Complete Game Notes (PDF)  l  PSAC Week 1 Notes  l  Morning Call Small College notebook

SATURDAY  l  1:00 p.m.  l  HICKOX FIELD, Brookville, N.Y.

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Radio: Live on WVPO (ESPN Poconos) 840 AM for the 52nd season, and redzonemedia.com. Chuck Seese, the 2009 PSAC Heaslip Media Award recipient, is in his 26th season as the voice of the Warriors, with Bob Brittain in his 14th year providing the color commentary. Pre-game begins at 12:30 p.m.


1st & 10 ...  Complete Game Notes (PDF)

1 • ESU opens its 41st season under head coach Denny Douds, who has coached in the most games (418) among active NCAA football coaches. Douds set the DII record for games in 2011 and will tie Tubby Raymond (Delaware) for 10th on the all-division list (422) on Sept. 27 vs. Lock Haven.

2 • ESU is 29-11 in season openers under Douds, and has won 6 straight and 13 of 15 since 1999.  ESU is 13-6 in road openers under Douds and 6-1 since 1999. ESU is 54-31-1 all-time in season openers entering its 87th year of varsity football.

3 • ESU is 8-5 all-time against LIU Post, which was a member of the PSAC East from 2008-12 (going 3-2 against ESU). ESU won 45-37 at LIU Post in 2012 with then-R-Fr. QB Matt Soltes setting a PSAC record and NCAA all-division freshman record with 666 yards total offense (535 passing, 131 rushing). ESU's 828 total yards were also a PSAC record.

4 • Soltes, a redshirt junior, is the only returning Harlon Hill candidate in Super Region 1 entering the 2014 season. He was one of 7 regional candidates last fall and the 5th ESU QB to earn a spot on the list, joining current Penn State head coach James Franklin (1994), Damian Poalucci (1996-97), Jimmy Terwilliger (2003-06 - 2005 winner) and Ray Wagner (2011).

5 • ESU, 7-4 (4-3) last year, was picked 2nd in the 8-team PSAC East. The Warriors were 4th in the division last fall. ESU was listed among others receiving votes in the AFCA DII preseason poll.

6 • LIU Post, 5-6 (3-6) last year, was picked 6th in the Northeast-10 Conference preseason poll. ESU is 28-12-1 (.695) all-time vs. current NE-10 schools.

7 • Returning starters: ESU returns 15 starters (5 on offense, 10 on defense) plus its punter ... LIU Post returns 13 starters (8 on offense, 5 on defense).

8 • Both schools have dual-threat quarterbacks in ESU R-Jr. Matt Soltes and LIU Post R-Sr. Steven Laurino - 2 of the 4 active QB's in DII with at least 5,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards.

9 • Soltes has 6,874 career yards of total offense (5,866 passing, 1,008 rushing) - 2nd-most in PSAC history through a QB's sophomore year. He was 11th in DII in total offense (337.8 ypg) in 2013.

Laurino has 7,539 career yards (5,972 passing, 1,567 passing) in 3 years. He was 18th in DII in total offense (314.8 ypg) in 2013.

10 • R-Sr. DL Bryan Thomson, a D2Football.com Preseason All-American, leads 10 returning defensive starters for ESU. The unit has combined for 166 career starts.

For more ... Complete Game Notes (PDF)

THE SERIES: ESU is 8-5 in 13 meetings between the two schools, all under head coach Denny Douds. LIU Post's Bryan Collins, entering his 17th year, has been present for the 8 meetings since 2004. Douds is 5-3 against Collins, including two wins in 2005 - 66-49 at LIU Post in the regular season, and 55-28 at Eiler-Martin Stadium in the NCAA DII Northeast Region championship game.

BIG #'s: ESU quarterbacks have thrown for 500+ yards 6 times in school history - including 3 times against LIU Post.  Jimmy Terwilliger was 20-for-32 for 546 yards and 9 TD in ESU's 66-49 win in 2005 ... Ray Wagner was 24-for-40 for 503 yards and 3 TD in a 34-30 home loss in 2011 ... and Matt Soltes was 26-for-42 for 535 yards and 5 TD in ESU's 45-37 road win in 2012 ... 2 of ESU's top 10 team total offense performances have also come against LIU Post - 828 yards (PSAC record) in 2012, and 672 yards in the 2005 regular season.

DOUDS' MILESTONES: Last year, Douds became the 13th man to reach 40 seasons as head coach in NCAA football history, the 9th to coach 40 years at one school, and the 5th to spend all of his 40+ year career at the same institution. He joins Eddie Robinson (Grambling, 1941-42, 45-97), John E. Dorman (Upper Iowa, 1905-06, 09-42, 45-59), Joe Paterno (Penn State, 1966-2011) and Jim Malosky (Minn.-Duluth, 1958-97).

Entering this week, Douds: has coached in more games (418) than any active coach in NCAA football ... ranks 1st on the DII games coached list (set in 2011), and 12th in NCAA history ... ranks 3rd in career wins (244) among active NCAA coaches ... ranks 1st in PSAC history in career wins (set in 2008), 3rd in DII history and t-23rd in NCAA history.

DOUDS DWARFS PSAC EAST: Douds' 244 career wins are almost double the PSAC win total (130) of the other 7 coaches in the PSAC East - WCU's Bill Zwaan (90), Ship's Mark Maciejewski (25), Bloom's Paul Darragh (10), LHU's John Allen (4), Mill's Greg Breitbach (1) and Cheyney's Anthony Johnson and KU's Jim Clements (0) ... Douds has coached 40 seasons in the PSAC - the other 7 have combined for 19.

THE HEAD COACHES: Denny Douds (Slippery Rock '63) has a career record of 244-171-3 (.587) in his 41st season. He is in his 49th season at ESU overall, including 8 years as an assistant coach from 1966-73. He has led the Warriors to 9 PSAC titles and 4 NCAA Playoff appearances since taking over as head coach in 1974. His teams won outright state titles in 1975, 1978 and 1982 before the State Game was discontinued following the 1987 season. His teams have claimed PSAC East divisional titles in 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1991, 2002 and 2003. NCAA Playoff appearances have come in 1991, 2004, 2005 - when the Warriors won the Northeast Region title and advanced to the national semifinals - and 2009.

Bryan Collins (St. John's '87) has a career record of 115-60 (.657) in his 17th season at LIU Post and is also the school's Athletic Director. His teams were 26-28 (20-15 PSAC East) in 5 seasons in the PSAC from 2008-12. The Pioneers were 6-5 (5-2) in 2009, 7-4 (5-2) in 2010 and 7-4 (6-1) in 2011 in a strong 3-year run. He has taken LIU Post to the NCAA Playoffs three times - 2002, 2004 and 2005.

DOUDS' FOES: Douds has coached against 104 different head coaches in his career at ESU, and will add 3 more in 2014 - Anthony Johnson (Cheyney), Jim Clements (Kutztown) and Brad Rzyczycki (Gannon) ... He is 69-35 against first-time foes ... Douds faced Millersville's Gene Carpenter 27 times, and faced Danny Hale 26 times between his career at West Chester and Bloomsburg ... Among active coaches, his most frequent opponents are WCU's Bill Zwaan (12), SRU's George Mihalik (9) and LIU Post's Bryan Collins (8).

RETURNING ALL-PSAC EAST: ESU has 7 players who have earned All-PSAC East status in their careers:
QB - R-Jr. Matt Soltes (2013 2nd team, 2012 Freshman of the Year)
TB - R-So. Robert Healy (2013 2nd team, 2013 Freshman of the Year)
WR - Sr. Dusty Reed (2011 and 2012 1st team)
TE - R-Sr. Steven Jones (2013 1st team)
DL - R-Sr. Bryan Thomson (2012 and 2013 1st team, 2012 Defensive Player of the Year)
LB - Sr. Cody Simcox (2013 2nd team)
P - Sr. Jordan Bair (2013 2nd team)

PSAC CHANGES: PSAC crossover games on Sept. 13 (Slippery Rock) and Sept. 20 (at Edinboro) will count towards the PSAC's divisional standings for the first time in 2014, creating a 9-game conference schedule. The final crossover game (Nov. 15 vs. Gannon) will not count towards the divisional standings. The State Game, now in its 7th year after returning in 2008, will be played that weekend.

TRENDING UP: ESU notched a 7-4 record in 2013, building on a 5-5 campaign in 2012 after consecutive 3-8 seasons in 2010 and 2011. Since 2000, the Warriors are 95-59 (.617) with a .500+ record in 11 of 14 seasons.

PRESEASON POLLS: ESU was picked 2nd in the PSAC East preseason poll behind defending regional champion West Chester - the highest the Warriors have been picked since they were the preseason favorite in 2005 ... ESU was 4-3 in the PSAC East in 2012 and 2013, and is seeking its 1st divisional title since 2002 and 2003 ... ESU received votes in the AFCA DII preseason poll - the 5th time in the last 10 years it has been ranked or received votes in the preseason poll.

PROGRAM WINS: ESU has a 460-307-19 (.597) record in its 87th year of varsity football. West Chester (560), IUP (522) and Slippery Rock (465) are the only other programs with at least 450 wins.

As head coach, Douds is responsible for 53.1 percent of the program's games (418 of 786), and 53.0 percent of its wins (244 of 460). Including 68 games and 45 wins as an assistant coach under Charlie Reese from 1966-73, he has coached in 486 of the 786 games (61.8 percent) and 289 of the 460 wins (62.8 percent) in program history. There have been at least 4 head coaches at every other PSAC school since Douds was named head coach in 1974.

ESU vs. THE NORTHEAST-10: The Warriors are 8-5 against LIU Post, and 28-12-1 overall against current members of the Northeast-10 Conference. ESU has won its last 3 season openers against NE-10 schools - 57-0 at Pace in 2010, 56-14 vs. Pace in 2011 and 21-14 vs. American International in 2013.