Return to playoffs is goal for W&J
They learned words such as “Ciao,” “Grazie,” “Por favore,” and “Prego.”
And none of them had to do with football.
A large chunk of the football team at Washington & Jefferson spent 10 days in Italy, with the NCAA’s blessing, touring the region of Tuscany and visiting such places as the Colosseum and Pantheon in Rome. The trip was capped with a football game – American style – against the Ancona Dolphins, a club team in the Italian League
The NCAA permits teams in every sport to make such trips once every three years. The requirements include scheduling the event during the summer vacation period or during any other vacation period, such as Christmas break.
“I learned some Italian words that you can’t put in the paper,” joked W&J head coach Mike Sirianni.
The Presidents won the game, 55-13, and got a taste of some of the foibles of European-style football. Ancona’s nickname might be related to the NFL Miami Dolphins. The uniforms resembled those of the University of Miami.
“The strangest thing was that we were playing against 40-year-old men,” said quarterback Pete Coughlin. “Their oldest player was like 45. It was kind of weird because they were like my dad’s age and it was like playing against him.”
Sirianni said his only regret was he didn’t do this sooner.
“The game was secondary,” he said. “We didn’t do it to get extra practices. We did it for the experience. I’m Italian and the head football coach so that’s how I picked it. There was no voting. I’ve always wanted to do it and it was a great job.”
After a slow start – by his standards – Coughlin finished strong last season. Over the final six games, Coughlin completed 122 of 154 attempts, a 79.2 completion percentage, for 1,915 yards with 18 touchdowns and no interceptions. He passed for 300 or more yards four times in that span.
But those numbers didn’t soothe the pain of not making the postseason.
“Everyone knows that last year was not what we wanted,” said Coughlin. “This year, we have a chip on our shoulder because we probably won’t be the favorite (to win the conference). That made us work that much harder to answer the call and make the playoffs.”
The Presidents lost a huge chunk of their offense with the graduation of tailback Ryan Ruffing, who rushed for 1,227 and had 1,552 total yards. Ruffing led Division III rushers with 56 career touchdowns and was amazingly reliable with the football. He fumbled just one time in 592 touches over the past two seasons. David Kincaid, a senior from Chartiers-Houston High School, will get first shot at replacing Ruffing. Kincaid rushed for 152 on 34 carries and scored a touchdown.
Another major loss was wide receiver Daniel Lis, another Chartiers-Houston graduate who caught 57 passes for 608 yards and four touchdowns. Eric Scott (41-509-6) is also departed, meaning the Presidents must replace 126 receptions for 1,442 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Fortunately, the Presidents’ leading receiver, Jesse Zubik, is back. He caught 55 passes for team highs in yardage (1,054) and touchdowns (9). He averaged 117 yards receiving per game and had three games with more than 150 yards, including a season-high 194 against Case Western Reserve.
“All I know is this: We have one of the best players in the country on our team at quarterback, who is an experienced player,” said Sirianni. “Over the last five games last season, he was playing as good as, if not better than, anyone in the conference, maybe even the country. He’s back. So when you have him, you have a chance to beat anyone on our schedule and anyone we may face later.”
W&J brings back eight starters on defense, but a new coordinator in Vince Luvara, who replaces Shawn Rohrer. The strength of the defense should be at linebacker, where Ryan Torrance, Zach Walker and Lucas Parrish return. Tim Blair returns to a secondary that allowed only 177 passing yards per game and had 12 interceptions.
“Last year we had a very experienced team coming back and it was a very disappointing season – even though we won eight games – because we had some high expectations,” said Sirianni.
“When you have an experienced team coming back, it brings expectations up. When you don’t, people don’t think you’re going to be as good. Some of my better teams were when people could look at us and say, ‘Who knows what they’re going to have?'”