Azusa Pacific at
Sacramento State

Saturday (Oct. 8)

Hornet Stadium, 6:05 p.m.

Records:

Azusa Pacific – 3-2

Sacramento State – 1-4

THIS WEEK: Azusa Pacific steps up the competition by a significant level (or 2 or 3) when the Cougars visit NCAA Division I-AA Sacramento State, Saturday (Oct. 8) for a 6:05 p.m. kickoff in Hornet Stadium.

RADIO: The Azusa Pacific-Sacramento State game can be heard live on the Internet via KAPU radio. All the action will be called by Alex Charles and Matt Sperrazza with the pre-game show beginning at 5:45 p.m. The game can also be heard on the Internet through the Sacramento State broadcast team of Jason Ross and Steve McElroy on KTKZ 1380AM

TICKETS: Tickets for the game are $8 for adults general admission and $5 for youth (ages 2-17).

DIRECTIONS (from Southern California): Take the 5 Freeway north into the Sacramento area. Merge onto US-50 Freeway east toward Lake Tahoe. Exit 59th Street and turn left. Turn left on Folsom Blvd and then right on 57th Street. Turn right on J Street and turn left onto State University Drive North. Follow the road until stadium is the left.

TANGLING WITH BIG BOYS: This marks only the second time ever that Azusa Pacific has taken on a scholarship Division I-AA program. In 1997, Cal State Northridge invited the Cougars over for a “meeting” and promptly dumped Azusa Pacific, 63-21, tallying what was then the most points ever scored on a Cougar team (3 years later Georgetown laid a fat 66 on Azusa Pacific in the semifinals of the NAIA playoffs).

While there a many notable differences between Sacramento State and Azusa Pacific, the most glaring is the scholarship discrepancy. NCAA Division I-AA schools are allotted 65 scholarships for football while NAIA members cap out 24. However, Azusa Pacific falls even farther down the ladder by doling out just 14 partial scholarships among approximately 50 players. While certainly speed and size are factors in measuring dissimilarities between the programs, the scholarship issue is most noted in the area of depth.

SERIES NOTES: This is the first-ever meeting between Azusa Pacific and Sacramento State. In fact, the 2 schools have rarely met in any athletic competition, and never since the Hornets moved to Division I status in the early 1990s. The 2 schools used to have quite a rivalry in women’s volleyball. Back in 1979, Azusa Pacific defeated Sacramento State in a 1-game playoff to capture the AIWA Division III women’s volleyball national championship. The following year, the Hornets got their revenge with a similar 1-game victory over Azusa Pacific to take the 1980 AIAW crown.

NOT UNHEARD OF: Though rare, it’s not unheard of for an NAIA school to beat a I-AA program. Earlier this year, the NAIA’s No. 2-ranked St. Francis (Ind.) throttled Indiana State, 42-10.

ON THE ROAD: Azusa Pacific is 1-2 on the road this year but is 11-6 away from the Canyon City over the past 3-plus seasons.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Azusa Pacific head coach Peter Shinnick, son of former Baltimore Colt linebacker and UCLA All-American Don Shinnick, is now in his seventh season at the Cougar helm. He picked up his 50th win in just 70 tries in Saturday’s victory over Southern Oregon, and now second on Azusa Pacific’s all-time win list (Jim Milhon, 1978-94, leads with 81 Cougar victories). Shinnick just brought Azusa Pacific through its best 6-year span in program history, guiding the Cougars to victory in 47 of the past 65 games, which includes an impressive 28-6 record over the past 3 seasons. In Shinnick’s tenure the Cougars have appeared in 67 of 78 NAIA Coaches Top 25 Polls, including the past 39 in a row, which has translated into 4 NAIA playoff berths, 2 of which had the Cougars advance to the semifinals. Shinnick has coached 22 All-Americans, 11 scholar-athletes and 73 school records have been broken since his 1999 arrival.

Steve Mooshagian is in his third year at Sacramento State where he has fashioned a 6-21 record to date. A California native, Mooshagian played 2 years at Fresno State and then was an assistant coach for 10 seasons at his alma mater. He spent 1 season at the head coach at Fresno City College (1995) before taking on brief stints as the offensive coordinator at Nevada (1996) and Pitt (1997-98). Prior to his arrival at Sacramento State, Mooshagian spent 4 seasons as the receivers coach for the NFL Cincinnati Bengals. His son, Bobby, is a freshman receiver for the Hornets.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: Azusa Pacific is again ranked No. 16 in this week’s NAIA Coaches Top 25 Poll. The Cougars have appeared in 40 consecutive NAIA Polls dating back to Sept. 17, 2002.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM: A longtime respected member of the NAIA, Azusa Pacific was a constant figure in the NAIA coaches polls throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. The program featured some of the best NAIA defenses and became quite an offensive machine when eventual NFL Pro Bowl running back Christian Okoye arrived in the mid 1980s. However, despite all the regular season success and noted players, Azusa Pacific couldn’t crack the NAIA’s elite until 1998 when the Cougars advanced into the postseason for the first time in program history. The Cougars did not waste its initial opportunity, capturing the NAIA national championship in their first endeavor. Since then, Azusa Pacific has returned to the NAIA playoffs 4 more times, advancing to the semifinals in 1999 and again last year. Since 1998, Azusa Pacific has put together a fine 62-22 record with 5 NAIA playoff berths.

LAST WEEK: After opening a season 0-2 for the first time since 1997, Azusa Pacific has comeback to win 3 straight. Last week’s 27-17 victory at home over Southern Oregon put the Cougars over .500 for the first time this season. Junior QB Rudy Carlton may have kick-started his injury-plagued college career with a sterling performance against SOU. Carlton came off the bench to complete 16-of-24 passes for 158 yards and 2 TDs, all career-highs. After Azusa Pacific relinquished a 17-3 halftime lead, Carlton engineered a game-winning 15-play, 69-yard drive capped by his play-action-fake 8-yard pass to < a href=http://www.apu.edu/athletics/football/bios/keelerjames>James Keeler to put Azusa Pacific up for good at 24-17 with 8:31 left in the game.

Sacramento State picked up its first win in 5 tries this season with a 38-24 Big Sky Conference victory over Northern Arizona, Saturday evening at Hornet Stadium. The Hornets forced 6 NAU turnovers and scored 24 points off the giveaways, including an interception that Brent Webber returned 32 yards for a TD with 5:55 left to clinch the victory. Though Sacramento State trailed 10-3 at halftime, the Hornets went on a 35-7 offensive blitz in the second half to take control of the game. Quarterback Chris Hurd completed 12-of-21 passes for 247 yards and threw 3 TD passes of 21, 58 and 60 yards.

GETTING HIS KICKS: Senior place-kicker Mike Betancourth, who a year ago led the NAIA with 19 field goals made, is having another All-American-like season. He has made 7-of-9 attempts this season including the past 5 in a row. In addition, he has converted 17 of his past 19 attempts, which included a school-record 12 straight that stretched from last year into this year’s season-opener at San Diego. He has been good from 40 yards or longer on 8 kicks, the most in school history. For his career, he has 26 made field goals in just 19 games and is only 10 field goals shy of All-American Devon Jones’ (1978-81) school career-record of 36 that he established over the course of 4 seasons. Betancourth is 26-for-35 for his career and his 124 points scored are tenth on Azusa Pacific’s all-time chart. Additionally, he has made 35 consecutive PATs.

ALL-AMERICAN PLAY Senior LB Stephen Holte, a 2004 NAIA All-American first teamer, is playing even better than he was a year ago. Last year, Holte averaged 7.1 tackles a game, but through 5 contests this year, he is averaging a hefty 14 tackles per outings. Against the NAIA’s No. 1-ranked Carroll (Sept. 10), he recorded 21 take-downs, just 1 shy of the school record. He came back against Willamette and registered another 18 tackles. Holte also tops the team with 5 tackles for loss and 3 interceptions. His next pick will be the most by a Cougar linebacker since Greg Smith’s 5 interceptions in 1995.

LIGHTING THE LAMP Junior RB Marcus Lampkin is Azusa Pacific’s do-everything offensive weapon. Though just 5-foot-6, 170 pounds, he stands large in the Cougar offense, currently topping the team in rushing (75.4 yards/g). The former walk-on transfer from Lewis & Clark has strung together 3 straight 100-yard games (322 yards in the past 3 games) and has 4 century-rushing efforts in the past 7 games. Additionally, Lampkin is second on the team in receiving with 15 catches for 148 yards.

RUUU-DY, RUUU-DY, RUUU-DY: Rudy Carlton has waited a long time for this moment. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound QB arrived at Azusa Pacific in 2002 with all-state credentials out of Dakota Ridge High in Littleton, Colo. However, after redshirting the 2002 campaign, Carlton, who was narrowly beat out for the 2003 starting job, was limited to 1 brief appearance over the course of the 2003 and 2004 seasons. In the fourth game of 2003, Carlton came off the bench against Cal Lutheran to work 2 series, completing 3-of-4 passes for 19 yards before taking a hit that injured his shoulder. He wouldn’t take another snap for nearly 2 more years. Healthy once again, he was relegated to reserve duty at the outset of this season behind 2-year starter Sean Davis. But with the Cougar aerial game hiccupping this season (just 245 combined yards in games vs. Willamette and Humboldt State), Carlton was given opportunity to prove himself in live action last week against Southern Oregon. In a pre-game decision, it was determined that Carlton would rotate with Davis through the first 4 series and the more effective signal-caller would get the nod for the rest of the game. Carlton grabbed hold of the rare opportunity, completing 11 of his first 13 pass attempts for 91 yards and a TD. He went on to enjoy a career game, completing 16-of-24 passes for 158 yards and 2 TDs.

LOST IN THE CROWD: The Azusa Pacific offensive line is not particularly deep, but those who play are doing a credible job. Led by center Justin Magallanez and tackles Steve Mejia and Keith Ornelas, the Cougar O-line has yielded just 3 quarterback sacks this season, including just 1 in the past 3 games. Additionally, of the Cougars 108 rushing plays over the past 3 games, only 11 have ended in negative yardage.

ABOUT THE HORNETS: Sacramento State avoided its first 0-5 start since it was an NCAA Division II school back in 1978 when the Hornets knocked off Northern Arizona, 38-24, at home last week. In notching their first-ever home victory over NAU, the Hornets scored more points in 1 game than they had in the previous 4 games combined (38 to 35). In the weeks preceding the NAU game, Sacramento State lost on the road to Cal (41-3), Cal Poly (37-13) and Portland State (28-12) before coming home to fall to giant-killer UC Davis (37-7).

Ironically, Sacramento State expected to have an explosive offense, led by sophomore RB Ryan Mole, who as a true-freshman last year rushed for a team-high 858 yards (95.3 avg/g.) and 5 TDs. However, Mole had been grounded through the first 4 games until he busted loose for his first 100-yard game of season, tallying 130 yards on 27 carries last week against Northern Arizona. He now has 444 yards on 112 carries (4.0 avg.) but is still searching for his first rushing TD. Senior QB Chris Hurd, a late-summer transfer from Texas-El Paso, took over the starting role 2 games ago and has responded by completing 25-of-55 passes for 344 yards and 4 TDs. However, Hurd and his fellow signal-caller Brad Tredway have been under constant pressure and have been sacked a combined 16 times in just 5 games.

CONNECTIONS Sacramento State WR Billy White was a high school teammate of Azusa Pacific LB Clint Shamblin at Granite Bay (Calif.) High … Cougar starting C Justin Magallanez played with Sacramento State’s Jason Karnes (OL), Adolph Stone (DL) and Kevin Fane (DL) at Chaffey Community College in Ontario, Calif.

FOR PETE’S SAKE: “I’m proud of our guys. We could have laid an egg on this season after starting 0-2 but they’ve come back, worked hard, gotten better every week, and here we are now with a 3-game winning streak. Now we have some momentum heading into this week’s game, but let’s be honest, this is a beast of an opponent that we’re playing. Sacramento State is on another level than with anyone else we play. Still, we’re excited to play them. So let’s see what happens.

“As a coaching staff, we felt we needed to explore our options with the passing game. It had not been as productive as it needed to be, so we gave Rudy (Carlton) an opportunity. He gives us some different mobility. He read the defense well, and executed a lot of thing very well, particularly on the game-winning touchdown. I was really pleased with how he played, and I was proud with how Sean (Davis) handled the situation from the sideline. He remained positive and cheered Rudy on, helping him with the plays.