Adam Coppock

The College of Wooster will begin the 2015 North Coast Athletic Conference season in front of a sizable crowd at Allegheny College (0-1, 0-0 NCAC), as the Gators are hosting Community Night, which means admission is free to all fans, at Frank B. Fuhrer Field on Saturday, Sept. 12. Traditionally, the second week of the NCAA Div. III football season has been a bye week for Wooster, but now, the Fighting Scots are eager to make adjustments from their opening loss to now-No. 14 ranked Washington & Jefferson College, while Allegheny is looking to bounce back from a 37-21 setback to Thiel College in its opener. Saturday's kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. EDT.

On the Air: Wooster's football games are broadcast each week by commercial radio station WKVX 960 AM and are streamed live on wkvx.com.

Also, Allegheny will be providing a live video stream of the game at http://gatorstv.com.

All-Time Series: Allegheny and Wooster have played 35 times on the gridiron, including a stretch of 20 consecutive years from 1990-2009. Overall, the Gators lead the series 20-15, however, the Scots have taken seven of the last 11. The games have been very competitive recently, with six of the last 10 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 at Wooster (12-8) than in Meadville (8-7).

Conference Openers: Since becoming one of the charter members of the NCAC in 1984, Wooster has a winning record in conference openers at 16-15. The Scots had a six-game win streak in such games from 2000-05 and have won 13 of the last 19 overall.

Last Week: Wooster was within 28-10 of No. 15 ranked Washington & Jefferson College and winning the field position battle during the third quarter when the momentum quickly shifted, as the Presidents returned a punt 93 yards for a touchdown, then tacked on three more scores for a 56-10 victory in the teams' opener at a very warm John P. Papp Stadium.

Coming out of halftime with the score 28-10, Wooster's defense proceeded to turn the ball over on downs, with Stephen McKinney (Lampasas, Texas / Lampasas) dragging down a running back behind the line of scrimmage on a 4th-and-1 play right around midfield.

The Scots were unable to take advantage of the good field position, but did pin the Presidents inside the 20. That theme continued to play out, as neither offense gained a first down for the next four possessions. Then, a Wooster punt that looked like it may be downed inside the 10-yard line, bounced to the returner, who fielded it and found an open seam down the left sideline, lifting Washington & Jefferson to a 35-10 cushion.

The Presidents turned that momentum into another touchdown late in the third and two during the fourth quarter for the final margin.

Prior to that sequence, the Scots, with just seven returning starters (3 on offense, 4 on defense), had played their nationally-ranked foe tough.

After giving up a pair of early touchdowns, Wooster settled down and put together its best offensive drive. The Scots ran the ball 11 times on a 14-play, 74-yard possession, including freshman running back Antonio Bailey (Duluth, Ga. / Meadowcreek) finishing it with a three-yard touchdown.

In the second quarter, Washington & Jefferson extended its lead to 28-7. Still, Wooster made things interesting heading into the half when it drove 80 yards to get the ball inside the five-yard line, keyed by a screen pass to Bailey that went for 36. The Scots stalled there, settling for a 21-yard Trevor Bowden (Eatonton, Ga. / Gatewood Schools) field goal.

Statistically, Bailey provided Wooster a spark with 83 rushing yards and 40 receiving to lead the team in both categories during his debut.

Also making his first career start, senior quarterback David Smith (Upper Arlington, Ohio / Upper Arlington) completed 15-of-29 passes for 113 yards and did not commit a turnover until the game was out of reach. Tight end Nate Huwar (Cheswick, Pa. / Fox Chapel Area) was his top target with four receptions for 20 yards.

On defense, the Scots accumulated 10.0 tackles for loss, including three sacks courtesy of Marcus Bowers (Roseville, Mich. / Fraser), Patrick Johnson (Homewood, Ill. / Homewood-Flossmoor), Kevin Komara (Wooster, Ohio / Wooster), and McKinney. Ben Kumpf (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Chartiers Valley) registered 2.5 tackles for loss and forced a fumble.

This and That: Since Wooster joined the NCAC in 1984, this Sept. 12 game date marks its fourth-earliest conference opener ... The Scots are sporting new logos on each side of their helmet, plus a new tartan stripe down the middle, and new addidas® uniforms this season ... Wooster already faced one nationally-ranked opponent and will likely face two more this year in current
No. 9 Wabash College and No. 17 Wittenberg University. Third-year head coach Frank Colaprete is 11-5 when facing unranked competition and 0-5 versus top-25 teams.