GAME NOTES: Gardner-Webb Returns Home To Host MidAmerica Nazarene Saturday At 6:00 PM
October 10, 2012 | Football
MidAmerica Nazarene is ranked No. 10 in the latest NAIA National Top 25, holding steady after a 63-3 drubbing of Culver-Stockton (Mo.) this past Saturday ... The Pioneers are averaging just under 400 yards of total offense per game, and have rushed for 250-plus yards in each of their last three games ... In their lone loss of the season to No. 9 Missouri Valley, MNU was held to 213 yards offensively (136 rushing) ... Speedy running back Greg Gates has been the star of the rushing attack, pacing the Pioneers with 123.2 yards per game and eight touchdowns ... Quarterback Sean Ransburg is a dual threat under center, passing for 135.8 yards per game and rushing for 54.0 yards per game ... Linebacker Joey Oxley paces the defense with 32 total tackles and fellow 'back Mike McJunkins has registered 9.5 tackles for loss and four sacks through five games.
THE GAME
Gardner-Webb will host the 10th-ranked team in NAIA Saturday
evening, as MidAmerica Nazarene rolls into town for a 6:00 pm
kickoff. Fabian Fuentes and David Allen will provide the call from
Spangler Stadium on WGWG-FM (88.3 / wgwg.org). The game will also
air live on the Big South Network (bigsouthsports.com).
SERIES NOTES
First meeting ... Gardner-Webb was a member of the NAIA from 1970
until moving to NCAA Division II in 1993 ... GWU played in the NAIA
National Championship Bowl 20 seasons ago in Boiling Springs,
falling to Central State (Ohio) in that contest ... Gardner-Webb
has never played a team from Kansas in football ... Both
Gardner-Webb head coach Ron Dickerson, Jr., and MidAmerica Nazarene
head coach Jonathan Quinn saw action with the NFL's Kansas City
Chiefs during their playing days.
THE COACHES
Gardner-Webb head coach Ron Dickerson, Jr., is in his second season
in charge of the Runnin' Bulldogs and holds a 4-12 career record
with the Runnin' Bulldogs. MidAmerica Nazarene head coach Jonathan
Quinn is 36-6 in his fourth season leading the Pioneers program -
including a 4-1 start to the 2012 season.
ESPN3 IN 2K12
Gardner-Webb will make four appearances on ESPN3 in 2012, having
already played on the network's broadband video channel twice (at
Pittsburgh, at Liberty). GWU will play on ESPN3 again on November 3
against Coastal Carolina as the Big South Game of the Week and
again on November 10 at Charleston Southern. Both games are set for
1:30 pm starts.
THE
M.O.P.
Quarterback Lucas
Beatty (6-2, 220, RSo.) is perhaps the Big South's most
improved player in 2012, completing 106-of-159 pases for 1,144
yards and a pair of touchdowns in five starts. Beatty has nearly
doubled his yardage from last season and became the first
quarterback since Devin Campbell in 2008 to post more than one
300-yard passing game in the same season when he went for a
career-high 383 yards at Liberty. Beatty passed for 320 yards
earlier this season vs. Samford (9/22) and ranks among the Big
South leaders with 228.8 yards per game through the air.
RED HOT HALF
Speaking of Beatty, the Charlotte, N.C., native was sizzling in the
first half against Liberty. He completed 6-of-6 passes for 119
yards and a score in the first quarter alone and finished the first
half by going 16-of-17 for 301 yards. Beatty connected on his first
three passes in the second half to push Gardner-Webb's lead to
28-10 and commanded a 71-yard touchdown drive early in the fourth
quarter to help GWU regain a 35-28 lead after Liberty pulled even.
By game's end, he had a Big South single-game record for completion
percentage (84.4%) that included one stretch of 13-straight
completions.
FRESH START
Over the past two games, Gardner-Webb has seen a total of six true
freshmen start on offense and defense. Offensively, right guard Dylan
Hopper (6-4, 295) and receiver Carlton
Heard (6-0, 178) have been regulars in the lineup this season.
Defensively, cornerback Tiko
Thompson (5-8, 148), safety Brandon
Swayze (6-2, 190), tackle O.J. Mau (6-2, 275) and linebacker Azziz
Higgins (6-2, 225) have made starts - with Thompson, Swayze and
Higgins each in the lineup at Liberty (10/6).
OFFENSIVE LINE A STRONG GROUP
Gardner-Webb returns six players with starting experience on the
offensive line for the 2012 season. Five of those men are seniors:
Right tackle Steve
Demilio (6-5, 293, RSr.-3L); right guard Aaron
Huck (6-3, 296, RSr.-1L); center Austin
Sargent (6-3, 302, Sr.-3L); left guard Jamie
Dunaway (6-3, 290, Sr.-3L) and left tackle Harrison
Martin (6-6, 285, Gr.-3L). Right guard Jeff
Harris (6-2, 292, RJr.-2L) is entering his fourth season in the
program. David
McConnell (6-5, 304, RSo.) and Dylan
Hopper (6-4, 295, Fr.) each started the season's first four
games, with Harris and Martin each coming off the bench.
D-LINE DEEPLY SEASONED
The Runnin' Bulldogs have a wealth of experienced depth in the
defensive trenches in 2012. Five players have starting experience
and seven have played extensively during their time in Boiling
Springs to date. Tackle Matt
Goods (6-2, 275, RJr.-2L) and end Preston
Pemasa (6-2, 257, Jr.-2L) have earned All-Big South honors in
each of their two seasons so far and both were named Big South
Freshman of the Year in their respective rookie seasons. Versatile
dual-threat linemen Tyler
Hough-Jenkins (6-4, 281, RSo.-1L) and Maurice
Dickson (6-4, 265, Jr.-2L) have experience at both tackle and
end. Tackles Dylan
Taylor (6-0, 255, Gr.-3L) and Maurice
Bryan (6-2, 271, Gr.-3L) are both graduate students with three
years experience, with Taylor earning multiple starts over the past
two seasons. Youngsters Shaquille
Riddick (6-7, 235, So.-1L) and O.J. Le'iauta Mau (6-2, 275,
Fr.-HS) will also continue to log snaps.
TOP CHEF
Redshirt sophomore Kenny
Cook (6-4, 216) has been a bright spot for Gardner-Webb in the
passing game so far in 2012, hauling in a team-high 23 passes for
313 yards and a touchdown. Against Liberty, Cook caught seven balls
for a career-high 147 yards, including a 46-yard grab that set up
Gardner-Webb's third touchdown of the game. Cook is averaging 13.6
yards per catch, and ranks No. 4 in the league in receptions per
game.
TOUGH EARLY SLATE
Three of Gardner-Webb's first four FCS opponents are among the
top-30 nationally this week, with Wofford (No. 5) and Samford (No.
25) each earning spots in the Sports Network/Fathead top-25 media
poll. A third, Richmond, is on the cusp of entering the top-25 with
more than 100 votes this week. Gardner-Webb's next opponent, Stony
Brook, is ranked No. 11 by the Sports Network. The poll is the most
extensively voted on in the nation, with media members from each of
the subdivision's conferences participating weekly.
HAVE YOU HEARD?
Gardner-Webb redshirt freshman Carlton
Heard (6-0, 178) was named Big South Conference Freshman of the
Week following a stellar performance at Liberty in last weekend's
league opener. Heard caught seven passes for 137 yards and a
touchdown, taking the Bulldogs' opening snap 54 yards to paydirt
for an early lead. He had five catches for 115 yards by halftime,
and hauled in a 15-yarder to start the second half and set up
another touchdown that pushed GWU to a 28-10 lead. Heard ranks
second in the Big South with 5.5 catches per game so far in
2012.
DOUBLE DIGITS
Linebacker Tanner
Burch (6-3, 242, So.) has continued to make major news at
middle linebacker, collecting at least 10 tackles in four of his
first five career starts. The sophomore had 13 hits at Liberty -
including nine in the first quarter, and 10 in the first half. His
lone sub-double figures performance came at Big East member
Pittsburg (five tackels). Burch leads the Big South with 11.8
tackles per game and ranks No. 7 nationally in the FCS (59 total
hits). His top tackling performance of 16 tackles vs. Samford came
on September 22. Burch spent much of 2011 as a reserve behind
All-Big South 'backer Marty
Patterson, but was highly sought after as a prep senior at
Savannah Christian (Ga.) School. Burch was named 2010 Georgia Class
1A State Defensive Player of the Year by the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution and earned MaxPreps/US Air Force Small School
All-America honors that same season..
CRAN-FILLING THE STAT SHEET
Gardner-Webb has seen its share of pass-catching tight ends over
the years, and Seth
Cranfill (6-4, 230, RSo.) is off to a strong start in the
passing game in 2012. The Sherrill's Ford, N.C., native established
a new Big South single-game mark for a tight end with nine catches
against Samford and leads the league's tight ends with 20
receptions this season - his first on the field with GWU. Cranfill
is on pace to catch 44 balls this season, which would break the
previous school record by 12 receptions. All-America tight end
Jason Bright hauled in 32 catches for 387 yards in 2001, averaging
15.2 yards per catch. Bright (1999-2002) is the career leader with
80 tight end receptions for 1,050 yards and eight scores. He was a
first-team All-Big South selection as a senior 10 seasons ago.
TURNOVER BATTLE IS KEY
In Gardner-Webb's four wins last season, the Runnin' Bulldogs
committed only one turnover - owning an impressive plus-7 edge in
turnover margin during those games. In its last 11 losses,
Gardner-Webb has coughed up 30 turnovers (2.7 per game).
GOLDEN DOZEN
Gardner-Webb has developed a nice pipeline to the west coast in
recent years, dating back to 2007 NFL Draft selection Brian
Johnston (San Diego, Calif.). This season, the Runnin' Bulldogs
have 12 players who call California their home state, the most from
the Golden State since the program made the jump to NCAA Division I
in 2000. Of that dozen, nine were listed on the 2012 preseason
two-deep.
PRESEASON NATIONAL HONORS
Gardner-Webb players collected several preseason honors, with
kicker Trever
Austin the most widely noted. Austin (5-10, 194, So.-1L) was
named to the Fred Mitchell Award Watch List, the College Football
Performance Awards Watch List and was an honorable mention
All-America selection by Beyond Sports Network. Jamie
Dunaway earned second-team All-America honors from Beyond
Sports Network, and Preston
Pemasa was named to the College Football Performance Awards
Watch list at defensive end for the second preseason in a row.
Gardner-Webb has had at least one preseason All-America since
2002.
THIS WEEK'S BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE GAMES
Saturday, October 13
VMI at Charleston Southern *, 1:30 (Big South Network)
Liberty at Presbyterian *, 2:00 (Big South Network)
#11 Stony Brook at Coastal Carolina, 3:30 (Big South Conference
Game of the Week, ESPN3 / WatchESPN.com)
MidAmerica Nazarene at Gardner-Webb, 6:00 (Big South Network)
ON THE AIR
Gardner-Webb's football games this season can be heard live on
WGWG-FM (88.3), the school's 50,000-watt flagship station. Fabian
Fuentes will provide the play-by-play call all season, with David
Allen providing color at home and Matt Clark serving in that role
on the road. Log onto to wgwg.org for a live audio stream via the
internet as well.
THE RON DICKERSON, JR., RADIO SHOW
Every Monday night at 7:00 pm, Fabian Fuentes and Ron
Dickerson, Jr., will host the Ron
Dickerson, Jr., Coaches Show on WGWG-FM (88.3 / wgwg.org). The
show will broadcast live from the Tucker Student Center on campus
and is open to the public.
UP NEXT
Gardner-Webb returns to Big South Conference play on Saturday,
October 20, hitting the skies to travel to Stony Brook, N.Y., to do
battle with 11th-ranked Stony Brook in La Valle Stadium. The
Seawolves are off to a 5-1 start that includes a 23-3 blowout win
over Army and a narrow loss at Syracuse. †
| GAME NOTES (PDF) |
