UW-Whitewater Warhawks Football Preview

After winning the 2013 National Championship against the other Division III power in Mount Union pretty easily (even though I expected Whitewater to score 38-48 points in that game with how bad Mount Union's defense was the second half of their season).  Let me just say one thing though, I feel way more confident about the 2014 Warhawks than I did with last year's team.  Last year, I was asking questions like who will be the clear number one running back and will that offense line that was so inexperienced be able to protect the quarterback. Well, thankfully those questions were answered.  Now onto the 2014 Warhawk Football season, offensively they return basically everything.  Senior Quarterback Matt Behrendt is back under center after an incredible first full season at quarterback last year where he threw for 40 touchdowns and just 1 interception (which was a pick six against UW-Platteville).  He returns with some of the weapons he had last year including his go-to guy in Jake Kumerow, an explosive Justin Howard, and hopefully healthy Joe Worth.  It will be interesting however who they replace Tyler Huber, Steve Morris, and Zach Howard with to fill the depth lost there. At the tight end position, Derric Junakin is back as the number one tight end along with a backup that made some key catches in the playoffs in Logan Solano.  At the running back spot, what was so cluttered at the beginning of the year last year has become a position of depth. It will be interesting to see what sophomore running back Jordan Ratliffe does with a full season as the number one back. The other sophomore back in Booker Ross should man the #2 spot on the depth chart along with Ryan Givens at the #3 spot at the position. The question is how Nick Patterson and Dennis Moore will bounce back after injury riddled seasons a year ago and where they will fit in the depth chart at running back. They also return starting fullback Kyle Christensen as well. I feel a lot more confident about the offensive line with how they improved last year throughout the season and they return the whole starting offensive line from last year's squad led by the senior Lucas Skibba. Now onto the defense, which was the best in the Division III last year.  Starting with the defensive front, they lost a big piece to graduation in former Stagg Bowl MVP Loussaint Minnett. So now that line will be anchored by senior Mykaell Bratchett. At the other two spots in the Warhawks 3-4 scheme are most likely going to be John Flood, Zach Franz, and Kenosha Bradford product Kevon Clunis. That defensive line will do OK even with the loss of Minnett. Now I'm going to move to the secondary, which is going to be the strength of the Warhawks defense this season. Starting at corner are two of Division III's best and both should be in the running for All-American honors this year in Marcus McLin and Brady Grayvold (who had a school record of 9 INT's last year). They have some good depth behind that with Zach Nellis and Ryan Givens (who could play both sides of the ball this season, but could be used more on defense with how much depth they have at running back). Now to the safety spot, they got some depth there with Dylan Morang and Ryan Winske starting at those spots.  The biggest question on defense is replacing the linebacker corps. of Ryan Cortez, Kyle Wismer, Josh Williams, and the Gagliardi award finalist in Cole Klotz. That will be the tough task for head coach Lance Leipold to find out. I would expect juniors Spencer Jacque and Justin Dischler to lead the charge at those spots. The other two spots who knows who we could see to fill the rest of the linebackers out.  On special teams, the Warhawks will have a slight adjustment to make but not really big at all in having Lake Bachar getting the kicking duties.  Head coach Lance Leipold is also on the verge of some big milestones in his head coaching career as he is three wins away from becoming third in the program's history in wins as a coach as he'll pass Chick Agnew on that list. That will leave him with only Forest Perkins (190 wins) and his predecessor Bob Berezowitz (158 wins) to pass in the wins category. With that being said, I expect the Warhawks to win the conference easier than last year because they have the easiest schedule out of the teams in WIAC this year.  Some of the teams in the WIAC have absolutely brutal schedules. When you look at Whitewater's schedule, it looks a lot easier than what the other teams in the conference have.  Off the bat, one game to me sticks out as a possible tough game with the Franklin game because they were in the playoffs last year.  Conference wise, the toughest game for the Warhawks would be against UW-Platteville because the Pioneers still have some pieces coming back unlike with UW-Oshkosh where they lost both their quarterback Nick Olla and their running back Cole Myrha. Those guys on the Oshkosh of things will be tough to replace, UW-Platteville still have their running back from last year in Andy Puccini and they also return nine starters from their defense last year.  They still have a tough task in replacing John Kelly at Quarterback, but their back up from last year, Bryce Corrigan, got some valuable time last year when Kelly was hurt.  I think UW-Platteville and UW-Oshkosh could still be up there despite losing some big pieces. In my opinion, UW-Platteville would have the better chance of getting an at large bid for the playoffs than Oshkosh because of what they have coming back.  It could be tough for the WIAC to have two playoff teams this year with the schedules some of those teams have. Come playoff time, Whitewater will be back and with how dangerous they are should be back in the Stagg Bowl against possibly Mount Union (or someone else that Purple Raider defense was horrid that second half of their season).