Game of the Week
Whitewater Warhawks (6-0, 3-0) Oshkosh Titans (5-1, 3-0)
VSWhitewater
The nationally top-ranked Warhawks will have its toughest challenge of the season this Saturday on the road. The 'Hawks had a key injury last week in preseason All-American LB Greg Arnold. The senior team captain left last week's game with a sprained ankle, and time will tell if he's able to go this Saturday. In my opinion, the Warhawks not only need Arnold's skill set, but also his leadership to slow down this very effective Titans offense. Without Arnold, the outcome of this game will be even closer than it's already expected to be. The Warhawks rank at the top in just about every offensive and defensive category in the WIAC. Statistically, this program has very little to offer up as far as weaknesses (except penalties). It's suggested that the offensive line isn't as good as last season. However, that's not really going out on a limb considering last year's o-line consisted of two All-Americans. Even though Coppage is still leading the WIAC in rushing, he still isn't putting up the gaudy numbers as he did in previous years. Also, teams seem to have been applying more pressure on 
QB Matt Blanchard this year. However, based on Blanchard's uncanny athletic abilities to elude would-be tacklers, he's only been sacked three times this season (lowest in conference among starters). As you're probably noticing I'm having a tough time finding areas of concern for Whitewater, as I'm splitting hairs here. As far as on-field play, the main reason why I think Whitewater walks away each game with a win is because of their ability to execute. On numerous occasions, I witnessed many Whitewater opponents over shoot open receivers, drop balls and miss tackles. After instances like those I think to myself, "Wow, if they would have hit that open receiver, or not dropped that ball, this game will be a lot closer." On the flip side, the Warhawks rarely pass on opportunities to make a play. Their ability to execute and NOT miss opportunities is what makes Whitewater such a great team. Apart from that the 'Hawks just flat out wear teams down. Its games might be close in the first half, or even through the third quarter, but the 'Hawks o-line just grinds down opposing defenses which ultimately leads to a multi-touchdown win. I would look for Whitewater, who's tied for second in the WIAC with 12 sacks, to get after Oshkosh's quarterback throughout the afternoon. The Titans have surrendered 15 sacks this season, second most in conference. On a side note, even though it'll be tough to achieve this week, RB Levell Coppage is 184 yards shy of becoming the WIAC's all-time leading rusher. The record is currently held by Warhawk great Justin Beaver (2004-2007) at 6,584 yards. There's one other interesting stat I wanted to point out. The Warhawks have yet to allow a field goal ATTEMPT this season. Only three times have the opposition been in the red zone this year, with all three resulting in TDs.
QB Matt Blanchard this year. However, based on Blanchard's uncanny athletic abilities to elude would-be tacklers, he's only been sacked three times this season (lowest in conference among starters). As you're probably noticing I'm having a tough time finding areas of concern for Whitewater, as I'm splitting hairs here. As far as on-field play, the main reason why I think Whitewater walks away each game with a win is because of their ability to execute. On numerous occasions, I witnessed many Whitewater opponents over shoot open receivers, drop balls and miss tackles. After instances like those I think to myself, "Wow, if they would have hit that open receiver, or not dropped that ball, this game will be a lot closer." On the flip side, the Warhawks rarely pass on opportunities to make a play. Their ability to execute and NOT miss opportunities is what makes Whitewater such a great team. Apart from that the 'Hawks just flat out wear teams down. Its games might be close in the first half, or even through the third quarter, but the 'Hawks o-line just grinds down opposing defenses which ultimately leads to a multi-touchdown win. I would look for Whitewater, who's tied for second in the WIAC with 12 sacks, to get after Oshkosh's quarterback throughout the afternoon. The Titans have surrendered 15 sacks this season, second most in conference. On a side note, even though it'll be tough to achieve this week, RB Levell Coppage is 184 yards shy of becoming the WIAC's all-time leading rusher. The record is currently held by Warhawk great Justin Beaver (2004-2007) at 6,584 yards. There's one other interesting stat I wanted to point out. The Warhawks have yet to allow a field goal ATTEMPT this season. Only three times have the opposition been in the red zone this year, with all three resulting in TDs.Oshkosh
Like Whitewater, Oshkosh has a concerning injury of its own to deal with. Quarterback Nate Wara, who's also the team's leading rusher, left last week's game in the second quarter with an ankle injury and never returned. Backup Nick Olla will be taking the snaps if Wara is unable to go this Saturday. Filling in for Wara, Olla finished last week's game 7 of 12 passing for a 100 yards, while rushing for 27 yards on 10 carries. I believe the Titans have the best chance to put an end to Whitewater's winning streak this regular season.
Given the fact that the game is at Oshkosh AND it being the Titans' homecoming, the 20th nationally-ranked team has those few important intangibles going for them. From what I hear, there's efforts going into making this game the biggest crowd J.J. Keller Field has ever seen. The Titan's faithful have definitely circled this game on their calendar and rightfully so. A win here would put Oshkosh in control of the WIAC and make them the conference front-runner for the Pool A (automatic) playoff bid. Defensive end Andrew Thompson will need to contain Blanchard in the pocket and keep him from throwing down field. The junior leads the WIAC with four solo sacks this season. Oshkosh's offense has been very effective this season and keeping defenses off balance. Wara has been very efficient in running Oshkosh's read-option offense. This where Wara will read the defense coming off the ball and quickly decides to either hand it off to the RB or fake the hand off and keep it himself using the RB as a decoy/blocker. This offensive attack has worked great for them this season, in forcing the opposition to guess on where the ball going to go. This offensive style only works with a quick/athletic QB, which Wara is. Also, I would anticipate the Titans using that to setup its pass. Instead of Wara taking off with the ball, he'll catch the DBs cheating then drop back and burn them down field. On top of being a threat with his legs as the WIAC's third leading rusher, Wara leads an offense that ranks third in the conference in passing with 198.2 ypg. Early on, I believe Whitewater may have a tough time adjusting to this style of play. It's up to the offense to keep the Warhawks' defense off balance as Whitewater makes adjustments in the second half. One aspect of the game that might give Oshkosh an advantage is the penalties. Whitewater enters this game as the most frequent penalized team in the WIAC (42 penalties at 79.8 ypg). While Oshkosh has only committed 26 penalties at 36.7 ypg....which is the fewest in the WIAC. If Whitewater continues to shoot themselves in the foot (like turning a 3rd and three into a third and 13) that might play right into the Titans plan on stealing this homecoming game.
Given the fact that the game is at Oshkosh AND it being the Titans' homecoming, the 20th nationally-ranked team has those few important intangibles going for them. From what I hear, there's efforts going into making this game the biggest crowd J.J. Keller Field has ever seen. The Titan's faithful have definitely circled this game on their calendar and rightfully so. A win here would put Oshkosh in control of the WIAC and make them the conference front-runner for the Pool A (automatic) playoff bid. Defensive end Andrew Thompson will need to contain Blanchard in the pocket and keep him from throwing down field. The junior leads the WIAC with four solo sacks this season. Oshkosh's offense has been very effective this season and keeping defenses off balance. Wara has been very efficient in running Oshkosh's read-option offense. This where Wara will read the defense coming off the ball and quickly decides to either hand it off to the RB or fake the hand off and keep it himself using the RB as a decoy/blocker. This offensive attack has worked great for them this season, in forcing the opposition to guess on where the ball going to go. This offensive style only works with a quick/athletic QB, which Wara is. Also, I would anticipate the Titans using that to setup its pass. Instead of Wara taking off with the ball, he'll catch the DBs cheating then drop back and burn them down field. On top of being a threat with his legs as the WIAC's third leading rusher, Wara leads an offense that ranks third in the conference in passing with 198.2 ypg. Early on, I believe Whitewater may have a tough time adjusting to this style of play. It's up to the offense to keep the Warhawks' defense off balance as Whitewater makes adjustments in the second half. One aspect of the game that might give Oshkosh an advantage is the penalties. Whitewater enters this game as the most frequent penalized team in the WIAC (42 penalties at 79.8 ypg). While Oshkosh has only committed 26 penalties at 36.7 ypg....which is the fewest in the WIAC. If Whitewater continues to shoot themselves in the foot (like turning a 3rd and three into a third and 13) that might play right into the Titans plan on stealing this homecoming game.Platteville Pioneers (3-3, 1-2) at River Falls Falcons (0-6, 0-3)
Coming off a by week and putting up just three points isn't exactly what Platteville coach Mike Emendorfer had in mind when hosting Oshkosh last weekend on homecoming. The Pioneers are too talented of a team, especially with a healthy Nick Anderson behind center, to continue its sputtering offense. I would fully expect Platteville to take its frustrations out on a very passive River Falls defense. The Falcons have been giving up 40 points per game, which seems very inviting for Anderson and company to rack-up the yards. River Falls has three of its remaining four games at home, and still looking for coach Matt Walker's first win as head coach at UWRF. River Falls running back Taylor Edwards still has a strong hold as the WIAC's second leading rusher. The senior is averaging 96.0 rushing ypg with 576 yards total.
Stevens Point Pointers (3-3, 1-2) at Eau Claire Blugolds (4-2, 2-1)
If Stevens Point wants to avoid falling under .500 the Pointers must establish a ground game this Saturday. The Pointers enter this game with the fewest passing yards per game (128.8). But to make matters worse, Eau Claire has the WIAC's top pass defense, only giving up 143.8 ypg. The good news for Point is that the Blugolds have been vulnerable against the run this season, giving up an excess of 175 ypg (third worst in the WIAC). This will give Stevens Point a great opportunity to improve upon its conference worst 132.3 ypg on the ground. Eau Claire does have the luxury of bringing QB Austin Neu to the party. WIAC's leading passer has been throwing for over 236 ypg, along with 10 touchdowns and just two INTs. I'm still waiting on UWEC running back Joel Sweeney to play a bigger roll in the offense this year. He's been slightly disappointing, as the big sophomore has been only averaging 3.9 yards per carry, and just over 68 ypg. Also, here's a little nugget that UWSP's coach John Meich put in place last week: Coach Meich started reducing practices and lifting sessions in an attempt to keep his team fresh. He felt his squad was getting tired towards the end of games. In other words, he thought they might be overworked.
La Crosse Eagles (2-4, 2-1) at Stout Blue Devils (3-3, 1-2)
La Crosse's RB Ben Hertampf had his coming out party last week as he rushed for 206 yards, along with three touchdowns. Needless to say Hertampf won himself WIAC's Offensive Player of the Week. This potentially could be bad news for the Blue Devils as they give up over 176 ypg, second worst in conference this season. Stout's head coach Clayt Birmingham can't be pleased team's inability to protect the ball. The Blue Devils have given up the ball a conference leading 11 times, 10 coming from INTs. They're the only team with a negative turnover margin in the conference (-3). Stout's Ross Carey must do a better job not trying to force his passes, the Eagles have a very solid set of defensive backs led by shut-down corner Derek Dreher. Dreher leads the WIAC is pass breakups with 10.
Best of luck to all teams, and here's to four hard-fought games and everyone staying healthy.....Cheers!!
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