Tiffin University returns home for their third home game of the season against Alderson Broaddus.
Posted: Oct 16, 2019
Tiffin University (5-1, 3-0 GMAC) returns home to take on Alderson Broaddus (0-6, 0-3) in action Oct. 19 at Frost Kalnow Stadium.
TU and AB last met on Sept 15, 2018 in Philippi, where the Dragons escaped with a 29-24 victory over the Battlers. AB put up a great fight, coming back from nine down to briefly take a one-point lead, 24-23, with 10 minutes left, but Kyle Brunson put TU back in front for good with a 5-yd TD run with five minutes left. Brunson finished with 95 yards, while Nick Watson piled up 338 yards and two touchdowns passing.
This is just the second time that these two programs will face off, with last year's meeting marking the first matchup between Tiffin and Alderson Broaddus in football.
BATTLERS NOTES
- The 2019 season has not been kind to Alderson Broaddus, as the Battlers are off to an 0-6 start (0-3 in the GMAC) and are being outscored by an average of 52.3-18.8 on the season.
- Last week, the Battlers hosted Lake Erie College and fell to the Storm 38-24. It was Alderson Broaddus' highest point output of the year offensively, but they could not hold the Lake Erie offense under wraps, allowing 437 total yards (320 on the ground).
- The Battlers got off to a good start in the game, blocking Lake Erie's first punt and returning it for a score and then going up 14-0 on a Nicolas Bishop 3-yard run. The Storm scored three unanswered touchdowns before halftime, though, taking a 21-14 lead into the break. AB tied things up with a Joe Czelusniak 10-yard touchdown run minutes into the third quarter, but Lake Erie outscored AB 17-3 over the rest of the game to take the 14-point victory.
- Jalen Jackson had a great game on the ground for AB, averaging 8.9 yards on 14 carries for a total of 128. Landon Moon and Otis Smith both recorded double-digit tackles with 11 and 10, respectively.
BATTLERS OFFENSE
- The Battler offense enters the weekend sixth in the GMAC at 18.8 points per game and 337.8 yards per game.
- AB's offensive line has been decent at pass protection on the season, tying with Findlay for the conference lead with only 1.33 sacks allowed per game.
- Joe Czelusniak quarterbacks the offense in his senior season, going 108-209 (51.7%) on the year with 1221 yards, eight touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.
- AB has three running backs with 175 to 225 yards on the year, led by Nicolas Bishop at 219 on 52 attempts with two touchdowns. Jalen Jackson also has 219 yards on 45 attempts, while Jaques Buchannon has 184 yards on 54 attempts with one score.
- Dominic Pegley leads the receiving corps with 26 catches on the year for 346 yards and four touchdowns. Damon Rodgers also has 272 yards on 19 catches with two touchdowns, while Zack Lake has recorded 208 yards on 22 receptions with one touchdown on the season.
BATTLERS DEFENSE
- Alderson Broaddus is last in the GMAC in both points allowed per game (51.3) and total yards allowed per contest (525.3). Those marks are also tied for third worst and fourth worst in Division II, respectively.
- The Battlers are also third-to-last in the nation in turnover margin at -2.33 per game, losing 17 turnovers on the year while gaining just three.
- Matt Jackson leads the team and is sixth in the GMAC with 49 total tackles on the season. He also has 1.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup to his credit.
- Otis Smith is next with 39 tackles, and is also second on the team with four tackles for loss.
- Canaan Baldinger leads AB with six tackles for loss and has contributed one sack, while Zeke Hand has two sacks to lead the Battlers.
- Hasan Sharif has AB's only interception of the season to go with 16 tackles.
TIFFIN NOTES- Picked fourth by the conference coaches in the GMAC Preseason Poll, the Dragons continue to exceed expectations, holding down the top spot in the conference with an undefeated 3-0 mark.
- Dating back to when Tiffin joined the GMAC last year at the start of the 2018 season, Tiffin is 9-2 against conference competition.
- Since 2016, Tiffin is 28-11 (.718 winning percentage), the highest winning percentage of any GMAC school over that four-year stretch. Ohio Dominican is next at .703 (26-11) followed by Findlay (.683, 28-13) and Hillsdale (.650, 26-14).
- Last week, the Dragons demolished Kentucky Wesleyan 59-6 to continue their early season conference domination. Tiffin outgained KWC 554-121 in the game, holding the Panthers to just 33 rushing yards and 88 passing yards.
- Nick Watson was 16-25 for 218 yards and four touchdowns, with Stanley Jackson as his most frequent target with five catches for 83 yards and a score.
- Tiffin piled up 303 rushing yards, led by JaQuan Hardy and Kyle Brunson recording 92 apiece as well as both scoring a touchdown.
TIFFIN OFFENSE
- The Dragon offense has been a machine in 2019, leading the conference by wide margins in both points per game (41.5) and total yards per game (528.8). Those marks are also 15th and third in the nation, respectively.
- Tiffin does it both on the ground and through the air, ranking 10th nationally in passing offense at 309.2 yards per game and 25th in rushing offense at 219.7 yards per game.
- The Dragons lead Division II in offensive first downs, recording 158 on the year (26.3 per game).
- Tiffin is also 38th in the country at third-down conversions with a .434 percentage.
- Nick Watson is the runaway candidate for top quarterback in the conference thus far, leading the GMAC with 131 completions, 1766 yards, 294.3 yards per game, 18 touchdowns, and a 160.0 rating. He also has only three interceptions on the year, tied for the conference low, and a 63.2% completion rate. Nationally, he is fifth in passing touchdowns, seventh in passing yards and yards per game, 11th in completions per game, 16th in passing efficiency, and 19th in completion percentage.
- JaQuan Hardy ranks second in the GMAC at 124.0 rush yards per game and third with five rushing touchdowns. Of running backs with at least 30 attempts, he leads the conference at 7.7 yards per carry. In Division II, he is fourth in yards per carry and ninth in total rushing yards.
- Kyle Brunson also returned from injury last week to rejoin with Hardy to form Tiffin's potent ground attack. In three games this year, he has 41 attempts for 188 yards and a touchdown.
- Stanley Jackson Jr. leads the conference in receiving yards with 782, nearly 300 more than the next wideout. His average of 130.3 yards per game is third nationally, six touchdowns is 19th in DII, and 7.8 receptions per game is sixth in the country.
- Devin Butler is also in the top 10 in the conference in receiving, ranking eighth with 55.7 yards per game on 27 catches with two touchdowns. Gavin Woods is not too far behind, piling up 52.2 yards per game and five touchdowns.
TIFFIN DEFENSE
- Tiffin also leads the GMAC in scoring defense (16.2 points allowed per game) and total defense (290.5 yards allowed per game), marks that are 23rd and 28th in the nation.
- The Dragons are fifth in the country with a +1.5 turnover margin.
- TU leads the conference and is third nationally with 11 interceptions on the year.
- The defense has been great at getting opposing offenses off the field quickly, as the Dragons lead the GMAC in time of possession at 34:29 per game.
- Carrington Contee has taken over the team lead with 40 tackles on the year, and also is tied for the team lead and ranks third in the GMAC with three interceptions.
- Ross Moore also has three picks while ranking sixth on the team with 28 tackles.
- Charlie Cleveland has 34 tackles and is second in the GMAC with 8.5 tackles for loss and tied for fourth with four sacks.
