Football Game 6 Preview - Denison University Big Red

Setting the Scene

The Wittenberg University Tigers hit the road for just the second time in the 2001 season this weekend as they head to Granville to take on the Denison University Big Red. The Tigers, ranked 20th in the latest American Football Coaches Association rankings, are 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference after defeating visiting arch-rival Allegheny College 21-17 in dramatic fashion last Saturday. Denison is 1-3 overall and 1-1 in the NCAC after winning a 52-50 double overtime thriller last weekend over visiting Kenyon College.

This weeks game begins the second half of the 2001 season for the Tigers as they attempt to become the first team to win four straight outright NCAC titles and five in a row overall. After opening the season with lop-sided back-to-back home victories over Urbana University and Heidelberg College, the Tigers lost at Alma College to snap a 33-game regular season win streak. In the last two weeks, the Tigers rebounded to defeat the preseason picks to finish third and second in the NCAC respectively, Wabash and Allegheny.

Denison comes in hoping to spring its biggest upset in years. The Big Red lost their first two non-conference games to Waynesburg and Randolph-Macon, then were defeated by Allegheny in the NCAC opener before rallying a week ago to defeat Kenyon. Denison has not had a winning season since 1990 and hasnt be in the running for the NCAC championship since back-to-back one-loss seasons in 1985-86.

Scouting the Tigers

Wittenberg is 4-1 this year, still ranked in the national top 20, and in their customary position atop the North Coast Athletic Conference with a 2-0 record. But make no mistake, it has not been as easy as in past seasons.

Junior tailback Daniel Grove leads the team with 457 yards rushing for a 91.4 yards per game average and team-best seven touchdowns, although he has only topped 100 yards in two of the five games this year. He is trying to fill the monstrous hole left by Casey Donaldsons departure, a year after Donaldson broke almost every school and conference rushing and scoring record. Senior wide receiver Michael Aljancichas been nothing short of sensational with 36 catches for 541 yards and six touchdowns. He is just three catches, 89 yards and two touchdowns away from his career highs in each category. Junior quarterback Greg Cornett has played well in his first season under center, completing 80 of 135 passes for 1066 yards and nine touchdowns. His efficiency rating of 143.14 is just a fraction out of the national Division III rankings.

Defense, expected to be a strength for the Tigers in 2001 after Wittenberg led the NCAC in total defense for the eighth time in nine years in 2000, has risen to the challenge in recent weeks. Against Wabash, the Tigers held the potent Little Giants without a touchdown for the first time since 1996. Last week, the Tigers played a particularly strong first half, holding Allegheny to just 63 total yards and no points.

Junior linebacker Ryan Gresham leads the Tigers with 23 tackles, including five for losses totaling 25 yards. Senior defensive end Tim Daoust tops the squad with nine tackles for loss, including 5.5 sacks. Eleven Tiger players have 10 tackles or more this season, and four have more than 20.

Scouting the Big Red

The storyline in Granville is a familiar one in 2001, and it is one we will be writing and hearing about for two more seasons after this one. Sophomore quarterback Greg Neuendorf continues to put up by astounding statistics and big scoring numbers on the board for the Big Red. A year after sitting out the entire 1999 season with a head injury, Neuendorf came back to make All-NCAC a year ago by setting school records for passing yardage, attempts and completions. He led the conference with 3,074 yards on 271 completions and 15 touchdowns. In addition, Neuendorf scored all seven of DUs rushing TDs.

Last week, Neuendorf broke a few more records in Denison's 52-50 overtime victory over neighboring rival Kenyon. In rallying the Big Red from a 24-9 fourth-quarter deficit, Neuendorf, who is averaging an NCAC and NCAA Division III-best 395.5 yards of total offense per game, broke his own NCAC and Denison record for total offense when he racked up 512 yards. He finished the day with 436 yards passing (32-of-64 with four touchdowns) and 76 yards rushing (17 carries, one TD).

Defense is the issue for the Big Red, who are surrendering a whopping 48.8 points and 442.5 yards of total offense per game. Denison has yet to hold an opponent to less than 43 points in a game this season and each of its last two foes, Allegheny and Kenyon, have reached the 50-point plateau. 

The Big Red are coached by Nick Fletcher, who is in his second season at the helm in Granville. Fletcher has an overall six-year record of 30-33, including five years at Eureka (Ill.). In his first season at Denison, the Big Red finished 2-8, 2-5 in the NCAC.

By Contrast...

While Denison is struggling to keep opponents under 50 points per game, Wittenberg has not allowed 50 points in a regular season game since 1942 when the College of Wooster laid a 71-0 whipping on the Tigers. Wittenberg did surrender 58 points in the 1999 playoff stunner at home against Ohio Northern.

Offensively, Wittenberg went over 50 points twice in 2000, including a 62-7 defeat of Denison, and has topped that mark already in 2001 with a 59-7 win over Heidelberg.

Last Meeting with Denison

Behind a balanced offensive attack and a vicious defense that yielded only a meaningless fourth quarter touchdown, Wittenberg defeated Denison 62-7 at Edwards-Maurer Field in Springfield on Oct. 7, 2000. 

The Tigers scored early and often, starting with a five-yard touchdown reception by wide receiver Michael Aljancic from quarterback Anthony Crane just 3:42 into the game. Defensive tackle Juan Howard added TD just moments later, picking up a fumble and taking it 34 yards to paydirt.

Wittenberg broke the game open in the second quarter. Tailback Casey Donaldsonscored on a 44-yard swing pass and a three-yard run; wide receiver Labon Stortsadded a 24-yard TD catch and wide receiver Steve DeGraffinreed tacked on a two-yard TD reception to round out the first-half scoring. Crane wound up 14-of-20 for 190 yards and a career-best four touchdowns in the first half alone.

He did not play in the second half. The third and fourth quarters were primarily played by Wittenberg reserves. DeAron Long returned the Tigers second blocked punt of the day 17 yards for his first collegiate TD; wide receiver Adrian Crane caught an 11-yard TD pass from quarterback Chris Damico and tailback Jamaal Jones punched the ball in from two yards out to cap the scoring.

The Wittenberg/Denison Series

Denison is one of the Tigers most common opponents over the years as the two teams have met 66 times on the football field, dating all the way back to 1901. Wittenberg won the first two meetings between the two teams and also the last 11. The Big Red's last victory over Wittenberg came in 1989, a 21-14 win in Granville that marked the conclusion of the Tigers first season in the NCAC and only losing campaign since 1955.

Last Week

The Wittenberg Tigers are used to winning on the football field. Just not this way.

After struggling to move the ball on offense all day, the Tigers rallied to stun Allegheny 21-17 before a boisterous Homecoming crowd at Edwards-Maurer Field. Wittenberg came from 10 points behind on a pair of touchdown passes from junior quarterbackGreg Cornett to Michael Aljancic, the last one coming with just 16 seconds on the clock.

The game was primarily a defensive struggle, particularly in the first half as Allegheny managed just two first downs, 12 rushing yards and 63 total yards, while Wittenberg was only marginally better with 167 total yards. The only score of the first half came in the opening stanza as Cornett hit junior wide receiver Adrian Crane on a four-yard scoring strike.

Allegheny then opened the second half with 17 unanswered points to put Wittenberg in the unfamiliar position of having to rally from the brink. Tight end Jared McNeilly had a 31-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Bubba Smith in the third quarter, and then Smith put the Gators ahead with a two-yard touchdown run with 46 seconds remaining in the frame. The fourth quarter started in much the same fashion as the Gators drove 81 yards, although they eventually settled for an 18-yard field goal.

That defensive stand became a turning point as Wittenberg went 58 yards on six plays in response and Cornett hooked up with Aljancic from four yards out with 6:37 left to play. The Cornett to Aljancic connection produced 45 of those 58 yards on three receptions. The Tigers then came up with another defensive stand and took possession with 2:42 remaining. Wittenberg converted four third downs in a drive that took 2:26 off the clock, culminating in a game-winning six-yard touchdown pass from Cornett to Aljancic with 16 seconds left.

Wittenberg held the Gators, who were without injured All-American tailback Shane Ream, to 219 total offensive yards and just 4-of-15 on third down conversions. Senior defensive tackle Michael Houck showed the way with 9.5 tackles, while senior defensive tackle Juan Howard and junior linebacker Ryan Gresham chipped in with three tackles for loss each. The Tiger defense racked up five sacks in the game.

Offensively, the story was once again the play of Aljancic. Two weeks after posting a career-high 10 catches for 143 yards in the stunning loss at Alma College, Aljancic was at it again, catching 11 passes for 130 yards, nine of them for 105 yards in the second half alone. The 11 receptions in a game is the second-best total in school history, one short of the 27-year-old mark set by 2001 Athletics Hall of Honor inductee Ron Duncan against Denison in 1964.

Streaks

The loss at Alma on September 15 snapped Wittenberg's school-record regular season win streak at 33, dating back to Nov. 4, 1997 against the College of Wooster. It also brought to an end a run of 12 straight regular season road victories, also dating back to the 1997 defeat at Wooster.

Wittenberg still has several streaks intact, however. The Tigers extended their regular season home win streak to 33 games last week, dating back to the second game of the 1996 season against Allegheny. The Tigers have also reeled off 24 straight NCAC victories dating back to the 1997 loss at Wooster.

Finally, Wittenberg has gone nearly 10 years since losing back-to-back games. In 1991, Case Western Reserve and Allegheny both claimed wins over the Tigers. At the end of the 1991 season, Ohio Wesleyan defeated Wittenberg, and then the Tigers were beaten in the 1992 opener by Baldwin-Wallace before they reeled off eight wins and a tie to close the season.

Since the loss to B-W, Wittenberg has played 101 games without losing two straight (not including a forfeit win over Oberin in 1992). The Tigers record during that time is 90-10-1.

All Eyes on Al

Senior wide receiver Michael Aljancic is putting together his finest season in what has been an outstanding collegiate career. With 36 catches, 19 more than anyone else on the Wittenberg roster in 2001, Aljancic has moved to No. 2 on the all-time receiving list. That is one of several charts on which he is moving up:

Career Records

PASS RECEIVING No. Yds. Avg. TD
1. Rod Miller (1964-67) 143 2,288 16.0 26
2. Michael Aljancic (1998-00) 129 2,000 15.5 23
3. Jim Collins (1984-87) 116 1,560 13.4 11
4. Labon Storts (1997-00) 96 1,612 16.8 14
5. Ray Ward (1967-69) 95 1,308 13.8 13
6. Bob Cherry (1961-63) 90 1,790 19.9 27
7. Eugene Hardin (1994-96) 89 1,321 14.8 15
8. Russ Fedyk (1995-99) 85 1,317 16.8 14
9. Mark Peters (1991-94) 80 1,146 14.3 12
10. Chris Thompson (1990-93) 73 866 11.9 9

Aljancic is averaging more than seven catches per game in 2001, which projects to a total of 72 for the season. That would shatter the Wittenberg season receptions record of 53, set four years ago by Russ Fedyk.

Season Records

PASS RECEIVING G No. Yds. Avg. TD
1. Russ Fedyk (1997) 10 53 954 18.0 10
2. Rod Miller (1966) 9 49 706 14.4 8
3. Jim Collins (1987) 10 46 557 12.1 7
4. Bob Cherry (1963) 9 45 886 19.7 13
5. Ray Ward (1969) 9 44 582 13.2 7
6. Eugene Hardin (1995) 10 39 718 18.4 8
7. Michael Aljancic (2000) 10 39 670 17.2 8
8. Rod Miller (1967) 9 38 603 15.9 6
9. Ray Ward (1968) 9 37 534 14.4 5
Michael Aljancic (1999) 10 37 572 15.5 6
11. Michael Aljancic (2001) 5 36 541 15.0 6

Coach of the Year

Joe Fincham is now 56-6 in his career. Perhaps even more impressive, Fincham is 52-3 in regular season games. Last year, he became the first Wittenberg coach to earn conference coach of the year honors three straight years. Dave Maurer won the award in the Ohio Athletic Conference three times in four years (1976, 1978, 1979) and Bill Edwards coached at a time when such awards were not given. Maurer and Edwards both also won national coach of the year on two occasions.