Carroll at Azusa Pacific
Saturday (Oct. 2)
Cougar Stadium, 6 p.m.

Records:

Azusa Pacific – 4-0

Carroll – 4-0

THIS WEEK: Top-ranked and 2-time defending NAIA national champion Carroll College of Helena, Mont., brings its nation-leading 23-game winning streak to the Canyon City when the undefeated Saints take on No. 7 Azusa Pacific, Saturday (Oct. 2) in a 6 p.m. game. It is Carroll’s first-ever visit to Azusa, and it’s the biggest game in the NAIA thus far, matching a pair of top-10 ranked teams.

TELEVISION/RADIO: For only the second time in program history, an Azusa Pacific game will be televised locally. The Carroll-Azusa Pacific game will be carried on KDOC-TV, Saturday (Oct. 2) on a 2-hour delayed basis beginning at 8 p.m. Ron Davis will call the play-by-play as Bruce Parker provides the color analysis. The only other previous time an Azusa Pacific football game was locally televised was the 1998 NAIA championship game vs. Olivet Nazarene carried by Fox Sports West.

Azusa Pacific’s student-run radio station KAPU will broadcast the Azusa Pacific-Carroll game. Click here to listen to Mike Dennis, Alex Charles and Kristen Buckner call all the action starting at 5:55 p.m.

TICKET PRICES: Tickets for the Carroll game are sold at the gate on game day, beginning at 4:30 p.m. Prices are $5 for general admission, and $3 for students with ID. Children age 12 and under are free.

DIRECTIONS: To attend the Azusa Pacific-Carroll game, from the Ontario Airport, take the 10 west to the 71 north to the 210 west. Take Citrus Ave, turning left off the off-ramp and going 1 block to Citrus. Turn right and go approximately ¾ of a mile. Turn right on University Ave., and onto the campus. The stadium will be on the left.

SERIES NOTES: This is the first meeting between Azusa Pacific and Carroll.

Against Carroll’s Frontier Conference mates, Azusa Pacific is 2-1 with all 3 games against Rocky Mountain College of Billings, Mont.

CHAMPIONSHIP CALIBRE: Azusa Pacific and Carroll have combined to win 3 of the past 6 NAIA championships. The Cougars captured the 1998 crown while Carroll collected titles in 2002 and 2003.

PERFECT TEAMS: Azusa Pacific and Carroll are 2 of 11 undefeated teams remaining in the NAIA and 2 of just 5 that are 4-0. This year’s winning ways are far from an aberration for these 2 NAIA powers. Azusa Pacific has won 21 of its past 24 games since the start of the 2002 season. Meanwhile, not only does Carroll own the aforementioned nation-leading 23-game winning streak, but the Saints have won 33 of their past 34 games, also since the start of the 2002 campaign.

NATION’S TOP DOG: This is only the second time in program history that Azusa Pacific has played a No. 1-ranked team. In 1999, top-ranked Georgetown (Ky.) thumped Azusa Pacific, 66-35, in an NAIA semifinal playoff game in Azusa.

vs. NAIA: Azusa Pacific, the only NAIA school in California that sponsors football and only 1 of 3 west of the Rockies, doesn’t get many opportunities to play fellow NAIA member institutions. In fact, the Cougars have played just 20 NAIA teams over the past 6-plus seasons and are 13-7 in those games since 1998, with 4 losses coming against Southern Oregon.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Azusa Pacific has won a school-record 12 straight games at home in the Canyon City. The Cougars’ 17-10 victory over Humboldt State (Sept. 18) broke the former standard of 11 straight set by the 1998-99 Cougar teams. The Cougars have not lost at home since Southern Oregon laid a 64-21 thrashing on Azusa Pacific, Oct. 27, 2001. Since then, the Cougars have posted back-to-back seasons of perfect play at home, a first in the program’s 40-year history. Since 1998, Azusa Pacific is 33-5 at home.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Azusa Pacific head coach Peter Shinnick, son of former Baltimore Colt linebacker and UCLA All-American Don Shinnick, is in his sixth season at Azusa Pacific. He has fashioned an excellent 40-15 (.727) record to date and only Cougar Hall-of-Famer Jim Milhon (1978-94) has won more game at Azusa Pacific (81). Shinnick led Azusa Pacific to the 1999 NAIA semifinals and put the Cougars back in the NAIA playoffs in 2000 and again last year.

Mike Van Diest, the 2003 NAIA Coach of the Year, is in his sixth year at Carroll, where has posted a 56-14 (.800) record. Not only has he guided the Saints to back-to-back national championships, he has also led them into 4 straight NAIA semifinal appearances, which is rather impressive for a program that prior to Van Diest’s 1999 arrival had never been past the second round of the NAIA playoffs.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: Azusa Pacific is ranked No. 7 in this week’s NAIA Coaches Top 25 Poll. The Cougars have appeared in 27 consecutive NAIA Polls dating back to Sept. 17, 2002.

Carroll is the NAIA’s No. 1-ranked team. The Saints have been in the top spot for 18 consecutive polls (since the 2002 postseason ranking) and have been in the NAIA Top 25 for 44 straight weeks since Nov. 17, 2000.

ON THE DEFENSIVE: Echoes of the past are being heard in relationship to this year’s Cougar defense. In 1980 and ’81, Azusa Pacific’s defense ranked among the best in the NAIA, holding opponents to just 168 yards of total offense per game (1981), which included a mere 18.3 on the ground, while producing 4 straight shutouts at one point. Additionally, the 1980 defense set an NAIA single-game record with minus-147 yards rushing thanks in part to 17 QB sacks against Occidental in 1980. This year’s set of Cougar defenders might be likened to the Cougars of lore. Through the opening 4 games this year, Azusa Pacific is holding the opponent to per-game averages of just 62.0 rushing yards and 227.5 yasrds of total offense. They’ve yielded just 4 touchdowns, 3 of which followed Azusa Pacific turnovers in their own territory. Their success thus far has brought members of the 1980-81 Cougar defenses back to the sidelines to make their own evaluations and comparisons.

MORE DEFENSE: The most impressive fact of this Cougar defense is that of the opponents’ 51 possessions this year, 48 have traveled no more than 44 yards in length, and 39 of the opponents drives have yielded no more than 1 first down. The Azusa Pacific defense has held on 46-of-65 (.707) third-down situations this season.

RETURN OF THE SACKMASTERS: The previously mentioned 1981 Cougar defense set the school season record with 56 sacks in 10 games. The 2004 Cougars are just off the pace with 18 in 4 games (second-best in the NAIA). However, in the past 3 games, Azusa Pacific has collected 17 sacks of the opposing QB. Junior DT Chuck Asiodu, a transfer from Mt. SAC via Colorado State, leads the way with 5 sacks all in the past 3 games. Additionally, he has 4 forced fumbles. Junior LB Steve Holte, who has led the team in tackling the past 2 seasons and continues to do so this year with 35 in 4 games, has 3.5 sacks this season, more than he collected over the past 2 seasons (19 games) as a Cougar.

BUY A TD: Senior All-American candidate Ben Buys needs just 1 more TD to become Azusa Pacific’s all-time leading scorer. With 33 career rushing TDs (one shy of Christian Okoye’s school record 34) and a pair of 2-point PATs, Buys has tallied 202 career points, just 2 shy of Okoye’s record of 204. Buys has 5 TDs in 4 games this season and has 33 for his 20-game career at Azusa Pacific. Including 2 this year, Buys has posted 12 100-yard rushing games in his career, third-best in program history and just 3 shy of Okoye’s 15 set from 1984-86. Though he is coming off the poorest outing of his career (just 53 yards on 20 carries vs. SouthernOregon) Buys nonetheless has 2,233 rushing yards of his career, fifth best in program history, and needs just 4 yards against Carroll to move into fourth place.

WHAT A KICK: Junior college transfer Mike Betancourth has become quite a weapon for Azusa Pacific. Not since the early 1990s has Azusa Pacific had one player handle both punting and place-kicking duties and not since the great Brad Kramer of the mid-1970s has any Cougar been as successful at both duties as Betancourth. In 20 punts this season, Betancourth is averaging 39.9 yards a kick, well within range of the 41.6 school-record pace first set by Bruce Webb in 1969 and matched by Kramer in 1974. As a place-kicker Betancourth has already converted 7 field goal attempts this year, just 1 shy of what the Cougars made all of last year. On the season, he is 7-for-8 in field goal attempts, which includes a perfect 6-for-6 from beyond 30 yards. In the Cougars’ opening-week victory over San Diego, he converted a 23-yarder, his first attempt in 2 years, to tie the game at 17-17 with less than 4 minutes to play. He then made 3 more attempts at Olivet Nazarene, including boots of 44 and 42 yards to become only the second Cougar ever to kick 2 40-yard field goals in the same game (Michael Wade hit 49- and 44-yarders vs. San Diego in 1993). Last week, in Azusa Pacific’s first-ever victory at Southern Oregon, he converted 2 second-half field goals of 30 and 33 yards to lift Azusa Pacific to a 13-9 come-from-behind victory.

GETTING THE HANG OF IT: Cougar QB Sean Davis, who a year ago assumed the starting mantle in place of the program’s all-time leading passer (Luke Winslow), is settling in quite nicely as the Cougars’ signal-caller. Davis endured the growing pains through the first 6 games of his career as Azusa Pacific’s field general. However, over the past 8 starts he has matured quite nicely, completing 104-of-194 (.536) passes for 1,237 yards and 5 TDs. Against Southern Oregon last week, he completed a career-high 18 passes on 33 attempts for 152 yards and 1 TD. With that effort, he now has 2,001 career passing yards to become only the 11th Cougar ever to eclipse 2,000 passing yards.

ABOUT THE SAINTS: Carroll’s offensive machine, which is averaging 463 yards and nearly 39 points a game, is led by 2003 NAIA Player of Year junior QB Tyler Emmert, who through 4 games this year has completed 67-of-99 (.677) passes for 782 yards (195.5 avg/g) with 4 TDs and just 2 interceptions. Sophomore RB Jed Thomas has rushed for 438 yards (109.5 avg/g) and is averaging a hefty 8.0 yards a carry. He gets plenty of support from sophomore Ryan Grosulak, who has 307 yards on 56 carries (5.4 avg.) and has scored 6 TDs.

As good as Carroll’s offense is, the Saint defense may even be better. Carroll has allowed just 36 points in 4 games (9.0), and 21 of them came in the first game against NCAA Division II power Central Washington. Since defeating the Wildcats, 27-21 in OT, Carroll has gone on to down Montana State-Northern (65-3), Montana-Western (28-3) and Rocky Mountain (35-9). The Saints have allowed just 4 TDs.

NATIONAL STATS: In this week’s NAIA national stats chart, Carroll College is eighth in the nation in scoring defense (9.0 avg.) while Azusa Pacific is 11th (10.5 avg.). Azusa Pacific is ninth in total defense (227.5 avg.) while Carroll is 24th (282.5 avg.). In rushing defense, Azusa Pacific is fourth in the nation in rushing defense (62.0 avg.), thanks in part to being second in the NAIA in quarterback sacks with 18 for a nation-leading loss of 149 yards. Offensively, Carroll is third in the NAIA in total offense (45.0 avg.), after being 14th in rushing offense (205.0 avg.) and ninth in passing offense (245.8 avg.). Individually, Carroll QB Tyler Emmert is 14th in the nation in passing offense (205.8 avg.).

SHINNICK SAYS: “There is no doubt that Carroll is the best team we’ve played since Georgetown in 1999,” said Cougar coach Peter Shinnick. “Last year, they dismantled a Mary team that we struggled with the week before in the opening round of the playoffs. They take advantage of your weaknesses, and they do it in all phases of the game. They really just put you in a bind in what they do both offensively and defensively. They are a very efficient team.”

“Emmert doesn’t make bad decisions at quarterback. He gives his wide receivers every opportunity to be successful because of how well he throws the ball.”

“We have to play our best football to date, and I think we can. We’ve improved in at least one phase of our game every week. We’ve been finding ways to win, and we need continue to improve.

“Southern Oregon did some nice things against, and we need correct those things. We need to tweak and fine tune some things. I’m pleased with how we did up there, but we can play better.

“We didn’t do a very good job up front to give Ben (Buys) good looks. It’s one thing to have an entire defense trying to stop your guy, and it’s another thing when you don’t block as well as you can. There wasn’t much room for him to do anything. We need to get him back on track and we will.

(Defensive coordinator) Victor (Santa Cruz) has just done a fantastic job of getting our guys in the right place at the right time. He’s been making great calls and timely calls. It’s fun to watch our defense. They get after it and fly to the ball no matter who is in there.”