Complete Game Notes (PDF)

THURSDAY, AUGUST 31 - 7 p.m.
ESU (0-0) at Fairmont State (0-0)

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1st and 10 (Complete Game Notes (PDF))

1 • ESU travels to Fairmont State for its 2017 season opener, and the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
• ESU's first match-up vs. a school from the Mountain East Conference (formerly WVIAC) since 2003 (W 35-7 at Shepherd).

2 • ESU is 31-12 in season openers under head coach Denny Douds, and 56-32-1 (.635) all-time in season openers entering its 90th season of varsity football.
• ESU has won 8 of its last 9 openers since 2008

3 • Last time out: ESU fell 57-15 at Slippery Rock in the 2016 season finale after trailing just 14-9 at halftime. SRU scored 30 points in an 8-minute span to start the 3rd quarter.

4 • ESU head coach Denny Douds leads active NCAA coaches in games coached (451) and ranks 2nd in wins (260).
• 7th in NCAA history in games coached
• 1st in DII history in games coached
• 4th in games coached at one school
• 17th in NCAA history in wins
• 1st in PSAC history in wins (set in 2008)

5 • Douds begins his 44th season as head coach, ranking t-9th in NCAA history and ranking 5th in years coached at one school.

6 • Fairmont State is one of 3 ESU opponents who qualified for the NCAA DII Playoffs in 2016, along with IUP (Sept. 9) and California (Nov. 11).

7 • ESU returns 12 starters (6 on both sides of the ball) for 2017, including 5 who have been named All-PSAC East in their careers.
• ESU lost 3 All-PSAC East selections, including TB Robert Healy (4x All-PSAC East), ESU's all-time leader in rushing yards and yards from scrimmage.

8 • Sr. WR Tim Wilson (58 rec, 910 yds, 8 TD) ranked 7th in the PSAC in receptions (5.8) and yards per game (91.0) in 2016, including 5 100-yard games.
• Wilson has more career receptions (80), yards (1,221) and TD (12) than all other Warriors combined.

9 • Jr. LT Michael Fleming (2x All-PSAC East), R-Sr. RG Norman Rogers III (2016 All-PSAC East) and R-Sr. C Devon Ackerman lead an offensive line that has 113 combined games of starting experience - Ackerman (33), Rogers (29), Fleming (19) and R-So. Levi Murphy (11).

10 • R-Sr. LB Mike Wiand (2016) and R-Sr. LB Sekou Jones (2015) have both earned All-PSAC East 2nd team honors for the ESU defense and lead an experienced LB group that features 3 senior starters, along with Dakota Everett.
• LB have combined for 50 career starts
• DL (9) and DB (26) have combined for 35 starts

THE SERIES:
• First meeting between ESU and Fairmont State
• 3rd Mountain East Conference (formerly WVIAC) opponent ESU has faced
• 2-1 vs Glenville State (1999-2000, 2002 - Sept 15, 2001 meeting was canceled)
• 3-3 vs Shepherd (1998-2003)

THE HEAD COACHES
ESU - Denny Douds (Slippery Rock '63)
• career record of 260-188-3 (.580) in his 44th season
• 52nd season at ESU overall, including 8 years as an assistant coach from 1966-73
• 9 PSAC titles and 4 NCAA Playoff appearances since taking over in 1974
• outright state titles in 1975, 1978 and 1982 before the State Game was discontinued following the 1987 season
• PSAC East divisional titles in 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1991, 2002 and 2003
• NCAA Playoff appearances in 1991, 2004, 2005 and 2009
• 2005 team won Northeast Region title and advanced to the national semifinals

Fairmont State - Jason Woodman (Fairmont State '02)
• career record of 22-20 in his 5th season
• led Fairmont State to 10-2 record and first-ever NCAA DII Playoff appearance in 2016
• Asst at LSU (2004-06), Florida State (2007), California Pa. (2008), Concord (2009-10), Bowie State (2011-12)

TRENDING UP: ESU notched 3 straight winning seasons from 2013-15 (7-4; 6-5; 6-5)
• since 2000, ESU is 116-80 (.592) with a .500+ record in 13 of 17 years

ESU ALL-TIME RECORD: 476-324-19 (.593) in 90th year of varsity football

PSAC ALL-TIME WINS
1. 586 - West Chester
2. 547 - IUP 
3. 493 - Slippery Rock
4. 476 - ESU
5. 455 - Bloomsburg
6. 448 - Shippensburg 

WIN PERCENTAGE (entering 2017)
1. .683 - West Chester
2. .688 - IUP
3. .601 - Slippery Rock
4. .593 - ESU
5. .570 - Bloomsburg
6. .551 - Shippensburg

DOUDS MILESTONES
• Douds is one of 13 men to reach 40 seasons as head coach in NCAA football history
•  9th to coach 40 years at one school
•  5th to spend all of his 40+ year career at the same institution:
   55 years - Eddie Robinson, Grambling (1941-42, 45-97)
   50 years - John E. Dorman, Upper Iowa (1905-06, 09-42, 45-59)
   46 years - Joe Paterno, Penn State (1966-2011)
   44 years - Denny Douds, ESU (1974-present)
   40 years - Jim Malosky, Minn.-Duluth (1958-97)

ENTERING THIS WEEK
• Douds has coached more games (451) than any active coach in NCAA football
• ranks 1st in DII history in games coached (set in 2011), and 8th in NCAA history
   (will tie Bob Ford [Albany] for 7th with 457th game on Oct. 5 vs. Millersville)
• 2nd in career wins (260) among active NCAA coaches
• 1st in the PSAC in career wins (set in 2008) and 17th in NCAA history
• 61 career wins since turning 65 (more than 12 of the other 15 PSAC coaches have in their careers)

DOUDS DWARFS PSAC EAST
• Douds has 260 career wins entering 2017
• the other 7 coaches in the PSAC East had combined for 232 wins while coaching in the PSAC - WCU's Bill Zwaan (116), Ship's Mark Maciejewski (46), Bloom's Paul Darragh (34), KU's Jim Clements (20), Millersville's Greg Breitbach (6), LHU's Dave Taynor (6) and Cheyney's Chris Roulhac (4)
• Douds has coached 43 seasons in the PSAC entering 2017 (other 7 - combined for 38).

DOUDS NOTES
• as head coach, responsible for 55.1 percent of ESU's games (451 of 819) and 54.6 percent of its wins (260 of 476)
• including 68 games and 45 wins as an asst coach under Charlie Reese from 1966-73:
   63.4 percent of ESU's games (519 of 819) and 64.1 percent of its wins (305 of 476)
• at least 5 head coaches at every other PSAC school since 1974

DOUDS' FOES
• Douds will face his 111th head coach in his career at ESU
• Paul Tortorella (IUP) is on the schedule next week, and Gary Dunn (Cal) is slated for week 11
• Douds is 72-38 against first-time foes
• Douds faced Millersville's Gene Carpenter 27 times (1974-2000), and faced Danny Hale 26 times between his career at West Chester and Bloomsburg (1984-88, 1993-2012)
• among active coaches, his most frequent opponent is West Chester's Bill Zwaan (15)

RETURNING ALL-PSAC EAST: ESU has 5 players who have earned All-PSAC East status in their careers:
WR - Sr. Tim Wilson (2016 2nd team)
OL - Jr. Michael Fleming (2015, 2016 2nd team)
OL - R-Sr. Norman Rogers III (2016 2nd team)
LB - R-Sr. Mike Wiand (2016 2nd team)
LB - R-Sr. Sekou Jones (2015 2nd team - missed last 5 games of 2016 due to injury)

DEPARTED ALL-PSAC EAST: ESU lost 3 All-PSAC East selections from last year's team:
TB - Robert Healy (4-time All-PSAC East - 1st team 2015, 2016; 2013 Freshman of the year)
DE - Ahmad McFarland (2015, 2016 2nd team)
NG - Marc Ranaudo (2016 1st team - did not return for 2017 due to injury)

WHAT TO LOOK FOR vs. FAIRMONT STATE
1. FSU was 10-2 last year and made its first-ever NCAA DII Playoff appearance.
2. Falcons return 14 starters (6 on offense, 8 on defense).
3. Sr. DL Quincy Redmon (52 tkl, 15 TFL, 12 sacks) was named MEC Defensive AOY
• Sr. LB Marcus Porter (100 tkl, 6 TFL) and Jr. DB Stephen Turner (62 tkl, 4 Int) were also All-MEC.
• FSU allowed just 19.5 ppg and 322.5 ypg last season (506 yds in 62-13 loss vs IUP in NCAA Playoffs).
4. QB Cooper Hibbs (277-435, 3074 yds, 20 TD, 14 Int) and WR Fabian Guerra (76 rec, 849 yds, 6 TD) depart.
• So. WR Laurence King (88 rec, 973 yds, 7 TD) and Sr. TB Terrell Charles (196 rush, 887 yds, 12 TD) return.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
• just 37 of ESU's 87 players have seen collegiate action for the Warriors (31 letterwinners)
• just 25 of ESU's 87 players have been with the program for more than one season entering 2017
• 12 of the 48 players in this week's depth chart are either redshirt freshmen (6) or true freshmen (6)
• 9 of the 23 starters in this week's offense/defense depth chart are slated for their first career starts
   Offense (skill) - R-Jr. TB Jaymar Anderson, So. FB Wyatt Clements, So. WR Elijah Rehm, R-Sr. TE Anthony Castillo
   Offense (line) - R-Jr. LG Mike Neman, R-Jr. RT Shane Trevorah
   Defense - R-Jr. NG Joseph Ruggiero, Jr. CB Tyson Calhoun, R-Fr. FS Calvin Fielding

Complete Game Notes (PDF)