GREENSBURG, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University football team, winners of four straight contests, will look to get above the .500 mark for the first time this season when it travels to Seton Hill on Saturday, November 1, for its final road game of the 2014 season. Kickoff from Offutt Field is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.
The Lakers (4-4, 4-3 PSAC West) and the Griffins (2-6, 2-5 PSAC West) have met just once in the all-time series with Mercyhurst defeating Seton Hill, 50-19, last October in Greensburg. Mercyhurst jumped out to a 31-7 lead at halftime and outgained the Griffins, 485-392, in total offense. Mercyhurst racked up 276 yards on the ground and got 209 yards through the air from
Alec Swartz, who was making his first, and only, collegiate start.
Last Week ...Last Thursday, Mercyhurst won its fourth consecutive game, defeating Edinboro 31-10 at Erie Veterans Memorial Stadium. Trailing 10-3 at halftime, the Lakers outscored the Fighting Scots, 28-0, in the second half en route to the victory. Redshirt junior quarterback
Brendan Boylan broke a school record with his third consecutive 300-yard passing game, finishing with 321 yards through the air and four total touchdowns (two rushing, two passing).
Mercyhurst improved to 6-5 lifetime against Edinboro and has now won three straight and six of the last nine against the Fighting Scots.
Boy Oh Boylan ...Redshirt junior quarterback
Brendan Boylan did it again last Thursday, posting another huge effort in the Lakers' 31-10 win over Edinboro at Veterans Memorial Stadium. After posting the third-highest single-game passing yardage total in school history against Gannon (446), Boylan shredded The Rock defense to the tune of 385 yards and four touchdowns at the Big House. He completed 24-of-37 passes and also added 27 yards rushing on six carries. Last Thursday, against Edinboro, Boylan went 19-of-33 for 321 yards and two touchdowns passing. He also rushed for his first two collegiate scores in the win. He set the school record with three consecutive 300-yard passing efforts. He was tied with four other quarterbacks (Matt Kissell, Mac McArdle, Mitch Phillis, and Travis Rearick) prior to last Thursday.
What A Stretch ...Over his last four starts (all victories), Boylan has completed 84-of-139 passes (60.4%) for 1,393 yards and 13 touchdowns (one interceptions). Prior to his pick in the second quarter against Edinboro last Thursday, he had not thrown an interception in his previous 127 pass attempts dating back to the Lakers' 38-22 loss against Bloomsburg on September 20. In fact, prior to Thursday, Boylan's only interceptions of the season came during that setback.
Big Play Yarbrough ...Redshirt senior wideout
Stephen Yarbrough has emerged as the big play receiver for the Lakers this season. After entering the season with 25 catches for 305 yards and one score in his first three seasons, Yarbrough has hauled in just 12 catches but for 349 yards and four touchdowns. He currently leads the PSAC in yards per catch (29.1).
The Mercyhurst record for yards per catch in a season is 26.7 set by Sam Scarpaci in 1981 and again by Marcus Snipes last season.
Second Halves ...Mercyhurst has trailed entering halftime in each of the last two games against Slippery Rock and Edinboro. However, in the last two games, Mercyhurst has outscored both The Rock and the Fighting Scots 28-0 in the second halves of their games en route to victories in both games.
Mercyhurst held Slippery Rock to 83 yards and no points in the second half of the Big House Battle, while, last Thursday, Edinboro mustered 182 yards of offense but could generate zero points on the scoreboard.
Offense Is Rolling ...After struggling to find its identity through the first four games of the season, Mercyhurst has found its way during the last four. Mercyhurst averaged just 16 points and 231 yards over the first four games of the season (Bentley, West Chester, Bloomsburg, IUP), but those numbers have skyrocketed to 37.3 points and 468.8 yards during the four-game winning streak (Clarion, Gannon, Slippery Rock, Edinboro).
After posting just one game of over 300 yards of offense during their first four games, the Lakers have gone over 300 in each of the last four and went over 500 in back-to-back wins over Gannon and Slippery Rock.
Dever Posting Big Numbers ...Linebacker
Joe Dever was all over the field in last Thursday's 31-10 victory against Edinboro. The Cleveland native had nine tackles (seven solo), three tackles for a loss, and two pass breakups in the victory.
He has tied a career-high with seven tackles for a loss this season and enters with 17 career tackles behind the line of scrimmage in just 28 career games. He ranks second on the team with 51 total tackles, just five shy of tying his personal best of 56 last season.
Boylan Wins PSAC West Offensive POTW Award, Again ...Boylan was named the PSAC West Offensive Player of the Week for his second consecutive week this past Sunday after his performance in The Big House against Slippery Rock. He completed 24-of-37 passes for 385 yards and four touchdowns in the Lakers' 45-23 win. He also rushed for 27 yards on six carries to give him 412 yards of total offense.
It was his second straight 300-yard passing game, tying a school record for most consecutive 300-yard efforts. Holding the record with Boylan are Matt Kissell (1999), Mac McArdle (2000), Mitch Phillis (2007), and Travis Rearick (2011).
Fun Facts About Boylan's Performance At The Big House ...Boylan's 385 yards passing against Slippery Rock at The Big House has only been topped by one Michigan quarterback at Michigan Stadium (Devin Gardner threw for 501 against Indiana and 451 against Ohio State in 2013). His 385 yards has only been surpassed by two Michigan quarterbacks in the history of the program (Gardner's 501 against Indiana, Gardner's 451 against Ohio State, and John Navarre's 389 at Iowa in 2003). Tom Brady only had one career 300-yard passing game in The Big House (307 against Illinois in 1999). Only 12 times in the history of Michigan football has a Wolverine quarterback gone over 300 yards passing at Michigan Stadium.
Spread It Around ...Against Slippery Rock, Mercyhurst quarterbacks
Brendan Boylan and
Zach Emerick combined to complete 25 passes to nine different receivers (Boylan 24, Emerick 1). Redshirt senior tight end
R.J. Miller led the team with five catches and redshirt senior wideout
Stephen Yarbrough led with just 77 yards despite the Lakers throwing for 391 yards. Five different receivers (Miller, Yarbrough,
Brandon Brown-Dukes,
Donny Holl,
Jaquan Williams) each caught a touchdown in the win.
Emerick came on for one play in the third quarter when Boylan had to come out after getting banged up. Emerick's only pass at the Big House - a 6-yard touchdown to
Donny Holl.
Defense Impressive ...Slippery Rock came into The Big House Battle averaging 43.2 points and 514.7 yards in its first six games. However, the Lakers held The Rock to 23 points and 361 yards of offense on Saturday. What was more impressive - Slippery Rock had no points and 83 yards in the entire second half of the contest.
Where Did That Come From? ...Entering the game at Gannon, Mercyhurst was 13th in the PSAC in scoring offense (18.4), 15th in the PSAC in total offense (245.6), and 11th in the conference in passing offense (178.6). On the flip side, Gannon entered with the top scoring defense (14.6) and the top total defense (253.0). Mercyhurst had accumulated more than 300 yards on offense in a game in two of its first five games and had not scored more than 28 points (28-0 win against Clarion) through the first five weeks.
However, the Lakers dropped 45 points, racking up 608 yards of total offense, including 446 through the air in a 45-38 victory at Gannon.
Brendan Boylan threw for a career-high 446 yards and four touchdowns while redshirt junior
Brandon Brown-Dukes rushed for a season-high 133 yards and two scores in the victory.
Boylan Wins PSAC West Offensive POTW Award ...Boylan established career-highs in attempts (44), completions (28), passing yards (446), and passing touchdowns (4) against Gannon to earn both the PSAC West Offensive Player of the Week and the ECAC Division II Offensive Player of the Week honors.
The 446 passing yards by Boylan marked the first time since Travis Rearick threw for 424 yards against Kutztown in 2011 that a Laker quarterback surpassed the 400-yard mark in a game. His total was the third-highest mark in program history, trailing only Kissell's 512 yards against Hillsdale in 1999 and his 478 yards against Grand Valley State that same year. It also marked just the seventh time in school history that a quarterback had gone over 400 yards, with four of those performances coming from Kissell, who was inducted into the Mercyhurst Hall of Fame in 2005.
Gutsy Calls ...Head coach
Marty Schaetzle drew up some play calls in huge situations that played a significant role in deciding the outcome of the game against Gannon. On a 4th-and-6 from the Gannon 11-yard line with under ten seconds remaining, instead of attempting a field goal, the Lakers went for it and Boylan hit
Jaquan Williams in the endzone to close the first half with a 24-10 lead. Then, on 3rd-and-20 with under two minutes left in regulation, instead of running the football to force Gannon to use its final timeout, the Lakers again went for the big play and Boylan and Williams hooked up again for 25 yards and then ran out the clock from there.
Against Slippery Rock, Mercyhurst was 4-for-4 on fourth-down conversions with the Lakers scoring on a 4th-and-4 from the Slippery Rock 21-yard line (Boylan to Brown-Dukes) to get on the scoreboard. Mercyhurst was 1-for-2 on fourth-down tries last Thursday and is 9-of-19 on the season.
600 Against Gannon ...Mercyhurst has had two games in its history in which it has racked up at least 600 yards of total offense - and both have come against Gannon in the last two seasons. Last year, Mercyhurst broke a 27-year-old school record by picking up 628 yards of offense in a 51-21 victory over the Golden Knights. Mercyhurst had 608 yards of offense in its win over Gannon on October 11.
Last year, Mercyhurst had 407 yards on the ground, setting a Division II program record and third-highest total in school history overall. Last week, Mercyhurst had 446 yards through the air, also the third-highest total in program history. Mercyhurst also had 30 first downs, one shy of the school record set against Brockport State in 1985 and had 20 passing first downs, one shy of the school record of 21 against Michigan Tech in 1999.
Receivers Set Career Highs ...Redshirt senior
Stephen Yarbrough and redshirt junior
T.J. Latimer established a number of career-highs in the victory over Gannon. Yarbrough had a career-best five catches for a career-high 128 yards. He tied a career-high with one touchdown catch. Meanwhile, Latimer set career-highs in receptions (5), receiving yards (82), and receiving touchdowns (2).
Junior
Jaquan Williams finished with seven catches for 109 yards - just the second time in his career he has gone over 100 yards receiving in a game.
Last week, Yarbrough did it again, breaking his career-high with two touchdown catches (57 and 55) in the win over Edinboro
Wild Earns PSAC West Defensive POTW Award ...Senior linebacker
Garrett Wild earned the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Week honors after helping the Lakers to a 28-0 win over Clarion. Wild had five total tackles (four solo), two tackles for a loss, and a blocked punt in the victory. The two tackles for a loss were a career-high in a game and his first two of the season. Meanwhile, his blocked punt in the third quarter led to Mercyhurst's final points of the afternoon. It was his third career blocked kick. He also blocked a point-after attempt in last week's win over Gannon for his fourth-career blocked kick.
DEE-Fense ...Mercyhurst earned its first shutout since blanking Lock Haven, 41-0, on September 25, 2010, with a 28-0 victory over Clarion. It was the 15th shutout in program history, but just the fourth since blanking Pace, 48-0, on November 6, 1993 under then-head coach
Joe Kimball.
The Lakers allowed just 191 yards of total offense to the Golden Eagles, the fewest since giving up 148 yards to Edinboro last November 2. It was just the fifth time since Mercyhurst's 2010 championship season that the Lakers have held a team to under 200 yards in a game.
Clarion was also limited to 4-of-17 on third-down conversions and 0-for-3 in trips to the red zone. Mercyhurst had season-highs in both tackles for a loss (nine) and quarterback sacks (four).
Here's To You, Mr. Robinson ...Sophomore running back
Drew Robinson recorded the first multiple-touchdown game of his career on against Clarion when he caught a 78-yard touchdown pass from
Brendan Boylan and then had a 17-yard carry for a score - both coming in the second quarter. Robinson finished the day with 14 carries for 46 yards and two catches for 89 yards.
The 78-yard touchdown pass was the longest by a Laker since Travis Rearick hooked up with Trevor Kennedy on an 81-yard score in Mercyhurst's PSAC Championship victory over Bloomsburg on November 13, 2010. The hookup between Robinson and Boylan was tied for the eighth-longest pass play in school history.
In the season opener at Bentley, Robinson made his presence felt in the return game, finishing with three kickoffs for 135 yards (45.0 average), including an 83-yard return, late in the second quarter, that led to
Zach Emerick's six-yard touchdown run. Robinson's 83-yard return was tied for the ninth-longest return in school history, but was the longest in program history that did not result in a touchdown.
Robinson leads the Lakers in all-purpose yards this season with 664, an average of 94.9 per game.
Boylan Snaps QB Streak ...Brendan Boylan threw for a then-career-high 241 yards and a then-career-best three touchdowns in the 28-0 win over Clarion. The outing snapped a streak of eight consecutive games that a Mercyhurst quarterback failed to reach 200 passing yards in a contest - the prior time was
Anthony Vendemia throwing for 221 yards in the Lakers' 51-21 win over Gannon last October 17.
Who Is Brendan Boylan? ...Boylan has been on the Mercyhurst roster since 2011 and played just one series at quarterback prior to his action against West Chester. He had attempted just one pass in his collegiate career - a nine-yard completion to
Jeff Groene on a fake field in last season's opener at Bentley. He had appeared in 16 games since 2011, primarily as the team's holder on field goals and extra points. Prior to joining Mercyhurst, Boylan attended Holy Name High School where he was a First Team All-League selection and was voted as the team's MVP.
Stay On The Field ...Through the first two games of the season, Mercyhurst was 6-for-26 on third downs (23.1%) - 13th out of the 16-team PSAC. However, the Lakers have fared much better over the last six weeks, converting 38-of-85 (44.7%) third-down opportunities to improve their season's rate to 39.6% (6th in the PSAC). Last season, Mercyhurst was 55-of-137 on third downs (40.1%).
It Had Been A While ...The Lakers dropped to 0-4 after a 41-7 loss at Indiana (Pa.), the first time that Mercyhurst has started a season 0-4 since 2005 when the Lakers were still part of the GLIAC. That season, Mercyhurst dropped seven consecutive games to start the year before winning two of its last three to finish 2-8. Saginaw Valley, which was part of the opening seven losses, would later forfeit its win against the Lakers.
Blocking Kicks ...With
James Karasek blocking a point after attempt in the win over Slippery Rock, Mercyhurst's special teams has now blocked five kicks through seven games this season. The Lakers have blocked four kicks in each of the last two seasons prior to this year.
Garrett Wild has two blocked kicks while
Pat Behm,
Deonte Huggins, and Karasek have the others.
Return To Sender ...Senior
Colin Kimball returned a punt 61 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter against Bloomsburg to give the Lakers a 14-0 lead at that point. It was Kimball's first career punt return for a touchdown and marked the longest punt return of his career. Last season, Kimball also had two interception returns for touchdowns, setting a school record for most pick-sixes in a season.
A preseason All-American by three different publications, Kimball is third on the team with 37 tackles this season. He also leads the team with two interceptions, giving him 10 in his career. He is tied with Glenn Novak for seventh on the school's all-time list.
What Can Brown-Dukes For You ...Redshirt junior
Brandon Brown-Dukes has continued his torrid ascent up the school's all-time rushing leaderboard. The Orlando, Florida native became the first running back in school history to record back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns after finishing with 1,008 last season. With his 58 rushing yards in the season opener at Bentley, Brown-Dukes surpassed Craig Woodard (1992-95) for second on the school's all-time list. He has 561 rushing yards through eight games this season, giving him 2,864 in his career and now needs 136 yards to become the second player in school history to record 3,000 career yards on the ground. He trails only Richard Stokes (3,381 from 2005-08). Brown-Dukes was the PSAC West Freshman of the Year in 2012 and has been an All-PSAC West First Team selection in each of his first two seasons.
He also ranks fourth on the school's all-time list in rushing touchdowns with 27, fifth on the school's all-time all-purpose yardage list with 3,122 yards, and ranks fourth in all-purpose yards per game during his career (107.7 ypg).
Welcome To The Club ...With 146 all-purpose yards against Slippery Rock at Michigan Stadium, Brown-Dukes became the fifth player in school history to accumulate 3,000 all-purpose yards in his career. He ranks fifth on the all-time list with 3,122 yards, trailing only Scott Gorring (3,258), Ed Bailey (4,026), Trevor Kennedy (4,249), and Richard Stokes (4,744).
Another Record ...Brown-Dukes rushed for 100 yards against Slippery Rock to give him 14 career 100-yard rushing games, tying him with Richard Stokes for most in school history. Stokes had 14 100-yard efforts in 42 career games while Brown-Dukes has done it in just 28 contests.
How He Fares Against Seton Hill ...In Mercyhurst's first-ever contest against Seton Hill last season, Brown-Dukes had just 13 carries but finished with 127 yards and one touchdown on his limited touches. He averaged 9.8 yards per attempt last season against the Griffins.
Receiving Threat ...In his first two seasons, Brown-Dukes was not included much in the passing games, catches just 15 passes for 95 yards. However, this season, the redshirt junior has caught at least one pass in all eight games and has totaled 16 catches for 120 yards and his first two career receiving scores. He had career-highs of four catches for 46 yards in the win against Slippery Rock.
Hitting Triple Digits ...The Lakers are 10-4 in the 14 contests that Brown-Dukes has rushed for at least 100 yards. Meanwhile, he has recorded more than 200 yards in a game twice - setting a school-record for most career 200-yard games. Mercyhurst has had only six games in which a runner has had at least 200 yards - Brian Haberstock (282, at Buffalo, 1990), Richard Stokes (244, at Ferris State, 2007), Gerald Anderson (237, at LIU Post, 2010), and Craig Woodard (222, vs Canisius, 1992) are the others.
Hitting Paydirt ...Brown-Dukes has scored at least one touchdown in 18 of his 29 career games wth the Lakers. He is the school's all-time leader in rushing touchdowns in a season, when he rushed for 16 scores in 2012. The Lakers are 14-4 lifetime when Brown-Dukes reaches the endzone at least once.
Up Next ...Mercyhurst will entertain California (Pa.) at Tullio Field in the next-to-last game of the season. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.
The Lakers have won the last two meetings between the two schools, including a 23-20 victory at California last November that clinched a winning season for the Lakers.
The last time the two teams met in Erie was on November 3, 2012 - a 40-7 victory by the Lakers. It was the largest victory against a ranked opponent by a Mercyhurst team in school history and was Cal's worst loss against a PSAC opponent since 2003.
