Game Preview - Bloomsburg

The #7 Golden Rams (7-0, 6-0) travel to take on the #8 Bloomsburg Huskies (7-0, 6-0) on Saturday. Kickoff at Robert B. Redman Stadium is set for 2:00 pm.

Series History:
West Chester leads the overall series 47-25 and these two schools always seem to play big games. Last year was no exception as the first matchup was for the PSAC East championship and the second meeting was in the second round of the NCAA playoffs. This year is no exception as the winner will likely be the top seed when the initial NCAA regional rankings are released next week and the top team in the next ECAC Lambert Poll.

Last 10 Meetings:

Year	H/A	W/L	Score	Year	H/A	W/L	Score
2006	Away	Loss	21-20	2010	Away	Loss	45-21
2007	Home	Win	44-28	2011	Home	Loss	55-42
2008	Away	Win	24-21	2012	Away	Loss	24-23
2008	Away	Loss	28-21	2013	Home	Loss	31-28
2009	Home	Win	30-14	2013	Away	Win	40-38

Last Meeting:

11/30/2013 West Chester 40 - Bloomsburg 38

The Golden Rams avenged their only loss of the regular season when they defeated the Huskies on a frigid day in Bloomsburg in the second round of the NCAA playoffs. Although West Chester never trailed in the contest, the only time fans felt confident was after West Chester recovered the onsides kick with 34 seconds left.

The defensive stars were Ronell Williams with ten tackles and a forced fumble and Brandon Pepper who had five tackles, a forced fumble and an interception which he returned 24 yards. Quarterback Sean McCartney threw for 348 yards and three touchdowns with tight end Tim Brown hauling in five catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns.

Scouting the Opponent:

Bloomsburg isn't putting up huge rushing yardage this season like they have in the past, but it is how they get in the end zone. Eddie Mateo (116 carries, 680 yards, 16 TD's) leads the way with Dai'Shon Munger (80 carries, 371 yards, 2 TD's) providing backup. Quarterback Tim Kelly (23 carries, 143 yards, 1 TD) broke off an 81-yard touchdown run against Millersville. When Kelly throws (66-114, 929 yards, 4 TD's, 4 interceptions), he looks for wide receivers D.J. McFadden (16 catches, 309 yards, 2 TD's), Trent Daniels (12 catches, 174 yards), and Connor Glades (12 catches, 165 yards, 1 TD). Bloomsburg hasn't been using their tight ends in the passing game like they used to.

All-PSAC East Lawrence Elliott leads the conference in punt returns with a 21.4 yard average per return. He also handles kickoff returns as well. Will Wagner has landed 11 of his 31 punts inside the opponent 20 and is third in the conference with a 40.4 yards average per punt. Kicker Braden Drexler is 26 of 30 on PAT's and 6 of 10 on field goals with a long of 39 yards.

Defensively Bloomsburg leads the PSAC in scoring at 14.3 points per game. They're immediately ahead of West Chester in yardage surrendering just 308 yards per contest. Linebackers Justin Shirk (60 tackles, 7.0 sacks) and Garrett Pope (33 tackles, 3 TFL's) clog up the middle. DJ Robinson (20 tackles, 2 interceptions) and Donovan Morris (37 tackles, 3 interceptions) have half of the team's PSAC leading 10 interceptions.

Analysis:

Everyone thinks that Bloomsburg is a ground oriented team, and they’re probably right from the fact that they run twice as often as they pass, 291 to 142. That seemed to be the approach that West Chester took in both games last year against the Huskies, almost daring Kelly to beat them. In the regular season game at Farrell Stadium, he threw for 262 yards to complement their 310 yards on the ground to answer the dare. In West Chester’s win at Redman Stadium, Kelly threw for 265 yards and three touchdowns while the Golden Rams “limited” Bloomsburg to 268 yards on the ground. Those two games were Bloomsburg’s highest passing yardage outputs of 2013. Without Harlon Hill winner Franklyn Quiteh, Bloomsburg’s rushing game is averaging over 110 yards less per game than last year while the Husky pass yardage is only off 30 yards per contest. The bottom line is, the Golden Ram defense should be more weary of Kelly in this game.

California and Shippensburg were the two teams that came closest to defeating the Huskies this season and they both used a balanced offense attack. Fortunately West Chester’s offense is fairly balanced with some favoritism toward the pass which should be beneficial. The Golden Rams have several choices to carry as well as catch the ball and will likely use all of them as usual. The offensive success will probably come down to how well the line performs in opening holes for the running backs and protecting the quarterback.

Game Coverage:

Live Stats   Audio  

PSAC Site - Football - Week 8 Notes

Bloomsburg Athletic Site - No. 8 Bloomsburg Hosts No. 7 West Chester Saturday In Battle of Unbeatens

KYW Newsradio - Sports Saturday Showdown For West Chester At Bloomsburg

Daily Item - Bloomsburg, West Chester meet in battle of unbeatens

GoErie.com - West Chester visits Bloom in No. 7-8 clash

Daily Local News - WCU set for showdown with Bloomsburg

D2football - PSAC Columnist - Preview Week 8 in the PSAC

D2football - National Columnist - Bob Eblen - National Columnist