• Game Notes (.pdf)

#22/22 CAL U (7-2, 5-1) vs. MERCYHURST (7-2, 5-1)
• When: Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012
• Where: Erie, Pa.
• Stadium: Tullio Field (2,300)
• Kickoff: 12 p.m.
• TV: CUTV (tape delay)
• Live Radio: WCAL (91.9 FM) I WMCE (88.5 FM)
• Live Video: America One (PPV)
• Live Stats: Click here

SERIES BREAKDOWN
• All-Time Series: Cal U leads 3-1
• First Meeting: Nov. 1, 2008 @ Mercyhurst - Cal U won 17-6
• Last Meeting: Oct. 22, 2011 @ Cal U - Cal U won 32-26 (OT)
• Streak: Cal U +1

CAL U NOTES
• Cal U finishes divisional play this weekend with its second trip to Erie in three weeks. The Vulcans suffered a 28-26 loss at Adamson Stadium last Saturday. Meanwhile, Mercyhurst scored 10-straight points in the fourth quarter to earn a 24-20 victory at Edinboro last week.

• Despite a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, the Vulcans suffered a 28-26 loss to Slippery Rock on Saturday. The Vulcans forced three turnovers and blocked a pair of punts in the loss. Junior Ja'wan Bryant blocked a punt midway through the fourth quarter that was recovered by sophomore Jeff Knox, Jr. in the end zone to trim the deficit to 28-26. Redshirt senior linebacker Brett Diamond led the team with a career-high 12 tackles. Junior linebacker Brian Justice finished with nine stops, 1.0 TFL and one forced fumble, while classmate BJ Stevens registered seven tackles, 3.0 TFL, 1.0 sack and one forced fumble.

• This weekend marks only the fifth all-time meeting between the Vulcans and Lakers. Prior to Mercyhurst joining the PSAC in 2008, the two teams had never faced each other.

• After guiding the Lakers to their first post-season berth two years ago, Marty Schaetzle is in his 11th season as head coach at Mercyhurst. The school's all-time wins leader, he holds a 53-66 overall record and was named the PSAC West Coach of the Year in 2010 after Mercyhurst captured its first-ever conference championship. Prior to his time with the Lakers, Schaetzle worked five years as an offensive assistant at Bucknell.

• Mercyhurst returns 14 starters (seven offense, five defense) from last year's team that finished 4-7 overall and tied for sixth in the divisional standings with a 2-5 mark. The Lakers enter the weekend with the third-ranked rushing offense in the league, averaging 215.2 yards per game. Redshirt freshman Brandon Brown-Dukes ranks fourth in the PSAC with 1,097 rushing yards and is also fourth with 13 rushing touchdowns. Junior quarterback Anthony Vendemia has passed for over 1,350 yards with 13 touchdowns in his second year as the starter. Senior wide receiver Paris Bruner has developed into a big-play threat, averaging nearly 22 yards per reception, while redshirt freshman wide receiver Devyn Woods leads the team with six receiving touchdowns. Mercyhurst boasts the league's top-ranked passing defense at 153.3 yards per game and is also among the top three in the PSAC in scoring and total defense. Sophomore linebacker Aaron McGee leads the team with 58 tackles (23 solo) and has added 4.0 TFL and 2.0 sacks. Redshirt sophomore defensive back Keith Polson has collected 50 stops (29 solo), while senior Serge Augustin anchors the defensive line with team-best marks of 10.0 TFL and 6.5 sacks. On special teams, junior Steven Wakefield ranks among the league leaders in both field goals and punting. He has converted seven-of-eight field goals and is also averaging 42.0 yards per punt with nine of his 31 punts downed inside the opponents' 20-yard line.

• Following its home loss last weekend, Cal U fell to No. 22 in both the AFCA and D2Football.com Top 25 polls. The Vulcans have been ranked in the AFCA poll for 14-consecutive weeks and the D2Football.com poll every week since October 2009.

• The Vulcans dropped to fifth in the latest Super Region One rankings released on Monday. Cal U is one of five PSAC teams ranked in the top 10 in the region. The two top teams in the regional rankings receive first-round byes in the NCAA Playoffs, while the third and fourth seeds host opening-round games on Nov. 17.

• Entering the final weekend of divisional play, Cal U is tied with IUP and Mercyhurst for first place in the PSAC West standings. With a win on Saturday, the Vulcans would advance to the PSAC Championship Game on Nov. 10. IUP would represent the PSAC West in the league title game with a win at Gannon on Saturday and Cal U loss. Mercyhurst advances to the PSAC Championship Game with a victory and a loss by IUP at Gannon. Shippensburg has already secured a berth in the title game from the PSAC East.

• Last season, the Vulcans became the fourth school in PSAC history, and the first since West Chester (2004-08), to reach the NCAA Playoffs in five-straight years. No program in the league has made six-consecutive berths in the NCAA Playoffs and IUP is the only school to have reached the postseason five-straight years on multiple separate occasions.

• Since the PSAC expanded with the addition of Gannon and Mercyhurst in 2008, Cal U has posted an 8-1 combined record against the two 'new' teams. The Vulcans have won three of the four meetings versus the Lakers, including a 32-26 overtime victory on Homecoming last season.

• Senior defensive back Rontez Miles, the 2011 PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year, is currently tied for the league lead with four interceptions. He also leads the team with 65 tackles (35 solo) this season. A First-Team All-American last year, Miles ranks fifth in school history with 247 career tackles (148 solo). He posted his second career touchdown last week on a 31-yard fumble return and also registered his fourth career blocked kick against Slippery Rock.

• Senior Lamont Smith enters the weekend just 28 yards shy of reaching 3,000 rushing yards for his career. A three-year starter, he would become only the fourth player in school history to reach the prolific milestone. Smith has surpassed the 1,000-yard mark in each of the last two seasons and leads the team with 693 rushing yards this year.

• Last weekend against Slippery Rock, the Vulcans registered a pair of blocked kicks on special teams for the second-straight game and the fourth time in the last six years. In the second quarter, senior Rontez Miles blocked a punt that was recovered at The Rock's 3-yard line. Midway through the fourth, junior Ja'wan Bryant blocked a punt by Slippery Rock that was recovered in the end zone by sophomore Jeff Knox, Jr. for a touchdown. Over the last eight years, the Vulcans have posted 37 blocked kicks despite tallying only one in both 2008 and 2010.

• In his first year as a starter, junior defensive end BJ Stevens is within reach of the single-season school records for TFL and sacks. He leads the league and is tied for seventh in the country with 17.5 TFL and also ranks seventh in the nation with 10.0 sacks. Former linebacker Gary Butler set the single-season school records of 19.0 TFL and 12.0 sacks in 2007 when he was selected the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year. A former standout at Gateway, Stevens has recorded at least 1.0 sack in five-consecutive games.

• This weekend's contest will feature the top two punters in the PSAC in Cal U freshman Andrew Cerett and Mercyhurst junior Steven Wakefield. Cerett currently leads the PSAC with an average of 43.2 yards per punt, including a long of 65 last week. He has placed 13 of his 32 punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line, including two last Saturday. Wakefield averages 42.0 yards per punt with four punts of 50-plus yards and nine punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line. Both punters are just shy of the minimum to qualify for the national rankings.

• After missing all of last season due to injury, redshirt senior linebacker Brett Diamond ranks second on the team with 64 tackles (29 solo) and is tied for first on the team with 41 career starts.  He set a career high with 12 tackles (seven solo) in last week's loss to Slippery Rock. Diamond, who has equaled his career high for tackles in a season, ranks sixth in school history with 235 career tackles (120 solo).

• Sophomore kicker Cody Nuzzo has made a 40-plus yard field goal in each of the last two weeks after previously boasting a career long of 30 yards. He ranks third in the PSAC this year with a career-high 11 field goals on 14 attempts (78.6 percent). Nuzzo has also converted 29-of-35 PAT attempts, including 10-straight attempts over the last three weeks.

• Redshirt freshman wide receiver Kowan Scott has demonstrated big-play ability this season, averaging a 20.4 yards per reception. He ranks fourth on the team with 327 receiving yards on only 16 catches, including a season-high five receptions last week.