Gameday Central | Complete Game Notes (PDF)

THE GAME: IUP returns to the postseason for the first time since 2007 when the Crimson Hawks host Shepherd in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Division II Football Championships at Miller Stadium. IUP enters as the No. 3 seed in Super Region One while the Rams earned the No. 6 seed.

ON THE AIR: The game will air live on WQMU-FM 92.5 with Jack Benedict serving as the play-by-play announcer and John Flickinger at his side as the color analyst. The two will be joined by sideline reporter Greg Drahuschak. The pregame show begins at 11:30 a.m. IUP-TV will again be back to webstream the game live on NMTVSports.com with commentators Anthony Scherer and Mike Nicastro. WIUP-FM 90.1 will also have the call with Kyle Pillar on the play-by-play along with Vincent Paparella and Tim Quigley adding the color.

HEAD COACH CURT CIGNETTI: Curt Cignetti (West Virginia, '82) has IUP back into the playoffs in just his second year of a rebuilding plan. After going 7-3 and finishing second in the PSAC West with a 5-2 record in 2011, Cignetti led the Crimson Hawks to a 10-1 mark and a conference championship in 2012. This is Cignetti's 30th year of coaching, with previous stops at Alabama (07-10), NC State (00-06), Pittsburgh (83-84, 93-99) Temple (89-92), Rice (86-88) and Davidson (85). Two of his most notable pupils have been WR Julio Jones at Alabama and QB Philip Rivers at NC State.

THE SERIES: This will be just the third time these two teams have met, with Shepherd gaining victories in both contests. Each matchup came in the NCAA playoffs, as Shepherd won 9-6 in Indiana in 1998 and 41-34 at home in 2007.

RANKINGS: The Crimson Hawks finished the regular season ranked 11th in the AFCA coaches poll and 12th by the D2Football.com media poll. Shepherd entered the coaches poll this week at No. 25.

PLAYOFFS: IUP is back to the NCAA postseason for the 15th time in program history and first in five years. IUP has an all-time record of 16-14 in those 14 previous trips, advancing to the national championship game in both 1990 and 1993. With six national semifinal appearances, IUP has a home playoff record of 8-2.

PSAC CHAMPIONSHIP: For the first time since 1987 (the title game was suspended from 1988-2007), IUP won the PSAC championship with a 41-10 blowout of Shippensburg last Saturday. IUP has 3 title game wins and 17 PSAC West titles.

HAWK TALK

PLAYOFFS: WHAT'S NEXT... With a win on Saturday, IUP would advance to play at No. 2 seed New Haven on Saturday, November 24. IUP has moved on to at least the second round in 8 of its previous 14 trips to the postseason.

GROUND AND POUND... The Crimson Hawks have one of the best running games in the nation, averaging 285.4 yards per game, good for 8th in the nation. This could also be the best rushing season in program history, as the Crimson Hawks are just 72 yards behind the school mark of 3,211 set in 1993.

TUCK'S TRUCKIN'... Easily one of the best backs in the nation, Sr. RB Harvie Tuck (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) is 6th in Division II with 141.1 rushing yds/game. Averaging an impressive 6.5 yds/carry, he's surpassed 200 yards in a game 4 times and is 1 of only 7 players in DII with 1,500+ rushing yards. These numbers, plus his 15 TDs, make him a Harlon Hill candidate, an award for the best player in Division II.

4,000 REASONS... Already 2nd on the IUP all-time rushing list, Tuck went over 4,000 career yards with his 231-yard performance against Mercyhurst. He's 572 yards and 4 TDs behind all-time leader Michael Mann (4,805 yds, 19 TDs).

OUT OF THE BOX... Taking over behind center against Cal, Jr. QB Mike Box (Lawrenceville, GA/Collins Hill) is 7-0 as the starter, throwing for 10 TDs and 2 picks since then. He's been razor sharp in IUP's last 4 games, completing 69 pct of his passes (40-58) for 654 yards, while throwing 8 TDs and with just one pick.

THE ROCKET... Sr. RB De'Antwan Williams (Woodbridge, VA/Woodbridge) has provided additional excitement in the running game this year, averaging 85.3 yards/game with 8 TDs. With a blend of speed and power, “The Rocket” has hit the 100-yard mark three times and is averaging 110 yards/game with 6 TDs in the last 6 contests.

IN THE LIMELIGHT... In easily the biggest game of the season, Jr. WR Terrill Barnes (Gettysburg/Gettysburg) came up huge with 7 catches for 124 yards and 3 TDs in the PSAC championship. Box's favorite target also had 2 rushes for 53 yards on reverses.

BEST DEFENSE IN THE NATION... IUP boasts arguably the top defense in the nation this year, ranking near the top of Division II in several categories including scoring defense (1st - 11.2 ppg); total defense (1st - 242.7); rushing defense (2nd - 69.3 ypg); and passing defense (12th - 173.5 ypg). The Crimson Hawks limited Shippensburg, the nation's No. 1 offense, to just 272 yards and 10 points last Saturday, 452 yards and 43 points below its season averages.

IUP is also 1st in the nation in first downs allowed (12.73/game), 15th in third down efficiency (46/145; 31.72%), and 14th in pass efficiency (101.12 rating). 

SUFFOCATING... That IUP run defense has been practically suffocating this season, allowing an average of 69.3 rushing yards per game. The Crimson Hawks have allowed 100 yards three times and have given up just 6 TDs on the ground this year. Opponents are averaging a paltry 2.2 yards on 339 attempts.

MAKING PLAYS... Jr. LB Carl Fleming (Reisterstown, MD/Franklin) was named the PSAC championship game MVP after totaling 12 tackles with 1.5 TFL and returning an interception 40 yards for a TD. Fleming also helped stop two Shippensburg drives by batting down a pair of passes at the line of scrimmage.

NO PLAYS FOR YOU... IUP also leads the nation by allowing its opponents to run just 58.5 plays per game. Just three times this year IUP opponents have run more than 65 plays, with the most being Shippensburg with 71.

GETTING TO THE QB... The Crimson Hawks are 4th in the PSAC and tied for 33rd in the nation in sacks, getting to the quarterback 30 times this season. Sr. DT Carl Thornton (Beaver Falls/Beaver Falls) leads the way with 7.0 sacks while So. DE Shane Meisner (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield ) has 5.5.

TACKLE MACHINE... Jr. LB Alexander Berdahl (Ashburn, Va./Bishop O'Connell) leads the team in tackles with 76, including 38 solo stops. He can make plays all over the field, posting 6.5 TFL, 3.0 sacks, an interception and a fumble recovery.

BLOCK THAT KICK... IUP has blocked three FGs and PATs this year, with Thornton getting his hands on 2 and Jr. DB Terrell Holloway (Penn Hills/Penn Hills) blocking another. 

WINNING THE BATTLE... One reason for IUP's success is winning the turnover battle, as the Crimson Hawks are tied for 2nd in the nation with a turnover margin of +17. IUP has forced 3+ turnovers in a game 7 times, taking away 5 each from Cheyney and Cal, and added 3 more in the PSAC championship game.

SCOUTING THE RAMS

OVERALL.. Winners of the WVIAC, the Shepherd Rams come into the NCAA postseason with an 8-2 record, including a 7-1 mark in conference play. Winners of three straight, the Rams are 3-2 on the road this season, including a 38-28 loss at
Shippensburg in the season opener.

OFFENSE... The Rams boast a balanced unit that leads the WVIAC in scoring at 31.7 points per game. Six times Shepherd scored at least 30 points, reaching that mark in each of its last three contests (41.3 ppg). With a running back-by-committee approach, three different players have gained over 300 yards, led by Jihad Rasheed's 366, while Allen Cross leads the team with 9 TDs. QB Bobby Cooper completes 61.2 pct of his passes for 215 yards per game, frequenly finding WR Larry Lowe (45 catches).

DEFENSE... Shepherd has the nation's best run defense, allowing a stingy 37.6 rushing yards per game. The base 4-4 unit gives up just 15.6 points per outing and is very agressive, tallying 17 interceptions and 12 FRs this year, with 5 going back for TDs. DE Howard Jones has made a lot of plays in the opponents backfield, totaling 12.5 TFLs and 8 sacks while CB Keon Robinson has 4 interceptions and 10 more batted passes.

SPECIAL TEAMS... The Rams return game, led by Robinson, has been lethal this year. He's averaged 10.9 yards per punt return with a 61-yard TD and 23.1 yards per kickoff return, returning one 88 yards for  TD. Shepherd has a knack for blocking kicks as the Rams have totaled 11 on the season. Ryan Earls handles the kicking duties for Shepherd, connecting on 6-10 FGs and 39-42 PATs.