Reading, Pa. (Oct. 24, 2024) - Alvernia University Football is back on the road on Saturday as the Golden Wolves head to Widener University to take on the Pride in a MAC Football matchup at Widener's Leslie C. Quick Jr. Stadium.

Alvernia is coming off a 22-14 loss to Eastern this past Saturday at home. Eastern led 9-0 in the third quarter. Alvernia made it 9-7 on a 1-yard touchdown run by Stefan Rich, but the Eagles outscored Alvernia 13-7 in the fourth quarter to take the 22-14 win.

Widener enters Saturday with a 2-4 record overall, and the Pride are 2-3 in MAC play this season. Widener won its first two MAC games of the year, but has since dropped three straight. The Pride lost a closely contested road game to Misericordia this past weekend. Widener led 20-17 with 8:54 to play, but Misericorida scored the go-ahead touchdown with just under five minutes to play in the quarter. Both teams went scoreless in the fourth as Misericordia came away with teh 24-20 win over the Pride. 

Inside the Series
Saturday will mark the sixth overall matchup between Widener and Alvernia. The Pride lead the series, 4-1, and Widener won last year's matchup at Alvernia, 57-7. The Golden Wolves defeated the Pride in 2022 at Widener's Homecoming, 19-16. It will be Homecoming once again for the Pride when Alvernia returns to Quick Stadium on Saturday.

Widener averages 40.4 points against Alvernia, and the Pride have scored 40 or more points in three of their five games against Alvernia. 

Scouting the Golden Wolves
After a solid all-around performance against FDU-Florham two weeks ago, Alvernia struggled offensively again last week. The Golden Wolves are averaging 15.2 points per game and just 232.8 yards of total offense per game. Defensively, Alvernia allows 396.2 yards per game and 35.8 points per game. 

Offensively, Alvernia averages 168.8 passing yards per game, and averages just over 28 passing attempts per game. On the ground, Alvernia averages 64 rushing yards per game on an average of 25.5 rushes per game. 

Last week was the first time this season that Alvernia favored the run-game more than its passing game. Alveria rushed the ball 36 times for 111 yards compared to its 17 passing attempts for 121 yards. 

Alvernia is giving up an average of 189.7 yards per game on the ground and 206.5 yards in the air per game. Alverniia allows nearly nine yards per passing attempt, 14 yards per completion, and 4.5 yards per rushing attempt.

Alvernia Keys to the Game
Take Advantage of Takeaways: Widener is a team that turns the ball over with eight fumbles lost and nine interceptions thrown so far this season. Alvernia is a team that can take the ball away as well. So, if and when the Golden Wolves get a takeaway against Widener on Saturday, Alvernia will need to find a way to make something out of any of the takeaways they get.

Limit Your Own Turnovers: Alvernia has done well protecting the ball in the first half, but late turnovers have proved costly to Alvernia the last two weeks. FDU-Florham scored a go-ahead touchdown off a turnover two weeks ago, and Eastern made it a two-score game off a fumble recovery for a touchdown last week. Alvernia will need to not only protect the ball through the first half, but also hang on to it in the second half to keep the Pride from getting any late short-yardage opportunities.

Time of Possession: Alvernia has struggled with time of possession all season, but the Golden Wolves had their best possession time performance of this season last week against Eastern. Both teams were nearly balanced, with the Eagles edging out Alvernia by just over a minute. Widener is averaging 29:35 in time of possession - nearly four minutes more than Alvernia average this season. Alvernia will need to sustain drives and keep the ball out of the Pride's hands on Saturday.

Golden Wolves to Watch
Colin Payne: Payne is entering Saturday with 100 completions for 1,011 yards on the season. He has nine touchdown passes and is averaging 168.5 passing yards per game. Payne is also not afraid to scramble for positive yardage as well. Last week marked Payne's third highest total offensive yardage performance of the season, and only his second game of the year with positive rushing yards. He will look to build off that performance on Saturday.

Andrew Simmons: Alvernia has found a groove with its run game the last two weeks, and Simmons has been a large part of that. Last week, Simmons led Alvernia to its first 100+ yards rushing game since game nine of 2022. Simmons rushed for 69 yards last week and had 69 yards the week prior as well. Look for him to continue to help Alvernia establish a run game this week against Widener.

McCabe Piavis: The last three games Piavis has posted seven or more tackles per game and has been solid for Alvernia in stopping the rush and pressuring the quarterback. Widener is not a high scoring team, so Alvernia's defense will be crucial in keeping the Pride out of the end zone and keeping the game within reach for the Golden Wolves offensively. That effort starts with Piavis as a leader of the defense.

Khysir Young: Young has been one of the leading tacklers for Alvernia the last two games. Young had a team-high nine tackles with a forced fumble against Eastern last week, and had six tackles and two pass break-ups against FDU the week prior. Widener is a team prone to turnovers this season, so look for Young to be involved in putting the ball on the ground this week.

Scouting the Pride
Widener is 2-4 overall this season and 2-3 in MAC play. Its two wins have come against Eastern (27-13) and Albright (21-0) in weeks two and three. Widener has since dropped its last three contests, all of which have been one score losses. The Pride fell to King's 28-25 to start its losing streak, and have also lost 10-7 to Stevenson and 24-20 to Msericordia.

The Pride are not a high-scoring team, averaging just 18 points per game. However, their defense does a good job keeping their opponents off the board as well. Widener allows just 20.5 points per game, a number that is inflated by a 48-12 loss to Lycoming in the season opener. 

Widener averages 331.5 yards per game and 5.5 yards per play. The Pride average 134.3 rushing yards per game and 197.2 passing yards per game. Widener tends to run the ball more than it passes, with over 50 more rushing attempts than passing attempts this year. 

Defensively, the Pride have six takeaways this year and allow 277.7 yards per game and 4.8 yards per play. Widener allows 147.5 rushing yards per game and 277.7 passing yards per game.

Pride to Watch
Jeff Chaplin (QB): Jeff Chaplin and Michael Caloiaro have shared time at quarterback for the Pride, but Chaplin appears to be pulling away as QB1 for the Pride. Chaplain has 55 completions for 736 yards and averages 122.7 yards per game. He has thrown three interceptions, but the bulk of Widener's interceptions have come from Caloiaro with four on the year in half as many attempts.

Bryce Casey (RB): Casey has led the Pride's rushing efforts so far this season with 84 carries for 375 yards and five touchdowns. However, Casey had just one rush last week for Widener in its loss to Misericordia and was limited to just eight touches against Stevenson. Prior to his limited time the last two weeks, Casey posted back-to-back 100+ yard games and also had a near 70-yard performance prior to that. Casey is listed as the projected starter this week for Widener, so look for him to get back in the rotation.

Jalen Walker (DE): Walker leads the Pride with five sacks and is second in the MAC in both sacks and second in the conference with 13 total tackles for a loss. Walker also has one interception, one forced fumble, and three quarterback hurries this season. 
 
Jacob Kopelman (DB): Kopelman enters Saturday as the leading tackler for Widener with 36 tackles on the season. He has a team-leading 22 solo tackles and also has 1.5 tackles for a loss. Kopelman has two pass breakups on the year along with a quarterback hurry and a fumble recovery.

Game Information
Kickoff is set for 1:00 PM at Widener's Elizabeth J. Hirschmann Field at Leslie C. Quick Jr. Stadium. Live coverage options are available at auwolves.com/live