MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY HAWKS FOOTBALL facebook.com/MUFootball @MUHAWKSFB YouTube.com/MonmouthHawks FOOTBALL CONTACT: Greg Viscomi (732) 571-4447 • 400 Cedar Avenue • West Long Branch, NJ 07764-1898 SEPT. 26 • MONMOUTH AT FORDHAM • GAME 4 MONMOUTH HAWKS (1-2, 0-0 BIG SOUTH) AT #16 FORDHAM RAMS (2-1, 0-0 PATRIOT LEAGUE) AT Date: Sept. 26, 2015 Kickoff: 1:00 PM Field: Jack Coffey Field (7,000), Bronx, NY Series: 1-0 Monmouth Last Meeting: Monmouth 23, Fordham 9 (9/2/06) Coaching Matchup: Kevin Callahan (127-104) vs. Joe Moorhead (31-11) TODAY’S GAME: Monmouth and Fordham meet for the second time in history today at Jack Coffey Field in the Bronx, the site of the their first meeting back in 2006. The Hawks are coming off their first win of the season, downing their former conference rivals Wagner College 31-10 on Staten Island last weekend. Fordham will also look for their second consecutive win, one week after taking out Columbia 44-24 to retain the “Liberty Cup”. The Hawks snapped a two-game skid with the win over the Seahawks, after dropping the season opener to Patriot League foe Holy Cross and Central Michigan in weeks one and two. Fordham opened the season with a 37-35 win over FBS member Army, then fell to nationally-ranked Villanova by a touchdown before topping the Lions at home last weekend. The Hawks used an outstanding defensive effort against Wagner to get their first win of the season. Led by Mike Basile’s 17 tackles, the Monmouth defense kept Wagner out of the endzone until the final minute of the game. MU forced a season-high four turnovers in the game, including a pair of interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Wagner was 3 of 10 on third down, including 0-5 in the first half and managed just 117 yards through the air. Monmouth’s offense struck quickly, with Lavon Chaney throwing a 64 yard touchdown pass to freshman Ugo Ezemma on the second play of the game. Quarterback Cody Williams set a career high in completions and yardage, earning his first collegiate win as a starter. Junior wideout Darren Ambush also had a career day with eight receptions for 133 yards, including a 26 yard touchdown. Fordham opened the season with a win over Army, their second win over an FBS team in the past three seasons. The Rams bounced back from a seven point loss to No. 4 Villanova by overpowering Columbia last weekend. In that game, first year starting quarterback Kevin Anderson completed 22 of 44 passes for 330 yards and tied a program record with five touchdowns. Not to be outdone, All-Amer- ican running back Chase Edmonds had 125 yards rushing on 13 attempts, including a 73 yard scamper. Tight end Phazahn Odom was six yards short of a 100-yard receiving day for himself, finishing with five catches and a pair of touchdowns in the win over Columbia. GLANCE AT THE SERIES HISTORY 2015 MU SCHEDULE Monmouth has faced Fordham only once in the last 22 years, in the 2006 season opener. The Hawks took the game 23-9 behind a 20 point first quarter in the driving rain at Jack Coffey Stadium. Date Opponent Result/Time 09.05 HOLY CROSS L, 27-19 TODAY’S MEDIA INFORMATION 09.12 at Central Michigan L, 31-10 RADIO: Shore Sports Network: 1160 AM, 1310 AM 09.19 at Wagner W, 31-16 Play by Play: Matt Harmon ‘96 ‘04 09.26 at Fordham 1:00 p.m. 10.03 BRYANT 1:00 p.m. Color: Eddy Occhipinti ‘06 ‘09 10.10 at Charleston South.* 12:00 p.m. STREAMING AUDIO: www.shoresportsnetwork.com 10.17 LIBERTY* 1:00 p.m. MOBILE PHONE AUDIO: Download Free radioPup App 10.24 COASTAL CAROLINA* 1:00 p.m. 10.31 at Kennesaw State* 1:00 p.m. STREAMING VIDEO: Patriot League Network 11.14 PRESBYTERIAN* 12:00 p.m. LIVE STATISTICS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/fordham/football/ 11.21 at Gardner-Webb* 1:30 p.m. TODAY’S Today’s key stat will be Monmouth’s rush defense vs Jerry Rice Award winner 1-2 Overall 0-1 Home 1-1 Away Chase Edmonds, who is one of the premier backs in all of FCS. The Hawks have *Denotes Big South Conference Game yet to allow a 100-yard rusher while Edmonds has eclipsed the 100 yard plateau STAT in each of the Fordham wins this season. GAME 4 - MONMOUTH AT FORDHAM 2015 MONMOUTH FOOTBALL GAME NOTES INSIDE THE MONMOUTH-FORDHAM SERIES TALE OF THE TAPE Today marks the second time the Hawks and Rams will face each other on the gridiron. Monmouth opened the 2006 season with a 23-9 win over Fordham in the driving ran at Coffey Stadium. Monmouth intercepted the 2015 TEAM STATISTICS Rams on the first drive of the game, scoring two plays later on a Brian Boland to Adam San Miguel TD pass. The Hawks went up 20-0 after the first quar- MONMOUTH FORDHAM ter, scoring their second touchdown on a 713 yard screen pass to running 19.3 First Downs Avg. 19.0 back David Sinisi. The score marked the first of the All-American’s 72 career 129.6 Rushing Offense Avg 131.3 touchdowns. The Hawks would add 3 points on a Fred Weingart field goal 226.3 Passing Offense Avg. 256.6 before Fordham’s first score, an 89 yard jaunt. Ram Micah Clukey converted a 45 yard field goal with 4:05 remaining but that was as close as his squad 356 Total Offense Avg 388.0 would get to a comeback. Monmouth held a 286-254 advantage in total 112.3 Rushing Defense Avg. 195.0 yards while the Hawk defense held Fordham to 0-of-11 on third down. 222.3 Passing Defense Avg. 179.0 334.6 Total Defense Avg. 374.0 34.2 Net Punting Avg. 40.6 GAME BY GAME SERIES HISTORY -1.0 Punt Return Avg. 5.5 20.9 Kickoff Return Avg. 22.1 MONMOUTH vs FORDHAM 55.3 Penalty Yard Avg. 52.7 Date Winner,Score Location 20.0 Scoring Avg. 29.3 09/09/06 Monmouth, 23-9 at Fordham 24.7 Opp. Scoring Avg 24.3 2015 MONMOUTH LEADERS Rushing Att Yds Avg Td Lg MONMOUTH AGAINST THE PATRIOT LEAGUE Chaney 46 173 3.8 2 26 Monmouth University is 7-9 all-time against members of the Patriot League, Welch 23 128 5.6 2 28 with its most recent win coming last season against Lehigh. After the open- Williams 33 62 1.9 0 14 ing weekend of the season, Monmouth is 1-1 against Holy Cross. MU has recorded two wins against Georgetown, while going 0-1 against Lafayette Passing Cmp Att Yds Td Int and 1-5 against Lehigh. In 2006 MU defeated Colgate but the Raiders have Williams 65 101 631 2 3 won three straight in the series. Monmouth will face Holy Cross and Fordham in 2015 with Lehigh set to return to the schedule in 2016. Receiving Rec Yds Avg Td Lg Ambush 19 263 13.8 2 81 WILLIAMS EARNS FIRST WIN, FIRST WEEKLY AWARD White Jr. 11 87 7.9 0 25 Monmouth freshman quarterback Cody Williams earned his first career vic- Chaney 9 59 6.6 0 26 tory with the 31-16 win over Wagner last weekend, also picking up Crons Brand Big South Player of the Week honors. Williams went 24-of-35 passing Defensive Tac Solo TFL Sck Int for a career-high 259 yards and one touchdown to lead Monmouth to its first Basile 33 27 3.0 1.0 0 victory of the season. His second quarter touchdown strike put the Hawks Minnich 23 17 4.0 0.0 1 ahead, 14-3, and he finished the day with 275 yards of total offense and a Smith 14 10 4.5 1.0 0 137.39 passing efficiency with no turnovers. Williams had four pass plays longer than 20 yards and completed five consecutive passes twice during the 2015 FORDHAM LEADERS evening. Williams is completing 64% of his passes through three games in Rushing Att Yds Avg Td Lg his first year of action for the Hawks. Edmonds 48 334 6.8 4 73 Anderson 51 177 1.9 1 22 Pearcey 5 22 3.8 0 11 DIMITRIUS SMITH NAMED BIG SOUTH DEFENSIVE POW For his part of the defensive effort in the Wagner game, Monmouth junior Dimitrius Smith was named Big South Defensive Player of the Week, his first Passing Cmp Att Yds Td Int career weekly honor. Smith dominated Wagner up front with five tackles, Anderson 46 75 737 6 1 three of which were for a loss, a sack and two fumble recoveries. Smith Caddle 1 1 26 0 0 finished with a trio of tackles for a loss, including a sack that dropped the Wagner QB Alex Thomson for a nine yard loss. The junior pounced on a pair Receiving Rec Yds Avg Td Lg of fumbles in the game, including one in the fourth quarter on the Wagner Edmonds 15 195 13.0 1 87 seven yard line that led to a Monmouth touchdown. Smith was part of a Odom 8 184 23.0 2 41 Hawk defensive effort that kept Wagner out of the endzone until the final Caddle 8 91 11.4 1 20 minute of the game. MU forced a season-high four turnovers in the game, including a pair of interceptions and Smith’s two fumble recoveries.