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Butler Opens 2002 Football Season Against Tiffin
Sept. 3, 2002 OPENING DAY: A new era of Butler football begins this weekend with the debut of Kit Cartwright as the Bulldogs' head coach. Cartwright, who served as the Bulldogs' offensive coordinator for the past four seasons, will lead Butler against first-time foe Tiffin in the season-opener for both teams on Saturday, Sept. 7, at the Butler Bowl. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. Cartwright was named Butler's 23rd head football coach in July, after former coach Ken LaRose left the Bulldogs to enter private business. The new Butler coach boasts 25 years of intercollegiate football coaching experience at 11 different universities, including Purdue, Indiana and Michigan. In his four seasons as Butler's offensive coordinator, he helped the Bulldogs set 10 school offensive records. The Bulldogs are looking to build on last year's 5-5 record and runner-up finish in the Pioneer Football League. Kit Cartwright will be coaching from the sidelines for the first time since 1995, when he was an assistant coach at Michigan. Since then, he's watched his team's play from the pressbox as an offensive coordinator. VETERAN CAST: Butler's head coach is new, but many of the players from last year's squad are back in uniform this season. Cartwright can call on 15 returning starters and 15 additional returning letterwinners when he assembles his starting lineup for the opening test against Tiffin. Included in that group are a pair of returning first-team, all-conference performers - seniors Roman Speron and Kyle Derickson. Speron, Butler's starting tailback last season, rushed for a team-high 637 yards and caught a team-high 47 passes for 418 yards a year ago. Derickson, a returning wide receiver, had 45 receptions for 498 yards last year. Roman Speron became the first player in more than a decade to lead the Bulldogs in both rushing and receiving in the same season last year. QUARTERBACK OPTION: Senior Travis Delph emerged from a preseason, three-way battle at quarterback and will get the starting nod in Butler's season-opener. Delph and sophomores Adam Webb and Ian Nelson were all contending to take over for graduated signal caller and Butler all-time passing leader DeWayne Ewing. Delph, who passed for over 1,500 yards as a senior at Sheridan High School, was the only returning quarterback who previously had taken a varsity snap. "The competition at quarterback was extremely tight, and it wasn't until our final scrimmage that Travis separated himself from the other two. But I feel comfortable with all three quarterbacks and won't hesitate to use any of them." --Head Coach Kit Cartwright TRIPLE THREAT: Butler seniors Roman Speron, Kyle Derickson and Adam Lafferty combined for 131 receptions, 1,676 yards and 11 touchdown catches last season. Speron led the team and ranked fourth in the Pioneer Football League in catches with 47, while Lafferty topped the squad and ranked second in the PFL in receiving yards with 760. Lafferty had six touchdown receptions, Derickson added four and Speron had one. Six of Butler's top eight pass receivers return this season. Senior Adam Lafferty stands 11th on Butler's all-time list for pass receiving yards with 1,413. He's 65 yards shy of Dave Oliver, 1972-75, in the No. 10 position. SECONDARY STRENGTH: Three of Butler's four defensive backfield starters from last year return this season. Heading that group is senior free safety Russ Mann, who wound up as Butler's second-leading tackler last season. Mann had a team-high 47 solo tackles in 2001 and finished with 71 total tackles. He also had two pass interceptions. Junior cornerback Brandon Martin led the team and tied for second in the PFL with five pass interceptions, while senior strong safety Joel Rush finished sixth on the team in tackles with 46. Taking over the other cornerback spot this season will be junior Matt VanDeursen.
BULLDOG BITS:
Senior tailback Dale Jennings is returning to the Bulldogs lineup after a two-year absence. Jennings left Butler after the 1999 season and transferred to Western Kentucky, where he sat out the 2000. He returned to Butler in the spring of 2001 and sat out the 2001 campaign. Jennings was Butler's leading rusher in 1999 with 628 yards and six touchdowns...Senior wide receiver Kyle Derickson needs 51 receiving yards to reach 1,000 yards for his career...Linebacker Craig Kerins, who was the Bulldogs' fourth-leading tackler last season, has returned for a fifth year to complete his final season of eligibility. Kerins graduated last spring but has returned to Butler to work on a master's degree. He sat out his freshman season after suffering a broken leg in a preseason scrimmage. Kerins boasts 148 career tackles...Senior offensive guard Carl Erickson has started 20 consecutive games for the Bulldogs. Senior tackle John Williams, Jr., and junior center Ryan Brocklesby each started all 10 games last season...Senior linebacker Lou Capizzi was named a second team I-AA Mid-Major All-American by Football Gazette last year. He was Butler's third-leading tackler with 65 total tackles, and he led the Bulldogs in quarterback sacks (4) and tackles for loss (7). Capizzi has a streak of 20 consecutive starts for the Bulldogs...Three starters return to Butler's defensive line, led by senior Tim Lytle. The 5-11, 260-pound defensive tackle started all 10 Butler games last fall and wound up eighth on the team with 41 total tackles. Also back are defensive ends John Leininger and Scott Holthaus. Leininger had 31 total tackles last season, while Holthaus had 30. Both players saw action in all 10 Butler games...One graduation and two off-season defections have left the Bulldogs with a completely new kicking game. Placekicker and leading scorer Mario Neto Brocchi graduated last spring, while punter Ashley Place and kickoff specialist Ben Jones opted not to return this season. Sophomore quarterback Ian Nelson will take over the punting chores, while sophomore Matt Taber and freshman Eric Neumeier will share placekicking duties. Only Nelson has previously kicked in a varsity game and that was a single punt.
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