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Three Straight Road Games Open Titans' 2001 Season

A pair of road games in Iowa followed by a non-conference bout at league foe UW-Stevens Point open the 2001 football season in an unusual fashion for UW-Oshkosh. The three season-opening battles on foreign soil are part of a 10-game schedule that also includes seven straight WIAC contests to end Phil Meyer's second year as head coach of the Titans.

UW-Oshkosh ushers in its 107th football season on September 1 by traveling to Waverly, Iowa, for a 7 p.m. contest against first-time opponent Wartburg College. The Knights, 28-3 over the last three years, are ranked nationally in several pre-season polls, including 12th by Lindy's National College Football Magazine and 16th by D3football.com. Wartburg College, which opens a new stadium on the night it hosts UW-Oshkosh, went 9-1 last season and returns eight starters from a defense that allowed an average of just 13.6 points per game. The Knights are members of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC), a league it last won in 1999. Since dropping a 12-6 decision to NCAA Division I-AA Valparaiso University (Ind.) in 1980, UW-Oshkosh has won 20 consecutive season openers.

UW-Oshkosh returns to the Hawkeye State on September 8 by touring to Indianola for a 1:30 p.m. debate with first-time opponent and IIAC member Simpson College. The Storm has gone 41-13 over the past five years, including IIAC championships in 1996 and 1997. Simpson College went 6-4 last year, including a 30-24 loss to Wartburg College. Since 1983, UW-Oshkosh has fashioned a 13-4-1 record in its second game of the season.

The Titans close their challenging stretch of road games on September 15 when they voyage to UW-Stevens Point for a 7 p.m. non-conference squabble. The Pointers, who claimed a share of WIAC championships in 1998 and 1999, may well be plotting revenge after falling to the Titans (38-31) for the first time since 1983 a year ago. UW-Stevens Point was 2-8 last season after going 16-4 the previous two years.

Following a weekend off, the first of seven consecutive WIAC games for UW-Oshkosh begins September 29 when the Titans host UW-Eau Claire in a 7 p.m. contest. The game marks the latest that UW-Oshkosh has opened its home schedule in school history. UW-Eau Claire went 6-4 last year after claiming a share of the WIAC crown in 1998. UW-Oshkosh's home opener has been designated Titan Community Night, a Titan Booster Club fund-raising event now in its 20th year.

UW-Oshkosh's Homecoming opponent on October 6 is defending WIAC champion UW-Stout. The Blue Devils, 10-1 a year ago, were last matched as UW-Oshkosh's Homecoming opponent in 1997. Kickoff for UW-Oshkosh's Homecoming contest is set for 1:30 p.m.

UW-Oshkosh's remaining home games are October 20 against UW-Stevens Point and November 3 against UW-River Falls, both 1 p.m. starts. When the Titans host UW-Stevens Point in late October it will mark the first time that the two combatants have met twice in the same season since 1931. Last year, UW-Oshkosh played UW-River Falls twice.

Besides the three road games to open the season, UW-Oshkosh also travels to UW-La Crosse on October 13, UW-Platteville on October 27 and UW-Whitewater on November 10, all 1 p.m. starts. UW-Oshkosh plays UW-Whitewater in the season finale for the first time in seven years after the two teams played regularly in the season-ending contest from 1966 to 1994.