"Red Out at Richardson" For Home Opener Saturday Night

Davidson Wildcats (0-1, 0-0 PFL) vs. Lenoir-Rhyne Bears (0-1, 0-0 SAC)

Date: Sept. 14 - 7 p.m.

Site: Stephen B. Smith Field at Richardson Stadium (4,500 capacity) - Davidson, N.C.

Audio: Mark Plemmons and Lenny Batycki call the action on the Davidson Radio Network (WHIP 1350 AM, Mi-Connection Ch. 4 -TV, online at DavidsonWildcats.com and mobile with the TuneIn Radio App Android | iTunes)

Video: Available at www.davidsonwildcats.com

Web sites: Davidson (DavidsonWildcats.com), Lenoir-Rhyne (LRBears.com)

Tickets | Game Notes (PDF) | Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats | Live Twitter Updates | Buy Davidson Photos | Coach's Show
Like Davidson Football on Facebook | Follow Davidson Football on Twitter

Today's Game
• The 7 p.m., Saturday night contest is Davidson's first at home. Davidson is looking for its first win of the season after falling at Georgetown in the season opener, 42-6
• It's "Red Out at Richardson." If you're not wearing red already (or even if you are), special shirts can be purchased at the game for $10. The first 3,000 fans will find seat cushions in their seats.
• Fans will not want to miss the "Wildcat Walk" starting at 4:45. The Davidson football team will walk from the Wildcat statue and through the Wildcat Tailgate Fan Zone on Faculty Drive on their way into Richardson Stadium.
• Davidson football alum John Giles '68 is serving as an honorary team captain.
• The Wildcats return 12 starters (7 off., 5 def) and 36 lettermen from last year's squad that went 2-9 overall and 2-6 in the PFL.
• It will be the second game as head coach, but the first at home, for Paul Nichols '03, who was named to the position on Dec. 21, 2012.
• Senior QB Jonathan Carkhuff has surpassed many of Nichols' records from his , as he now ranks as Davidson's all-time leader in completions (877), attempts (1432) and completion percentage (61.2%). He needs 683 more passing yards to surpass Ryan Alexander (9376) for the school record and five more touchdown passes to move past Nichols into second all-time in that category.
• Senior TE Reese Williams was named to the Preseason All-PFL?first team. He earned first-team All-PFL honors in 2012 after hauling in a career-best 51 receptions for 522 yards to rank second on the team in both categories and 11th and 13th, respectively, in the PFL.
• Davidson's two wins last season came on the road and the Wildcats were 0-3 in non-conference games.
• Lenoir-Rhyne also opened its season last week, suffering an 18-10 loss to Concord. The Bears were hampered by eight fumbles, of which they lost five.
• The Bears return 62 letterwinners and 13 starters (7 off., 6 def.) from last year's team that won the 2012 SAC and advanced to the second round of the NCAA?Division II?Playoffs, going 9-3 overall and 6-1 in the SAC.
• The Bears were 3-2 on the road last season.
• The 'Cats were picked ninth in the PFL preseason poll while Lenoir-Rhyne was picked second in the South Atlantic Conference and was ranked 23rd in NCAA?Division II?before last week's season opener.

Series Record
• The Wildcats trail the series, which began in 1910, 8-10.
• The Bears won five straight against Davidson from 1974 to 2005, but the Wildcats have won four of the last seven.
• Last season, Lenoir-Rhyne kept Davidson's offense in check with four interceptions and scored three rushing touchdowns to defeat the Wildcats 20-2 in Moretz Stadium.
• Davidson's lone score came on a safety early in the third quarter.
• Jonathan Carkhuff completed 31-of-54 attempts for 265 yards for Davidson, but was sacked four times and intercepted four times. Lanny Funsten caught seven passes for 95 yards and Reese Williams caught six for 54 yards. Defensive lineman Lewis McAlister led Davidson with a career-high 12 tackles and blocked an extra point.
• Austin Beaty led Lenoir-Rhyne's rushing attack, which totaled 301 yards, with 118 yards on 11 carries, including a 69-yard touchdown run. Graham Duncan ran for 59 yards on seven carries, including a 30-yard touchdown run. Isaiah Whitaker ran for 52 yards on 16 carries and quarterback Teverrius Jackson rushed 16 times for 49 yards and a touchdown, completing 1-of-4 pass attempts in the Bear's triple-option offense.
• Lenoir-Rhyne fumbled four times, but was able to recover each of them for a plus-four advantage in the turnover battle.

Last Time Out
• Georgetown took advantage of short fields en route to a 42-6 victory over Davidson in non-conference football action Saturday evening on Multi-Sport Field.
• Leading 14-6 late in the first half, Georgetown (1-1) took command with a pair of quick touchdowns. A botched Davidson (0-1) punt play with 2:01 remaining turned the ball over on downs at the Davidson 22-yardline, and a touchdown pass from Isaiah Kempf to Jake DeCicco extended the Hoya lead to 21-6.
• After the kickoff, Jonathan Carkhuff's pass on the first play from scrimmage was picked off and returned for a touchdown, sending the Hoyas to the locker room with a 28-6 lead.
• Another botched punt early in the third quarter gave Georgetown the ball on Davidson's 17, and the Hoyas scored on their second play – a six-yard pass to Daniel Sprotte. Neither defense yielded the rest of the game until Kempf ran for a touchdown from 15 yards out with two minutes remaining.
• Tight end Reese Williams hauled in eight passes for 62 yards and one touchdown to lead the Wildcats on offense. Carkhuff completed 22-of-42 pass attempts for 214 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions. Defensive back Myles Atkins led the defense with nine tackles (five solo) and an interception. Linebacker Matt Casey made eight tackles with one sack.
• Kempf completed 16-of-23 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns with one interception, and also rushed eight times for 37 yards and one touchdown to lead the Hoyas. Jo'el Kimpela gained 69 yards on 13 attempts on the ground, while Dalen Claytor and Nick Campanella each had rushing touchdowns. Patrick Boyle made 10 tackles (seven solo) to pace the defense, while Wharton and Rohan Williamson each had interceptions.
• Davidson won the coin toss, elected to receive and got off to a fast start, quickly moving into Georgetown territory by converting three straight third downs. Later, a 12-yard pass on 3rd-and-8 from Carkhuff to Hines gave the 'Cats 1st-and-goal from the 7-yardline, but the Hoyas yielded only one more yard and blocked a 22-yard field goal attempt.

Wildcats at Night
• Davidson has played 14 night games at Richardson Stadium since 1998 and owns a 7-7 record.

Head Coach Paul Nichols
• Paul Nichols '03, who as a student-athlete in 2000 quarterbacked Davidson to its first-and-only undefeated season, returned to his alma mater to serve as the football program's 27th head coach, Director of Athletics Jim Murphy announced Dec. 21, 2012.
• He is the second youngest head coach in all of NCAA Division I football, born January 25, 1981.
• Nichols most recently served as the director of player personnel at Illinois last season. Prior to his time at Illinois, Nichols spent three seasons on Tim Beckman's staff at Toledo as co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach.
• In 2011, Nichols helped guide the Rockets to a 9-4 record and a win over Air Force in the Military Bowl. Toledo was 7-1 in the MAC and shared the West Division title.
• Before Toledo, Nichols served as an assistant at Marshall University for three seasons after completing two seasons as a graduate assistant at Ohio State from 2004-05, where he assisted with the defensive backs and defensive line.
• A native of Dunwoody, Ga., Nichols graduated from Davidson College in 2003 with bachelor's degrees in political science and history.
• Nichols was a first-team All-Pioneer League and a first-team Pioneer League All-Academic selection as a senior in Davidson's first year in the PFL, and was named honorable mention All-America by Don Hansen's Football Gazette.
• Nichols departed as the school record holder for career passing yards (5,822), completions (465) and touchdown passes (51), and compiled a 22-6 record as a starting quarterback. After seeing limited action as a freshman, Nichols won the starting job prior to his sophomore year and guided the 'Cats to a 10-0 season. His junior year was cut short by a knee injury, but Nichols bounced back as a senior and matched the school record for touchdown passes in a single season with 25.
• Nichols now ranks third in passing yards and completions after being surpassed by Ryan Alexander '08 and senior Jonathan Carkhuff. He is also now second to Alexander in career passing touchdowns, with Carkhuff needing just six more touchdown passes to move past Nichols in that category.
• Nichols is the first Davidson alumnus to guide the football program on a full-time basis since Dave Fagg '58, who finished his second coaching stint with the Wildcats following the 1992 season. He joins Matt Spear '93 (men's soccer) as the only other Davidson alum currently serving as a head coach at Davidson.
• Nichols and his wife, the former Lauran Lightmas, a 2004 graduate of Davidson, have a son, Drew (2).

Difficult Decade
• In the 10 seasons since Nichols graduated, the Wildcats have tallied more wins than losses just twice, and have been unable to match the 7-3 mark of the 2002 team Nichols quarterbacked as a senior.

Just One Agenda
• From team gear to posters to Twitter, the motto "Just One Agenda" (JOA) can be found throughout the Davidson football program. The agenda is, of course, to win, but to win not only on the field, but in the classroom, community and socially, as well.

Coaching Staff a Mix of Youth and Experience
• Veteran FBS coach Mitch Browning joins as the assistant head coach, offensive line and tight ends coach. Browning brings 33 years of coaching experience, including stops at six BCS schools and appearances in 11 bowl games. Twenty of the players he has recruited during his career went on to play in the NFL, including two first-round draft picks (Dana Stubblefield and Laurence Maroney).
• Chad Creamer joins as the defensive coordinator, linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator. Creamer served as a player personnel assistant at Illinois under Nichols last season. Previously, Creamer spent two seasons guiding the defense at Capital University (Columbus, Ohio), and also served as a graduate assistant at Austin Peay and an undergraduate assistant at Ohio State.
• Mike LaFleur joins as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks and wide receivers coach. He comes to Davidson from Saint Joseph's College, a Division II school in Rensselaer, Ind., where he served in the same capacity and also as the recruiting coordinator. LaFleur arrived at SJC from his alma mater, Elmhurst College, where he spent the 2009 season as an offensive assistant coach working primarily with quarterbacks. As a player, LaFleur was a team captain and three-time letterwinner. His brother, Matt LaFleur, is the quarterbacks coach for the Washington Redskins.
• The 2013 season will mark Brett Hayford's 21st as a coach for the Wildcats and his 24th year on the Davidson campus. He guides Davidson's defensive line and served as the interim head coach for the final two games of the 2012 season. Hayford graduated in 1993 from Davidson, where he played two seasons as a defensive lineman and for the baseball team.
• #D.J. Wingate# joins as the defensive backs coach. Nichols was Wingate's position coach when he was a defensive back as a student-athlete at Marshall during the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Wingate comes to Davidson after serving as a member of the coaching staff at the University of South Florida for the past two seasons. He joined USF as a program assistant for the 2011 season and then served as a graduate assistant for the Bulls last year. Wingate played four seasons with the Thundering Herd in the secondary, graduating in 2010.
• Diauntae Morrow joins as the running backs coach. He is beginning his coaching career after four seasons as a letterwinner at both Iowa and Toledo, where he was a defensive back. He first attended Iowa for two seasons before transferring to Toledo, where after sitting out a season due to transfer rules, he played for the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Nichols was the Rockets' co-defensive coordinator at the time and named Morrow as the captain of the secondary upon his arrival. Toledo reached bowl games following both seasons, winning the Military Bowl in 2011.

Return to the Run
• The new staff has been tight-lipped on the schemes they will employ, but Nichols and offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur have promised a much more balacned attack. Davidson employed an "air raid" scheme the past two seasons.

More Marbles on the Table
• Davidson will be competing for an automatic bid to the Division I Football Championship in 2013, as the Pioneer Football League earned an automatic berth as a result of the NCAA tournament's expansion to 24 teams.
• The PFL will join 10 conferences currently awarded an automatic bid. The PFL champion will be placed into the 24-team bracket by the NCAA Football Championship selection committee along with 13 at-large qualifiers. The committee will select its eight national seeds which will receive first-round byes. The remaining 16 teams will then be placed in the bracket with an emphasis on geographical proximity.

New Additions to the PFL
• Mercer University and Stetson University begin in the PFL with the 2013 season, bringing the league's membership to 12 teams.
• Davidson will host Mercer Nov. 2 and travel to Stetson Nov. 9.
• Mercer, located in Macon, Ga., had not competed in football since 1941.
• Stetson, located in DeLand, Fla., will return to the football gridiron for the first time in 57 years.
• Mercer plans on adding scholarships for the 2014 season and will depart the league.
• The PFL is a truly national conference with members on each coast and throughout the nation's heartland. The league still retains four of its charter members (1991) – Butler University, the University of Dayton, Drake University and Valparaiso University, plus the University of San Diego (joining in 1992) – which were joined in 2001 by Davidson College, Jacksonville University and Morehead State University. Campbell University joined the PFL in 2008, its first season of intercollegiate football. Marist College, which joined prior to the 2009 season, further extended the league's footprint into the northeast.

Preseason Honors
• TE Reese Williams was named to to Phil Steele's All-Pioneer first team and also elected to the preseason All-PFL team by the league's coaches. Both he and QB Jonathan Carkhuff were named to the 2013 College Football Performance Awards Watch List at their respective positions.

Honor Committee
• Another change in leadership for this year's squad is amongst the players themselves. Instead of team captains that were typically juniors and seniors, Nichols has instituted an "honor committee" comprised of two representatives from each class (three for the freshmen as there was a tie in voting).
• Reese Williams and Dan Casey represent the senior class, AJ Pignone and Trey Huelskamp represent the juniors, Chris Woods and David Rogers represent the sophomores, and Dustin Atchley, Nate Casey and Ryan Leak represent the freshmen.
• The committee is tasked with handling discipline issues, representing the team in the community and serving as liaisons to the coaching staff to deal with issues ranging from team meals to equipment.
• Team captains will be selected on a per game basis based on leadership and performance, and a captain of the offense, defense and special teams will be voted on at the end of the season based on leadership demonstrated.

2013 Game Captains
• Week 1: Jonathan Carkhuff (Off.), Ben Prater (Def.), Chris Gorman (ST), Tom Abernethy (Hon.); Mike Sheridan '79

Everywhere a Wildcat
• Given that there are roughly 950 males at the school, that means one of every 10 male students at Davidson plays football.
• A total of 28 freshman are on the roster, making them the largest class on the team. The roster totals 82 active players (16 seniors, 16 juniors, 22 sophomores). An additional six are serving as assistants.
• The roster has a local flavor with 19 players hailing from North Carolina (but just three from South Carolina - brothers Dan and Nate Casey and James Brumbaugh). Georgia (12), Ohio (9), Texas (9) and Virginia (9) are the next most represented.
• DB Aidan Scrivens hails from England and joined the team as a walk-on during the spring of 2012.

Overtime Fortunes Improve
• With its 26-20 loss to Campbell Oct. 29, 2011, Davidson had lost its last four games that went into overtime, but an OT win at Valpo last season snapped the steak. The Wildcats are now 4-5 when playing beyond 60 minutes.
• Here's a list of Davidson overtime games:
11/10/12, at Valparaiso, W 28-27 (OT)
10/29/11, vs. Campbell, L 26-20 (3 OT)
10/11/08, at Valparaiso, L 35-29 (OT)
9/9/06, vs. Wingate, L 22-16 (OT)
11/6/04, at Austin Peay, L 20-17 (2 OT)
10/20/01, at Randolph-Macon, W 27-24 (OT)
10/7/00, at Morehead St., W 38-31 (2 OT)
9/19/98, at Sewanee, W 16-9 (OT)
11/15/97, vs. Bridgewater, L 13-10 (OT)

One-Point Wins
• With its 28-27 OT victory at Valpo last year, Davidson improved its all-time record in one-point games to 20-18.
• The Wildcats have won five of their last six games decided by one point.

Live Video and Audio
• Davidson will provide live video and audio streams on its website, DavidsonWildcats.com, for all six home games this season.
• All 11 games can be heard online at DavidsonWildcats.com.
• Fans can hear the Davidson Radio Network on their mobile device by downloading the TuneIn Radio App. Once the App is open, type WHIP NC or WHIP Mooresville in the top search bar, and a link to WHIP will pop up. Click on the link to listen to Davidson football and men's basketball.

Social Media
• Fans can connect directly with the Davidson Football staff on Facebook (facebook.com/DavidsonFootball) and Twitter (@DCFootball_Cats)
• Head coach Paul Nichols is on Twitter and can be found at @coach_nichols

Davidson Football Coach's Show
• Play-by-play man Mark Plemmons is hosting the Davidson Football Coach's Show every Monday. Plemmons will discuss with Coach Nichols the week that was and the week ahead to give fans an inside scoop on the Wildcats.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results