Complete Notes: at Portland State 

Game #11 Information

Date: Saturday, November 22, 2008

Kickoff: 1:05 p.m. Pacific/2:05 p.m. Mountain

Location: Portland, Ore.

Stadium: PGE Park

Capacity: 20,000

Series: PSU, 4-1

Last Meeting: Nov. 17, 2007, PSU 31-21

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 is hoping to conclude its 2008 season on a high note with a win at Portland State. It would snap a five-game losing streak for the Bears and give them their first-ever road win in Big Sky Conference play. It will be the third game this season played on an artificial surface as UC Davis and Montana State were the other schools not to have natural grass. Two weeks ago, every road team in the conference was victorious, while last week all the home teams won.

The Matchup

     Saturday marks the sixth meeting between the Bears and Vikings. Portland State holds the 4-1 lead in the series and is a perfect 3-0 in Portland. One year ago, the Vikings were victorious 31-21 in Fort Collins in the last game of the year and have now won four straight after the Bears won the first game in the series.

                2007:     Greeley                                L, 21-31

                2006:     Portland                               L, 3-45

                2005:     Portland                               L, 17-41

                1991:     Portland                               L, 24-28

                1979:     Greeley                                W, 21-20

Last Meeting

     In the 2007 season finale, the Bears dropped a 31-21 decision to Portland State. Tight end Clint Wright caught a career-best seven passes for 48 yards on the day, while wide receiver Andy Birkel led with 58 receiving yards on four catches. Dominic Breazeale completed 17-of-30 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns. Running back David Woods led the game with 55 yards rushing, while wide receiver Cory Fauver also tallied 74 yards of kickoff returns in the game.

A Hundred Is Grand

     Senior running back David Woods tallied 103 rushing yards in the game at Sacramento State, bringing his career rushing total over the 1,000 milestone. It was the first time this season Woods surpassed 100 yards in a game and he now has 1,044 career yards.

Hitting The Numbers

     Senior linebacker Joe Kenney recorded the 250th tackle of his career against Sacramento State, while sophomore safety Max Hewitt tallied his 100th. Kenney stands at exactly 250 for second-most among active players (Cristian Sarmento, 364), while Hewitt now has 105 for fifth among active players (3. Stephen Michon, 143; 4. Myles Hayes 131).

NC Highlights vs The Vikings

     Last season, junior rover Stephen Michon intercepted two Vikings passes for 26 yards. Senior linebacker Joe Kenney has recorded a team-best 20 tackles against Portland State, while teammates Cristian Sarmento and Casey Herron have 14 and 12, respectively. The fourth of the senior linebackers Trey Keene recovered a fumble last year.

Jumping On The Waggener Train

     Junior quarterback Bryan Waggener broke the single season Northern Colorado FCS era record for passing yards against Sacramento State last week and now has 2,292 for the season. He is also just 11 yards shy of tying for 10th on the all-time single season list (2303, Tom Beck, 1996) and with his per game average of 229, he could move into sixth on the single-season charts. The single season record is 3,388 by Corte McGuffey in 1999. Waggener also has 2,413 yards of total offense this season, which ranks ninth on the school's single season chart and is the FCS era record. With his average of 241.3 per game, he could move into fifth all-time.

Turnovers

     Northern Colorado has forced 12 fumbles and intercepted 11 passes this season. A total of 11 different defensive players been in on the turnover action. Senior linebacker Cristian Sarmento has forced five fumbles, while senior cornerback Myles Hayes has one forced fumble and three interceptions. The Bears have recovered 10 of the 12 fumbles they've forced.

Moving On Up

     Junior kicker Michael York moved into a tie for sixth place on the single season list with 13 field goals, knotting Justin Zaitz (2004). He is now just four field goals shy of tying the school's single season record of 17 held by Mike Schauer (1997) and Mike Swim (2002). York's 14 career field goals rank 10th and he needs one more to tie Williams (1972-75) for ninth.

Catching Fire

     Junior wide receiver Alex Thompson had over 100 reception yards in the first half against Sacramento State, marking the second straight game the Bears have had someone over the century mark and the third time this year (freshman Dominic Gunn, sophomore Brandon Smith). On the Bears touchdown drive in the third quarter, Thompson tallied the season-best reception yard total and ended the game with 145 yards. His total is the 11th best single-game total since the Bears joined the FCS, with seven of those 11 coming from current San Diego Charger Vincent Jackson. Thompson now has 464 reception yards this season, which is second on the team, while his 33 catches rank third.

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. Against Sacramento State, in just his fourth game, he tallied 93 return yards for a career-total of 796, moving him past Cliff Harris' (1973-76) 745 yards into sixth place on the all-time list.

Continuing The Climb

     Senior linebacker Cristian Sarmento extended his streak of double figure tackle contests to five straight with 13 against Sacramento State. He has also been in double figures in 17 of the last 18 games against FCS opponents, bringing his career tackles total to 364. Sarmento ranks sixth on the NC charts, needing two more to tie Darwin Kiselich (1976-79) for fifth. With his sack against the Hornets, he is tied for 10th on both the school's single season and career charts with 10 and 15, respectively.

A Marked Improvement

     In 12 games last season, Northern Colorado scored just 136 points (11.3 per game), while this season through 10 games the Bears have already surpassed that total, scoring 204 (20.4). The Bears have also thrown for 2,442 yards this season, compared to 2,091 a year ago. The defense has also made enormous strides, allowing just 30.2 points and 394.5 yards, compared to 34.6 points and 490.6 yards in 2007.

                Category                      2007               2008               Improvement

                Scoring Offense        11.3                20.4                +9.1

                Rushing Offense      111.4             112.2             +0.8

                Passing Offense       174.2             244.2             +70.0

                Total Offense            276.1             356.4             +80.3

                Scoring Defense       34.6                30.2                -4.4

                Rushing Defense      209.3             137.2             -62.1

                Passing Defense       281.2             257.3             -23.9

                Total Defense            490.6             394.5             -96.1

Gunn's A-Blazing

     Freshman wide receiver Dominic Gunn had a breakout game against Eastern Washington as he topped his previous career best receiving yards mark in the first quarter with 35 yards. He went on to amass 107 receiving yards and he also tallied 34 punt return yards for 141 all-purpose yards in the game. Gunn now has 350 all-purpose yards for the season, averaging 35.0 per game. He leads the team with 34 punt return yards on the season and is one of four players with more than 100 kickoff return yards.

Putting Them In A Position

     The Bears have returned 48 kickoffs this season and 25 of those have been returned at least 20 yards. Junior Alex Thompson lead the team with nine returns of 20 or more yards, while senior Eric Brown has six returns and junior Quincy Wofford has five. The Bears are averaging 20.9 yards per return with one touchdown.

The Century Club

     Senior linebacker Cristian Sarmento surpassed the 100 tackle mark against Montana State and now has 130 for the season with one game left. He is five tackles shy of his total from last year of 135 and with 21 more tackles he will tie the Big Sky Conference single season record of 151 held by Greg Belzer of Eastern Washington (2000). He also needs just five more tackles to move into fourth on the Big Sky all-time tackles chart as he currently stands at 346.

Seeing Red

     Northern Colorado continues to have the best red-zone defense in the Big Sky Conference, allowing opponents to score just 71.8 percent of the time. The Bears have forced two fumbles, intercepted four passes and forced two turnovers on downs. Against conference opponents, the Bears are holding the opposition to just 65.4 percent, holding Sky teams to 17-of-26 within the 20-yard line.

Getting To The QB

     In the first five games of the season, the Northern Colorado defense recorded eight quarterback sacks. In the last five, the Bears have tallied 11 qb sacks, including six by senior linebacker Cristian Sarmento. Northern Colorado has 19 sacks for 125 lost yards this season.

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.

Rewriting The Books

        Several different players have made a name for themselves in the record books already this season. Those accomplishments follow:

• Junior cornerback Quincy Wofford tied the Big Sky and Northern Colorado records, returning a kickoff 100 yards against Northern Arizona. It is the fourth time in school history and the 17th time in the Big Sky a player has gone end zone to end zone.
• 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.
• Against Texas State Waggener 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.
• Sophomore safety Mike Van Portfliet tied the school record for blocked kicks in a game, blocking back-to-back punts against Northern Arizona. He is the fourth player in school history and the first since 1996 to block two kicks in a contest.
• Sophomore wide receiver Brandon Smith had an 80-yard rush on the first play from scrimmage against Texas State for the fourth longest rushing play in school history.
• Junior running back DC Wilson went 75-yards for a touchdown run against Idaho State, marking the ninth longest rushing play ever at Northern Colorado.
• Junior kicker Michael York tied for the sixth most field goals in a game at NC, with three, which he has done twice. He is also now tied for 6th on the single season charts with 13 field goals made and 10th in career with 14.
• Wofford's 124 kickoff return yards against Northern Arizona is the ninth-best single game total in school history.
• Senior linebacker Cristian Sarmento is now sixth in career total tackles with 364, while senior linebacker Joe Kenney is now tied for eighth in fumble recoveries with six in his career.
• Freshman punter Cameron Kaman tied the school record for longest punt with his boot of 80 yards at Weber State.
• Senior Eric Brown vaulted five spots to sixth in career return yards in just four games this year. He now has 796 career return yards.
• Senior Joe Kenney tied for the fourth longest interception return in history when he ran back a pick for 79 yards at Montana State.