Washington and Lee University
SERIES INFO:
Time: 7:00 pm
Site: Salem Stadium (7,136)
Series: First Meeting
Last Meeting: N/A
First Meeting: N/A
Last W&L Win: N/A
Last AU Win: N/A
Current Series Streak: N/A
W&L vs. AU at W&L: N/A
W&L vs. AU at AU: N/A
THE SERIES:
W&L and Averett will be meeting for the first time. Members of the USA South Conference, Averett first fielded a football team in 2000 and is coming off a USA South Championship season in 2006. The teams will meet twice in the current series, with both games taking place in Salem, Va., site of the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, the NCAA Division III Championship game.
THE HEAD COACHES:
Frank Miriello (East Stroudsburg '67) is in his 13th season as the head coach at W&L and his 40th year of coaching. He claims a 62-58-1 (.517) overall record and ranks second all-time at W&L in career victories. The Cougars are led by sixth-year Head Coach Mike Dunleavy (Otterbein '87). Dunleavy is 27-21 (.563) for his career, including a 7-3 mark last season, the program's fourth-straight winning season. Dunleavy had coached at Waynesburg College, Ohio State, Toledo and the World Football League, before taking over at Averett. ALL-TIME RECORD: W&L has compiled a 449-484-39 (.482) all-time record over 114 seasons of football. The Generals have been linked to the first intercollegiate football game played in the South, an 1873 matchup with neighboring VMI, though the University officially recognized football as a varsity sport beginning in 1890.
LAST TIME OUT:
(W&L 20, F&M 0; September 8, 2007 - Lexington, Va.)
Senior wide receiver Jack Martin notched 177 yards and one touchdown receiving and junior tailback Tom Pacicco rushed for 116 yards and two more scores to lead the Washington and Lee football team to a 20-0 victory over Franklin & Marshall in the season-opener for both teams at Wilson Field. The Generals' defense held the Diplomats to just 122 total yards and 3-for-17 on third-down conversions, while the offense racked up 377 yards of total offense. W&L opened the scoring at the 14:50 mark of the second quarter as sophomore quarterback R.J. Varner capped a 12-play, 71-yard drive when he found Martin with a 16-yard scoring strike. The PAT failed, giving the Generals a 6-0 lead. W&L added to its margin with 7:45 remaining before the half as Pacicco found paydirt with a 7-yard touchdown scamper to make it 13-0. The Diplomats strung together a 9-play, 50-yard drive just before the end of the first half, but a fumble on the Generals' 39-yardline with 57 seconds remaining ended their best scoring opportunity. Pacicco added the final score with 11:33 remaining in the game as he capped an 11-play, 68-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge. Varner completed 18-of-40 passes for 250 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions. Martin snared nine passes, while Pacicco rushed 33 times for his career-high yardage total. Senior linebacker Kyle Harvey led the defense with nine tackles, while sophomore defensive lineman Rick Barron notched three tackles, including 1.5 sacks. Senior quarterback Kyle Turner completed just 7-of-24 passes for 59 yards for F&M, while freshman running back Lorenzo Daughtry-Chambers totaled 31 yards on 14 carries. Junior linebacker Zach Romash led the F&M defense with 11 tackles, including seven solo stops. SCOUTING AVERETT: Averett is 0-2 and is coming off a 47-13 loss at Guilford on Saturday evening. The Quakers jumped out to a 26-7 halftime lead and cruised to the victory. The Cougars gained 410 yards of total offense, but could not keep up with Guilford quarterback Josh Vogelbach, who passes for 360 yards and seven touchdowns. Junior signal-called Shan Fairbanks tried his best to match Vogelbach, completing 22-of-38 passes for 303 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. His favorite target was junior wide receiver T.J. Hammond, who snared seven balls for 94 yards and a touchdown. Freshman tailback Mark Williams hauled in five passes for 83 yards and a touchdown, while sophomore tailback Dontavious Watson posted five catches for 63 yards. Freshman quarterback Jeremy Dixon led the Cougars on the ground, gaining 68 yards on 12 carries. Senior linebacker Chris Pearce led the Averett defense with 11 tackles, including seven solo stops. For the season, Fairbanks has completed 51.5 percent of his passes for 441 yards and two scores, but has been picked off four times. Hammond claims 11 catches for 155 yards and one touchdown, while Dixon has rushed for 66 yards on 13 carries. Senior linebacker Griffin McConaghy has posted a team-best 18 tackles.
PUNDITS AND POLLS:
The preseason pundits have had a favorable opinion of Washington and Lee following the Generals' first conference title since 1985. W&L appeared in the Street & Smith's Preseason Division III poll at No. 25, the program's first-ever preseason ranking. The Generals are also picked to finish second in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Coaches Poll, just behind Bridgewater College. W&L went 5-1 in the ODAC last season, with the lone loss occurring at Bridgewater (27-8).
IS FOUR IN STORE?:
The 2007 season is what the Generals hope to be their fourth-straight winning campaign. After going 3-7 in 2003, W&L has posted a 21-11 overall record and had three winning campaigns. W&L has not posted four-straight winning seasons since a string of six-straight from 1980-1985.
DONUT FOR STARTERS:
W&L's season-opening 20-0 shutout victory over Franklin & Marshall marked the program's first shuout to begin a season since blanking Hampden-Sydney, 26-0, to begin the 1940 season. All told, W&L has recorded 29 season-opening donuts.
NEUTRAL GAMES:
W&L has played a total of 101 football games at neutral locations throughout the United States and is 27-64-10 (.317) in those contests. W&L has not played at a neutral field since the 1993 season when it fell to Georgetown, 17-14, in Devonshire, Bermuda.
W&L vs. THE USA SOUTH CONFERENCE:
W&L is 13-7 all-time against the eight current teams from the USA South Conference. The Generals have not met a team from the USA South since defeating Greensboro, 21-7, in the final game of the 2004 season. W&L is 7-7 all-time against Maryville, 4-0 all-time against Greensboro and 2-0 all-time against Methodist. The Generals have never faced any of the other five USA South schools.
REMAINING DEFENSIVE:
W&L returned nine defensive starters from the 2006 season and that returning experience showed against Franklin & Marshall, holding the Diplomats to just 122 total yards and 3-for-17 on third down conversions. The Generals also posted four quarterback sacks led by sophomore lineman Rick Barron, who had 1.5 sacks.
HE'S NOT SNODDY, JUST THAT GOOD:
Senior cornerback Mark Snoddy picked up where he left off last season, recording a pair of pass breakups against Franklin & Marshall. Runner-up for the 2006 Dudley Award, which is presented to the Virginia Division II-III Player of the Year, Snoddy ranked sixth nationally in interceptions (9) and passes defensed (20) last season. His 17 career interceptions are already a W&L record.
SHOW ME THE O:
Washington and Lee's 2006 season was dominated by the defense. The 2007 season may exhibit greater balance if the season-opening win over F&M is any indication. The Generals tallied 377 yards of total offense in the contest, nine more yards that were gained in any of the 11 games last season.
JACK BE NIMBLE, JACK BE QUICK:
Senior wide receiver Jack Martin opened the 2007 season by catching nine passes for 177 yards and one touchdown. A Preseason Second Team All-America selection by D3football.com, Martin is closing in on nearly every W&L receiving record. With his season-opening effort against F&M, Martin now claims 120 receptions for 2,237 yards and 26 touchdowns. His 120 catches rank eighth all-time, while his yardage total is just 76 yards from breaking the school record. His 26 receiving touchdowns are 10 better than the previous record of 16. Martin was the runner-up for the 2005 Dudley Award, which is presented to the Virginia Division II-III Player of the Year. He also received Second Team All-Region and Honorable Mention All-America (Don Hansen) honors that season when he totaled 70 catches for 1,353 yards and 15 touchdowns. Martin followed his record-breaking sophomore season with 32 catches for 583 yards and nine touchdowns last season.
CAREER-BEST PERFORMANCE FOR PACICCO:
Junior tailback Tom Pacicco made his first start a memorable one, rushing for a career-high 116 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries. The carries and yards were the most by a W&L running back since Richard Garland '07 totaled the ball 40 times for 103 yards and one touchdown in a 27-14 win over Greensboro during the 2003 season. Pacicco tallied 181 yards and one touchdown last season before suffering a season-ending foot injury.
NCAA STATS UPDATE:
The Generals have only played one game and thus appear all throughout the NCAA Division III statistical rankings for the 2007 season. Among the major categories, W&L ranks first in scoring defense (0.0 ppg), fifth in total defense (122.0 ypg) and sixth in passing efficiency defense (49.8 rating). Individually, senior wide receiver Jack Martin ranks fifth in receiving yards (177.0 ypg) and 12th in receptions per game (9.0 rpg).
GAME WITH A PURPOSE:
The W&L-Averett game has more purpose than just competing for a win. The game is being played to benefit charity. Ticket sales and a portion of the program sales will be donated to Habitat for Humanity in both the Lexington and Averett communities. Tickets will be sold at the gate and are available on Ticketmaster. Prices will be $5.00 for Adults, $3.00 for seniors and students with a valid University ID and $1.00 for children under the age of 12.
-- GENERALS --