Game Info: Saturday, September 7, 2019 - 6:00 p.m.
Location: Coach Richard Wackar Stadium, Glassboro, N.J.
Social Media: @WidenerSports | @Widener_FB
| 

The Lead
Widener opens its season on the road, making the short trip to Coach Richard Wackar Stadium in Glassboro, N.J. to face off against the Rowan Profs on Saturday, September 7. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

It is the sixth consecutive year the Pride and Profs play each other in their respective season openers. Despite a driving distance between Widener and Rowan of just 21 miles and 199 combined football seasons, the six season openers, along with a 2007 matchup, are the only games against each other in program history. 

The game features a matchup of old and new in the coaching ranks. Mike Barainyak takes the reins at Widener in 2019. At 32, he is one of the youngest head coaches at any level of NCAA football. By contrast, Jay Accorsi is entering his 18th season leading the Rowan program and is the third longest tenured football head coach in the NJAC (Rick Giancola - Montclair State; Sherman Wood - Salisbury).

Continuing the Tradition
Widener opens its 139th season of football in 2019. The Pride is on of four schools in NCAA Division III and one of 35 in any NCAA level to accumulate 700 wins as a program. WU won its 700th overall game with a 20-14 victory at Stevenson on October 28, 2017. 

A Win on Saturday Would:

• Be the 706th victory in Widener football history
• Win number one for first year head coach Mike Barainyak
• Mark the first win for Widener against Rowan since 2014
• The 13th win by a Widener head coach in his debut in program history 

Gameday Forecast
Saturday looks to be near perfect weather with a high temperature of 79 degrees during the afternoon, dipping to around 75 for the 6:00 p.m. kickoff. As the game goes on and night falls, the temperature should continue to fall, reaching 67 for the final whistle. Light winds between 5-7 miles per hour should prevail during the contest.

Scouting The Pride
Coming off a 4-6 campaign in 2018, Widener looks to return to its normal level overall and in the Middle Atlantic Conference, mixing underclassmen with a veteran core. The Pride was voted fourth in the MAC preseason coaches poll, just three points behind Lycoming and four points ahead of Misericordia.

Offense
Starters returning/lost: 7/4
Widener brings back both of its quarterbacks from last season in sophomore Mitchell Vierling and senior Sean McGaughey. Combined, they threw for 2,013 yards and 22 touchdowns, but also tossed 14 interceptions. 

While the team leader in receiving yards in 2018 is gone, Widener has a solid corps of wideouts and h-backs to toss the ball to. Second Team All-MAC performer Joe Bristow is back for his junior year after hauling in 35 passes for 335 yards and two touchdowns. Junior Ryan Gallagher emerged as a deep threat a season ago. After catching just one pass in the first four games of the season, he hauled in 14 for 281 yards in the final six contests, averaging more than 20 yards per catch. Boosting the wide receivers is the return of senior James Gillespie who was having an All-Conference type of season before his 2018 was cut short due to injury in the Albright game. Prior to that in four games, he caught 13 passes for 299 yards and four touchdowns, also returning a kick for a touchdown. 

Arguably, the biggest area of returning strength for the Blue and Gold is at running back. A pair of First Team All-MAC performers return in senior Chris Randle and junior John Bauer. Randle ran for 547 yards and four scores last season with Bauer posting 469 yards and seven TD. Both also averaged 4.9 yards per carry or better and were adept at catching the ball out of the backfield, hauling in 18 passes between the pair. 

It is a unique balance of experienced youth along the offensive line. Widener loses both of its starting tackles in Brian Miller and Andrew Thomas, who combined to make 36 starts for the Pride in 2017 and 2018. Returning to take one of the starting tackle spots is junior Ryan Stecklein who started six of the first seven games at right guard last year before moving out to tackle for the final three contests after Thomas season ended with an injury.  Also returning on the line are sophomores Nathan Pizzini and Sean Sabo, each of whom started the majority of the season last year as freshmen. 

Defense
Starters returning/lost: 6/5
Along the defensive line, the Pride brings back a pair of juniors who made an impact last season in Second Team All-Conference honoree Mike Pawlowski and CoSIDA Academic All-District performer Mario Scotese.  The pair finished first and second last season in both tackles for loss and sacks on Widener. 

On paper, only one starting linebacker returns for WU with Sammy Ballard coming back for his junior season. The cupboard isn't bare, however as also returning is senior Brendan Kearns who started the first three games last year, played in nine of 10 games, and recorded 30 tackles. One exciting player to watch will be freshman Kevin Davis who was an All-Conference performer and the Defensive MVP for Boy's Latin High School of Maryland. 

In the secondary, Anthony Jordan and Naraye Wells-Dotson are each back for their senior years at free safety and cornerback respectively. There is some experience coming into the starting lineup as junior Austin Rivera, who played in all 10 games last season, will open the season at the other cornerback spot with fellow junior Anthony Liberatoscioli getting the nod at strong safety.

Special Teams
Starters returning/lost: 2/0
One area the Pride should be able to rely on, either to put points on the board or flip the field, is in the kicking game. Senior All-American Michael Raczak returns after setting the Widener single-season punting record in each of his last two seasons. Larry Eimer will man the placekicking after connecting on eight field goals last year, two of them for better than 50 yards. 

In the return game, Gillespie holds down the top line of the depth chart for both kicks and punts with talent right behind him in junior Tahir Cruse (KR) and sophomore Ryan Beck (PR).

Coaching Staff
Widener enters the season with new leadership at the top as Mike Barainyak becomes the 25th head coach in program history. At 32, Barainyak is one of the youngest head coaches at any level of NCAA football. He spent the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator for the Blue and Gold. Also returning to the coaching staff is defensive coordinator Dan Connor. Taking over the OC duties is Nathan Hogge who spent time under Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State. Khalid Jones comes in as the Special Teams Coordinator after working last season at Division I Bucknell. 

Scouting The Profs
Rowan enters the game coming off a 6-4 season overall, with a 5-4 record in the NJAC, tying for fifth place in the conference. 

Stars on both sides of the ball return for the Profs as Elijah Rehm and Dave Gadjerowicz were named D3football.com preseason All-Americans. Rehm led RU in receiving last season and is one of the top kick returners in the country, averaging 29.4 yards per kick return 17.1 yards a punt return, scoring four times between the two. 

One area where Rowan needs to shore things up offensively is at quarterback. The Profs only returning signal-caller, Nick Couzzi, threw for 446 yards last season, completing 42.7 percent of his passes. Couzzi is tied for the top spot on the Profs depth chart with Mike Husni, a transfer from Division I Marist, where he appeared in seven games last season, throwing for 621 yards and six scores. 

Gadjerowicz leads the defense, topping returning tacklers with 55 last season. A major disruptor in the backfield, the Medford, N.J. native posted 17.0 tackles for loss last season, ranking in the top-30 of NCAA Division III. 

Rowan was voted fifth out of eight teams in the NJAC preseason poll.

Raczak Recognized
Coming off a season where he set the Pride single-season punting record for a third straight year, senior Michael Raczak has garnered lofty praise from three national publications as D3football.com, Street & Smith's, and Lindy's three have each named him a First Team Preseason All-American. Raczak ended last season third in the nation averaging 42.0 yards per punt and comes into 2019 fifth among active D3 players in career punting average at 40.4.

Looking to Buck the Trend
Mike Barainyak looks to change recent history as only two of the last six head coaches have won their initial game leading the program. Widener head coaches are 12-9-3 in their debuts since the Pennsylvania Military Academy started tracking listing coaches in 1894.

Last Time Against Rowan
Widener built an early 21-7 lead, but fell to Rowan 41-34 in double overtime during the 2018 season opener. A full recap of the game can be found on page six of the PDF notes or by clicking on last year's game recap here.

MAC Teams Stay The Same
Following the addition of Alvernia last season, the Middle Atlantic Conference remains with the same 11 squads it did a year ago. The New Jersey Athletic Conference, Rowan's home, saw two teams depart as last year's champion, Frostburg State, moved to Division II and Southern Virginia moved to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. 

The Schedule
Widener University head football coach Mike Barainyak announced the 2019 schedule for the Pride on May 14. Widener plays an eight-game Middle Atlantic Conference slate and will host four games on Elizabeth J. Hirschmann Field at Leslie C. Quick Stadium.
 
"The MAC is always a tough conference and the amount of road trips we have this year presents its own unique challenge," said Barainyak. "The travel in year one for this staff also affords us a great opportunity to build our culture and grow as a football program."
 
Widener opens with four of its first five games on the road, starting with a pair of non-conference contests. The Pride kicks off the season at Rowan on September 7 before a trip to Lycoming on the 14th. The home opener comes up next against FDU-Florham on September 21 before games at Alvernia (9/28) and Stevenson (10/5) close the first and begin the second months of the year.
 
The Blue and Gold gets to enjoy some home cooking after the first half of the year as three of the next four contests are in Chester. Misericordia comes to town for Homecoming on October 12, followed a week later by Lebanon Valley invading Quick Stadium. After a road game at Albright on October 26, Widener opens November and celebrates Senior Day on 11/9 versus King's. The regular season wraps with the Keystone Cup at Delaware Valley on November 16.

The NCAA Championship begins with First and Second Round games on November 23 and 30 followed by quarterfinal and semifinal contests on December 7 and 14. The Stagg Bowl to determine the national champion is slated for December 21 at Woodforest Stadium in Shenandoah, Texas.

Centennial-MAC Bowl Series
For the fifth consecutive year, the top teams in the Centennial Conference and the MAC will compete in a postseason bowl series, featuring the top teams in the respective leagues that do not qualify for the NCAA Championship. 

The format of the series has changed from previous seasons. The No. 1 seeds in each conference will host the No. 2 seeds. The No. 3 seeds will play each other with the MAC hosting its Centennial counterpart in 2019. The games will take place this season on Saturday, November 23.

Widener competed in the Centennial-MAC Bowl Series one time, falling 21-7 at Franklin & Marshall in 2017. 

Preseason Pundits
The Pride was voted fourth in the Middle Atlantic Conference Preseason Football Coaches Poll as announced by the league on Friday, August 23. 

Delaware Valley, ranked 14th in the initial D3football.com Top-25 poll, was picked to win its third straight MAC title, earning 99 points and nine of the 11 first place votes. Stevenson was close behind with 90 points and the remaining two first place votes. 

Widener ranked fourth with 69 points as part of a three-team group that is separated by just eight points in the poll. Lycoming pulled in 72 points while Misericordia ranks fifth with 65. Crosstown rivals King's and Wilkes tied for sixth with 51 points. FDU-Florham (37) and Albright (32) were eighth and ninth with Lebanon Valley (26) and Alvernia (12) rounding out the teams. 

The MAC schedule gets underway on Friday with four conference schools in action. 

Up Next
Widener travels to longtime rival Lycoming on Saturday, September 14. Kickoff from the Shangraw Athletic Complex is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Despite both teams being MAC schools, it is not a Middle Atlantic Conference game.