Second ranked UW-Whitewater will host the University of Puget Sound Saturday at 12:00 in Perkins Stadium.
Won-Loss: UW-Whitewater is 2-0, 0-0 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Puget Sound is 0-2, 0-0 in the Northwest Conference.
By the Numbers: UW-Whitewater starts three seniors on offense and no freshmen. The offensive line averages 281 pounds. The Warhawk defense starts seven seniors and no freshmen. The defensive line averages 266 pounds. Puget Sound's offense includes five seniors and three freshmen. The line averages 270 pounds. There are five seniors among the Loggers' defensive starters and one freshman. The "D" line averages 247 pounds. Just like the Warhawks' last year, this will be Puget Sounds' longest trip. Mapquest has it listed as 1,962 miles, and a wrong turn or drive across the city of Tacoma to get to the airport could easily make this 2,000.
The Coaches: UW-W's Lance Leipold is in his third year as head coach at UW-W, his first head coaching job. Leipold has directed the Warhawks have gone 14-1 and 13-2 in his two years. Phil Willenbrock is in his eighth year in Tacoma, with a cumulative record before 2009 of 24-40.
About UW-W: The school of 10,500 is located in Whitewater, Wisconsin in south central Wisconsin. The WIAC consists of nine members. Whitewater is one of twenty-six campuses within the University of Wisconsin System. The Warhawks have won the last four WIAC titles and advanced to the NCAA Division III championship game, the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in Salem, Virginia, those four years. The Warhawks won the 2007 NCAA III title in Leipold's first year. UW-Whitewater is ranked second in this week's D3football.com national poll.
The Warhawks so Far: UW-W opened the season with a 38-3 win at Dickinson State (ND) September 5. The Warhawks followed that up with a 58-0 win September 12 home opener against Midland Lutheran College. Whitewater did not play last week. Early season non-conference games are generally a bad predictor of future results, but a few notes stand out. The defense has allowed 201 yards, total, in two games while forcing five turnovers. Warhawk opponents had to contend with the tandem of Levell Coppage (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park) (1,400+ yards) and Antwann Anderson (1,000) last year, but that has been expanded to a hydra this year, with junior C.R, Miller recording Whitewater's first one hundred yard rushing game of the season against Midland. Senior QB Jeff Donovan (Wauwatosa/East) is completing 73% of his passes, with seven TD's and no interceptions.
About Puget Sound: Puget Sound is a residential campus of 2,700 students. President Ronald Thomas serves on the NCAA's Presidents Council for Division III. The Loggers are members of the Northwest Conference which includes nine full-time and one affiliate member, all located in Washington and Oregon. The conference became affiliated with Division III of the NCAA at the start of the 1988-89 school year. Tacoma is a city of 193,000, making it equivalent to Madison, Wisconsin.
The Loggers so Far: UPS opened with a 20-14 overtime loss at home to Pomona-Pitzer Colleges September 12. Last week they fell to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges 14-6 on the road. There is no secret that fifth year quarterback Kavin Williams is the key player for the Loggers. In an attack that prefers to run first, Williams is the team's leading rusher with 111 total yards and a 3.8 per carry average in two games. He has also completed 14-38 passes for 139 yards, with two touchdowns and no picks. Williams has also added a TD on the ground. Linebacker Tyler Vlasak earned Northwest Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors by making 20 tackles, eight unassisted and one for a loss, in the loss last week. UPS has not thrown an interception this season, and UPS has not picked off a pass.
Last Year's Game: UW-Whitewater defeated Puget Sound 60-7 in Tacoma. UW-W scored in double figures in each quarter, leading 26-0 at halftime. Whitewater limited UPS to nine first downs. Levell Coppage (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park) rushed 18 times for 102 yards as the leading ball-carrier in the game. Williams connected on 13 of 23 for 126 yards, with a fourth quarter TD and two interceptions. Whitewater's Aaron Rusch (Hartford/Hartford) had seven catches for 88 yards. The Warhawk defense had twelve tackles for a loss and four quarterback sacks.
Tickets/Schedule: Tickets for all UW-W games are available at the University Center ticket office on the main campus mall during regular business hours Monday-Friday. Tickets are also sold at Perkins Stadium on game day. Call (262) 472-2222 for ticket information.
Saturday's game is the first of a string of three home games, including the WIAC opener October 3 at 1:00 against UW-Platteville. The string ends October 10 against UW-Eau Claire, a 3:00 kickoff in Perkins.
