Whitworth University will play its third straight road game on Saturday when the Pirates travel to Willamette University for a key Northwest Conference match up. Whitworth is coming off of a hard-fought 38-34 loss at NAIA Azusa Pacific, while the Bearcats won handily at NWC-member Menlo 32-14. Both teams control their own destiny toward at least a share of the conference title heading into Saturday's game.
The Pirates: Whitworth lost, but it was a great back-and-forth football game against a very talented opponent. The Pirates won the turnover battle, while Azusa won the special teams struggle - using two long returns to set up short second half scoring drives and blocking a PAT and a field goal. Whitworth ran for 349 of their 407 yards, while the Cougars threw for 353 of their 399 yards. The Pirates were driving midway through the fourth quarter for what could have been an insurance score when they suffered their only turnover of the game and APU turned it into the winning touchdown with 4:39 to play. Adam Anderson (So., RB, Elk, Wash. - Univ. of Idaho) led the rushing attack with 149 yards on 32 carries. He scored a season-high three touchdowns. Chris Ahsing (Sr., RB, Ewa Beach, Hawaii - Campbell) picked up 96 yards on 21 carries and ran for a touchdown. Kory Kemp (Jr., QB, Redmond, Wash. - Eastlake) ran for 97 yards, including a 42 yard burst in the second quarter, and scored on a 17 yard touchdown run. He completed 6 of 15 passes for 58 yards. Steve Silva (Sr., WR, Goleta, Calif. - Coll. of the Canyons) caught two passes for 19 yards. The Whitworth defense limited the Cougar running game to 2.6 yards per carry, but did give up big yards through the air. Casey Clifton (Sr., LB, Spokane, Wash. - University) and Greg Caster (Sr., LB, Sherwood, Ore. - Sherwood) each finished with eight tackles. Clifton had two tackles for loss. Jay Tully (Sr., SS, Spokane, Wash. - Mead) made seven stops and forced and recovered a first quarter fumble. Phil Entel (Sr., FS, Clarkston, Wash. - Univ. of Idaho) had five tackles and returned a second quarter interception that allowed Whitworth to tie the game at halftime. Home Sweet Home No More: Whitworth's three game homestand this season was the longest in the Pine Bowl since the Pirates played four games in a row at home in 1999. While Whitworth was able to enjoy four of the first five games of 2007 at home, it also means that the Pirates will finish the year with four of five games on the road. Shooting Blanks: Whitworth's wins over La Verne (34-0) and Menlo (49-0) give the Pirates two shutouts in one season for the first time since Hugh Campbell's Bucs shut out Montana Tech (70-0) and Pacific, Ore. (45-0) during a 6-3 campaign in 1976. Whitworth's 1975 Northwest Conference co-title season included three shutout wins over Eastern Washington (20-0), Pacific (35-0) and Lewis & Clark (37-0). The school record for shutouts in a season is seven in 1961.
Seniors Everywhere: Fifteen seniors started the opener for the Pirates, the most veteran starting lineup in John Tully's tenure as head coach. Nine seniors started on defense, where eight have at least one full season of starting experience behind them. Six seniors started on offense, and four of those players started last year. Versus California: Whitworth saw its eight game winning streak in California come to an end at Azusa. The Pirates have won 16 of the last 18 against schools from the Golden State. The Bucs are 10-1-1 at home against California schools and 9-9 on the road. Offensive Defense: Whitworth has scored three touchdowns and two safeties by the defense so far this season for a total of 22 points. Marc Grow has two of the touchdown returns with a fumble (La Verne) and an interception (Menlo). Ryan Marshall's interception return for a touchdown against Menlo was the second of his career. Takeitaway!: Whitworth leads the Northwest Conference and NCAA Division III in turnover margin. The Pirates have taken away the ball 23 times (14 interceptions, nine fumble recoveries), while giving the ball away only four times, for a margin of +19. Nineteen divided by seven games means the Bucs are taking the ball away 2.7 more times per game than opponents so far this season. In addition, Whitworth is ranked 20th in passes intercepted (14) and second in turnovers lost (4). Ryan Marshall (Sr., DB, Salem, Ore. - Sprague) leads the NWC in interceptions this season with four, and he has 18 in his career. No Running!: Whitworth is first in the Northwest Conference and 12th in NCAA Division III in rushing defense. The Pirates have allowed only 65.7 yards per game and 2.4 yards per carry. One ball carrier, Ron Fricke of Wisconsin-Stout, has run for more than 100 yards this season against the Pirates. And his single game total of 113 yards accounts for almost 25% of the rushing yards allowed (460) by the Whitworth defense this season. "A" for Effort: Adam Anderson leads the NWC (and ranks 34th nationally) in rushing this season with 742 yards (over 106 yards per game). He has run for eight touchdowns and has a carry of at least 40 yards in four of the Bucs' seven games this season. He is averaging a robust 6.0 yards per attempt. Sticky Fingers: Steve Silva leads the Northwest Conference in total receptions and receptions per game so far this fall. Silva has 40 catches for 467 yards, averaging 5.7 receptions per game. The senior was a First Team All-NWC selection in 2006. Three-way Jay: Jay Tully (Sr., DB, Spokane, Wash. - Mead) has made his presence felt all over the football field this season. The starting strong safety is second on the team with 41 tackles this fall and he has three pass interceptions. He also has averaged 22.6 yards on kick off returns (he leads the team with seven returns). And when Whitworth goes with four or five wide receivers, he is on the field catching passes. He has seven receptions for 43 yards this season, including the game-winning touchdown catch against Wis.-Stout as time expired. Looking Back at 2006: Whitworth accomplished a great deal in its 100th season of varsity football. The Pirates went 10-0 during the regular season, setting a school record for total number of wins. Whitworth went on to win the first post-season playoff game in school history before finishing 11-1. The Pirates won the Northwest Conference title outright for the first time, after sharing titles in 1975 and 2001, and finished the year ranked 9th in the final D3football.com poll. Quarterback Joel Clark and linebacker Casey Clifton were the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year in the NWC. John Tully was named Coach of the Year in the conference. National Ranking: Whitworth dropped out of both the D3football.com top-25 and the AFCA top-25 after Saturday's loss at Azusa Pacific. The Pirates are listed with "others receiving votes" in both polls. NWC Poll: Whitworth finished second in the NWC preseason coaches poll with 44 points and two first place votes. Linfield finished first with five first place votes and 52 points. Menlo is in its second season in the NWC as a football-only affiliate. Link to NWC Football Coaches Poll.
The Opponents: The Willamette Bearcats continue to run their "fly" offense effectively. Willamette is second in the NWC in rushing yards, with 214.6 of their 312.3 yards per game coming on the ground. The Bearcats' biggest win this season was a 33-32 win over Linfield at home on September 29th. While the offense is often running by committee, QB Ryan Whitcomb directs the attack. He averages 69.6 yards per game on the ground and has also completed 53% of his passes for 235 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Running back C.J. Washington adds 61.3 yards per game rushing and leads the team with five touchdowns. Defensively the Bearcats are second to Whitworth in the NWC in both total defense (296.6 yards per game) and rushing defense (99.3 yards per game). Middle linebacker Taylor Hermes leads the team with 72 tackles, including six for losses of 24 yards. Defensive end Corey Lowe has eight tackles for losses of 42 yards and defensive back Ryan Bettencourt has nine passes defended. Last week Willamette used a dominating defensive effort and efficient offense to roll past Menlo 32-14. The Bearcats outgained the Oaks 425-61, had a 24-4 advantage in first downs and controlled the ball for 41 of the game's 60 minutes. Whitcomb ran for 104 yards and completed 3 of 7 passes for 36 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Back up running back Skylar Swinford ran for two scores. Hermes led the team with seven tackles. The Series: Willamette is Whitworth's second-oldest continuing rival. The teams first met on the field in 1908 and Whitworth won 18-0. The biggest Pirate win in the series was 46-0 in 1983. The biggest Bearcat victory was 67-0 in 1912. Whitworth won last year's meeting 28-14 in the Pine Bowl, breaking a three-game winning streak in the series for Willamette. The Pirates' last win in Salem came in 2001 (17-14). The Bearcats lead the overall series 28-16. Last Year: Whitworth defeated a well-rested and highly motivated Willamette football team 28-14. The Bearcats were coming off of a bye week, and had only played one other game in the month of October due to a previous bye week. But the Pirates withstood the challenge thanks to a stellar defensive effort and solid performances from the offense. Whitworth came up with a season-high six sacks in the win, while holding the Bearcats to only 189 yards of total offense. Casey Clifton came up with 12 tackles and was in on one of the sacks. Justin Rundle had two sacks for six yards, along with four total tackles. Peter Ghilardi (Jr., CB, Ridgecrest, Calif. - Moorpark Coll.) and Greg Caster had eight tackles each. Jay Tully caught his second TD of the season and Steve Silva made a couple of big third down catches and finished with four receptions for 51 yards.
On the Azusa Pacific game: "That was a great game played in a great atmosphere. Both teams played with a lot of heart and gave great effort throughout." On facing Willamette: "They are a good football team and a legitimate contender for the NWC title. They are a tough opponent and we will have to play well to win, as will they. It should be a great Northwest Conference football game." The Coaches: John Tully is in his 13th season as head coach of the Pirates. He has a 66-55 record at Whitworth. However, he has led the Pirates to a 52-22 record over the past seven-plus years and was named the NWC Coach of the Year in 2001 and 2006. Tully is the winningest coach in school history, as well as the longest serving Pirate coach. Prior to his arrival, Whitworth had suffered through 11 losing seasons in 12 years. Overall he is 96-77 in his 17th season as a head coach. Mark Speckman is in his 10th year leading the Bearcats. He has a record of 51-45 and has led the Bearcats to a pair of NCAA post season appearances, including 2004. He was the 1999 NWC Coach of the Year. Other Division III Football Links: American Football Coaches Association |
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Coach Tully's Quotes: 