The UW-Whitewater football team will close the 2009 WIAC and regular season at UW-La Crosse Saturday. UW-Whitewater is 9-0 overall, 4-0 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. UW-La Crosse is 5-4 overall and 2-4 in the WIAC.
This Season: UW-W defeated Dickinson State 38-3, Midland Lutheran 58-0, Puget Sound 42-7, UW-Platteville 35-3, UW-Eau Claire 38-14, UW-Stout 38-3, UW-River Falls 38-14, UW-Stevens Point 41-12, and UW-Oshkosh 40-7. Whitewater is 6-0 at home and 3-0 on the road. UW-La Crosse defeated East Texas Baptist 28-13, beat Azusa Pacific University 49-24, beat Missouri S&T 48-0, beat UW-Oshkosh 32-25, lost to UW-Platteville 13-26, beat UW-River Falls in overtime 49-47, lost to UW-Stevens Point 14-26, lost to UW-Stout 28-35, and lost to UW-Eau Claire 17-27. UW-La Crosse is 3-2 at home and 2-2 on the road.
By the Numbers: UW-W's offensive line averages 281 pounds. It matches up with the Eagles' defensive line that averages 269 pounds. On the other side of the ball, the UW-W defensive front averages 266 pounds versus a UW-La Crosse offensive line that averages 275. UW-W starts three seniors and one freshman on offense, and seven seniors and no freshmen on defense. UW-L starts four seniors and no freshmen on offense, and defensively starts three seniors and one freshman.
The Series: UW-L leads the series, which goes back to 1917, 32-25. The largest margin of victory for UW-Whitewater came in 1966 with a score 49-14 and 2006 with a score 45-10. The most points scored by the Warhawks came in a 60-32 victory in 1987. Whitewater's longest winning streak is five games from 2005-2008. Whitewater is currently on a five-game winning streak against the Eagles. The largest margin of victory for the Eagles happened in 1917, 59, also the most points scored by UW-L. The most points the teams have combined to score was in 1987 (92). The lowest combined total (1) was 1-0 forfeit by Whitewater in 1919 and 1971.
The Coaches: Whitewater's Lance Leipold, in his third season, is 36-3 overall and 18-1 in WIAC play. UW-L's Larry Terry, in his tenth season, is 62-40 overall and 44-25 in the WIAC. Leipold is 2-0 against UW-L.
Not in My House, or the WIAC, or: UW-Whitewater is 35-1 in Perkins Stadium since the start of the 2005 season. The Warhawks have also won 39 of their last 39 WIAC games, and are 64-5 since the 2005 kicked off.
Whitewater Last Week: UW-Whitewater claimed its fifth consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title and the league's automatic berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III championship playoffs by defeating UW-Oshkosh 40-7 at Perkins Stadium. The Warhawks never trailed in the game and still have not surrendered a first quarter score (90-0). Whitewater totaled 520 offensive yards, led by Levell Coppage (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park)'s 209 rushing yards and three touchdowns. QB Jeff Donovan (Wauwatosa/East) went 29-33 and earned WIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors. WR Jordan Wells (Elgin, IL/Elgin) caught a career high 12 passes.
Climbing the Charts, with a Bullet: WR Aaron Rusch (Hartford/Hartford), who missed the Oshkosh game, is still sitting in fourth place in the school career receiving yards category with with 2,343, with Jim Leszczynski (2002-2005) in third at 2,547. Rusch is Whitewater's all-time leader in receptions with 168. RB Levell Coppage (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park) has moved in to seventh with 2,950 career rushing yards, looking up at Eddie McKennie (1994-97) in sixth at 3,354. Coppage also has 43 career rushing TD's, second in school history to Justin Beaver's 44 (2004-2007). Beaver's 44 is tied for second place in the WIAC career book, with 51 by Greg Corning of UW-River Falls (1994-97) number one. Coppage's season total of 22 TD's is second at UW-W to Beaver's 24 in 2005 -- which is also the WIAC record. Also, with 1,290 yards this season Coppage has climbed into tenth place at UW-W, again with Beaver (this time the 2006 version) ahead in ninth at 1,369. QB Jeff Donovan (Wauwatosa/East) has thrown for 34 TD's for fifth place on the UW-W career list. Mike LaLoggia (1977-79) is fourth with 38. DE Anthony White (Milwaukee/Bay View) needs just one sack to move in to a tie for fifth place on UW-W's career list. Just ahead of him are Marty Vosburg (1995-97), Jim Vogel (1977-78), and Nick Zolper (2001-2004) with 19. PK Jeff Schebler (Davenport, IA/Assumption), the leader kick scorer in UW-W, WIAC and NCAA III history, has accumulated 419 points. The all-time, all- division, NCAA record is 433 by Art Carmody of the University of Louisville (2004-2007). Schebler has been named a Fred Mitchell Award finalist, one of fifteen, for September and October. The Mitchell Award, new this year, will recognize the top placekicker in Division II/Division III (combined, not one each).
La Crosse Last Week: La Crosse lost its third straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game with a 27-17 loss at Eau-Claire. La Crosse jumped out to a quick 10-0 first quarter lead but Eau-Claire charged back with 20 unanswered points in the second and third quarter. Reid Oldenburg had 111 yards rushing on 19 carries and two touchdowns to lead UW-L. The Eagles split time at QB between Nick Anker (17-32 for 161 yards, with two interceptions) and Dan Trussoni. Trussoni finished 10-18 for 111 yards with an interception. Alex Maxinoski had 12 catches for 130 yards. The Eagles were hampered by converting just two of 14 third down opportunities.
La Crosse This Year: Oldenburg is the lead back in a talented twosome. He has rushed for 936 yards in just seven games and is averaging 5.5 yards per attempt. Lee Lauters, with about half as many carries as Oldenburg, is averaging 4.6 yards per attempt. The Eagles, as a team, average 4.0 yards per rush. Anker is the number one QB, with a .562 completion rate, and ten touchdowns and ten interceptions. Just as in the backfield, UW-L boasts a duo of dangerous wide receivers. Alex Maxinoski has 60 catches and Travis Bordeau 50. La Crosse is the number two scoring team in the WIAC, averaging 30.9 points per game and number two in total offense, 407.1. Tyler O'Kane, the top punt returner in the WIAC, averages 10.6 per try. LB's Aaron Johnson and Jim Litscher are one and three on the team in total tackles, and both are among the top twenty in the league. They are joined by safety Dustin Drath, second on the team and also in the top twenty. Johnson also had 14 tackles for a loss.
Whitewater-La Crosse Last Year: Whitewater won 31-0 October 4 in Whitewater before a WIAC record crowd of 11,038 in Perkins Stadium. It was Whitewater's twenty-third consecutive win in the WIAC and twenty-seventh at Perkins. UW-W led 24-0 at halftime. The Warhawks converted 9-13 third down plays. Levelll Coppage rushed for 176 yards on 27 carries, the majority of Whitewater's 259 rushing yards. QB Jeff Donovan (Wauwatosa/East) only passed 13 times, completing ten, six to Aaron Rusch (Hartford/Hartford). Whitewater limited La Crosse to 83 yards rushing and 202 overall, with QB Alex Seguin completing 10-26.
The Schedule/Tickets: Looking ahead, UW-W will learn its draw for the NCAA III playoffs late Sunday. The information will be posted on the UW-W athletics web site, www.uwwsports.com, by noon Monday. The UW-W ticket office, located in the Connor University Center on the main campus mall, can be reached at 262-472-2222.
