Jackets Look to Knock Off Rival in Final Game of 2016 Season
The Waynesburg University football team closes its season this coming Saturday, Nov. 12, with a tilt against rival Washington & Jefferson at John F. Wiley Stadium.
The Jackets need a win to avoid finishing the season 2-8, which would be the worst season for a Waynesburg football team since the 1988 season.
W&J enters the regular season finale with a 7-2 record, a relative disappointment for a program pegged to finish second in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. The Presidents entered the season receiving votes for D3football.com’s top 25 national rankings, but losses at Thomas More and Westminster have dropped W&J out of the national playoff picture.
Waynesburg lost to Saint Vincent College last Saturday, 30-12, in the road finale for the Jackets. The Bearcats jumped out to a 16-3 halftime lead and never led by fewer than 11 points in the second half. For the Jackets, it’s the sixth time this season that the offense failed to score 17 points.
W&J defeated the Geneva College Golden Tornadoes 17-7 to extend the Presidents’ winning streak at Cameron Stadium to 24 games. Senior quarterback Pete Coughlin passed for 291 yards, a score and an interception in the win. The PAC’s leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns hauled in 13 catches for 129 yards in the win. Saturday’s win over Geneva was just the second game that junior wide receiver Jesse Zubik was kept out of the end zone, he leads all receivers with 16 touchdowns on the year.
Zeroing in on Zubik
The Jacket defense allowed Saint Vincent wide receivers Damon Black and DJ Oceant-Kelly to each accumulate more than 100 receiving yards and a long reception of at least 40 yards. It’s the third consecutive week that the Jacket secondary has allowed an opposing receiver to gain over 100 yards with a long of at least 40 yards.
“I don’t know if it’s having young guys on the field and it’s just them missing,” said Shepas. “In a split-second, missing someone, letting a guy get by him.”
Thomas More’s Daylin Garland and Thiel College’s DeShawon Bracy burned the Jackets in the weeks preceding the Jackets’ trip to Chuck Noll Field.
The Jackets carried the No. 1 ranked pass defense in terms of yards allowed per game, but after allowing 675 yards through the air in the last two weeks, the unit has dropped to fifth in the conference.
W&J’s combination of Coughlin to Zubik is the most lethal in the PAC. In nine games, Zubik has eclipsed the 100-yard plateau six times, while reaching 200 yards receiving twice.
In W&J’s losses to Thomas More and Westminster, he’s been held under his average of 139 receiving yards per game. The Saints held Zubik to 93 yards and one score in Thomas More’s 35-9 win over W&J. Westminster limited Zubik to four receptions for 47 yards, both season-lows. The game also snapped an 11-game scoring streak for the receiver.
Improvement on Third Down and in the Red Zone?
The Jackets enter the final week of the season ranked dead last in the PAC in scoring touchdowns in red zone situations and converting on third down.
“I think it’s impatience in the red zone,” said Shepas. “The bottom line is poor execution on our part. It’s disappointing for us coming off our best offensive performance of the year.”
The Waynesburg offense is the only unit that has failed to score a touchdown in at least half of its attempts inside the opposing 20-yard line. Waynesburg’s got into the end zone on 13 of 32 red zone attempts. The Jackets’ 13 empty red zone trips include four turnovers on downs, four interceptions, a fumble and four missed field goals.
In the last six quarters, Waynesburg has attempted five field goals of 30 yards or fewer. The Jackets five rushing touchdowns inside the 20-yard line are the fewest in the PAC.
Waynesburg’s offense has converted 35 of 124 third down attempts, or 28 percent of the time. Only once in the 2016 campaign has the Jacket offense converted on more than 33 percent of its third down tries.
Shocking the Presidents?
W&J and head coach Mike Sirianni were hoping to make waves in the national scene of Division III football with Coughlin entering his third season directing the Presidents’ explosive offense. W&J is on track to average 40 points per game for the third consecutive season under Coughlin’s watch.
“From a defensive standpoint, arguable Thomas More’s quarterback is one of the top three guys as well,” said Shepas. “We played him very well in the first. I think that’s how we’ll attempt to model the defensive game plan off of that.”
Despite the impressive offensive numbers, the Presidents have dropped two games and had two other close calls. The Presidents overcame a 42-28 fourth quarter deficit to upend Carnegie Mellon University 55-52 in double overtime.
Bethany College nearly shocked the conference by leading W&J by nine at the half and by six going into the fourth quarter. However, a pair of long touchdowns from Coughlin to Zubik in the second half keyed the Presidents’ 37-36 victory.
Unlike in years past when the Presidents featured perennial all-conference running back Ryan Ruffing, W&J has struggled to find consistency from the running back position in 2016. The Presidents rank eighth in the PAC in rushing with 157 yards per game on 3.9 yards an attempt.
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Kickoff from John F. Wiley Stadium, Saturday, Nov. 12, is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.