No. 9 INDIANA(PA) Crimson Hawks (2-0, 0-0 PSAC West) at EDINBORO Fighting Scots (3-0, 0-0 PSAC West)
Date: Saturday, September 24, 2016
Site: Edinboro, Pa.
Stadium: Sox Harrison Stadium (6,000)
Kickoff: 12 noon
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/edinboro/football/
Radio: WFSE 88.9 (Streamed on www.edinboronow.com)
TV: ETV (Streamed on www.edinboronow.com)
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Edinboro Game Notes
IUP Game Notes
The Game Story
As one press box pundit noted during the West Chester game, an Edinboro win over the Golden Rams would certainly get the attention of the rest of the PSAC. The 54-51 win in two overtimes over the PSAC?East preseason favorite certainly did. Now the Fighting Scots face an even more monumental task, as PSAC?West preseason favorite Indiana(Pa.) visits Sox Harrison Stadium. The Crimson Hawks, off to a 2-0 start, are ranked ninth in the latest AFCA?Division II?Top 25. They have outscored their first two opponents, 128-42. First-year Edinboro head coach
Justin Lustig became the first coach to win his first three games.
The
Justin Lustig Era is off to a fast start thanks to a pair of road victories at Saint Joseph's(In.) in week number one (31-30), and at Lock Haven two weeks ago (44-38), followed by a 54-51 win in two overtimes over West Chester in the home opener last week. The Fighting Scots open up PSAC West play against the coaches preseason favorite in Indiana(Pa.), marking the second straight week they play the divisional favorite. West Chester is the defending PSAC East champion and was the preseason favorite in the Eastern Division. The last time Edinboro got off to a 3-0 start was 2011.
Justin Lustig is the first head coach at Edinboro to win his first three games. Lustig and former head coach Scott Browning had been the only Edinboro head coaches to win their first two games and also their first two road games. Lustig is Edinboro's 14th head coach.
Indiana(Pa.) comes in with a 2-0 record and is ranked ninth in the latest AFCA Division II Top 25 and 12th according to D2Football.com. The Crimson Hawks had a bye the first week of the season, then opened wwith a 73-42 win at East Stroudsburg in a shootout. Head coach Curt Cignetti's team turned up the defense a week ago, holding Cheyney to 137 total yards in a 55-0 win at Cheyney. IUP is playing its third straight road contest. The Crimson hawks were 9-3 a year ago, defeating Charleston(WV), 47-21, in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs before falling to Shepherd, 17-13, in the second round.
Edinboro's win at Saint Joseph's snapped an 11-game losing streak for the Fighting Scots after Edinboro suffered its first winless season since 1951 and the seventh in school history. The Fighting Scots finished 0-11 a year ago, the most losses in school history. The win also snapped a string of eight straight setbacks on the road dating back to October 2014. The victory at Lock Haven gave Edinboro wins in back-to-back road games for the first time since 2012.
IUP holds a 57-23-4 lead in the all-time series, which dates back to 1926. The Crimson Hawks have won the last two meetings, with Edinboro claiming a 36-30 win over at IUP in 2013. The Crimson Hawks came in ranked 22nd, marking the last time Edinboro upset a ranked opponent.
The season-opening win ended a two-year drought in season openers. The Fighting Scots had lost their last two season openers -- a 38-24 loss at Carson-Newman in 2014 and a 30-10 loss to Saint Joseph's in 2015.
Edinboro was picked to finish eighth in the PSAC West in the coaches' preseason poll after being picked to finish seventh a year ago. IUP was picked first in the Western Division.
The Fighting Scots returned a total of 15 starters from 2015 -- seven on offense, six on defense, and two specialists. However, the offense will be without leading rusher
Cory Bell, who is out indefinitely with injuries.
Youth is featured on the 2016 roster, along with a touch of seniority. After having just five seniors in 2015, this year's roster has six redshirt seniors and nine seniors. However, 50 of the 83 players on the opening day roster have a year experience or less. That breaks down to 24 freshman, nine redshirt freshmen, and 17 sophomores. The youth was evident in the season opener, with two redshirt freshmen starting and a total of three true freshmen and six redshirt freshmen playing.
Edinboro has rallied in the fourth quarter or overtime in each of the first three games. The first two games were back-and-forth affairs, with Edinboro grabbing the lead for good with just under six minutes to play at Saint Joseph's, and with just under seven minutes to go at Lock Haven. The West Chester contest featured a different scenario, as the Fighting Scots jumped out to a 24-7 lead at the half and still led 41-27 with four-and-a-half minutes to play in regulation. The two teams headed to overtime tied at 41-41, and Edinboro regained the lead in the first overtime session at 48-41. West Chester matched the Edinboro touchdown, and then kicked a field goal to start the second overtime period. That was the Golden Rams first lead of the game.
Edinboro has reaped the benefits of its fast start with several weekly awards. Junior quarterback
Jake Sisson was named the D2Football.com Co-Offensive Player of the Week following the Lock Haven game, and senior defensive end
Victor Hudson was recognized as the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Week in that game. Earlier this week, Sisson was honored as the PSAC West Co-Offensive Player of the Week after the West Chester game, with placekicker/ punter
Austin Reese earning Special Teams Player of the Week accolades.
On TV/Radio
The Edinboro-IUP game can be heard live on WFSE FM 88.9, with Drew Patrick providing the play-by-play and George Schmidt the commentary. The WFSE stream can be heard at www.edinboronow.com. In addition, all Edinboro radio broadcasts will be aired by the Keystone Sports Network. The games will be broadcast on WWCB 1370 AM in Corry, Pa. and WLOA 1470 AM in Greenville, Pa. The Keystone Sports Network streams live at www.keystonesports.net. The game will also be televised locally on ETV, Edinboro's student TV station, and streamed live. The live stream is available at www.edinboro.now.com
The All-Time Series
IUP leads 57-23-4
IUP has won the last two meetings with the Fighting Scots. Edinboro last prevailed in 2013, winning a 36-30 decision at IUP.
The Last Meeting
2015 -- IUP 42, Edinboro 21
Chris Temple ran for a school-record six touchdowns to lead Indiana(Pa.) to a Homecoming winover Edinboro. Edinboro was looking to win for the second straight visit to George P. Miller Stadium, but could never get a handle on Temple. The 220-pound sophomore enjoyed the record-breaking day with the six touchdowns while carrying the ball 28 times for 234 yards. The 234 yards is the fourth-highest total by an Edinboro opponent. IUP blitzed the Fighting Scots with three touchdowns in the first nine minutes of the game to take a 21-0 lead on Temple runs of 22, 6, and 6 yards. He would add an 8-yard TD run in the second quarter for a 28-0 lead at the half. Edinboro's defense accounted for the first points of the second half when freshman cornerback
Mitch Thomas stepped in front of a Lenny Williams pass and returned it 88 yards for a touchdown. The return was the fifth-longest in school history. IUP answered with a one-yard TD run by Temple. Edinboro's offense got on the board thanks to a two-yard pass from
Jake Sisson to
Nick Helmick, and in the final minute
Jon Girvin scored on a 5-yard run. IUP ended the day with 492 total yards, most of that coming on the ground. The Crimson Hawks finished with 383 yards rushing. That figure is also tied for the third-highest total ever by an Edinboro opponent. Edinboro, meanwhile, totaled 225 yards. The Fighting Scots had 147 yards passing as Sisson completed 15 of 26 passes with a touchdown and 2 INTs. Alex
Caratelli had 5 receptions for 53 yards.
Last Week
Edinboro 54, West Chester 51 2ot
In the first double overtime game in Edinboro history,
Jake Sisson completed a 16-yard touchdown pass to
Alex Caratelli on a 4th-and-1 play for the winning score. Both teams scored touchdowns in the first overtime. The Edinboro defense limited West Chester to a 25-yard field goal in the second overtime, setting the stage for Sisson's school-record sixth touchdown pass of the game. Edinboro jumped out to a 24-7 lead at the half against the PSAC East preseason favorites, but the Golden Rams closed to within ten points after three quarter. A wild fourth quarter saw the two teams combine for 44 points. When Sisson and
Walter Fletcher combined an eight-yard TD pass with 4:30 to play, the Fighting Scots appeared to have a safe 41-27 lead. But the Golden Rams scored twice in the final 3 minutes, 30 seconds to tie the game, and actually could have won in regulation but missed a 30-yard field goal. Sisson set records with six touchdowns passing and a seventh rushing, with
James Clark, Caratelli, and Fletcher catching two apiece. West Chester would outgain Edinboro by an incredible 400+ yards, 758 to 349 yards.
IUP 55, Cheyney 0
The ninth-ranked Crimson Hawks outgained Cheyney 458-137 and forced four turnovers to record the shutout at Cheyney. It was IUP's 11th shutout since 2010 and eighth in its last 49 games since the beginning of the 2012 season. IUP broke the game wide open with four touchdowns in the second quarter for a 34-0 lead at the half. Quarterback Lenny Williams, Jr. threw three touchdowns, with Chris Wuestner catching eight passes for 169 yards and one of those scores. Williams accounted 152 yards passing and 32 yards rushing while playing just the first half. Chris Temple scored three touchdowns and rushed for 29 yards on eight carries in limited action. The IUP defense limited Cheyney to just 49 rushing yards. The Wolves went 9-of-27 through the air, with IUP picking off two passes and forcing three fumbles, recovering two.
The Coaches
Justin Lustig (Bucknell '00) took over as Edinboro's 14th head coach on January 11, 2016. This marks Lustig's first head coaching position after serving as an assistant coach at Ball State since 2011. A native of western Pennsylvania who played his high school football at nearby Cathedral prep, Lustig also has served as an assistant coach at Louisiana-Lafayette, Eastern Illinois, Christopher Newport, and Villanova. Lustig has been a part of four teams that earned bowl eligibility in eight years at the FBS level. He was an assistant on five teams that won conference championships in 14 years in the profession, including six NCAA playoff appearances and two bowl games. Five of the teams he has been associated with have been ranked in the top 25. Finally, he has helped develop 37 all-conference performers, including 12 at Ball State. Most recently, Lustig was the special teams coordinator/ running backs coach at Ball State since 2011, along with earning the title of assistant head coach prior to the 2015 season. The Cardinals played in two bowl games during Lustig's tenure. They faced UCF in the Beef O'Brady's Bowl in 2012, then earned a spot in the 2013 GoDaddy Bowl against Arkansas State. Ball State finished with a 10-3 record in 2013 and 9-4 in 2012. In addition, Ball State posted wins over four BCS conference teams -- Indiana twice, South Florida, and Virginia.
Curt Cignetti (West Virginia '82) is in his sixth year at the helm of the football program at IUP, showing a 45-15 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 in 2012. IUP won the 2012 PSAC Championship, then advanced to the Super Region One Championship before losing to Winston-Salem State. IUP won nine games in 2013 (9-2) and 2015 (9-3), with last year's team reaching the second round of the NCAA Division II Players and finishing 19th in the AFCA Top 25. Now in his 34th 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. In addition to the national title, Cignetti was part of Alabama teams that 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.
Lustig Comments ... on the Fighting Scots
"This Boro football team has a resiliency and toughness that we are very proud of. West Chester was a very good football team that had some veteran players who've won many games in this league. The score was 24-14 with 10 minutes to play and it ended up 54-51, our guys never quit and kept fighting. Our players our buying into what we are preaching and it's exciting to see the results show on Saturdays."
Lustig Comments ... on the Crimson Hawks
"This Boro football team has a resiliency and toughness that we are very proud of. West Chester was a very good football team that had some veteran players who've won many games in this league. The score was 24-14 with 10 minutes to play and it ended up 54-51, our guys never quit and kept fighting. Our players our buying into what we are preaching and it's exciting to see the results show on Saturdays."
