Wildcats Return to Road at Marist

Davidson Wildcats (1-9, 0-6 PFL) vs. Marist Red Foxes (3-7, 3-4 PFL)

Date: Nov. 15 - 1:00 p.m.

Site: Tenney Stadium (5,000 capacity) - Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

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4 Downs
1st - The 1 p.m., Saturday afternoon game at Marist is the second-to-last for the Wildcats. They will conclude the season at Valparaiso next week.

2nd - WR William Morris and LB Matt Casey are in range of season and career milestones and records.

3rd - Although Davidson is 0-6 in PFL play, four of those losses have been by an average of 5.5 points.

4th - RB Jeffrey Keil was named to the CFPA FCS Freshman of the Year Watch List.

XP - LB Dan Casey was named to the 2014 AFCA Allstate Good Works team. Vote for him at espn.com/Allstate.

A Davidson win would . . .
• Snap a nine-game overall losing streak
• Snap a 15-game PFL losing streak
• Be Davidson's second-ever over Marist and first since 2010.

The Series
• The Red Foxes lead the all-time series, 5-1, with Davidson's lone win coming at Marist in 2010.
• The first four games in the series were decided by eight points or less.
• Last season, Marist (4-3, 3-1 PFL) scored four straight touchdowns to build a 28-8 lead by the start of the fourth quarter. They ulitmately won, 42-14.
• William Morris set a then-career high with 11 receptions.

Scouting Marist
• Marist, the defending PFL Co-Champions, enter the game at 3-4 in league play, but are the only PFL team to defeat Jacksonville this season.
• This is the Red Foxes season finale.
• Marist is coming off a 14-22 loss at Stetson.
• FS Zach Adler is first in the FCS with seven interceptions this season. He has a total of eight turnovers this year (also one fumble recovery).

Freshman In Charge
• Taylor Mitchell is slated to be the first freshman quarterback at Davidson to start consecutive games since 2010 when Jonathan Carkhuff moved into the starting lineup for good in the third game of the season.
• Carkhuff's second career start also came against Jacksonville.

Keil Breaks Out
• Making his third career start, Keil rushed 33 times for 215 yards and two touchdowns against Stetson (10/25).
• In his first eight games, he had 53 carries, 262 yards and four touchdowns.
• It was just the sixth 200-plus yard rushing game ever for a single Davidson running back.
• He earned his first College Football Performance Awards honorable mention for the performance, and was added to the CFPA's Freshman of the Year Watch List.
• Keil is one of 16 running backs and one of two Pioneer Football League players (Sam Schrader, Butler, RB) on the initial 30-player list.
•The Tampa, Fla., native has seen action in all 10 games so far this season and has started the last four.

William Morris Milestone Watch
• In addition to being one of the nation's top receivers this season, William Morris is on pace to rewrite the Davidson record books.
• Morris has both career and single-season records in sight, and is most notably within 91 yards of the single-season receiving yards record of 1,128, held by Davidson Hall of Famer Mike Mikolayunas '71 since 1970.
• He caught his 100th career reception at VMI (9/13) as part of a 16-catch performance.
• Morris broke onto the Top 10 list for receptions at Princeton with six.
• Morris broke onto the Top 10 list for receiving yards in a career and moved up to ninth in receptions with a 15-catch, 158-yard performance against Dayton (10/4/14), passing Mikolayunas.
• He moved into a tie for fourth place with Barrett Johnson (2000-03) with a four-catch, 85-yard performance against Stetson.
• Morris then moved up to second with a 9-catch, 82-yard performance against Jacksonville.
• With 12 career TD receptions, Morris needs one more to move into the Top 10.
• Receiving Yards in a Season (53 to next)
1.   1128   Mike Mikolayunas (87-1128)   1970
2   1107   Lanny Funsten    (100-1107)   2011
3.   1090   William Morris    (67-1090)   2013
4.   1037   William Morris    (76-1037)   2014
• Receptions in a Season (2 to next)
1.   100   Lanny Funsten    (100-1107)   2011
2.   87   Mike Mikolayunas (87-1128)   1970
3.   78   Lanny Funsten      (78-948)   2012
4.   76   Mike Kelly         (76-965)   1969
       76   William Morris    (76-1037)   2014
5.   67   George Hannen      (67-823)   1969
       67   William Morris    (67-1090)   2013
• Receiving Yards in a Career (531 to next)
1.   2770   Lanny Funsten    (229-2770)   2009-12
2   2239   William Morris   (153-2239)   2012-pres.
• Receptions in a Career (1 to next)
1.   229   Lanny Funsten    (229-2770)   2009-12
2.   179   Mike Mikolayunas (179-1830)   1968-70
3.   162   Mike Kelly       (162-2154)   1967-69
4.   158   George Hannen    (158-1948)   1967-69
5.   154   Brett Dioguardi (154-2215)   2003-06
6.   153   Ryan Hubbard     (153-2220)   2004-07
      153   William Morris   (153-2239)   2012-pres.

Rankings Leaders
• Davidson has been strong offensively to rank fifth in the PFL in scoring (25.9) and rank fourth in yardage (383.3 per game).
• Nationally, WR William Morris ranks third in FCS in receptions with 76, fifth with 1,037 receiving yards and 23rd with seven receiving touchdowns. He leads the PFL in each of those categories.
• LB Matt Casey ranks fifth in the PFL with 8.5 tackles per game.
• KR Austin Wells ranks fifth in the PFL and 66th nationally with 20.5 yards per return.

Matt Casey Milestone Watch
• Matt Casey enters the game with 244 career tackles, making him poised to break into the
Top-10 all-time at Davidson. Adam Elmore '03 ranks 10th with 258.

Signs of Improvement
• The Wildcats have shown progress this season despite some heartbreaking setbacks.
• In its first two PFL games, Davidson had opportunities to force overtime on its last regulation possession both times. It was unsuccessful against Morehead State, losing by eight, but went to quintuple overtime against Dayton before losing by six.
• Against Campbell, Davidson led from its opening drive until the final minute.
• For the second consecutive week, Davidson outgained the opposition in its matchup with Stetson, but turnovers proved costly in a six-point defeat.
• Davidson's 32 points against Morehead State were its most in a PFL game since 2009, and its 48 against Dayton were its most since 2007.
• The 'Cats are averaging 153.6 yards per game rushing so far this season after averaging just 88.2 last season. The rate is seventh in the PFL.
• If Davidson were to maintain that average, it would be its highest since 1999 (188.6). In fact, the Wildcats have not averaged over 100 yards per game throughout an entire season since 2009.
• Davidson finished last in the PFL in scoring last season, only averaging 14.0 points per game, but the 'Cats are currently fifth in the league and 68th in the country averaging 25.9 points per game.

Academic All-District Repeats
• Second-time honorees Bryant Bednarek and Colin Merrill, and first-time honoree Josh Daryoush will represent Davidson on the Capital One Academic All-District III Division I Football Team.
• As first team selections, all three are eligible for consideration for the Capital One Academic All-America team. Bednarek and Merrill, both senior defensive backs from Ohio, were named Academic All-District last season and become the eighth and ninth Wildcat football players to earn the honor twice.
• To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.

Kicking It
• After missing three out of his first four field goal attempts, freshman K Trevor Smith has converted eight out of his last nine tries, including a 44-yarder that forced overtime against Dayton.
• He is perfect on 26 consecutive PATs so far. The Davidson record is 38 by Brian Langley (1997-98).

Tremendous Trey
• Trey Huelskamp has a career-high 43 catches for 416 yards through 10 games this season after totaling 17 catches for 182 yards in 11 games last season. He caught 28 passes for 228 yards as a freshman.
• He was without a touchdown in his first 38 games, but had one in each of the last two games.
• In a loss at Princeton, Huelskamp led the Wildcats in receiving, setting career highs with nine catches for 82 yards.
• Huelskamp was one of four FCS Tight End Performer of the Week honorable mentions recognized by the College Football Performance Awards for games played through Sept. 27.

Freshman In Charge
• Taylor Mitchell is the first freshman quarterback at Davidson to start consecutive games since 2010 when Jonathan Carkhuff moved into the starting lineup for good in the third game of the season.
• This will be his third career start
• Mitchell threw for two touchdowns and 264 yards in his first start against Stetson (10/25), but has thrown eight interceptions in his two starts.

Fourth-Down Fortunes
• Davidson has converted 15-of-24 fourth downs (62%) to rank second in the PFL and 17th in the nation.
• The 'Cats converted nine straight, going 3-for-3 at Drake (10/11), 5-for-5 against Dayton (10/4) and converting its first against Stetson (10/25) before failing to convert late.

Young 'Cats
• The team is very young, with 36 freshmen and just 25 upper-classmen (9 seniors, 16 juniors.) It's the largest freshman class since the 'Cats also had 36 in 2009.
• Of the 22 slots on the offensive two-deep, 13 are occupied by underclassmen (5 sophomores, 8 freshmen), while 16 (9 sophomores and 7 freshmen) are listed on the defensive side. Eight of 12 specialists slots are filled by freshmen.

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Players Mentioned

Bryant Bednarek

Jonathan Carkhuff

Dan Casey

Matt Casey

Josh Daryoush

Trey Huelskamp

Jeffrey Keil

Colin Merrill

Taylor Mitchell

William Morris

Trevor Smith

Austin Wells

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