• Game Notes (.pdf)

#-/25 CAL U (3-0, 1-0) vs. #7/8 IUP (3-0, 1-0)
• When: Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013
• Where: Indiana, Pa.
• Stadium: George P. Miller Stadium (6,000)
• Kickoff: 1 p.m.
• TV: CUTV (tape delay) I IUP-TV
• Live Radio: WCAL (91.9 FM) I WQMU (92.5 FM) I WIUP (90.1 FM)
• Live Video: NMTV Sports
• Live Stats: Fan Stats I Media Stats

GAME INFORMATION
• Ticket Information
• Tailgating Information

SERIES BREAKDOWN
• All-Time Series: IUP leads 59-24-2
• First Meeting: 1918 - IUP won 20-2
• Last Meeting: Sept.. 22, 2012 @ Cal U - Cal U won 26-24
• Streak: Cal U +6

CAL U NOTES
• Cal U returns to the road following two-straight home games, including a 20-7 win over Edinboro in the PSAC West-opener last Saturday. Meanwhile, IUP posted its second-straight shutout last week with a 26-0 victory over Seton Hill.

• The Vulcans forced five turnovers in a rainy 20-7 victory against Edinboro last Saturday. Midway through the second quarter, defensive back Dewey McDonald returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown for the game's only first-half touchdown. Cal U later added a 1-yard touchdown run by sophomore Derrick Fiore, while limiting Edinboro to only one field goal and two safeties in the game.  Fiore and junior Jeff Knox, Jr. combined to rush for 160 yards on 42 attempts in the victory. Senior linebacker BJ Stevens led the team with a career-high 11 tackles and also totaled 1.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.

• The Vulcans and Crimson Hawks are meeting for the 86th time this weekend in the fifth-annual Coal Bowl. Cal U has won seven of the last eight games against IUP.

• After 25-plus years as an assistant coach, Curt Cignetti is in his third season as head coach at IUP. He has posted a 22-5 record with the Crimson Hawks, and last year led the program to its first appearance in the NCAA Playoffs since 2007, advancing to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002. Cignetti previously was the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at Alabama (2007-10). He is the oldest son of former IUP head coach Frank Cignetti (1986-05), who holds the school record with 182 career wins.

• IUP returns 16 starters from a team that claimed the PSAC Championship and finished 12-2 overall, marking the winningest season since 1993. The Crimson Hawks enter the weekend boasting the top-ranked scoring defense in the country at 6.7 points per game and rank third in total defense with 227.3 yards per game. Senior linebacker Carl Fleming leads the team with 24 tackles this year after being named the 2012 PSAC Championship Game MVP. Junior defensive lineman Shane Meisner is third on the team with 16 tackles and leads the team with 4.0 TFL and 2.0 sacks through the opening weeks of this season. Offensively, IUP returns senior running back De'Antwan Williams, who rushed for over 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns while only starting two games last year. Williams and senior transfer Erik Finlea have combined to rush for over 400 yards and eight scores through three weeks. Quarterback Mike Box has started every game since coming off the bench to throw a touchdown in last year's Coal Bowl. Senior wide receiver Terrill Barnes posted back-to-back 100-yard games to start the season and is averaging over 18 yards per reception. The Crimson Hawks return one of the most veteran kickers in the league in Brett Ullman, a two-time All-PSAC West selection. Ullman made 19 field goals last season, but converted just 1-of-3 attempts in the Coal Bowl (blocked, missed). Barnes and Williams have both seen time as returners this season with Barnes averaging nearly 10 yards per punt return.

• This weekend marks the fifth-annual Coal Bowl in the long-standing rivalry between Cal U and IUP. In the first-ever Coal Bowl, the Vulcans posted a 41-28 road victory in 2009 behind four touchdown passes by quarterback Josh Portis. In 2010, Cal U rallied from a 15-0 fourth-quarter deficit to earn an 18-15 victory in overtime. Portis connected with wide receiver Chedrick Cherry for a touchdown and two-point conversion before kicker Marc Domonkos made the game-winning field goal in overtime. Two years ago, quarterback Peter Lalich passed for three touchdowns in snowy conditions in Indiana to help the Vulcans post a 28-10 win. Last season, Cal U trailed by seven points with less than a minute remaining before Lalich found wide receiver Nadir Brown for an 80-yard touchdown. After a failed PAT attempt, the Vulcans recovered an onside kick and kicker Cody Nuzzo made the game-winning field with 3.5 seconds left.

• This weekend marks the 38th game for the Vulcans against a top-25 opponent since the start of the 2000 season. During that span, Cal U has posted a 19-18 record against nationally-ranked programs with a 10-9 mark on the road. The Vulcans have won their last three games against top-25 opponents, including a 26-24 win over the then-No. 14 Crimson Hawks last season. Cal U has won the last three meetings against IUP when the Crimson Hawks were nationally-ranked (2007-08, 2012).

• This season, the Vulcans failed to be ranked in the preseason AFCA Top 25 poll for the first time since 2005. Cal U has received votes in each of the four editions of the coaches' poll this year, being the top team in 'Others Receiving Votes' in the latest rankings. However, the Vulcans cracked into the D2Football.com national poll this week at No. 25.

• For the first time since 2004, the Vulcans failed to earn at least a share of the top spot in the preseason PSAC West poll. Cal U was selected fourth in the league poll by the coaches after losing its last two divisional games in 2012. Meanwhile, IUP was the overwhelming favorite in the division after losing only one regular-season game last year.

• After going nearly three years without an interception return for touchdown, the Vulcans accomplished the feat in back-to-back weeks. Against Kutztown, senior defensive lineman Noah Taylor recorded his first career interception midway through the third quarter deep in Golden Bears' territory and returned it seven yards for a score. Last week versus Edinboro, senior defensive back Dewey McDonald made an interception at midfield midway through the second quarter and raced 50 yards for his second career touchdown.

• With the loss of its top two rushers from last season, the Vulcans have utilized a pair of former defensive backs, junior Jeff Knox, Jr. and sophomore Derrick Fiore, in the backfield this year. Knox served primarily as a short-yardage specialist the last two years while also splitting time in the secondary and leads the team with 183 rushing yards this season. A Ringgold product, Fiore scored his first career touchdown while making his first career start last week.

• True freshman defensive back Aaron Terry recorded a pair of interceptions in last week's victory over Edinboro. He became the first Cal U freshman since All-American Terrence Johnson in 2006 to finish with two interceptions in a game. Johnson accomplished the feat twice as a freshman, including in a loss against IUP - the last victory by the Crimson Hawks in the series.

• As a junior, BJ Stevens led NCAA Division II in sacks per game and received All-America status from several organizations. He broke the all-time school record for sacks two weeks ago after recording a career-high 3.5 sacks against Kutztown. Last week, Stevens set a career high with 11 tackles versus Edinboro and added 1.5 sacks with two forced fumbles. The Gateway product currently leads the PSAC and ranks third in the country with 1.7 sacks per game.

• In his first year as a starter, quarterback Cody Schroeder has passed for over 700 yards and ranks fifth in the PSAC with a 60.6 completion percentage (60-of-99) through three games. He completed over 70 percent of his passes in each of the first two games before rainy conditions last Saturday led to a career-low 41.2 completion percentage. Schroeder, who has made seven career starts, has not thrown an interception in his last 67 pass attempts.

• IUP and Cal U enter the weekend as the top-two ranked scoring defenses in the PSAC. The two teams have allowed only a combined six touchdowns this year. The Crimson Hawks have recorded back-to-back shutouts, while the Vulcans have allowed just one touchdown over their last two games. Cal U leads the league by allowing just 60.7 rushing yards per game after recording 11 sacks, which ranks as the second-best total in the PSAC.

• In his first season as head coach, Mike Kellar earned a victory over rival IUP. He is looking to join Jeff Petrucci (1981-92) as the only head coaches in program history to defeat the Crimson Hawks in each of their first two meetings. There are just five Cal U head coaches to defeat IUP multiple times in a career with Ted Nemeth (1950-61) and John Luckhardt (2002-11) tied for a school-best six victories over the Crimson Hawks. In 2005 under Luckhardt, Cal U earned its first win over IUP since the 1981 season.