UWW Football

Warhawks too much for Mount Union


The UW-Whitewater Warhawks proved too much for the University of Mount Union Purple Raiders Saturday.  Too much strength up front. Too much second half defense. Too much Levell Coppage.  As a result, UW-Whitewater won their second straight national championship with a convincing 31-21 victory over Mount Union in Salem, VA. For those in the Warhawks' program and their fans, it couldn't have been a better ending to a phenomenal season. 


Stagg Bowl XXXVIII was marked by backup quarterbacks, big plays, turnovers, momentum shifts, and one monumental moment that would define both teams' 2010 season.


UW-W jumped out to a 7-0 lead with 4:35 left in the first quarter when Levell Coppage took a handoff 5 yards deep in the back field. He broke left against a Raider defense that was slanting to his right. He broke sharply upfield off LT Robby Ustruck's left hip and angled sharply toward the right pylon. He showed incredible burst as he was touched only by a diving Nick Driskill on his way to a 54 yard touchdown run.  


Eric Kindler added a 30 yard field goal to give the Warhawks a 10-0 lead with 12:59 left in the first half.  


However, the Purple Raiders dominated the next 3:54, to the tune of a 21 point blitz that would keep Mount Union in the game until the late stages. Sophomore quarterback Matt Piloto, starting his first collegiate game, hit Kyle Miller with a 39 yard pass to get the Purple Raiders on the board. The conversation tightened the game to 10-7. 


Just seconds later,  defensive end  Lambert Budzinski, reached up and intercepted a Lee Brekke pass and returned it all the way to the UW-W four yard line.  Running back Jeremy Murray scored two plays later and Mount Union led 14-10.  After forcing a UW-W punt, the Raiders struck again. Piloto hit Cecil Shorts, who had gotten behind behind the Warhawk secondary, for a 58 yard touchdown with 6:50 left in the second quarter.  


Trailing 21-10, UW-W punched back. Levell Coppage broke contain while sweeping left to an 11 yard TD, completing a 65 yard drive and narrowing the Mount lead to 21-17.  After 3 Piloto passes fell incomplete, the Raiders were forced to punt and the Warhawks took over at their own 23.  Whitewater scored just 55 seconds later when Lee Brekke connected with a twisting Tyler Huber, who made his 5th catch of the year, a 31 yard touchdown with 1:01 left in the half.  UW-W took a 24-21 lead into the locker room.   


 The defenses took over in the second half.  Neither team was able to score a point until the clock inched under the three minute mark. At that point, the UW-W had stopped the Raiders on eight consecutive drives since their second quarter outburst.  The stops were marked with shut down run defense, pressure on Piloto, and superb plays made in coverage.  Two drives were ended by Steve McCollom. The junior DB intercepted a Piloto pass and forced and recovered a Cecil Shorts fumble. 


UW-W faced a crucial third down with six yards to go with the ball resting on the 25 yard line.  With the game on the line, the Warhawks weren't going to try to fool anyone.  Levell Coppage had gotten the call on 10 of the previous 11 Warhawk offensive plays after Lee Brekke threw interceptions on each of his last two third quarter passes.  There was no doubt in anyone's mind. With the game on the line, UW-W was going to go Coppage. And Mount Union knew it.  


When UW-W lined up, they faced a 7 man line and all 11 Raider defenders within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage.  The Warhawks lined up with a double tight end formation. Adam Brandes flanked out to the right side. Fullback Bernie Tamsett lined up in the slot right and motioned left before the snap. Coppage lined up 8 yards behind the line of scrimmage on the left hashmark.  Coppage took the straight ahead handoff 5 yards deep. The All-American running back juked two steps left, then darted back right. By the time he hit the line of scrimmage he was back on the hash and bursting through the hole between LG Matt Weber and center Mark Gawronski.  On the right side, RT Grant Murray and RG Logan Allemand executed a devastating combination block that knocked the defensive tackle two yards off the ball.  Allemand brilliantly came off the block, came to his left and took out linebacker Sam Kershaw just as he was about to meet Coppage in the hole.  Coppage blew past Kershaw and was off to the races. Coppage sprinted the 75 yards to the end zone. 


The play was vintage Coppage and vintage UW-Whitewater.  With the National Championship at stake, UW-Whitewater stuck to their plan.  Since the quarterfinals, UW-W rode a ball hawking, run stopping defense and power running attack to victory.  The question loomed whether that would be enough to win it all.  


The defense certainly did its part. They held Mount Union to 45 yards rushing on 1.7 yards per carry. They took the ball away 5 times. They held the powerful Mount Union offense scoreless over the last 36:50 of the game.


As Coppage separated himself from the Mount defense, UW-W was separating itself from the rest of the D3 field.  UW-W never tried to surprise anyone. They came into Salem, VA having practically announced to the world how they would play this game against the most storied program in D3 history.  And there was nothing Mount Union could do about it.  UW-W was simply too much. And now,  the 2010 Warhawks are National Champions.  It doesn't get any better than that.