Saturday, October 3
Jacksonville, Fla.
1:00 p.m.
Davidson College
at
Jacksonville
Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com
'Cats Travel to Jacksonville Saturday
10/1/2009 12:06:21 PM | Football
Davidson Wildcats (1-2, 1-0 PFL) vs. Jacksonville Dolphins (1-2, 0-0 PFL)
Oct. 3, 2009 - Jacksonville, Fla.
D.B. Milne Field (5,000) - 1 p.m. - Natural Grass
Oct. 3, 2009 - Jacksonville, Fla.
D.B. Milne Field (5,000) - 1 p.m. - Natural Grass
Today's Game
• After a week off, the Wildcats return to the field with their first Pioneer Football League road game of the campaign, a 1 p.m. contest at defending PFL champion Jacksonville. It will be the PFL opener for the Dolphins.
• Davidson is 3-1 in games following the bye week during head coach Tripp Merritt's tenure.
• The 'Cats are 13-10 in their last 23 PFL contests overall,
• Davidson is 7-12 all-time in league games on the road, including 2-5 in its last seven.
• The Wildcats are coming off a 24-7 home victory over Campbell Sept. 19.
• The 'Cats have lost eight of their last 11 overall, dating back to the 2008 season.
• Jacksonville suffered a 28-27 loss to Old Dominion in its home opener Sept. 19. The Dolphins are also coming off their bye week.
• Both of Jacksonville's losses have come against FCS scholarship programs.
Series Record
• Davidson leads the all-time series, which dates back to 1998, 6-5 and has won the last three games against Jacksonville.
• The 'Cats and Dolphins have played each season since the inception of Jacksonville's program in 1998.
• Davidson is 5-2 against Jacksonville in the last seven meetings, including 2-1 on the road.
• The 'Cats are 2-3 all-time against the Dolphins on the road.
• Four games in the series have been decided by a touchdown or less.
• The Wildcats have posted comeback victories over the Dolphins in the last two games. Davidson trailed 10-0 at halftime in Jacksonville in 2007 and was behind 35-14 with 4:04 to go in the third quarter last season.
• In last season's meeting, Ben Behrendt kicked a game-winning 23-yard field goal with 43 seconds left after Tyler Lemons forced a Dolphin fumble and Brandon Sykes recovered it at the Jacksonville 30-yard line.
• Ryan Alexander led Davidson's comeback, throwing for 230 yards and three TDs.
• Myles Potter had three catches for 93 yards, including an 80-yard TD reception that ignited the comeback.
• Chad Barnes rushed 18 times for 97 yards for the 'Cats, and Rudell Small had 33 carries for 217 yards and three TDs for the Dolphins.
• Jacksonville quarterback Josh McGregor threw for 147 yards and two TDs.
Scouting the Dolphins
• Rudell Small leads the Jacksonville offensive attack with 242 yards and two TDs on 58 carries.
• Josh McGregor has thrown for 677 yards and seven TDs and has a passing efficiency of 132.9.
• Josh Philpart is Jacksonville's leading receiver with 19 catches for 336 yards.
• Joseph Fennell leads the Dolphin defense with 29 tackles, while Allen Fennell has 23 stops, including 3.5 for loss.
• Ten different Dolphins have been in on a sack, and Jacksonville has 20 tackles for loss as a team.
• Jacksonville has yet to record a takeaway this season.
Claw Marks
• The 'Cats have now won their Pioneer Football League opener in six of the nine seasons they have been in the league.
• Running back Kenny Mantuo matched his career high with 135 rushing yards against Campbell. He had 135 at Jacksonville in 2007.
• The 'Cats are 4-0 when either running back Kenny Mantuo or Justin Williams rushes for 100 yards or more.
• Linebacker Tyler Lemons needs 13 tackles to reach 200 for his career.
• Junior quarterback Michael Blanchard is making his fourth career start. Davidson is 1-2 with Blanchard as its starting quarterback.
• The Wildcats, who are playing their 111th season of football, are scheduled to play the 1,000th game in school history Nov. 7 at San Diego.
• Head coach Tripp Merritt is climbing the all-time victory list at Davidson. With 21 wins, he needs four to move into the top-5.
• The 'Cats need two more victories to make 2000-09 the winningest decade in school history.
• The Wildcats opened the 2009 home schedule with new red jerseys. The new look was a surprise to the team as they found them laid out by their lockers when they reported to the Richardson Stadium locker room on game day.
• Davidson's 56-0 loss at Elon was its worst since a 56-0 setback at San Diego in 2004. It was the first time the 'Cats were shut out since a 33-0 loss at VMI in the 2005 season opener.
• Davidson was shut out in its first two games of the 2009 campaign. It's the first time Davidson has not scored in consecutive games in the same season since the 1985 campaign, when the 'Cats lost 28-0 at James Madison and 15-0 to Penn the previous week. The 'Cats failed to score in three straight games that season as they lost 31-0 at The Citadel.
• It was the first time Davidson was held scoreless in consecutive contests since falling 23-0 to Georgetown in the last game of 2004 and opening the 2005 season with a 33-0 setback at VMI.
• The Wildcats have not scored in the first half this season.
• Davidson opponents have scored touchdowns on all 24 of their trips into the Red Zone.
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