ARCATA — Though the season is still young, a very important game looms directly ahead for Humboldt State. If the Jacks hope to challenge for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title this season, a victory over this week's opponent, Western Oregon, could certainly help the Jacks earn contender status.
Humboldt State travels again, heading to Monmouth, Ore. to take on the Wolves. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
On-the-Air
Every Lumberjack football game is broadcast live over the local airways on KATA, 1340 AM, beginning with the pregame show 20 minutes prior to game time. Bicoastal Media Sports Director J.B. Mathers describes the action and HSU Hall of Fame inductee Burt Nordstrom adds commentary. …Audio and video are also streamed live over the Internet through the hsujacks.com web site. The UStream format allows an interactive chat between listeners during the webcast. The specific URL for access is located at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/humboldt-state-athletics.
Live Stats
All Lumberjack football home games can be tracked online by using the Live Stats feature on hsujacks.com. Real time statistics, drive progress and other information are featured on the game viewer. The feature can be found at http://www.sidearmstats.com/humboldt/football/. …Western Oregon offers Live Stats of its home games through the following link: http://athletics.wou.edu/live/xlive.htm.
Coach Rob Smith
Two weeks into his third year as the Lumberjacks' head coach, Rob Smith's Lumberjacks have posted a 9-15 record through the program's transition. Before coming to HSU, Smith guided the very successful Western Washington University football program for 17 years. During his career as the Vikings' head coach, Smith's teams posted a cumulative record of 109-62-1 for a .640 winning percentage . His wins total and winning percentage will remain the best in school history for the now defunct WWU football program.
Head-to-Head
The Wolves currently hold a 16-13 lead in the all-time series after earning two tight wins over the Lumberjacks last year. They escaped with a 17-16 victory in Redwood Bowl early in 2009, and eked out a 31-28 win over the Jacks late in the season at Monmouth.
Lumberjack Notes
If balance is the key to success, Humboldt State's offense has certainly achieved that standard through its first three games. Of the Jacks' total of 1,179 yards of total offense, 583 has come via the rushing attack and 593 through the air. … Senior defensive end Justin Hornsby was named GNAC Defensive Player of the Week after accumulating eight total tackles and five solos in the Jacks' win over Menlo College. He also had one tackle for a loss and split a quarterback sack. …Overall, the Jacks' defense didn't allow a point until the fourth quarter and surrendered only 166 yards, 84 of them in the final stanza. …Hornsby was also one of four Jacks earning recognition by the HSU coaching staff this week. He shared the honor with defensive tackle Andrew Iupati, linebacker Chris Peterson and nose tackle Chris Holmes. …Picked as the Jacks' Offensive Players of the Week were quarterbacks Mike Proulx and Chris Bolt. Proulx completed 14 of 26 passes for 199 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and rushed for another touchdown. Bolt rushed for a touchdown while lined up at quarterback, but achieved more success at a receiver position. He finished with three catches for 35 yards. “We have to find ways to get Chris on the field,” HSU head coach Rob Smith said. “He's a big, athletic player who can help us a lot more when he's in the game than he can by standing on the sidelines next to me.” …Other coaching staff awards went to Alex Cappellini, Offensive Scout Player of the Week, and Connor Waggoner, Defensive Scout Player of the Week. This week's special teams honor went to the entire Lumberjack kick coverage unit… Running back Lyndon Rowell's second consecutive 100-yard plus game helped him move up in the national statistics rankings to 17th overall with an average of 113.33 yards rushing per game. He ranks first among running backs in the GNAC. …Also among national leaders is HSU punter Tim McMullen, who is sixth with an average of 42.93 yards per boot. …As a team, the Jacks rank seventh nationally in both kickoff returns (29.25 yards per return) and sacks allowed (only .67 per game).
Injury Report
Tight end Matt Devlin continues his recovery from a leg injury and should be 100 percent by the weekend. …Wide receivers Edwin Henry and Mike Streck both sustained leg injuries that will be evaluated further by the team physician and training staff.
Wolves Notes
Western Oregon enters the week with a 2-1 overall record and 2-0 mark in the GNAC. Both wins have come over new league member Simon Fraser, and the loss was to NCAA Division I FCS school Sacramento State. …Chosen as GNAC Offensive Player of the Week was Western Oregon's Darryl Valdez, a running back from San Francisco. In the Wolves' 48-25 win over Simon Fraser, Valdez accounted for 201 of Western Oregon's school-record 684 yards from scrimmage. …Western Oregon is averaging an incredible 497 yards of offense per game, a mark that ranks seventh in the national statistics. …Quarterback AJ Robinson has completed 47 of 93 passes for 825 yards. He's thrown six touchdown passes and been intercepted seven times. …Justin Ore has been the Wolves' top receiver, hauling in 13 catches for 293 yards and four touchdowns.
Smith's Assessment
“This has become a good rivalry game for us after suffering two losses by a combined four points last year. We'll be facing a very talented team that is always difficult to defeat, especially on their home field in Monmouth.” …”Two weeks in a row we faced teams that utilized the short passing game, throwing quickly. This week we'll see a team that can throw deep. Our secondary is going to be tested, and it's also going to be very important for us to put pressure on the quarterback.” … “Our approach on offense is based upon the ability to be balanced. Last year we threw more, hoping to set up the run. This year it's been a case of using the run to set up the pass.” … “Our players continue to have a high level of confidence in themselves and a belief in what we're doing. They have a little swagger going, but still know that they have to prove it every Saturday.”
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