Pioneers begin season Saturday at George Fox University in Oregon

With nine returning starters on offense, expectations are high for Mike Emendorfer's 2016 UW–Platteville football team.

It has now been three years since Emendorfer led the Pioneers to their first-ever postseason berth in 2013, but with the amount of talent returning, UWP could again make a run at the NCAA Division III playoffs this fall.

The usual suspects — preseason WIAC favorite UW–Whitewater (12–1, 6–1 WIAC in 2015) and 2015 WIAC champion UW–Oshkosh (12–2, 7–0 in 2015) — again stand in the way of the Pioneers. The Warhawks, winners of six of the last nine NCAA Division III championships, are the preseason choice to win this year's conference title. UW–Platteville is picked to finish third behind UW–Whitewater and UW–Oshkosh.

UWP will host UW–Whitewater Oct. 1 at 1 p.m. to begin conference play and travel to UW–Oshkosh three weeks later to tangle with the Titans on Oct. 22. But first, UW–Platteville will begin the 2016 season this Saturday at George Fox University in Newberg, Ore., near Portland, Saturday at 3 p.m. central time.

The Bruins are coming off a 4–6 season in just their second year as a reinstated program under coach Chris Casey. George Fox plays in the Northwest Conference, along with perennial DIII top-25 programs Linfield (Ore.) and Pacific Lutheran (Wash).

The Pioneers went 8–2 overall in 2015 and finished 5–2 in the WIAC to finish third.

Coach Mike Emendorfer, who enters his 18th season at UWP with a record of 82–89, will have plenty of offensive weapons to choose from, including an incumbent signal caller in senior Tom Kelly. Kelly completed 198 of 301 passes (65.8%) for 2,635 yards, 28 touchdowns and six interceptions in nine starts as a junior to earn second-team All-WIAC honors.

Kelly's top three targets from a year ago return, seniors Dan Arnold, Quinn Buschbacher and Patrick Sheehan, as does senior running back Kyle Whitman, who rushed for 482 yards and nine TDs as a junior.

Arnold earned first-team All-WIAC honors after leading the team with 921 yards and 12 TDs on 48 catches. Buschbacher hauled in a team-high 61 receptions for 665 yards and seven TDs. Sheehan added 50 receptions for 589 yards and six scores.

The Pioneers also return four starters on the offensive line, senior left tackle Brett Jerdee (first-team All-WIAC), junior right guard Donnie Rydzewski (honorable mention All-WIAC), junior center Ryan Gaul and senior left guard Zach Theis.

Defensively, the Pioneers will have some holes to fill after losing first-team All-WIAC picks Andrew Robinson (43 tackles, 7.5 sacks) and Andrew Belken (team-high 88 tackles), but they do return four starters.

Senior defensive end Austin Young (21 tackles, one sack) was an honorable mention All-WIAC performer last year. Junior linebacker Marty McGrail finished second on the team with 67 tackles. Junior linebacker Jacob Forney made 46 stops and had two sacks and junior cornerback John Hotchkiss finished last year with 32 tackles, one interception. 

UW–Platteville has compiled a 25–7 overall mark and a 16–5 record in the WIAC over the past three seasons while consistently being ranked in the top 15 nationally in the NCAA DIII polls. The Pioneers begin the season ranked No. 12 by D3football.com and No. 22 by The Sporting News.

By Jason Nihles, UW-Platteville Sports Information Assistant