Illinois Wesleyan vs. Coe

                                                                    September 2, 2006
                                                1 p.m., Wilder Field at Illinois Wesleyan

THE GAME: Illinois Wesleyan opens its 115th football season against the Coe Kohawks at Wilder Field at Illinois Wesleyan... This is McLean County Appreciation Day.

THE SERIES VS. THE KOHAWKS: This is the first football meeting ever between the Titans and the Kohawks.

SEASON OPENERS: IWU is 10-9 in opening-day games under Norm Eash, including last year’s loss at Simpson.

EARLY START: In a check of records since 1965, this is the earliest home football game played in the modern era at Illinois Wesleyan. . . Last year the Titans hosted Simpson on Sept. 3, the earliest season start ever prior to this year, and in 2004 IWU played at Simpson on Sept. 4. Other early season openers have been on Sept. 7, 1985 (DePauw at IWU); Sept. 8, 2001 (IWU at Washington U.) and Sept. 8, 1984 (IWU at DePauw) and Sept. 9, 2000 (Washington U. at IWU). What a difference 40 years makes - the IWU season in 1965 started on Sept. 25 with a home game against Illinois State.

FOR THE RECORD: IWU is 68-34 in its last 101 games (.673) since 1995...The 34 losses have come to Wheaton (7); Augustana and Millikin (6); North Central and Carthage (3); Simpson, UW-Eau Claire and Elmhurst (2); and Mount Union, UW-LaCrosse, and Washington U. (1)...The Titans are 64-24 (.727) at home and 51-39-1 on the road (.580) under Eash...2005 and 2004 are the first back-to-back losing seasons for IWU since 1987 (4-5) and 1988 (4-5)...In 2004, IWU (3-7) had its first sub-.500 season since the 1993 team was 4-5. The Titans had been at .500 or better for 10 straight years.

ON TO THE NEXT 500: IWU is 501-371-42 (.578) in 114 years of football...IWU’s 500th win came in a 23-14 win over Wheaton on Oct. 22, 2005.

AT WILDER FIELD: Illinois Wesleyan is 54-17 (.761) at Wilder Field in the last 15 seasons (1991-2005). The IWU football facility is the fifth oldest football stadium in the country (1893), behind Wesleyan [Conn.] (1881), Williams [Mass.] (1883), Sewanee [Tenn.] and Amherst [Mass.] (both 1891).

SEPTEMBER SUCCESS: In September, IWU is 35-14-1 (.710) in the Norm Eash era and was 1-2 last season in the month. IWU teams won 11 straight September games (all non-league) from 1995 (loss at Simpson) until 2001 (loss to Washington U).

CCIW PRESEASON POLL: The Illinois Wesleyan football team is picked to finish seventh in the 2006 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin preseason coaches’ poll. Augustana was picked No. 1 with 46 points, including four first place votes, followed by North Central (38 points, two first place votes), Wheaton (36 points, one first place vote). Millikin (one first place vote) and Elmhurst tied for fourth with 27 points, followed by Carthage (26 points), the Titans (17) and North Park (7).

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN: Four IWU football players earned honorable mention notice on the preseason All-America squads chosen by Don Hansen's Football Gazette — senior defensive end Mike Stephens (Orland Park, Providence Catholic HS), senior kick returner Eric Esch (Bloomington HS), junior running back Marcus Dunlop (Maywood, Proviso East HS) and sophomore wide receiver Martin Ceisel (Deerfield HS). Stephens, a first team all-CCIW selection, made 43 total tackles, including 29 solo, and had nine quarterback sacks for -42 in yardage. Esch, a first team D3football.com All-American in 2004 and first team all-CCIW as return specialist in 2005, brought back 20 punts for a 7.2 average. Dunlop, a second team all-CCIW choice in 2005, is No. 18 all-time at the school with 1,265 rushing yards. He led last year's team with 606 rushing yards. Ceisel led IWU with 699 receiving yards on 34 catches with six TD grabs. Against Carthage, he made 10 catches for 237 yards, the fourth most in an IWU single game.

TITAN NOTES: IWU looks to improve on the 3-7 finish of 2005 (2-5 CCIW) and returns eight defensive starters and nine offensive starters. Back on defense is first team all-CCIW end Mike Stephens, a senior who had nine quarterback sacks for -42 yards and made 43 total tackles. Also returning are senior linebackers Mike Mastro and Steve Groetsema. Mastro tied for the team lead with 90 tackles and had nine tackles for -22 yards. Groetsema collected 58 tackles with a fumble recovery. All four defensive backs return, led by senior Eric Esch (56 tackles), who is also a punt return threat and was first team all-CCIW as a return specialist the past two seasons. Joining Esch in the secondary are three juniors - Bo Osburn (second team all-CCIW; had a team-high three interceptions and 71 tackles), Brian Smith (two interceptions, 46 tackles) and Andrew Dulaney (34 tackles). Senior Brandon Cotter looks to have earned the starting quarterback job and has a good target in sophomore Martin Ceisel (first team all-CCIW), who led IWU with 699 receiving yards on 34 catches with six TD grabs. As a complement to Ceisel, senior Jordan Musselman returns (31 catches, 403 yards, six TDs) and senior Nick Iovino (36 catches, 257 yards, one TD). Senior tight end Brock Klein also returns. Junior Marcus Dunlop (second team all-CCIW) rushed for 606 yards on 141 carries and scored two TDs. The Titans' front line returns intact with senior center Tim Murray (second team all-CCIW), seniors Bob Uzumecki and Kevin Hilmers at tackles, and junior Eric Van Hise at guard. Junior Josh Haraf also started eight games as a tackle. Senior kicker/punter Mike Berry returns after connecting on 13-of-16 extra point kicks and five-of-11 field goal tries with a long of 37 yards. As the Titans' punter he averaged 36.6 yards per boot with a long of 56 yards and 11 landing inside the opponents' 20.

SCOUTING THE KOHAWKS: Coe returns 16 starters and 34 letterwinners from last season’s 9-2 team that tied for first in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (7-1). It was the Kohawks’ third IIAC title in the last four years. Of the five all-IIAC defensive picks last year, only senior lineman Adam Jordison returns. Jordison was second in the IIAC with 13.5 tackles for loss and ranked fifth with six sacks to go along with 42 tackles. Top defensive returnees joining him include junior linebacker Zach Nosbisch and three defensive backs, seniors Nick Hirth and Clint Mersch, and junior Jeremy Squires. Nosbisch is the Kohawks’ top returning tackler. His 81 tackles were third overall on the team last year. Hirth had 53 tackles last season, fifth overall and second among 2006 returnees. Mersch had 32 tackles and four interceptions. Squires had 44 tackles and three picks. On offense, the Kohawks return senior QB Andy TeKippe, senior RB Ashton Northern and junior RB/WR Neil Suckow were all first team all-IIAC selections in 2005 while senior wide-out Jon Rife and senior lineman Rob Nance were second team choices. TeKippe led the league with a 129.8 pass efficiency, and was second in passing yards (225.8/game) and total offense (257.0/game). Suckow led the IIAC with 20 TDs and 1,624 all purpose yards, nearly 300 more than the next player. In the IIAC, Northern was third with 959 rushing yards and Rife was fourth with 805 receiving yards and seventh with 54 receptions. Coe also returns two-time all-IIAC kicker Michael Herzberger, who set the school record for career field goals (25) after just two seasons.

THE COACHES: Norm Eash (Illinois Wesleyan, 1975) is beginning his 20th season as head coach at IWU and has an overall record of 116-63-1 (.647) and a CCIW mark of 87-50-1 (.634) with league titles in 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, and 2001. Eash, the CCIW “Coach of the Year” in 1992, 1996 and 2001, is fourth in all-time CCIW coaching wins, behind IWU’s Don Larson (142 wins), Bob Reade of Augustana (112) and Carthage’s Art Keller (105). Eash is second in victories at IWU, behind Don Larson (166 wins in 33 years, 1954-86). . .Erik Raeburn has been the head coach of Coe for six seasons and has compiled a 43-20 record. He led the Kohawks to three IIAC titles in the last four seasons. A 1994 graduate of Mount Union, Raeburn was a three-year starting linebacker and captain for the Purple Raiders and played against IWU in a 1992 NCAA playoff game. Before going to Coe, Raeburn was an assistant coach for seven seasons, including four years as the offensive coordinator at Mount Union. As a player and assistant coach, his teams posted an impressive record of 127-9-2, including four Division III championships.

ON THE AIR: The IWU/Coe game will be broadcast live on WJBC 1230 AM...The game will be rebroadcast on Insight channel 5 for Bloomington-Normal cable subscribers three times: Sat., Sept. 2 - 7 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 3 - 4 p.m.; Tues., Sept. 5 - 8 p.m.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Titans play at home against next Saturday at 1 p.m. against Olivet from the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. The Comets return 52 lettermen from a team that finished 5-5. The following week IWU plays at Mt. St. Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio.