The 2015 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference season is only two months away and it is time to start previewing how the season may go – although it should be known that this will undoubtedly be wrong – and where each team will place in the standings.
Continuing in a series of previews outlining each team in the PSAC, we move on to the eighth-place finisher in the West from 2014 in the Clarion University Golden Eagles. Clarion fell to the bottom of the Western division for the first time since the 2007 season when the Golden Eagles finished with an 0-11 record. In 2014 the Eagles posted a 2-9 record after getting off to a decent 2-1 start. Inexperience and inconsistency were the driving forces of an eight-game losing streak and demise of a program who had looks the last few seasons of starting to creep their way back up the standings.
Breaking down the team into different categories to correctly gauge the outlook for the 2015 season, let’s begin with a look back at the last five years to see how the program has been doing over the last half-decade.
Five-Year Hindsight
2010: 4-7 (3-4) – 7th PSAC West
2011: 3-8 (2-5) – 7th PSAC West
2012: 4-7 (2-5) – 6th PSAC West
2013: 4-7 (2-5) – 7th PSAC West
2014: 2-9 (2-7) – 8th PSAC West
Total record: 17-38 (11-26)
All-PSAC West Team Honorees: 20
PSAC Award Winners: Julian Howsare (2013 PSAC-West Defensive Player of the Year, 2014 PSAC-West Defensive Player of the Year)
2014 Season Review
The Clarion Golden Eagles again struggled to climb the standings of the PSAC West and found themselves at the bottom of the eight-team division for the first time since 2007. Offensive inconsistencies and failure to stop other teams from scoring led to an eight-game losing streak that utterly derailed a 2-1 start to the 2014 campaign under head coach Jay Foster.
The season began against Saint Francis University as the Golden Eagles fell by a score of 27-13 to the FCS member Red Flash. Clarion started the game down 27-0 after the third quarter but were able to shut the Red Flash out and garner 13 points of their own to make it a reasonable margin and set up for a small streak in the next couple of contests.
Facing PSAC Eastern opponents in the next two weeks, Clarion was able to take down Millersville University and Cheyney University – both on the road – to improve their season record to 2-1. But with all good things, there must be an end as Clarion dove right in to the teeth of their PSAC Western division schedule.
Starting off with the season’s home-opener against the Gannon Golden Knights, the Golden Eagles fell by a score of 33-7 and ensued on an offensive downturn that would stretch the next few weeks. Following the loss to Gannon, Clarion followed that up with a trip to Mercyhurst that resulted in a 28-0 loss to bring the record to 2-3. Clarion would finish off the trio of Erie schools with a visit from Edinboro that saw the Clarion offense put up 28 points, but also see their defense give up a season-high 56 to fall to 2-4.
For the rest of the season, Clarion’s outcomes looked quite similar to the Edinboro game: decent offense that can put up points but a defense that cannot hold an opponent down. This showed true in losses to Seton Hill (SHU’s first PSAC West win in team history) and a hard-fought loss that scared then-first-place California before pulling away to a 43-32 victory over the Eagles.
In the final trio of games for the season, Clarion still had a chance to finish with a record just under .500 as they currently sat at 2-6 with a five-game losing streak. First against Indiana University (PA), the Golden Eagles participated in their final road game visiting a team who had also been on a downward slope after starting off hot. IUP ended their skid for the moment though as they glided to a 31-0 victory in the battle of the birds, if you will. With two home contests left, Clarion had a chance by winning both to finish at 4-7, which would be a match to their record three of the last four seasons. But this year the skid continued as Clarion closed with losses to Slippery Rock 45-8 and then Kutztown 41-35. Clarion had a chance in the final game of the year to end with a victory, but failed to score a touchdown in overtime. Only needing an extra point as well after the touchdown to break what would have been a tie, Clarion instead turned the ball over on downs to finish their season.
Following the year, senior defensive end Julian Howsare was named PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year for the second-consecutive season.
Also in the offseason, Clarion moved on from coach Jay Foster and replaced him with offensive coordinator Chris Weibel, a former Clarion quarterback during the late 1990’s. Foster’s greatest accomplishment as head coach came in 2009 when the Golden Eagles finished 8-3 and placed second in the PSAC West standings behind California. Clarion also finished 8th in the super region one regional rankings, placing them just outside of a playoff spot.
Key Returning Players / Recruiting Class
Clarion is returning key pieces on offense under former coordinator and now head coach Chris Weibel. Delrece Williams, now a sophomore at running back, will be the presumed starter after rushing for 370 yards and six touchdowns in his first season as a Golden Eagle. Also back are receivers Matt Lehman (Jr.), Jaron Moorer (Sr.) and Zach Deitrick (Jr.) who combined for over 1,000 receiving yards in 2014. But the most important position returning is at quarterback as Connor Simmons returns looking to improve on a 13 touchdown season while throwing for 1,808 yards. Also competing for the job will be classmate Darelle Carson who threw for 276 yards and one touchdown.
On defense, the loss of Howsare to graduation will be felt, but some key players are back to soften the blow. Senior defensive lineman Kwame Bell returns after putting up eight-and-a-half sacks (second to Howsare-9) as well as senior lineman Brandon Short who led the team with 13.5 tackles-for-loss. Leading tackler Rocco Yauger (Sr.) also returns to the linebacking corps.
The recruiting class for the Golden Eagles was not announced during the national signing period, but the redshirt-freshman who are now on the roster mainly consist of offensive and defensive lineman that will most likely be depth players and have very small chance of impact to the squad immediately.
2015 Preview
The Golden Eagles have talent on both sides of the ball, just ran into consistency issues during the 2014 season that sent them off the rails. If they can focus harder and defeat their own issues, then they should be able to overcome most of the teams on their schedule in 2015.
Their schedule does have some changes, with the opening salvo now against PSAC East competitor Lock Haven, who was formerly in the West and an opponent Clarion had a lot of success over in those years. The only other changes are the designations between home and road contests. Crossover matchups with Millersville and Cheyney are now at home, which should give the Golden Eagles the advantage after wins on the road last season. The PSAC West will still be highly competitive, but teams have lost valuable pieces over the last year and give Clarion a better chance to possibly pull off an upset.
If the Golden Eagles can start hot and continue to ride that success with consistency, then the PSAC may be even deeper than some thought.
2015 Prediction: 4-7 (1-6)* – 7th PSAC West
*Crossovers in the PSAC no longer count to conference record in 2015
The 2015 season for the Clarion Golden Eagles begins on Sept. 3 with a 6:00 p.m. kickoff against Lock Haven on the road. This will be the second time the teams have met up since Lock Haven moved to the PSAC Eastern division three years ago with Clarion winning the first matchup 30-13 in 2013.
To follow along with Clarion football, be sure to visit the PSAC football website as well as the football site for Clarion University.
As always, thank you for reading and continue to look back for more previews of the PSAC football season on the ATL Sports Blog.
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