Cougars Set for Humboldt
« Back to Stories
 |  |
Cougar Football: Humboldt State at Azusa Pacific
Date & Site: Saturday, Oct. 3, 6 p.m. -- Cougar Stadium
THIS WEEK: Emboldened by its first victory of the season, Azusa Pacific (1-4) now sets its sight on Humboldt State (2-2) which visits the Cougars Saturday (Oct. 3) for a 6 p.m. It’s the second of 3 consecutive home games for Azusa Pacific, and the second encounter with an NCAA Division II team in a matter of 3 weeks.
TWO IN A ROW?: Azusa Pacific is seeking its first back-to-back victories since closing the 2007 campaign with 4 straight wins, a streak that began with a 27-17 victory at Humboldt State (other wins were over Whitworth, Dixie State and Webber International).
SERIES NOTES: Humboldt State leads the all-time series with Azusa Pacific, 13-8, after downing the Cougars, 24-17, in Arcata, Calif., last year. In Azusa, the Cougars are 5-4 vs. Humboldt State. Typically a close game, 15 of the previous 21 meetings have been decided by 10 points-or-less, a dozen encounters by a TD-or-less, and 6 by a FG or less. Humboldt State won 8 of the first 9 meetings between 1987 and 1996, but the 2 programs have split the past 14 meetings. Humboldt State is 6-4 vs. the Cougars in the month of October.
ABOUT THE GNAC: Officially founded in the summer of 2001, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division II conference with 9 full-fledged members, 2 of which sponsor football, and another 2 associate members that complete a 4-team football conference. With its roots in the old NAIA-affiliated Columbia Football Association, the GNAC has had an tenuous 8-year football existence because of its small membership — just 4 schools. In fact, there was no GNAC football in 2006 and 2007. However, with the addition of Dixie State College to NCAA Division II, the conference reformed football sponsorship in 2008. And yet, this season the GNAC is back to 4 football-playing institutions after Western Washington dropped its football program last winter.
Current football-playing members of the GNAC are Central Washington, Dixie State, Humboldt State University, and Western Oregon University.
COUGARS ON TWITTER: Azusa Pacific sports can be followed on twitter.com at APUCougars. Updates on Saturday’s game will be regularly "tweeted."
vs. THE GNAC: Azusa Pacific is 4-6 all-time vs. members of the NCAA Division II-affiliated Great Northwest Athletic Conference. All 4 victories have come against Humboldt State.
vs. NCAA DIVISION II: Since 1996, Azusa Pacific is 13-11 vs. NCAA Division II teams. Until last year, the Cougars had taken 7 of 9 meetings and 8 of 11 vs. DII teams. However, they have now dropped 5 straight, including a 42-10 decision at No. 5-ranked Central Washington 2 weeks ago.
vs. THE STATE SYSTEM: Just 6 schools of the 23-campus Cal State system still sponsor intercollegiate football (San Luis Obispo, Humboldt, Sacramento, San Diego, San Jose and Fresno), and Humboldt is the only one playing below NCAA Division I classification. There was a time 3 decades ago when no less than 15 Cal State schools played football, and Azusa Pacific regularly met them on the gridiron. The Cougars are 12-30-1 all-time vs. Cal State schools. Their first win over a Cal State school came in 1984 when they beat Sonoma State, 37-20. Other than Humboldt State, the only other Cal State school Azusa Pacific has played since 1998 is Sacramento State, which downed the Cougars, 41-19, in 2005.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: Neither Humboldt State nor Azusa Pacific is ranked in their respective association coaches polls.
PRESEASON ALL-INDEPENDENT: Cougars QB John van den Raadt, RB Chris Brown, OG Eric Beaton, DE Jake Jones, LB Jay York, SS Brent Willard and PK Ben Hansen have all been named to the NAIA Preseason All-Independent team as selected by the coaches of NAIA independent institutions.
THE SENIOR CLASS Just 12 seniors dot the Cougar roster, and of those seniors only fifth-year redshirts CB Brent Willard and LB Greg Neale were part of the Azusa Pacific’s last playoff team — the 2005 squad that fell at home to Montana Tech in the opening round of the NAIA.