Marietta Football Game Notes vs. Otterbein (PDF)

Listen to WRMT's Chris Miller's Interview with Jeff Filkovski

THE RECORDS: Marietta enters week ten with an overall record of 2-6 and is 1-6 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Otterbein is 4-4 overall and 3-4 in the OAC.

GAME TIME: 1:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 6, Don Drumm Stadium in Marietta, Ohio.

THE COACHES: Marietta's Jeff Filkovski is in his third season as the leader of the Pioneers. He is the former signal caller for the Cologne Centurions of NFL Europe. Filkovski, who earned his bachelor's degree from Allegheny College in 1991, led the Gators to a national championship in 1990. Otterbein's Joe Loth is in his eighth year as the Cardinals' head football coach. The 1991 graduate of Otterbein has a 44-35 record at his alma mater and a 51-57 record in his 11 years as a head coach.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Saturday marks the 83rd time that the two teams will meet on the gridiron. The series, which is tied 41-41, began in 1892 with Marietta winning 6-0. Otterbein has dominated the series since 1999, claiming victory in 9 of the last 11 match-ups.

LAST MEETING: Marietta knocked visiting #7 Otterbein from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 25-22 victory at Don Drumm Stadium on Oct. 31, 2009. Marietta held the high-powered Otterbein offense to just 289 yards while racking up 456 yards of its own. The Cardinals finished with 251 yards rushing but just 38 yards passing. The Pioneers, meanwhile, ran for 169 yards and passed for 287 yards.

RADIO COVERAGE: Marietta College is scheduled to have WMRT-FM 88.3, its student radio station, broadcast the game for Pioneer fans. The broadcasts will take the air with a short pregame at 1:20 p.m. Otterbein will also have a local station cover the game for its fans.

LISTEN ONLINE: Marietta College is proud to once again offer its fans on the World Wide Web a free opportunity to listen to all 10 Pioneer football games. For more information visit Marietta's athletic web site: http://pioneers.marietta.edu.

NEXT GAME: On Nov. 13, Marietta closes out its season at Capital University, while Otterbein visits Wilmington College. Both games kick off at 1:30 p.m.

85TH SEASON OF OAC PLAY: Saturday's game will continue Marietta's 85th season of football in the OAC. The Pioneers, who joined the league in 1926, are 172-320-11 (.353) all-time in Conference play.

THIS WEEK IN THE OAC: All 10 OAC schools are in action in week ten at 1:30 p.m. In addition to the Otterbein at Marietta game, Mount Union visits Baldwin-Wallace, Ohio Northern welcomes Wilmington, John Carroll travels to Heidelberg and Muskingum plays host to Capital.

STAY UP TO DATE: Visit http://pioneers.marietta.edu to stay up to date with all of the Marietta College athletics news.

SMS SCORES: Marietta fans can receive scores and alerts directly on their cell phone by signing up at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/member/sms_signup.aspx.

PIONEER NEWSLETTER: Want all of the latest athletics news sent directly to your e-mail? If so, sign up at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/subscribe.aspx. Fans can choose which sports they would like to follow.

PHOTOS NOW ON SALE: Marietta Athletics is now selling select photos on its website. To purchase photos visit http://pioneers.marietta.edu/photo_gallery.aspx.

SCHEDULE CARDS: Free Winter Schedule Cards are now available. Stop by the athletics office to pick one up today.

MEDIA GUIDES NOW ON SALE: Pioneer fans can now purchase 2010 football media guides. They will be made available at all home contests and in the athletics office.

CAPTAINS ANNOUNCED: Marietta College will have four captains during the 2010 season: senior offensive lineman Cameron Kiger (Rockbridge/Logan), senior fullback Rich Klingel (Marion/River Valley), senior defensive lineman Pete Santagate (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) and senior defensive lineman Adam Tate (Chesterhill/Federal Hocking).

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: The OAC has two teams ranked in the d3football.com Top 25: #2 Mount Union and #11 Ohio Northern. Baldwin-Wallace also received votes.

NATIONAL REPRESENTATION: Marietta's roster currently features 93 total student-athletes—51 from Ohio, 12 from Florida, 8 from Pennsylvania, 4 from Texas, 3 from West Virginia, 2 from California, Georgia, Maryland and South Carolina, 1 from Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York.

GETTING OFF TO A QUICK START: Marietta will look to get off to a fast start out of the locker room after struggling in the first half in recent years. The Pioneers were out scored 85-20 in the first quarter and 105-30 in the second quarter of 2009. In 2010, Marietta has been outscored 59-38 in the first quarter and 89-27 in the second quarter. In addition, the Pioneers trail 65-30 in third quarter scoring but lead 65-30 in fourth quarter scoring.

CONTROLLING THE CLOCK: Marietta will look to dominate the time of possession in 2010. Last year, the Pioneers led in time of possession in five games. This year, Marietta will look improve that number and to turn that time into more points on the scoreboard. The Pioneers trailed in time of possession in their first four games this season but have won the clock battle three of the last four weeks.

TURNOVERS: Marietta has worked to improve its turnover margin after struggling in the category in recent years. In 2009, the Pioneers ranked 10th in the OAC and 222nd in NCAA Division III with a -14 turnover margin. Marietta enters week nine with a -1 turnover margin, which ranks sixth in the OAC.

SURE-HANDED SENIOR: Senior Cory Kriechbaum (Marietta/Marietta) now ranks fourth all-time with 136 receptions, 15 catches shy of the Marietta record. He sits fifth with 1,634 career receiving yards.

DON DRUMM STADIUM PROJECT: For more information on the Don Drumm Stadium Project visit http://pioneers.marietta.edu/index.aspx?path=dds. The project is scheduled to be completed in August of 2011.

PUTNAM PUMPERS: On Saturday (Nov. 6), the Putnam Pumpers will be performing a jump roping routine at halftime of Marietta's Senior Day game with Otterbein.

SENIOR DAY: Nov. 6 will be Senior Day for the Marietta football team. The Pioneers will recognize its senior football players, cheerleaders and student athletic trainers before kickoff with Otterbein.