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Head Coach: Curt Cignetti (34-12, 5th year)
Offensive Coordinator: Marty Higgins (1st year)
Defensive Coordinator: Paul Tortorella (21st year)

Five Year History
2014: 6-5
2013: 9-2
2012: 12-2 (PSAC West Champions, PSAC Champions, NCAA Playoffs - regional finals)
2011: 7-3
2010: 6-5



Signs of trouble showed up early last season for the IUP Crimson Hawks. A season opening 41-19 victory over St. Augustine's wasn't as convincing as it looked on the surface. The Falcons actually outgained IUP in total offense 379-357. The following week, Kutztown stunned the PSAC with a dominant 44-7 win over visiting IUP who had just 178 yards of offense and turned the ball over four times. Those would become trends for the rest of the season, which could only be described as a huge disappointment. Turnovers doomed the team many times and destroyed opportunities against some of the league's stronger teams. By season's end, IUP had a 6-5 record and had last four games by double digits. 2015 has to be a rebound year for the PSAC program with the most all time post season appearances and victories.

Obviously there were a lot of growing pains last year. Things should be better this season, but if the Crimson Hawks are going to finish higher than they did a year ago, the offense has to take some big steps forward. Simply put, they have to better at everything. The Crimson Hawks finished 11th in the 16 team PSAC in scoring, total offense and passing offense. The normally brutish rushing attack was respectable, but not par with previous seasons in finishing 6th in the conference. Most alarmingly, the Hawks gave the ball away 26 times last year (18 INT, 8 fumbles). To improve in 2015, ball security is the first place to start.

Chase Haslett, who has to take a good amount of responsibility for the turnover problems, is back for a second year as the starting quarterback. The second generation Crimson Hawk threw 15 interceptions last year, second most in the PSAC. But it wasn't all bad for Haslett. 60% on pass attempts is a respectable threshold and 233 yards per game is pretty good for an offense that traditionally favors the run. Haslett looks to be favored as the starter heading into the year but with Temple transfer Lenny Williams now on the roster, there is much less margin for error. Williams finished high school as the WPIAL's all-time leader in career passing yards. The competition should push both players to be better but will definitely put pressure on Haslett to perform.

The quarterback should be able to get good support from the rushing attack. The top two rushers from 2014 will both be back, led by surprise breakout performer Luigi Lista-Brinza (187 carries, 846 yards, 10 TD). Chris Temple (95 carries, 444 yards) is also back, and so is Izzy Green who was only able to play in five games last year but averaged 5.9 yards on 25 carries. Look for a much bigger year from him. Up front, there is a mixture of good news and bad news. Three starters return to the offensive line led by Jr. Ethan Cooper who started every game last year and earned second team All-PSAC West. Massive senior Jorge Vicioso enters his third season as a starter and So. Dan Charmo will slot into a full time starting position after making eight starts as a freshman. After those three, the level of experience drops off quite a bit. Juniors Ed Bier (1 start in 2014) and Tony Morgante should be ready to compete for starting jobs but the rest of the depth chart will be filled out by freshmen so any injuries in the front five could be devastating.

Building out the depth chart are receiver will be a challenge. Sophomore Walt Pegues finished second on the team last season with 45 catches and he should have no problem stepping up to the #1 spot vacated by Drew Carswell. But after Pegues, the team's next most utilized returning receiver had four catches. That player is TE Kevin Edwards, who should be used much more frequently this coming season. The Crimson Hawks have good size in redshirt freshmen Swanhneek Brown (6'3") and Miles Williamson (6'4"), but neither has any game experience to this point.

The outlook for defense is a bit better. IUP "slipped" last year on the defensive side as they dipped to 3rd in the PSAC in scoring defense and 2nd in total defense. I will be a little surprised if they don't reclaim #1 status in both categories this year. The rotation in the defensive front looks very solid. DT Karon Gibson is a preseason All American and a dominant force in the interior. Gibson finished third on the team in total tackles last year (54) and led the team with 6 sacks. Those are pretty high numbers for an interior lineman. Jeff Palmer (25 total tackles) and Jemal Averette (38 total tackles, 7.5 TFL) were supporting players last year but will figure into the starting lineup and see more reps this year. Mathew Mowad has an explosive first step and is receiving preseason attention at defensive end after playing in every game last year and making three starts. At linebacker, you'd be hard pressed to find a better pair in D2 than Kevin Clarke and Dorian Lane. Clarke earned first team All-PSAC West and is a preseason All American. The junior finished second in the PSAC with 117 total tackles. Lane missed most of 2014 due to injury but was an All-Conference player in 2013. The secondary is very deep with returning starters Steve Franco, Takhi Turner, Ackeno Robertson and Allen Wright. Also coming back after missing 2014 is Eric Williams who was an standout safety in 2013.

The Final Word
The defense should be the best in PSAC. I'll be surprised if it isn't. The Hawks are picked in the middle of the PSAC West because of last year's struggles (and the fact that the West is very deep) but If the offense can come together and improve in a few key areas (mostly turnovers) the Crimson Hawks could have a great opportunity to exceed everyone's expectations.