Date: Friday, December 20, 2013
Where: Salem, Virginia
When: 7:00 PM Eastern Time
TV: ESPNU
Mount Union Purple Raiders (14-0)
How they got to the 2013 Stagg Bowl
Regular Season: 10-0, 9-0 in Ohio Athletic Conference
Round 1: vs. Washington & Jefferson, 34-20
Round 2: vs. Wittenberg, 56-21
Quarterfinals: vs. Wesley, 62-59
Semifinals: vs. North Central (IL), 41-40
Mount Union has appeared in the Stagg Bowl 16 times and won 11 of those games. All 16 appearances and all 11 National Champioships have happened since 1993. Mount Union has faced Wisconsin-Whitewater 7 previous times in the Stagg Bowl and they have a record of 3-4 in those games. Mount Union won the 2012 Stagg Bowl over St. Thomas (MN).
The Mount Union Purple Raiders offense goes through their quarterback Kevin Burke. Burke is now 29-0 as the starting quarterback at Mount Union. Burke has 3,514 yards passing with 44 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions. In addition, he is the team's 2nd leading rusher with 1,035 yards and 13 touchdowns. In the backfield with Burke will be running back B.J. Mitchell. He is the team's leading rusher with 1,350 yards and 9 touchdowns. These two will handle the bulk of the carries for Mount Union in the Stagg Bowl. Jack Nicholls will be the first target for Kevin Burke. Nicholls has 80 receptions for 1,154 yards and 11 touchdowns. Another target for Burke will be Luc Meacham who has 47 catches for 874 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Defensively for Mount Union, look out for the defensive secondary. Alex Kocheff will clean up any missed tackles (team's leading tackler at 91), while Joshua Scott, Mike Maier, Tre Jones, and Isaiah Chambers are ball hawks who have a combined 15 interceptions. On the defensive line, look for Tom Lally who has 10 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss and is the team's 2nd leading tackler at 79. Jonathan Gonell is the lineback to look. He has 77 total tackles, 12 of them for a loss, and had an interception return for a touchdown in the National Semifinal against North Central.
Here are Mount Union's stats for the 2013 Season:
Passing Offense: 256.7 yards per game
Rushing Offense: 271.9 yards per game
Points Scored per Game: 49 points per game
Passing Defense: 210.6 yards per game
Rushing Defense: 71.4 yards per game
Points Allowed per Game: 19 points per game
Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks (14-0)
How they got to the 2013 Stagg Bowl
Regular Season: 10-0, 7-0 in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Round 1: vs. St. Norbert, 31-7
Round 2: vs. Franklin, 33-3
Quarterfinals: vs. Linfield, 28-17
Semifinals: at Mary Hardin-Baylor, 16-15
Whitewater has played in the Stagg Bowl 7 times, winning 4 of those. All 7 appearances have been since 2005 and the 4 titles have been won since 2007. Their last appearance in the Stagg Bowl was 2011, which Whitewater won over Mount Union by a score of 13-10.
At quarterback for Whitewater is Matt Behrendt. He has thrown for 3,041 and 36 touchdowns with only one interception on the season. Do not look for Behrendt to run the ball as he is a drop back passer unlike his counterpart on Mount Union. The top running back for the Warhawks is Jordan Ratliffe. He has rushed for 1,113 yards and 7 touchdowns. The number one receiver is clearly Jake Kumerow. He has 70 catches for 1,228 yards and 17 touchdowns. For comparison, the 2nd leading receiver is Justin Howard. He has 68 catches for 526 yards and 4 touchdowns.
For Whitewater on defense, the top player to look out for is defensive back Brady Grayvold. He has 8 interceptions, 9 pass breakups, and 58 tackles on the season. The top linebacker is Cole Klotz and he has 22 more tackles than the next closest player. He has 96 tackles, including 11.5 tackles for loss. Another linebacker to look is Josh Williams. He is the teams 2nd leading tackler at 74 and has 10.5 tackles for loss. The lineman to look for Whitewater is Mykael Bratchett. He only has 49 tackles, but he is a menace. He has 11 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.
Here are Wisconsin-Whitewater's stats for the 2013 Season:
Passing Offense: 229.8 yards per game
Rushing Offense: 164.3 yards per game
Points Scored per Game: 35.8 points per game
Passing Defense: 161.4 yards per game
Rushing Defense: 76.1 yards per game
Points Allowed per Game: 8.7 points per game
Prediction
This will be a matchup of each team's strength. The strength of Mount Union's offense will go up against Whitewater's stingy defense. One thing to note about Whitewater is they fell behind in both the Quarterfinal and Semifinal games. They fell behind 17-0 to Linfield before rallying to win 28-17 in the Quarterfinal matchup. In the semifinal, they were trailing 12-0 before they scored the next 16 points. If they fall behind to a team like Mount Union it will be much harder to make a comeback. On the flipside of the coin, it could mean they have shown the mettle needed to overcome deficits to win games. With everything in mind, let's go with Mount Union to win the 2013 Stagg Bowl, 28-20.