12-6 Book to Upload - UW-Whitewater Athletics

The Coaches
Whitewater’s Lance Leipold is in his fifth year as head coach of the Warhawks and has compiled a record
of 65-3, including 27-1 in the WIAC. In his first head coaching opportunity, Leipold has earned national
Division III coach of the year honors three out of the four years and was named WIAC Coach of the Year
the last two. UW-EC’s Todd Glaser is in his sixth year as the Blugolds’ head coach and has compiled a
28-24-0 record. Like Leipold, Glaser played for the team he is coaching. Glaser received WIAC Coach of
the Year and WFCA College Coach of the Year honors in 2007.
UW-Eau Claire Notes
Eau Claire is coming off a 31-21 loss at Platteville. The Blugolds scored first, leading 14-0 in the first
quarter as Austin Neu threw TD passes to Jesse Linsmeyer and Mike O’Connell. Neu threw a third
scoring pass, this time to Alex Plaster, just before halftime to send UW-EC into the locker room with a 21-
14 lead. Platteville, which gave up 221 yards passing in the first half, held UW-EC to 84 yards passing in
the second half, and minus four yards rushing, in their comeback. Pioneer QB Nick Anderson threw for
four touchdowns. Key plays for UW-P included a blocked punt and a pickoff off a Neu pass in the end
zone. The Blugold defense was led by Andy Neumann and Sean Graham, both with nine tackles.
The Blugolds rack up more yards passing than anyone else in the WIAC, tops at 242.8 yards per game.
EC is also second in first downs and third down conversions. On the other side of the ball UW-EC is the
number one team in quarterback sacks (17 in 5 games), is second in the league in pass defense (178.6),
second in total defense (324.2), and tied for second with Whitewater in turnover margin (0.4). The
Blugolds are also second in time of possession (31:22).
Blugold QB Austin Neu leads the WIAC in passing yards (242.8/game) and running back Joel Sweeney is
fifth in the league in rushing (60.0/game, 3.4/attempt). Mike O’Connell is the league’s number three
receiver (30 receptions for 3 TD’s) and David Goodman is eighth (20, 1). O’Connell is also second in
receiving yards per game at 64.6. Sean Graham, the sophomore linebacker who had the big game at
Platteville, is second in the league with 50 tackles, and junior defensive lineman Jimmy Hall leads the
WIAC in sacks (0.90/game).
Eau Claire is 26 th in the D3 statistics in passing efficiency, and second in the WIAC to UW-Whitewater.
Neu is 25 th in D3, and second to Whitewater’s Matt Blanchard (Lake Zurich, IL/Lake Zurich) in the WIAC.
UW-Whitewater Notes
Whitewater clinched a share of the WIAC title with a 31-16 win over UW-Stevens Point in Perkins
Stadium last Saturday, the Warhawks record-setting seventh consecutive year. UW-W scored the first
three times it had the ball, Point was also productive and UW-W led 21-16 at the half. The Whitewater
defense held the Pointers scoreless in the second half on just 93 total yards of offense. Warhawk senior
running back Levell Coppage (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park) carried the ball 29 times for 245 yards, breaking
the school and WIAC career rushing mark formerly held by UW-W’s Justin Beaver. Coppage, the only
back in WIAC history to rush for 1,000 yards all four seasons, upped his career total to 6,776 yards, the
third highest total in the NCAA III record books. It was the sixth 200 yard game in his career.
In the WIAC stats, UW-W is number one in scoring offense (33.8), rushing offense (231.8), rushing
defense (99.6), total offense (456.4), total defense (288.4), pass efficiency, first downs, third down
conversions, fewest sacks allowed (which should be an interesting match with EC’s sack leading
defense), kickoff coverage, and time of possession. Coppage is the leading rusher (151.4) and scorer
(12.0/game), Ryan Wenkman (Wisconsin Dells/Wisconsin Dells) leads in interceptions (4), Blanchard is
122