Golden Ram Football Club: Game Preview

The Golden Rams (1-0) host Slippery Rock (1-0) on Saturday. Kickoff at John A. Farrell Stadium is scheduled for noon. Slippery Rock is ranked #12 by the AFCA and #15 by D2football.com. West Chester enters the game ranked #25 by D2football.com and "receiving votes" by the AFCA. It will be the first official game on the newly installed turf.

Series History:
The series between the two schools is even at 8-8. Head coach Bill Zwaan is 3-2 against the Rock while this is Shawn Lutz's first season as head coach at Slippery Rock.

In the final game of the regular season in 2006, with both teams owning a 7-3 record and the winner destined for the NCAA playoffs, West Chester won by a score of 21-20 when the Rock's 48-yard field goal attempt drifted wide left in the pouring rain in Slippery Rock. In 2010 also in Slippery Rock, Shawn Leo kicked a field goal to put the Golden Rams up 27-24 with two and a half minutes left. But the Rock converted a 47-yard field goal of their own with 31 seconds left to send the game into overtime. The Rock quickly scored a touchdown in overtime, but Nick Garcia blocked the point after giving West Chester hope. Although the Golden Rams picked up a first down, they were unable to get into the end zone and fell 33-27. In the first round of the 2014 NCAA playoffs, West Chester trounced the visitors, but Slippery Rock repaid the Golden Rams in last season's PSAC Championship Game.

Last 10 Meetings:

Year	H/A	W/L	Score	Year	H/A	W/L	Score
1972	Away	Loss	29-27	2006	Away	Win	21-20
1973	Home	Loss	28-14	2010	Away	Loss	33-27 OT
1974	Away	Loss	20-7	2011	Home	Win	20-17
1996	Home	Win	31-21	2014	Home	Win	46-20
1997	Away	Loss	27-14	2015	Home	Loss	61-12

Last Meeting:

11/14/2015 Slippery Rock 61 - West Chester 12

Slippery Rock completely dismantled the Golden Rams in the PSAC Championship game at Farrell Stadium. The 49-point loss was the largest margin of defeat under head coach Bill Zwaan as the Rock dominated both sides of the ball.

For the Golden Rams on offense, quarterback Pat Moriarty threw for 164 yards and two touchdowns while running back Jarel Elder had three catches for 21 yards, 10 yards rushing and 44 yards in kickoff returns.

The West Chester defense was led by linebacker Ralph Reeves with 12 total tackles and defensive tackle Josh Ganzelli who had nine total tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss. Linebacker Kevin Duggan and defensive end George Shipp each had six and five tackles respectively and shared in a sack.

Scouting the Opponent:

The focal point of the Slippery Rock offense is All-American running back Shamar Greene. Greene rushed for 178 yards and a touchdown last year against the Golden Rams and 162 yards and two touchdowns in the Rock's win last Saturday. He'll be running behind first team All-PSAC West center Joe LoSchiavo.

At quarterback. replacing Youngstown State transfer Dante Nania from last year's squad is Sam Houston St transfer Don King III. Reigning PSAC West Special Teams Player of the Week Drew Scales had 195 all-purpose yards against New Haven last week - 21 rushing, 73 receiving, 64 on kickoff returns and 37 on punt returns.

The cornerstone of the Rock defense is All-American and PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Year Marcus Martin. The defensive end was named PSAC West Defensive Player of the Week for his 11 tackle effort, 4.0 of which went for losses, last week. With 33.0 career sacks, he is in the verge of breaking the PSAC mark of 33.5 set by Andrew Cohen last season. In the PSAC championship game last year, West Chester was able to hold Martin to three tackles and one sack. He gets help from defensive tackle Joe Phillips and linebacker Bob Vernick, both of whom were All-PSAC West last season. Last week, Eastern Michigan transfer linebacker Anthony Zappone had 11 tackles, an interception, a quarterback hurry and 1.5 sacks.

Last week, freshman kicker Jake Chapla had a 20-yard field goal and kicked a touchback, but also missed a PAT and kicked off out of bounds twice. Freshman punter Josiah Davis averaged 41.7 yards on six punts last week.

Analysis:

Looking at West Chester's schedule, this certainly appears to be the most difficult game of 2016, especially if memories of last year's game are lingering. The Golden Rams have a change in starting quarterback with Andrew Derr now topping the depth chart. Hopefully a full week of first team reps will refine the timing with the receivers that seemed to be lost at Bentley. Derr certainly provides a bigger body for the times that he needs to run. The primary question is what will it take for the offensive line to control Martin, Vernick and Zappone.

Defensively, stopping the running of Greene and King will be key. The defense will be challenged by the loss of Shipp and Kyle Keyser who suffered injuries at Bentley. Junior John Dubyk will get the start at defensive end while Pete Galiano will get the start at free safety. Both have plenty of experience to get the starting nod, but depth at those two spots is a concern, especially with a hot and steamy day forecasted.

Massey Ratings is favoring the Rock by 7 while Atomic Football shows a margin of 15.