Whitworth University returns home to the Pine Bowl for the first time in three weeks to host Willamette University on Homecoming and Hall of Fame Saturday. But the Bearcats are no stereotypical Homecoming patsy, coming in undefeated and ranked 23rd in the D3football.com poll. Willamette rolled past La Verne 44-0 last Saturday on the road. Whitworth bounced back from its first loss of the season with a dramatic 41-35 win at Chapman on Saturday night. This weekend's kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
The Pirates: Whitworth put together a solid, if not complete, effort by the offense and defense to defeat a good Chapman team on the road last Saturday. The Pirates outgained the Panthers 386-335 and had a 3-0 advantage in turnovers. Adam Anderson (Jr., RB, Elk, Wash.) is the Northwest Conference Offensive Player of the Week after his record-breaking performance in the win. Anderson finished with 324 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns. The yardage is a school record, breaking the 303 yards posted by Damian Putney in 1999. Anderson carried the ball 23 times for 144 yards and two scores, caught five passes for 56 yards and another score, and returned three kick offs for 124 yards, including an 82-yard touchdown.
Mike Peck (Jr., QB, Longview, Wash.) was very poised in his first start for the Pirates. He completed 12 of 21 passes for 168 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions, managing the game very well. Milton Nelson (Jr., RB, Spokane, Wash.) carried 14 times for 52 yards and scored a touchdown. Jimmy Hill (Sr., TE, Renton, Wash.) scored Whitworth's game-winning touchdown when he was able to recover Anderson's fumble in the endzone with 51 seconds to play. The Pirate offensive line played much better on Saturday, opening holes for running room and allowing only a single sack for one yard. Whitworth finished with 218 rushing yards. The Pirate defense made several key plays and came up big when Whitworth went to the fourth quarter trailing 35-27. Chapman only gained 14 total yards in the fourth quarter and the only first down for the Panthers came on a questionable roughing the passer penalty. But McLane Stone (Sr., DB, Orcas Island, Wash.) intercepted Chapman's last chance pass to preserve the win. Nate Hadley (Jr., LB, Mukilteo, Wash.) led the team with eight tackles and recovered a fumble that led to a touchdown. Brandon Martin (Jr., DT, Sweet Home, Ore.) had four stops, including a four yard sack, and recovered a fumble that led to another Whitworth score. Zack Clow (So., P/K, Blanchard, Idaho - Priest River) averaged 38.3 yards on three punts.
The Captains: Adam Anderson, Kory Kemp and Brandon Martin will serve as team captains for the Pirates in 2008. Stottlemyer Lost for the Year: The Pirates lost a key starter for the second straight Saturday. Cornerback Derek Stottlemyer (So., DB, Bothell, Wash.) suffered a broken tibia in the second half and will miss the rest of the season. His injury comes only one week after Kory Kemp (Sr., QB, Redmond, Wash.) went out for the year with a broken left fibula. Versus California: The Pirates have won 18 of the last 21 against schools from the Golden State. The Bucs are 11-1-1 at home against California schools and 10-10 on the road. Whitworth will return to California for the third time this season on October 25th at Menlo College. A for Effort: Adam Anderson, the 2007 NWC Offensive Player of the Year, will be a workhorse for the Pirates this season. He leads the league and is second in all of NCAA DIII in all-purpose yards (246.3 per game). He also leads the conference in rushing average (115.7 yards per game) and scoring (12.7 points per game). Anderson's NWC Player of the Week honor is the second of his career. He was the NWC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 24 in 2007 after leading the Pirates to a come-from-behind 23-21 win over Wisconsin-Stout. Homecoming and Hall of Fame Day: In addition to the annual festivities for current students and Whitworth alums on Saturday, four new members of the Whitworth Heritage Gallery Hall of Fame will be inducted as the 19th class to the hall on Saturday morning. Football All-Americans George Elliott (1963-66) and Larry Jacobson (1966-69), basketball-baseball star Bob Mandeville (1981-84) and volleyball All-American Julie (Weatherred) Jones (2001-02) will be recognized at halftime of Saturday's contest. The actual enshrinement ceremony will take place at Quall Hall (Whitworth Community Presbyterian Church) at 8:30 a.m. Reservations can still be made by calling 777-3224. Looking Back at 2007: Whitworth surprised some by winning a second straight Northwest Conference championship despite the graduation of record-setting quarterback Joel Clark and NFL-bound tight end Michael Allan. But the Pirates shook off a season opening loss to Redlands to win eight of the remaining nine games. The only other loss was to NAIA power Azusa Pacific (38-34) in California. Whitworth swept through Northwest Conference play with a 6-0 record, winning a showdown with Linfield College 10-6 in the Pine Bowl on the second to last week of the season. The Pirates led the nation in takeaways (35) and turnover margin (+26). Anderson was named NWC Offensive Player of the Year, Jay Tully was selected as the co-NWC Defensive Player of the Year and John Tully was voted as the NWC Coach of the Year by the conference head coaches. NWC Poll: Whitworth finished second in the NWC preseason coaches poll with 40 points and one first place vote. Linfield finished first with six first place votes and 54 points. Menlo is in its third season in the NWC as a football-only affiliate. Link to NWC Football Coaches Poll.
The Opponents: Willamette rolled to a 44-0 win at La Verne last Saturday, breaking away from a 14-0 halftime lead with a dominating second half. The Bearcats outgained the Leopards 506-216 and had a 329-67 advantage in rushing yards. Willamette moved from 25th to 23rd in this week's D3football.com poll after the win. Willamette is the hottest team in the league for several reasons. The Bearcats lead the NWC offensively in scoring offense (35.2 points per game) and rushing offense (247.0 yards per game). They lead the league defensively in scoring defense (15.2 points per game) and pass defense (174 yards per game allowed, 89.3 pass efficiency rating). They lead the NWC in turnover margin (+7) and are strong in special teams - leading in both punting average (37.9 net yards per punt) and punt returns (12.2 yards per return). Senior flanker Merben Woo, the "fly" in Willamette's fly offense, has been having a terrific year. He leads the team in rushing, averaging 84 yards per game and 8.2 yards per carry with three touchdowns. He's also caught eight passes for 147 yards (18.4 yards per catch) with another touchdown. Tailback Deon Horne adds 60 yards per game. Quarterback Grant Leslie has completed 49.2% of his passes for 366 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. On defense senior linebacker Tommy Grove leads the team in tackles (44), while freshman Bruno Harmon leads in tackles for loss (4 for 17 yards in losses). 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 20-17 in overtime in Salem, pulling the Pirates within 28-17 in the all-time series. Speaking of overtime - Whitworth has gone to extra periods seven times in its history, and three of those games have come against Willamette. Each team has won five times in the last ten meetings and five of those games have been decided by a touchdown or less, or in OT. In 2002 Whitworth won the overtime game by the odd score of 44-31 when the Pirates scored first in OT, then returned an interception for a score on Willamette's possession. In 2005 the Bearcats knocked the Pirates out of playoff contention with a 40-34 overtime win in the Pine Bowl. Last season Whitworth edged the Willamette 20-17 in overtime in Salem on the way to a second straight NWC crown. Last Season: Whitworth won in Salem, Oregon for the first time since 2001. Andy Largent's (Jr., WR/PK, Spokane, Wash.) 33 yard field goal lifted the Bucs to a 20-17 win in overtime. The Whitworth defense limited the Bearcats to 274 yards of total offense, 210 of which came on the ground. Jay Tully was named NWC Defensive Player of the Week after recording 19 tackles, including one for loss of 2 yards. Despite an up-and-down performance through two and a half quarters, the defense stiffened when it needed to. After Willamette drove for a touchdown to pull within 17-14, the Pirates allowed only three more first downs over the final quarter and a half. Most importantly, they held when a Bearcats' interception gave Willamette first down on the Whitworth 12 yard line late in the third quarter, forcing a field goal that kept the game tied. Adam Anderson led the Whitworth offense, which totaled 366 yards, with 84 yards rushing and one touchdown. He also threw a 32 yard touchdown pass to Largent. Largent was named the NWC Special Teams Player of the Week for his big field goals.
On the Chapman Game: "It was a great game to watch. Our players gave great effort, especially when we got down in the fourth quarter. Both our offense and our defense really stepped up to put us in a position to win. It was an impressive win against a good team on the road." On Willamette: "They are having a great season. They have very good players, who are getting very good coaching. They are doing all the right things to win games and have a highly successful season. They are solid in all areas of the game." The Coaches: John Tully is in his 14th season as head coach of the Pirates and has a 71-56 record at Whitworth. However, he has led the Pirates to a 57-23 record over the past eight+ years and has been named the NWC Coach of the Year three times (2001, 2006 and 2007). 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 102-77 in his 18th season as a head coach. Mark Speckman is in his 11th year leading the Bearcats. He has a record of 56-47 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: 