Football | 9/15/2008 2:11:00 AM
This Week: Saturday, Sept. 20 @ Dixie State, 6 pm Pacific time, Hansen Stadium
Last Week: Central Washington 31, WOU 24, Weber State 44, Dixie State 7
Records: Western Oregon 1-2 (1-1), Dixie State 1-2 (0-1)
Road warriors: After a brief home interlude, the Western Oregon football team will hit the road for its two longest trips of the season at Dixie State (Sept. 20) and Humboldt State (Sept. 27). Four of WOU's first five games this season are away from home.
Series stats: Western Oregon and Dixie State have met only twice, with the Wolves winning 44-7 in 2006 and 31-7 last fall. The two teams will also meet on Oct. 18 in Monmouth as a part of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference double round-robin format.
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 Rookie's 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.
Wildcats win war one: Western Oregon held a 24-10 early moments into the second half, but couldn't get on the board again as GNAC-favorite Central Washington scored 21 unanswered points to rally for a 31-24 win over the Wolves on Saturday at McArthur Field. The two squads, picked to finish first and second in the GNAC pre-season poll, will meet again on Oct. 25 in Ellensburg.
Wolves replay: You can watch the replay of the Wolves-Wildcats contest on CCTV channel 22 in Salem tonight (Monday) at 6 pm and on Wednesday at 6 pm. In Monmouth-Independence, they will show on channel 17 on Tuesday at 9 pm, Wednesday at 6 pm, Thursday at 1 am, Friday at 9 pm and Saturday at 1 am. On channel 18, the game will be replayed at 3 pm. For DVD copies of the game, email Russ Blunck at blunckr@wou.edu.
Opponent chart: Here is how WOU's opponents fared last weekend.
Portland State (1-1) lost to UC Davis, 38-24
Western Washington (1-1) defeated Humboldt State (1-2), 30-14
Central Washington (3-0) defeated Western Oregon, 31-24
Dixie State (1-2) lost to Weber State, 44-7.
Southern Oregon (1-2) lost to Sacramento State, 27-16
Linfield (0-1) lost to Hardin-Simmons (TX), 29-22.
Josh jargon: Junior quarterback Josh Riddell threw for 332 yards in his second start at WOU, connecting on 13 of 24 passes. The former McKay High School (Salem) standout threw three of those for touchdowns, giving him seven TD passes on the season. Riddell played in three games at Mississippi State last season, which included a start at South Carolina, before an injury ended his year. He was 18-for-37 for 240 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for the Bulldogs.
Long bombing: Riddle averaged 25 yards per completion against Central Washington, which included TD passes of 45 and 34 yards to Demario Ballard and a 53-yard scoring strike to Isaiah Smith. Smith also had catches for 38 and 23 yards in the game for 114 total yards.
Different methods: While Western Oregon used the quick strike method, with no touchdown drive longer than five plays, Central Washington had scoring drives of 11-78 (plays-yards), 16-80, 6-60, 7-70 and 4-80. The Wildcats had the ball for 36:14 in the ball game, while Western Oregon's time of possession was just 23:46.
Wildcat wall: Western Oregon had just 17 net yards rushing, the program's lowest total since tallying -42 yards in 2004 at South Dakota State. That total comes just one week after WOU backs rushed for 252 yards at Western Washington.
In defense of the defense: While CWU All-American candidates Mike Reilly (29-for-34, 330 yards) and Johnny Spevak (11 catches, 197 yards) looked every bit the part, WOU's defense still had a number of impressive stands to hold the Wildcats to their lowest scoring output thus far in 2008. Caleb Singleton had a tackle for loss on CWU's first drive, when the Wildcats had a first down on WOU's 14-yard line, eventually resulting in a visitor field goal try that missed. Later, Matt Cox had a quarterback sack on third down that forced CWU into another field goal attempt (this one was good). In all, the Wolves had seven tackles for loss and three QB sacks: Cox, Gavin Romanick and Keith Robertson. Romanick led the Wolves with 11 tackles in the game, followed by JT Gilmore with 10 and Andrew Jackson with nine.
Ferguson facts: Head coach Arne Ferguson is in 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 21-14.
Reading the Rebels: Saturday's opponent Dixie State might just be the most improved team in the GNAC this year. The Rebels opened the season by putting an overtime scare into Central Washington (44-38) in St. George, and they then plastered Western New Mexico a week ago, 35-3. This past Saturday, they lost at FCS member Weber State, 44-7. Quarterback Dexter Hill, a transfer from Northern Iowa, has thrown for an even 700 yards in three games and has completed 62 percent of his passes to 13 different receivers. Linebacker Teddy Owens leads a defense that returns three of its top four tacklers from a year ago. Owens had 116 tackles last year, and leads the club in 2008 with 27 in three games. Dixie State, a former junior college power, is entering into its third season at the NCAA Division II level.
To the nines: WOU's nine wins in 2007 (9-2) 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.
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 were 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 Super Region four: The NCAA announced that the four regional names (for football) have been officially changed. The former Northeast Region is now known as Super Regional One, the Southeast is known as Super Regional Two, the Northwest is Super Regional Three and the Southwest is Super Regional Four. Last year the five current GNAC teams competed in the Northwest Region, but were moved to the Southwest (now Super Regional Four) 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 from the Northwest is Nebraska Omaha, which is a now a member of the MIAA.
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%
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)
