UW-Eau Claire (2-0) vs UW-Stout (1-0)
Saturday, September 21, 7:00 P.M.
Don and Nona Williams Stadium, Menomonie, WI

Series History: Saturday’s game marks the 80th meeting between both teams with the Blugolds owning a 46-28-6 advantage. The Blugolds ended a three-game losing streak to the Blue Devils with an emphatic 33-0 victory in a driving rain storm last year. Capitalizing on several early Stout turnovers, the Blugolds took advantage of playing on a short field by scoring 14 points in the first seven minutes of the game and never looked back. The victory was the first Blugold shutout of the Blue Devils since a 20-0 victory in 1986.

Radio: WBIZ-AM Sportsradio 1400 will cover the game for the Blugolds with Mike Sullivan performing the play-by-play duties. Jake Bostrom and Steve Schrantz will broadcast the game for WMEQ-AM 880. The game is available on the internet at www.wmeq.com.

UW-Eau Claire Coach Todd Hoffner: Coach Hoffner is in his fourth season with the Blugolds. Hoffner has an 18-14 career record.

UW-Stout Coach Ed Meierkort: Coach Meierkort is in his 10th season with the Blue Devils. Meierkort owns a 43-48 career record.

Up Next: The Blugolds will open their conference home stand next Saturday when they welcome UW-Oshkosh to town. Kick-off is scheduled for 1:00 P.M. The match-up will be the first day game of the year for the Blugolds.

The Blue Devils will travel to St. Paul, Minnesota to face MIAC opponent St. Thomas. Game time is set for a 1:00 P.M. start.

Last Week’s Action: In a game that had many similarities to last year’s match-up, the UW-Eau Claire football team jumped out to a 24-0 halftime lead en route to a 37-13 victory over Augsburg at Edor Nelson Field.

The Blugolds improved to 2-0 on the season while the Auggies evened their record at 1-1. Both Blugold victories this season have come against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponents.

With a 3-0 lead, quarterback Jeremy Darnell capped off a 10-play, 72-yard drive with a nine-yard touchdown run with three seconds remaining in the first quarter to give the Blugolds a 10-0 lead.

The offensive onslaught continued in the second quarter when Darnell completed a two-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brad Newton on a three play, 47-yard drive to extend the lead to 17-0. The drive featured a 46-yard completion from Darnell to wide receiver Matt Evensen. Tail back Brian Mitchell scored the Blugolds’ third touchdown of the first half on a two-yard run with 26 seconds remaining in the second quarter to increase the lead to 24-0.

Tail back Joe Gast opened the fourth quarter with a 14-yard touchdown run to push the Blugold lead to 31-6. Playing reserves for most of the fourth quarter, fullback Mike Hennessey scored his first collegiate touchdown rumbling 19 yards with 2:06 remaining in the game to seal the deal on a 37-13 victory.

The Blugolds totaled 471 yards of total offense compared to 312 for Augsburg.

Darnell finished the game 21-of-41 for 266 yards and one touchdown. Ten different Blugolds caught passes on the night led by wide receiver Jason Foemmel hauling in five receptions for 66 yards, both team highs.

Linebacker Brad Gawronski led the Blugold defensive effort with eight total tackles. Defensive lineman Nick Goeser finished with three tackles, including a sack for a nine-yard loss. Defensive lineman Dan Larson recorded his first interception of the season.

About the Blue Devils: With 10 starters back from the league’s top defense and eight returning on offense, UW-Stout appears to be sitting in a nice situation.

The lone starting defender the Blue Devils will need to replace was a key starter - cornerback Tony Beckham, who was drafted by the Tennessee Titans.

Cornerback Eric Moe is currently tied for the all-time Stout lead in career interceptions with 15. The second-team All-America choice picked off eight passes last season and defended a team-high 16 passes.

Tyrone Rhone, a transfer from Nebraska-Omaha who played basketball for the Blue Devils last season, is expected to step into Beckham’s role.

Strong safety Kevin Dewey has started since his freshman season and last year picked off three passes to go with his seven passes defensed. Dewey recovered a fumble, had an interception and forced a fumble last week against Millsaps.

Leading the linebacking corp is inside linebacker Jamie Spielman. After two years as a Second Team All-WIAC pick, the Menomonie native moved up to the first team last season, despite missing three games with a broken ankle. Spielman led the team in tackles with 53.

Chuck Vander Linden dropped right into a starting outside linebacking spot after transferring from Mankato State and responded with a team-high five sacks.

Mark Ralph, a Second Team All-WIAC selection last season, will remain on the defensive side of the ball. Ralph played fullback two seasons ago.

Matt Mueller, a second team All-WIAC selection, totaled 7.5 tackles for losses for 34 yards-three of those were sacks.

Joe Kersten was also a Second Team All-WIAC pick, recording 8.5 tackles for loss with three sacks. Jarrid Gohs rounds out the returning starting three. The lone senior on the line had a team-high 10 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.

Quarterback Nick Ohman alternated at the spot to start out the year, but won the starting role about midway through the season. Ohman ran for 291 total yards last year - second most on the team - and threw for 991, completing 77-of-165 passes, with only four interceptions.

Luke Bundgaard returns to the tailback spot as he continues to assault the Blue Devils’ record book. Currently the fourth ranked all-time leading rusher in Stout history with 2,180 yards, Bundgaard needs 477 yards to top Bob Johnson’s career mark of 2656 yards.

Bundgaard could have some speedy buddies in the backfield with him. Ryan Engelbert is a transfer who red-shirted last year at Wisconsin. Engelbert brings a 4.5 time in the 40-meter.

Wide receiver Julio Vargas caught a team-high five TD passes as he averaged 11.9 yards per catch. Seth Mattison averaged 12.1 yard per reception, Theron Steward averaged 12.8 yards every time he touched the ball and Dan Austin scored a touchdown and averaged 14.5 yards per catch - tops for all returning receivers.

Last Week’s Results: Eau Claire 37, Augsburg (MN) 13; Illinois Wesleyan 35, La Crosse 31; Oshkosh 35, Concordia (WI) 25; Concordia-St. Paul 26, River Falls 21; Stevens Point 31, Ohio Northern 17; Stout 30, Millsaps (MS) 6; Whitewater 9, Eastern Oregon 6.

This Week’s Games: Eau Claire at Stout, 7:00 PM; La Crosse at Drake (IA), 1:00 PM; Lakeland at Oshkosh, 6:00 PM; Hope (MI) at Platteville, 2:00 PM; Stevens Point at Butler (IN), 1:00 PM; Whitewater at St. John’s, 1:00 PM.