The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks put their twenty game win streak on the line as they travel to Eau Claire to face the Blugolds Saturday with kickoff at 3:00 pm.
Won-Lost: Whitewater is 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (W 35-0 vs. Adrian College, W 70-7 vs. Dakota State University, W 37-7 vs. Campbellsville University, W 49-17 vs. Platteville, W 30-7 vs. Stout). Eau Claire is 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the WIAC. The Blugolds opened the season with a 35-31 win over Bethel College (TN), then topped Saint John's 23-20 in overtime, lost to eleventh ranked North Central 20-6 in Naperville, IL, beat Stevens Point 20-13 in OT, and lost to Platteville 35-14 last week.
By the Numbers: The Eau Claire offensive line averages 286 pounds. The Eau Claire offense will start one senior, five juniors, four sophomores, and one freshman. The UW-Eau Claire defensive line averages 239 pounds. The defense includes four seniors, five juniors, one sophomore, and one freshman. The Whitewater offensive line averages 274 pounds. The offense will start seven seniors, three juniors, and one sophomore. The UW-W defensive line averages 248 pounds. The Warhawk defense will start six seniors, four juniors, and one sophomore.
Another Number: UW-W drew 12,189 fans for last week's Family Day game versus UW-Stout, breaking its own school and WIAC mark of 11,028 hosting UW-La Crosse October 4, 2008.
Win Streak Longest in the NCAA: UW-W has a twenty game win streak, dating back to the 2008 loss to Mount Union in the Stagg Bowl. The win streak is the longest in NCAA football, all divisions. UW-W had been tied with the University of Alabama, but the Tide lost to South Carolina last Saturday.
WIAC Streak: UW-W has won twelve consecutive games in the WIAC, dating back to the 17-16 loss to UW-Stevens Point October 25, 2008 in Perkins Stadium.
Non-Conference Streak: Not on the line this week, but UW-W has won eleven straight non-conference games dating back to the 31-26 loss to Mount Union December 20 in the 2008 Stagg Bowl.
Home Streak: Another streak on hold ... the Warhawks have won eighteen consecutive games at Perkins Stadium, dating back to a 17-16 loss to UW-Stevens Point, October 25, 2008.
Streak Vs. Eau Claire: UW-Whitewater leads the series, which began in 1923, 38-22. The Warhawks have won the last eight times the teams have met. UW-W has two, eight game winning streaks in the series, the other from 1990-1997. Eau Claire won five straight, 1998-2002. The most points UW-W has scored against UW-EC was 70 in a 70-0 win in 1958, which is almost the largest margin of victory by either team. The most points EC has scored came in a 39-13 win in 1953. The largest combined score, a 50-34 Whitewater win, was in 1997. The fewest points the teams produced, a 7-0 win by EC in 1976. Whitewater has shut out the Blugolds seven times, most recently in a 27-0 win in 2007. EC has held UW-W scoreless four times, a 14-0 win in 1999 the most recent.
National Polls: UW-W is ranked first in both the AFCA and the D3football.com polls. The Blugolds are not ranked, but received three votes in the D3football.com poll to earn a place among "others receiving votes".
UW-W Head Coach: Lance Leipold is in his fourth year at UW-Whitewater, his only head coaching position. He is 47-3 (.940) during his tenure with UW-W, including a 22-1 (.957) mark in the WIAC. The Warhawks have won Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles all three years (and five in a row) and advanced through the NCAA III playoffs to the Stagg Bowl all three years (and five in a row), winning national titles in 2007 and 2009.
Eau Claire Head Coach: Todd Glaser is in his fifth season at UW-Eau Claire with an overall record of 27-20-0 and a conference record of 16-13-0. He became the Blugolds' 15th head coach in program history in March 2006 and finished his first season with a 3-7 record. He followed that with a 9-3 record in 2007 with the team finishing as the sixth most improved football team in NCAA Division III. Glaser guided the Blugolds to a NCAA Division III playoff appearance in 2007 for only the second time in program history. The Blugolds finished second in WIAC in 2007 and third in 2008 and Glaser received WIAC Coach of the Year and WFCA College Coach of the Year honors in 2007. Glaser served as Marietta College (Ohio) head coach from 2003-05 and finished with a 13-17 overall record and helped guide Marietta to its first back-to-back non-losing seasons in 10 years. He was named Ohio Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2004 when Marietta finished with a 6-4 mark. In his earlier years, he played football four seasons for the Blugolds (1987-90) under head coach Jim Lind. Glaser served as a student assistant for Lind for one season after finishing up his eligibility and then assisted Greg Polnasek for three seasons after he graduated. He was the assistant coach under Bob Nielson for two years (1997 and 1998), serving as linebacker coach and strength and conditioning coordinator. During his final two years as the defensive coordinator (2001 and 2002), the Blugolds produced 8-2 season records, shared the WIAC championship in 2001 and had the second-ranked defense in yardage allowed both years.
About the Blugolds: “Livin on the Edge” must be the Blugolds' theme song for 2010. UW-EC has been that close to breaking into the national poll. They beat perennial NCAA III playoff participant Saint John's 23-20 in overtime, and topped WIAC contender UW-Stevens Point 20-13 in overtime two weeks ago. In between they traveled to Naperville, Illinois and played a strong game in a 20-6 loss to nationally ranked North Central College. The close games began with a 35-31 win in the season opener at Bethel College (TN). The Blugolds lead the WIAC in pass defense, giving up just 149.6 yards per game, which is almost 31st in the NCAA III stats. They are also second in the WIAC in pass efficiency defense. While that has resulted in just two interceptions, the full story is the UW-EC has recorded ten sacks this season, from eight different players. Five players have at least three tackles for a loss, which in college football can be a quarterback scrambling. The EC defense has allowed fewer yards passing than their offense has produced, fewer yards per completion, and fewer touchdowns. Linebacker Andy Neumann, and backs Kyle Thorpe and Chad Samuelson are 1-2-3 in tackles. The Blugold offense can rely on tailback Joel Sweeney, averaging 104.4 yards per game and 4.7 per carry. He also leads UW-EC with seven touchdowns. Sophomore QB Austin Neu is completing 58% of his passes for 169 yards per game. He has thrown three TD passes and three picks. Junior wide receiver David Goodman leads the team with 19 catches. Placekicker Brandon Raciborski has connected on five of seven attempts, with a long of 38.
About the Warhawks: UW-W leads Division III in total offense (554.2 yards per game), is sixth in scoring (44.2), third in pass efficiency, and eighth in rushing (310.6). On the other side of the ball, the Warhawks are second in D3 in rushing defense (37.0), fourth in total defense (201.4), and fourth in scoring (7.6).
Matt Blanchard (Lake Zurich, IL/Lake Zurich), completing 72% of his passes for 243 yards per game, has thrown for 12 touchdowns (and rushed for two more) and has not thrown an interception. Not surprisingly, he is third in Division III in pass efficiency. Wide receiver
Adam Brandes (Burlington/Catholic Central) leads the WIAC in receiving yards per game (100.6), and wideout
Aaron Rusch (Hartford/Hartford) has caught a pass in all 49 games in his college career. Even UW-W punter
Kris Rosholt (Reedsburg/Reedsburg) is making an impact, leading the WIAC in punting and earning the WIAC Special Team Player of the Week and D3football.com's Team of the Week honors by dropping two punts, a 50 yarder and a 51 yarder, on the one yard line last week against Stout. But, with
Lance Leipold's “you've got to get better every day” philosophy, it's like Roseanne Rosanadana said; “it's always something.” UW-Whitewater is the most penalized team in the WIAC, giving away 69 yards per game. And the Warhawks' offensive red zone efficiency has been hurt by a kicking game that has made just two of eight field goal attempts, the longest made from 24 yards. UW-W has had slow starts in its last two games, leading Stout 10-7 at halftime last week and trailing UW-Platteville 10-7 in the second quarter. Those aberrations may be indications of a wakeup call however, since UW-W has out-scored opponents 75-0 in the third quarter this year.
Eau Claire-Whitewater Last Year: Whitewater won 38-14 October 10, 2009 at Perkins Stadium. Whitewater led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter, 17-6 at halftime, and 31-14 after three.
UW-W rushed for 406 yards and averaged 8.1 yards per attempt. Levell Coppage (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park) rushed for a school record 386 yards on 42 carries, the second highest yardage game in WIAC history. Coppage accounted for almost two-thirds of Whitewater's 591 yards. Jeff Donovan (Wauwatosa/East) went 14-20 for 185 yards and a TD to keep the Blugold defense honest. Kyle Paulson completed 26-37 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns, and no interceptions, for the Blugolds. Brett Schreiner caught 7 of the passes for 36 yards. There were no turnovers in the game, and just eight penalties, total.
Follow the Warhawks: The game will be carried by long-time partner WKCH radio, 106.5 FM. The station's website and the UW-W athletics site (www.uwwsports.com) will stream the broadcast.
Coming Up: UW-W will continue on the road to take on UW-River Falls Saturday, October 23 with a 3:00 kickoff. Tickets can be purchased by calling the UW-River Falls Ticket Information Office at 715-425-3900. The next home game for the Warhawks will be the annual Homecoming game, October 30 at 1:00 with UW-Stevens Point visiting Perkins Stadium. Tickets can be purchased at the University Ticket Office, located in the Connor University Center on campus and open Monday-Friday during normal business hours, and at the Perkins Stadium ticket window on game day. Call 262-472-2222 for UW-W ticket information.
