Complete Release

Game #5 Information

Date: Saturday, October 11, 2008

Kickoff: 1:35 p.m.

Location: Greeley, Colorado

Stadium: Nottingham Field

Capacity: 8,500

Series: ISU, 19-5

Last Meeting: Oct. 6, 2007, ISU 26-14

Radio: Northern Colorado Radio Network

     Greeley: 1310 KFKA

     Troy Coverdale, play-by-play

     Anders Nelson, color analyst

TV: Altitude Sports & Entertainment

     Jerry Schemmel, play-by-play

     Blake Olson, color analyst

Video Streaming: www.bigskytv.org

Storyline

     One of the teams will walk out of Nottingham Field on Saturday with their first win of the year as Northern Colorado is 0-4 and 0-1 in Big Sky Conference play and Idaho State is 0-5 overall and 0-2 in league action... The Bears have lost seven straight contests dating back to last year, while the Bengals have dropped nine in a row... Saturday will be Homecoming for the Bears. Since the date began being tracked in 1958, NC is 36-14 in Homecoming contests... Northern Colorado hopes to continue its run as the best red zone defense in the league, as the Bears are allowing opponents to score 78.9 percent of the time. The Bears have intercepted two passes and had a turnover on downs within the 20-yard line this year.

The Matchup

     One of the oldest series in school history, the first game between the Bears and Bengals was in 1939, a 13-0 victory for NC in Pocatello. Idaho State has won 19 of the 24 meetings, including the last four and holds a 10-2 advantage in Greeley and 9-3 in Pocatello. Last year, the Bengals won their Homecoming contest 26-14 against the Bears.

???? 2007?????????????? L????? 14-26?????? Pocatello

???? 2006?????????????? L????? 13-41?????? Greeley

???? 2004?????????????? L? 42-49 (2ot)?? Greeley

???? 2003?????????????? L????? 33-42?????? Pocatello

???? 1989????????????? W???? 19-17?????? Greeley

???? 1985?????????????? L????? 17-44?????? Pocatello

???? 1979????????????? W????? 23-0??????? Pocatello

???? 1978?????????????? L??????? 7-9???????? Greeley

???? 1961????????????? W???? 27-22?????? Greeley

???? 1960?????????????? L?????? 7-14??????? Pocatello

???? 1959?????????????? L????? 13-32?????? Greeley

???? 1958?????????????? L??????? 6-7???????? Pocatello

???? 1957?????????????? L??????? 6-7???????? Greeley

???? 1956?????????????? L?????? 7-20??????? Pocatello

???? 1955?????????????? L?????? 0-19??????? Greeley

???? 1954?????????????? L????? 13-28?????? Pocatello

???? 1953?????????????? L?????? 7-10??????? Greeley

???? 1952?????????????? L????? 16-46?????? Pocatello

???? 1951?????????????? L?????? 6-13??????? Greeley

???? 1950????????????? W???? 20-18?????? Pocatello

???? 1949?????????????? L????? 19-41?????? Greeley

???? 1948?????????????? L?????? 6-38??????? Pocatello

???? 1940????????????? W????? 21-7??????? Greeley

???? 1939????????????? W????? 13-0??????? Pocatello

Last Meeting

     Last season, the Bengals won their Homecoming game over the Bears, 26-14 and the Bears look to return the favor in 2008. Running back David Woods gained over 100 yards of all purpose yards for the second straight game, rushing for 98 and catching one pass for three yards for 101 in the game. Eric Brown also tallied over 100 all-purpose yards, tallying 104 kickoff return yards on five kickoffs with a long of 33. Tight end Ryan Chesla gained a then-career-most 86 yards on five catches with one touchdown.

Connecting The Dots

     The Long Beach Poly High School connection strikes for the first time this season as Idaho State has one player from there in senior defensive lineman Jon Tuua and the Bears have both sophomore offensive lineman Andrew Dunkley and freshman wide receiver Patrick Walker as Long Beach Poly alumni.

Tiger Tamer

     In two games against Idaho State in his career (2006,2007), senior linebacker Cristian Sarmento has wreaked havoc, tallying 20 tackles including 15 solo stops and 2.5 tackles for loss. Junior cornerback Quincy Wofford also had one of his two blocks last season against Idaho State, blocking a point-after attempt.

Around The Block

     Junior safety Ryan Lutz became the fifth different player on the Northern Colorado team with a block when he blocked the first punt of the game for UC Davis. Lutz joins Martin Awachie, Cristian Sarmento, Mike Van Portfliet and Quincy Wofford on the list who have blocked either a field goad, point-after attempt or punt in their time with the Bears. Both Van Portfliet and Wofford have two blocks in their career, with both of Van Portfliets coming back-to-back against Northern Arizona.

Analyzing The Annals

     Junior quarterback Bryan Waggener, for just the fifth time in school history, hit 1,000 passing yards in the fourth game of the season. Waggener hit the one grand mark on a touchdown pass to Brandon Smith in the third quarter, becoming the second fastest player at NC to the mark. The fastest Bear to 1,000 passing yards in a season was Corte McGuffey in 1998, doing so in the second quarter of the fourth game. After four games, Waggener has now passed for 1,091 yards. At his current average of 272.8 yards per game, Waggener is on pace to throw for 3,001 yards this season, which would rank third on the school's single season and 11th on the career charts for the Bears.

And The Hits Just Keep On Coming

     For the 12th straight game against an FCS team, senior linebacker Cristian Sarmento recorded at least 10 tackles, leading the way against UC Davis with 10. Sarmento also recorded a sack, his fourth in three games and forced another fumble, his second straight game with one. On the season, Sarmento has 51 tackles to lead the Big Sky Conference and rank sixth in the NCAA statistics with 12.75 per game. He is closing in on the top 10 career lists both at Northern Colorado and the Big Sky, needing seven to tie for 10th at NC and 11 for 10th in the Big Sky.

Dr. Quincy, M.E.

Junior cornerback Quincy Wofford is quickly becoming a doctor of defense, breaking up passes, blocking kicks, returning kicks for a touchdown, and the latest, intercepting passes. Wofford picked off a UC Davis toss for the third of his career and first of the season late in the second quarter.

Kicking The Habit

Junior kicker Michael York made his second field goal of the season and the third of his career, giving NC the 17-14 lead with 1:13 remaining in the first half. He went on to make two more, marking the second time in two years a kicker (Zak Bigelow, Montana State, Oct. 27, 2007) has made three field goals in a game. York is now 4-for-5 in field goals this season and is tied for the league lead, making all nine of his extra-point attempts.

Leading By Example

     Senior linebacker Cristian Sarmento leads the Big Sky Conference in total tackles, averaging 12.8 per game. He is also second in sacks per game at 1.00 and he and fellow senior linebacker Trey Keene are also tied for second in fumbles forced at 0.50 per game.

More Notes From UC Davis

• For the first time since 2005, a player has caught a touchdown pass in three straight, as sophomore wide receiver Brandon Smith has three straight games with TD receptions. The last to do so was Andy Birkel in the first three games of 2005.
• Senior cornerback Myles Hayes recorded his 100th career tackle against the Aggies and is now at 102.
• Junior quarterback Bryan Waggener's 66-yard run is the second longest ever by a quarterback in school history. In 1972, Gerry Dattilio scampered 68 yards for a touchdown against Fort Hays State.

As Far As You Can Go

     Junior cornerback Quincy Wofford tied the Big Sky and Northern Colorado records on the opening kickoff of the game against Northern Arizona with his 100 yard return. It is the fourth time in school history and the 17th time in Big Sky history a player has gone end zone to end zone on a kickoff return and the first at NC since 1973. Wofford tallied 124 kickoff return yards in the game, for the ninth highest total in school history. On the year, Wofford has six returns for 29.8 yards per return, which ranks 11th in the NCAA statistics this week.

Making A Name

     Junior quarterback Bryan Waggener is rewriting the records books at Northern Colorado. Against Texas State he threw for 402 yards, which is the second-most in a single game in school history behind Nick Henkowski's 436 yards against North Dakota in 1983. Waggener also amassed 395 yards of total offense, which is the fourth-highest total in Bears history. Waggener also had 31 completions against Texas State, which is one shy of the school record of 32 against Central Oklahoma in 1978 and North Dakota State in 1987.

Mr. Smith Goes To The End Zone

     Sophomore wide receiver Brandon Smith had two long touchdown plays against Texas State. He scored on an 80-yard rush on the first play from scrimmage, the first carry for more than 50 yards since Patrick Ealy went for 53 against Sam Houston State on Nov. 12, 2005. In the third quarter, Smith caught a 75-yard pass from Bryan Waggener for a touchdown to tie the score at 35-35. It was the first time since Brian Wiedeman hit Zac Carlson against Idaho State on Oct. 7, 2006 a pass was completed for 50 or more yards. Smith's scamper to start the game was also the fourth-longest rushing play in school history.

Points A-Plenty

     Northern Colorado scored 35 points in the home opener against Texas State, the first time since Oct. 29, 2005 the Bears scored more than 30 in a game when they defeated Fort Lewis on Homecoming, 45-14. The Bears have now scored 97 points this year in four games for an average of 24.2 per game. Last year, it took NC nine games to get to the 97 point mark.

Oh Captain, My Captain

     At the conclusion of the spring practices, the team voted and named senior offensive lineman Jacob Thornbrue and senior linebackers Joe Kenney and Cristian Sarmento as captains for the 2008 team. This is the second year in a row Kenney has served as a captain and the first season for the other two.

Coors Light Coaches Show

     Beginning Sept. 3, join head coach Scott Downing and "Voice of the Bears" Troy Coverdale at Cables Pub & Grill (1923 59th Avenue, Greeley) at 6:00 p.m. for the Coors Light Northern Colorado Coaches Show on 1310 KFKA. Coach will cover the upcoming week as well as break down the previous week and take questions from fans in the audience.

Watch The Big Sky

     All home and conference games will be featured again this year on BigSkyTV.org, a website that streams video and audio for football, men's basketball, women's basketball and volleyball. All games taking place in a Big Sky venue will be available. This year's subscription is free to Big Sky TV for live events, however, there will be a charge for events on demand.