Wooster at Wash. U. Saturday, Marking Longest Road Trip Since 1995

The College of Wooster, part of a three-way tie for first in the North Coast Athletic Conference, will play its second-straight opponent out of the University Athletic Association this week, as the Fighting Scots travel to Washington University-St. Louis (2-3) for a match-up Saturday, Oct. 17. It is part of the NCAC-UAA scheduling agreement, which brings together teams from two leagues that are recognized nationwide for excellence in academics and balanced with outstanding athletics, and marks Wooster's final non-conference game of 2009. This also is the program's longest road trip since traveling to Trinity (Texas) University for the 1995 season finale. Kickoff at the Bears' 3,300-seat Francis Field is slated for 1 p.m. CDT (2 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 anywhere in the world by following links on the radio station's Web site at http://wkvx.com/.

Wash. U.-St. Louis is offerring a live video feed as well at http://www.stretchinternet.com/wustlschedule.html.

All-Time Series: Wash. U.-St. Louis and Wooster have met just one previous time on the gridiron, that being a decisive 38-13 victory for the Scots last fall.

Last Game: After Wooster fought back from a 15-point deficit, taking 25-24 and 32-31 leads during the third quarter, Case Western Reserve University scored the final 21 points to spoil the Scots' first night game at John P. Papp Stadium, as the Spartans prevailed 53-32 in the rivals' annual tussle. An over-capacity crowd (4,500) witnessed the official dedication of Ed and Edie Andrew Turf Field pre-game and then a back-and-forth affair before Case, ranked No. 10 by D3football.com and No. 11 by the American Football Coaches Assoc., walked away with the Baird Brothers Trophy.

Following a Spartans' touchdown midway though the third quarter that gave them back the lead (31-25), Wooster's Bryan Albani (Warren, Ohio / Howland) returned a kickoff for a score for the second time this season, this time covering 93 yards as he bounced off a couple of would-be tacklers, then made a one-on-one move to get past the kicker, and sprinted down the right sideline. The 93 yards marked the longest kickoff return in school history.

The defense for the Scots followed with a three-and-out, capped by a Steve Custenborder (Rocky River, Ohio / Rocky River) sack, and they appeared to have all the momentum at that point. However, Case's defense answered with the first of three consecutive three-and-outs and the Spartans' offense proceeded to score three touchdowns during that same span.

Prior to Case's 22-0 closing run, the match-up had been just about dead even. The Spartans exploded out to a 24-9 cushion, including a 94-yard touchdown pass on a 3rd-and-30 play.

Then, Wooster would make its charge, first scoring a safety for the first time since Oct. 9, 1999, thanks to a high snap during a Case punt that went out of the end zone. On the ensuing possession, the Scots would pull within a touchdown when Austin Holter (Johnstown, Ohio / Johnstown-Monroe) finished a 10-play, 65-yard drive by faking a run up the middle and then pulling back to throw the ball to a wide open Cameron Daniels (Clarksburg, W. Va. / Byrd) for a five-yard touchdown. That made the deficit 24-18 going into halftime.

With possession to start the third quarter, Wooster steadily moved the ball en route to a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown march, with Holter hitting Mike Francescangeli (Brunswick, Ohio / Brunswick) from eight yards out and a 25-24 lead. That was the second Holter-to-Francescangeli eight-yard touchdown pass of the day, with the other coming in the first quarter.

Overall, Holter put up 309 yards of total offense. He paced all rushers with 88 yards on just 10 attempts and added 221 on 23-of-42 passing with the three touchdowns. Robert Flagg (Dunedin, Fla. / Dunedin) was heavily involved in the game plan with 12 runs for 68 yards and eight receptions for 61.

Defensively, Custenborder was credited with a game-high 12 tackles and Albani recorded his first interception of the season to go with the 93-yard kickoff return.

Records Watch: At the midway point of the season, Austin Holter (Johnstown, Ohio / Johnstown-Monroe) is on pace to reset his own school record for total offense as well as Wooster's single-season marks for completions and passing yardage. With 1,467 total yards (371 rushing, 1,096 passing), he is within 1,300 yards of last year's total offense (2,712), while his 104 completions and 1,096 passing yards are within reach of John Ramsier's respective records of 176 and 2,036 from the 1992 season. Additional records that Holter is chasing include touchdown passes for a season, held by Rich Judd with 21 in 1997 (Holter has 12), and total offense for a career, also held by Judd with 7,331 from 1995-98 (Holter has 6,053). Another note to watch is Holter's final rushing total, as he currently has 1,435 yards on the ground. No Scot quarterback has ever cracked the 2,000 rushing milestone.

On defense, Matt DeGrand (Stow, Ohio / St. Vincent-St. Mary) cracked Wooster's top-10 list for career tackles last week, passing safety Kevin Rooker (266 from 2001-03). DeGrand now has 268 stops, just 32 short of becoming the seventh in school history to hit 300.

Placekicker Russ Palm (Williamstown, W. Va. / Williamstown) is already within two of the team record for field goals made in a season. Palm has connected on 8-of-12, while Ben Arnold and Richie McNally currently share the mark with 10 in 1997 and 2004, respectively. Also in special teams, Bryan Albani (Warren, Ohio / Howland) will set the Scots' kickoff return record if he can stay ahead of Tony Sutton's 31.4 mark in 2004. Albani stands at 34.5 yards per attempt, and he also needs just one interception to crack Wooster's top-10 list in that category.