Wittenberg Football Takes on OWU Saturday in Ye Olde Skull Trophy Showdown

SETTING THE SCENE

• The Wittenberg Tigers kicked off the 2016 season in style, opening up an offensive attack that lead to a 34-0 victory over OAC foe Capital on September 3. 
• Wittenberg hits the road this week for the Ye Olde Skull Trophy, which has not traded hands for the last ten years. 
• ESPN once ranked the skull as the most Bizarre trophy in all college football rivalries. Wittenberg squares off against the Battling Bishops in Delaware on September 17 at 7:00PM.
• Sophomore gunslinger Jake Kennedy, a graduate of Bellefontaine High School, completed 21 of 31 passes for 291 yards and two touchdowns Sept. 3 in a 34-0 victory over Capital for the Tigers. Kennedy managed the game well in his first collegiate start, showing off versatility as well, rushing 12 times for 55 yards and a touchdown. 
• Coach Fincham stated that Kennedy managed the game "alright" and that Wittenberg needed the two bye weeks to work towards firing on all cylinders as an offensive unit.
• This week's opponent, Ohio Wesleyan, is coming off a 5-5 record in the 2015 season, but the Battling Bishops opened with a 56-0 loss to perennial powerhouse Mary Hardin-Baylor. 
• OWU ran into a buzz-saw in Texas, producing 226 yards of offense, with only 66 in the air against the #5 team in the nation. Like Wittenberg, Ohio Wesleyan has not played since Sept. 3.

SERIES QUICK HITS

• Wittenberg has played no opponent more often than Ohio Wesleyan, hooking up with the Battling Bishops 90 times since a 24-0 Wittenberg win in 1895. 
• The Tigers lead the series 49-35-6, including a 21-5 Wittenberg edge as NCAC rivals. The Tigers have won seven straight, most recently a 42-21 romp last year in Springfield.

YE OLDE SKULL

• For nearly 60 years, Wittenberg and OWU did battle on the field with the winner receiving a trophy of human remains -- in this case, an ancient skull of a Native American. The skull was excavated from the earth that now holds Selby Stadium in Delaware, and 12 years ago ESPN ranked this trophy the most bizarre rivalry trophy in College Football.
•  In 1989, the schools decided it was time for the dead to be buried, and handed it over to a Native American organization, which reburied the remains.

STELLAR STARTS

• After losing starters on both sides of the ball, Kennedy and company held up their end of the deal last Saturday, as Luke Landis hauled in six passes for 109 yards and one touchdown. 
• On defense, linebacker and Springfield product, Terrance Crowe was a man on a mission, racking up 13 assists and one solo tackle on his way to NCAC Defensive Player of the Week Honors. 
• While the Tigers are young in various areas, and coming off of two solid weeks of practice, Wittenbeg looks to open up NCAC play against an OWU team that has not played the Tigers closer than three touchdowns in the last three seasons.

AT THE TOP

• Wittenberg Head Coach Joe Fincham has won 182 games in his career, putting him at No. 9 among active NCAA Division III coaches in terms of total victories. 
• Rick Giancola of Montclair State leads the list with 230.
• The other coaches on the list all have at least 23 years as a head coach coming into the 2015 season, while Fincham has 20 seasons under his belt as Wittenberg's head coach.

THE COACHES 

Wittenberg: Joe Fincham (Ohio University 1988); 182-41 overall; 127-18 NCAC

• 11-11 NCAA Division III Tournament record
• Wittenberg has won 11 conference titles under Fincham, including four in the last six years
• NCAC Coach of the Year 9 times
• 1998 AFCA District IV Coach of the Year honors in 1998 and 2009
• d3football.com North Region Coach of the Year in 2009

Ohio Wesleyan: Tom Watts (Hanover 2002); 25-16 overall record (fifth season)

• 2012 NCAC Coach of the Year and Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year after leading OWU to share of first NCAC title since 1989 in first season at the helm
• Sixth OWU head coach since 1920 after five years as an assistant at Westminster and three years at Baldwin Wallace.