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Football Prepares For Home Finale Game #9 InformationDate: Saturday, November 8, 2008 Kickoff: 12:05 p.m. Location: Greeley, Colo. Stadium: Nottingham Field Capacity: 8,500 Series: EWU, 4-1 Last Meeting: Nov. 3, 2007, EWU 17-7 Radio: Northern Colorado Radio Network Greeley: 1310 KFKA Troy Coverdale, play-by-play Anders Nelson, color analyst Video Streaming: www.bigskytv.org Storyline Northern Colorado looks to end the 2008 home season on the winning track against Eastern Washington on Saturday... The Bears will honor the 15 seniors on the roster prior to the start of the game... Two of the top defensive players in the Big Sky Conference and all of FCS will be in action at Nottingham as Northern Colorado features senior linebacker Cristian Sarmento who ranks third in the nation in tackles and 11th in sacks, while Eastern Washington features senior defensive end Greg Peach who is a finalist for the Buchanan award, given to the top defensive player in the nation, and leads the country in both sacks (1.75) and tackles for loss (2.13). One If By Land, Two If By Sea After the two games last week, fans could expect a lot of passing attempts in the game on Saturday. Northern Colorado rushed for five yards against Montana State, while Eastern Washington rushed for negative 31 yards against Sacramento State. The Bears are averaging 111.9 rushing yards per game this season, while the Eagles are averaging 86.5 on the ground. The Matchup Eastern Washington owns a 4-1 all-time record against Northern Colorado and are 2-1 in Greeley. The first meeting between the two clubs took place back in 1979, with the Eagles winning 35-15. The Bears lone win in the series came in 1981 in Greeley, a 13-9 victory.
1979: Cheney L, 15-35 1981: Greeley W, 13-9 1984: Greeley L, 15-50 2006: Greeley L, 0-34 2007: Cheney L, 7-17 Last Meeting Running back David Woods led the team with 102 rushing yards on 19 carries and scored the lone touchdown, while tight end Ryan Chesla caught a team-best four passes for 31 yards. Wide receiver Andy Birkel and wide receiver Jason Caprioli each had three receptions for 27 and 26 yards, respectively and quarterback Dominic Breazeale completed 18-of-26 passes for 146 yards and one interception. Defensively, Cristian Sarmento continued to dominate, recording a game, season and career-high 20 tackles. It tied for the 10th most in school history (Ed Markham vs Eastern New Mexico, 1978) and was the most since Reed Doughty had 21 against Nebraska-Omaha in 2002. EWU quarterback Matt Nichols completed 14-of-23 passes for 172 yards with one interception. Nichols was ranked sixth in the NCAA in total offense averaging 315.6 yards per game and the Bears held him to 190 yards. The Century Club Senior linebacker Cristian Sarmento became just the ninth player in FCS this season to surpass the 100 tackle mark as he currently ranks third with 13.25 tackles per game with 106 total tackles, which also leads the Big Sky Conference. At his current pace, Sarmento would end the season with 146 total tackles, which would rank seventh all-time in school history and he would end his career with 380 which would rank fifth on the NC charts. Spread Offense Five different Bears have caught at least 20 passes through the first eight games this season. Senior Cory Fauver leads the way with 31 receptions, while senior tight end Ryan Chesla has 30, sophomore Brandon Smith has 26, senior Jason Caprioli has 22 and junior Alex Thompson has grabbed 21. A total of 14 different players have caught at least one reception this season for 156 total catches for 1,784 yards. The Returners Both junior wide receiver Alex Thompson and junior corner back Quincy Wofford have over 200 kickoff return yards this season and have combined for 515 of the team's 772 yards on kickoffs this year. Wofford has returned 10 kicks for 272 yards, including a 100-yarder to rank 11th in the nation and first in the Big Sky Conference in yards per return, while Thompson has 12 returns for 243 yards to rank 94th nationally and 10th in the Big Sky. With the return of senior Eric Brown to the return game, the Bears now have three dangerous options as Brown now has 626 yards of kickoff returns in his career. Picking Passes Senior linebacker Joe Kenney tallied the team's ninth interception of the year when he intercepted Montana State's Cody Kempt and returned it 79 yards, setting up the Bears touchdown. His 79 yard return ties for the fourth longest interception return in school history and is the longest non-touchdown scoring return in NC history. Kenney's return is also the second longest in the Big Sky Conference this season. Northern Colorado now has nine interceptions and averages 23.0 yards per return, which leads the Big Sky Conference. Eastern Washington is a close second, averaging 22.9 yards per interception return. It is the fifth interception of Kenney's career, and the senior now has 11 take-aways in his time with the Bears as he also has six fumble recoveries. Quietly Getting It Done Junior rover Stephen Michon has now recorded at least three tackles in 20 straight games, dating back to the finale of the 2006 season. He has also had three or more stops in 24 of the last 26 games, bringing his career tackle total to 133, which is third among active players behind linebackers Cristian Sarmento and Joe Kenney, whom are both seniors. Going Streaking Both seniors Ryan Chesla and Cory Fauver have good streaks going in regards to receptions. Chesla, a tight end, has caught at least one pass in 20 straight games and in 22 of the last 23 he has played in while Fauver, a wide receiver, has at least one reception in 21 straight contests. And One Makes Three Senior linebacker Joe Kenney will become the final of this year's three captains to start in 30 games against Eastern Washington on Saturday. Senior offensive tackle Jacob Thornbrue leads the team with 36 starts, 31 of those consecutively, while senior linebacker Cristian Sarmento started in his 30th career game at Montana State. True Freshmen When defensive end Nick Hernon got the starting nod against Montana two weeks ago, he became the first true freshman this season to start a game, though several others have seen action. Wide receiver Dominic Gunn, fullback Andrew Downing, wide receiver Patrick Walker and defensive end VJ Holmes have all played in multiple games this year. Seeing Red Northern Colorado continues to have the best red-zone defense in the Big Sky Conference, allowing opponents to score just 68.8 percent of the time. The Bears have forced two fumbles, have intercepted four passes and forced two turnovers on downs. Against conference opponents, the Bears are holding the opposition to just 57.9 percent, holding Sky teams to 11-of-19 within the 20-yard line. What Can Brown Do For You? Senior cornerback Eric Brown entered the season as one of the top return guys in school history after amassing 538 yards in kickoff returns in 2007. Then at Purdue in the season opener, he injured his hand, requiring him to stick to defense. That all changed when the cast was removed and Brown made his comeback to the return game. In two games, Brown has amassed 88 yards on five returns, giving him 626 for his career to rank seventh in school history. Moving On Up Senior linebacker Cristian Sarmento continues to climb the career tackles chart in both Northern Colorado and Big Sky history. Sarmento has 340 tackles in his time with the Bears to take over seventh place, needing six more to tie for sixth. He also 322 tackles in the Big Sky, which moves him into seventh past both Jordan Senn of Portland State (2004-07) and Cyrus Mulitalo, who is currently a senior at Sacramento State. Readying For The Road The Bears have just three games left on the slate for the 2008 season and two of those three will be played away from Nottingham Field. Northern Colorado concludes the home portion of the schedule on Nov. 8 against Eastern Washington at noon. The final two games will be played at Sacramento State and Portland State, respectively. The last road win for the Bears occurred in 2006 when the Bears defeated Texas State in San Marcos. Getting To The QB In the first five games of the season, the Northern Colorado defense recorded eight quarterback sacks. In the last three, the Bears have tallied eight qb sacks, including three by senior linebacker Cristian Sarmento. Northern Colorado has 16 sacks for 118 lost yards. Honored Northern Colorado player shared the Big Sky Conference defensive player of the week honors two straight weeks as senior linebacker Cristian Sarmento and sophomore safety Max Hewitt both were named. Sarmento was named after the game against Weber State. Sarmento registered 17 total tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble and a pass breakup in the 17-10 loss to No. 18 Weber State. He finished with eight solo stops. Hewitt became the first Bear to earn a weekly honor in 2008 after the win over Idaho State. He was second on the team with five tackles and tallied two interceptions, one on the one-yard line saving a Bengal score. He also broke up one pass. Block Party Sophomore safety Max Hewitt became the sixth active player on the roster to block a kick when he blocked a Weber State punt. He is the third player to block one this year, as sophomore Mike Van Portfliet has blocked two punts and junior Ryan Lutz has blocked one. Martin Awachie and Cristian Sarmento have also blocked kicks during their career. Since reclassifying to Division I, the team record for blocks in a season is seven by the 2004 squad. Pick Me Last season, the Bears intercepted 14 passes in 12 games with three different players recording three interceptions on the season. This year already, the Bears have nine picks, with both senior Myles Hayes and sophomore Max Hewitt intercepting three each. Rewriting The Books Several different players have made a name for themselves in the record books already this season. Those accomplishments follow:
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