GAME NOTES (PDF)

THE MATCH-UP: East Stroudsburg University hosts IUP on Saturday night at 6 p.m. in the first home night game in Eiler-Martin Stadium history. Both teams are coming off big wins last Saturday, as the Warriors won 58-13 at Lock Haven and IUP set the school record for points in an 80-14 win over Cheyney. ESU lost 35-20 at IUP a year ago in the first meeting since 1997.

TV/Radio Coverage

TV: Live on Blue Ridge TV 13. Chris Doty (play-by-play) and Bob Capasso (color) will cover all of the action from Eiler-Martin Stadium. This is the 20th year that Blue Ridge TV 13 has broadcast ESU football.

Radio: Live on WVPO 840 AM and redzonemedia.com . Chuck Seese will handle the play-by-play with Bob Brittain doing color commentary. Pre-game begins at 5:30 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT: ESU got on track offensively in a 58-13 win at Lock Haven on Saturday night in a game that started at 9 p.m. and ended at 12:05 a.m. on Sunday. The Warriors rolled up 482 yards of total offense (260 passing, 222 rushing) in the first career start for junior QB Tim Roken, who threw for four touchdowns. Tailbacks Brant Quick (115 yards, TD) and Joe Partridge (95 yards, 2 TD) combined for 210 yards on the ground. The Warriors defense was outstanding for the second straight game, allowing only 176 yards, and had four interceptions and three sacks. Senior LB Dave Lotier returned his interception 42 yards for a touchdown.

THE HEAD COACHES: Denny Douds (Slippery Rock '63) is in his 34th season as head football coach at ESU, and his 42nd season at ESU overall. Last season, Douds became just the 10th active college football coach to pass the 200-win plateau and enters today's game with a career record of 207-135-3. Douds has led the Warriors to nine PSAC titles and three NCAA Playoff appearances, including the Northeast Region championship in 2005 when ESU advanced to the national semifinals.

Lou Tepper (Rutgers '67) is in his second season as head coach at IUP and his 13th year as a collegiate head coach. He led the Crimson Hawks to an 8-2 record and a share of the PSAC West championship in 2006 following six seasons at Edinboro, where he won 26 games over the final three years. ESU was 5-2 against Tepper's Edinboro teams from 2000-05. He was 25-31-2 in five seasons as head coach at Illinois from 1992-96.

PSAC PRESEASON POLL: ESU was picked to repeat last year's third-place finish in the PSAC East in the 2007 PSAC Coaches Poll, which was released in early August. The Warriors went 4-2 in the East last season. West Chester was the top choice, followed by 2006 champ Bloomsburg, with Millersville (4th), Kutztown (5th) and Cheyney (6th) rounding out the list.

In the West, Cal was picked first with IUP and Slippery Rock tied for second. Cal and IUP shared the PSAC West title in 2006, and ESU will play all three teams this season. Edinboro was fourth, followed by Shippensburg, Lock Haven and Clarion.

THE 2007 SCHEDULE: ESU is slated to play nine games in 2007, with five on the road and four at home. The Warriors lost their 10th game when Mansfield discontinued its football program following the 2006 season, and were unable to fill the vacant spot despite their best efforts. While the NCAA requires that schools play 10 games to maintain postseason eligibility, ESU has petitioned the NCAA for a waiver should its record and strength of schedule merit playoff consideration.

PSAC CHAMPIONSHIPS: ESU has won a share of nine PSAC titles under head coach Denny Douds, and 15 in school history. The most recent championships came in 2002 and 2003, when the Warriors tied for the PSAC East championship. Outright PSAC titles came in 1964, 1965, 1975, 1978 and 1982. ESU has a 197-92-1 (.681) record in PSAC games for the third-best winning percentage since the first on-the-field championship was awarded in 1960.

ESU IN THE DIVISION II PLAYOFFS: ESU has made three appearances in the Division II Playoffs, with the first coming in 1991, followed by back-to-back trips in 2004 and 2005. The Warriors are 4-3 all-time in playoff games. Their first Division II Playoff victory was a 36-32 win over Edinboro in 2004, while the 2005 playoff run included wins over Southern Connecticut State (55-33), Bloomsburg (52-39) and C.W. Post (55-28) to earn the Northeast Region championship. The run finally ended with a 55-20 loss to eventual national champion Grand Valley State.

RETURNING ALL-PSAC PLAYERS: The Warriors return three players who earned All-PSAC East honors in 2006, including one first-teamer on both sides of the ball. On offense, senior LT Mike Habel has started 34 games on the offensive line in his career at ESU. Senior LB Jayson Frank (1st team) and junior OLB David Pacchioni (2nd team) lead a group of five experienced linebackers. Frank had a team-leading 86 tackles last season, and Pacchioni made 47 tackles with four sacks.

WHO'S GONE: Five ESU seniors were named All-PSAC East last season. QB Jimmy Terwilliger, WR Evan Prall and DE Greg Thoman were on the first team, and TB Matt Brunetti and DT Andrew Marsteller were on the second team.

ESU lost 10 starters in all off last year's team. WR Wes Lindsay and RG David Biever were also starters on offense, while DE John Vetter, CB Mike Macksoud and S Michael Wiggins were members of the defense. K Eric Petters is also no longer on the team.

THE QUARTERBACKS: Redshirt junior Tim Roken made his first career start at Lock Haven and was 17-of-31 for 260 yards and four touchdowns. He threw a pair of 50-yard scoring passes in the first half and was 8-for-17 for 165 yards with three TDs in the first 30 minutes. Redshirt sophomore Tom O'Brien started the season opener at Cal and was 16-of-28 for 91 yards with two interceptions, and was sacked nine times. The Vulcans returned all 11 starters off the PSAC's top defense from a year ago.

THE TAILBACKS: Redshirt freshman Brant Quick has started the first two games and carried 22 times for 115 yards and a touchdown at Lock Haven. He ran for 102 yards in the first half and was relieved by junior Joe Partridge midway through the third quarter. Partridge finished the game with 11 carries for 95 yards, including touchdown runs of one and 25 yards. Partridge was held out of the season opener with an injury and had 424 all-purpose yards (259 rushing, 165 receiving) and four TDs as the backup in 2006.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: The Warriors have had seven players catch at least three passes through the first two games, including five wide receivers. Juniors Doug Ogden (7 catches, 66 yards, TD) and Drew Stem (4 catches, 61 yards, TD) and senior LeRyan Dallas (3 catches, 20 yards) are the starters. Sophomore Sam Shuman had four catches for 38 yards in the season opener at Cal. Redshirt freshman Jeff Giglio scored a 52-yard touchdown on his first career reception late in the first half at Lock Haven.

THE OFFENSIVE LINE: Sr. LT Mike Habel, a four-year starter and first team All-PSAC East selection, has started 36 games in his career and is the leader of the offensive line. The Warriors reshuffled their line after giving up nine sacks at Cal and gave up just one sack at Lock Haven. Senior Thomas Sugden moved from right guard to left guard, senior Michael Parshley is the center, and redshirt sophomore Morgan Thomas moved to right guard from right tackle, where he had started all 12 games of his career. Redshirt sophomore Matt Keller made his first career start at right tackle. Parshley scored a touchdown at Lock Haven when he recovered a fumble in the end zone.

ON DEFENSE: The ESU defense has been outstanding in the first two games, giving up an average of 210.0 yards per game, with seven sacks and six interceptions. The Warriors limited Lock Haven to 176 yards last week gave up only 244 yards against an experienced Cal offense in the season opener. ESU sacked Harlon Hill candidate QB Joe Ruggiero four times and intercepted two passes. Ruggiero threw just five interceptions and was sacked only five times in 2006. The defense also limited first team All-PSAC West TB Brandon Lombardy to 95 yards rushing.

THE LINEBACKERS: ESU returned all four starters at linebacker from 2006 in outside linebackers Jr. Steve Van Alstine and Jr. David Pacchioni, and inside linebackers Sr. Jayson Frank and Sr. Dave Lotier. Jr. Fred Rice led ESU with 132 tackles as a freshman in 2005 and missed all but three games in 2006 to receive a medical redshirt.

Frank and Pacchioni were both All-PSAC East selections last season and have made an impact this year. Frank leads the Warriors with 16 tackles and has eight tackles and a sack in both games. Pacchioni had five tackles (2.5 TFL) and a sack at Cal, and had his first career interception at Lock Haven.

Lotier has six career interceptions in 17 starts and returned a pick 42 yards for a third quarter touchdown against Lock Haven. He is second on the team with 14 tackles and also has two sacks. Van Alstine was the leading tackler at Cal with nine stops, and Rice was in on seven tackles at Lock Haven.

THE DEFENSIVE LINE: The ESU defensive line has three new starters from a year ago, with Jr. DT Miguel Rivera as the only holdover. Defensive ends Dave Iobst (8 tackles) and Matthew Faas (5 tackles, 3.0 TFL, sack) made their first career starts at Cal, and Jr. DT Jeff Shrive has started both games this season and three in his career.

THE SECONDARY: The Warriors have six interceptions through two games after picking off just 13 passes in 11 games a year ago. Four different members of the secondary have interceptions this season - Sr. CB Mike Gowen, Jr. CB Scott Christy, So. FS Mike Gnall and Fr. FS Kevin Schafer. So. Nick Artinger has started both games alongside Gowen at corner, while Gnall is the starting safety and Schafer is the nickel back.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The ESU special teams have been solid so far in 2007, highlighted by two blocked extra points at Cal (Dave Lotier, Fred Rice) and the punting of junior Nick Krut. ESU was third in Division II in net punting (36.0) last year and has a net punting average of 37.7 this season. Krut averaged 38.2 yards on 10 punts at Cal with three inside the 20, and averaged 41.8 yards on five punts at Lock Haven. His longest punt of the year (54 yards) went for his only touchback.

Senior LB Brock Williard is in his fourth year as the long snapper and sophomore Greg Knauss is in his first year with the Warriors and is the only kicker on the 2007 roster. Knauss made a 24-yard field goal on the final play of the first half at Cal and a 20-yard field goal at Lock Haven, and has made seven of eight extra points.

WARRIORS ON TV: All four of the Warriors' home games will be broadcast on Blue Ridge TV 13, the 20th season that Blue Ridge will broadcast ESU football. Chris Doty handles play-by-play and Blue Ridge Sports Director Bob Capasso is the color commentator. Additionally, the Oct. 27 match-up with Bloomsburg is the PSAC Game of the Week on PA SPORTSfever TV, which will be broadcasting a PSAC game across the state each week during the 2007 season. The broadcast outlets in the Poconos are WQMY-53 (channel 16 on Blue Ridge Cable) and WSWB-38 (channel 11 on Blue Ridge).

WARRIORS ON RADIO: WVPO 840 AM has broadcast ESU football for 42 years, with Chuck Seese and Bob Brittain forming the broadcast team once again in 2007. WESS 90.3 FM, ESU's campus radio station, will also broadcast selected games.

TERWILLIGER AND PRALL: QB Jimmy Terwilliger, the 2005 Harlon Hill Award recipient as the most outstanding player in Division II, started all 48 games in his career at ESU before graduating last May. Terwilliger left with 15 ESU and 14 NCAA records, including tying the NCAA all-division record with 148 touchdown passes. He also set Division II standards for passing yards (14,350) and total offense (16,064). Terwilliger was a three-time recipient of the PSAC East Offensive Player of the Year (2003, 2004 and 2006), and set PSAC records with 4,571 passing yards, 4,960 yards of total offense and 50 passing touchdowns as ESU won the Northeast Region championship in 2005.

WR Evan Prall set PSAC records with 4,093 receiving yards and 50 touchdowns in his career at ESU from 2003-06. He teamed with Terwilliger for 164 catches, 2,940 yards and 40 touchdowns over his final two seasons and also holds ESU's all-purpose yardage record with 5,682 all-purpose yards when adding in more than 1,000 yards as a kick returner and 500 yards as a punt returner. Prall made it to the final cut with the New York Jets before being released following their final preseason game.