Football Preview: William Jewell at Urbana

URBANA, Ohio (November 3, 2012) - Urbana ends the 2012 season with a pair of home games, beginning with William Jewell College on Saturday.  The Cardinals are making their first trip to UU Stadium. These two teams met for the first time in their football histories last September 17th in Missouri. Urbana earned a 24-6 win over WJC. The 18-point win was the 2nd of what would be a school-record 8 wins last season. If Urbana is going to match that mark in 2012, the Blue Knights will need to win its final two home games. William Jewell also needs to win out to match last year’s mark of 4 wins.

The Cardinals have dropped 5 straight GLVC games after starting the year a promising 2-2 and 1-0 in conference play. Last Saturday, the Cardinals dropped a 48-3 decision at Indianapolis.  Indy clinched a conference title with the win, because the Blue Knights saw a 3-game conference winning streak end last week in devastating fashion. On the road at Missouri S&T, Urbana was plagued by turnovers and missed kicks in a 13-12 loss against the 2nd place Miners. Marshall Newsome’s 48-yard game-winning field goal attempt with 7 seconds left had plenty of distance, but sailed wide right in the 1-point defeat. The loss eliminated Urbana’s conference title hopes, and it ended the team’s goal of becoming the first playoff team in program history, but the Blue Knights still have plenty to play for on Saturday.  For starters, a school record 8 wins is still in reach, and this year's senior class can add to its total of 25 wins, which is already the most in school history by any senior class.

Saturday's kickoff is slated for 12:00 p.m. at Urbana University Stadium.  Tailgating begins even earlier.  Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for children and senior citizens.  Urbana will broadcast the game live on its UStream Channel.  Athletic Director Doug Young will once again provide the play-by-play.  Live Stats are also available here, and for in-game updates to your cell phone, be sure to follow @UUSports on Twitter.  The GLVC's Week 10 Notes are below.

The Week Ahead...

Indianapolis (7-2, 7-0 GLVC), which last week captured a share of the first-ever GLVC Championship, takes a break from conference play this week as the Greyhounds host Delta State Saturday evening.  Second-place Missouri S&T (8-1, 6-1) hits the road to Saint Joseph’s (5-4, 4-2), which could play spoiler for the Miners as an S&T loss to the Pumas would give UIndy the outright GLVC title with one week to play.  However, an S&T win would close out the Miners’ conference slate 7-1, forcing the Hounds to win at Urbana next week for the outright GLVC title.

The Week That Was...

The University of Indianapolis clinched a share of the first-ever GLVC Football Championship on Saturday evening with a 48-3 victory over visiting William Jewell College.  Missouri S&T kept itself in the hunt for a share of the conference title after scraping by Urbana, 13-12, on Saturday.  The win gave the Miners their first eight-win season since 1983.  Elsewhere in the conference, Central State topped Quincy 32-16, while Saint Joseph’s topped Kentucky Wesleyan, 38-27.

Indianapolis, S&T Earn Votes in AFCA D-II Poll

For the second consecutive week, two GLVC teams have earned recognition in the latest AFCA Division II Poll as Indianapolis and Missouri S&T are receiving votes outside the top 25 poll.  In fact, both GLVC teams are poised to enter the top 25 as they are the first two receiving votes outside the poll, similar to being ranked 26th and 27th nationally.  UIndy earned votes in the preseason poll, but dropped out of consideration following the season opener.  Since then, a GLVC team has received votes outside the top 25 each week, as Urbana was recognized after the first two weeks of play, and Missouri S&T was represented the following two weeks.  UIndy has now received votes the past five weeks and six of the 10 weeks this year, while S&T was recognized for the fifth week this season. 

No. 4 UIndy, No. 7 S&T in NCAA Regional Rankings

The University of Indianapolis and Missouri S&T have been tabbed in the second installment of the NCAA Division II Super Region Four rankings, it was announced by the national office on Monday.  Just days after clinching a share of the inaugural GLVC Championship, the Greyhounds maintained their regional ranking at No. 4 in the poll.  The Miners, who still have a chance at securing a share of the conference title, sit seventh overall in the rankings, one position shy of the postseason qualifying mark.  It is the first time in the NCAA’s super regional format that S&T has cracked the top 10 in a regional ranking.  UIndy is looking for its first postseason appearance since joining Division II back in 1979. The Hounds last made the NCAA playoffs as a D-III squad in 1975.

NCAA D-II SUPER REGION FOUR RANKINGS

Rk    School                         In-Region Overall

1      Ashland                            9-0         9-0

2      Colorado State-Pueblo     9-0         9-0

3      Chadron State                  7-1         7-2

4      Indianapolis                     7-1         7-2

5      West Texas A&M             8-1         8-1

6      Saginaw Valley State      7-2         7-2

7      Missouri S&T                   8-1         8-1

8      Midwestern State            7-1         7-1

9      Grand Valley State          7-2         7-2

10    New Mexico Highlands   7-1         7-2

Close, But...

Despite falling 13-12 to Missouri S&T last Saturday, Urbana’s D.J. Mendenhall posted impressive numbers against an equally impressive Miner defense.  His 58 passing attempts were a conference high this year, his 75 offensive plays and 373 passing yards were second-best, and his 31 completions and 80-yard pass tied for the third-best mark in the GLVC this season.

Returning to the Top

A week after posting a combined punt and kickoff return total of 208 yards, which earned him GLVC Special Teams Player of the Week, William Jewell’s Thomas Cook recorded league records with 152 yards on seven kickoff returns last week in a 48-3 loss to Indianapolis.

Mr. Wilson

Central State’s Darius Wilson is at it again.  For the fourth time this season, Wilson registered at least 17 hits in a game.  In CSU’s 32-16 victory over Quincy, Wilson posted 17 tackles, including six solo stops, three tackles for loss and two sacks.  With his impressive outing against the Hawks, Wilson solidified his hold on the No. 1 spot among all NCAA Division II defenders in tackles per game (13.25) and solo tackles (7.25).

GLVC Well-Represented Among NCAA Stat Leaders

The GLVC remains well-represented among the nation’s top 25 in select statistical categories in a report released by the NCAA on Sunday.  In addition to Central State’s Darius Wilson leading the country with 13.25 tackles per game, UIndy’s Klay Fiechter ranks second in all-purpose running (200.00) and punt return (25.27), as well as third in scoring (11.33)  Missouri S&T’s Carlton Westbrook sits third with a punt-return average of 21.45, while UIndy’s Mar’Quone Edmonds is sixth with 111.44 receiving yards per game.  On the team side, Indianapolis ranks second in punt returns (21.92), passing defense (145.33), and seventh in total defense (272.56) and passing efficiency (166.91).  Missouri S&T owns a turnover margin of 1.56, which is third-best in the nation.  Additionally, four other teams rank in the top 25 in punt returns.  One spot shy of UIndy in third is William Jewell (19.71), followed by No. 9 Kentucky Wesleyan (17.70), No. 15 Missouri S&T (16.09) and No. 24 Quincy (14.33). 

McKendree’s Poelker to Retire at Season’s End

McKendree University head football coach Carl Poelker, the all-time wins leader for the Bearcats who helped revive the program in the mid-1990s, recently announced that he will retire from his position effective at the end of the season. Under Poelker’s leadership, the McKendree football program has become a model of consistency both on and off the field. Poelker has led the Bearcats to 116 victories, averaging better than seven wins per season since McKendree returned to the gridiron in 1996.