Full Game Notes (PDF)

MERCYHURST (4-4, 3-2) @ #-/25 CAL U (6-2, 3-2)
• When: Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017
• Where: California, Pa.
• Stadium: Adamson Stadium (6,500)
• Kickoff: 1 p.m.
• Live Video: CUTVSports1 YouTube
• Live Radio: WCAL (91.9 FM)
• Live Stats: Fans Stats I Media Stats

SERIES BREAKDOWN
• All-Time Series: Cal U leads 5-4
• First Meeting: Nov. 1, 2008 @ Mercyhurst - Cal U won 17-6 I Recap I Box Score
• Last Meeting: Oct. 29, 2016 @ Clarion - Cal U won 55-14 I Recap I Box Score
• Streak: Cal U +2

NOTES
• Cal U returns to Adamson Stadium on Saturday when it hosts Mercyhurst for Senior Day. The Vulcans earned a 38-35 win last weekend at Gannon. Meanwhile, Mercyhurst posted a 35-15 victory against Seton Hill to snap a two-game losing streak.

• The Vulcans scored 31 points in the first half and blocked the potential game-tying field goal with less than a minute remaining to earn a 38-35 victory at Gannon. Senior quarterback Michael Keir set a career high with 435 passing yards and finished with four touchdowns and no interceptions on 20-of-34 attempts. Fellow senior Tom Greene became only the fifth player in school history to post at least 200 receiving yards in a game. Sophomore defensive back Lamont McPhatter II led the team with 11 tackles and posted his second interception return for a touchdown this year.

• The home team has won six of the last eight meetings in the series and the Lakers are the last team from the PSAC West to win at Adamson Stadium (2013). The two programs never met until Mercyhurst joined the PSAC in 2008.

• The longest tenured coach in school history, Marty Schaetzle is in his 16th season as head coach at Mercyhurst. He has posted an 80-93 overall record with the Lakers and was named PSAC West Coach of the Year twice in his first three years in the league, including 2010 when the program set a school record for wins and captured the PSAC Championship.

• The least penalized team in the PSAC, Mercyhurst enters the weekend in a four-way tie for second place in the divisional standings. Sophomore quarterback Doug Altavilla has passed for over 1,800 yards with 11 touchdowns and four interceptions in his second year as a starter. He has completed at least 60 percent of his passes in seven-straight games with a pair of 300-yard performances. Senior Brad Novak has made at least one touchdown reception in five-consecutive weeks and ranks fourth in the league with seven touchdown catches this year. He has totaled over 1,300 receiving yards on 90 catches, including 13 touchdowns, over the last two years. The Lakers feature a pair of running backs that have combined for nearly 950 yards this year in junior E'Andre Smith and redshirt freshman Garrett Owens. Smith totaled 200 rushing yards and one touchdown on 20 attempts last week in the win over Seton Hill. Defensively, sophomore linebacker Alex Zacharyasz leads the team with 61 tackles (28 solo), while classmate Jake Tarasovitch has registered 58 stops (32 solo). Junior defensive back Dante' Redwood has tallied an impressive 11 pass break-ups, plus two interceptions, in his second year as a starter. Mercyhurst features one of the top punters in the PSAC in sophomore Brendan Cole, as he sits eighth in the country with 43.3 yards per punt behind seven punts of at least 50 yards. The Lakers have yet to allow a blocked punt on 36 attempts this season.

• With two weeks left of divisional play, the PSAC figures to have an intriguing finish in both divisions. The PSAC East still features four teams tied for first place with a 4-1 league record and a pair of those teams will face each other this weekend. In the PSAC West, four teams are now tied for second place with a 3-2 divisional mark after Slippery Rock suffered a 10-point loss at Edinboro last week.

• The initial Super Region One rankings were released on Monday and the PSAC features five teams in the rankings, including three from the PSAC East. The region now consists of the PSAC, MEC, NE-10 and G-MAC, which replaces the CIAA in the region. The regional playoffs feature seven teams and only the top team in the final regional rankings will receive a first-round bye.

• Last week, senior quarterback Michael Keir registered one of the top passing performances in school history. He finished with 435 passing yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions on 20-of-34 attempts at Gannon. It marked the fifth-most passing yards in single-game school history and was the most since the record was set in 2014. Keir also is now tied for fourth all-time in school history with 56 passing touchdowns.

• Sophomore defensive back Lamont McPhatter II registered his team-leading fifth interception of the season last week at Gannon. He scored a touchdown on the interception to become the first Cal U player with multiple 'pick-sixes' in a year since Dewey McDonald in 2013. McPhatter is tied for second in the PSAC in interceptions and is one of three players in the league with two interception returns for touchdowns.

• Last week, Cal U set a season high with eight 'explosive plays' after being held to a combined six in the previous two games. The Vulcans accounted for all eight 'explosive plays' via the pass with three resulting in touchdowns. Senior Tom Greene scored on a 70-yard reception late in the first quarter, which marked the longest play from scrimmage for Cal U since the 2015 season.

• The Vulcans extended their streak of at least one blocked kick to six-straight games last week. Senior Cameron Tarver blocked a potential game-tying, 44-yard field goal at Gannon with 30 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Cal U remains tied with Pace (N.Y.) of the NE-10 for the lead in NCAA Division II this year with seven blocked kicks, which is the most for the program in a season since 2014.

• Mercyhurst has won four of its last six games to reach the .500 mark. The initial seven games of the season for the Lakers were all decided by eight points or less, including four by three points or fewer. Last week marked the first double-digit difference in the final score for Mercyhurst, as it posted a 35-16 win over Seton Hill. The Lakers have already surpassed last year's win total and are looking for their first .500 season since 2014.

• Senior kicker Will Brazill was selected the PSAC West Special Teams Athlete of the Week for the second time this season on Monday. He totaled eight points at Gannon last week after converting all five PAT attempts and an 18-yard field goal, which eventually proved to be the difference in the final score. Brazill ranks fifth in NCAA Division II among kickers with 72 points scored behind 33 PAT attempts and 13 field goals.

• Senior Tom Greene established a career high with 202 receiving yards on nine catches with two touchdowns last week at Gannon. He posted the sixth-most receiving yards in single-game school history and is the first player other than Garry Brown to tally at least 200 yards in a game since 2011. Greene made three catches last week for at least 20 yards and six of his nine catches resulted in either a touchdown or first down.

• The Vulcans will recognize a group of 17 seniors this weekend. The senior class has compiled a record of 33-8 and has started a combined 281 games. Wide receiver Luke Smorey is the team's active leader with 34 career starts, while eight other seniors have each made at least 20 starts in their careers.

• Mercyhurst sophomore quarterback Doug Altavilla is the cousin of former Laker All-American pitcher Dan Altavilla. Dan made his MLB debut with the Seattle Mariners last season before making over 40 appearances with the Mariners this summer. Dan was selected in the fifth round of the 2014 MLB Draft after being named the Most Outstanding Pitcher in NCAA Division II as a junior.

• Last week, senior linebacker Cameron Tarver matched his career highs of six tackles, 3.0 TFL and 2.0 sacks at Gannon. He has posted a combined 11 tackles, 4.0 TFL and 3.0 sacks over the last two weeks and now leads the team with 9.0 TFL and 4.0 sacks. A native of Ohio, Tarver has recorded at least 8.5 TFL in each of the last three years and enters the weekend with 15.0 career sacks.