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WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The No. 13/16 Washington & Jefferson football team can capture at least a share of its 24th Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship and the school's 24th NCAA Division III postseason appearance with a win at Thiel (3-5, 2-4) on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m.

The Series: This week marks the 68th all-time meeting between Thiel and Washington & Jefferson with the Presidents holding a 43-22-2 edge. W&J has won the last eight in the series by an average of 18.4 points. Since 1982, W&J holds a 31-1 record against the Tomcats, with the lone setback occurring in overtime during the 2005 season. 

The Head Coaches: Mike Sirianni (Mount Union, '94) owns a 109-24 (.820) record at W&J in his 12th season as head coach. The five-time PAC Coach of the Year and two-time South Region Coach of the Year (2004, 2012) is fourth among all active NCAA coaches in winning percentage (minimum of 10 years). The Presidents have made 10 postseason appearances under Sirianni. Kurt Reiser (Allegheny, '93) is in his sixth season at the helm in Greenville and enters this weekend's match-up with a 12-46 (.207) career record. He was an assistant at Thiel for eight seasons under current-AD Jack Leipheimer, serving as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator prior to being named head coach.

W&J vs. The PAC: W&J holds a 319-134-10 (.700) winning percentage against current football-playing members of the Presidents' Athletic Conference. Washington & Jefferson has claimed 23 PAC Championships throughout the history of the league. W&J is 61-10 (.859) in conference games since Sirianni took over in 2003.
The Last Meeting (Sept. 28, 2013 - W&J 32, Thiel 19): The W&J defense forced three key turnovers which led to 14 points and helped W&J to a 32-19 Homecoming win over Thiel in the 2013 home opener. The game marked the first career start for QB Pete Coughlin who completed 16-of-23 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown and rushed 11 times for 54 yards and a score. Seven of his completions went to Alex Baroffio who recorded 104 yards and a TD. Dion Wiegand finished one yard shy of the century mark with 99 yards and two TDs on 21 carries. Jared Pratt made a team-best 12 tackles in the win, with Anthony Tutino posting 2.0 TFL and Sam Comly and BJ Monacelli each picking off a pass.

Scouting Thiel: The Tomcats rank fourth in the PAC in offense at 375.1 yards and 27.0 points per game. Defensively, Thiel is seventh in total defense at 381.5 yards allowed and 10th in scoring, surrendering 33.8 points per game. Thiel possesses the ball for 33:40 per game, first in the PAC. QB Ryan Radke is the fourth leading rusher (86.6 ypg) and passer (205.8 ypg) in the PAC. He has completed 51.5 percent (134-260) on passes for 1,646 yards and 15 TDs to 10 INTs. RB Taylor Fink is eight at 58.4 rushing yards per game. WR Marcus Johnson is fourth at 75.4 receiving yards per game (603 total) with seven touchdowns. The majority of his damage has come in three monster performances in Thiel's last three games (7-168-2 vs Westminster, 10-210-2 vs Waynesburg and 7-165-3 vs CMU). Defensively, Wes Schmidt is sixth in the PAC at 9.1 tackles per game and Jack Sindlinger is 8th at 8.9 tpg. Tom Thorpe (sacks) and Reily Shane (TFL) rank fourth in the league in their respective categories at 5.5 and 14.0.

700 Club: The Presidents joined the illustrious NCAA 700 Win Club with a 48-30 win over Carnegie Mellon on Sept. 20. In this the 123rd season of varsity football, W&J has amassed a .643 winning percentage (705-383-40). Only two other NCAA Division III programs have reached 700 wins (Mount Union and Wittenberg). W&J became just the 25th program in all NCAA divisions to reach 700 all-time wins.

Complete list, updated Nov. 4:
914    Michigan
882    Yale
881    Notre Dame 
879    Texas
873    Nebraska
856    Ohio State
848    Oklahoma
845    Alabama
845    Harvard 
829    Penn 
808    Tennessee
803    Princeton
802    Southern California
773    Georgia
760    LSU
736    Mount Union 
734    Penn State
734    Wittenberg 
733    Auburn
718    West Virginia
708    Virginia Tech
707    Syracuse
707    Texas A&M
707    Georgia Tech
705    Washington & Jefferson

30 and Counting: W&J boasts 30-consecutive winning seasons as a football program. The Presidents 30 winning seasons rank fourth among all divisions of NCAA football behind Linfield (58), Florida State (37) and Mount Union (35). The last time W&J did not post a winning record was 1983 (3-5-1). That year, the top-grossing movie was Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, the top single was "Every Breath You Take" by The Police, a first-class stamp cost $0.20, and a gallon of regular gas cost $1.24.

House Recognition: The Pennsylvania House of Representatives recently approved a resolution titled 'House Resolution 1073' that honors the Washington & Jefferson football team. It was introduced by state representative Brandon Neuman, who represents the 48th Legislative District in Washington County, and was unanimously approved. "Washington & Jefferson is a juggernaut in college football," said Neuman, a former college football player at the University of Richmond. "The school's football program is the 25th team in all National Collegiate Athletic Association divisions, and only the third NCAA Division III school, to reach 700 wins."

Novembers to Remember: The Presidents own a 28-8 record under Sirianni in the month of November, including a 15-3 mark at home.

Poll Us: W&J continues to climb in the national polls, coming in at No. 13 in the latest American Football Coaches Association Top 25 poll. The Presidents also moved up from No. 17 to No. 16 in the D3football.com Top 25 poll. The Presidents are ranked fourth in the South Region in the first edition of the NCAA Division III Regional Rankings released on Weds., Nov. 5.

Crazy Eights: W&J's 8-0 start marks the 11th time in school history that the Presidents have started out a season with eight-straight wins. W&J has begun the season with an 8-0 record four times this century (2001, 2004, 2007). Since 1990, Washington & Jefferson has started the season with a 8-0 record nine times (including this season) and have made the Division III playoffs in each season. Seven of the eight teams since 1990 that started out 8-0 won at least one game in the Division III playoffs, including 1992's Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl Team. The Presidents lone first-round defeat was a 35-34 overtime setback against North Carolina Wesleyan.

Ball Control: W&J is 22-3 when not committing a turnover under Sirianni. All three losses have come in the NCAA playoffs (2013, 2010 Mount Union; 2007 N.C. Wesleyan).

Play with a Lead: W&J is 86-3 when leading at halftime during Sirianni's tenure. Oct. 25th's 34-24 win over Case Western Reserve was the only time this season the Presidents did not hold a lead through 30 minutes (trailed 9-6).

Can't Stop, Won't Stop: The Presidents have scored points in 30-of-32 (.938) quarters through eight games and have been shutout in a half zero times. The only periods that W&J has failed to light the scoreboard were the opening quarter of the season against Wooster and the second quarter against Case Western Reserve.

Home Sweet Home: W&J has now finished the regular season undefeated and untied at home 46 times thanks to last weekend's 51-12 win over Geneva.

Fast and Furious: The W&J offense has run 155 more plays than its opponents through eight games (713-558). The Presidents ran just 79 plays against Geneva, marking the fewest total this season. The previous lowest total was 86 against Carnegie Mellon.

Never Slow Down: W&J boasts the No. 3 offense in the nation according to total offense (535.0 yards per game). W&J is also sixth in NCAA Division III at 47.5 points per game.

National Leader: Junior RB Ryan Ruffing leads all NCAA Divisions in scoring at 18.0 points per game. His 21 rushing touchdowns are first in Division III. With1,158 total yards, he ranks sixth in Division III on the ground.

Workhorse: Ruffing has topped 100 yards in eight-straight games to start the season, the longest such streak under Sirianni. He matches the record for consecutive 100-yard performances in a season during Sirianni's tenure set by Ryan Mendel in 2006. Ruffing has carried 234 times so far this season. The school record is 372 by Hall of Famer Chris Babirad in 1992 and the top figure under Sirianni's tutelage is 294 by Mendel in '06.

Targets Acquired: W&J has three wide receivers with 39 or more catches, 500-plus yards and five-plus TDs (Daniel Lis, 49-577-6; Max Creighan, 45-522-5; Jesse Zubik, 39-529-6). The last time W&J had three receivers with 500-plus yards and five-plus TDs was 2008 when David Ravida (86-956-8), Craig Besong (75-1186-16) and Luke Espe (67-803-8) accomplished the feat in 13 games when the season ended with an NCAA Quarterfinals loss at Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Give the Rook' a Look: Freshman WR Jesse Zubik earned his third ECAC Division III Southwest Rookie of the Week award after two of his three catches went for touchdowns including an 80-yard catch-and-run. He finished with 101 yards receiving, his third total 100-yard game and second straight. His rookie numbers (39-529-6) have already surpassed all-time leading receiver Alex Baroffio's numbers in 11 games during his freshman year in 2010 (30 rec., 372 yards, 4 TD).

Three Bills: Sophomore QB Pete Coughlin has already topped 300 yards passing four times this season, the most since W&J Hall of Famer Bobby Swallow did it five times in 2008. The four games over 300 is tied for third in the Sirianni-era with Swallow's 2007 season. Chris Edwards has the most since 2003 with seven games of 300-plus yards passing in 2005.

Shut 'Em Down: The W&J defense has not allowed a point in 43.8 percent (14-of-32) quarters this season and 31.3 percent (5-of-16) halves.

D-Fence: The Presidents have held their opponents under 300 yards of total offense in each of the last four games: Grove City - 201; Bethany - 232; Case Western Reserve - 271; Geneva - 251.

Sacked Lunch: Junior DE Jon Turner garnered PAC and ECAC Southwest Defensive Player of the Week honors after posting 3.5 sacks as part of his nine tackles last week against Geneva. It marks a single-game career high for Turner and matches his career high for TFL (also 3.5 against Wooster this year). Entering play this weekend, Turner is second in the PAC and third in NCAA Division III with 1.25 sacks per game. He ranks third in the league and 19th in the nation at 1.9 TFL per game.

Run Away: Senior LB Jared Pratt leads W&J and the PAC with 87 tackles, 70 of which have come on rushing plays, more than double the second-closest Presidents (Ryan Torrance and Turner each have 33). Pratt has been in double digits for stops five times and led the Presidents in tackles five times this season. He has been in double digits nine times in 19 career games.

Saturday Special: A total of 24 W&J players have made at least one tackle on special teams this season. After a five-tackle showing on kickoff coverage last weekend, junior Anthony Tutino leads the team with 15 stops on special teams. The five stops are tied for the most on special teams in a game this season for W&J as sophomore Luke Merhaut made five ST tackles against Bethany. Freshman Jordan Yates is second with 13 ST tackles, despite missing the majority of the last three games.