Week 10 • W&L vs. Greensboro • November 10, 2001 • 1:00 pm

To view the release in pdf format, click here

LAST WEEK'S SCORES:
Bridgewater 62, Randolph-Macon 15
Guilford 32, Catholic 23
Emory & Henry 35, Washington and Lee 17
Hampden-Sydney 45, Maryville 21

THE SERIES:
This will mark the first-ever meeting between Washington and Lee and Greensboro College. The Generals are 49-40 (.551) all-time against schools from the state of North Carolina, including a 27-6 win over Guilford earlier this season.

THE HEAD COACHES:
Frank Miriello (East Stroudsburg '67) is in his seventh season as the head coach at W&L and his 34th year of coaching. He claims a 32-35-1 (.478) overall record. Miriello is third all-time in victories at W&L and needs 17 more wins to overtake Lee McLaughlin for second place. The Pride is led by fifth-year head coach Marion Kirby (Lenoir-Rhyne '64). Kirby led Greensboro to a 5-5 overall record last season, the best in school history.

ALL-TIME RECORD:
W&L has compiled a 414-461-39 (.474) all-time record. The Generals have been linked to the first intercollegiate football game played in the south, an 1873 matchup with VMI.

SCOUTING GREENSBORO:
Greensboro is 5-4 overall and looking for its first winning season in five years as a varsity program. The Pride is coming off a 34-22 loss to Methodist on Saturday afternoon. In that contest, Greensboro managed just 17 yards rushing and 205 total yards. Senior wide receiver George Washington led the team with nine catches for 116 yards. Senior quarterback Tommy Waters completed 14-of-24 attempts for 188 yards but was picked off three times. Waters scored on a 1-yard run as well. Junior linebacker Josh Daniels led the defense with 14 tackles. On the season, senior running back Tim Lewis leads the team with 709 yards and six touchdowns on 149 carries. Waters has completed 49.7 percent of his passes for 1,212 yards and four touchdowns, but has been intercepted 13 times. Washington is his favorite target, having caught 33 passes for 468 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore linebacker Ric Tattersall has amassed a team-high 73 tackles and two sacks, while Daniels claims 70 tackles and three sacks on the season.

LAST TIME OUT:
Washington and Lee outgained Emory & Henry, 385-259, but could not overcome several crucial errors on special teams in falling to the Wasps, 35-17. Emory & Henry scored following two blocked punts and a fumbled kickoff return. The Wasps opened the scoring in the first quarter as sophomore punter Whit Whitfield’s kick was blocked and returned to the Generals’ 11-yard line. Three plays later, quarterback Shannon Johnson scored on a 7-yard run to give the Wasps a 7-0 lead. The Generals answered on the first play of the second quarter as sophomore quarterback Peter Dean found junior tight end Jay Thomas with a 12-yard scoring strike to knot the score at 7-7. W&L assumed a 14-7 lead with 7:19 remaining in the third quarter as senior running back Marc Watson scored on a 4-yard run. However, Emory & Henry would tie the game at 14-14 with 4:21 remaining in the third quarter as Willie Johnson returned another blocked Whitfield punt eight yards for a touchdown. The Generals again responded as senior placekicker Brad Wiginton booted a 22-yard field goal 44 seconds into the fourth quarter to give W&L a 17-14 lead. The field goal was Wiginton’s 11th of the season, a new school record. The Wasps assumed a 21-17 lead with 10:15 remaining in the contest as Johnson found wide receiver Brett Kickliter with a 14-yard touchdown pass. Dean was then intercepted on the Generals’ next possession and E&H running back Dan Hammonds scored on a 30-yard run on the next play to put the Wasps up 28-17. The Generals fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Johnson tossed his second touchdown pass to Kickliter, this time from 1-yard out to provide the final margin. Washington and Lee was led by junior running back Chris Sullivan, who rushed for 162 yards on 32 carries. He becomes just the fifth player in school history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season (1,071). Watson carried 10 times for 103 yards and one touchdown, while Dean completed 11-of-27 attempts for 104 yards and one touchdown. Junior linebacker Matt Stavish led the defense with seven tackles. Emory & Henry was led by Johnson, who passed for 136 yards and two scores and rushed for 29 yards and another touchdown. Linebacker Phil Christian led the defense with 13 tackles and a sack.

LEFTY QB:
Sophomore Peter Dean is the starting quarterback after switching from the defensive back position he held last season. Dean is the first left-handed quarterback to assume starting duties at W&L in over five decades. Dean also plays baseball at W&L where he posted a 6-0 record and 3.10 ERA on the mound last season.

NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN:
Though Marc Watson has received much of the publicity the last three years, junior running back Chris Sullivan has been very productive at the position. Sullivan was a Second Team All-ODAC selection at running back in 1999 after amassing 722 yards and seven touchdowns. He claims 1,071 yards and five touchdowns on the ground this season, the third-highest season rushing total in school history. He can move into second place with 91 more yards. For his career, Sullivan boasts 1,899 career rushing yards, the fourth highest total at W&L.

1-2 X 2 = SULLIVAN AND WATSON:
What do you get when you take one-two, times two? Senior running back/wide receiver Marc Watson and junior running back Chris Sullivan. Watson and Sullivan have been a tremendous asset to the W&L offense this season. Thus far, the duo has accounted for 2,076 of the team's 2,817 offensive yards, nearly 74 percent of the team's offensive output. In addition, Watson and Sullivan are No. 1 and No. 2 on the W&L career all-purpose yards list. Watson claims 4,968 career all-purpose yards and is trailed closely by Sullivan (3,998). Sullivan leads the ODAC in all-purpose yards (203.1 ypg) this season.

CLOSING IN:
Senior running back/wide receiver Marc Watson holds 15 Washington and Lee game, season and career records and is closing in on another. Watson claims 2,970 career rushing yards and needs just 103 more to break the W&L career record held by Stewart Atkinson since the 1979 season. Now a wide receiver, Watson is averaging just 11.7 carries and 54.2 rushing yards per game this season. However, Watson is averaging 102.7 rushing yards per game over his last three contests.

TURNOVER TALLY:
One of W&L's strengths over the last four years has been turnover margin. During that span, the Generals have forced 102 turnovers (2.6 per game) while committing just 63 turnovers (1.6 per game) themselves. W&L has committed just 14 turnovers in 2001, forcing 22 miscues by the opponents, including 15 interceptions.

MR. AUTOMATIC:
Senior placekicker Brad Wiginton has been almost automatic during his career. Wiginton has connected on 22-of-32 field goals (.688) and 93-of-98 PAT attempts (.949). He ranks second all-time in career PAT percentage and holds the W&L record for career PAT's made. Wiginton is currently tied for second all-time in career field goals made, two behind the leader, and has set a new W&L single-season field goals record with 11 field goals this season. Wiginton is also tied third on the W&L career scoring list with 159 points.

OH SO CLOSE:
The Generals have had numerous heart-breaking defeats in recent memory, including both of its ODAC losses this season. W&L fell to Randolph-Macon, 28-24, in the final seconds and fell to fourth-ranked Bridgewater, 34-28, in overtime. The loss to Bridgewater marked W&L's ninth loss by seven points or less since the beginning of the 1998 season.

-- GENERALS --