Game Notes

Last time out ...

Franklin & Marshall survived the twists and turns of last Saturday's overtime victory at Montclair State by a 31-25 final. The Diplomats led 17-0 early in the second quarter, but found themselves down by eight points when they took over for their last possession of regulation with 3:45 showing on the game clock. Nevertheless, the Diplomats would not give up and went on a 17-play, 79-yard drive that was capped by a six-yard touchdown reception from Gary Lewis. However, the drama was from over as the Diplomats broke out the "Philly Special" to make good on the two-point conversion and officially get the game into overtime.

During the overtime period, Matt Scully picked off Montclair State's second offensive play to put F&M and a score-and-win scenario. The Diplomats thought they had the game-winning touchdown on their second offensive play of the overtime, but an offensive pass interference call brought the ball all the way back to the 36. A key 14-yard run from Dante Wilson on third-and-seven caught the defense off guard and got the Diplomats in a goal-to-go situation where Wilson needed just two more carries to put the winning score across the goal line.

Despite the game-winning touchdown coming on a rushing attempt, the majority of F&M's offense last week was through the air as Ty Tremba finished with 285 yards passing and two touchdowns., with Jake Fant also seeing time where he fired a touchdown to Jack Sutton. Gary Lewis was the favorite target as he finished with nine receptions for 119 yards and two scores. Jack O'Hearen also went over the century mark with 10 catches for 111 yards. Jack Sutton added three big receptions for 63 yards as all three of those receivers showed big play potential with catches over 20 yards. When he was in the backfield, Dante Wilson carried the ball six times for 34 yards – averaging 5.7 per touch during his time in the backfield.

In addition to his interception during the overtime period, Scully led the F&M defense with eight tackles – including six solo stops. He also forced and recovered a fumble during the win. Jeff Decker was second on the team with six tackles, while Owen Walsh and Kyle Jones additionally forced Montclair State to put the ball on the turf. Both defenses seemed to have the upper hand on third down plays, but the Diplomats were able to step up when it mattered most as they were a perfect 3-for-3 on fourth down attempts during the fourth quarter.

Stars of the Past Week

Gary Lewis was named the Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Week after hauling in nine passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns.

Matt Scully became the first F&M linebacker since 2002 to be named to the D3football.com National Team of the Week. He intercepted a pass, had a team-high nine tackles (7 solo, 2 TFL), while also forcing and recovering a fumble during a busy day. He also got a shoutout in the D3football Podcast where he received one of the coveted game balls for his performance.

Starting of a rivalry? 

Franklin & Marshall and The College of New Jersey will be meeting for the first time in program history. With the new scheduling agreement, the Diplomats will play both Montclair State and TCNJ for the first time in program history. The Diplomats' third NJAC opponent - Kean - has played F&M twice in school history (1987, 2006).

Thursday night notables

F&M will be facing a short week with the Thursday game in order to allow more preparation for the official start of Centennial Conference action the following week. The last time the Diplomats had only five days to prepare for an opponent was the 2000 season when they had a game against Western Maryland (now McDaniel) postponed to Monday before also taking on Swarthmore that Saturday.  That is the only time since 1942 that the Diplomats have played on a short week.

With almost all college football games being played on Saturday, here are some other F&M notables when the Diplomats have played on a Thursday in the past.

• F&M is 29-25-5 all time on Thursdays

• All but two of those Thursday games have been played at home

• This week will mark Just the second non-Thanksgiving Thursday football game in school history (1904 lost 28-0 at Columbia on September 27)

• The most points the Diplomats have scored during a Thursday game was 59 versus Gettysburg on Thanksgiving during the 1950 season

• F&M's defense has shut out the opposition 15 times on Thursdays, while the offense has been blanked 17 times on such occassions

• The Diplomats have held their opponents under 10 points during 37 of the previous 59 Thursday games in program history

• The TCNJ game will mark F&M's first Thursday game since 1951

• 39 of the previous 59 football games have been Thanksgiving matchups with Gettysburg

Home Opener (finally)

• This will be F&M's latest home opener by calendar date since the 2005 season when they played the home opener on Sept. 24, 2005 vs. Carnegie Mellon

• All-time record in home openers: 100-33-1 (Current streak: +1)

• The Diplomats longest stretch of home opening victories came between 1968 and 1979 when the team won 12 consecutive home openers

• The last time F&M won at least five consecutive home openers was from 2001 through 2006 when they won six straight

Nine Games in nine weeks

The postponed game will create a unique challenge for this year's team as they are set to play their second of nine games in nine consecutive weeks. However, that is not as rare as a might seem at first glance.

• F&M has played 9 games in 9 weeks during 43 others seasons (first since 2007)

• 15th time since Centennial (1983) formed that F&M will play nine games in nine weeks

• The 1972 & 1974 teams were only teams to go undefeated during their nine games in nine week stretches, they were 4th & 5th undefeated teams in school history

• Since CC was formed, the best record during a nine game/nine week stretch was 8-1 by both the 1986 & 1989 teams

• This will be the first time since 2004 that F&M will be playing five home games in a span of 51 days or fewer

Looking at the national rankings...

• In the stat that ultimately matters most, the Diplomats are one of 58 Division III programs that head into the fourth week of the season with an undefeated record. That group also includes fellow Centennial Conference foes Johns Hopkins, Muhlenberg, and Ursinus

• Team Rankings in Top 50 Nationally

  • 1st: Fourth down conversions (100%) - first in Centennial

  • 29th: Fourth down conversion (.200)

  • 29th: First down defense (31)

  • 32nd: Kick return defense (15.0 ypr)

  • 37th: Pass efficiency defense (96.63)

• Individuals in top 50 Nationallly

  • Laurence Miller

    • 1st: field goals per game (2.0) - first in CC

    • 378h: field goal percentage (66.7%)

  • Kyle Jones

    • 17th: Fumbles recovered (1)

    • 38th: Forced fumbles (1)

  • Matt Scully

    • 17th: Fumbles recovered (1)

    • 38th: Forced fumbles (1)

  • Owen Walsh

    • 38th: Forced fumbles (1)

  • Chris Albero

    • 36th: Punt returns (8.7 ypr)

Checking the record books (Career rankings at F&M)

• Kevonte Beard

  • Fumble return TDs: 1st (2)

  • QB hurries: 1st (7)

  • Punt return TDs: t-3rd (1)

  • Tackles for loss: 6th (35.5)

  • Yards from tackles for loss: 6th (130)

  • Fumble returns: t-11th (1)

  • Fumble return yards: 21st (3)

  • Fumbles forced: t-24th (3)

• Logan Clouse

  • Pass completion pct: 14th (50.7)

  • Total offense/game: 16th (102.0)

  • Passing yards/game: 17th (94.4)

  • Pass efficiency: 20th (102.1)

  • Passing TDs: 21st (14)

  • Pass attempts: 22nd (286)

  • Pass completions: t-22nd (145)

  • Passing yards: 26th (1511)

  • Average yards/pass: 28th (5.3)

  • Average yards/completion: 30th (10.4)

• Jeff Decker

  • QB hurries: t-3rd (3)

• Justin Gerhart

  • Interception return TDs: t-5th (1)

  • Interceptions: t-17th (8)

  • Interception return yards: 22nd (94)

• Trey Glass

  • Average yards/kick return: 16th (20.27)

• Kell Hall

  • Interception return TDs: t-5th (1)

  • Passes defended: t-30th (16)

• Jacob Hille

  • QB hurries: t-8th (2)

  • Blocked kicks: t-12th (2)

• Nick Johnston

  • Kick return TDs: t-2nd (1)

• Kyle Jones

  • QB hurries: t-3rd (3)

• Gary Lewis

  • Receptions/game: 7th (4.25)

  • All purpose yards/game: 19th (75.1)

• Ryan McArthur

  • Punt return TDs: t-3rd (1)

• Laurence Miller

  • PAT kick pct: 4th (92.9)

  • Field goal pct: 6th (68.4)

  • Field goals made: 7th (13)

  • PAT kicks made: 10th (52)

• Jack O'Hearen

  • Receptions/game: t-21st (2.74)

• Tom Papa

  • QB hurries: t-14th (1)

• Matt Scully

  • Average yards/kick return: 1st (24.27)

  • Kick return TDs: t-2nd (1)

  • Interception return TDs: t-5th (1)

  • Kick return yards: 7th (801)

  • Kick returns: 11th (33)

• Jack Sutton

  • Receptions/game: 19th (2.92)

• Ty Tremba

  • Average yards/pass: 1st (8.6)

  • Total offense/game: 1st (233.7)

  • Pass efficiency: 2nd (143.1)

  • Passing yards/game: 2nd (207.7)

  • Average yards/completion: 4th (14.3)

  • Pass completion pct: 5th (59.9)

  • Total offense/play: 6th (6.39)

  • Passing yards: 18th (2077)

  • Total offense yards: 22nd (2337)

  • Pass completions: t-22nd (145)

  • Passing TDs: t-22nd (13)

  • Pass attempts: 25th (242)

• Owen Walsh

  • QB hurries: t-8th (2)

Returning All-Centennial Conference Performers

• Kevonte Beard - LB/DE (2022 first team; 2021 second team); 2019 Rookie of the Year

• Jeff Decker - DE (2022 second team)

• Justin Gerhart - CB (2022 first team) - 2022 All-American

• Jacob Hille - LB (2022 second team)

• Matt Scully - KR (2021 honorable mention)

Centennial Conference/Postseason Outlook

The Diplomats were picked fourth in the Centennial Conference poll. Removing the automatic qualifier who will go to the NCAA Tournament and accounting for the possibility of any at-large selections to the national tournament, the next three teams in the Centennial Conference standings who do not advance to the NCAA Tournament will play in the Centennial-MAC Bowl series on the Saturday following the regular season finale. This week will be the second of Centennial-NJAC matchups while most teams will be on a bye the following week with the exception of F&M and TCNJ who will be making up their postponed contests. Centennial Conference play begins the weekend of Friday, September 29 and Saturday, September 30.

Scouting The College of New Jersey

TCNJ is 1-1 on the year and looking to bounce back from a 38-10 loss at the hands of Muhlenberg last week. Quarterback Trevor Bopp accounts for a majority of the offense with 277.5 yards per game through the air. He has thrown four touchdowns but has been plagued by interceptions, with five on the young season. His favorite target in the early going has been Ryan Gill. Gill has 13 receptions for 146 yards through two games. Jayson Schmidt has accounted for two of the Lions' four passing touchdowns.

Defensively, Cole Groschel leads the team with 19 tackles on the season, while intercepting two other passes. Logan Flaherty (17 tackles), Dominick Nocero (12), and Ryan McGuire (11) also have double digit tackle totals through the first two games. The Lions have come away with just one sack through the first two games, but have five interceptions and two forced fumbles.

On special teams, kicker Bobby Wertman is 3-for-3 on the year with all of his attempts coming from 30 yards and in. However, he does have the strength in his leg as five of his 11 kick offs have gone for touchbacks this year. Alex Dille is the team's primary option at returning kicks. He is averaging 21.3 yards per kickoff return while getting the chance to return to just one punt this season.