Football | 9/1/2009 2:56:55 PM

This Week: Saturday, Sept. 5, @ Eastern Washington, 12:05 pm
2008 Final Record: 7-4 overall, 5-3 Great Northwest Athletic Conference

Season begins: Western Oregon University will kick-off its 84th year of football Sept.5, as it takes on NCAA Division I FCS opponent Eastern Washington at Woodward Field in Cheney, Wash. Kick-off is slated for 12:05 p.m.

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 http://www.am1600kohi.com/. The Wolves' games will also be heard on KLOO 1340 AM (Albany) and KOHI 1600 AM (St. Helens). Russ Blunck and "The Coach" Bear Blunck will be back for their 13th consecutive and final season providing the call for all road games. Joining the Wolves for the first time will be legendary Oregon sportscaster Darrell Aune as he takes over the play-by-play for all home games.

Holding the edge: Western Oregon leads the all-time series against Eastern Washington 9-5-1. The Wolves took eight straight games from the Eagles from 1971-78 to gain the series lead but EWU has won the past three meetings between the schools including the most recent meeting in 2005 (48-7).

Wins keep coming: For the third straight season head coach Arne Ferguson led Western Oregon to a third consecutive winning season as the team finished 7-4 in 2008 after going 9-2 and 6-4 the previous two seasons. This is the first time WOU has put together three straight winning seasons since 1985-1987 when it was a member of the NAIA. Ferguson's coaching record is now 27-16 after four seasons at the helm.

Ferguson facts: Head coach Arne Ferguson begins his fifth 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 and has carried that same momentum into three consecutive winning seasons.

What's missing: The Wolves lost 14 letterwinners off their 2008 squad including four All-GNAC performers which included center Cory Perkins, wide receiver Isaiah Smith, and defensive tackles Anthony Marin and Matt Cox. Cox

They're back: WOU will return a large batch of letterwinners for 2009, including six starters on the offensive side of the ball and eight on defense.

GNAC leader return: Running back Ben Kuenzi finished second in the GNAC yards-per-game rushing category with 68.3 and was second in rushing touchdowns with six. Josh Riddell was third in passing yards a game (252.4) and pass efficiency (150.2). Shaun Kauleinamoku was eighth in receiving yards per game (52.1), fifth in TD scores (eight) and first in punt return average (11.3). Jon Dowd was third in the conference in kick-off returns with 22.4 per return. JT Gilmore ranked third in the GNAC in tackles with 8.9 per game (89 total). Gavin Romanick was second in the GNAC in interceptions with five and seventh in tackles for loss (0.91), with Caleb Singelton (four) right behind him in interceptions. Bryan Huber paced the GNAC in passes defended with 1.00 a game, while Miguel Gonzalez was sixth (0.80).

Touting the team: In 2008, Western Oregon led the GNAC in Rushing Offense (141.4), Pass Defense Efficiency (126.5), Rushing Defense (76.9), Interceptions (18), and Punt Coverage (34.8 net). The Wolves were sixth in the NCAA Division II listings in Rushing Defense.

Place in the record books: A number of student-athletes will be looking to break into or move up the Western Oregon football record books during the 2009 season. Here is a look at how some rank in school-history:

Career

Name                           Category                      Yds./#              Rank

Ben Kuenzi                   Rushing                        1,978               9^th

Ben Kuenzi                   Yards Per Rush            4.9                   8^th

Josh Riddell                  Passing Yards               2,776               10^th

Josh Riddell                  TD Passes                    25                    8^th

Shaun Kauleinamoku    Punt Return Yds.          350                  6^th

Shaun Kauleinamoku    Punt Return Ave.          9.0                   10^th

JT Gilmore                   Tackles                        253                  9^th

Camp over/season begins: The team wrapped up fall camp last Friday (Aug. 28) with a two-hour scrimmage focusing on physicality, execution and team continuity. Units on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball competed in down-and-distance situations and many different schemes and sets of personnel where used.

Wolves picked second: Western Oregon was picked second in the 2009 GNAC preseason coaches poll with 12 points. Central Washington was selected as the conference favorite, garnering 16 points and all four firs place votes.

Conference clash coming: After Saturday's bout with the Lumberjacks, Western Oregon will hit the road again to open Great Northwest Athletic Conference play at Humboldt State (Sept. 12, 6 p.m.). Each conference team will play each other twice for a total of six GNAC games.