The Game
The Crimson Hawks are likely in a must-win situation in each of their remaining five regular season games in order to have any chance for a berth in the NCAA playoffs. IUP lost at home to Mercyhurst last week 28-27 when the Lakers scored on a 28-yard touchdown pass with just 26 seconds remaining.

Clarion won for the first time last week, riding the hot hand of redshirt quarterback Ben Fiscus to a 49-6 victory at Lock Haven. Fiscus, a graduate of Indiana High School, completed all 16 of his passes for 187 yards and four touchdowns and also rushed for 78 yards and a score in his first college start.

At halftime Saturday, the members of the IUP men's basketball team will be awarded their PSAC and Atlantic Region championship rings. The team went 33-3 last season, a school record for most wins in a season, and defeated Valdosta State and St. Cloud State at the Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass., to advance to the national championship game for the first time in school history.

On the Air
Radio: WQMU (92.5 FM) at 12:30 with Jack Benedict, John Flickinger, Doug Steve and Greg Drahuschak
Television: Game is being produced by SportsFever for showing on FSN Pittsburgh Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m.
Internet Audio: Live and archived on Red Zone Media at www.redzonemedia.com
Webcast: Live and free of charge on Penn Atlantic at www.pennatlantic.com

IUP Captains
The IUP captains for this week's game with Clarion are Harvie Tuck (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) (offense), Carl Thornton (Beaver Falls/Beaver Falls) (defense) and Tobias Robinson (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) (special teams).

Lou Tepper Going for 100th Career Win
Lou Tepper will be making his second attempt at his 100th career win Saturday. Tepper is in his fifth season as head coach at IUP and has a record of 34-15. His overall record is 99-72-2, including 25-31-2 at Illinois (1991-96) and 40-26 at Edinboro (2000-05).

In his first season at IUP in 2006, Tepper was the PSAC West Coach of the Year when the team went 8-2 and shared the PSAC West title after being picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll. The following year, Tepper led IUP to its first playoff berth since 2002 and won 45-35 at West Chester in the opening round before losing to Shepherd in the Northeast Region semifinals, finishing the season with a record of 9-3.

Before coming to IUP, Tepper spent six seasons at Edinboro and directed the Fighting Scots to three straight PSAC West titles and a pair of NCAA playoff appearances, including a win over Bentley in 2004 for the team's first postseason win since 1990. The Fighting Scots were 26-7 over his final three seasons and he was the PSAC West Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2005.

Tepper is in his 44th year as a college coach dating back to the 1967 season when he was a graduate assistant at Pitt. He spent a total of 28 seasons as an assistant coach at New Hampshire, Williams & Mary, Virginia Tech, Colorado, Illinois and LSU.

Tepper Year-by-Year at IUP
Year     Overall     PSAC West         Final AFCA Ranking     Postseason    
2006     8-2           5-1 (Tied 1st)     No. 25         
2007     9-3           5-1 (2nd)             No. 18                             Beat West Chester; Lost to Shepherd
2008     8-2           5-2 (Tied 2nd)    No. 21
2009     5-6           1-6 (7th)
2010     4-2           2-1

Tepper vs. Clarion
Lou Tepper has a record of 7-3 vs. Clarion, including 3-1 at IUP and 4-2 at Edinboro.

IUP Schedule and Results
Date            Opponent
Sept. 4        IUP 16, Southern Connecticut State 6
Sept. 11     IUP 23, East Stroudsburg 17
Sept. 18     Bloomsburg 47, IUP 20
Sept. 25     IUP 17, Slippery Rock 0
Oct. 2         IUP 18, Edinboro 0
Oct. 9         Mercyhurst 28, IUP 27
Oct. 16       Clarion (1:00)
Oct. 23       at Gannon (12:00)
Oct. 30       at California (1:00) – Coal Bowl
Nov. 6         Lock Haven (1:00) – Family Weekend
Nov. 13       West Chester (1:00) – Senior Day, Veterans' Day Game


Series vs. Clarion
IUP holds a 55-22-3 lead dating back to the 1927 season, a record that includes a forfeit win in 1992. The Golden Eagles snapped an eight-game losing streak a year ago with a 30-28 victory at Clarion. During the eight-game IUP winning streak, only three were decided by more than 14 points.

IUP vs. Clarion – Last 10 Meetings
Year      Score                                  Location             Year     Score                             Location        
2000     Clarion 21, IUP 13            Indiana                2005     IUP 30, Clarion 10     Clarion
2001     IUP 35, Clarion 34 (OT)  Clarion                 2006     IUP 33, Clarion 7        Indiana
2002     IUP 28, Clarion 14           Indiana                 2007     IUP 38, Clarion 31      Clarion
2003     IUP 24, Clarion 20           Clarion                 2008     IUP 66, Clarion 16       Indiana        
2004     IUP 30, Clarion 20           Indiana                 2009     Clarion 30, IUP 28      Clarion

Last Year vs. Clarion
Clarion scored 20 unanswered points spanning the second and third quarters to wipe out a 21-10 deficit and then held off a late IUP threat to post a 30-28 victory at Memorial Stadium in Clarion.

Pat Smith (Hollidaysburg/Hollidaysburg) hit Mychal Skinner (Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski Area) on a 60-yard touchdown pass to give the Crimson Hawks their 11-point lead with 10:20 left in the second quarter. Tobias Robinson (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) had earlier scored on a pair of 3-yard runs, and Clarion scored on an 11-yard run by John Fuhrer and a 22-yard field goal by Robert Mamula.

The Golden Eagles began their comeback with a 76-yard drive that was capped by a 2-yard touchdown run by Alfonso Hoggard. Clarion scored on both of its third quarter possessions – a 1-yard run by quarterback Tyler Huether and another 2-yard run by Hoggard – to take a 30-21 lead with 2:30 left in the quarter.

IUP responded with a 15-play, 78-yard scoring drive and pulled within 30-28 on a 1-yard run by Harvie Tuck (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) with 10:05 left in the game. The Crimson Hawks had one last chance after taking over at the Clarion 40 with 2:40 remaining, but an incomplete pass on fourth down ended the comeback attempt.

Hoggard accounted for 293 all-purpose yards, including 162 rushing on 25 attempts, one catch for 14 yards and five kickoff returns for 117 yards. Huether completed 11 of 16 passes for 153 yards but was sacked four times, including twice by Mike Gee (Englewood, N.J./Dwight Morrow). Robinson led the IUP ground game with 28 carries for 112 yards. Smith hit on 10 of 15 passes for 147 yards.

Last Week
IUP suffered its first PSAC West loss of the season when Mercyhurst scored on a 28-yard touchdown pass with 26 seconds remaining in a 28-27 victory at Miller Stadium.

Travis Rearick, who started at quarterback for the Lakers in place of injured starter Garrett Kensy, completed 32 of 53 passes for 344 yards and three touchdowns. He hit on 5 of 6 passes for all 68 yards on the game-winning drive that culminated on his second scoring pass of the contest to Trevor Kennedy.

IUP had leads of 10-0 and 17-7 in the first half and retook the lead 24-21 with seven minutes left in the third quarter on a 30-yard interception return by Johnny Franco (Altoona/Tyrone), one of two he had on the day. The Crimson Hawks were in position to ice the game, but a drive stalled at the Laker 19 and Craig Burgess (Medina, Ohio/Highland) kicked a 36-yard field goal with 1:52 left to make it 27-21.

Harvie Tuck (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) had his second straight big game for IUP, carrying 27 times for 160 yards. Bo Napoleon (Carson, Calif./Carson) connected with Mychal Skinner (Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski Area) on a 68-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game but finished just 7 of 18 for 121 yards. He added a 2-yard touchdown pass to Nate Morrow (Homer City, Pa./Homer-Center) in the second quarter.

IUP Pass Defense Stung by Mercyhurst
The 344 passing yards by Laker quarterback Travis Rearick last Saturday ties him for the fifth-highest total ever allowed to one quarterback in a game by an IUP defense. His 32 completions are tied for the second most allowed while his 53 attempts rank fourth.

Most Individual Passing Yards vs. IUP
QB                                 School                             Yards               Season
Marty Horn                    Lehigh                             415                 1985
Kevin Morton                Kutztown                         356                  2009
Hal Galupi                    Edinboro                         351                 1990
Dave MacDonald        West Chester                 349                 1993
Tim Ebersole               Shippensburg               344                  1982
Travis Rearick             Mercyhurst                      344                  2010

Harvie Tuck (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) Running Wild
Running back Harvie Tuck (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) bounced back from a foot injury suffered at Bloomsburg on Sept. 18 to rush for 328 yards over the past two games. After missing the Slippery Rock game, he gained 168 yards and scored a touchdown in an 18-0 win over Edinboro to earn PSAC West Offensive Player of the Week accolades and added 160 yards in last week's 28-27 loss to Mercyhurst.

Tuck enters this week's game ranked fifth in the PSAC with an average of 106.6 yards per game, a mark that would be 128.8 if not for his brief appearance vs. Bloomsburg when he left in the first quarter after gaining 18 yards on just four carries.

Last week Tuck became the 27th player in IUP history to reach 1,000 rushing yards in a career, finishing the Mercyhurst game with a total of 1,073 yards.

Johnny Franco (Altoona/Tyrone) Picks Off Rearick Twice
About the only problems encountered by Mercyhurst quarterback Travis Rearick were presented by IUP strong safety Johnny Franco (Altoona/Tyrone), who is in his first season in the program after transferring from Army.

Franco intercepted two passes, the first of which he brought back 30 yards for a touchdown to give the Crimson Hawks a 24-21 lead with seven minutes left in the third quarter. Later in the same quarter, with the Crimson Hawks clinging to the same three-point lead, he thwarted a Laker drive when he grabbed a Rearick pass at the IUP 34.

Franco also led IUP with 13 tackles, including 11 solo stops, and was named the IUP Alumni Association Homecoming Player of the Game.

Defensive Discrepancies in Wins vs. Losses
Statistics don't necessarily tell the whole story of a game, but the defensive numbers posted by IUP in its four wins and its two losses certainly don't lie.

In wins over Southern Connecticut State, East Stroudsburg, Slippery Rock and Edinboro, the Crimson Hawks have allowed only three touchdowns, 23 points and an average of 226.0 yards per game, including back-to-back shutouts over the Rock and Fighting Scots, the first time IUP has accomplished that feat since 1991.

Conversely, in losses to Bloomsburg and Mercyhurst, the defense has been torched for 75 points and an average of 385.0 yards per game.

Key Injuries Strike Early
IUP lost two offensive starters for the rest of the year in the first two weeks of the season, including quarterback Pat Smith (Hollidaysburg/Hollidaysburg) and left tackle Louis Mobley (Philadelphia/St. John Neumann).

Smith broke the thumb on his right (throwing hand) when he struck the helmet of an East Stroudsburg defender in the third quarter of IUP's 23-17 win on Sept. 11. He was enjoying his finest game since taking over at quarterback for the injured Andrew Krewatch midway through the 2009 season, completing 14 of 18 passes for 196 yards.

The previous week Mobley, a versatile player who has played at just about every position on the line during his career, saw his season come to an end when he torn an ACL in the 16-6 win over Southern Connecticut State.

Veteran wide receivers Mychal Skinner (Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski Area), Javon Rowan (Erie/Cathedral Prep) and Roy-al Edwards have all been bitten by the injury bug this season and have missed a total of eight games between them as well as substantial portions of several others.

Pitt transfer Dan Matha (Erie/McDowell) injured his hip over the summer and was not able to play in IUP's first three games of the season. He moved into the starting lineup at right tackle vs. Slippery Rock and has started the past three games.

Free safety Andre Henderson (Erie/Strong Vincent), an all-conference performer, suffered a shoulder injury last year vs. Mercyhurst and missed the rest of the season. He is redshirting and will return for his senior season in 2011.

Craig Burgess (Medina, Ohio/Highland) Climbing IUP and PSAC Record Books
Craig Burgess (Medina, Ohio/Highland) became the all-time IUP leader in points scored by a kicker and moved into sixth place in PSAC history in that category when he had two field goals and three extra points last week vs. Mercyhurst. Burgess has scored 250 points in his career, nine more than previous school record holder Josh Telenko.

Burgess also holds the IUP record for career field goals and is tied for fourth in conference history with 44 (in 57 attempts), owns the school mark for consecutive field goals made with 11 and is one of four kickers to share the record of four field goals in a game which he accomplished vs. Gannon in 2008.

In addition to his field goal numbers, Burgess is 118 of 121 in extra points and saw a streak of 98 straight successful attempts end two weeks ago vs. Edinboro.

This season Burgess has made 13 of 16 field goals, five shy of the IUP single-season record, and 10 of 12 extra points for a team-leading 49 points. He is a candidate for the Fred Mitchell Outstanding Kicker Award, presented to the top kicker in Division II and III and NAIA, after being one of 10 finalists in its inaugural season last year.

Craig Burgess (Medina, Ohio/Highland) in the PSAC Record Book
Player                          School                             Years             Field Goals Made
Ed Detwiler                 East Stroudsburg         1989-92         50
Bill May                        Clarion                            1977-80         49
Howie Guarini            Shippensburg               1988-91         45
Jamie Reder               Shippensburg               2004-07        44
Craig Burgess (Medina, Ohio/Highland)            IUP                                   2007-            44

Player                           School                                Years               Points Scored by Kicker
Mark Brubaker             East Stroudsburg             2002-05          287
Morgan Anderson       Slippery Rock                    1997-2000     266
Ed Detwiler                   East Stroudsburg            1989-92          262
Jon Koenig                   Bloomsburg                       2006-09         258
Alex Walsh                   West Chester                     2005-08         251
Craig Burgess (Medina, Ohio/Highland)            IUP                                        2007-             250

Mychal Skinner (Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski Area) Climbing Receiving List
Wide receiver Mychal Skinner (Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski Area) enters Saturday's game ranked eighth in school history with 116 receptions and 1,948 yards and is tied for ninth with 14 touchdown catches, the most recent being a 68-yard scoring catch on the first play from scrimmage last week vs. Mercyhurst.

Player                           Years         Receptions         Player                    Years                 Receiving Yards
Jai Hill                           1988-91     214                     Jai Hill                     1988-91             4073
Carmelo Ocasio         1999-02     165                     Carmelo Ocasio    1999-02             2891
Ken Witter                     2005-08     153                     JeMone Smith       1990-93             2194
Lewis Hicks                 1996-98     139                     Tony Trave              1984-87             2191
Tony Trave                    1984-87     130                     LeRon McCoy         2001-04            2096
JeMone Smith              1990-93     129                     Mario Hardison     1993-96             2093
Paul Kovell                    1987-90     128                     Lewis Hicks           1996-98             2060
Mychal Skinner (Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski Area)             2007-         116                     Mychal Skinner (Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski Area)        2007-                1948

Tobias Robinson (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) Position Change
Tobias Robinson (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest), the ninth leading rusher in IUP history, was moved from running back to cornerback during the spring to make up for key losses at that position, including current Dallas Cowboy Akwasi Owusu-Ansah. The depth the Crimson Hawks have at running back also helped the coaching staff make its decision.

Through the first six games of the season, Robinson has been credited with 19 tackles, including 13 solo stops, and two passes defensed. He made his first big play at cornerback vs. Slippery Rock when he brought back an interception 75 yards for a touchdown in the final minute to put an exclamation point on the 17-0 win.

The touchdown was the sixth of his career of at least 75 yards, including scoring runs of 85 vs. C.W. Post, 84 vs. Lock Haven, 79 vs. Clarion and 77 vs. Kutztown in 2008 and 83 vs. Millersville in 2009.

Robinson, a two-time All-PSAC West selection at running back, rushed for 2,179 yards over his first three seasons including 1,203 as a sophomore in 2008 when he led the conference and ranked eighth in the nation. He gained 906 yards on the ground a year ago.

IUP in the PSAC West
Beginning with the 1983 season, IUP has a record of 138-28-1 in PSAC West play and has won or shared the division championship 17 times. Prior to a 1-6 record in the division last year, IUP had not finished below .500 in the PSAC West since going 2-4 in 1981.

Non-Losing Season Streak Snapped
IUP saw its run of 26 consecutive seasons with at least a .500 record come to an end last season when the Crimson Hawks finished with a mark of 5-6. The last losing record came in 1982 when IUP went 4-6. The stretch included 23 winning seasons and 5-5 records in 1983, 1987 and 2005.

Overtime Games
IUP has won all seven of its overtime games and six of the first seven were played on the road and decided in the first extra period. Only a 23-16 double overtime win over Slippery Rock in 2008 went past one overtime session and is the only one played so far at Miller Stadium.

IUP Overtime Games
Year      Score
1998     IUP 31, Shippensburg 28
1999     IUP 27, Slippery Rock 20 – NCAA first round playoff game
2001     IUP 35, Clarion 34
2002     IUP 34, Slippery Rock 28
2005     IUP 19, Catawba 16
2006     IUP 23, Edinboro 20
2008     IUP 23, Slippery Rock 16 (2 OT)

Shutouts
The shutout wins over Slippery Rock and Edinboro this season gives the IUP defense at least one in 22 of the past 28 seasons with a total of 39 over that span. The Crimson Hawks have six shutouts under head coach Lou Tepper. The consecutive blankings of the Rock and Fighting Scots marked the first time IUP had accomplished that since shutting out Slippery Rock and Millersville in 1991.

IUP in the NCAA Playoffs
IUP has qualified for the NCAA playoffs 14 times, most recently in 2007, and has a postseason record of 16-14. The only schools still in Division II who have been in the playoffs more often are Pittsburg State (16) and North Alabama (15).

IUP advanced to the national semifinals six times in a span of 11 years (1989-91, 1993-94, 1999) and played for the national championship in 1990 and 1993.

Akwasi Owusu-Ansah Seeing Action for Cowboys
Akwasi Owusu-Ansah was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round last April and has seen playing time on special teams during the early part of the 2010 season. He is averaging 22.8 yards per kickoff return, including a long of 40 yards.

Owusu-Ansah was named to the American Football Coaches Association All-America team as an all-purpose player last season. He excelled in the return game for the Crimson Hawks, scoring five touchdowns his senior year and had nine in his career, including four punt, three kickoff, one interception and one fumble return. As a junior in 2008 he intercepted eight passes and ranked second in the nation in that category.

Owusu-Ansah is the only former IUP player currently on an NFL roster. Offensive lineman Jason Capizzi and linebacker Kris Griffin were invited to camps this fall but subsequently cut.

Next Week
IUP hits the road the next two weeks for games at Gannon and California. The Crimson Hawks return home Nov. 6 when they host Lock Haven in their Family Weekend game at 1 p.m.