Team News - Golden Rams Rise to #7 in AFCA Poll

After West Chester's 55-28 homecoming win over Shippensburg, the Golden Rams (7-0, 6-0) rose to #7 in the most recent coaches' poll. Previous #1 Northwest Missouri St, #7 Ohio Dominican, #8 Shepherd and #9 Delta St all lost clearing room among the top ten. However, Ferris St, which is the team that defeated Ohio Dominican, jumped from #11 to #6. West Chester also rose to #7 in the D2football.com poll.

Quarterback Sean McCartney is now third in the country in passing efficiency with a 175.8 rating and the Golden Ram team passing efficiency is also third at 177.9. Team total offense is 11th with 513 yards per game, 12th in passing with 333 yards per game and 13th in scoring with 43.6 points per game. The offense is sixth in third down conversions at a rate of 52.1% and the line has yielded only 1.14 sacks per game which is 21st in the nation.

The team defense continues to be highly ranked in several categories - 19th in scoring at 16.0 points per game, 12th in passing efficiency at 95.3, 27th in total yardage with 311 yards per game, and first in fourth down conversions at 11.8%. Defensive end Andrew Cohen is 15th in the country in sacks with 1.0 sack per game and cornerback Al-Hajj Shabazz is 27th in passes defended with 1.4 per game.

The team is 23rd in the country in net punting at 36.6 yards per punt, but just like last season, punter Rich Bruno is not listed among the individual leaders as he is three punts shy of consideration.

West Chester's next action is Saturday at 2:00pm when they travel to take on #8 Bloomsburg (7-0, 6-0).

American Football Coaches Association - Division II Coaches’ Poll – October 20, 2014

West Chester Athletic Site - West Chester University Football Climbing in the Polls