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Gridiron Gang Ready To Lift Lid on 102nd Season Saturday at Home

Greco's Season Preview Interview

WEST CHESTER, PA - West Chester University opens its 102nd season of intercollegiate athletics with a new beginning as the Golden Rams welcome the 16th head coach in school history, Duke Greco, to the program.

Greco has the unenviable task of trying to replace not only a legend in coaching, but the school's all-time winningest mentor. Now, he must carve his own niche into the storied tradition of West Chester University football and put his own stamp on the institution.

And for Greco, a new chapter is about to be written as well. For the last 25 years, Delaware Valley University was all that the veteran head coach has known. He was a quarterback there while in college earning his degree. Then, he got into coaching with his alma mater as a an assistant after graduation, He eventually worked his way up to Offensive Coordinator, and when DelVal's head coach left for greener pastures 11 years ago, Greco was given the head job.

The cupboard certainly wasn't left bare for the new regime. Greco and his staff, comprised of a mix between Bill Zwaan Sr.'s staff and a handful of assistants who followed Greco over to West Chester, inherit a very talented squad.

The quarterback situation was settled in camp, and Cooper Jordan enters his third season as QB1. Ethan Kohler pushed Jordan for that top spot and is coming off an excellent camp in his own right. Dayshawn Jacobs finally looks healthy and ready to assume the RB1 role as well.

Listen to head coach Duke Greco's take on the 2024 Golden Rams' season and his outlook for the year in the link above.

WEST CHESTER vs. BENTLEY
Game Details: 12:00 p.m. | Saturday, Sep. 7
Location: West Chester, Pa. | John A. Farrell Stadium
Tickets: WCUPATIX.com
Game Links: Watch | Listen | Live Stats
Web Stream: Sports Fan Base Network (SFBN)
Radio: 95.3 WCHE
Game Program: Here
West Chester Links: News | Roster | Schedule
Bentley Links: News | Roster | Schedule 

GOLDEN RAMS OPEN 102nd GRIDIRON CAMPAIGN AGAINST BENTLEY
• West Chester opens the season inside John A. Farrell Stadium vs. Bentley on Sep. 7.
• The game will air on SFBN, with Mike Materacky (PxP), and Andrew Daley (analyst) on the call.
• The Sep. 7 opener is the latest starting date since 2019 (a 14-7 win at home against Bentley).
• West Chester is going for its seventh win in the last eight years in its season opener. All six of the last seven season openers have come against Bentley (6-1).

WCU GAME DAY INFORMATION
• Tickets are still available for West Chester's season opener. Visit WCUPATIX.com to get yours today. Tickets are $10 general admission and $7 for senior citizens. Gates open 90 minutes before kickoffFans are highly encouraged to purchase your tickets in advance online and print them out on your home computer to avoid long lines at the ticket windows.
• Spectators can visit West Chester University's Football Game Day Information page for tailgating policy and bag-check policy at John A. Farrell Stadium as well as much more useful tips for attending football games on South Campus.

GOLDEN RAMS IN HOME OPENERS
• West Chester holds a 29-9-1 record in season-opening contests played at home.
• Since John A. Farrell Stadium was built in 1970, West Chester is 12-6 in season starters. 
• West Chester is 13-6 when starting the season against a Northeast-10 opponent. That mark moves to 8-3 when the Golden Rams open at home against a NE-10 opponent.
 
WCU HEAD COACHES IN PURPLE & GOLD DEBUT
• The 2024 campaign marks the dawn of a new era in West Chester football since head coach Duke Greco took the reins of the program in January.
• The last three head coaches in WCU history (Bill Zwaan, Rick Daniels and Danny Hale) each won their debuts for the Golden Rams. A new West Chester head coach has not lost their debut since 1979. 
• WCU head coaches are 10-5 in their debuts. That record does not include W. Glenn Killinger's and Bert Hall's first games of their second stints on the Golden Rams' sideline.
• Bob Mitten is the only former WCU mentor who did not make his debut in a season opener. He took over for Jim Bonder in 1965 after Bonder passed away in the middle of the season.

SERIES HISTORY
• West Chester and Bentley will meet for the eighth time with all seven previous meetings serving as the lid-lifter for that respective campaign. The Golden Rams are 6-1 against the Falcons all-time.
• West Chester is undefeated at home against Bentley (3-0) in those previous seven showdowns, and the Golden Rams bring a two-game winning streak in the series into Saturday's opener.
• West Chester's 20-19 victory last season in Waltham, Mass., was the slimmest margin of victory in the series.

LAST TIME VS. BENTLEY (SEPT. 2, 2023 – WALTHAM, MASS.)
• West Chester engineered a 71-yard drive in 44 seconds that resulted in a 7-yard touchdown run from Jayden Williams with 53 seconds left to come from behind and beat Bentley, 20-19, at Falcon Stadium. It marked the second straight year that the Golden Rams defeated the Falcons by one point in its season opener.
• West Chester never led in the contest until that go-ahead TD run by Williams in the final minute of the game. D'Shaun Seals caught a 45-yard pass, and Jonathan Haynes caught a 25-yard pass, on that final drive that set up Williams' heroics. It was quarterback Cooper Jordan's second fourth quarter game-winning drive in his career.
• Jordan finished 18-for-26 for a career-high 299 yards passing and a touchdown. Jordan also rushed for 84 yards on 16 carries.
• Linebacker Connor Noble led the team with nine tackles, including seven on the Falcons' final drive of the game, and Shane Mosley registered eight stops. Mosley knocked down a pass on Bentley's final play of the game to secure the win.
 
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