College Football Preview: Ursinus Bears
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Division III Ursinus College Bears are hoping to be right in the thick of the battle for the Centennial Conference crown here in 2015.
Ursinus is coming off a solid 7-3 (6-3 in the Centennial) 2014 season and the Bears were picked to finish third this year in the Centennial preseason poll.
This will be head coach Pete Gallagher's 15th season at the helm in Collegeville and the winningest coach in program history is pleased with how the preseason has gone.
"Camp has been good," Gallagher tells KYW Newsradio. "It's been a pretty ferocious pace as we open September 3rd, on a Thursday night. So we've been at it pretty good and now we've got a scrimmage coming up (Wednesday) night. So we're excited about moving forward and kind of shifting gears from camp mode into game preparation mode at this point."
Listen to the entire interview with Ursinus head coach Pete Gallagher:
The Bears have one of the most dominant defensive lineman in the region, if not in all of Division III, in senior Steve Ambs. A native of Pottstown, the 6-2, 245-pound Ambs last season led the Centennial with 12 sacks, 20 1/2 tackles for loss and three fumble recoveries.
"Steve's a big physical kid that can run and he's athletic," Gallagher says. "Whether it is rushing the passer, he can adjust our defense, he can pass drop, he can pursue to the football. And he brings an excitement to our defense and he's an outstanding leader of those guys on that side of the ball and does an excellent job getting the kids ready to go. Running to the ball, making plays for sure, he's a playmaker. But his leadership skills are as good as well."
On offense, the Bears lost quarterback Kevin Monahan to graduation. He threw for 2,089 yards and 17 touchdowns last season. Gallagher says they have a good competition going on to find their starter under center for this season.
"We feel very fortunate that we've got three kids that we really feel that we could go into a varsity game with," Gallagher says. "Nick Lundholm right now is a senior for us, was one of our leading receivers last year, and he looks like he is out in front right now. (Junior) Sal Bello has had an outstanding camp and certainly has demonstrated that he can run our offense and sophomore Jimmy Emmett has also demonstrated that he is becoming varsity ready for us."
The running game will be keyed by junior Corey Kelly and sophomore Jimmy Hickey. Kelly rushed for 562 yards and nine touchdowns last season while Hickey added 149 yards and two scores.
"I think the key for us, for our offense, defense, kicking units, is to go out and just play loose, play fast and just play our style," Gallagher says. "Be at our best when situations are at their worst. We have a mature football team here. We have bright, intelligent kids that certainly understand the game and we're going to use that to our advantage."
The season opener for Ursinus on September 3rd will be on the road at Division II Millersville.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
