Week 4 • W&L (2-1, 0-0) at Randolph-Macon (0-4, 0-1)
October 1, 2005 • 1:00 pm

LAST WEEK'S ODAC SCORES:
Catholic 28, Randolph-Macon 24
Washington & Jefferson 50, Emory & Henry 0
Hampden-Sydney 47, Guilford 45

SERIES INFO:
Time: 1:00 pm
Site: Day Field (5,000)
Series: R-MC Leads, 26-23-3
Last Meeting: 10/2/04 at W&L (W&L won 17-0)
First Meeting: 10/17/1903 at R-MC (W&L won 39-0)
Last W&L Win: 10/2/04 at W&L (17-0)
Last R-MC Win: 10/4/03 at R-MC (15-9 (2 OT))
Current Series Streak: W&L +1
W&L vs. R-MC at W&L: 14-11-3
W&L vs. R-MC at R-MC: 8-15-0

THE SERIES:
Washington and Lee and Randolph-Macon will be meeting for the 53rd time, with the Yellow Jackets holding a 26-23-3 advantage in the all-time series. The Generals won last season’s meeting at Wilson Field, 17-0, but they have not defeated Macon in Ashland, Va., since a 33-0 win in 1989. Recent games in the series have been low scoring, with the two teams combining to score just 51 points in the last three meetings. The last contest between the two teams at R-MC's Day Field was decided in double-overtime (15-9, R-MC).

THE HEAD COACHES:
Frank Miriello (East Stroudsburg '67) is in his 11th season as the head coach at W&L and his 37th year of coaching. He claims a 49-52-1 (.485) overall record and moved into second place on the W&L all-time wins list with the victory over Sewanee. Miriello moved past Lee McLaughlin (1957-67), who posted a 48-43-4 overall mark. Gary Fallon holds down the top spot after claiming a 77-84-1 record from 1978-94. Randolph-Macon is led by second-year Head Coach Pedro Arruza (Wheaton '95), who is 3-11 overall with the Yellow Jackets. He arrived at Macon following a seven-year stint as the defensive coordinator at Washington University in St. Louis.

ALL-TIME RECORD:
W&L has compiled a 433-479-39 (.476) all-time record. The Generals have been linked to the first intercollegiate football game played in the south, an 1873 matchup with VMI though the University officially recognized football as a varsity sport beginning in 1890.

LAST TIME OUT:
(CC 35, W&L 26; September 24, 2005 - Lexington, Va.)
The Centre College football team racked up 415 yards of total offense, including 260 yards rushing, in defeating Washington and Lee, 35-26. The Colonels opened the scoring with 4:44 remaining in the first quarter as senior linebacker Sean McCormick blocked a W&L punt and returned it four yards for a touchdown. Centre then upped its lead to 14-0 with 3:03 remaining in the second quarter as junior wide receiver Adam Clark hauled in a 31-yard touchdown reception from sophomore quarterback Jarrod Williams. The Generals closed the half with a 16-yard touchdown strike from senior quarterback Greg Tweardy to junior tight end Ryan Neff with nine seconds left in the second quarter. Centre bounced back with an 8-yard touchdown run by junior quarterback Kevin Phelps with 10:15 left in the third quarter, but W&L scored two plays later to cut the score to 21-14 on a 68-yard touchdown reception by sophomore wide receiver Jack Martin. Clark caught his second touchdown pass of the day, this time a 15-yarder from Phelps with 7:47 left in the third period for a 28-14 lead. However, W&L again responded quickly as freshman defensive back Stuart Sitterson returned the ensuing kickoff 79 yards for a touchdown. The extra point was wide, making the score 28-20 in favor of the Colonels. Senior running back Joe Conley extended the CC lead to 35-20 on a 1-yard touchdown run with 14:14 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Generals drove to the Centre one yardline on the ensuing possession, but the Colonels held on downs. Following a CC punt, Tweardy found Martin with a 17-yard scoring strike with 3:18 remaining in the game to cut the W&L deficit to 35-26, but a two-point conversion failed. The Generals’ attempt at an onside kick also failed and Centre ran out the clock for the victory. Martin led the Generals’ offense with 11 catches for a career-high 206 yards and two touchdowns. Tweardy completed 24-of-38 passes for a career-high 310 yards and three touchdowns, and sophomore cornerback Kyle Luby paced the defense with 11 tackles.

WHEN LAST WE MET:
(W&L 17, R-MC 0; October 2, 2004 - Lexington, Va.)
The Washington and Lee defense recorded a school-record 10 sacks in posting a 17-0 victory over Randolph-Macon at Wilson Field. The Generals limited Macon to just -6 yards rushing and 119 yards of total offense in the contest. Following an interception by linebacker Robert Foster at the R-MC 23-yardline, the Generals got on the board with 7:24 remaining in the first quarter as running back Michael Lackett scored on a 9-yard run. W&L added to its lead on a 22-yard field goal by placekicker Ben Long with 11:56 remaining in the second quarter and entered the half with a 10-0 lead. The Generals’ defense then scored for the second time in three weeks as Foster forced a fumble on a sack, which was picked up by safety Stuart Swann and returned 49 yards for a score with 6:59 remaining in the third quarter. Foster finished the day with eight tackles, a school-record tying five sacks, one interception and a forced fumble. Senior linebacker Lloyd Wilson notched a team-high nine tackles and two sacks, while Swann added four tackles, two sacks, and his return for a touchdown. Offensively, the Generals were led by Lackett, who rushed for 78 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. Quarterback Greg Tweardy completed 18-of-28 passes for 111 yards. Randolph-Macon was paced by running back Sam Robinson, who rushed for 53 yards on 11 carries. Quarterback Daniel Bowles completed 18-of-33 passes for 125 yards, but was intercepted three times. Defensive end Chris Marshburn led the defense with nine tackles and two sacks.

SCOUTING RANDOLPH-MACON:
Randolph-Macon is 0-4 overall and 0-1 in the ODAC following a 28-24 loss at Catholic on Saturday afternoon. The Yellow Jackets built a 24-7 lead with 1:37 remaining in the third quarter only to see the Cardinals score three touchdowns in the final 15:35 of the game. Macon allowed 407 passing yards (408 yds. overall), committed three turnovers and was sacked five times on the day. Macon tallied just 261 total yards, led by sophomore quarterback Tyler Ball, who completed 17-of-37 passes for two touchdowns and one interception. Freshman wide receiver Rodney Nelson was his favorite target, hauling in six passes for 112 yards and two scores. Freshman linebacker Tristen Carr paced the Macon defense with eight tackles. For the season, the Yellow Jackets are averaging just 230.0 yards and 11.8 points per game on offense. Ball has completed 58-of-116 passes for 564 yards and two touchdowns, but has been picked off five times. He also claims 65 yards and one touchdown on the ground. Freshman running back Dre McLaughlin has a team-high 143 rushing yards and one touchdown on 49 carries, while junior wide receiver Khalil Shareef has a team-best 27 catches for 202 yards. Defensively, senior safety Jonathan Farmer claims a team-best 36 tackles and one interception.

TWEARDY TALK:
Senior quarterback Greg Tweardy is off to his best start as a General, having completed 71-of-110 (.645) passes for 706 yards and nine touchdowns with just four interceptions. Tweardy established a new school record for passing touchdowns in a game when he tossed five scoring strikes in a season-opening win over Alfred. Last week against Centre, he passed for a career-high 310 yards and three more touchdowns. To put this into perspective, take into account that Tweardy threw for 11 touchdowns in 10 games last season. The W&L season record for touchdown passes in a season is 16, set by Christian Batcheller '00 during the 1997 season. For his career, Tweardy has completed 350-of-600 passes for 3,443 yards and 28 touchdowns. His 28 touchdowns rank fourth all-time at W&L, while he is also ranked fifth in completions and seventh in passing yards. His career completion percentage of 58.3 percent also currently ranks as a W&L record.

JACK BE NIMBLE, JACK BE QUICK:
Tweardy's favorite target this season has been sophomore wide receiver Jack Martin. Martin has caught 27 passes for 429 yards and six touchdowns, and he is currently ranked among the best in Division III in each category. Martin had one of the best game's ever by a W&L wide receiver last weekend against Centre, catching 11 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns. His 206 yards rank second all-time at W&L and marked the first time a W&L receiver posted over 200 yards receiving since the 1970 season. Martin also caught 10 passes for 159 yards and three touchdowns in the season-opener against Alfred. His three TD receptions tied the school record, while his 159 receiving yards are tied for the 10th-best in school history. Additionally, Martin can break the school record for receiving touchdowns in a season (8) with three more touchdown grabs. Martin currently ranks second in the ODAC in receptions (9.0 rpg.), receiving yards (143.0 ypg.) and scoring (12.0 ppg.).

TALKING TOUCHES:
W&L's successes on offense in 2004 were mostly attributed to the play of wide receiver Colton Ward, who accounted for 22 percent of the team's total offense. Ward was a First Team All-ODAC and All-State receiver last season when he averaged 12.9 touches and 131.2 yards per game. This season, Ward is averaging 16.3 touches per game, but is averaging just 87.0 yards per game. Opposing defenses have begun keying on Ward and, following a 66-yard return on the season's opening kickoff, teams will not kick the ball his way either.

HOLDING THE LINE:
Though the Generals' have had their struggles in establishing the run in 2005, the offensive line has had no trouble protecting the quarterback. Through three games, the line has yet to allow a sack.

TAKEAWAY TIDBITS:
A major factor in W&L's success over the past two seasons has been the ability to force turnovers. The Generals lead the ODAC in turnover margin (+1.33) this season after forcing 10 turnovers during the first two weeks. However, in the loss to Centre, the Generals were unable to secure a turnover, marking just the second time in the last 13 games that they have been unable to produce an interception or a fumble recovery.

RETURN TO SENDER:
The Generals have excelled in the return game through the first three games. W&L compiled 215 return yards against Alfred, 79 yards against Sewanee and 141 yards against Centre for an average of 145 yards per game. W&L currently ranks second in the ODAC in kickoff return average (21.8 ypr.) and punt return average (10.4 ypr.), despite teams kicking away from junior Colton Ward and freshman Stuart Sitterson. Ward claims two career kickoff return touchdowns and Sitterson registered his first career kickoff return for a touchdown (79 yds.) last week against Centre.

MORE SPECIAL TEAMS TALK:
Senior punter Donny Banks may rank last in the ODAC in punt average (32.1 ypp.), but his effectiveness through three games has played a major factor in the Generals' 2-1 start. Banks has pinned the opponent inside its 20 yardline nine times with just one touchback. In a win over Sewanee, Banks pinned the Tigers inside their 20 on four occasions, including twice inside the five yardline. A 29-yard Banks' punt with 1:33 remaining in the game pinned the Tigers on their three yardline and provided the catalyst for the Generals' defense to hold on Sewanee's final possession.

-- GENERALS --