Football | 9/1/2008 2:15:22 AM
This Week: Saturday, Sept. 6 @Western Washington, Civic Stadium, 7 p.m.
Last Week: Portland State 31, WOU 14. WWU was idle.
Conference counter: Western Oregon will hit the road to take on another Viking squad this coming Saturday, tackling Western Washington in Bellingham's Civic Stadium at 7 pm. The game marks the return of football in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference for both schools, serving as their conference opener. The GNAC features football again in 2008, after a two-year hiatus. Each conference team will play each other twice for a total of eight games.
Other Vikings: Portland State broke open a close game in the third quarter by scoring on three of four consecutive possessions to pull away from the Wolves, 31-14 at PGE Park in Portland on Aug. 30. WOU trailed 7-0 at halftime and just 14-7 midway through the third period before PSU's offense and Wolves penalties did them in.
Series stats: This will be the 47th meeting between the two Western's. The Vikings lead the all-time series, 27-19, but the two squads have split their last eight meetings. Western Oregon topped their hosts last year in Bellingham, 35-7. The Wolves and Vikings have played three overtime games since 2002, including the two longest games in conference history: a 20-17 WWU three-overtime win in 2002, and a 52-49 four-overtime victory for WOU in 2004.
Listen in: You have a number of options to listen to the game live on the Wolves Radio Network. On the internet, link to the game from the Wolves website at www.wouwolves.com, or go directly to MidValleySports.Net. Four radio stations will also broadcast the on the Wolves Radio Network: KPJC 1220 AM (Salem), KLOO 1340 AM (Albany), KOHI 1600 AM (St. Helens) and KMVS 1610 AM (Monmouth). Russ Blunck and "The Coach" Bear Blunck will provide the call for the 12th consecutive season.
Coach speak: You can listen in or watch the WOU Coaches Show live on Wednesday nights at Rookies Sports bar in Monmouth (Pacific Highway) on MidValleySports.Net at 8 p.m. Catch Steve Swart and David Olson when they interview Arne Ferguson and other guests each week.
Streak slashed: The Wolves finished the season with a 9-2 record and on a five-game win streak. They outscored their opponents 193-39 in those five contests. That string ended with the loss to Portland State. The five-game hot streak was WOU's longest since they ran off seven wins in a row at the end of the 2005 and beginning of 2006 seasons.
Tough opener: WOU's beginning against PSU was their first season opener against a team a level above them since they debuted in 1999 at Cal State Northridge (L, 38-17).
To the nines: WOU's nine wins in 2007 was only the fourth nine-win season in 78 years of Western Oregon University football. The last one was a Bill McArthur club in 1976 (9-1). McArthur's 1975 squad also went 9-1, and his 1949 team holds WOU's top all-time mark at 9-0. Coach Arne Ferguson's Western Oregon football squad finished the 2007 season with a 26-12 Dixie Rotary Bowl victory over Colorado School of Mines on Dec. 1 in St. George, Utah.
What's missing: Western Oregon lost 17 seniors off that successful 2007 club, including record-setting quarterback Mark Thorson, an experienced offensive line and two outstanding pass-rushing defensive ends in Casey O'Donnell and Victor Felipe. But the Wolves return 17 starters and 48 letterwinners for fourth year leader Arne Ferguson.
Ferguson facts: Head coach Arne Ferguson begins his fourth season at WOU as the program's leader. He has also spent nearly a lifetime at the school as a player and as an assistant coach. The Vale, Oregon native was a three-time All-CFA defensive back for the Wolves from 1986-88, and began his coaching career at Western in 1989. He has been WOU's defensive coordinator since 1997. In Ferguson's first season at the helm in 2005, he took over a program that finished 1-9 the year previous and pushed them to a 5-6 mark, finishing the season on a three-game win streak. In 2006 they finished 6-4, with all four losses coming by a total of 21 points. His career head coaching mark is now 20-13.
Arne's assessment (PSU game): "We had our opportunities in the game, but we played sloppy. We definitely had some jitters and a number of players who were starting for the first time at this level. But we expected to play better. On offense, we ran into a very good Portland State defense, but we helped them by making a lot of mistakes. We put ourselves in a number of negative situations that are hard to dig out of against a team like that. I thought that our defense played very well for the most part. Portland State wore us down late in the game, but I was pleased with the play of Matt Cox, JT Gilmore, Andrew Jackson, Braden Bangay and Caleb Singleton, among others."
WOU Players of the Week vs. Portland State-
MVP Offense: Ben Kuenzi (RB, Jr., Salem/McKay HS)
Captain Offense: Cory Perkins (C, Sr., Salem/McKay HS)
MVP Defense: Andrew Jackson (DB, Jr., Portland/Madison HS)
Captain Defense: Matt Cox (DL, Sr., Salem/North Salem HS)
MVP Special Teams: Jon Dowd (Jr., Corvallis/Crescent Valley HS)
Captain Special Teams: John Malone (Jr., Roseburg)
Scout Offense: Tirrell Thompson (So., Battle Ground, WA)
Scout Defense: Gavin Drake (Fr., Portland/Central Catholic HS)
Ferg's WWU Viking forecast: "Our game with them last year (35-7 WOU victory) doesn't enter into our minds as we prepare for them this week. They were pretty banged up when we caught them late in the season. We are not sure what to expect out of them, since they have not played yet this year. We know that they are much improved in terms of their personnel and they will be better than last year."
The coaches say: 2007 NCAA playoff participant Central Washington is tabbed to win the 2008 GNAC title, according to the league's coaches. The Wildcats, who will be in Monmouth on Sept. 13, are ranked as high as fifth in the national pre-season polls. Western Oregon is the No. 2 choice in the GNAC, followed by Western Washington, Dixie State and Humboldt State.
GNAC in the Southwest: The five current GNAC teams competed in the Northwest Region last season, but have been moved to the Southwest Region this fall. The region will also include the Lone Star Conference and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. Also making the move to the Southwest Region from the Northwest is Nebraska Omaha, which is a now a member of the MIAA.
First weekend: Here is how WOU's opponents fared on the first weekend of the 2008 college football season.
*Portland State (1-0) defeated WOU, 31-14.
*Western Washington (0-0) was idle.
*Central Washington (1-0) defeated Dixie State (0-1), 44-38 in overtime.
*Humboldt State (0-1) lost to Sacramento State, 45-13.
*Southern Oregon (1-0) defeated Montana Tech, 30-25.
*Linfield (0-0) was idle.
Oregon's team: Western Oregon has 98 players from the state of Oregon on its 2008 roster. 74 percent of the squad hails from the state, a percentage more than double of any other football roster in the Oregon University System. Here's the breakdown.
*Western Oregon 74%
*Portland State 32%
*Eastern Oregon 31%
*Southern Oregon 30%
*Oregon State 29%
*Oregon 16%
Verbage on the Vikings: A program that is used to success suffered through a 2-8 season in 2007, but don't expect to see that kind of year again under third-year leader Robin Ross. WWU has veterans returning at nearly every position, and they have supplemented that with a very strong recruiting and transfer class. Senior Adam Perry returns at quarterback where he threw for 1,587 yards last year. Perry has been picked off only five times in 311 career passes. His favorite target will be Travis McKee, who has led the Vikings in receptions each of the last two seasons, including 43 for 381 yards last year. Texas Ax transfer Matt Clark is the new tailback, running behind an experienced offensive line. The defensive line and backfield has a bevy of returnees, but Ross must replace five linebackers, including All-American Shane Simmons.
NCAA lists: Western Oregon finished the 2007 season with top-10 status in a number of NCAA Division II categories.
*4th, Team Pass Sacks (3.91 per game)
*4th, Rushing Defense (69.0 yards per game)
*4th, Scoring Defense (14.4 points a game)
*7th, Kickoff Return Defense (15.29 per return)
*7th Punt Return Defense (3.17 yards per return)
*8th, Fumbles Recovered (17 total)
*9th, Turnovers Gained (34 total)
