• Game Notes (.pdf)

CAL U (0-0) vs. HILLSDALE (0-0)
• When: Saturday, Sept. 7, 2013
• Where: Hillsdale, Mich.
• Stadium: Frank "Muddy" Waters Stadium (8,500)
• Kickoff: 7 p.m.
• TV: CUTV (tape delay)
• Live Radio: WCAL (91.9 FM)
• Live Video: America One Sports (PPV)
• Live Stats: Click here


SERIES BREAKDOWN
• All-Time Series: Cal U leads 1-0
• First Meeting: Aug. 30, 2012 @ Cal U - Cal U won 30-22
• Last Meeting: Aug. 30, 2012 @ Cal U - Cal U won 30-22
• Streak: Cal U +1

CAL U NOTES
• Cal U opens the 2013 campaign on Saturday night when it travels to Michigan for the second time in four years to face Hillsdale. The Vulcans have won seven of their last 10 season-openers, playing GLIAC members three times since 2009.

• After missing the NCAA Playoffs for the first time since 2006, the Vulcans look to return to the postseason under second-year head coach Mike Kellar. Cal U returns 13 starters from last year, including six seniors. In 2012, the Vulcans passed for over 3,000 yards for the fourth time in the last five years and return their top-four wide receivers led by All-America candidate Mike Williams. On defense, first-year coordinator Mike Lopez will utilize various three-man fronts. Senior BJ Stevens returns after leading the country in sacks per game and breaking the single-season school records for TFL and sacks.

• The longest tenured active head coach in the GLIAC, Keith Otterbein enters his 12th season as head coach of the Chargers. In 2011, 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 72-52 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).

• Hillsdale finished in a four-way tie for first place in the GLIAC North last season and won at least seven games for the sixth-consecutive year. Senior wide receiver Andrew Mott headlines the offense for the Chargers after combining for over 1,000 receiving yards the last two seasons. Mott has led the team in receptions in each of the last two years and set career highs for receptions and touchdowns in 2012. Hillsdale will feature a new quarterback and running back this season, but return a trio of three-year starters on the offensive line. The Chargers return nine of 11 starters on defense , including the entire front seven. Senior linebacker Devin Moynihan led the team and ranked ninth in the GLIAC with 101 tackles (45 solo), while two-time All-GLIAC First-Team linebacker Brett Pasche totaled 90 stops and a team-high four interceptions. Junior Daniel Pittman led the secondary and ranked fourth on the team with 71 tackles (41 solo) and added two interceptions. On special teams, junior Matt Eltringham returns for his third year as the punter after averaging 39.2 yards per punt last season. The Chargers will feature a new kicker and kickoff returner this season.

• Cal U holds a 2-3 record against teams from the state of Michigan and will be making only its third all-time trip to the Great Lakes State. The Vulcans first traveled to Michigan in 1987 (Wayne State) before returning to the Wolverine State in 2010 (Saginaw Valley).

• The Vulcans are 4-4-1 against schools that are currently members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). This weekend marks the fourth time in the last five years in which Cal U has opened the season against a GLIAC member.

• 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, Hillsdale was picked to finish fifth in the GLIAC North after tying for first place last year. 

• The Vulcans own a 52-40-1 (.564) record in season-openers since 1916, winning seven of their last 10. As a head coach, Mike Kellar has won all three of his season-openers including twice against Southern Virginia while at Concord (2009-10).

• After spending the last 11 years, including six as head coach, at Fairmont State, Mike Lopez joined the Cal U coaching staff over the winter. A former player for the Fighting Falcons, he transitioned the Vulcans to a three-man front. Lopez replaces longtime defensive coordinator Mike Conway, who is now the head coach at North Park (Ill.) a NCAA Division III program in Chicago.

• Senior BJ Stevens led NCAA Division II with 1.32 sacks per game last season, setting the single-season school records with 22.5 TFL and 14.5 sacks. A First-Team All-American last year, he registered at least 1.0 sacks in seven-consecutive games. Stevens, who converted to linebacker in the new defensive scheme, enters the year within reach of eclipsing the all-time school records for both TFL and sacks.

• The Vulcans featured two players on NFL 53-man active rosters at the end of training camps last week. Former cornerback Tommie Campbell (2010) appeared in all four preseason games, with two starts, for the Tennessee Titans after playing in 29 NFL games over the last two seasons. Former offensive lineman Eric Kush (2008-12) played in all four games, with one start, this summer for the Kansas City Chiefs as a rookie. Overall, Cal U featured seven different players in NFL training camps this preseason.

• Of the 13 returning starters from last year, Cal U returns five players that garnered All-PSAC West honors (first- or second-team) last season, including wide receiver Mike Williams and linebacker BJ Stevens, the NCAA Division II leader in sacks per game.

• After boasting second-year signal callers in last year's meeting, Cal U and Hillsdale will both debut first-year starters at quarterback this weekend. For the Vulcans, Cody Schroeder opens the year as the starter after becoming the first freshman (true or redshirt) to start at quarterback since the 2004 season. Schroeder finished last year with 808 passing yards and five touchdowns in six games, including four starts. For Hillsdale, senior Sam Landry enters the weekend as the starter while attempting only 19 career passes in 12 games.

• Cal U and Hillsdale will also both feature first-year starters at running back this weekend. The Vulcans must replace three-year starter Lamont Smith, who was only the fourth player in school history to eclipse 3,000 rushing yards in a career. The Chargers must replace the program's all-time leading rusher in Joe Glendening, who totaled over 2,000 all-purpose yards as both a junior and senior.

• The Vulcans have posted a 17-10 record (.630) against non-PSAC schools (East and West) since 2002.

• In his first year as a starter, senior Mike Williams developed into one of the best wide receivers in the country in 2012. He finished third in the PSAC in all three major receiving categories despite entering the year with only 28 career receptions. Williams surpassed the 100-yard mark in five games last season and scored a career-high three touchdowns in the first half of the final game of the year.

• Primarily a punt returner and reserve running back as a freshman and sophomore, Trey Johnson made an instant impact as a wide receiver last season. As a junior, He caught a pair of touchdowns in the season-opener against Hillsdale and finished the year second on the team with 651 receiving yards and 50 catches. Johnson also served as a return specialist last year and led the team with a career-high 1,058 all-purpose yards.

• For the second-straight year, junior offensive lineman Jack Abercrombie will be replacing an All-American who later spent time in the NFL. He started twice as a true freshman in 2011 before starting 10 games at right guard last year after Rishaw Johnson spent the season with the Seattle Seahawks. Abercrombie shifts to center this season following the departure of Eric Kush, who was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2013 NFL Draft.

• The Vulcans are opening a season on a Saturday for the first time since 2010 and only the third time since 2006 (Thursday - four times; Monday - once).