THE GAME

Susquehanna opens its 104th season of intercollegiate football on Saturday afternoon as the Crusaders battle Centennial Conference powerhouse McDaniel (formerly Western Maryland) at Lopardo Stadium. It will be the first game played on the Crusaders' new Pro-Grass synthetic turf, which was installed during the summer of 2002.

LAST YEAR - WESTERN MARYLAND 63, SUSQUEHANNA 27 (9/8/01)

WESTMINSTER, MD - Quarterback Jamie "Boo" Harris threw for six touchdowns and ran for another in just 2 1/2 quarters of action while Teron Powell caught six passes for 164 yards and four touchdowns to lead a Green Terror attack that rolled up 526 yards of total offense and scored 42 consecutive points during a 15-minute span of the second and third quarters.

Harris, who was playing despite an injured ankle suffered in last week's loss to Bridgewater, completed 17-of-28 passes for 355 yards and ran for 23 yards on eight carries.

Mike Bowman completed 13-of-34 passes for 129 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions for Susquehanna while fullback Jason Eck led all players with 82 yards rushing on 19 carries in his Crusader debut

LAST WEEK

The Crusaders traveled to Division I-AA Brown for a scrimmage against the Bears and lost 49-9. Senior QB Mike Bowman completed 6-of-11 passes for 50 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown passs to junior SE Mark Bartosic to cap a 16-play, 90-yard drive in the second quarter. The Crusaders rolled up 200 yards of total offense, but the Bears passed for 277 yards and three touchdowns as a team.

FOR OPENERS

-Saturday is Susquehanna's 104th opener. The Crusaders are 53-43-7 all-time in openers.

-The Crusaders had won 12 straight season openers (1989 to 2000) before last year's 63-27 loss at McDaniel.

-Susquehanna is 11-1 in season openers and 8-4 in home openers under Steve Briggs

-This is the first season opener at home since 1999 (SU 20, FDU-Madison 3)

-The Crusaders have won their last seven season openers played at home

-Susquehanna has not lost consecutive season openers since 1975 (14-7 to Grove City) and 1976 (20-7 to Westminster).

-The Crusaders have not lost consecutive openers to the same team since losing to Waynesburg in 1966 (6-0) and 1967 (60-0)

SUSQUEHANNA PREVIEW

OFFENSE: The duo of senior QB Mike Bowman and junior SE Mark Bartosic begin their final season of football after four years at nearby Shikellamy High School and two years at Susquehanna after Bartosic transferred from Bucknell following a redshirt season in 1999. Bowman owns Susquehanna career records for completions, attempts, yards and touchdowns while Bartosic has established single-season and career standards for receptions, yards and touchdowns. In the backfield, sophomore FB Jason Eck returns after leading the Crusaders with 154 carries for 582 yards (3.8 average) and eight touchdowns as a freshman. He capped the 2001 season with a four-touchdown performance in the season finale against Lebanon Valley to tie the school record set two times previously. Joining Bartosic on pass-catching duties will be senior SE Tim Ronchi, who needs nine receptions to become the fourth player in school history with 100 career catches, and sophomore Josh Kleha, who caught 15 passes for 199 yards and a touchdown in his rookie campaign. Anchoring the offensive line will be three returning starters in junior Joby Tuminelli (6-2, 294) at center, senior Jared Villella (6-1, 280) at right guard and junior Josh Zeyn (6-3, 261) at right tackle. Sophomore transfer Mark Hamilton (6-3, 250) will get the nod at left guard while sophomore Tom Goodwin (6-2, 260) will enter the lineup at left guard. Senior John Smith (6-4, 245) will again start at tight end after hauling in 15 passes for 248 yards and two scores.

DEFENSE: Senior CB Antonio Nash opens his senior season with 19 career interceptions, within range of the Susquehanna career record of 26 set from 1988 to 1991 by Cory Mabry. He will anchor a secondary that features senior returning starter Nick Chesney at free safety and sophomore Kyle Sanders at the other corner. Sophomore Mike Brunner is slated to make his first career start at strong safety, as two-year starter Dennis Kodack has moved to strongside linebacker. Among the players who should see time in nickel and dime packages are sophomore Matt Valeyko, a converted quarterback, and senior Andy Nadler, who has served as the team's placekicker for the past three years. Senior Bill Heinzelmann will start for the second straight year at middle linebacker while sophomore Tony Treese has earned the starting spot at weakside linebacker. The defensive line features the return of junior left end Adam Summers after he missed the 2001 season with a preseason knee injury. Senior Brent Stransky will start at the other end, while the tackle spots will be handled by junior Matt Ellis and sophomore J.J. Wivell. Sophomore Matt Hill will also see action at tackle while freshman Kyle Jury should be part of the rotation at end.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Nadler is back for his fourth year as the starting placekicker, while freshman Dwight Swaney will handle the punting duties. Sophomore Jordan Rawlins and Bartosic provide a potent punch as kickoff returns while Nash will run back punts.

McDANIEL PREVIEW

LAST WEEK: The 17th-ranked Green Terror committed five turnovers as 11th-ranked Bridgewater scored on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Robbie Jenkins to Andre Jones with 32 seconds left to pull out a 23-20 victory on Saturday at Bair Stadium. Senior WR Joe Ellis caught nine passes for 176 yards and a 56-yard touchdown with 5:29 left that gave the Terror a 20-16 lead. Senior QB John Luster completed 21-of-35 passes for 357 yards and three touchdowns as the Green Terror amassed 481 yards of total offense on the day.

OFFENSE : The return of Ellis from a broken hand suffered in game four of last season is the key to the Terror attack this season. Prior to his injury last year, Ellis caught 15 passes for 261 yards and four touchdowns after making 23 catches for 300 yards and three scores as a sophomore. The Green Terror often employ a four-wide receiver attack, as junior Nick Venuto and senior James Jegede will also factor into the passing game. Luster is in his first season as McDaniel's full-time starter after backing up two-time Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Year Jamie "Boo" Harris. Last year, Luster completed 33-of-61 passes for 389 yards and six touchdowns and led the Green Terror to an overtime victory at Muhlenberg in week five. Senior RB Jemel Johnson was a second-team All-Conference selection last year after leading all Green Terror running backs with 609 yards and seven touchdowns. McDaniel's offensive line averages nearly 284 yards per man, led by senior and 2001 first-team All-Centennial selection Nick Alevrogiannis at right tackle and 298-pound senior John Rydzewski at left tackle.

DEFENSE: The Green Terror allowed 406 yards of total offense to Bridgewater in the opener, including 201 yards on the ground. Last season, McDaniel allowed 160.6 rushing yards per game, holding just Ursinus (32 yards) under the 100-yard mark. Senior LB Matt Wilchinski is a two-time first-team All-Centennial Conference selection, and led the Terror with 16 tackles in the opener. Junior LB Omar Philip added 15 stops after amassing 63 tackles during the 2001 season. The defensive line is anchored by junior nose guard Joe Rydzewski (6-3, 270), who made 29 tackles in his first season with the Terror in 2001. Flanking Rydzewski on the line are seniors Haroun Hebron (6-0, 260) and Jesse Hudson (6-3, 257). Even with the graduation of All-American safety Jason Wingeart, the Green Terror will rely on junior cornerbacks Joe Syzmanek and Rob Wingfield to shut down the opposition. Against Bridgewater, the Green Terror secondary recorded a pair of interceptions as junior Joe Syzmanek and senior Scott Stolzenburg each picked off passes.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Junior Chris Patterson returns as the placekicker after hitting 41-of-50 extra points last season. Freshman Corey Allen takes over as the punter and averaged 29.7 yards on three kicks in the opener, with one punt blocked. Junior French Pope returned two punts for touchdowns last season and averaged 11.3 yards on 32 returns, and averaged 19.8 yards on kickoff returns. The Green Terror coverage unit held Bridgewater to 6.0 yards per punt return and 18.5 yards per kick return in the opener.

NOTES WORTH KNOWING...

MR. CONSISTENCY: Junior SE Mark Bartosic brings a streak of seven consecutive games of at least 100 receiving yards into the 2002 season opener. He has caught at least one pass in all 20 games of his Susquehanna career, has caught at least one touchdown pass in 17 games, and has gained at least 100 yards receiving in 14 games.

THERE WAS NO PICK: Senior QB Mike Bowman did not throw an interception in either of the Crusaders' final two games last season, marking the first time in his 39-game career tat he has not thrown an interception in two straight games. In fact, Bowman has been picked off at least once in 23 of the 28 games that he has attempted at least one pass.

ON THE FLIP SIDE: Bowman has thrown for at least one touchdown pass in 24 of the 28 games in which he has attempted a pass, including eight games of three scores or more.

THIRD IS LONG: Last season, the Crusaders were outscored 96-32 in the third quarter, scoring just four touchdowns and two field goals for the year and not more than seven points in any third quarter all season.

KEEPING IT CLEAN: One stat that the Crusaders excelled in a year ago was penalties. Susquehanna committed just 48 penalties for 372 yards on the season, compared to 78 penalties for 679 yards for their opponents. The Crusaders out-fouled the opposition just once, being whistled eight times for 66 yards at FDU-Madison while the Devils were flagged seven times for 58 yards.

WINS BEGIN AT 40: After winning the final two games of the 2001 season by scoring 41 and 40 points against Moravian and Lebanon Valley, respectively, the Crusaders enter 2002 with a chance to score 40 for the third straight game for the third time in school history and the first time since the 1963 season. That team defeated Trinity (41-0), Alfred (68-0) and Union (42-6) en route to an 8-1 record, one year after the 1962 team turned the trick against Oberlin (42-7), Union (46-9) and Delaware Valley (51-3).

SACK-RIFICE: The Crusaders recorded just 19 sacks in 10 games last season, and just 7.5 of those sacks are represented on the 2002 active roster. Junior Matt Ellis and sophomores Kyle Sanders and J.J. Wivell had two sacks apiece, while senior Dennis Kodack had one sack and senior Brent Stransky had a half-sack.