Gameday Central | Complete Game Notes (PDF) | PSAC Weekly Notes

THE GAME: IUP hits the road for the first time this season on Saturday, September 8 when it travels to play PSAC East opponent Cheyney at O'Shields-Stevenson Stadium. The Crimson Hawks are coming off of an impressive 33-6 win over visiting Southern Connecticut last Saturday, the seventh straight season IUP has opened with a victory. The Wolves also got in the win column in the first week with a 34-21 win at rival Lincoln.

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 12:30 p.m.

HEAD COACH CURT CIGNETTI: IUP head coach Curt Cignetti (West Virginia, '82) begins his second season at the helm after leading the Crimson Hawks to a 7-3 overall record (5-2 PSAC West) in 2011. His first signature win came on Oct. 1 against No. 18 Edinboro with a 19-0 shutout victory on Homecoming. Eight players earned All-PSAC West honors while five were named to the all-region team. 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).

THE SERIES: IUP has won the four meetings between these two schools, outscoring the Wolves by an average of 54.0-6.5. In a series that began in 1994, the largest margin of victory came in 2007 when IUP opened the season with an 80-14 victory.

IN THE TOP 25: IUP appears in the national rankings for the first time since the end of the 2008 season, debuting at 23rd in the AFCA poll and 24th in the D2Football poll. 

NEXT GAME: The Crimson Hawks return home next Saturday to host Lock Haven in their PSAC West opener. IUP owns a 55-15-3 overall record in the series and haven't lost to the Bald Eagles since a 41-14 set back in 1981. 

HAWK TALK

CLIMBING THE CHARTS... Sr. RB Harvie Tuck (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) opened up the season with 185 yards on the ground, increasing his career total to 2,866 yards which is 4th all-time. He's currently 757 yards behind Aamir Dew (1999-2001) for 3rd place. Michael Mann (1990-93) is the school's all-time leading rusher with 4,805 yards.

PULLING DOUBLE DUTY... Sr. QB Pat Smith (Hollidaysburg/Hollidaysburg) completed nearly every pass he threw on Saturday, going 11-of-16 (68.8%) for 141 yards and a TD. He also stepped into a new position for IUP, punting 3 times for a 37.0 average with a long of 41 and pinned 1 punt inside the 20.

WHAT A DEBUT... R-Fr. RB Montay Green (Pittsburgh/Fox Chapel) gained 101 yards and a TD on 20 carries in his first career game. After moving over from the defensive line in the spring, the former HS back averaged 5.1 yds/carry with a long rush of 14 yards.

GROUND AND POUND... With the help of Tuck, Green and Sr. RB De'Antwan Williams (Woodbridge, VA/Woodbridge), the Crimson Hawks piled up 310 rushing yards on 57 attempts, good for 9th in all of DII.

BRINGING THE “D”... The IUP defense picked up in the opener where it left off last year, shutting down Southern Connecticut by allowing just 6 points and 192 yards of offense, including 47 on the ground - each rank in the top 20 in DII.

WHAT A DEBUT II... Sr. DE Greg Meisner (Greensburg/Hempfield ), a transfer from Kentucky, also had a strong first game in an IUP uniform with 5 tackles, 2.5 TFL and a sack on Saturday. Meisner helped So. CB Jerrell McFadden sack the Owls QB in the end zone for a safety in the 4th quarter. 

THE GREAT WALL... Two IUP defensive linemen knocked a few balls out of the air on Saturday, as Jr. DE Errol Brewster (Harlem, NY/Springbrook (MD)) swatted two passes down at the line of scrimmage and Sr. DT Carl Thornton (Beaver Falls/Beaver Falls) blocked the extra point attempt on the Owls on touchdown of the day.

ONE MORE YEAR... Sr. SS Johnny Franco (Altoona/Tyrone) returns for one more season after garnering all-region and all-conference honors a year ago. Franco was a ballhawk for IUP last year, finishing with 62 tackles and 8.5 TFL, while picking off 5 passes for 80 yards, including a 42-yard score. He also batted down 10 more passes.

ULLMAN ON FRED MITCHELL WATCH LIST... So. K Brett Ullman (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall) is one of 44 kickers from across college football to be named to the Watch List for the 2012 Fred Mitchell Award. The award is given annually to a place kicker who shows excellence on the field and in the community amongst the more than 750 FCS, DII, DIII, NAIA and NJCAA schools. Ullman scored 7 points on Saturday, going 4-4 on XPs and 1-1 on FGs, connecting from 42 yards.

THE 500 WIN CLUB... IUP became just the 17th school in NCAA Division II history with 500 all-time wins when it defeated Lock Haven 56-6 on Nov. 5 last year. The Crimson Hawks have a record of 502-252-23 (.661) in 83-plus seasons.

PSAC PRESEASON POLL... The Crimson Hawks were tied atop the PSAC West preseason coaches' poll which was released at the conference's media day on Aug. 6. IUP received three first place votes to tie for first with rival California, which received two first place votes.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS... Three IUP standouts were named preseason All-Americans by the Beyond Sports Network (BSN). So. K Brett Ullman (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall) was named to the first team while Jr. OT Byron Dovales (Reading/Muhlenberg) landed on the second team and Sr. DT Carl Thornton (Beaver Falls/Beaver Falls) earned honorable mention honors.

RETURNING SUCCESS... The Crimson Hawks return 15 starters from a team that went 7-3 a year ago, including wins in six of its final seven games. 7 return on each side of the ball, including 5 all-region honorees from a year ago: Sr. RB Harvie Tuck (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) and Jr. OT Byron Dovales (Reading/Muhlenberg) on offense; Sr. DT Carl Thornton (Beaver Falls/Beaver Falls) and Sr. SS Johnny Franco (Altoona/Tyrone) on defense; and So. K Brett Ullman (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall).

SCOUTING THE WOLVES

OFFENSE... The Cheyney offense continues to rely on its ground game in 2012, rushing 54 times for 207 yards against Lincoln last Saturday. SB Marcus Jones carried it 21 times for a game-high 85 yards while QB Blaze Wasserleben added 74 yards on 12 carries. The Wolves will not drop back to pass much in their triple option offense, as Wasserleben completed 3-6 passes for 22 yards last week. When he does throw, he'll rely on WRs Josh Simmons and Eugene Moten.

DEFENSE... The Wolves scored 34 points last week but it was the defense that should be given the credit for most of those points, forcing Lincoln into 8 turnovers last week. 5 of those came by way of fumbles, with SS Tristan Dillon-McCallum returning one 99 yards for a score and LB Khalil Neal taking back another 62 yards for a TD. 3 more came through the air as LB Tom Stewart picked off a pair of passes. However Cheyney did give up 419 yards, including 363 through the air.

SPECIAL TEAMS... K/P Tyler Wilkinson handled both kicking chores for the Wolves, averaging 41.0 yards on 3 punts and connecting on 4-4 XPs. Nafis
Muhammad and Ernest Polite will each return kickoffs.