Frostburg State (1-3)
vs.
Southern Virginia (1-5)
Buena Vista, Va.
Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008 - 1:00 pm
Parry McCluer Stadium
Game Notes - Click Here
Setting the Scene
The Bobcats come into the game after back-to-back let downs at home with the latest coming at the hands of then No.12 ranked Wesley on homecoming.
Frostburg State brings a powerful pass attack into the game to face a Knights pass defense that ranks 30th in the NAIA at 173.0 yards per game.
The Bobcats look to pick up an out of division win as the road only gets tougher from here on. FSU currently has the sixth toughest schedule in Division III as they face four top 25 teams and numerous regional powers in 2008.
The Series
The Knights have the all-time series lead at 1-0.
SVU took the opening game of the all-time series in 2007 as they travelled to Frostburg and walked away with a hard fought 35-20 victory.
The Bobcats will be trying to even the series history at 1-1 with the contest and to give each team a win on the road.
The Coaches
Tom Rogish is in his first season as head coach of the Frostburg State University Bobcats. The 12th coach in FSU's 47-year history, Rogish brings over 30 years of coaching experience to the sidelines at Frostburg including 29 years in the collegiate ranks.
Rogish began his collegiate coaching career at Juniata (Division III), but has spent the last 22 years at the Division II level at perennial powers Indiana (Pa.) and Shepherd (W.Va.).
Prior to his arrival in Frostburg, Rogish spent two years on the defensive staff at Shepherd College. The Rams made back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2006 and 2007 including a run to the NCAA Division II Northeast Region championship (2007). Shepherd finished 2007 with one of the top defenses in the country. The Rams were 25th in scoring defense (19.9), 13th in turnover margin (1.2) and 41st in total defense (321.3).
SVU Head Coach Mike Smith enters his second season with the Knights after leading them to a 6-5 record in his debut. Smith came into the season needing to replace half of his starters from last season, providing a challenge in continuing the winning tradition at SVU.
What the Coaches are Saying
The Frostburg State football team was picked to finish fourth in the 2008 Atlantic Central Football Conference preseason coaches poll.
Three-time defending champion Wesley recieved five first-place votes to win the conference, while Salisbury picked up three. Both teams have been receiving votes in national preseason polls as the Wolverines have been as high as third and in the top six in all polls, while the Sea Gulls have been in the top 15 in all polls.
2008 ACFC Preseason Coaches Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses)
1. Wesley 6 (5)
2. Salisbury 9 (3)
3. Apprentice 14
4. Frostburg State 18
Frostburg State Football History
Frostburg State is 222-226-8 all-time in the programs 48-year history.
Home Grown Talent
FSU’s roster consists of 97 players from six different states. The largest number coming from Maryland (88) while neighboring Pennsylvania (4) comes in second.
Here is a breakdown of the FSU roster:
Maryland - 88
Pennsylvania - 4
Virginia - 3
Washington, D.C. - 1
Delaware - 1
A Win for Frostburg State would ...
- Lift FSU to a 223-226-8 record all-time
- Give the Bobcats their first 2-3 record since 2005
- Hand Coach Rogish his second career victory
- Even up the all-time series with SVU at 1-1
A Loss for Frostburg State would ...
- Drop the FSU all-time record to 222-227-8
- Give Coach Rogish his first three-game losing streak
- Extend the Bobcats road losing streak to six games
ACFC Woes ...
Frostburg State comes into the game on an eleven game ACFC losing skid. The Bobcats have not posted a conference victory since a 27-26 victory over Buffalo State in 2005.
Rough Road
Frostburg State is having a tough time on the road as they are currently riding a five-game losing streak away from home. The streak dates back to a 20-13 upset of Randolph Macon in the second game last season.
Leading the Bobcats ...
Junior Bryan Brosnan (Leesburg, Va./Heritage) steps into the spotlight and takes over the quarterback duties for the Bobcats this fall. He picked up his first career win against SUNY Brockport earlier this season. In his first season as a starter Brosnan leads the conference in passing yards per game (199.2) along with being second in the conference in pass efficiency (173.5) and completion percentage (67.1%)
Brosnan also comes into this week ranked eleventh in pass efficiency in the NCAA.
Tackle Tale...
The Bobcats defense brings three of the top five tacklers from the ACFC ...
1.) George Feiser- 35
2t.) Terryl Monroe- 34
4.) Mike Iheakanwa- 31
No Fly-Zone...
Freshman Rashad James (Washington, Md./Anacostia) will continue his hot start as he leads the conference with seven pass breakups, which will be pivitol against SVU quarterback Luke Taylor who is averaging over 160 yards per game.
Head of the Class...
Junior reciever Makiha Cooper (Baltimore, Md./Forest Park) leads the ACFC in receiving yards per game at 105.5, which is also good enough for 30th in the country.
Cooper's 442 total receiving yards in the first four games gives him the most receiving yards since Adam Snyder had 480 yards for the entire 2004 season.
Punt of Payne
Junior punter Nick Payne (Frostburg, Md./Northern Garrett) has been keeping pace with national leaders as he has averaged 41.25 yards per punt this season. Payne curently ranks 14th among punters nationally and is leading the ACFC.
Last Time Out...
FROSTBURG, Md. - Shane McSweeny threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns to lead No. 12 ranked Wesley to a 38-6 win over Frostburg State, Saturday on FSU's Homecoming.
The loss hands the Bobcats (1-3, 0-1) their first defeat on Homecoming in five years while the Wolverines (2-1, 1-0 ACFC) extended their winning streak over FSU to five-straight games.
Wesley led the game in just about every statistical category including first downs (24-10), rushing yards (230-40), passing yards (289-127) and total offense (519-167).
WC scored on its first six possessions of the game including four-straight touchdowns as it led 38-0 early in the fourth. FSU scored its only touchdown with 4:34 left in the game as junior quarterback Bryan Brosnan (Leesburg, Va./Heritage) found classmate Makiha Cooper (Baltimore, Md./Forest Park) for a 70-yard touchdown to end the shutout.
Brosnan finished the day 8-of-13 for 127 yards with a touchdown and an interception while Cooper hauled in two receptions for 86 yards and that fourth quarter score. Sophomore Anthony King (Germantown, Md./Northwest) led the Bobcat ground game with 17 carries for 58 yards.
Wesley scored four touchdowns in the opening half including three in the second quarter to blow the game open early. McSweeny found Jon Lanouette for an eight-yard touchdown with 6:21 left in the first quarter as WC led 7-0. The visitors added two rushing touchdowns early in the second quarter as they led 21-0. Mike Pennewell found the endzone from two yards out at 14:53 and Aaron Jackson scored from the one just three and half minutes into the second quarter. WC closed out the half as McSweeny found Lanouette for a 17-yard touchdown and a 28-0 lead at the half.
Collin Blugis tacked on a 30-yard field goal midway through the third and Larry Beavers, who led all players with 111 yards receiving, scored the final Wolverine touchdown on a 40-yard pass early in the fourth for a 38-0 advantage.
Brosnan and Cooper ended the game's scoring with their 70-yard touchdown with 4:34 showing on the clock.
Junior George Feiser (Hagerstown, Md./Smithsburg/Salisbury) and sophomore Terryl Monroe (Temple Hills, Md./Dematha) led the way for the Bobcats with 11 tackles each. Sophomore Deshawn Lewis (Bowie, Md./Largo) added eight tackles including 1.0 TFL.
