• Game Notes (.pdf)

#11/11 CAL U (0-0) vs. #17/10 HILLSDALE (0-0)
• When: Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012
• Where: California, Pa.
• Stadium: Adamson Stadium (6,500)
• Kickoff: 5 p.m.
• TV: CUTV (tape delay)
• Live Radio: WCAL (91.9 FM)
• Live Video: America One (PPV)
• Live Stats: Flash Stats I Media Stats

GAME INFORMATION
• General Admission: $8 adults
• Chairback Seats: $12 adults
• Parking: $3
• Directions to Adamson Stadium
• Promotions

SERIES BREAKDOWN
• All-Time Series: First Meeting
• First Meeting: Aug. 30, 2012

CAL U NOTES
• Cal U opens the 2012 campaign on Thursday night when it hosts nationally-ranked Hillsdale, the defending-GLIAC Champion. The Vulcans have won seven of their last 10 season-openers, but have lost two of their last three - both Thursday night games at Adamson Stadium.

• The Vulcans have made five-consecutive appearances in the NCAA Playoffs and have earned at least a share of seven-straight PSAC divisional titles. Cal U returns 12 starters from last year, including six starters (all seniors) on offense. In 2011, the Vulcans broke the school record for passing yards behind the play of quarterback Peter Lalich and ranked among the top 10 in the country in scoring defense, rushing defense and total defense. The defense will be anchored by the return of All-American defensive back Rontez Miles and All-PSAC West linebacker Brett Diamond, who missed all of last season due to injury.

• The longest tenured active head coach in the GLIAC, Keith Otterbein enters his 11th season as head coach of the Chargers. Last year, he led Hillsdale to its first outright league championship in over 20 years and was named the Super Region 3 and GLIAC Coach of the Year. Otterbein has posted a 64-48 record with the Chargers after a successful tenure as head coach at Ferris State (1986-94) and running backs coach at Ball State (1995-01). He is joined on the Hillsdale coaching staff by two of his sons - Steve (wide receivers) and Brad (quarterbacks).

• Hillsdale registered an 8-3 overall record in 2011 and captured its first outright conference title in 23 years, but was not selected to the NCAA Playoffs. The Chargers return 15 starters (seven offense, six defense) from last year's team, highlighted by All-American running back Joe Glendening. A Harlon Hill semifinalist as a junior, he set the school record with 1,604 rushing yards and 31 total touchdowns (27 rushing) last season. Senior Anthony Mifsud returns for his second year as the starting quarterback after completing over 66 percent of his passes for more than 2,500 yards in 2011. The Chargers return three of their top four receivers, including junior Andrew Mott who led the team with 39 receptions for 587 yards last season. The Hillsdale defense is anchored by three returning junior linebackers in Brett Pasche, Devin Moynihan and Steven Embry. Pasche tied for second in the GLIAC with 15.0 TFL and tied Embry for the team lead with 4.5 sacks. Moynihan led the Chargers with 96 tackles (41 solo) and Pasche collected 91 stops (48 solo). Hillsdale also returns both of its kicking specialists from 2011 in kicker Colin McGreevy and sophomore punter Matt Eltringham.

• After earning a berth to the NCAA Playoffs in five consecutive seasons, Cal U continues to garner a plethora of national attention in preseason polls. The Vulcans are ranked as high as No. 10 by USA Today, while also being ranked in the Top 25 by AFCA (No. 11), D2Football.com (No. 11) and Lindy's (No. 21).

• The Vulcans are 3-4-1 against schools that are currently members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). Cal U last defeated a current GLIAC school in 2010 when it posted a 42-41 overtime win in the season-opener at Saginaw Valley.

• This week's contest marks the fourth time in the last five years in which Cal U has opened the season against a Top 25 team. The Vulcans have won on three of the four previous occasions with last year being the only loss - 26-3 to No. 13 St. Cloud State (Minn).

• The Vulcans own a 51-40-1 (.560) record in season-openers since 1916, winning seven of their last 10. While the head coach at Concord (2009-10), Mike Kellar won both of his season-openers against Southern Virginia by an average of 54 points.

• Of the 12 returning starters from last year, Cal U returns five players that garnered All-PSAC West honors (first- or second-team) last season, including quarterback Peter Lalich and defensive back Rontez Miles, the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year in 2011.

• 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-straights years on multiple separate occasions (1987-91, 1998-02).

• This week's game will feature a pair of running backs who both eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in each of the last two seasons. Senior Lamont Smith has rushed for 2,279 yards in the last two years, becoming just one of four players in Cal U history to run for over 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons. Hillsdale senior Joe Glendening led NCAA Division II in scoring and ranked second in rushing last year en route to being selected a Harlon Hill semifinalist. In the last two years, he has combined for over 3,000 rushing yards and 46 touchdowns (42 rushing).

• The Vulcans will boast an entirely new defensive line in 2012, as last year's group combined to start 108 games in their careers. Junior Darnell Harding is the lone player on the roster with a start on the defensive line. Harding is also the team's active career leader with 10.0 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss (TFL), including a career-high 12.5 TFL in nine games last year.

• The Vulcans have posted a 16-10 record (.615) against non-PSAC schools (East and West) since 2002.

• Senior defensive back Rontez Miles is one of just eight players from NCAA Division II programs featured on the Senior Bowl Watch List. An AFCA, AP and D2Football.com First-Team All-American in 2011, Miles set career highs with 71 tackles (51 solo) and a team-high five interceptions last year. The 2013 Senior Bowl is scheduled for Jan. 26 in Mobile, Ala.

• With the departure of his top three targets, senior quarterback Peter Lalich will be working with a new corps of wide receivers in 2012. Senior tight end Blake Williamson and senior running back Lamont Smith enter the year as the team's active career leaders in receptions and receiving yards. Among the returning wide receivers, junior Mike Williams led the team with 15 receptions last year and classmate Trey Johnson finished with five catches while primarily serving as a return specialist and running back.

• Cal U and Hillsdale both feature tremendous experience at the linebacker position. For the Vulcans, junior Brian Justice and sophomore Spencer Lynn both started all 13 games last season and ranked first and second, respectively, in tackles. In addition, redshirt senior Brett Diamond returns after missing all of last season due to injury. The Chargers return a trio of starting junior linebackers in Devin Moynihan, Brett Pasche and Steven Embry, who all registered over 75 tackles last year.

• This week marks the debut of Mike Kellar as head coach of the Vulcans, becoming the 11th head coach of the program since 1946. In their coaching debuts at Cal U, eight of the last 10 head coaches won their debuts, including John Luckhardt who collected a 45-0 win at Geneva on Sept. 5, 2002. Luckhardt is one of only three Cal U coaches since 1946 to finish with a record above .500 in their first year as head coach of the program.

• Senior quarterback Peter Lalich returns after shattering the single-season school records with 3,725 yards, 283 completions and 447 attempts last year. An All-PSAC West First-Team selection, he also registered the fourth-most passing yards and posted second-most completions in league history. Lalich finished with four 300-yard games last season, including two in the NCAA Playoffs.