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OPENING DRIVE
The Alma College football team, with wins in five of its last six games, takes to the road this weekend, traveling to Olivet, Mich., for a showdown with the Olivet College Comets. The Scots enter the game with record of 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, while the Comets are 6-1 overall and sit atop the MIAA with a 3-0 mark in league play. Alma enters the game with victories in all three of its road games this season.
SCOUTING THE COMETS
Olivet has won six straight games entering this weekend's play, including a 54-48 overtime non-conference win against Benedictine (IL) last Saturday at Cutler Field. Senior QB Braden Black directs the Comets' offense and has completed 125 of his 201 passes for 1,548 yards and 11 touchdowns. Black's favorite targets are senior WR Mitchell Bailey (43 receptions, 614 yards, 4 TDs) and junior WR Kornelius Saxton (34 receptions, 429 yards, 1 TD), while on the ground, he leads the team with 76 carries for 218 yards and three TDs. Two other backs - junior Jerome Washington (46 carries, 267 yards, 6 TD) and senior Damorria Lilly (73 carries, 201 yards, 1 TD) - also power the Comets' ground game, while on defense, senior LB Thomas Gary Holmes leads the team with 42 tackles. Senior DL Justin Madar paces Olivet with 9.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss, while senior DL Robert Cuba has 10.5 tackles for loss and dive sacks. The Comets are led by Dan Pifer, who is in his fifth season as the head football coach at Olivet College.
THE SERIES
Alma and Olivet will meet for the 97th time on Saturday in a series that dates back to 1897. The Scots lead the all-time series, 65-30-1, but have dropped the last three games to the Comets, including a 47-29 setback in the season finale at Bahlke Field a year ago. The Scots last win against Olivet was in 2012, when Alma triumphed by a 20-14 margin in Olivet for its only victory that season.
ROAD WARRIORS
The Scots are 3-0 on the road this season, marking the first time since 2004 that Alma has won three straight road contests. During the 2004 campaign, the Scots won all five of their road games en route to an 8-3 record and the MIAA Championship.
SEEKING SIX
With three games remaining in the regular season, the Scots have already matched their win total from a year ago. Last season marked the first five-win campaign since 2009, and the most wins under head coach Greg Pscodna. Alma's last six-win season came in 2006, while the last time the Scots won more than six games was in 2004.
30 FOR 30
Alma is 5-0 this season when scoring 30 or more points. In addition, the Scots are 11-0 under Head Coach Greg Pscodna when putting 30 or more points on the board. The last time the Scots lost when scoring 30 or more points was September 24, 2011, in a 49-42 shootout at Washington and Lee.
FAST STARTS ... SOLID FINISHES
The Scots have scored first in each of the last six games and are outscoring opponents by a 64-21 margin in the first quarter this season and own a 147-77 scoring advantage in the first half of games this year. Alma is being outscored only in the third quarter, but is closing out games with a 44-35 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter.
COOL RUNNINGS
The Scots are averaging 243.3 yards per game on the ground, 23rd-best in NCAA Division III and third-best in the MIAA behind Hope and Trine. Alma has amassed over 1,700 yards rushing this season and currently has the most rushing yards since the 2008 campaign, when the Scots ran for 1,857 yards.
TURNOVERS AND MARGINS
Alma ranks 10th in NCAA Division III with 10 fumble recoveries and is 23rd nationally in turnover margin, sporting a +8 turnover margin after seven games. The Scots forced four turnovers last week against Albion and did not turn the ball over for the first time this season. Alma has recovered a fumble and tallied an interception in all but one game this season.
LOOKING INSIDE THE RECORD BOOK ...
- Alma's 1,703 yards rushing is 11th all time for rushing yards in a season and the most since 2005.
- The Scots 23 rushing touchdowns are the most since 2005 and are five shy of the school-record 28 scored in 1969.
THE RUNNING MAN
Nick Sullivan has carried the ball a school-record 185 times entering today's game, surpassing the record 163 times he toted the ball a year ago. Sullivan is the second player in school history to record 148 or more carries in two or more seasons, joining Mackenzie McGrady, who accomplished the feat in 2007 and 2009. Sullivan is averaging 109.1 yards per game rushing, 33rd in NCAA Division III, and is seeking to become the Scots' first 1,000-yard rusher since 2005. He is currently 236 yards away from the 1,000-yard mark.
SCORING SULLIVAN
Nick Sullivan has scored a team-high 66 points after seven games this season with 11 touchdowns on the ground to tie for the lead in the MIAA. Sullivan, who ranks 12th in NCAA Division III for rushing touchdowns, is only four points away from matching his scoring output from a year ago (70 points in 10 games). Sullivan is ranked 25th nationally for total touchdowns and has scored two or more times in three games this season. In addition, Sullivan has found the end zone in each of the last five contests.
CHART CLIMBING
Nick Sullivan is the 13th player in Alma College history to rush for 1,500 career yards and is the first player to hit the mark since Mackenzie McGrady, who totaled 1,583 yards from 2007-09. Sullivan moved into 11th place on the Alma College career rushing chart on Saturday against Albion and now has 1,645 career yards, passing by McGrady. Sullivan is also beginning to move up the career rushing attempts chart and currently ranks 10th with 341 carries.
THROUGH THE AIR AND ON THE GROUND
Dylan Zaborowski has completed nearly 68 percent of his passes over the last two games and ranks fourth in the MIAA with an average of 201.0 yards passing per game. Zaborowski is also the MIAA's fifth-ranked rusher, averaging 78.6 yards per game, and has scored nine rushing touchdowns, fourth-best in the league. Zaborowski, who has carried the ball for a career-high 550 yards this season, ranks 46th nationally in total offense, accounting for 279.6 yards per game.
MOVING ON UP
Dylan Zaborowski moved into sixth place on Alma College's career passing chart on Saturday against Albion and now has 5,352 yards over the last three seasons as the Scots' primary quarterback. Zaborowski also moved into fifth place for career completions with a season-high 23 against the Britons and enters the Olivet game with 429. Zaborowski is the fifth signal-caller in Scots' history to throw for 1,500 yards and make 400 career completions.
ZABOROWSKI AGAINST THE COMETS
In two career games against Olivet, Zaborowski has completed 29 of his 57 passes (50.8 pct.) for 400 yards and four touchdowns and has thrown four interceptions. On the ground, Zaborowski has carried the ball 28 times for 63 yards and a score.
CHASING 1,500
Danny Hugan II caught a season-high 13 passes last Saturday against Albion and posted his fourth 100-yard receiving game of the season with 116 yards against the Britons. Hugan, who ranks 12th in school history with 122 career catches, is 16 yards shy of becoming the 16th player in Alma history to tally 1,500 or more career receiving yards. Hugan ranks second among the MIAA's receivers with a 94.7 yards per game average and has scored four touchdowns to tie for second among the league's pass catchers. Among receivers in NCAA Division III, Hugan ranks 23rd in receptions per game (7.3), 40th in receiving yards (663) and 42nd in receiving yards per game (94.7).
BEHIND ENEMY LINES
The Scots are 33rd in NCAA Division III with 21 sacks (3.00 per game), and rank 51st in team tackles for loss, averaging 7.6 tackles per game behind the line of scrimmage. Individually, Troy Gahm is second in the MIAA and ranks 15th nationally in sacks with eight, and is 27th in Division III with 12.5 tackles for loss (1.8 per game). In addition, Gahm has recorded at least one tackle for loss each in every game this season.
TACKLING LEADER
Zac Peterson leads the Scots with sits atop the MIAA with 77 total tackles this season. He also ranks 30th in NCAA Division III, averaging 11.0 tackles per game.
NINE FOR THELEN
Justin Thelen recorded his ninth career interception on Saturday against Albion, becoming the 12th player in Alma College history to reach that mark. Thelen has a team-high four picks this year, matching his career-high from a year ago, and ranks 17th nationally for interceptions.
TARTAN TIDBITS
- The Scots rank third in the MIAA and 17th in NCAA Division III in time of possession this season, holding the ball an average of 33:54 per game.
- Alma is leading the MIAA in fewest penalties this season and has only been flagged 33 times, a mark that is 29th in NCAA Division III.
OTHER NOTES FROM THE ALBION GAME ...
- Alma College is now 4-0 all-time in night games at Bahlke Field. During those games, the Scots have outscored opponents by a 146-69 margin and are averaging 36.5 points per game.
- Jacob Plisko made a career-long 33 yard field goal. He is now 5-for-6 in field goal tries this season.
- Parrish Terburgh kicked a career-long 48-yard punt and put the Britons inside the 20-yard line twice.
- Joe Hernandez made a career-high five tackles while Jayson Nystrom posted a season-high nine stops.
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
- One decade at a time – The Scots have won a MIAA championship in each decade, dating back to the 1900s. Their last league title was in 2004.
- Team captains – Senior RB Nick Sullivan (Flushing, Mich./Flint Powers) and senior DB Justin Thelen (Westphalia, Mich./Pewamo-Westphalia) are serving as team captains for the 2016 campaign. The captains were voted on by the team.
NEXT UP...
The Scots will travel to Trine University on Saturday, Nov. 5, for the final road game of the 2016 regular season. Alma will be looking for its first win at Trine since the 2006 campaign and will be seeking to avenge a 21-20 Homecoming loss to the Thunder last year at Bahlke Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at the Fred Zollner Athletic Stadium in Angola, Ind.
