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Did you ever wonder why players trip over the 30-yard line, why Thiel's defense was once called "The Dark Side" or how Andrew Smith was able to engineer the Tomcats to a quadruple overtime win over the Westminster Titans in 2013?
 
WELCOME TO THE GRAVEYARD AT ALUMNI STADIUM. Believed to be one of just two NCAA Division III football fields with a graveyard in the background, Alumni Stadium has seen more than its fair share of spook-tacular plays over the years, with the scary play coming by visiting teams, of course. Some even say the land is haunted.
 
Some questions can be answered.
 
For example, The Dark Side, drawn from the Star Wars series, was brought to Thiel from Allegheny College by then head football coach Jack Leipheimer '74.
 
"It embodied the physicality that I wanted them to play with," Leipheimer said. "I wanted them to play with a reckless abandon, the nastiness affiliated with dark, bad things."
 
As for how defensive lineman/place kicker Cody McClelland scooped up the ball after a botched field goal try in overtime against the Geneva Golden Tornadoes in 2012 and threw a game-winning touchdown pass, while blanketed by defenders, to Behrend Grube, well, some questions can't be answered.
 
One question Thiel will need to answer Saturday is how to have success throwing the ball. The Yellow Jackets aren't exactly a take-away defense - they have just two interceptions on the season - but are allowing a conference-low 161.6 yards per game in the air.
 
Should the Tomcats have trouble throwing the ball, they should have an advantage in the running game. Waynesburg allows an average of 211.6 yards per game on the ground, the second most in the PAC. Thiel ranks fifth in the conference in rushing offense with an average of 196.5 yards per game. Tomcat running back Nick Barca (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) ran for a season-best 153 yards on 24 carries against CMU last Saturday. He also scored three touchdowns on the ground. Quarterback Ryan Radke (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster Central) also ran for 106 yards on 18 totes and scored a rushing touchdown.
 
Radke's top target against CMU was freshman wide receiver Jaquan Hicks (Ware Shoals, S.C./Ware Shoals), who caught nine passes for 123 yards. Hicks went on to be named the PAC Rookie of the Week for his efforts.
 
EDITOR'S NOTE: A special thanks goes out to Grant Gawronski '84 for suggesting the re-branding of Alumni Stadium as The Graveyard.