Humboldt State at Azusa Pacific

Saturday (Oct. 14)

Cougar Stadium, 6 p.m. (PDT)

Records:

Azusa Pacific – 1-5

Humboldt State – 4-1

THIS WEEK: For a road-weary set of men, there is nothing better at this time then the friendly confines of home, and for only the second time in 7 weeks, Azusa Pacific comes home this week to host NCAA Division II Humboldt State in a 6 p.m. contest at Cougar Stadium.

RADIO: The Azusa Pacific-Humboldt State game can be heard live on Internet radio on Azusa Pacific’s student station KAPU. Listen to Matt Sperrazza, Rob Schwandt and Brian Soash call all the action live, beginning at 5:45 p.m.

TICKETS/DIRECTIONS: Tickets for the Azusa Pacific-Humboldt State game are $5 for adults and $3 for students with ID. Children under 12 are free. To get to the game from the north via the 5 Freeway, once through the Grapevine, take the 210 Freeway toward Pasadena and continue east toward San Bernardino. Take the Citrus Ave. exit and turn left (north). Go through 3 signals and turn right onto the Azusa Pacific campus. The stadium will be on the left.

SERIES NOTES: Humboldt State leads the all-time series with Azusa Pacific, 11-7. The series began in 1987, and other than a 1-year lapse in 1989, the 2 teams have met every season since. The Cougars have won the past 2 meetings and are looking for their first-ever 3-game winning streak over the Lumberjacks. Additionally, the Cougars have taken 4 of the past 6 meetings and 6 of the past 9 dating back to 1997.

The Cougars are 5-3 at home vs. Humboldt State and have won the past 3 meetings in the Canyon City. HSU hasn’t won in Southern California since knocking off Azusa Pacific, 37-35, in 1996.

Azusa Pacific took last year’s meeting in Arcata, Calif., 13-12, for its first win at Humboldt State since 1997.

vs. NCAA DII: >: Humboldt State, the only NCAA Division II football school in California, is the closest DII school to Azusa Pacific within a 700-mile radius, was the only DII school on the Cougar slate for 7 years. Thus, opportunities to play DII team have been rare. Since 1996 Azusa Pacific is 10-5 vs. DII teams and has won 4 straight.

TOUGH FOES: The task at hand has not been easy for the Cougars. Azusa Pacific’s first 7 opponents, including Humboldt State, are a combined 29-7 this season (27-3 when tossing out Southern Oregon). Three teams – San Diego, Wisconsin-Whitewater and Wisconsin-LaCrosse – are still undefeated and all ranked in the Top 10 of their respective association polls.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Azusa Pacific is 19-3 in Cougar Stadium since 2002 with the only setbacks coming at the hands of nationally-ranked teams (No. 1- ranked and 4-time defending NAIA champ Carroll College in 2004, No. 11 Montana Tech in 2005, and NCAA Division III No. 9 Wisconsin-La Crosse this year). Over the past 22 home games, the Cougars are out-scoring the foe by an average score of 28-13. The Cougar defense is holding opponents to just 255 yards of total offense and has produced 44 takeaways in those 22 home contests.

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD: This year Azusa Pacific will travel over 15,000 miles to play its 6 road games. In fact, the Cougars have been on the long, long road at the outset of the season with 5 of their first 6 games all away. Since the season started back on Sept. 1, the Cougars have been to San Diego (their closest road game of the season), Canton, Ohio; Whitewater, Wis.; Spokane, Wash.; and most recently Ashland, Ore.

ABOUT THE COACHES: A sixth-year Cougar staff member and former defensive coordinator, Victor Santa Cruz was named Azusa Pacific’s ninth head coach Dec. 14, 2005. Santa Cruz, 34, is a former 4-year linebacker at the University of Hawaii who came to Azusa Pacific in 2001 after spending 5 seasons as an assistant for at El Camino High in Oceanside, Calif. Santa Cruz has been the overseer of the Cougar defense the previous 2 seasons, including the 2004 squad that ranked among the best in the NAIA that season.

Doug Adkins is in his seventh year at Humboldt State where he has fashioned a 26-43 record to date. At 4-1 this year, he has the Lumberjacks off to their best start since 1994. A former defensive coordinator for the Lumberjacks, Adkins served as the defensive line coach at Nevada-Reno before returning to Humboldt State as the head coach in 2000. He played his college ball at then NAIA-member Central Washington, where he also served as an assistant coach before making coaching stops at Oregon Tech and Wenatchee Valley College. Adkins is 2-4 vs. Azusa Pacific.

LAST WEEK: Azusa Pacific dropped its fourth straight game (its longest losing streak since 1991), falling 57-7 at Southern Oregon in Ashland, Ore. Without the services of starting QB Rudy Carlton, who broke his collarbone the week before, sophomore Ryan Bridges stepped in for his first collegiate start, only to be knocked out of the game with an injury during the Cougars’ second possession. Third stringer Chris Lamkin was pressed into his first duty as a Cougar and finished off the game, completing 9-of-18 passes for 77 yards, a TD and 3 interceptions. Azusa Pacific committed 5 turnovers in the game, all of which were turned into TDs for the Raiders. Southern Oregon amassed 475 yards in total offense while limiting Azusa Pacific to just 155.

Humboldt State used 2 crucial fourth-quarter interceptions to rally and then hold on for a 29-21 victory over previously undefeated NCAA Division II Western Oregon. Derrick Andrews returned his interception 55 yards for a TD to put the Lumberjacks up 22-21 with just over 12 minutes to play in the game. Then with less than 2 minute remaining, Kyle Killingsworth picked off another Wolf pass at the Lumberjack 25-yard line and returned it 74 yards to the WOU 1 to set up the game-clinching TD.

BY THE NUMBER: Senior RB Marcus Lampkin is ninth on Azusa Pacific’s all-time rushing chart with 1,675 yards. The former 29 Palms High School standout needs 31 more yards to move past Joe Schulter (1,705) and into eighth place ... The Cougar offensive line has allowed just 1 sack on 130 pass plays this season ... Sophomore WR Jon Davis, who had never played football in his life until last year, is Azusa Pacific’s leading receiver this season with 21 catches for 192 yards (9.1 avg.) and 2 TDs. Academically a senior, Davis came to Azusa Pacific in the fall of 2003 to hopefully walk-on to the Cougars’ nationally-regarded men’s basketball team. However, he did not make the squad. He continued at Azusa Pacific as a student for 2 years before opting to give a football a try last year. His first collegiate reception was a 17-yard TD grab against NAIA champion Carroll College in the second game of last season.

ABOUT THE LUMBERJACKS: Humboldt State has been impressive out of the 2006 gate. In fact, in coming to Azusa Pacific, the Lumberjacks are eyeing their first 5-1 start to a season since 1971. Already this year, HSU has knocked off traditional DII power Western Washington (28-23) to open the season and bookended that victory with last week’s win over upstart Western Oregon (29-21). In between, the Lumberjacks have defeated Dixie State (48-28) and Southern Oregon (30-13). Their only setback came at the hands of a powerful NCAA DII Central Washington (20-0)

The Lumberjacks are averaging 27 points (34 in their 4 victories) and 363 yards of offense per outing. Senior Blake Moorman, who a year ago threw for 298 yards and 2 TDs in a gut=wrenching 13-12 loss to Azusa Pacific (the Lumberjacks missed 2 PATs), spearheads a potent offense. Moorman is completing 60-percent of his passes, averaging 253 yards a game to go along with 9 TD tosses thus far. Moorman is quite adept at running the ball as well, and is the Lumberjacks second leading rusher despite being sacked 5 times. Without the sacks, he has rushed for 127 yards on 27 carries (4.7 avg.). His favorite passing target is senior WR Joey Stein, who has 27 grabs for 438 yards and 4 TDs. Defensively, HSU is paced by senior LB Josh Costa who has a team-high 55 tackles (21 solo) and has been in on 4 quarterback sacks.