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UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA - WESTERN "Bulldogs"
HEAD COACH: RICH FERRIS, a long time Bulldog assistant, takes over as the new head coach. Ferris replaces Tommie Lee. ... Thursday's game will be his first as the head football coach at Montana-Western. ... Ferris begins first year as head coach and his eighth year in the Bulldog program. Ferris, a native of Dillon is a 1990 graduate of Beaverhead County High School and a 1996 graduate of Western Montana College. ... During his Bulldog playing career, Ferris was a two-time first team All-Conference and first team All-American safety. In 1996, he was named the Frontier Conference Defensive Player of the Year. ... After college, Ferris played a year of professional football for the Russelsheim Razorbacks in Germany. He then returned back to Montana where he coached and taught at Darby. ... From there, he was a graduate assistant at Humboldt State while working on his Masters Degree. ... He was inducted into the Montana Western Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.
SERIES HISTORY: Thursday's game will be just the third meeting between the two schools, and the first since 1994. ... The two teams first met in 1962, the year Weber State attained four-year status. The Wildcats won that game 28-0 in Ogden under Coach Wally Nalder. ... In 1994, the ‘Cats won 30-12 in Ogden in an emotionally charged game under Coach Dave Arslanian. ... It was the first game of the season after a winter and spring of trying to save the football program after WSU administrators had threatened to drop the program. WSU football fans rose to the occasion and 12,063 showed up for the season opener and watched the Wildcats roll to a 30-12 victory.
LAST MEETING - Sept. 3, 1994 - Ogden, Utah
WSU quarterback BRYAN MARTIN completed 10-17 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns leading the Wildcats to a 30-12 win. ... WSU wide receiver POKEY ECKFORD had a big night catching three passes for 102 yards and one touchdown. The TD grab was a 92-yarder from Martin. That is still the third longest pass play in WSU football history. Eckford also had an 83-yard punt return in the first quarter for WSU's first score of the game. That is still the third longest punt return in Wildcat football history. ... LARRY ROGERS rushed 13 times for 89 yards which included a 54-yard touchdown run. ... The Wildcats rolled up 453 total yards while holding the Bulldogs to just 221. ... OBIE SPANIC led the ‘Cats with nine total tackles (five unassisted) and had one quarterback sack and one fumble recovery to his credit.. ... DERRICK BEATTY, NICK McDANIEL and ROB HITCHCOCK each had an interception.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: Montana-Western was 5-6 last season, 5-5 in Frontier Conference play. ... Offensively, the Bulldogs return their top rusher and pass receiver. DERRICK PLUFF (5-10, 205 Sr. RB) played in all 11 games last season and rushed 180 times for 931 yards and eight touchdowns (84.6 ypg). He was the team's third leading receiver with 23 catches for 182 yards and one touchdown. He averaged 103.0 all-purpose yards per game. CRAIGH CORNELIUS (5-10, 170 Jr. WR) played in nine of his team's 11 contests in 2007. Despite missing two games, he led the team in receptions (49) and receiving yards (854) and caught nine touchdown passes. He averaged 94.9 receiving yards per game. ... The ‘Dogs also return receivers MICHAEL GUELFF (5-7, 150 Sr.) and PONO MATTHEWS (5-7, 160 Soph.) Guelff was second to Cornelius in receiving last season with 47 catches for 504 yards and four touchdowns. Matthews was fourth with 18 grabs for 249 yards and one touchdown. ... The defense is led by First Team All-Frontier Conference middle linebacker CHAD SCHIRA (6-2, 235 Jr.). Schira recorded an eye-popping 151 total tackles in 2007, 53 unassisted. He had one quarterback sack, led the team in interceptions with three, and had one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.
WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY "WILDCATS"
HEAD COACH RON McBRIDE: Weber State head coach, RON McBRIDE, enters his FOURTH SEASON as head coach the Wildcats. In 2005 he guided the Wildcats to a 6-5 (.545) record overall and a 4-3 (.571) mark in Big Sky Conference play. Last year the Wildcats were 5-6 overall and 4-4 in Big Sky play.\ ... MAC is now 15-18 at WSU (.454) and 103-81 (.560) overall in his 16th seasons as a head coach. McBRIDE picked up his 100th career coaching victory in the 23-0 shutout of Northern Colorado last October. ... McBride was 88-63 in 13 seasons as the head coach at the University of Utah from 1990-2002. ... McBride is now (11-12) overall in Big Sky Conference games. This is Coach Mac's first ever meeting with Montana-Western.
NEW WEB SITE! All Weber State University athletic department news can now be found on the new web site which is:
www.weberstatesports.com
RADIO / TV: All Weber State football games will be carried LIVE on radio station KLO (1430 AM). ... Back for his 10th season of Wildcat football play-by-play is WILDCAT CARL ARKY. ... He will be joined in the broadcast booth by former WSU footballs standouts JUSTIN DeFOUR and TY SPARROW for the six HOME GAMES. WSU Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations, BRAD LARSEN, will handle the color analyst duties on the road. ... Thursday's Pre-Game Show begins at 6:30 p.m. (MDT).
MONDAY COACHES SHOW AT JAVIER'S: This year's KLO Monday Night Coaches Show, hosted by Wildcat Carl Arky, will be held at JAVIER'S RESTAURANT AT 4874 South Harrison Blvd in Ogden beginning at 7:00 p.m. All Wildcat fans are encouraged to attend, enjoy some great Mexican food cuisine and pose some questions to Coach Ron McBride and WSU football players invited to attend each week.
WEEKLY POLLS: There will be TWO major weekly top 25 polls for NCAA Division I FCS this season. ... THE SPORTS NETWORK poll is voted upon by sports information directors from all 125 FCS schools plus selected media members. ... The FCS COACHES POLL is just that. Coaches from various FCS schools voted each week. Both polls will be released on Monday afternoon during the season.
NCAA DIVISION 1 FCS: The old "I-AA" is so yesterday! ... It's now NCAA Division I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision). FCS schools have a 16-team playoff format to determine a true national champion. NCAA Division I BCS (Bowl Championship Subdivision) determines it's champion through play in post-season bowl games. ... There are 125 schools in NCAA Division I FCS this season. The 16-team playoff has eight automatic qualifiers (league champions) from the following conferences: Big Sky, Colonial, Mid-Eastern Athletic, Missouri Valley Football, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern and Southland. The other eight teams receive at-large berths. ... The first round begins on Saturday, November 29, with the quarterfinals on Saturday, December 6, semifinals Saturday, Dec. 13 and the championship game on Friday, Dec. 19 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. ... In the 29-year history of NCAA Division I FCS football, a team from the BIG SKY CONFERENCE has reached the championship game nine times, and have captured five titles. Montana is the last Big Sky team to win the national championship. The Grizzlies defeated Furman, 13-7, in 2001. ... Weber State has made two playoff appearances. In 1987 the Wildcats went on the road and defeated Big Sky league foe Idaho, 59-30, then went on the road and dropped a 51-23 decision at Marshall. ... In 1991, Northern Iowa defeated the Wildcats 38-21 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
46TH SEASON OF FOOTBALL: Thursday's game marks the 47th season of Weber State University football on the four-year level and the 46th season as a member of the Big Sky Conference. ... In 1962, Weber State attained four-year status and played as an NCAA Division II member until 1978 when they moved up to the newly created NCAA Division I-AA level (now I-FCS). ... Weber State's ALL-TIME RECORD in football is 234-255-3 (.475).
TEAM CAPTAINS: The team elected five captains for the 2008 season. ... The DEFENSIVE CAPTAINS will be J.D. FOLSOM (6-3, 230 Sr. SLB), RYAN GALOVIC (6-0, 220 Sr. ROV) and KEVIN LINEHAN (6-3, 255 Jr. DE). ... The OFFENSIVE CAPTAINS are PAUL CARPENTER (6-6, 305 Sr. OT), CAMERON HIGGINS (6-2, 195 Soph. QB) and MARCUS MAILEI (6-1, 245 Sr. FB) ... BRYAN ETEUATI (5-7, 160 Sr.) will be the SPECIAL TEAMS captain.
STAFF CHANGES: Coach McBride has two new faces on his staff for the 2008 season. DON ECK replaces Alex Gerke as the offensive line coach. STEVE COX replaces Don Bailey as receivers coach. ... KEVIN CLUNE, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, has added the title of Assistant Head Coach as well.
KEY RETURNEES: The Wildcats return 12 players who have earned All-Big Sky Conference honors. ... TREVYN SMITH (5-9, 210 Jr. RB / Springville, Utah) has been named First Team All-Big Sky each of the past two seasons. Smith is the two-time defending Big Sky Conference rushing leader and is looking to become just the second player in Big Sky Conference history to lead the league in rushing for three straight seasons. ... BRYANT ETEUATI (5-7, 160 Sr. WR / Layton, Utah) was the 2008 NCAA Division FCS All-Purpose Yardage leader averaging just over 207 yards per game. He was named First Team All-Big Sky as a return specialist and Second Team All-Big Sky as a receiver and special teams player. MARCUS MAILEI (6-1, 245 Sr. FB / Salt Lake City, Utah) was named First Team All-Big Sky. He only had 42 net rushing yards, but had 18 catches for 143 yards and was a punishing blocker. Despite the honor received in 2007, Mailei was not named to the 2008 Big Sky Conference pre-season all-conference team. ... BRYCE SCANLON (6-3, 295 Sr. NG / Evanston, Wyoming) was the only Wildcats named First Team All-Big Sky in 2007. ... CAMERON HIGGINS (6-2, 195 Soph. QB / Hawai'i Kai, Hawai'i) made an impressive run after becoming the starting quarterback for the last eight games of the season. He was named the 2007 Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year and earned Honorable Mention All-Big Sky honors. ... J.D. FOLSOM (6-3, 235 Sr. SLB / Salmon, Idaho) was a junior college transfer who came in and made an immediate impact with 73 tackles. He earned Second Team All-Big Sky honors. ... Along with Higgins, DEREK JOHNSON (6-2, 290 Sr. DT / Clearfield, UT), KEVIN LINEHAN (6-3, 255 Jr. DE / Los Alamitos, California), KYLE MUTCHER (6-3, 295 Jr. OC / Park City, Utah), MIKE SNOY (6-2, 175 Jr. Punter / Layton, Utah) and TIM TOONE (5-10, 165 Jr. WR / Peoria, Arizona) were each named Honorable Mention All-Big Sky for the 2007 season.
KEY LOSSES: The biggest hit came on the offensive line where DAVID HALE (6-6, 310 Sr. OT / Plain City, Utah) and DIMITRI TSOUMPAS (6-3, 295 Sr. OG / Edmonton, Alberta Canada) will be missed. ... Hale was a 4th round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens while Tsoumpas was the 2nd player taken overall in the Canadian Football League by the Calgary Stampeders. .. Hale earned First Team all-America honors by the American Football Coaches Association; 2nd Team by The Associated Press and 3rd Team by The Sports Network and was First Team All-Big Sky.
SEASON OPENERS: Weber State is 25-21-0 in season opening games. ... The Wildcats last season opening win came in 2005, Coach Ron McBride's first season , defeating Western State (Colo.) 61-0 in front of the largest crowd ever at Stewart Stadium for a football game - 17,593. ... When opening the season at HOME, the Wildcats are 21-6-0 overall. ... WSU's last lost at home in a season opening game was 2004, dropping a 34-31 decision to Southern Utah University.
PRE-SEASON HYPE: The Wildcats received votes in both pre-season top 25 polls. ... The ‘Cats had 17 votes from the SIDs and media in The Sports Network poll and four votes in the FCS Coaches poll. ... Individually, BRYANT ETEUATI (5-7, 160 Sr.) was named pre-season Second Team all-America as a punt return specialist by The Sports Network.
SPEAKING OF ETEUATI ... MANY HAPPY RETURNS!: The senior speedster from nearby Layton, Utah holds virtually every WSU kickoff and punt return record. ... In just three seasons he's become WSU's career leader in PUNT RETURNS with a staggering 93 (2nd has 54) and return yards (915) and has returned two punts for touchdowns. Those 915 punt return yards are currently the best ever for a career in the Big Sky Conference. ... Coming into this season he is averaging 9.83 yards per return. His 36 returns last season was just five off the school mark of 41. ... He needs 26 more kickoff returns to break Wiley King's school record of 98 career kickoff returns, but needs just FOUR MORE YARDS to break King's mark of 2,031 career kickoff return yards. Eteuati set a Big Sky Conference record last season for Most Kickoff Returns in a Season (43) and Kickoff Return Yards in a Season (1,199). He has averaged 27.78 yards per kickoff return in his career and has returned two for touchdowns. ... He needs only 284 more all-purpose yards to become WSU's career leader in that category as well. He currently sits in third place (3,878) behind Freddie Cook (3,963) and Nick Chournos (4,161). ... He needs 86 receiving yards and 85 punt returns yards to become the first player in Big Sky Conference history to have 1,000 career receiving yards, kickoff return yards and punt return yards.
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: With all the attention coming the way of Bryant Eteuati and Trevyn Smith, many eyes are focused on quarterback CAMERON HIGGINS (6-2, 195 Soph.). Higgins took over control of the team in the fourth game of the 2007 season. That game happened to be at #1 nationally ranked Montana. But Higgins withstood the Washington-Grizzly Stadium fan and player fury and nearly engineered an upset. Montana won 18-10 after the Wildcat had taken a 10-0 lead. ... Higgins ended the season completing 131-233 passes for 1,959 yards and 17 touchdowns. His Passing Efficiency Rating of 143.20 was second in the Big Sky behind First Team quarterback Matt Nichols of Eastern Washington. ... For his efforts, Higgins was named the 2007 Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year and earned Honorable Mention All-Big Sky Conference honors.
LET'S HAVE A LUAU!: The next two weeks will feel like an "island reunion" for the 11 Wildcat players on the roster from the state of Hawai'i. ... Montana-Western has 12 players on it's roster from Hawai'i. Former Bulldog head coach, Tommie Lee, brought many of those players over along with his son, Pohai Lee, who currently serves as the Offensive Coordinator and Running Backs coach at Montana-Western. ... Of course next week, the Wildcats play at the University of Hawai'i (Sept 6) and many of the WSU players will be playing against former high school teammates and in front of friends and family.
ODDS AND ENDS . . . . Thursday night's game is sponsored by the Weber State ROTC. ... The Big Sky Conference / Sterling Bank Presidents Cup, won by Weber State for academic and athletic achievement during the 2007-08 season, will be presented to the WSU Administration, WSU Athletic Administration, and WSU Student-Athletes prior to the start of Thursday's game out on the field. Big Sky Conference commissioner, Doug Fullerton, will make the Cup delivery.
NEXT WEEK: Weber State makes its first ever trip to the Hawaiian Islands (as a four-year institution) next week. The Wildcats tackle the talent-laden University of Hawai'i Warriors on Saturday, September 6. ... Kickoff in Aloha Stadium is set for 6:05 p.m. (HST) which translate to 10:05 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time.
Ron McBride Quotes: ON FALL CAMP: "It's been good, better than I anticipated. We only had one serious injury and not really many little ones. The kids came back in tremendous shape physically and mentally they stayed sharp throughout all the practice sessions."
ON THE MONTANA-WESTERN: "Tommie Lee coached for me at Utah and now his son is the offensive coordinator so they probably won't change their attack. They like to spread the field with four, and some times five, receivers and throw the all around. It's actually similiar to what Hawai'i runs so it will be a good learning experience for our defense. They aren't big, but they have some good overall team speed. I like their big linebacker in the middle. He's all over the place and is a very physical player."
ON THE WILDCATS: "We've had some good leadership from our seniors. They've kept everyone on their toes an focused. We need to establish ourselves in the red zone on offense. We need to become more physical and win the battle of the trenches when we get inside the twenty and we've preached that all Spring and Fall. The same goes for the defense. They need to learn to dig in when teams advance to the twenty and win that line battle."
