• Game Notes (.pdf)

#17/16 CAL U (2-1, 0-0) vs. CLARION (0-3, 0-0)
• When: Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011
• Where: California, Pa.
• Stadium: Adamson Stadium (6,500)
• Kickoff: 3:30 p.m.
• TV: Pittsburgh CW (live)
• Live Radio: WCAL (91.9 FM) I WCCR (92.7 FM) I WKQW (96.3 FM)
• Live Video: America One (PPV) I WatchESPN
• Live Stats: Click here

SERIES BREAKDOWN
• All-Time Series: Cal U leads 40-38-3
• First Meeting: 1923 - Cal U won 65-0
• Last Meeting: Sept. 25, 2010 @ Clarion - Cal U won 24-9
• Streak: Cal U +6

CAL U NOTES
• Cal U opens PSAC West play this weekend after earning a 22-19 four-quarter comeback victory at East Stroudsburg last weekend. Meanwhile, Clarion remains winless this season after suffering a 54-24 loss at Shippensburg last week.

• Redshirt junior quarterback Peter Lalich connected with senior wide receiver Thomas Mayo for a 75-yard touchdown with 3:12 left to give the Vulcans a 22-19 victory at East Stroudsburg. Lalich finished the game with a career-high 384 yards on 29-of-45 attempts and accounted for three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing). In the win, Mayo became only the third player in school history with 200 receiving yards in a game, posting 201 yards on 12 receptions last week. Cal U forced five turnovers in the win with fourth-quarter interceptions by senior Erik Harris and sophomore Darnell Harding.

• The Vulcans and Golden Eagles are meeting for the 82nd time this weekend, making Clarion the second-most common opponent for Cal U.

• The Cal U coaching staff will be wearing Coach to Cure MD patches this weekend to raise awareness and fundraising for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research. Fans are encouraged to donate online at www.CoachtoCureMD.org or donate $5 by texting CURE to 90999.

• After nearly guiding the program to the NCAA Playoffs in 2009, Jay Foster is in his sixth season as head coach of the Golden Eagles. He was named the PSAC West Coach of the Year in 2009 before going 4-7 last season. Foster took the helm of the Golden Eagles after serving as the long-time defensive coordinator at Slippery Rock.

• Clarion returns 40 lettermen and 16 starters from last year's team that finished 4-7 overall after opening the season with five-consecutive losses. Sophomore Ben Fiscus, who started the final six games last year, directs the offense for the Golden Eagles. He threw for nearly 400 yards in the first two weeks before being limited to only 74 passing yards last Saturday at Shippensburg. Fellow sophomore Brandon Akins posted a career game on the ground in the loss to the Red Raiders, rushing for 101 yards and two touchdowns. After making only a combined 10 receptions in the last two years, junior wide receiver Tarrean Barrett leads the team with 15 catches, while sophomore Jon Reid and junior Robert Tantlinger have combined for 15 receptions and two touchdowns. Defensively, Clarion features one of the top players in the league in senior defensive end Barrington Morrison. Last year, he led the PSAC with 10.5 sacks and four forced fumbles while ranking second with 16.5 tackles for loss (TFL). Junior linebacker Nick Sipes leads the Golden Eagles with 28 stops (15 solo) through three games, while senior defensive back Shawn Sopic has made 16 tackles (six solo) after missing last season due to injury. On special teams, junior Patrick Graham-Murphy is averaging over 30 yards on kickoff returns, highlighted by a 68-yard kickoff return for a touchdown last week. Sophomore punter Nathan Conway is averaging 40.0 yards per punt in 2011 after missing last year with an injury.

• Cal U has won its last six and eight of its last 11 PSAC West-opening games. Over the last six years, the Vulcans have won in dominating fashion in their PSAC West-openers, beating divisional opponents by an average of 44-11. Cal U has scored over 30 points in five of the last six PSAC West-openers.

• Playing the last two seasons under Mike Kellar at Concord, wide receiver Thomas Mayo developed into one of the premier wide receivers in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) and NCAA Division II. Since joining his former head coach at Cal U this year, Mayo is again among the national elite. The 6-2 Virginia native ranks second in the country in receiving yards (153.7 per game) and is tied for fifth in receptions (8.3 per game). Last week, Mayo finished only one reception shy of tying the school record of 13 set by Pete Gialames in 1968 and became the first player with 200 receiving yards in a game since 1995.

• Following last week's comeback win, Cal U moved up four spots to No. 17 in the AFCA Top 25 poll. The Vulcans have been ranked for 19-consecutive weeks, including all 14 weeks last season, dating back to the final poll of 2009.

• The Vulcans have won 64 of their last 79 games (.810) overall, dating back to the start of the 2005 season. Cal U has posted a 48-8 (.857) record in regular-season games dating back to the 2006 campaign.

• The Vulcans feature a group of 21 seniors in 2011. The senior class has compiled a record of 35-9 and started a combined 240 games. Senior defensive lineman Marcus Cook leads the team with 30-consecutive starts dating back to the 2009 season.

• Cal U has won 18 of its last 22 games in the season's first month (August/September) under head coach John Luckhardt. Overall, the Vulcans have won 33 of their last 43 outings in August/September since 2002.

• In only his third appearance since Week 2 of the 2008 season, redshirt junior Peter Lalich passed for a career-high 384 yards and accounted for three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) last week at East Stroudsburg. The 6-5 quarterback connected with senior Thomas Mayo for a 75-yard touchdown strike on fourth down with 3:12 remaining for the eventual game-winning score. Lalich was named the PSAC West Offensive Player of the Week on Monday and enter's the weekend ranked fourth in the in league in passing (268.7 yards per game) and fifth in total offense (260.3 yards per game).

• After finishing last season with a +16 turnover margin, the Vulcans have committed a staggering five turnovers in each of the last two games while still earning the win both times. Last week, Cal U committed turnovers on four-straight possessions (interception, three fumbles) in the third quarter that led to 17 points and allowed East Stroudsburg to take a 19-14 lead. Prior to this season, the Vulcans hadn't committed five turnovers in a game since a 34-3 loss at Edinboro on Nov. 8, 2003.

• As a sophomore last season, Lamont Smith established himself as one of the most durable and productive running backs in the PSAC. He ranked fourth in the league with 1,166 rushing yards on 241 carries, which were the most by a Vulcan since Brandon Lombardy finished with 268 rushing attempts in 2006. With added depth in the backfield this season, Smith posted only 20 carries the first two weeks before totaling 107 rushing yards on 24 attempts last week at East Stroudsburg. In last year's meeting against the Golden Eagles, Smith rushed for 185 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown on a career-high 39 attempts.

• A two-year player at Alabama, junior defensive back Robby Green established a career high with 12 tackles (nine solo) last week in the victory at East Stroudsburg. In the first two weeks of the season, the 6-0 junior had registered just a combined five stops (two solo). Green appeared in 26 games (six starts) for the Crimson Tide from 2008-09 and registered 39 tackles, including six against Texas in the BCS Championship Game.

• Through the first three games this season, the Vulcans have reached their opponents' red-zone a league-high 16 times. However, Cal U has converted those scoring chances into points just five times (four touchdowns) for a league-worst 31.2 percent. Last week at East Stroudsburg, the Vulcans scored only once in seven trips inside the red-zone after losing possession twice on downs, missing three field goals and losing a fumble at the goal line.

• Over the course of his career, senior defensive lineman Thomas Mulabah has been an impact player for the Vulcans. A preseason All-American, he entered the year as the team's active leader with 23.5 career TFL and 11.0 career sacks while starting 17 games over the last two seasons. Mulabah has continued to be a disruptive, playmaking force for Cal U again in 2011, making a one-handed interception against nationally-ranked St. Cloud State (Minn.), blocking a kick and recovering a fumble versus C.W. Post and recovering a fourth-quarter fumble at East Stroudsburg.