Hawks
Clinch Share of WIAC, Playoff Berth
With one
game left on the regular season schedule, the UW-Whitewater football team
reclaimed at least a share of the WIAC title with a hard fought 17-7 victory at
Stevens Point on Saturday. The Warhawks also clinched an NCAA Division III
playoff berth with the win over the Pointers. Saturday’s victory topped off a three week stretch in which
the Warhawks faced the three strongest WIAC opponents, two of them on the
road. Heading into the three week
journey, the Warhawks were ranked 7th in the nation by
D3football.com. UW-Oshkosh was ranked 9th and UW-Platteville was
ranked 8th. The
Warhawks won the battle against the Titans by 17-14 count at Oshkosh on October 26th,
ending the Titans 12 game WIAC winning streak. After that big victory, the Hawks then hosted the 8th
ranked Pioneers. In what may have
been their most impressive showing of the season, the Warhawks defeated
Platteville 35-16. Then came
Saturday’s journey to Stevens Point.
The Pointers, who boast the WIAC’s second ranked defense, proved a
stubborn foe before falling 17-7. The victory advanced the Warhawks’ conference
mark to 6-0 and moved their overall record to 9-0. UW-W will look to win the conference title outright when
they host the 0-9 River Falls Falcons on Saturday.
Coach Lance
Leipold took a moment to reflect on the season during WFAW’s Coaches Corner on
Monday night. “It’s been exciting,
it’s been fun. It’s been fun to see this thing come together the way it has. It’s been very enjoyable to watch our
football team.” The
next order of business will be to defeat a River Falls team who is considerably
better than their winless record would suggest. The Falcons possess the WIAC’s
sixth ranked offense and fifth ranked defense. The Falcons’ rushing defense allows only 3.6 yards per
carry, roughly the same as nationally ranked Platteville (3.6) and Oshkosh
(3.5). In addition, the Falcons
have the league’s third ranked red zone defense. The Warhawks know they must fully
focus on the Falcons before turning their attention to the playoffs. Leipold said, “I want to find a way to
get a win this week and see where this team goes. I’d like to go back and research the conference and see how
many times you can win a conference championship with two freshmen starting in
the offensive line. That doesn’t happen every day. So to see this happen has
been really enjoyable and who knows where it goes from here?”
One of the
striking aspects of the 2013 UW-W season has been the unique contribution of
the offense, defense, and special teams.
Offensively, the Hawks rank 2nd in the conference in scoring,
averaging 38.9 points per game.
The Hawks are 3rd in total offense with 412.8 points per
game. The Warhawks have the 2nd ranked rushing offense, averaging
185.8 yards per game and 4.4 yards per carry. The Warhawks are 5th in passing yardage,
averaging 227 yards per game and 2nd in passing efficiency with a
rating of 152.3. Whitewater ranks
1st in red zone offense and time of possession. In addition, Whitewater has turned the
ball over only 6 times all year.
The UW-W defense has been dominant, ranking 1st in scoring
defense, total defense, rushing defense, pass defense, pass efficiency defense,
opponents’ first downs, and opponents’ 3rd down conversion
percentage. In addition, the Warhawks lead the conference with 25
takeaways. It’s also worth noting
that UW-W has allowed teams into their red zone only 10 times in 9 games. By way of comparison, the Warhawk
offense has been in the opponents’ red zone 46 times. The Whitewater special teams have also done more than their
share in this championship season.
UW-W ranks first in both kickoff return average and punt return
average. Whitewater also ranks
third in punting , 2nd in FG’s made, and 3rd in kickoff
coverage. The special teams units have also scored 3 TD’s, two on kickoff
returns and one on a recovered fumble in the end zone.
All three
phases of the game will be crucial if the Hawks are continue to meet their
goals as a team this year. Stuck in between the glowing statistics of past
games and the excitement of the playoff games ahead is the final conference
game against River Falls. For 2013
to be the season UW-W wants, beating River Falls is all that matters right now.