Football: Ohio Northern (9-2 Overall) at #3 Wisconsin-Whitewater (10-1 Overall) - NCAA III Playoffs 2nd Round
Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015, Noon (CST), Titan Stadium, Oshkosh, Wis.
| Game Notes (.pdf) | NCAA III Playoffs Site |
Saturday's Contest: Saturday's game is a 2nd Round contest in the NCAA Division III Playoffs. ONU is making its fourth playoff appearance and its first since 2010. The Polar Bears have a 5-3 playoff record and are 4-0 in 1st Round games and 1-3 in 2nd Round games. UWO is making its second playoff appearance and its first since advancing to the semifinals in 2012. UWO is 4-1 all-time in the NCAA III Playoffs.
ONU Head Coach Dean Paul: Paul in his 12th season at ONU with an 84-39 record. He is 124-51 in 17 seasons overall and is 4-0 against UWO. He was named the OAC Coach of the Year in 2015.
UWO head coach Pat Cerroni: Cerroni is in his 9th season at UWO with a 63-31 record. He is 0-0 against ONU.
How They Got In: ONU received one of six Pool C at-large bids to the NCAA III Playoffs, while UWO won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title with a 7-0 mark and was the WIAC Pool A automatic qualifier.
ONU Last Week: Ohio Northern rallied from a 16-0 halftime deficit to post a 27-22 victory at Franklin (Ind.) in the 1st Round of the NCAA III Playoffs. RB Justin Magazine ran 36 times for 153 yards and 2 TDs, QB Ricardo Johnson completed 13-of-17 passes for 190 yards and a TD and WR Devon Price caught 6 passes for 117 yards and a TD and ran 8 times for 46 yards and a TD to lead ONU. FC scored in its first three possessions, going 4-for-4 on 4th down in the process, to take a quick 16-0 lead. ONU scored on its first three possessions of the second half and out-gained FC 226-6 in total offense during that span. Johnson hit Price on a 79-yard TD pass on ONU's opening possession, Johnson scrambled in from three yards out on the second possession and Magazine scored on a 24-yard run to cap a 62-yard drive to put the Polar Bears ahead 21-16 with 13:11 left in the game. FC went up 22-21 on a 20-yard run with 10:20 left, but Northern answered with a 5-yard TD run by Magazine to make it 27-22 with 5:02 left. The Polar Bears out-gained the Grizzlies 435-395 in total offense.
ONU Leaders: The ONU running game is led by All-OAC RB Justin Magazine (261 att, 1474 yards, 24 TDs) and QB Ricardo Johnson (54 att, 348 yards, 7 TDs). QB Will Freed has completed 105-of-186 passes for 1,584 yards and 10 TDs and QB Ricardo Johnson has completed 68-of-100 passes for 1,040 yards and 9 TDs. All-OAC WR Devon Price (84 rec., 1,184 yards, 6 TDs) and All-OAC WR Reed Allen (29 rec, 593 yards, 5 TDs) lead the ONU receivers. All-OAC LB Zach Schmerge, All-OAC S Dan Eller and S Justin Tello lead the ONU defense with 105, 87 and 76 tackles, respectively. All-OAC DT Scott Rapps leads ONU with 4.5 sacks.
UWO Last Week: RB Dylan Hecker had three short TD runs and QB Brett Kasper threw for 336 yards and 2 TDs, propelling UW-Oshkosh to a 48-0 victory over St. Scholastica (Minn.) in the 1st Round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs. UWO created 5 turnovers and held a 560-221 advantage in total yards. Kasper completed 20 of 32 passes in just over three quarters of action, while Hecker registered 14 carries for a team-leading 66 yards before exiting in the third period. WR Zach Kasuboski led the Titans with five receptions for 165 yards and two long touchdown catches.
UWO Leaders: The UWO running game is led this season by RB Dylan Hacker (150 att., 815 yards, 17 TDs) and RB Devon Linzenmeyer (85 att, 619 yards, 7 TDs). QB Brett Kasper is 168-of-255 passing for 2,535 yards and 21 TDs. WR Zach Kasuboski (45 rec., 819 yards, 10 TDs) and WR Sam Mentkowski (38 rec., 773 yards, 7 TDs) lead the UWO receivers. LB Reese Dziedzic, LB Branden Lloyd, and LB Matt Gasper lead the UWO defense with 63, 54 and 46 tackles, respectively. LB Branden Lloyd leads UWO with 5.5 sacks.
ONU Statistical Leaders
Rushing Yds. |
Passing Yds. |
Receiving Yds. |
Tackles | Sacks | ||||||||||||||
1. | Magazine |
1,474 |
1. | Freed |
1,584 |
1. | Price | 1,184 |
1. | Schmerge |
105 |
1. |
Rapps |
4.5 |
||||
2. | Johnson | 348 | 2. |
Johnson |
1,040 |
2. |
Allen | 593 |
2. | Eller | 87 | 2. | Beverly |
4.0 |
||||
3. |
Price | 184 |
3. |
Devine | 40 |
3. |
McCray | 270 |
3. |
Tello |
76 |
3. |
Aguliar |
3.5 |
All-Time Series: Saturday's game is the first meeting between the two schools.