Full Game Notes (PDF)

CAL U (0-2) @ SHIPPENSBURG (2-0)
• When: Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018
• Where: Shippensburg, Pa.
• Stadium: Seth Grove Stadium (7,700)
• Kickoff: 1 p.m.
• Live Video: CUTVSports1 (YouTube) I Stretch (Ship Feed)
• Live Radio: WCAL (91.9 FM) I WSYC (88.7 FM)
• Live Stats: Click HERE

SERIES BREAKDOWN
• All-Time Series: Shippensburg leads 42-31-1
• First Meeting: 1926 – Shippensburg won 9-7
• Last Meeting: Sept. 9, 2015 @ California – Cal U won 34-26 | Recap | Box Score
• Streak: Cal U +3

• Cal U concludes its road trip to start the year when it faces Shippensburg on Saturday. Last week, the Vulcans dropped a 34-31 contest at Kutztown after the teams combined for 43 first-half points. Meanwhile, the Red Raiders earned a 25-21 last-second victory over Slippery Rock.
 
• The Vulcans dropped a 34-31 contest at Kutztown last weekend after allowing 15-unanswered points in the third quarter. Quarterback Noah Mitchell set a freshman school record with 418 passing yards, which are the sixth-most overall in program history. Junior Chad Livingston and sophomore Tyson Hill both eclipsed 100 receiving yards for the first time in their careers in the loss. Redshirt sophomore defensive back Jimmy Pierce led the team with nine tackles and junior linebacker London Cloud posted eight stops, 0.5 TFL and one pass break-up.
 
• The Vulcans and Red Raiders are meeting for the fifth time, including the fourth time at Seth Grove Stadium, since Shippensburg moved to the PSAC East prior to the 2008 season. Cal U and Shippensburg previously met every year from 1954-2007.
 
• An alumnus of the program, Mark Maciejewski is in his eighth season as head coach at Shippensburg. He ranks second in school history with 58 career wins and is the only coach to lead the program to seven-straight winning seasons. Maciejewski has led the Red Raiders to at least a share of first place in the PSAC East three times and has been named AFCA Regional Coach of the Year twice.
 
• Last year, Shippensburg earned a berth to the NCAA Playoffs for the first time since 2012 and finished with a 10-2 overall record. However, the Red Raiders feature a new offensive coordinator and quarterback this season. Freshman Brycen Mussina has posted 633 passing yards and six touchdowns in the opening two weeks of the season. The 2017 PSAC East Freshman of the Year, Winston Eubanks leads the team with 203 receiving yards on just seven catches. He ranked eighth in the country last year with over 1,200 receiving yards on a staggering 26.71 average yards per catch. Junior transfer Josh Gontarek has a pair of touchdowns this season after posting eight touchdown receptions at Albany in 2014. Senior Marcus Lominy and sophomore Raleigh Sirb have combined to rush for over 200 yards while averaging nearly 5.5 yards per attempt. Shippensburg has allowed just 56.5 rushing yards per game this season, which ranks second in the PSAC. Senior defensive lineman Richard Nase, a three-time All-PSAC East honoree, anchors the unit with 41.0 TFL and 23.5 sacks in his career. Senior linebacker Tyler Emge has registered over 55 stops in each of the past two seasons and was an All-PSAC East First-Team selection in 2017. Fellow senior linebacker Steven Cain leads the team with 20 tackles after finishing second on the team last season. On special teams, the Red Raiders have had both field-goal attempts blocked this year. Freshman David Shank has handled the punting duties this fall and is averaging 34.3 yards per punt.
 
• Since 2004, Cal U holds a combined 34-11 record against PSAC East opponents. The Vulcans have won nine of their last 11 meetings versus the Eastern Division. Cal U is making its fourth trip to Shippensburg since 2009 with the last occurrence being Week 3 of the 2014 season when the Vulcans earned a 56-34 victory behind six rushing touchdowns.
 
• The Vulcans were picked to finish second in the preseason PSAC West poll after making a second-straight appearance in the NCAA Playoffs. Meanwhile, the Red Raiders were slotted second in the PSAC East poll after tying for first place in the divisional standings and appearing in the NCAA Playoffs.
 
• The Vulcans featured a pair of 100-yard wide receivers last week at Kutztown in junior Chad Livingston and sophomore Tyson Hill. Cal U has boasted multiple 100-yard receivers in a game nine times since the start of 2012, including three times in 2015. Hill and Livingston combined for four catches of at least 20 yards at Kutztown with Livingston making the longest reception (84 yards) by a Cal U player since 2015.
 
• Last week, Cal U surrendered five rushing touchdowns and allowed a player to eclipse 100 rushing yards. Since 2016, the Vulcans have allowed only five players (two quarterbacks) to reach the century mark on the ground. The last time Cal U yielded five rushing touchdowns in a game was the final week of 2002 season when Shippensburg scored six rushing touchdowns, all by John Kuhn who later played 12 years in the NFL.
 
• Shippensburg freshman quarterback Brycen Mussina has started both games this year after redshirting last season at Lafayette, a NCAA FCS program. He is the son of former MLB pitcher Mike Mussina, who played 18 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees. Mike, who earned 270 career victories, received over 60 percent of the vote for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018, his fifth year on the ballot.
 
• Senior running back Nick Grissom recently received a medical hardship waiver for 2016, granting him a rare sixth year of eligibility. He missed all of 2015 due to injury before setting career highs with 1,015 rushing yards and nine touchdowns during the 2016 campaign. Grissom totaled nearly 300 yards and five touchdowns last year before suffering a season-ending injury in Week 4.
 
• In only his second career start, freshman quarterback Noah Mitchell recorded the sixth-highest passing mark in school history. He set the freshman school record with 418 passing yards last week at Kutztown, which is the fourth-highest total in a game in NCAA Division II this year. Mitchell ranks second in the country with 747 passing yards this fall and sits among the top five in the nation with 58 completions and 91 attempts.
 
• Redshirt sophomore Jimmy Pierce has started the opening two games this year after missing all of 2017 due to injury. A former all-conference quarterback in high school, he led the team with nine tackles last week at Kutztown. Pierce was a key player on special teams as a true freshman during the 2016 season. The Laurel Highlands product is one of eight defensive players to make their first starts with the program this fall.
 
• Junior wide receiver Chad Livingston set career highs last week with 163 receiving yards and two touchdowns at Kutztown. He recorded the first 100-yard game of his career behind three catches of at least 20 yards with the touchdowns accounting for 118 yards. Livingston, who had just one touchdown reception in each of the past two years, sits second in the PSAC this season with 218 receiving yards and 14 receptions.
 
• Last week, the Vulcans blocked a PAT attempt in the second quarter at Kutztown. Cal U tied for second in NCAA Division II last season with nine blocked kicks after tallying at least one blocked kick in eight-straight games. The Vulcans have registered at least five blocked kicks every year dating back to 2011.
 
• Cal U has lost its opening two games of the year, both on the road, by only a combined eight points to a pair of teams that combined for 15 wins last season. The Vulcans hold a 0-2 record for the only the third time in the last two decades (1999, 2009). Cal U opponents this year currently hold a .636 winning percentage and three teams are featured in the latest AFCA Top 25 poll (No. 12 Ohio Dominican, No. 3 IUP, No. 18 West Chester).
 
• The Vulcans lead the PSAC through the opening two weeks of the season in time of possession, averaging 34 minutes, 5 seconds per game. Cal U holds over a full-minute advantage over the rest of the 15-team league in the category. The Vulcans also pace the conference with a combined 53 first downs, which is aided by a PSAC-best 50 percent conversion (14-of-28) on third down.