Illinois Wesleyan (3-5, 2-3 CCIW) at Carthage (5-3, 2-3 CCIW)
Game Notes for Nov. 5, 2005

THE GAME: Illinois Wesleyan (3-5, 1-3 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) plays at Carthage (5-3, 2-3 CCIW) at 1 p.m. at Art Keller Field in Kenosha, Wis.

STARR-STRUCK: Green Bay Packer legend Bart Starr will be at Carthage Saturday as the featured speaker to kick off The New Art Keller Field Campaign. During his time on campus Bart will take part in the coin toss prior to the IWU/Carthage game. Starr was the Packers’ quarterback from 1956-72 and led them to five NFL titles including three in a row as well as the first two Super Bowls.

ON TO THE NEXT 500: IWU is 501-369-42 (.578) in 113 years of football. That win total is 21st among Division III schools heading into the season. The leader is Wittenberg with 650 wins in 111 seasons...IWU’s 500th win came in a 23-14 win over Wheaton on Oct. 22.

FOR THE RECORD: IWU is 68-32 in its last 100 games (.680) since 1995. The 32 losses have come to Wheaton (7); Augustana (6); Millikin (5); North Central (3); Carthage, Simpson, UW-Eau Claire and Elmhurst (2); and Mount Union, UW-LaCrosse, and Washington U. (1)...The Titans are 64-23 (.744) at home and 51-38-1 on the road (.580) under Eash... In 2004, IWU (3-7) had its first sub-.500 season since the 1993 team was 4-5. The Titans had been at .500 or better for 10 straight years.

IN NOVEMBER: In November, IWU is 30-13 (.698) in the Norm Eash era and was 0-2 last season in the month.

AT WILDER FIELD: Illinois Wesleyan is 54-16 (.771) at Wilder Field in the last 15 seasons (1991-2005). The IWU football facility is the fifth oldest football stadium in the country (1893), behind Wesleyan [Conn.] (1881), Williams [Mass.] (1883), Sewanee [Tenn.] and Amherst [Mass.] (both 1891).

THE SERIES VS. THE RED MEN: In a series that dates back to 1926, Illinois Wesleyan holds a 33-16 lead vs. Carthage. Carthage has won two of the last three games in the series, including a 33-15 decision last season in Bloomington. The Titans have won 19 of the last 23 meetings, and 24 of the last 29. Prior to last season, Carthage’s last win in Bloomington was in 1981 (a 29-7 victory)...The Red Men won the 2002 game in Kenosha to snap an eight-game IWU winning streak.

TITAN NOTES: Illinois Wesleyan earned the 501st win in the 113 year history of football and posted its second straight CCIW win, taking a 21-7 decision from North Park in Chicago on Sat., Oct. 29. Sophomore Marcus Dunlop (Maywood, Proviso East HS) rushed 27 times for 164 yards including a 59 yard touchdown run with 4:07 to go in the second quarter. Senior quarterback Tom Kudyba (Des Plaines, Elk Grove HS)  was 7-of-18 for 144 yards and TD passes to junior wide receiver Jordan Musselman (Bloomington, Normal Community HS)  (of 59 yards with 14:50 to play in the second quarter that tied the score at 7-7) and freshman Martin Ceisel (Deerfield HS) (of 38 yards with 14:53 to play in the game). Sophomore defensive back Brian Smith (Louisville, Ky., Trinity HS) led the defense with nine total tackles while senior linebacker Damon Banks (Bellwood, Walther Lutheran HS) had eight and junior linebacker Mike Mastro (Sarasota, Fla., Cardinal Mooney HS) added seven in the win.

TOM KUDYBA: Senior quarterback Tom Kudyba (Des Plaines, Elk Grove HS) has completed 255 passes in 460 attempts for 2,567 yards in his career. He is No. 9 all-time in completions, No. 12 in passing yards, No. 10 with 24 passing touchdowns and No. 11 with 3,163 yards of total offense. His .554 completion percentage is No. 4 all-time at IWU. Kudyba completed 26 passes against Wheaton, a total that ties him for fifth most in a single game at IWU.

DUNLOP MOVES UP: Sophomore Marcus Dunlop (Maywood, Proviso East HS) now has 1,220 rushing yards in his two-season career, making him No. 17 all-time in an IWU uniform...In CCIW games only Dunlop is averaging 100.6 per game, second in the league to Millikin’s Nathan Wallick (106.0 oer game)...Dunlop had 164 yards against North Park in 2005 and ran for a career-high 222 yards against North Park as a freshman.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Chosen by Titan coaches to honor top players in the week’s game and practices. The “Titan Award” is new in 2003 to honor a player for work ethic, loyalty and spirit.
OFFENSE: Marcus Dunlop, sophomore, back, Maywood (Proviso East HS)
DEFENSE: Bo Osburn, sophomore, back, Morton (HS)
SPECIAL TEAMS: Blake Schulenberg, senior, line, Springfield (Sacred Heart Griffin HS)
SCOUT (Offense): Joe Murphy, freshman, quarterback, Riverside (Riverside-Brookfield HS); Dewayne Stallings, freshman, line, Harvey (Thornton HS)
SCOUT (Defense): Cory Walker, freshman, linebacker, Yorkville (Marmion Academy); Jerry Watkins, freshman, back, Chicago (Whitney Young HS)
TITAN AWARD: Damon Banks, senior, linebacker, (Bellwood, Walther Lutheran HS)

THE COACHES: Norm Eash (Illinois Wesleyan, 1975) is in his 19th season as head coach at IWU and has an overall record of 116-61-1 (.668) and a CCIW mark of 87-48-1 (.653) with league titles in 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, and 2001. Eash, the CCIW “Coach of the Year” in 1992, 1996 and 2001, is fourth in all-time CCIW coaching wins. Eash is second in victories at IWU, behind Don Larson (166 wins in 33 years, 1954-86)...Tim Rucks has a 54-51-1 record in his 11th season at Carthage (he is 63-84-4 in 16 years overall, including five seasons at North Park). Rucks was named American Football Coaches Association North Region “Coach of the Year” in 2004, as well as CCIW “Bob Reade Football Coach of the Year.” In the win over Benedictine, Rucks moved into second place on the all-time win list.  Rucks trails Art Keller (177-87-7, 1952-82).

SCOUTING THE RED MEN: Carthage started out the season with four straight wins - over Carroll (14-10), Lakeland (20-16), Benedictine (52-0) and Millikin (19-7). Since then the Red Men have gone 1-3, falling to Augustana (7-0), North Central (43-24), defeating North Park (23-3) and losing last weekend to Wheaton (30-14)...Carthage leads the CCIW in rushing defense (95.4 yards per game), passing defense (143.1 yards), total defense (238.5 yards) and scoring defense (14.5 points per game).  The Redmen are fifth in rushing offense (146.5 yards), sixth in scoring offense (20.8 points per game), sixth in passing offense (162.6 yards per game) and seventh in total offense (309.1 yards).  Tailback Tyson Mengel is ninth among CCIW rushing leaders (59.4 yards per game). Quarterback Brennan O’Boyle is seventh in passing (96.0 yards per game). Kicker Matt Denny leads the league in field goals (1.25 per game) and is fourth in kick scoring (5.5 points per game). Donovan Moore is second in punting (40.8 yards per punt), and Alex Deer is fourth in punt returns (8.3 yards per return). Linebacker Jim Cichon is ninth in tackles (7.2 per game), and defensive end Michael Anderson is tied for second in tackles-for-loss (2.12 per game).

CCIW IN THE RANKINGS: North Central (8-0) is ranked 11th in the current D3football.com poll. Augustana (7-1) was ranked 17th, and Wheaton (6-2) was tied for 37th place. North Central is No. 10 and Augustana is No. 22 in the most recent AFCA Division III coaches’ poll.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Titans return home to face Millikin at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12, in the annual “Seniors’ Day” game, closing out the regular season.

CCIW PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Illinois Wesleyan seniors Tom Kudyba (Des Plaines, Elk Grove HS) and Damon Banks (Bellwood, Walther Lutheran HS)  were offensive and defensive “Players of the Week”, respectively, in the CCIW for their performances Oct. 22. Kudyba finished 26 of 40 for 232 yards and two TDs as IWU beat Wheaton. Kudyba’s 26 completions tied for the fifth most in school history in a single game. Banks led the Titans with 16 tackles, including seven solo in the win over Wheaton. Banks returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown and alsoforced two fumbles in the win. ..Earlier in the year, junior kicker Mike Berry (Crystal Lake, Prairie Ridge HS) was “Special Teams Player of the Week” in the CCIW for his efforts in IWU’s 20-13 win over Chicago Sept. 24. Berry kicked two field goals and ran in a two-point conversion. Berry hit second quarter field goals of 37 yards and 27 yards and his two-point conversion run in the fourth quarter put the Titans on top by seven. As a punter, Berry had seven boots for an average of 42.3 with a long punt of 49 yards and two punts landed inside the 20.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN: Junior Eric Esch (Bloomington HS) was chosen to the first team of the preseason Division III All-American squads named by D3football.com. He was a D3football.com first team All-American as a return specialist last season.

EARLY START: In a check of records since 1965, the Sept. 3 season opener was the earliest home football game played in the modern era at IWU. In 2004, the Titans played at Simpson on Sept. 4, the earliest season start ever prior to 2005. Other early season openers have been on Sept. 7, 1985 (DePauw at IWU); Sept. 8, 2001 (IWU at Washington U.) and Sept. 8, 1984 (IWU at DePauw) and Sept. 9, 2000 (Washington U. at IWU). The IWU season in 1965 started on Sept. 25 with a home game against Illinois State.