Game Notes

Last time out (W, 27-17 at McDaniel) ...

Franklin & Marshall jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back during its 27-17 Centennial Conference victory on the road. The Diplomats pushed their advantage to 20-10 before the half and were leading 27-10 early in the third quarter before closing out the road victory. F&M scored on its first drive for the first time this season when Laurence Miller converted a 29-yard field goal attempt. A 31-yard touchdown reception then made it 10-0 before the first score from the Green Terror.

Miller also hit from 46 yards during the second quarter before Ty Tremba ran for a 15-yard touchdown after throwing for the first. Tremba also accounted for the final touchdown through the air as he found Jack Sutton for 14 yards. Franklin & Marshall's defense held McDaniel to just 253 yards of total offense during the first three quarters before the Green Terror bolstered that during the final 15 minutes trying to chase down their deficit. Thanks to mostly fourth quarter statistics, McDaniel ended the contest with a 22-19 advantage in first downs and a 365-335 advantage in total yards. The Diplomats had one of their strongest rushing games of the season with 92 of the team's 126 yards on the ground coming from Mitch Wagner. The Diplomats were just 3-of-10 on third downs, but made the most of their offensive chances by scoring on three of their four trips to the Red Zone.

Stars of the Past Week

Matt Wertz was named the Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Week after registering 13 tackles while breaking up two other passes. Six of Wertz's 13 tackles were solo efforts. The Diplomats broke up 11 passes as a team, with Matt Scully and Justin Gerhart each deflecting three passes. Also staring in the secondary was Nico Medlar and Dante Medlar who each had eight tackles. F&M's defense had nine tackles for loss, with Luke Dauberman posting two of those TFLs. That included one sack and forced fumble during the victory.

Laurence Miller earned Centennial Conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors after connecting on both of his field goals from 29 and 46 yards. He was also 3-for-3 on PATs to total nine points. Miller additionally averaged 63.8 yards per kickoff attempt - including two touchbacks - while pinning the Green Terror inside their own 20 during his only punt attempt of the afternoon.

Offensively, Ty Tremba completed 12 of his 20 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for another. Mitch Wagner added 92 yards in the rushing game as the Diplomats pounded out 126 yards on the ground. Five different Diplomats had at least 20 yards receiving. That group was led by four catches for 54 yards from Sutton as both he and Hanna had receiving touchdowns.

Last Game vs. Kean (L, 21-13; September 16, 2006)

Franklin & Marshall will be meeting Kean for just the third time in program history when these teams meet inside Shadek Stadium at 1 p.m. on Saturday. After winning 21-0 in 1987, the Cougars got their revenge by jumping out to a 21-0 lead during the 2006 meeting. Franklin & Marshall was not going to go down without a fight as the Diplomats posted a furious fourth quarter rally that came up just short in a 21-13 final.

The Cougars gained the lead with a touchdown in each of the first three periods. In the first, quarterback A.J. Roque found Jarred Crowley for a 49-yard scoring strike; Jared Chunn ran one in from 28 yards in the second and the third period saw Chris Aquino race in from five yards. Behind solid passing from F&M quarterback Kyle Turner, F&M came roaring back into the contest. Turner went 22-of-46 in the air for 240 yards. He first found Michael Holden for a nine yard score. With 9:15 left, he went to Bobby Frieler for a 28-yard touchdown strike. The Diplomats moved the ball inside the 15 yard line with less than four minutes to go, but turned the ball over on downs. Paul Sousa caught seven passes for 100 yards to lead the Dips; Chris Varner gained 50 yards on 12 carries to lead on the ground.

Nine Games in nine weeks

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

• F&M has played nine games in nine 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...

• Team Rankings in Top 50 Nationally

  • 33rd: Fewest passes intercepted (4) - first in Centennial

  • 36th: Fourth down conversion percentage (61.5%)

  • 40th: Punt return defense (3.38)

  • 49th: Passing yards per completion (14.15)

  • 50th: Blocked punts (1) - first in Centennial

• Individuals in top 50 Nationallly

  • Laurence Miller

    • 5th: Field goals per game (1.29) - first in Centennial

    • 15th: Field goal percentage (.818)

  • Matt Scully

    • 44th: Forced fumbles (0.29 per game)

  • LT Kelley

    • Fumbles recovered (2)

  • Matt Wertz

    • 16th: Passes defended (1.6 per game) - first in Centennial

  • Justin Gerhart

    • 28th: Passes defended (1.4 per game)

  • Ty Tremba

    • 35th: Passing touchdowns (17)

    • 45th: Passing yards per completion (14.17)

  • Gary Lewis

    • 28th: Receiving touchdowns (8) 

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

• Chris Albero

  • SINGLE SEASON RANKINGS: Average yards/punt return: 20th (9.91 in 2023)

• Kevonte Beard

  • Fumble return TDs: 1st (2)

  • Punt return TDs: t-3rd (1)

  • Yards from tackles for loss: 4th (150)

  • Tackles for loss: 5th (40.5)

  • Fumble returns: t-11th (1)

  • Fumbles forced: t-13th (4)

  • Fumble return yards: 21st (3)

  • Quarterback sacks: t-24th (12.0)

  • Yards from sacks: t-24th (63)

  • Unassisted tackles: 25th (105)

• Anthony Bonanno

  • SINGLE-SEASON RANKINGS: Blocked kicks: t-28th (1)

• John Burke

  • SINGLE-SEASON RANKINGS: Blocked kicks: t-28th (1)

• Logan Clouse

  • Pass completion pct: 14th (50.7)

  • Total offense/game: 17th (96.0)

  • Passing yards/game: 18th (88.9)

  • Pass efficiency: 20th (102.1)

  • Passing TDs: 22nd (14)

  • Pass attempts: 23rd (286)

  • Pass completions: 23rd (145)

  • Passing yards: 26th (1511)

  • Average yards/pass: 28th (5.3)

  • Average yards/completion: 30th (10.4)

• Jeff Decker

  • Yards from tackles for loss: 20th (84)

  • Tackles for loss: 24th (22.0)

• Justin Gerhart

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

  • Interceptions: t-10th (9)

  • Passes defended: t-13th (24)

  • Interception return yards: 22nd (94)

  • SINGLE-SEASON RANKINGS: Passes defended: t-15th (11 in 2023)

• Trey Glass

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

• Kell Hall

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

  • Passes defended: t-24th (18)

• Matt Hanna

  • SINGLE-SEASON RANKINGS: Average yards/kick return: 18th (22.50 in 2023)

• Jacob Hille

  • Blocked kicks: t-12th (2)

• Nick Johnston

  • Kick return TDs: t-2nd (1)

• LT Kelley

  • SINGLE-SEASON RANKINGS: Fumbles recovered: t-19th (2 in 2023)

• Gary Lewis

  • Receptions/game: 7th (4.38)

  • Average yards/catch: 10th (16.05)

  • Pass reception TDs: t-19th (11)

  • All purpose yards/game: 20th (73.9)

  • SINGLE-SEASON RANKINGS: Pass reception TDs: t-15th (8 in 2023) | Receptions/game: 17th (5.33 in 2023)

• Ryan McArthur

  • Punt return TDs: t-3rd (1)

• Laurence Miller

  • Field goals made: 4th (18)

  • PAT kick pct: 5th (91.7)

  • Field goal pct: t-5th (75.0)

  • PAT kicks made: 6th (66)

  • Total points scored: 24th (120)

  • SINGLE-SEASON RANKINGS: Field goals made: t-3rd (9 in 2023) | Field goal pct: 10th (81.8 in 2023) | PAT kick pct: t-22nd (89.5 in 2023) | Average yards/punt: 26th (36.72 in 2023)

• Jack O'Hearen

  • Receptions/game: t-23rd (2.67)

• Matt Scully

  • Average yards/kick return: 1st (24.26)

  • Kick return TDs: t-2nd (1)

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

  • Kick return yards: 7th (825)

  • Kick returns: 11th (34)

  • Passes defended: t-28th (17)

  • SINGLE-SEASON RANKINGS: Fumbles forced: t-26th (2 in 2023)

• Jack Sutton

  • Average yards/catch: 18th (14.69)

  • Receptions/game: 19th (2.88)

• Ty Tremba

  • Pass efficiency: 1st (148.9)

  • Average yards/pass: 1st (8.4)

  • Total offense/game: 1st (232.5)

  • Passing yards/game: 2nd (206.6)

  • Average yards/completion: 4th (14.4)

  • Total offense/play: 5th (6.59)

  • Pass completion pct: 6th (58.6)

  • Passing TDs: 11th (27)

  • Total offense yards: 12th (3488)

  • Passing yards: 13th (3099)

  • Pass completions: 14th (215)

  • TDs responsible for: 14th (32)

  • Pass attempts: 17th (367)

  • SINGLE-SEASON RANKINGS: Total offense/game: 8th (236.4 in 2023) | Pass efficiency: 9th (147.4 in 2023) | Passing yards/game: 9th (209.4 in 2023) | Passing TDs: 10th (17 in 2023) | Average yards/pass: 10th (7.9 in 2023)  | Total offense/play: 14th (6.65 in 2023) | TDs responsible for: t-14th (18 in 2023) | Total offense yards: 21st (1655 in 2023) | Pass completion pct: 24th (55.4 in 2023) | Average yards/completion: 25th (14.2 in 2023) | Passing yards: 26th (1466 in 2023)

• Matt Wertz

  • SINGLE-SEAON RANKINGS: Passes defended: t-15th (11 in 2023)

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

Centennial Conference Standings

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.

Muhlenberg (7-0, 4-0 CC ) and  Johns Hopkins (7-0, 3-0 CC are both undefeated and will battle for the top spot in the Centennial Conference along with having the inside track to the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament from the Centennial Conference. F&M is just a half game behind third place Dickinson, but the Red Devils do own the head-to-head victory over the Diplomats.

Centennial Conference Schedule

Saturday, October 28
Kean at Franklin & Marshall College (1 p.m.) - non-conference game
McDaniel at Ursinus (1 p.m.)
Dickinson at Gettysburg (1 p.m.)
Johns Hopkins at Muhlenberg (2 p.m.)

Scouting Kean

The Cougars come into the week looking for their first win of the year. They have been defeated by both Ursinus (L, 30-14) and Dickinson (L, 24-13) in the Centennial-NJAC crossover matchups. They also have taken losses to Montclair State (L, 27-14) and The College of New Jersey (L, 34-10), both of which are teams that the Diplomats found success against during the crossover portion of their schedule. The Cougars come into the contest averaging 10.57 points per game while surrenduring 26.7 on the defensive side of the ball. Robbie Nungesser has seen the majority of the snaps on offense and is completing 51.4 percent of his passes, averaging 153.3 yards per game through the air. He was been plagued with turnovers as he has seven touchdowns compared to five interceptions. Five different receivers have already caught at least 10 passes this season, with Alex Bryan (53.6 ypg), John Mafre, Jr. (37.5 ypg), and Dazzy Jannuzzio (31.8) being the top targets to date. The Cougars are averaging just 76.8 yards per game on the ground, with Anthony Summey (59 carries, 190 yards, 25.9 ypg) being the first option out of the backfield.

Raymond Gorny has been all over the field defensively as he has 53 tackles in seven games. That is nearly 20 more than his next closest teammates, with Nick Sura (34 tackles) and Javohn Arrington (33 tackles) ranking second and third on the team. Chris Amos and Tommie Lee Pierson led the way with 1.5 sacks on defense while Robert Long, Jr. has two interceptions to lead a defense which has picked off the opponent six times. Kean has forced six fumbles on defense, recovering half of those loose balls.  George Chrissafis will likely handle the kickoff and punting duties. He is averaging 57.3 yards per kickoff, including one touchback. In the punt game, he is averaging just 35.6 yards per punt, but has three punts of at least 50 yards and has forced opponents in fair catches on 14 of his attempts. Three players average at least 15 yards per kickoff return, led by Christian Bujno's 18.5 yard average on kickoff returns. The Cougars have attempted just three field goals on the year and have made two of those attempts with a long of 41 yards from Logan Matthews.