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THIS WEEK: Bolstered by its first win of the season, Azusa Pacific returns to the road for the first of 3 consecutive games away from the "Canyon City." The Cougars stay within the Wisconsin system and visit University of Wisconsin-Stevens Points for a 1 p.m. (CDT) game.

RETURN TO WISCONSIN: For the third consecutive year Azusa Pacific is headed to Wisconsin. In 2006 the Cougars visited national power Wisconsin-Whitewater. Last year, they dropped in on Wisconsin-La Crosse , and this year it’s a visit to Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Like Azusa Pacific, schools in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference face challenges in filling their schedules and thus are forced to play schools outside their region. Out of those of difficulties, Azusa Pacific has formed a relationship with the Wisconsin schools.

REFRESHED & ENCOURAGED: Azusa Pacific returns to the road for the start of 3 straight games away from home. Yet, this time a rejuvenated set of Cougars encouraged by their first win of the season heads to Stevens Points to face an undefeated UWSP that has already knocked off a pair of NAIA teams (Webber International, Iowa Wesleyan) by a combined 68-28 score.

RADIO: The Azusa Pacific-UW-Stevens Point game can be heard live on Internet radio at www.b1049.com. Scott Kruger and Ken Kulick of UWSP radio will call the game.

TICKETS: Tickets for the Azusa Pacific-Wisconsin-Stevens Point game can be purchased through the UWSP ticket office (715-346-4100) at prices of $7 for adults and $4.50 for students.

DIRECTIONS: From Milwaukee/Madison, take the I-39/US 51 north. Get off at Exit 158B (Highway 10 West). Follow Highway 10 west into town about 1.5 miles. Turn right onto Minnesota Ave. Goerke Field is one block ahead on the left side of Minnesota Ave.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: Neither Azusa Pacific nor Wisconsin-Stevens Point is nationally-ranked in the association polls.

vs. NCAA DIII: Since 1996, Azusa Pacific is 42-11 vs. NCAA Division III teams with the majority of those victories coming at the expense of Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference members. The Cougars have won 17 of the past 22 meetings vs. DIII teams, which includes a 30-14 victory over Trinity University (Texas) in 2004 to snap the Tigers’ 43-game regular-season home winning streak. Azusa Pacific had won 13 straight over DIII teams until Wisconsin-Whitewater’s 27-7 defeat of the Cougars in 2006.

SERIES NOTES: This is the first-ever meeting between Azusa Pacific and Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The Cougars are 1-3 vs. UWSP’’s conference mates, having dropped a contest at UW-Whitewater in 2006 and then losing 2 of 3 vs. UW-La Crosse.

vs. THE POINTERS: Though Wisconsin-Stevens Point was a longtime member of the NAIA before dropping membership in the 1990s, this is only the second athletic meeting ever between Azusa Pacific and the UW-Stevens Point. In 1997, the Cougar softball team swept a doubleheader from UWSP by scores of 1-0 and 9-1 in Azusa in the only other encounter between the 2 schools.

EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI: Azusa Pacific never travelled east of the Mississippi River to play a game until it’s date at the 1998 NAIA championship game in Savannah, Tenn. The Cougars won that game, beating Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.), 17-14, and since then have fashioned a 5-2 record east of the Mississippi. Two other times they visited Olivet Nazarene in Bourbonnais, Ill., winning both games (21-14 in 1999 and 22-6 in 2004). They also defeated Malone College in Canton, Ohio, 31-6, in 2006 and then downed Webber International University in Babson Park, Fla., last year, 31-20, However, both losses east of the Mississippi came in the state of Wisconsin, at Whitewater (2006) and at La Crosse (2007).

ABOUT UW-STEVENS POINT: Founded in 1894 as a teacher’s college, Wisconsin-Stevens Point is 1 of 13 members of the prestigious University of Wisconsin system that also includes Big Ten Conference member University of Wisconsin in Madison. With an enrollment of approximately 8,800, UWSP’’s main campus is located in Stevens Point, a town of 25,000 in central Wisconsin, midway between Milwaukee and Minneapolis on the Wisconsin River.

Athletically, UW-Stevens Point competes in the NCAA Division III-affiliated Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, whose entire 9-school membership consists of UW schools. Last year the Pointers’ 18-sport (10 women’s, 8 men’s) athletic program finished 15th out of 441 NCAA DIII school in the Directors’ Cup race.

Among the university’s most notable alumni are Mel Laird, who served as the U.S. Secretary of Defense under President Richard Nixon, Terry Porter, former NBA player and current Phoenix Suns coach, NFL linebacker Clint Kriewaldt (Lions & Steelers) and Kathy Kinney, who portrayed Mimi on the Drew Cary Show.

ABOUT THE POINTERS: An NCAA Division III program, Wisconsin-Stevens Point is gunning for its third straight winning season and its seventh in the past 8 years.

A year ago, a freshmen/sophomore laden set of Pointers got off to a great start, winning their first 6 games to knock on the door of the national polls. However, a 31-14 thumping from eventual DIII national champ Wisconsin-Whitewater and a series of injuries hamstrung UWSP the rest of the way, and the Pointers finished the campaign at 6-4.

While several key members of an offense that averaged 28 points and 346 yards in 2007 are back, it has been the newcomers that have taken center stage through the first 2 games of 2008. Last year’s 10-game starting QB Jake Swank has been pushed to wide receiver by Minnesota-Duluth transfer Jared Beckwith, who has completed 36-of-55 (.655) passes in 2 games for 338 yards and 2 TDs against just 1 interception. In the meantime, Swank has become one of Beckwith’s favorite targets, collecting 10 passes for 44 yards and a TD.

Junior RB Mike Ferron, a former All-Wisconsin prep running back, has yet to carry the ball this season after rushing for 807 yards and 11 TDs in 8 games last year. In his stead, sophomore RB T.C. Farber has tallied 136 yards on the ground and spearheads a rushing game that has scored 5 TDs and is averaging 73.5 yards a game.

An opportunistic team, UW-Stevens Point has already forced 10 turnovers and turned half of them into 31 of the Pointers’ 68 points scored.

Junior LB Brandon Stremnkowski leads the team with 14 tackles, including 2 for loss, and has 1 of the team’s 5 recovered fumbles. Junior DB Bryan Blum has 12 tackles and a team-high 2 interceptions.

Stevens Point opened the season with a 23-21 victory over Webber International University (Fla.), holding off the Warriors who scored 2 TDs in the final 8 minutes. Blum intercepted a pass with 1:15 left in the contest to clinch the win.

The following week, UWSP blasted Iowa Wesleyan College, another NAIA member, by a 45-7 count. The Pointers scooted out to a 14-0 lead less than 5 minutes into the contest and rolled to a 35-0 halftime lead. Farber rushed for 94 yards and a TD on 24 carries, while Beckwith completed 18-of-25 passes for 184 yards and 2 TDs.

BIG ROSTER: The 2008 season opened with the largest Cougar roster in the program’s 44-year history — 114 players to be exact. Some previous Cougar squads surpassed the century mark but never before has any team had more than 110 players.

MADE IN CALIFORNIA: Of the 114 Cougars on the roster, 97 hail from the “Golden State,” leaving just 17 out-of-state players. There are 4 from Arizona, 3 each from Washington and Oregon, 2 from Illinois and 1 each from Colorado, New Jersey, New Mexico, Illinois, Texas, and Montana.

DOUBLE VISION: Azusa Pacific’s 114-player roster includes a pair of Matt Davises and 2 Chris Browns, neither of which are related to the other. Matt J. Davis (fr., Acampo, Calif.) is a wide receiver while Matt P. Davis (fr., Frelton, Calif./San Lorenzo Valley HS) is a linebacker. Chris N. Brown (jr., Fresno, Calif./Carmel HS) is a running back, and Chris T. Brown (fr., Crows Landing, Calif./Modesto Christian HS) is a linebacker.

To add to the name complexity of the Cougar roster there are 4 Davises (Jon & Matt J., who are brothers, along with Tyler and Matt. P), 2 Morenos (Mike and Eric, not related) and 2 Thompsons (Dominic and John, not related). Though not identical in name, John Van Den Raadt, Michael Van Gorden and David Vander Laan have created their own confusion.

DEFENDER AGAINST THE SACK: Azusa Pacific returns its entire starting offensive line of last year — a core group that consists of tackles Ben Winslow (sr., 6-4, 275, Greenville, Ill./Greenville HS) and Robby Palacios (so. 6-5, 310, Upland, Calif./Upland HS), Jonathan Klish (sr., 6-2, 240, Denver, Colo.) and guards Justin Fortenberry (sr., 6-4, 290, Redding, Calif./Enterprise HS), Eric Beaton (so., 6-0, 235, Alta Loma, Calif./Western Christian HS), David Ofahulu (sr., 6-2,290, Orange, Calif./Villa Park HS) and Joel Garnica (sr., 6-2, 270, Whittier, Calif./Pioneer HS). The addition of all-conference junior college transfer Louis Magallon (jr., 5-11, 290, Hacienda Heights, Calif./Los Altos HS) only bolsters the Cougar front. Since last year, the Cougars have yielded just 15 quarterback sacks in the past 15 games.

QUICK HITS: Senior RB Alex Peltier (5-9, 200, Oceanside, Calif./Santa Fe Christian HS), needs just 77 yards to move into tenth place on Azusa Pacific’s all-time rushing chart with 1,548 … At 6-foot-10, freshman TE Luke Marquardt (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline HS) is the tallest-ever Cougar … Punter Corey Lenahan (28 on Oct. 8) is the oldest Cougar while lineman Ahsohn Williams (won’t be 18 until Jan. 25) is the youngest ... True freshman Paul Royster (wr, 5-11, 175, Los Angeles, Calif./Harvard-Westlake HS) is the younger brother of former USC standout and Tampa Bay Buccaneer RB Mazio Royster … Freshman FB Garrett Borden’s (6-1, 225, Santa Clarita, Calif./Santa Clarita Christian Schools) father is Steve Borden, better known by his ring name “Sting” in the world of professional wrestling … John van den Raadt (6-3, 190, Mira Loma, Calif./Jurupa Valley HS) is the first Cougar true freshman to start at quarterback since Ben Focke started the Sept. 17, 1994, game vs. La Verne … Senior WR James Burke (sr., 6-3, 195, Antioch, Calif./Antioch HS) entered the 2008 season with just 3 receptions in 17 games during his career, yet already this year he has 15 catches (second on the team) for 128 yards.

WHAT CAN BROWN DO: It’s been awhile since Azusa Pacific has had a 100-yard rusher in a single game. In fact, the Cougars went 15 games without such a feat until junior college transfer Chris Brown (jr., 6-1, 205, Carmel, Calif./Carmel HS/Hartnell College) came off the bench last week against Wisconsin-La Crosse to rush for 144 yards on 32 carries (4.5 avg.). He tallied 97 on 19 carries in the first half alone. When the game was on the line in the fourth quarter, the Cougars turned to Brown, who throughout the night had allowed Azusa Pacific to dominate possession of the ball and run out the clock. Azusa Pacific had the ball for a whopping 35 minutes and 20 seconds compared to UW-L’s 24:40.

Brown already has 269 rushing yards on the season, which would have been second on last year’s team behind Alex Peltier’s 486 tallied in 10 games. He has sent a jolt through the Cougar ground game which a year ago averaged just 77.5 yards a contest but is up to 111.2 this year.

SANTA CRUZ SAYS: “We needed that kind of defensive effort,” said Azusa Pacific head coach Victor Santa Cruz as he evaluated the victory over Wisconsin-La Crosse. “It builds up our confidence and sets up better things ahead in the season. I believe that if you can have a strong defense you’re going to win games and produce a kind of swagger that helps you difficult games.

“It was great to have Chris Brown to have that kind of game. It’s a great boost to our ground attack.

“John (van den Raadt) managed the game very well and provided good leadership. He did what he had to do without shouldering the pressure of having to win the game. Athletically, he has the tools to be successful and is mature beyond his years. People might wonder about that sixth sense that good experienced quarterbacks have to have, like anticipating routes and properly reading defenses. To be honest, as a coaching staff we didn’t know if he had it, but after this game he proved he has the makings to be very good. He threw some great timing passes to Jon Davis. Our offense is very similar to what he played in high school, so he is somewhat used to the system and ahead of the curve of a typical true freshman. Overall, I saw something from Vandy that makes me think we can open up our whole offense with him. I’m excited about him and about our whole quarterback situation.

“Overall, what our defense showed against La Crosse is what a coach wants to see. We shut them out of the end zone for all but one possession. I saw a group playing as one and that’s what we need from the type of defense we scheme. We should be a pack of wild dogs hunting as one, and what came out of the La Crosse game was a foundational stone that they can built on. It is a starting point, but they still need to be hungry because there is still a lot on the table.

"Stevens Point plays in a very tough football league, probably the best in DIII. Everything we can see on film indicates that they have athletes who play their scheme well and are well-coached. They’re going to be a great follow-up opponent to La Crosse."