Game Notes (PDF)

CAL U (7-2, 6-2) @ MERCYHURST (5-4, 5-3)
• When: Saturday, November 8, 2014
• Where: Erie, PA
• Stadium: Tullio Field (2,3000)
• Kickoff: 12 p.m.
• Live Radio: WCAL (91.9 FM)
• Live Video: America One (PPV)
• Live Stats: Fan Stats I Media Stats

SERIES BREAKDOWN
• All-Time Series: Cal U leads 3-3
• First Meeting: Nov. 1, 2008 @ Mercyhurst - Cal U won 17-6 I Box Score I Recap
• Last Meeting: Nov. 9, 2013 @ California - Mercyhurst won 23-20 I Box Score I Recap
• Streak: Mercyhurst +1

CAL U NOTES
• In the last week of league play, Cal U travels to face Mercyhurst on Saturday afternoon. In their last game, the Vulcans staved off an upset with a 43-32 victory at Clarion. Meanwhile, Mercyhurst extended its win streak to five games with a 49-32 victory at Seton Hill.
 
• The Vulcans scored four early touchdowns and overcame a dozen penalties to post a 43-32 win at Clarion. Junior quarterback James Harris finished with 284 passing yards on 18-of-33 attempts, including three first-half touchdowns. Senior Terrell Roberson and sophomore Nick Grissom combined to rush for over 150 yards and Roberson scored a pair of touchdowns. Senior linebacker Spencer Lynn led the team with 12 tackles and classmate Jeff Knox, Jr. posted career highs of 11 stops, 3.5 TFL and 1.5 sacks, including a sack in the end zone with less than one minute left.
 
• The Vulcans and Lakers have split the six all-time meetings with Mercyhurst winning three of the last four games. The two programs never faced until Mercyhurst joined the PSAC in 2008.
 
• The longest tenured coach in school history, Marty Schaetzle is in his 13th season as head coach at Mercyhurst. He has posted a 67-74-15 overall record with the Lakers and the program is coming off back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1997-99. Schaetzle was named PSAC West Coach of the Year twice in the his first three years in the league, including 2010 when the Lakers set a school record for wins and captured the PSAC Championship.
 
• Mercyhurst returns 14 starters from last year's team that won six of its last seven games to finish with a 7-4 overall record. The Lakers rank in the middle of the league in almost every offensive category this season despite scoring at least 28 points in each of their last five games. Junior quarterback Brendan Boylan has passed for 15 touchdowns and over 1,650 yards during the team's current five-game winning streak.  Fellow junior Brandon Brown-Dukes paces the team and ranks seventh in the PSAC with 719 rushing yards. A two-time All-PSAC West First-Team selection, he has eclipsed the century mark in three of the last four games and is one of only two players in school history with 3,000 career rushing yards. Junior wide receiver Jaquan Williams and senior tight end R.J. Miller both have over 30 receptions and have combined for seven touchdowns. The Lakers also are in the middle of the PSAC in most defensive categories. Junior linebacker Joe Dever leads the team with 57 tackles (37 solo) and 8.0 TFL, while senior defensive back Michael Foster has tallied 56 stops (42 solo). Senior defensive back Colin Kimball paces the team with three interceptions after leading the league with six interceptions last year. On special teams, sophomore Jordan Spangler ranks fourth in league with an average of 40.1 yards/punts and has placed 13 punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line.
 
• The latest Super Region One rankings were released on Monday and the PSAC features four teams in the rankings with Cal U slotted fifth. The region enters the weekend with a pair of undefeated teams. Super Region One consists of four conferences - PSAC, MEC, CIAA and NE-10 - and no league earns an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Playoffs. The top-two teams in the final regional rankings receive first-round byes, while the third and fourth seeds host first-round games.
 
• Cal U and Mercyhurst have split their six all-time meetings with the Lakers winning two of three games at Tullio Field. In 2012, the Vulcans suffered a 40-7 loss after entering the last week of divisional play tied for first in the PSAC West standings. In 2010, Cal U committed four turnovers in a 31-21 loss while being No. 3 in the country.
 
• With his 11 points last game, senior kicker Cody Nuzzo moved past All-American running back Antoine Bagwell for second place in school history with 280 career points. Nuzzo ranks third overall in the PSAC, and first among kickers, with a career-high 73 points this season. He has made 13-of-16 fields goals, including a school-record 50-yard attempt, and is tied for sixth among active players in NCAA Division II with 41 career field goals.
 
• The running back tandem of senior Terrell Roberson and sophomore Nick Grissom combined for 152 rushing yards and 34 attempts against Clarion. The duo has combined to rush for 1,056 yards and 16 touchdowns, as the Vulcans are averaging nearly 150 rushing yards/game this season. Grissom and Roberson have both totaled over 500 rushing yards, marking the first time Cal U has two 500-yard rushers since 2009.

• Against Clarion, the Vulcans tied a season high with nine offensive plays that went for at least 20 yards with two resulting in touchdowns. Cal U has tallied a combined 44 'explosive plays' this season, including 28 in the first half of games. Wide receivers Garry Brown and Kowan Scott have combined for 25 'explosive plays' and six of Scott's seven touchdowns this season have been for at least 20 yards.
 
• Senior linebacker Spencer Lynn has registered at least 11 tackles in each of the last three games, including a team-high 12 stops (three solo) at Clarion on Oct. 25. He leads the team and is tied for ninth in the PSAC with 71 stops (30 solo) after starting only a combined four games over the last two seasons. Lynn set his career high of 90 tackles as a redshirt freshman when he started all 13 games in 2011.
 
• Against Clarion, senior punter Andrew Cerett averaged over 50 yards per punt while still placing three of his four punts inside the 20-yard line. He leads the PSAC and ranks fifth in the country with an average of 44.0 yards/punt and has recorded 10 punts of at least 50 yards. A two-time All-PSAC West selection, Cerett ranks second among active players in NCAA Division II with a career average of 43.0 yards per punt (min. 100).
 
• Senior linebacker Jeff Knox, Jr. has recorded at least 1.0 TFL in each of the last six games. He established career highs with 11 tackles (seven solo), 3.5 TFL and 1.5 sacks at Clarion on Oct. 25, including a sack in the end zone during the final minute of the game. After being the team's leading rusher last year, Knox currently ranks in the top 15 of the PSAC with 9.5 TFL and 5.5 sacks while also recording four forced fumbles.
 
• The Vulcans rank second in the PSAC and sixth in NCAA Division II this season in rushing defense, allowing a stout 82.1 yards/game. Cal U has allowed only three teams to eclipse the century mark in a game this season with a season-high 164 yards on 48 attempts at Bloomsburg. The Vulcans have also allowed only a single 100-yard rusher while facing four of the top-five leading rushers in the PSAC.
 
• In the victory at Clarion, junior quarterback James Harris threw his first interception since overtime on Sept. 13. He finished with a streak of 182-straight attempts, spanning 12-plus quarters, without throwing an interception. Harris ranks second in the PSAC with 283.9 passing yards/game and sits fourth in the league with a 151.9 efficiency rating behind 17 touchdowns passes.
 
• Senior offensive lineman Jack Abercrombie made his 30th-consecutive start against Clarion, becoming the first player to start at least 30-straight games since defensive lineman Marcus Cook (2007-11) and defensive back Erik Harris (2008-11). Abercrombie is a two-time All-PSAC West selection while starting at guard and center in his career. He has helped anchor an offensive line that has allowed 14 sacks on 262 pass attempts this season.

• Entering the last week of divisional play, Bloomsburg has already secured a berth in next week's PSAC Championship while there is a three-way tie among Cal U, Gannon and Slippery Rock for first place in the PSAC West. The initial tiebreaker is head-to-head record and all three teams hold a 1-1 record. The second tiebreaker is record against divisional opponents and Cal U is the only team with one loss against the PSAC West.