenbeck and five yards to Darren Massey, plus a three-yard touchdown run, Edinboro jumped out to a 31-14 lead early in the fourth quarter. The Fighting Scots would have to hold off a Seton Hill rally, and that's where Matula came in. The Griffins scored a pair of touchdowns in the final five minutes, and after each Matula recovered the onside kickoff. In addition, he broke up a pair of passes on Seton Hill's last two plays of the game with under a minute to play. Anfreenee Williams accounted for Edinboro's other touchdown on an eight-yard run. Edinboro had to withstand Seton Hill's record-setting aerial attack. The Griffins completed 43 of 69 passes, both opponent records.  Returning after missing a week with an injury, Harris completed 27 of 34 passes for 310 yards. Massey hauled in 8 passes for 73 yards and Hollenbeck added 6 catches for 73 yards. Matula paced the defense, matching his career high with 12 tackles.     
 
Last Week 
Slippery Rock 52, Edinboro 10 
A fast-paced, no-hudde Slippery Rock offense rolled up 600 total yards and 377 yards rushing to defeat the Fighting Scots for the sixth straight time. SRU scored on its first two possessions to grab a 14-0 lead less than seven minutes into the game. Austin Reese's 28-yard field goal cut the gap to 14-3, but SRU would boost its lead to 31-10 at the half. The Fighting Scots did put their best drive of the game together at the end of the first half, driving 75 yards in eight plays. Alex Caratelli's one-yard TD reception from Jake Sisson came with six seconds left. Unfortunately, the Scots managed just one first down and 57 yards in the second half, moving into SRU territory once. Darren Massey broke his own school record for receptions in a game, hauling in 15 passes for 73 yards. Sisson completed 23 of 44 passes for 171 yards. Edinboro managed just 44 yards rushing.  
     
Mercyhurst 41, Seton Hill 13
The Lakers jumped out to a 34-13 halftime lead and ended the day with 500 yards in total offense, compared to 258 for Seton Hill. Patrick Jackson scored the first touchdown for the Griffins on a 12-yard run to knot the score at 7-7. Mercyhurst would score the next 20 points before the Griffins interrupted the run with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Christian Strong to Dylan Everett. That came with 1:50 left in the first half, but the Lakers would score another touchdown in the xclosing seconds, and accounted for the lone touchdown in the second half. Strong completed 20 of 28 passes for 162 yards and also led the Griffins in rushing with 36 yards on five carries.  
          
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 tenth season with a 57-52 record, and is in his 30th season as a member of the Edinboro staff.  With the season-opening 35-34 win over Walsh in 2013, he became the third coach at Edinboro to reach 50 wins, joining Tom Hollman and Bill McDonald.   The 2014 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 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.  The 4-6 finish in 2012 represented Browning's first losing season as head coach.  

Isaac Collins (Rochester '94) is in his third season as the head coach at Seton Hill.  He took over the Griffins' program two years ago after serving as the head coach at Widener the previous three years. He has a 6-25 record at Seton Hill and is 31-33 in his sixth year as a head coach.  Collins led Widener to the 2012 Mid-American Conference championship with an 11-1 record.  The Pride won the ECAC Atlantic South Bowl Championship.  He 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
"Slippery Rock is probably the best team we've played all year. Look back at their scores. They're all lopsided except for the IUP game, and those are the two best teams we've played. I think Slippery Rock is on a mission. Our youth showed. We need to get in the weight room in the offseason and develop bigger, stronger guys."

Browning Comments ... on the Griffins
"Seton Hill is an explosive team on offense. They throw the ball extremely well. If you get them on one of the days they're hot and they can cause a lot of problems. Defensively, they're stout up front. You have to take what they give you."