Washington and Lee University
SERIES INFO:
Time: 1:30 pm
Site: Wilson Field (7,000)
Series: W&L Leads 9-2
Last Meeting: 10/7/06 at CUA (W&L won 28-0)
First Meeting: 11/7/81 at CUA (W&L won 24-10)
Last W&L Win: 10/7/06 at CUA (28-0)
Last CUA Win: 10/12/02 at CUA (39-20)
Current Series Streak: W&L +4
W&L vs. CUA at W&L: 6-0
W&L vs. CUA at CUA: 3-2
THE SERIES:
Washington and Lee and Catholic will be meeting for the 12th time, with the Generals holding a 9-2 advantage in the all-time series that began during the 1981 season. W&L has won each of the last four meetings, including a 28-0 victory last season in Washington, D.C. The Generals have shut out the Cardinals in each of the past two meetings in the nation's capital, but have an average margin of victory of just 3.5 points per game over the last two games played at Wilson Field (27-24 in 2005 and 31-27 in 2003). Even though the games have been close, Catholic is still searching for its first-ever victory over the Generals in Lexington, Va.
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 63-59-1 (.516) overall record and ranks second all-time at W&L in career victories, just 14 wins shy of tying Gary Fallon (1978-94) for the top spot. The Cardinals are led by second-year Head Coach Dave Dunn (San Diego '91), who has a 7-8 (.467) record at Catholic.
ALL-TIME RECORD:
W&L has compiled a 450-485-39 (.483) 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:
(Randolph-Macon 42, W&L 17; September 29, 2007 - Ashland, Va.)
Randolph-Macon scored 30 unanswered points over the second, third and fourth quarters to produce a 42-17 victory over Washington and Lee at Day Field. The Yellow Jackets opened the scoring just 1:54 into the game on a 5-yard touchdown run by tailback Zak Thornton for a 6-0 lead. The ensuing PAT failed and W&L took the lead at 7-6 at the 10:12 mark on a 1-yard touchdown plunge by junior tailback Tom Pacicco. Waddell Howard gave R-MC the lead back on the next play as he ran the kickoff back 79 yards for a touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, giving the Yellow Jackets a 12-7 lead just five minutes into the game. W&L again retaliated, this time on a 2-yard touchdown run by Pacicco, for a 14-12 lead with 5:07 left in the opening quarter. A 34-yard field goal by Scott Shope gave the Yellow Jackets the lead back at 15-14 with 1:00 remaining in the opening period, a score that held up through the half. W&L fumbled the opening kickoff of the third period and the Yellow Jackets took advantage on a 4-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brandon Braner to tight end Stuart May for a 21-14 lead following another missed PAT. That was the first of four-straight R-MC touchdowns that included a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs by Thornton and a fumble recovery for a touchdown in the end zone by Ray Johnson that extended the R-MC lead to 42-14 early in the fourth quarter. Pacicco paced the W&L offense with 102 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries. Sophomore quarterback R.J. Varner completed just 8-of-15 passes for 59 yards and was intercepted three times. Senior defensive back Kyle Luby posted nine tackles to pace the Generals’ defense.
LAST MEETING WITH CATHOLIC:
(W&L 28, CUA 0; October 7, 2006 - Washington, D.C.)
Running back Stuart Sitterson tallied 187 all-purpose yards and tossed a pair of touchdown passes to help lead W&L to a 28-0 victory over Catholic. The Generals jumped out to a 7-0 lead on their opening possession of the game as Sitterson threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to quarterback R.J. Varner with 9:27 left in the first quarter. Sitterson then tossed another touchdown pass with 9:37 left in the third quarter, this time a 3-yard strike to wide receiver Jack Martin for a 14-0 lead. The Generals upped their lead to 21-0 on a 5-yard touchdown run by senior wide receiver Colton Ward with 12:24 left in the fourth quarter and capped the scoring on a 10-yard fumble return for a touchdown by linebacker Matt Cassilly with 3:00 left in the game. The W&L defense limited Catholic to just 100 yards of total offense in producing their first shutout since a 2004 game against the Cardinals. Snoddy totaled two tackles to go with his two interceptions, while senior defensive end Walker Williams totaled nine tackles. Offensively, Sitterson rushed 21 times for 90 yards, caught eight passes for 79 yards, returned two punts for 18 yards and completed two passes for 20 yards. Ward notched seven catches for 75 yards and rushed 12 times for 34 yards and one touchdown, while Varner completed 17-of-28 passes for 177 yards with one interception. Ricca led the Cardinals with 128 yards passing, but was picked off twice. Bill Gross paced the CUA defense with 12 tackles and one sack.
SCOUTING CATHOLIC:
Catholic is 4-1 overall and 0-1 in the ODAC. The Cardinals are coming off a 28-27 come-from-behind victory over Franklin & Marshall on Saturday afternoon in Lancaster, Pa. CUA trailed 27-7 early in the fourth quarter, but scored three touchdowns in the final 10:17 of the game to secure the victory. Junior quarterback Keith Ricca started the comeback with a 15-yard scoring strike to senior tight end Dan Saunders at the 10:17 mark. He then found junior wide receiver Andrew Buis with a 57-yard touchdown pass at 7:43 and capped the comeback with a 14-yard strike to Saunders with 3:34 remaining. The Cardinals mounted just 197 yards of total offense, including -5 yards rushing. Ricca completed 21-of-34 passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns, while Buis snared seven balls for 85 yards and one score. Saunders caught six passes for 56 yards and two touchdowns, while senior defensive back Anthony Delborrell totaled 17 tackles and 2.5 sacks to lead the Catholic defense. For the season, Ricca has completed 58.9 percent of his passes for 1,287 yards and 10 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. Buis has been his favorite target, catching 34 passes for 377 yards and three touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Noah Rogers has 23 catches for 174 yards and two scores, while Saunders has 15 catches for 151 yards and three touchdowns. Freshman Chris Daley leads the team in rushing with 196 yards on 55 carries. Delborrell claims a team-best 68 tackles, including 8.0 tackles for a loss. Junior linebacker Bill Gross has totaled 56 tackles, while junior defensive back Nick Olivero has posted 33 tackles and a team-best three interceptions.
THE WORK HORSE:
Junior tailback Tom Pacicco has been the engine driving the Generals' offense through the first three games of the season. Pacicco has rushed 88 times for 394 yards and six touchdowns thus far, an average of 29 carries for 131 yards and two touchdowns per game. Pacicco began the season with 116 yards and two touchdowns against Franklin & Marshall. He then tallied 176 yards and two touchdowns against Averett and 102 yards and two touchdowns against Randolph-Macon on Saturday. Pacicco's three-straight 100-yard rushing efforts marked the first time that a General has rushed for 100 or more yards in three consecutive games since Chris Sullivan '03 accomplished the feat over the first three games of the 2002 season. W&L has not had a back rush for 100+ in four-straight games since Sullivan accomplished the feat over the final four games of the 2001 campaign. His 176-yard performance against Averett was the best rushing day for a General since Sullivan rushed for 181 yards against Guilford during the 2002 campaign. Heading into last week (new NCAA Stats come out on Tuesday), Pacicco ranked seventh in Division III in rushing yards per game (146.0) and 16th in scoring (12.0 ppg).
JACK BE NIMBLE, JACK BE QUICK:
Senior wide receiver Jack Martin has returned to the form that he showed during the 2005 season when he tallied 1,353 yards and 15 touchdowns. A 2007 Preseason Second Team All-America selection by D3Football.com, Martin has hauled in 16 passes for 351 yards and three touchdowns already this season. He opened with 177 yards and one score against F&M and then tallied 166 yards and two touchdowns against Averett. He was, however, held to just one catch for eight yards against Randolph-Macon, his lowest output since his freshman season. Martin's performances this season have already helped him eclipsed the W&L record for career receiving yardage that had been held by J.T. Malatesta since 1999. Martin, who already owns the career receiving touchdowns record, now has 127 receptions for 2,411 yards and 28 touchdowns for his career. He is currently just 35 receptions from breaking the career receptions record that was set last season by Colton Ward '07.
RETURN TO SENDER:
Junior wide receiver Stuart Sitterson had a tremendous all-around outing against Averett, accounting for 218 all-purpose yards and one touchdown. Sitterson racked up much of his yardage in the return game, totaling 131 kick return yards and 62 punt return yards. The D3Football.com First Team All-America return specialist in 2005, Sitterson is returning to the form that saw him post three return touchdowns as a freshman. He is currently averaging 37.2 yards per kick return and 6.0 yards per punt return. Sitterson already ranks fourth all-time at W&L with 550 career punt return yards and his 32.4 career kick return average tops the W&L chart by nearly seven yards per return. His next kickoff or punt return for a touchdown will set the W&L career record for those categories as well.
TURNOVER TALK:
The Generals have consistently ranked among the best teams in the ODAC and Division III in turnover margin over the past several seasons. Last season's team forced 31 turnovers in 11 games, an average of 2.8 turnovers per game. However, this season, the Generals have turned the ball over 11 times and created just three turnovers for a - 8 deficit.
W&L AT HOME:
W&L is currently in the middle of a seven-game winning streak in games played at Wilson Field. The Generals' last home loss was a 17-13 setback to Bridgewater during the 2005 season. W&L's defense has been stellar in each of those contests, allowing an average of just 7.3 points per game, with the highest total allowed being 12 points against Guilford last season. Below is a breakdown of those games:
11/12/05 Case Western Reserve 34-10
9/16/06 Sewanee 21-7
9/30/06 Randolph-Macon 33-10
10/14/06 Hampden-Sydney 28-6
10/21/06 Guilford 34-12
11/4/06 Emory & Henry 24-6
9/9/07 Franklin & Marshall 20-0
-- GENERALS --