On last night’s edition of Hawk Talk on Renda Digital TV and U92 Radio, IUP coach Paul Tortorella discussed Saturday’s dominant win over Shippensburg and looked ahead to the PSAC West opener this Saturday at Mercyhurst.
IUP actually trailed 7-0 on Saturday and led only 14-7 at the half before they got rolling. Tortorella said a big part of the slow starts so far this season has been that some of the key players on the offense were not even with the team in spring ball, so they haven’t played a lot together.
The coach says Mercyhurst might not have flashy defensive stats but they have played against some high-powered offenses, including the nation’s top-ranked team, Ferris State, and one of the PSAC’s best offenses in Kutztown.
IUP sophomore defensive end Cole Weightman is the PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Week. Weightman made six tackles (four solo), had a strip sack, and a pair of quarterback hurries in the game. The strip sack was recovered by IUP’s Jay Holmes, who returned it for a touchdown in the second quarter. IUP recovered four Shippensburg fumbles in the game.
Slippery Rock’s Kyle Sheets and Cal’s Eric Willis III are the offensive co-athletes of the week in the West. The special teams athlete of the week is Edinboro’s Reed Martin.
In the East, the players of the week are Lock Haven running back Chris Collier on offense, East Stroudsburg safety TJ Harris on defense, and Shepherd’s Cameron Dorner on special teams.
