Complete Game Notes (PDF):
Notre Dame
Lindsey Wilson
TWO NEW
Notre Dame Football hits the road for the first time, as the Falcons travel to Columbia, Ky., to take on fellow upstart Lindsey Wilson. The Labor Day Weekend tilt pits the NAIA’s two newest programs against each other. The Falcons and Blue Raiders are among six start-up programs kicking off for the first time this fall. For Lindsey Wilson, Saturday actually represents a return of tackle football -- LWC had football from until 1935. NDC’s road game in the Bluegrass state is the first of back-to-back away games for the Falcons.
ROAD WARRIORS
Notre Dame’s Saturday-afternoon tilt at Lindsey Wilson will spell the first half of back-to-back road games for the Falcons, who are slated to play six road games in 2010. The game, which is Lindsey Wilson’s first since reinstating football after a 75-year hiatus, also marks the beginning of a stretch where Notre Dame will be on the road for five of their next six. … The Blue & White went 4-0 in four road tilts during their 2009 developmental season (NDC went 8-0 overall). … The Falcons’ six road games this season are bookended by trips to Kentucky -- Saturday marks their first road game of the season; in their last road game, NDC will be at Kentucky Wesleyan (Owensboro, Ky., Nov. 6). The team’s trip to KWC will mark their longest road trip of the season (455 miles). In their six road tilts, NDC Football will travel 3,876 round-trip miles.
LOOKING TO BREAK THROUGH
The Falcons’ Aug. 28 opener included numerous program firsts, but NDC will roll into Columbia looking for its first points and the first victory in program history. In its inaugural-game, 23-0 loss to Mercyhurst (Pa.), Notre Dame got into enemy territory four times but failed to put points on the board. The Falcons were held to just 127 total yards of offense, and the squad was tagged for 11 penalties totaling 117 yards. … Notre Dame’s best drive against the Lakers last Saturday was a 69-yard, 11-play march in the fourth quarter. The three-minute-and-14-second drive ended on downs with NDC coming up a yard short on a 4th-and-8 .
RADIO
Live: ESPN 1540 KNR2 (Cleveland)
Tape-delay: WELW 1330 (Willoughby, Ohio)
Andy Barch and Brian George
INTERNET
Live audio stream: ESPNCleveland.com
FALCON FOOTBALL WEEKLY
Weekly NDC Football show featuring Head Coach Adam Howard. FFW can be heard on ESPN 1540 KNR2 Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET. The show is also streamed and archived on ESPNCleveland.com.
COACHING MATCH-UP
NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH ADAM HOWARD
Alma Mater: Wilmington College (1997)
First Season at NDC: 0-1
First Season Overall: 0-1
LINDSEY WILSON HEAD COACH CHRIS OLIVER
Alma Mater: Ohio State University (2003)
First Season at LWC: 0-0
First Season Overall: 0-0
THE THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER
P Cayle Chapman, a 6-foot-5 Australian import playing his first game of organized football, averaged 42.5 yards per kick on eight attempts last week against Mercyhurst. In 2009, only 13 NAIA punters averaged 40 yards per punt. The NAIA leader was Mike Skvor (Malone), who averaged 42.8 yards per attempt.
In week one Chapman had three kicks of 50 yards or more (50, 62, 69) and another that traveled 47 yards. He misfired twice, booting two that went just 15 yards.
TACKLE BOX
The Falcons recorded 10 tackles for loss in game one, with sophomore LB Gary Briggs garnering 3-1/2 to lead the way. Briggs finished with a game-high 13 stops (seven sols, six assists).
Fellow sophomores John Hyde and Bob Hansen chipped in for 10 and nine tackles, respectively, in the Falcons’ inaugural game. Two of Hansen’s tackles were quarterback sacks. DB Spencer Krebs was the top freshman tackler on the night; he had six.
FLOWER POWER
CB Sylvester Flowers had a big game for the Falcons last week against Mercyhurst. The sophomore from Coral Springs, Fla., had four tackles (all solo) and a key interception at Notre Dame’s own 2-yard line that thwarted a Mercyhurst drive.
Flowers is one of two Falcons from Coral Springs, Fla. RB Tim Donald is the other.
FALCON HONORED FOR WEEK-1 PERFORMANCE
On Tuesday the NAIA Association of Independent Institutions announced that NDC’s Gary Briggs was named NAIA Independent Defensive Player of the Week for week for games of Aug. 28. Briggs, a sophomore linebacker from Cleveland, led the defense in Notre Dame’s inaugural game, registering a game-high 13 tackles (seven solo, six assists), including 3-1/2 tackles for loss, along with a forced fumble and a pass breakup in the Falcons’ 23-0 loss to Mercyhurst. The John F. Kennedy graduate was a key force in clutch situations -- he made four tackles in 3rd-down situations in which drives were halted.
In addition to Notre Dame, the NAIA Association of Independent Institutions includes 10 other schools: Azusa Pacific (Calif.), Edward Waters (Fla.), Haskell (Kan.), Lambuth (Tenn.), Menlo (Calif.), Peru State (Neb.), Simon Fraser (B.C.), Southern Oregon (Ore.), Southern Virginia (Va.), Webber International (Fla.).
FRESH FACES DOT THE TWO-DEEP
Notre Dame’s depth chart (as of Sept. 1) features 23 freshmen (10 first-teamers and 13 back-ups). Overall, the NDC varsity roster features 62 freshman players.
Freshman starters: LG Jared Schuster, RT Brandon Nelli, TE Matt Preston, WR Trevor Smith, SS-return specialist Bo Grunder, CB Sylvester Flowers, CB Spencer Krebs, PK Jeremy Geier, P Cayle Chapman, K Zack Dearinger.
ANATOMY OF A ROAD TRIP
For their first road trip of the season, the Falcons will travel 895 miles round-trip to Columbia, Ky. The Notre Dame squad will leave campus on Friday morning around 10 a.m., stop in Georgetown, Ky., for a one hour practice, and they are scheduled to arrive at their team hotel in Campbellsville Ky., (about 20 miles north of Columbia) at around 7:30 p.m.
NDC’s itinerary for its trip to Columbia:
Friday, Sept. 3 --
10:00 AM ET: Depart NDC, players are responsible for checking with professors for what they will miss in class … sack lunch will be provided by Normandy Catering for bus ride ... movies etc. during bus ride as well as position-by-position review sheets and tests.
2:30 PM CT: Arrive at Georgetown College in Kentucky for a one hour practice.
4:30 PM CT: Dinner at Cherry Blossom Country Club Georgetown, Ky.
5:30 PM CT: Leave for hotel.
7:30 PM CT: Arrive at hotel -- Holiday Inn Express in Campbellsville, Ky.
8:30 PM CT: Offensive Meetings at hotel to review game plan and review sheets from bus.
9:00 PM CT: Defensive Meeting at hotel to review game plan and review sheets from bus.
11:00 PM CT: Lights out
Saturday, Sept. 4 --
8:30 AM CT: Wake-up call.
9:00 AM CT: Breakfast at the hotel.
10:30 AM CT: Depart hotel.
11:00 AM CT: Arrive at Lindsey Wilson.
12:25 PM CT: Begin pregame warm-ups.
1:30 PM CT: Kickoff
Dinner on bus postgame
Sunday, Sept. 5 --
2:00 AM ET: Approximate arrival at Notre Dame.
NEXT GAME AT KORB FIELD
The Falcons will face perhaps their toughest inaugural-season foe in their next home game, when NDC hosts the Cavaliers of Walsh University on Saturday, Sept. 18 (1 p.m.).
The Cavaliers went 8-3 a year ago and are ranked No. 16 on the NAIA Preseason Coaches’ Poll (Aug. 9). Walsh returns 20 starters from their 2009 squad which placed second in the Mid-States Football Association.
WHAT’S NEXT ...
Notre Dame will travel to Fairmont, W. Va., to play the back half of two consecutive road games in a Saturday-afternoon tilt against Fairmont State on Sept. 11. NDC’s game against the Fighting Falcons is slated for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
FSU went 3-8 a year ago; the Fighting Falcons are slated to play their 2010 opener on Thursday, Sept. 2 (at Clarion-Pa.).
Lindsey Wilson will be at home again next week when they host Southern Virginia (Sept. 11-2:30 p.m. ET).
THE BLUE RAIDERS
Lindsey Wilson College was founded in January 1903 as Lindsey Wilson Training School. The school was named in memory of Lindsey Wilson, the deceased nephew and stepson of Mrs. Catherine Wilson of Louisville, Ky. LWC has an enrollment of 1,846.
In athletics Lindsey Wilson sponsors 23 athletic teams and its Blue Raider squads compete as an NAIA institution in the 17-team Mid-South Conference, which includes institutions from Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
LWC FOOTBALL
During the spring of 2008, the Lindsey Wilson College Board of Trustees unanimously approved the mass grading of a 21-acre piece of property on the Louie B. Nunn Parkway, which was to become Blue Raider Stadium. That facility paved the way for the addition of a marching band program and resumption of the football program -- which was discontinued after the 1935 season.
Blue Raider Stadium has a seating capacity of 2,000. LWC is slated to play six home games during the 2010 season.
On Jan. 7, 2009, the Blue Raiders hired Chris Oliver to be their head football coach. Oliver took the job at Lindsey Wilson after five years as assistant coach at Ohio Dominican (2004-08). He was the Panthers’ offensive coordinator in his last three years at ODU (2006-08). The 2010 season will mark Oliver’s first as a head coach.
FOOTBALL vs. FUTBOL
To date the Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders have enjoyed more success in soccer than in any other sport. In Men’s Soccer, the Blue Raiders are currently ranked No. 1 in the NAIA.
LWC’s men’s soccer team is the defending NAIA national champion squad, and the Blue Raiders have won eight of the last 15 NAIA titles.
In Women’s Soccer, Lindsey Wilson has claimed two national titles (2004, 2008).
OHIO CONNECTIONS
LWC Head Coach Chris Oliver spent five seasons (2004-08) as an assistant coach at Ohio Dominican. He was the program's offensive coordinator for the last three seasons. He was a member of Ohio Dominican's inaugural-season staff when that program was launched in 2004. As ODU's offensive coordinator (2006-08), Oliver developed the Panthers into one of the NAIA's top offenses. From 2006-08, Ohio Dominican was ranked as one of the Top-3 offenses in the NAIA. The Panthers were 26-7 while Oliver was ODU offensive coordinator, which included an appearance in the 2007 NAIA Football Championship Series quarterfinals. … Oliver is an Ohio State University grad (2003).
Offensive Coordinator Brian Foos graduated from Otterbein College (2003) and then served five years as an assistant with Ohio Dominican.
Linebackers Coach Pat Daugherty graduated from ODU in 2008 and was an assistant at Defiance prior to heading to Columbia.
Defensive Line Coach Bert Bathiany is a 2009 graduate of Denison University.