Nate Kleinman

The College of Wooster will attempt to bounce back from its first league loss of the season when it travels to northwestern Pennsylvania for a North Coast Athletic Conference meeting with Allegheny College (0-5, 0-4 NCAC) on Saturday, Oct. 12. This actually marks the first NCAC game between the two since 2009 due to the conference's previous scheduling technique, but now they'll  play annually for the foreseeable future as the NCAC has gone to a round-robin format. Last year, they opened against each other – a 17-14 Allegheny victory – but it did not count towards the league standings. Saturday's kickoff at Frank B. Fuhrer Field is scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT.

On the Air: Wooster's football games can be heard live each week in the Wooster area on WKVX 960 AM or on the radio station's website at http://wkvx.com/.

All-Time Series: Allegheny and Wooster have played 33 times on the gridiron, including a stretch of 20 consecutive years from 1990-2009. Overall, the Gators lead the series 20-13, however, the Scots have taken five of the last nine. The games have been very competitive recently, with six of the last eight being decided by a touchdown or less. Also interesting,
home-field advantage hasn't meant much between these two as Allegheny holds a more commanding edge in games at Wooster (12-7) than in Meadville (8-6).

Last Week: On Oct. 5, Wooster gained more offensive yards, 424, than Wabash College's first three opponents combined (397), but it was not enough as the No. 17 Little Giants completed a 48-14 victory at an overcast and sometimes rainy John P. Papp Stadium.

The match-up of two of the three NCAC teams that entered the day 2-0 in league action got off to an exciting start with three touchdowns in less than five minutes. After Wabash went ahead 14-0 on a couple of big offensive plays 3:40 into the contest, the Scots scored a little over a minute later. Sean Hackel (Farmington, N.Y. / Victor) started the quick series by turning a short pass into a 47-yard gain, and three plays later on second down from the 13, the Scots showed a unique look with two quarterbacks in the backfield. Starter Richard Barnes (Painesville, Ohio / Harvey) went in motion and the snap went to freshman Tyson Vogel (Ashland, Ohio / Ashland), who quickly threw to Keir Pace (Columbus, Ohio / South) in the center of the end zone for the touchdown, and it was 14-7. It marked Vogel's first career pass attempt.

Before the first quarter was over, the Little Giants added a 29-yard field goal, and on the last play of the period, Wooster fumbled the ball on its own side of the field, helping set the stage for two quick Wabash touchdowns early in the second quarter just like the first. All of that added up to a 31-7 cushion.

The Scots had a couple opportunities to score more first-half points against the top-ranked statistical defense in NCAA Div. III. First, Stephen McKinney (Lampasas, Texas. / Lampasas) recovered a fumble on the Wabash 37-yard line, but the Scots turned it back over three plays later. Wooster's defense forced a three-and-out, then the offense mounted a drive from its own 16 to the Little Giants' 14-yard line, but an eventual 33-yard field goal attempt went wide left. So instead of it being 31-10 or 31-14, Wabash actually extended the margin to 38-7 with a touchdown right before the half.

The Scots had a series of defensive highlights during the second half – a Shawn Bowman (Mineral City, Ohio / Tuscarawas Valley) interception in the end zone to halt one Wabash drive, an 11-yard sack for McKinney, and a fumble recovery by Matt Osolinski (Delaware, Ohio / Olentangy Liberty) in Wabash territory. Unfortunately, Osolinski's recovery was followed four plays later by a Wooster fumble that was returned 66 yards for a touchdown, increasing the score to 48-7.

Continuing to compete hard, the Scots executed an 11-play, 81-yard scoring march, with Chase Ullman (Orange Village, Ohio / Orange) rushing the ball in from seven yards away for a touchdown.

Wooster's 424 yards came on 92 plays, as its up-tempo offense accumulated 26 first downs. Barnes hit the 300-yard passing mark for the second week in a row, this time 306 on 28-of-45 passing. Justin Rice (Concord, Ohio / Harvey) and Pace were his top receivers, with eight catches apiece for 69 and 65 yards, respectively. Also, Nate Kleinman (Bronx, N.Y. / Fieldston School) had a breakout game with six receptions and 65 yards and Hackel netted 99 yards on the ground.

This and That: Offensively, the Scots are averaging 82.5 plays, up 12.2 over last year (69.3), and on the defensive side, they have 12 takeaways (six interceptions, six fumble recoveries), compared to 14 (8 interceptions, 6 fumble recoveries) from all of 2012 ... Versatile running back/kickoff returner Sean Hackel (Farmington, N.Y. / Victor) continues to rank second in Div. III with 230.3 all-purpose yards per game ... Five of Justin Rice's (Concord, Ohio / Harvey) initial seven receptions this season were touchdowns.