e 2017 Wagner Seahawks Football Wagner College Seahawks (1-2, 0-1 NEC) at Western Michigan Broncos (1-2, 0-0 MAC) Saturday, September 23, 2017 * 7:00 p.m. Waldo Stadium(30,200) Kalamazoo, MI Wagner At a Glance : ............................................Staten Island, NY WAGNER-WESTERN MICHIGAN SCENE-SETTER Location Kalamazoo, MI – The Wagner College football Play-by-Play: Jim Barbar President: ..................................... Dr. Richard Guarasci team will face its eighth BCS opponent in the Color Analyst: Dustin Fox Athletics Director: ................................. Walt Hameline last seven seasons when the Seahawks board a Producer: Sam Ramos Head Football Coach: ......................Jason Houghtaling charter flight to Kalamazoo for Saturday’s 7:00 p.m. kickoff against the Western Michigan University Broncos. Record at Wagner: ................................... 8-17/3rd year Overall Record: .................................................... Same SEAHAWKS OFF TO 1-2 START, LOSE PRESEASON ALL-NEC QUARTERBACK Media Relations: .......................................John Beisser After opening the season with a 37-7 victory over Division II Saint Anselm on August 31, Wagner opened Northeast Beisser Office Phone: ..........................(718) 390-3227 Conference (NEC) play with a 31-6 loss at defending league champion Saint Francis U. In the second quarter of this game, starting quarterback and Preseason All-NEC selection, Alex Thomson (Keyport, NJ / Keyport) suffered an inujry that will Beisser Email:[email protected] sideline him for the season. With junior QB Luke Massei (Cary, NC / Green Hope) making his first career start at Columbia last week, the Seahawks overcame a 14-0 second-half deficit to force a 14-14 tie before the Lions won it 17-14 on a last- second 29-yard field goal. 2017 ScheduleW, 37-7 ABOUT WMU Under first-year head coach and former Western Michigan quarterback and offensive coordinator, Tim Lester, who Saint Anselm L, 31-6 August 31 took over for current University of Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck, Western Michigan entered today’s play with an at Saint Francis U L, 17-14 September 9 0-2 mark. Playing a tough early-season non- at Columbia 7:00 PM September 16 at Western Michigan Wagner-Western Michigan All-Time Series conference schedule, WMU lost at USC (49- September 23 6:00 PM (Homecoming) First Meeting 31) and at Michigan State (28-14) before Lehigh 1:00 PM returning home to defeat Idaho tonight, September 30 at Duquesne* October 7 6:00 PM 37-28. Last season, WMU recorded its best Central Connecticut* 12:00 PM finish in school history. After claiming the October 14 Wagner History vs. FBS Opponents Bryant* 12:00 PM MAC Championship, the Broncos took a October 28 at Robert Morris* 1:00 PM Date Result Location Attendance 13-0 record into the Goodyear Cotton Bowl November 4 at Stony Brook 12:00 pm Oct., 29, 2016 UMass 34, Wagner 10 Amherst, MA 8,468 Classic where they battled Big 10 member November 11 at Sacred Heart* Sept. 24, 2016 BC 42, Wagner 10 Chestnut Hill, MA 22,728 Wisconsin to the wire before falling by a November 18 Oct. 24, 2015 BYU 70, Wagner 6 Provo, UT 56,015 count of 24-16. Sept. 5, 2015 Rice 56, Wagner 16 Houston, TX 18,296 # - Homecoming Wagner vs. the FBS Bold - Home Games / * - NEC Game Sept. 6, 2014 FIU 34, Wagner 3 Miami, FL 9,981 The Seahawks, who compete in the Football All Times EST. Sept. 14, 2013 Syracuse 54, Wagner 0 Syracuse, NY 33,299 Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly Aug. 31, 2012 FAU 7, Wagner 3 Boca Raton, FL 14,510 1-AA, are 0-7 all-time vs. BCS opponents. In 2016, the Seahawks played a pair of FBS foes in Boston College and UMass. Against BC, Wagner took an early 7-0 lead before falling, 42-10. Later in the season, the Seahawks dropped a 34-10 decision at UMass. The 2016 season marked the second consecutive year that the Green & White had played two BCS foes as Wagner traveled to Rice and BYU in 2015. Western Michigan is the lone BCS team on Wagner’s 2017 season. The Seahawks’ first-ever matchup vs. a BCS team came on August 31, 2012 when Wagner, which would go on to win the NEC title that year, dropped a 7-3 decision at Florida Atlantic (FAU). In 2018, Wagner will make its second-ever trip to the Carrier Dome to meet the Syracuse Orange. FIRST MEETING WAGNER COLLEGE Wagner will be playing its first-ever game vs. Western Michigan and first vs. a Mid-American (MAC) Conference school Location: Staten Island, NY as well. Nickname: Seahawks Enrollment: 2,000 THE COACHES Founded: 1883 JASON HOUTAGHLING - WAGNER Jason Houghtaling (say it Ho-tal-ling) is in his third season as the head coach of the Seahawks and, at age 36, is the third- youngest head coach in the FCS. He took over for Walt Hameline, who announced at the end of the 2014 season that he WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY would be stepping down as head coach while remaining as Seahawk athletic director. Houghtaling (8-16), who guided Nickname: Broncos Wagner to a 6-5 record (4-2 in the NEC, third place) in 2016, was the Seahawks’ associate head coach and offensive Enrollment: 18,889 coordinator when the Green & White claimed a share of the 2014 NEC title (with Sacred Heart), and overall, has spent Founded: 1903 seven years as a Wagner assistant. In his final three seasons as offensive coordinator (2011, 2012, 2014), the Seahawks amassed a 16-6 NEC record with league titles in two of those three years. In 2014, the Seahawks’ offense ranked No. 4 nationally in time of possession and did not commit a turnover in the final three games of the season. Houghtaling served as offensive coordinator at Cornell in 2013 before returning to Grymes Hill as associate head coach/offensive coordinator. TIM LESTER – WESTERN MICHIGAN Tim Lester was named the 16th head football coach in school history on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017. Lester has risen through the coaching ranks after completing a Hall of Fame playing career at Western Michigan. Lester was a four-year starter at quarterback at WMU from 1996-99, leading the Broncos to a Mid-American Conference championship appearance his senior season. Lester also made a stop as an assistant coach at his alma mater during the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Lester began his coaching career in 2003 and most recently was the quarterbacks coach at Purdue in 2016 where he mentored sophomore signal-caller David Blough. Blough threw for 25 touchdowns and 3,352 yards, averaging over 279 yards passing a game in 2016. Lester came to the Boilermakers from Syracuse, where he served as QBs coach from 2013 to 2015 and doubled as offensive coordinator in 2014 and 2015 as well. Prior to working at Syracuse, Lester was the head coach at Division III Elmhurst (Illinois) College from 2008 to 2012. Over five seasons, he posted a 33-19 record for a .635 winning percentage, second highest in school history. In his final season in 2012, he led the Blue Jays to a 10-2 record and a CCIW conference championship as well as Elmhurst’s first-ever NCAA playoff appearance. 2017 Wagner Football Quick Facts General Information Head Coach Location: Staten Island, NY Jason Houghtaling (Binghamton, 2004) 3rd Year Founded: 1883 Assistant Coaches Enrollment: 2,000 Tony Brinson – Defensive Coordinator (Rhode Island, 1995) Nickname: Seahawks Rob Calabrese - Offensive Coordinator (UCF, 2012) Colors: Green (PMS 3308) & White Affiliation: NCAA Division I (FCS) Custavious Patterson – Wide Receivers (Morgan St., 2004) Conference: Northeast Conference (NEC) Stefon Wheeler - Offensive Line (Michigan St., 2005) Stadium: Hameline Field (3,300) Steve Ciocci – DL/Co-Special Teams/Recruiting Coordinator (Wagner, 2013) Surface: Field Turf Zamel Johnson - Defensive Backs /Co-Special Teams (Temple, 2013) President: Dr. Richard Guarasci (Fordham, 1967) Jim Munson –Defensive Assistant (Kean, 1989) Athletic Director: Walt Hameline (Brockport St., 1975) Vincent DiGaetano Defensive Assistant (Wagner, 1999 ) Athletic Dep. Phone: (718) 390-3433 Walter Kusmirek - Tight Ends /Fullbacks( Fitchburg St.,, 2013) Ticket Office Phone: (718) 420-4039 Doug Rigg - Inside Linebackers (West Virginia, 2014) Football History Garrett McLaughlin - Outside Linebackers ( Syracuse, 2012) First Year of Football: 1927 Sean Fitzgerald Running Backs ( UCF, 2012) Overall all-time record: 398-340-19 (.538) Joe Varga - Assistant AD for Athlete Performance (CCSU, 2006) Undefeated Seasons: 1960, 1964, 1967 Ryan Monaghan - Director of Football Operations (Wagner, 2017) Div. III National Champions: 1987 Tom Walsh - Equipment Manager (Rocky Mountain, 2015) Became FCS Program 1992 Football Office Phone: 718-420-4511 Became NEC Program 1996 All-time NEC Record: 69-72 (.489) Media Relations Team Information Asst. AD For Media Relations John Beisser 2016 Overall Record: 6-5 Office Phone: 718-390-3227 2016 NEC Record/Finish: 4-2/Third Office Fax: 718-420-4015 Starters Returning/Lost: 16/6 Cell Phone: 732-921-6744 Offense: 8/3 E-mail: [email protected] Defense: 8/3 Press Box Phone: (718) 420-4050 Lettermen Returning: 68 Website: www.wagnerathletics.com Lettermen Lost: 26 Newcomers: 77 THIS IS W AGNER C OLLEGE As tenacious as any Seahawk, Wagner College enjoys a bucolic perch atop Grymes Hill overlooking Manhattan and the other boroughs of New York City. Founded in 1883 as a Lutheran proseminary, Wagner has evolved to become an independent residential liberal arts college enrolling a capacity of over 2,000 students. The location of the College above the gateway to one of the world’s greatest financial and cultural capitals was the work of alumnus Frank Sutter who convinced the College’s Board of Trustees to relocate Wagner here from Rochester in 1918. In this, the Rev.