IUP’s opponent on Saturday is Millersville, a team that’s 0-2 this season and annually has been one of the worst in the PSAC.
But Crimson Hawks coach Paul Tortorella has a lot of respect for the Marauders. Forget their record, he says. The Marauders are no pushovers.
“Not at all,” Tortorella said. “They’ve recruited good talent.”
Tortorella should know. In the past two seasons, he has gone fishing in the NCAA Transfer Portal and landed four Millersville players who were seeking a change of scenery.
Last season, it was linebacker Garrett Cox, who was named first-team All-PSAC West, and defensive end Randy Okungu and nose tackle Quadir Jacobs, both of whom were limited by injuries. Cox graduated, but Okungu and Jacobs are still on the roster. And this season they’re joined by former Millersville safety Mekhi Johnson, who came to IUP in January. When IUP (1-1) takes on Millersville tomorrow, Okungu and Johnson are likely to start, with Jacobs in a supporting role.
As for the players currently on the Millersville roster, Tortorella also sees some talent.
“Their two new running backs are fast,” he said. “They throw for a lot of yards. They can run it too. It’s (up) tempo, speed, and big plays. You can’t take them lightly.”
On paper, though, it might be easy to take the Marauders lightly, if for no other reason than their defense has been shredded to pieces in the first two games of the season. In the first game, a 42-34 loss to Frostburg State, Millersville allowed an average of 7.1 yards per play, including four passes and three rushes of 20 yards or more. Last week in a 44-28 loss to Glenville State, the Marauders allowed a staggering 604 total yards, 276 on the ground and 328 through the air. The Pioneers had five scoring drives of at least 70 yards.
“They’ve given up a lot of big plays,” Tortorella said. “Their games have basically been shootouts.”
The Marauders have been so bad on defense –– they’re dead last in the 15-team PSAC in total defense (519.0 ypg.), 13th in scoring defense (43.0 ppg.) and rushing defense (222.5 ypg.), and 14th in passing defense (296.5 ypg.) –– that the only reason they were in their first three games is because their offense is so explosive.
Under first-year offensive coordinator Brian Ferguson, Millersville leads the PSAC in passing offense (331.0 ypg.), first downs per game (25), and total offense (475.0 ypg.). That’s happened largely because Millersville runs an up-tempo, hurry-up offense that wears down defenses quickly.
“They go fast—89 plays a game—lots of tempo, big plays, and they throw for a ton of yards,” Tortorella said.
So it seems the key to the game for IUP will come on defense. The Crimson Hawks’ offense, which easily put up 42 points last week against Lock Haven (a team that Glenville State scored only 13 points against), will likely score against Millersville. But will the Marauders score enough to keep up?
History is no indicator of what will happen in a football game, but it bears mentioning that Millersville has lost eight times in a row to IUP, and in seven of the eight losses, the Marauders scored 7 points or fewer.
“Everyone on defense has to get the call, line up, and be ready immediately,” Tortorella said. “The tempo is tiring, but it wears on them, too.”
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