Cougar Football: Western Oregon at Azusa Pacific

Date & Site: Saturday, Oct. 24, 6:30 p.m. (PDT)
Citrus Stadium, Glendora, Calif.

Download Complete Game Notes

Live Stats

Internet Radio: Azusa Pacific or Western Oregon

THIS WEEK: Azusa Pacific returns home for its annual homecoming game, hosting NCAA DII member Western Oregon University, Saturday (Oct. 24) at Citrus Stadium in Glendora, Calif. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m.

SERIES NOTES: Azusa Pacific and Western Oregon have split 2 previous meetings. The programs first met in 1999 when both schools were members of the NAIA. The Cougars prevailed in Azusa, 24-20, on their way to an eventual appearance in the NAIA semifinal playoffs.

The Wolves drubbed Azusa Pacific, 44-14, in a return trip to Monmouth, Ore., the following season.

RETURN OF AN OLD FOE: It’s been 9 seasons since Western Oregon and Azusa Pacific met on the gridiron, and this year’s game came about by default.

When Western Washington University officials surprisingly dropped its long-running football program back in January, Azusa Pacific suddenly had an unexpected vacancy on its schedule. Worse for Western Oregon was the fact that the Wolves had lost 2 conference games from its schedule. As a result of each program’s new need, Azusa Pacific and Western Oregon schedules were altered and date was opened for WOU to make a trip to Azusa this year.

Azusa Pacific will return the favor with a visit to Monmouth, Ore. (about 15 miles west of Salem) next year.

MOVE TO DII: Western Oregon was a longtime member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) until the turn of the new millennium. An exodus of several smaller schools in the Pacific Northwest from the NAIA to NCAA Division III in the mid–1990s forced the hand of larger schools such as Central Washington, Western Washington and Western Oregon to leave the NAIA. WOU found a fit at NCAA DII and in so doing was able to fill its schedule again in several sports after many longtime rivals quiteplaying the Wolves once those schools had moved to DIII. Western Oregon is now a member of the 10-school Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

vs. NCAA DIVISION II: Since 1996, Azusa Pacific is 13-13 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 7 straight, including last week’s 33-23 setback at Dixie State.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: Neither Western Oregon nor Azusa Pacific is ranked in their respective association coaches’ polls.

CONNECTIONS: Azusa Pacific’s Zach Leary (so., HB) and Western Oregon’s Andrew Cox were high school teammates at Tigard (Ore.) High … WOU coaches Arne Ferguson (head) and John Bartlett (assistant) were on the Wolves’ staff the last time Azusa Pacific and WOU met back in 2000 … Cougar assistants Brian Willmer and Jack Coppes are the only remaining members from the 1999 and 2000 Azusa Pacific coaching staff that went against Western Oregon.

YOUNGER THAN YOUNG: Through 8 games this season, 66 Cougars have seen action on the field. Of those 66, 38 are underclassmen, 22 are freshmen (redshirt or true) and 26 are first-year Cougars (true-freshmen and transfers).

QUICK HITS: Senior RB Chris Brown had season-high 32 touches (29 rushes, 1 reception, 1 pass attempt) at Central Washington, 1 shy of his career-high. His 7 rushing TDs in 8 games exceeds his 5 in 10 games last year … Sophomore QB John van den Raadt’s 33-yard TD run vs. Dixie State, his first TD run of the season, matches the longest run from scrimmage for the Cougars this season (Brown had a 33-yard run vs. Wisconsin-La Crosse) … His 239 rushing yards this season are the most by a Cougar QB since Jack Manu tallied 292 yards in 9 games of the 1993 season and third most in program history … The Cougars have surrendered 66 points off 14 turnovers in the past 6 games … They have committed 4 turnovers in 3 different games (UW-La Crosse, Central Washington, Humboldt State) … The 12 pass attempts at Central Washington are the fewest since Azusa Pacific went 6-for-10 for 81 yards vs. Humboldt State, Oct. 14, 2006 … Conversely, the 50 rushing attempts vs. CWU are the most since 61 carries by the 2005 Cougars vs. Valley City State (N.D.), Nov. 10, 2005 … Azusa Pacific has lost 8 straight road games … Redshirt freshman TE Luke Marquardt is the tallest Cougar in program history at 6-foot-10 … Cougar CB Paul Roster is the younger brother of former USC great and Tampa Bay Buccaneer tailback Mazio Royster … Senior DB Jordan Thoma is the cousin of current Ohio State punter Jon Thoma ... Sophomore LB Brandon Beckwith’s father (Dennis) played basketball at Azusa Pacific … Sophomore TE Tyson Hetzer’s father (Charlie) was also a tight end for Azusa Pacific in the mid-1980s.

GAME OF THE WEEK: Azusa Pacific’s Nov. 14 game vs. Langston University has been selected as the College Fanz NAIA Game of the Week and will be videostreamed live over the Internet on collegefanz.com.

In addition, College Fanz will broadcast its “Game Day” show at Cougar Stadium and its halftime and post game show will have special features on Azusa Pacific student-athletes.

Following the game, College Fanz will award $1,000 to each institution’s general scholarship fund in the name of the College Fanz Outstanding Player of the Game.

This week, the “Game Day” Crew will be in Cumberlands, Ky., for the West Virginia Tech at Cumberlands game. Kickoff is at 10 a.m. (PDT).

NEXT WEEK: Azusa Pacific returns to the road next week to visit NCAA Division III power Trinity University of San Antonio, Texas. The Cougars snapped the Tigers’ 43-game regular-season home field winning streak back in 2004, their only other previous visit to San Antonio.

ABOUT THE WOLVES: Western Oregon returned 14 starters and 48 players in all from last year’s 7-4 team that closed the 2008 campaign by winning 4 of its final 5 games, losing only to NCAA DII playoff participant Central Washington (38-31).

Heading the list of returnees are all-conference running backs Ben Kuenzi and D.J. Jackson, who once again share the load of the WOU ground game, combining for 92 yards of work per game.

Two-year starting QB Josh Riddell is a gun-slinging senior straight out from wild west folklore. Riddell, who is a good runner as well, will throw from anywhere at anytime. He is averaging 235 yards passing a game, but his 9 TD tosses have been offset by his 11 interceptions, including 5 he had in the loss at Dixie State.

Riddell’s favorite target has been Sean Fullerton, who with a team-leading 53 grabs (3 times more than any other player on the team) is averaging nearly 8 catches a contest. He has a team-leading 4 TDs as well.

Defensively, WOU returned a pair of all-conference picks, Andrew Jackson and Caleb Singleton. Jackson, a senior linebacker, currently leads the team with 53 tackles. Singleton is second with 49 tackles and 2 interceptions.

ROAD WARRIORS: Including this week’s game at Azusa Pacific, Western Oregon has been on the road for 6 of its 8 games so far this season. Included among the road trips have been games at NCAA Division I-AA Eastern Washington and UC Davis.

OF LATE FOR THE WOLVES: Western Oregon arrives in California on the heels of back-to-back gut-wrenching losses that have dropped the Wolves to 3-4 on the season.

Two weeks ago, WOU committed 6 turnovers and surrendered 21 consecutive points in an 11-minute span to fall at Dixie State, 31-23.

Last week, Western Oregon had No. 4-ranked and undefeated Central Washington University on the ropes, but the Wildcats scored 23 unanswered points in the second half, including the final 3 off a game-winning 44-yard field with 32 seconds left to give CWU a 23-21 victory.

COMMON FOES: Azusa Pacific and Western Oregon have 3 common foes this season. The Cougars are 0-3 against those same teams while Western Oregon has gone 3-1.