Illinois Wesleyan vs. Carthage
Game Notes, October 7, 2006

THE GAME: Illinois Wesleyan (1-3, 0-1 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) hosts Carthage (3-1, 0-1 CCIW) at IWU’s Wilder Field at 1:30 p.m. on Sat., Oct. 7.

HOMECOMING 2006: This is Homecoming weekend at Illinois Wesleyan. The Titans are 27-14 in their last 41 Homecoming games and have been 9-9 in the last 18 years, preceded by a six-game winning streak from 1982-87.

OCTOBER: In October, IWU is 51-34 (.600) in the Norm Eash era and was 2-3 last season in the month.

FOR THE RECORD: IWU is 69-37 in its last 106 games (.651) since 1995...The 37 losses have come to Wheaton and Augustana (7); Millikin (6); North Central and Carthage (3); Simpson, UW-Eau Claire and Elmhurst (2); and Coe, Mount St. Joseph, Mount Union, UW-LaCrosse, and Washington U. (1)...The Titans are 65-25 (.722) at home and 51-41-1 on the road (.554) under Eash...2005 and 2004 are the first back-to-back losing seasons for IWU since 1987 (4-5) and 1988 (4-5)...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.

ON TO THE NEXT 500: IWU is 502-374-42 (.571) in 114 years of football...IWU’s 500th win came in a 23-14 win over Wheaton on Oct. 22, 2005.

AT WILDER FIELD: Illinois Wesleyan is 55-18 (.753) at Wilder Field in the last 15 seasons (1991-2006). 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).

LAST WEEK: Illinois Wesleyan lost its 2006 CCIW opener at Augustana, 24-7, on Sept. 30 in Rock Island, Ill. The Titans (1-3 overall) managed just 125 yards of total offense (a net of -14 rushing) while allowing 387. The Titans' only score came in the second quarter when senior fullback Joe Free (Byron HS) caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Brandon Cotter (Bradley, Bradley-Bourbonnais HS). Cotter was 13 of 25 for 139 yards with three interceptions. Senior Jordan Musselman (Bloomington, Normal Community HS) made four catches for 31 yards. Senior linebacker Mike Mastro (Sarasota, Fla., Cardinal Mooney HS) had 13 total tackles and junior cornerback Bo Osburn (Morton HS) had 12 to lead the Titans.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Chosen by Titan coaches to honor top players in the week’s game and practices. The “Titan Award” honors a player for work ethic, loyalty and spirit.
OFFENSE: Joe Free, senior, fullback, Byron (HS)
DEFENSE: Mike Mastro, senior, linebacker, Sarastoa, Fla. (Cardinal Mooney HS)
SPECIAL TEAMS: Mike Stephens, senior, end, Orland Park, Providence Catholic HS)
SCOUT (Offense): Joe Burgess, junior, receiver, Tuscola (HS); Brett McWherter, junior, quarterback, River Grove (East Leyden HS)
SCOUT (Defense): Tyler Knight, freshman, linebacker, Sidney (Unity HS); Nick Nikolich, freshman, linebacker, Libertyville (HS)
TITAN AWARD: Brock Klein, senior, tight end, Addison (Trail HS); Bo Osburn, junior, defensive back, Morton (HS)

MARCUS DUNLOP: Junior Marcus Dunlop (Maywood, Proviso East HS) now has 1,508 career rushing yards, making him 15th all-time at IWU. He is immediately behind Aaron Telford (1,538, 1998-01).

THE SERIES VS. THE RED MEN: In a series that dates back to 1926, Illinois Wesleyan holds a 33-17 lead vs. Carthage. Carthage has won three of the last four games in the series, including a 42-7 decision last season in Kenosha. The Titans have won 19 of the last 24 meetings, and 24 of the last 30. Prior to 2004, 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.

THE RANKINGS: Four IWU foes have earned national rankings. In D3football.com this week, Wheaton (4-0) is No. 20, Coe (4-1) is No. 25 and Mt. St. Joseph (4-0) is No. 29. In Don Hansen’s Football Gazette, Wheaton  is No. 16, Mt. St. Joseph is No. 29, Coe is No. 32. Elmhurst (3-0) is 38th in the Football Gazette.

SCOUTING THE RED MEN: Carthage lost, 20-13 to No. 45 Elmhurst at home last Saturday. Carthage had 377 total offensive yards, 257 rushing and 120 in the air, to 326 yards for the Bluejays, 154 on the ground and 172 in the air.  Brennan O'Boyle completed 16-of-25 passes for 120 yards and ran for 106 yards on 19 carries, while Eric Haldeman caught a career-high eight passes for 63 yards. The Red Men scored first on a six-yard run by TE Bryan Bergman at 1:18 first period, capping a 13-play, 83-yard drive.  The Bluejays scored on a 2-yard run at 13:39 second quarter, ending an eight-play, 64-yard drive.  Elmhurst took the lead for good, at 5:41 second period on a five-yard run that capped a nine-play, 80-yard drive.  Lomnicki's PAT was good, and the Bluejays led, 14-7.  Matt Denny booted a 25-yard field goal at 2:25 second period to cut the lead to 14-10 at halftime.  In the third quarter, Elmhurst scored on a 12-yard TD pass and led, 20-10.  Carthage cut the lead to 20-13 on a 43-yard field goal by Denny. The Red Men got the ball back with an onside kick, but their next drive was cut short when QB Brennan O'Boyle was intercepted at the Elmhurst two with under 4:00 to go. The Bluejays were forced to punt, and Carthage took over with 2:37 left. The Red Men took the ball down to the six, but O'Boyle was intercepted with 1:45 to play.

THE COACHES: Norm Eash (Illinois Wesleyan, 1975) is in his 20th season as head coach at IWU and has an overall record of 117-66-1 (.647) and a CCIW mark of 87-51-1 (.634) 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, behind IWU’s Don Larson (142 wins), Bob Reade of Augustana (112) and Carthage’s Art Keller (105). Eash is second in victories at IWU, behind Don Larson (166 wins in 33 years, 1954-86). . .Tim Rucks is in his 12th season at Carthage and has a record of 59-52-1 there. He has a 17-year overall mark of 68-85-4 including his time at North Park.  He 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.”  Rucks is second on the all-time Carthage wins list, trailing Art Keller (177-87-7, 1952-82). 

ON THE AIR: The IWU/Carthage game will be broadcast live on WJBC 1230 AM...The game will be rebroadcast on Insight channel 5 for Bloomington-Normal cable subscribers three times: Sat., Oct. 7 - 7 p.m.; Sun., Oct. 8 - 4 p.m.; Tues., Oct. 10 - 8 p.m.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Titans go on the road for the next two league games, playing at Millikin next Sat., Oct. 14, then playing at No. 45-ranked Elmhurst on Sat., Oct. 21. Both of those games will begin at 1 p.m. The Titans return home for a 1 p.m. game on Sat., Oct. 28 against North Park and will play the annual “Seniors’ Day” game at 1 p.m. on Sat., Nov. 4 against North Central before ending the regular season at Wheaton on Sat., Nov. 11.

CCIW PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior kicker Mike Berry (Crystal Lake, Prairie Ridge East HS) was chosen “Special teams Player of the Week” in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin for his play vs. Olivet. Berry made field goals of 43 and 34 yards and also had an extra point in the 21-6 win. The 43-yard field goal is tied for the 7th longest in Illinois Wesleyan history.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: Four from IWU earned honorable mention notice on the preseason All-America squads chosen by Don Hansen's Football Gazette — senior DE Mike Stephens (Orland Park, Providence Catholic HS), senior KR Eric Esch (Bloomington HS), junior RB Marcus Dunlop (Maywood, Proviso East HS) and sophomore WR Martin Ceisel (Deerfield HS).

CCIW PRESEASON POLL: IWU was picked to finish seventh in the 2006 CCIW preseason coaches’ poll. Augustana was No. 1 with 46 points, including four first place votes, followed by North Central (38 points, two first place votes), Wheaton (36 points, one first place vote). Millikin (one first place vote) and Elmhurst tied for fourth with 27 points, followed by Carthage (26 points), the Titans (17) and North Park (7).

SEASON OPENERS: IWU is 10-10 in opening-day games under Norm Eash.

EARLY START: In a check of records since 1965, this is the earliest home football game played in the modern era at Illinois Wesleyan. . . Last year the Titans hosted Simpson on Sept. 3, the earliest season start ever prior to this year, and in 2004 IWU played at Simpson on Sept. 4. 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). What a difference 40 years makes - the IWU season in 1965 started on Sept. 25 with a home game against Illinois State.