David Jablonski: Wittenberg football: Tough schedule continues in home opener

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After falling to 0-2 as the first-year head coach of the Wittenberg Tigers, BJ Coad was asked on Tuesday, Sept. 15, “How hard is it to be patient as a coach? You want it all in Year 1, but sometimes these things take time.”

“Man, I wanted it yesterday,” he said. “Yeah, it's challenging. It's arguably one of the hardest pieces of it, but you try to accept the reality of where we are, and right now we're trying to get our team to buy into playing the right way and developing them. You want to win every football game — that's the goal — but you also want to make sure that you're growing your guys every single week and the team's moving marginally forward week by week.”

Wittenberg lost 13-7 in overtime to Washington and Lee in Lexington, Va., in its opener on Sept. 5 and lost 31-0 to Wabash in Crawfordsville, Ind., on Saturday, Sept. 12.

To avoid the program’s first 0-3 start since 2005, Wittenberg will have to beat Washington University (Mo.) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Edwards-Maurer Field in Springfield.

Washington, the newest member of the North Coast Athletic Conference, beat No. 15 DePauw 37-27 last weekend. That followed a 73-0 season-opening victory against Rhodes College. This week, Washington moved into the D3Football.com top 25 at No. 22, while DePauw dropped out.

“Washington University is a really good football team,” Coad said. “They've been like the No. 2 team in the CCIW (College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) the last couple of years, losing to teams like Wheaton and North Central, who are juggernauts in Division III at the moment.

“When you turn on the tape, they do a lot of really good things. They’ve got a great skill group on offense. They got a really good wide receiver. They've got a special quarterback. I think the No. 1 thing that stands out when you look at them is they're all juniors and seniors. It's just an experienced football team. They’ve played a lot of football together, and it shows.”

Wittenberg and Washington last played 15 years ago. They met in four straight seasons (2008-11). The Tigers lost the first game in the series but won the next three.

In its home opener, Wittenberg will have to bounce back from only its fourth shutout loss of this century.

“We didn't play well,” Coad said, “and I think in Year 1, you're trying to be honest with them as much as you possibly can. We didn't do the things we needed to do in order to win the football game. When you turn on the tape, it's evident in all three phases of the game — offense, defense, and special teams. It's a young group, but it's inexcusable if you want to win football games.”

Starting quarterback Cole Burton left the game late in the second quarter after a hard hit. He completed 8 of 14 passes for 77 yards. Sophomore Tyler Eley replaced him and completed 5 of 10 passes for 16 yards.

Burton and Eley are both transfers in their first season at Wittenberg. Burton played at Ohio Dominican last season. Eley was at Ferrum College.

Coad said Burton is day-to-day, and it will be a game-time decision as to whether he plays against Washington.

Wittenberg will try to get its running game going after losing 30 yards on 26 attempts against Wabash. Gerald Banks, Wittenberg’s new starting running back, lost yards on his first three attempts.

“We need to find a way to establish the run consistently,” Coad said. “That's where everything started. With our inability to establish the run, we had no control of the game. We’ve got to find a better way of trying to control the trenches and the line of scrimmage.”

This will be Coad’s first home game as head coach. He played at Wittenberg from 2004-07.

“There are going to be a lot of my friends coming back, and obviously my family will be there,” Coad said. “It's something I'm proud of. I have a lot of really good memories on that field, and that field developed me into the person that I am today. I'm just proud to represent the Tigers. It'll be a cool experience. I really look forward to many Saturdays here at Edwards-Maurer.”

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