Nationally Ranked Titans Kick Off 2021 Season Against Hawks
The nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh football team kicks off its 126th season Saturday (Sept. 4) at Huntingdon College (Ala.). The fourth meeting between the teams is set to begin at noon (CDT) from Charles Lee Field at Samford Stadium in Montgomery, Ala.
UW-Oshkosh's 2021 season opener comes 651 days after its most recent competition on Nov. 23, 2019, that resulted in a 38-37 overtime setback at Central College (Iowa) during the first round of the NCAA Division III Championship. The 2019 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference co-champion Titans concluded their fifth NCAA postseason appearance in eight years with an 8-3 record. UW-Oshkosh did not compete last season, and the 2020 Division III Championship was canceled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Huntingdon College last played on April 3, 2021, in the USA South Athletic Conference championship game. The Hawks clinched the 2021 USASC title – the program's fifth in the past six years – with a 31-20 victory at Methodist University (N.C.) to finish the season with a 3-1 record a year after going 8-4 and reaching the second round of the 2019 NCAA postseason tournament.
Fast forward to September 2021, and the season opener features two squads with many recent successes but varying gametime experiences. Back in 2019, UW-Oshkosh ranked sixth in the country with 3.91 sacks per game and paced the WIAC with 1.27 sacks allowed per contest while Huntingdon College was seventh in the nation with 14 fumble recoveries. A mere five months ago, the Hawks rushed the ball 73 times in 85 offensive plays, gaining 384 yards on the ground against Methodist University en route to clinching another USASC championship.
In 2019, UW-Oshkosh averaged 26.5 points and 350 yards per game while allowing 19.9 points and 298.9 yards per contest. During the abbreviated spring 2021 season, Huntingdon College scored 19 points and gained 343.8 yards per game while yielding 19.5 points and 332.8 yards per contest. Over the full 2019 campaign, the Hawks averaged a USASC-leading 32.8 points and 404.2 yards per game and surrendered 27.4 points and 359 yards per contest.
UW-Oshkosh, ranked ninth in the 2021 D3football.com preseason poll, and Huntingdon College have met three times previously. UW-Oshkosh has outscored the Hawks, 109-30, during a series that began with a 34-3 win in 2007 in Alabama. The Titans have since defeated Huntingdon College in Oshkosh by scores of 31-13 in 2009 and 44-14 in 2019. In the most recent matchup, UW-Oshkosh led, 30-0, at halftime and held the run-heavy Hawks offense to 282 yards, including 81 through the air.
UW-Oshkosh 14th-year head coach Pat Cerroni brings back eight starters on offense, six starters on defense and 37 returning lettermen overall from the 2019 team that secured a share of the WIAC championship with a 27-20 home victory over fellow co-champion UW-Whitewater during the regular season finale. Cerroni, the winningest coach in program history, owns a 103-42 record at the helm of the Titans to go along with four WIAC titles and each of the school's five NCAA Championship appearances.
Leading the returning UW-Oshkosh offensive players are quarterback Kobe Berghammer, running back Peter MacCudden, wide receivers Jimmy DuVal and Mitchell Gerend, tight end Justin Kasuboski and offensive linemen Joe Blitstein, Mike Olsen and Hunter Schultz.
Berghammer, the 2019 WIAC Newcomer of the Year, passed for 1,700 yards and 14 touchdowns while rushing for a team-leading 706 yards and another nine scores in 2019.
MacCudden was second on the team with 527 rushing yards and four touchdowns in 2019. Mitch Gerhartz, who has rushed for 1,779 yards in 30 career games, also returns to the UW-Oshkosh offensive backfield.
Gerend paced the team two years ago with 33 receptions for 467 yards and three touchdowns.
Kasuboski, a 2019 All-WIAC First Team selection, added 21 catches for 248 yards and one touchdown while combining with Blitstein, Olsen, Schultz and the offensive line to help the team average 4.7 yards per carry and yield just 14 sacks two seasons ago. Olsen was named a 2021 D3football.com Preseason All-American at center after garnering All-WIAC First Team and D3football All-America Second Team honors in 2019.
The Titans return six All-WIAC defensive performers from the 2019 team, including First Team selection Nick Noethe at linebacker. Noethe led the team two season ago with 68 tackles to go along with four sacks and one interception.
Joining Noethe on the UW-Oshkosh defense will be 2019 All-WIAC Second Team defensive linemen Brandon Kolgen and Trenton LaCombe, All-WIAC Second Team cornerback Kollyn Beyer and All-WIAC Honorable Mention picks in defensive lineman Brandon Hughes and linebacker Tory Jandrin. LaCombe and Kolgen recorded six and five sacks, respectively, in 2019 while Jandrin chipped in 56 tackles, Hughes made 43 stops, and Beyer had a team-leading five interceptions and 14 pass breakups.
UW-Oshkosh also welcomes back placekicker and punter Jaydon Haag, who was tabbed a 2021 D3football.com Preseason First Team All-American after being named the 2019 WIAC Special Team Player of the Year and a 2019 D3football.com Second Team All-American. Haag made all 12 of his field goal attempts and went 27 of 30 on extra points in 2019 while averaging 35.4 yards per punt.
Huntingdon College head coach Mike Turk has a 113-52 record during his 17 seasons at the school. Turk, who has accounted for each of the Hawks' 113 wins since the program began in 2003, has guided Huntingdon College to five NCAA postseason appearances.
Hawks quarterback Landon Cotney, the lone player on the roster to attempt a pass, threw for 509 yards and one touchdown during the program's four spring 2021 games while adding a team-best 321 yards and five scores on the ground.
Huntingdon College running backs Kahari McReynolds and Jalen Pugh rushed for 313 and 241 yards, respectively, during the 2021 spring contests and scored one rushing touchdown apiece. Hawks offensive guard Colin Langford was named to the 2020-21 D3football.com All-Region First Team.
Kelvin Bowser and Malachi Harvey, who doubled as the Huntingdon College's primary kick returner, paced the Hawks receivers, combining for 23 catches, including 12 by Bowser.
Linebacker Casey Peppers paced the Huntingdon defense with 40 tackles and one interception during the four-game spring season. Defensive back Fred Favors ranked second on the team with 18 stops while linebacker Tucker Spence registered a team-high three sacks for the Hawks.
Hawks placekicker Cole Starr made each of his five field goal attempts and all six extra points during his two spring 2021 contests while punter Zach Johnson averaged 35 yards per attempt.
UW-Oshkosh, seeking to continue its current program record to 10 consecutive winning seasons, reached the Division III championship game in 2016, the national semifinals in 2012 and 2017, the quarterfinals in 2015, and the first round in 2019.
Huntingdon College, a Division III member since 2003, matched its best NCAA postseason result when it reached the second round in 2019. The Hawks also won a Division III Championship first round contest in 2015.