Complete Game Notes (PDF)

THURSDAY, AUGUST 30 - 7:30 p.m.
ESU (0-0) at #8 Ferris State (0-0)

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

1 • ESU travels to Ferris State for its 2018 season opener, and the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
• ESU's 2nd trip to Michigan, and 1st since falling 55-20 at Grand Valley State in 2005 NCAA DII semifinals (won only regional title in program history previous week).

2 • ESU is 32-12 in season openers under head coach Denny Douds, and 57-32-1 (.639) all-time in season openers entering its 91st season of varsity football.
• ESU has won 9 of its last 10 openers since 2008 (won 20-16 at Fairmont State last year).

3 • Douds leads active NCAA coaches in wins (263) and games coached (462).
• 7th in NCAA history in games coached
• 1st in DII history in games coached
• 4th in games coached at one school
• 16th in NCAA history in wins
• 1st in PSAC history in wins (set in 2008)

4 • Douds begins his 45th season as head coach, ranking t-7th in NCAA history and ranking 5th in years coached at one school.

5 • ESU is 10-24 vs. teams ranked in the AFCA DII Top 25 (since 2000)
• 1 ranked team in 2017 (at #6 IUP - L 38-14)
• 1-11 vs. Top 10 teams (2005 - W 52-39 at #2 Bloomsburg in NCAA Playoffs 2nd round)
• 0-11 in last 11 games vs. Top 10 teams
• 0-14 in last 14 games vs. ranked teams
   (W 14-11 vs. #25 Virginia Union in 2008 opener)
• ESU is 14-38 all-time vs. teams that qualified for the NCAA postseason the previous year

6 • ESU returns 15 starts (7 offense, 8 defense) for 2018, including 3 who have been named All-PSAC East in their careers:
   R-Sr. TB Jaymar Anderson (2017 1st team)
   Sr. OL Michael Fleming (3x 2nd team)
   R-Sr. DL Marc Ranaudo (2016 1st team)
• ESU lost 5 former All-PSAC East selections, including all 3 senior linebackers

7 • Fleming can become ESU's 11th 4-time All-PSAC East selection.
• 28 career starts - last 20 at LT, first 8 at RT
• 2015 - 1st ESU FR OL named All-PSAC East since 1975

8 • Anderson ran for 1,046 yards (6th at ESU) in his first season as a starter last fall.
• 3rd in PSAC and 1st in PSAC East (95.1 ypg)
• 6 100-yard games, including first 3 games
• 151 yards at IUP were most in first 13 games vs. Crimson Hawks before national semifinal

9 • ESU was 5th in DII in takeaways (31) and 2nd in fumble recoveries (23) in 2017.
• Warriors had 2+ takeaways in 9 of 11 games
9a • ESU had the top 2 players in DII in forced fumbles per game:
   R-Sr. FS Billy Inge III - 0.67 (6 in 9 games)
   R-Jr. S Justin Johnson - 0.60 (6 in 10 games)

10 • WR Tim Wilson is in preseason camp with the Philadelphia Eagles after earning a 90-man roster spot in the team's rookie minicamp.
• 2x All-PSAC East 2nd team
• career - 133 rec, 2,042 yds, 16 TD
• 2017 - 53 rec, 821 yds
   (ESU #2 receiver had 16 rec, 200 yds)

THE SERIES: First Meeting
• ESU's 2nd trip to Michigan (fell 55-20 at Grand Valley State in 2005 NCAA DII semifinal)
• ESU's 3rd-furthest trip west:
   1985 at North Dakota (97.0329 longitude) ... 2005 at Grand Valley (85.9540) ... at Ferris State (85.4837)

THE HEAD COACHES

ESU - Denny Douds (Slippery Rock '63)
• career record of 263-196-3 (.573) in his 45th season
• 53rd 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

Ferris State - Tony Annese (Alma '83)
• 60-14 record entering 7th season at Ferris State
• 4 straight NCAA DII Playoff appearances (won region 2016, regional runner-up 2017)
• consecutive GLIAC titles in 2014 and 2015 (school's first GLIAC crowns since 1999)
• 2016 - won 47-32 at Grand Valley State in regional final (fell 35-20 at Northwest Missouri State in DII semifinal)
• 2017 - fell 16-14 to Harding in regional final
• QB Jason Vander Laan won consecutive Harlon Hill trophies in 2014 and 2015
• 225-45 (.833) record at prep and junior college levels
• previously at Grand Rapids Community College (30-4 with two NJCAA DII national championships in three years)

ESU ALL-TIME RECORD: 479-332-19 (.589) in 91st year of varsity football

PSAC ALL-TIME WINS
1. 595 - West Chester
2. 560 - IUP
3. 501 - Slippery Rock
4. 479 - ESU
5. 462 - Bloomsburg
6. 458 - Shippensburg

PSAC WIN PERCENTAGE (entering 2018)
1. .683 - West Chester
2. .672 - IUP
3. .602 - Slippery Rock
4. .589 - ESU
5. .571 - Bloomsburg
6. .555 - Shippensburg

DOUDS NOTES
• as head coach, responsible for 55.7 percent of ESU's games (462 of 830) and 54.9 percent of its wins (263 of 479)
• including 68 games and 45 wins as an asst coach under Charlie Reese from 1966-73:
   63.9 percent of ESU's games (530 of 830) and 64.3 percent of its wins (308 of 479)
• at least 5 head coaches at every other PSAC school since 1974

DOUDS' FOES
• Douds has faced 113 head coaches in his career at ESU (73-40 vs. 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 (16)

ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH JIMMY TERWILLIGER
• named Associate Head Coach last February as he enters 4th season on staff (previously DB coach)
• 2005 Harlon Hill Award winner as junior QB at ESU and 2017 inductee to ESU Athletic Hall of Fame
• 4-time Harlon Hill candidate and 3-time finalist
• 4-time 1st team All-PSAC East and 3-time PSAC East Offensive Player of the Year
• set 18 NCAA DII records and 2 NCAA all-division records
• DII career marks included total offense (16,064 yds), passing yards (14,350), pass efficiency (170.7) and pass TD (148)
• led ESU to 2005 Northeast Region title (national semifinals) and 2004 NCAA Playoffs

WHAT TO LOOK FOR vs. FERRIS STATE
1. Bulldogs are 45-7 in the last 4 years and are one of 2 DII teams (NW Mo. St.) to make NCAA Playoffs all 4 seasons.
2. Sr. G Nic Sawyer and Sr. T Devon Johnson were Football Gazette All-America selections last year.
3. Reggie Bell (1,246 pass yds, 7 TD, 2 Int., 547 rush yds, 6 TD) and returning Jr. QB Travis Russell (1,242 pass yds, 9 TD, 7 Int., 447 yds, 6 TD) split time at QB last year - Bell played in 7 games, including the 3 NCAA Playoff games, and Russell appeared in all 13.
4. The top 2 rushers, Jahaan Brown (692 yds, 5 TD) and Bell, are gone, but Russell and Sr. RB Robert Thomas (334 yds, TD) return in the backfield.
5. The top 4 receivers are back led by seniors Malik Taylor (61 rec, 906 yds, 6 TD), named 1st team All-GLIAC, and Keyondre Craig (34 rec, 510 yds, 2 TD), 2nd team All-GLIAC.
6. The 4 1st team All-GLIAC defensive players, led by All-America DE Zach Sieler (NFL Draft pick - 7th round, Baltimore) and All-America DB Tavierre Thomas, must be replaced.

RETURNING ALL-PSAC EAST: ESU has 3 players who have earned All-PSAC East status in their careers:
OL - Sr. Michael Fleming (2015, 2016, 2017 2nd team - can become ESU's 11th 4-time All-PSAC East honoree)
TB - R-Sr. Jaymar Anderson (2017 1st team)
NG - R-Sr. Marc Ranaudo (2016 1st team - missed 2017 due to injury)

DEPARTED ALL-PSAC EAST: ESU lost 6 former All-PSAC East selections from last year's team:
WR - Tim Wilson (2016, 2017 2nd team)
OL - Norman Rogers III (2016 2nd team)
LB - Sekou Jones (2015, 2017 2nd team)
LB - Dakota Everett (2017 2nd team)
LB - Mike Wiand (2016 2nd team)
RS - Marquis Fells (2017 1st team)


Complete Game Notes (PDF)