The College of Wooster will begin its 111th year of intercollegiate football Saturday, Sept. 5, by officially debuting the synthetic playing surface, Sprinturf, that was installed this past summer at 4,500-seat John P. Papp Stadium, as Waynesburg University (5-5 in 2008) comes to town for the season opener. Ironically, Wooster helped Waynesburg inaugurate its ProGrass Turf field in 2006, with the Fighting Scots playing spoiler via a 31-10 victory. Saturday's match-up should be a good test for each squad, as the visiting Yellow Jackets have gone 19-9 over their last 28 games and were picked fourth in the Presidents' Athletic Conference preseason poll. Wooster is 18-10 during that same stretch, highlighted by last year's 8-2 record, and was voted to finish second in the North Coast Athletic Conference. Kickoff time is slated 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 anywhere in the world by following links on the radio station's Web site at http://wkvx.com/.

Also, the audio and video from local cable provider Clear Picture, Inc., will be broadcast live over the Web at no charge to the viewer at http://www.teamline.cc/teampage?teamcode=1100, thanks to an agreement with Clear Picture and a donation from the "W" Association, the school's alumni organization which supports athletics.

Lid-Lifters: The Fighting Scots have produced quite a run of success in season openers recently, having won 10 of their last 12. The lone setbacks came when John Carroll University started 2007 by shutting out an inexperienced Wooster squad 24-0 in University Hts., Ohio, and in 2001, when Kalamazoo College nipped the Scots 39-37 at Papp Stadium.

All-Time Series: Waynesburg and Wooster have met on the gridiron four times, three coming in the last three years. Strangely enough, the visiting team has won every time – Wooster 27-6 at Waynesburg in last fall's opener, Waynesburg 45-35 at Papp Stadium as the Yellow Jackets overcame a 28-7 halftime deficit in 2007, Wooster 31-10 when Waynesburg debuted its ProGrass Turf field (2006), and Wooster 27-12 at Waynesburg way back on Oct. 8, 1955.

2009 Preview Notes: With nine returning starters on offense and another seven on defense, the Scots appear to have as much talent entering a season since 2004 when they last marched to the North Coast Athletic Conference championship and a spot in the NCAA Div. III playoffs ... Offensively, senior dual-threat quarterback Austin Holter (Johnstown, Ohio / Johnstown-Monroe) will be the key. He led the league in total offense (271.2 ypg) and set a school record in that category with 2,712 yards, and was part of 22 TDs (nine rushing, 13 passing) en route to second-team all-conference honors ... When Holter elects to go to the air, he'll have a number of viable options, led by wide receivers Mike Francescangeli (Brunswick, Ohio / Brunswick), Mike Redick (Wooster, Ohio / Northwestern), and Luke McCann (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Keystone Oaks). Francescangeli is coming off a breakout season, earning all-NCAC mention after catching 41 balls for 573 yards and five scores, while Redick started on the outside and tallied 25 receptions, 240 yards, and one TD. McCann missed all of last fall due to injury, but hopes to return to the form he showed in 2007, when he was on the receiving of 28 passes for 291 yards and a score as a regular starter ... The tight end position has traditionally been a significant part of Wooster's offense and that should be the case again with the return of Cameron Daniels (Clarksburg, W. Va. / Byrd) and Jon Mathis (Tallmadge, Ohio / Tallmadge), both of whom were top contributors a year ago ... The offensive line remains virtually intact from 2008, which has the coaching staff very excited. Anchoring the left side will be guard Storm Tropea (Hollywood, Fla. / Hollywood Hills) and tackle John Obery (South Euclid, Ohio / Brush), who were first- and second-team all-NCAC award winners, respectively, last season. At center, Josh Clark (Dennison, Ohio / Tuscarawas Central Catholic) also put together an all-league campaign, while Todd Spillman (Zoar, Ohio / Tuscarawas Valley) and Nate Laslow (Marysville, Ohio / Marysville) split time at right guard. This fall, Spillman will start at right tackle ... The Scots' defense ranked No. 18 in NCAA Div. III in scoring defense (15.2 ppg) and No. 25 in total defense (270.4 ypg) for the 2008 season, and the top-four linebackers and three-quarters of the starting secondary are back from that unit ... Matt DeGrand (Stow, Ohio / St. Vincent-St. Mary) has anchored the linebackers from his outside position the past two seasons, including a conference-best 113 tackles last fall, which led to a spot on the All-NCAC First Team. Also earning that recognition was middle linebacker Steve Custenborder (Rocky River, Ohio / Rocky River), who added 87 tackles, and Eric Keyes (Dalton, Ohio / Dalton) and Hector Clavijo (Miami, Fla. / Hialeah) shared time on the weak side ... Wooster set a school record last year with 20 interceptions, 15 of which were snared by members of the defensive backfield. Cornerback Bryan Albani (Warren, Ohio / Howland) had five as part of a first-team all-conference selection, while fellow returnees Jeremy Petit (Doylestown, Ohio / St. Vincent-St. Mary) and Brian Swan (East Canton, Ohio / East Canton) return at strong safety and free safety, respectively.

Depth Chart Notes: While a couple of them weren't everyday starters in 2008, all 11 of Wooster's anticipated starters on the offensive side of the ball have started at least four collegiate games previously. On defense, the Scots will feature all new starters on the line – junior ends Chris Aukerman (Rocky River, Ohio / Rocky River) and Matt Carlson (Loveland, Ohio / Loveland), junior tackle Kurt Brown (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon), and sophomore tackle Chris Moore (Warrensville Hts., Ohio / Warrensville Heights) – as well as a freshman cornerback in Girard Ogletree-Crawford (Delaware, Ohio / Hayes). Other first-years who have already cracked the two-deep are linebacker Antwan Carter (Miami, Fla. / Hialeah), end Rob Holtz (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shaler Area), middle linebacker Josh Lewis (Wickliffe, Ohio / Benedictine), left tackle Caleb Mast (Wooster, Ohio / Wooster), tackle Mark McDonald (University Hts., Ohio / Gilmour Academy), and wide receiver Brenden Rego (Miami, Fla. / John A. Ferguson).