Game Preview - Shepherd

The #15 Golden Rams (12-1) travel to Shepherdstown, WV to take on the #6 Shepherd Rams (11-0) on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II playoffs. Kickoff in Ram Stadium is set for noon. The winner of this game will represent Super Region I in the semi-finals and play the winner from Super Region II - either Lenoir-Rhyne or North Alabama - next Saturday for the right to play in the NCAA Division II National Championship.

Series History:
This will be the first time these two teams meet on the football field. They looked to be on a collision course in the 2005 playoffs as top seeded Shepherd was set to host the winner of the first round game between fourth seeded C.W. Post and fifth seeded West Chester. A year earlier in the first round of the playoffs, West Chester easily handled C.W. Post 35-3 at Farrell Stadium. However, the 2005 game was played on Long Island and the Golden Rams squandered a second half 20-14 lead and allowed C.W. Post to navigate 96 yards in 80 seconds to score the winning touchdown with three seconds left. The Pioneers went on to defeat Shepherd the following week.

Scouting the Opponent:

Defense. Hardly anything more needs to be said. Shepherd leads the nation in scoring defense yielding a skinny 12 points per game. They've pitched three shutouts this season including against Shippensburg in the first game of the season and Winston-Salem St last week in the second round of the playoffs. Consider that those two teams averaged 37 and 36 points per game respectively, and that includes their shutouts to Shepherd. Shepherd is also number one in the country in rushing defense, surrendering just 41 yards on the ground per game, and tops in third down conversion defense, allowing opponents to be successful just 20% of the time on third down. They're second in Division II in fewest first downs surrendered, second in passing efficiency defense, fifth in sacks and a respectable 33rd in passing yardage allowed.

For the Shepherd Rams, it all starts with their front seven who were all All-Mountain East Conference first or second team. Their top player is defensive end Robert Hayes (18 tackles, 10 sacks) who was the MEC defensive player of the year. The other four linemen are nose guard Mike Franklin (20 tackles, 4.5 TFL's), defensive tackle Xavier Tyler (19 tackles, 8 sacks) and defensive end Howard Jones (32 tackles, 8 sacks).

In the middle are Levi Barber (51 tackles, 4.0 TFL's, 2 interceptions, 4 pass breakups), De'Ontre Johnson (57 tackles, 7.5 TFL's, 2 interceptions) and Octavius Thomas (58 tackles, 7.5 TFL's, 1 interceptions). Thomas was the MEC defensive freshman of the year. If West Chester manages to have time to pass, the secondary is Shepherd's possible weakness as free safety Corey Washington (39 tackles, 2 interceptions, 5 pass breakups, 3 blocked kicks) was the only defensive back named all-conference.

Kicker Ryan Earls is 48 of 52 on PAT's and 12 of 15 on field goals with a long of 46 on the season. Two of his three field goal misses came last week against Winston-Salem St when points were hard to come by. Return specialist CJ Davis was named All-MEC with an average of 42 yards on his ten kickoff returns with one touchdown and an average of 26 yards on 16 punt returns and two touchdowns.

Offensively, Shepherd runs the ball twice as much as they throw it (oh yeah, they lead the nation in time of possession) behind three All-MEC linemen - right tackle Jordan Dixon, left tackle Isaiah Shelton and center Hussam Ouri. All-MEC running back Allen Cross (222 carries, 1,038 yards, 12 TD's) and MEC offensive freshman of the year Jabre Lolley (187 carries, 856 yards, 14 TD's) run behind All-MEC fullback Jonathan Hammer. At quarterback, season starter Trae Tinsman (68-116, 890 yards, 8 TD's, 2 interceptions) has given way to Jeff Ziemba (91-136, 982 yards, 7 TD's, 3 interceptions).

Head coach Monte Cater certainly isn't new to the rodeo. He's in his 27th season as head coach of the Rams and just completed his third undefeated regular season. The MEC coach of the year has a career record of 201-87-1 at Shepherd and has been to the NCAA playoffs seven times. It's interesting to note that five of those seven playoff runs ended at the hands of a PSAC opponent, including a 27-17 loss to Indiana in the first round last season.

Analysis:

The Shepherd offense seems a lot like Bloomsburg - clock consuming, run heavy offense (although the Rams use multiple runners), but throw enough to keep the opposing defense honest. West Chester gave up 31 and 38 points to Bloomsburg which was not good enough in the first game, but was in the second game. Either total is no where near good enough against a team that gives up only 12 points per game.

Usually the trick is to see how other teams that beat the opponent accomplished the task, however that has not happened against Shepherd this season. Urbana was tied with the Rams for most of the fourth quarter before succumbing 28-21. They did it with 54 pass attempts and allowed only three sacks. Their 14 rushing attempts yielded 20 yards. Glenville managed 137 yards on the ground against Shepherd, but also lost by 26 points. Concord scored 33 points against this Shepherd defense although they were always at least eight points behind. They used several big plays, which, if the Golden Rams can provide time for Sean McCartney, is in line with West Chester's usual game plan.

Limiting turnovers is a no brainer, but Shepherd is fifth in the country in turnover margin at +1.5 per game. Kick scoring looks to favor West Chester and the punting game looks even, but the Golden Rams will be tested on kick coverage.

Notes:
Expect a huge crowd as Shepherd had over 6,000 for their second round game against Winston-Salem St last weekend on the Saturday after Thanksgiving...A fan bus is being chartered to leave from the West Chester area at 7:30 am on Saturday and return around 7:00 pm. Price is $30. Send an e-mail to Jim Brazill at jimbrazill61@yahoo.com for more information or to reserve your spot...The only thing better than practice on Thanksgiving morning is playing games in December...General admission tickets are $10 and will be available at the gate only.

Game Coverage:

Live Stats   Audio   Video  

West Chester Athletic Site - West Chester Heads To Shepherd For NCAA Quarterfinal

Shepherd Athletic Site - Shepherd Parking Map

Shepherd Athletic Site - Parking Plans for Saturday's Football Game

Christmas In Shepherdstown 2013 - Schedule Includes 5K run at 10:00 am and parade at 11:00 am

Philadelphia Daily News - West Chester in quarterfinals at Shepherd

KYW Newsradio - West Chester University Hoping To Take Next Step In D2 Tourney

The Journal - Rams line stays in control

The Journal - Shepherd, West Chester seek region title

Daily Local News - West Chester set for showdown with Shepherd

D2football - PSAC Columnist - West Chester and Shepherd set for Super Region 1 Final

D2football - National Columnist - Bob Eblen - National Columnist