University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Football Kicks Off Season With Trip To Kansas
8/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
COMPLETE
NORTHERN COLORADO NOTES 
KANSAS
NOTES
BIG SKY
CONFERENCE NOTES
Series Information
This will be the first-ever meeting between Northern
Colorado and Kansas... The Bears are 2-9 all-time against members
of the Big 12 Conference with all 11 meetings coming against
Colorado... Kansas is 1-0 against the Big Sky with a 41-17 win over
Montana State to start the 1989 season... Against schools from the
state of Kansas, Northern Colorado is 32-8-1 all-time (6-3 Emporia
State, 12-1-1 Fort Hays State, 7-3 Pittsburg State, 7-1
Washburn)... NC Director of Athletics Jay Hinrichs and men's
basketball head coach Tad Boyle are both Kansas alums... The lone
player on the roster from the state of Kansas is sophomore punter
Cameron Kaman... Kansas has one player, Ian Wolfe from Colorado, he
played alongside current Bear Martin Awachie at Fort Collins High
School... NC Head Coach Scott Downing and defensive coordinator
Cody Deti were both coaches at Wyoming while Kansas cornerbacks
coach Je'Ney Jackson played for the Cowboys.
Welcome to the Family
Defensive coordinator Cody Deti and his
wife Megan gave birth to a son, Samuel Wayne, on Saturday morning,
August 29. Both mother and baby are healthy. He is their first
child.
97 And Counting
Saturday against Kansas kicks off the 97th season of
Northern Colorado football. The first team was actually fielded in
1893, but due to wars there were several seasons where the Bears
did not play football. The all-time record at Northern Colorado is
415-394-24.
What To Look For
*Junior linebacker Matt King is just 12 tackles
shy of recording the 100th of his career.
*Senior quarterback Bryan Waggener needs 454
passing yards for 3,000 in his career and with 460 more will tie
for 10th on the career records chart at Northern Colorado with
3,006 yards (Mark Passard, 1998-02).
*With one more made field goal, senior kicker Michael York will tie for ninth on the all-time list with 15 makes
(Mike Williams, 1972-75).
2009 Personnel
Northern Colorado is returning 16 starters, six on
offense, seven on defense and three kickers. The Bears also return
four players on offense and four on defense with starting
experience.
Total Starters Returning: 16 (6
Offense, 7 Defense, 3 Kickers)
Total Starters Lost: 9 (5 Offense, 4 Defense, 0
Kickers)
Offensive Starters Returning: 6-OL Chris Jones
(11); OL Ryan Kemp (OL); C Tim McGraw (8); WR Alex Thompson (10);
QB Bryan Waggener (11); RB DC Wilson (7).
Other Offensive Players with 2008 Starting
Experience: 4-TE Andrew Emmerling (2); WR Dominic Gunn
(1); C Alex Shapiro (3); WR Brandon Smith (6)
Defensive Starters Returning: 7-DT Martin Awachie
(11); DT Dominique Ceja (11); DE Ethan Davis (10); S Max Hewitt
(11); DB Stephen Michon (11); S Quincy Wofford (10); LB Logan Zabel
(11)
Other Defensive Players with 2008 Starting
Experience: 2-DE Nick Hernon (4); DE VJ Holmes (2)
Starting Kickers Returning: 3-PK Zak Bigelow; P
Cameron Kaman; PK Michael York
Starting Specialists Returning: 2-PR/KOR Dominic Gunn; KOR Quincy Wofford
Season Openers
Northern Colorado is 44-49-3 all-time in season openers.
This will be the third straight year the Bears have played up a
division, taking on members of the FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision).
In 2007, NC fell 63-6 at Hawai'i and last year lost 42-10 at
Purdue.
Preseason Honors
Several Bears received preseason attention from various
publications. Senior quarterback Bryan Waggener
was named to the 2009 Consensus Draft Services Preseason
All-American Honorable Mention Team while senior kicker
Michael York was named to the Phil Steele
Preseason All-Big Sky Conference First Team and junior linebacker
John Eddy was named to the Second Team.
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.
Bears Story Lines
*Junior James Schrenk made the move from
backup quarterback to linebacker during spring drills and is slated
to start against Kansas.
*Redshirt freshman Darin McDonald joins the Bears
team after a short stint at Wyoming. Prior to that, he spent three
seasons in the Philadelphia Phillies minor league baseball
system.
*Junior college transfer Andre Harris came to
Northern Colorado for fall camp. He is considered one of the top
running backs from California by several agencies.
*The Bears return all eight on the depth chart among defensive
linemen from a year ago.
*Three players, safety Ryan Lutz, defensive back
C.J. Stemo and kicker Michael York have all received their bachelor's degrees and have
begun work on their masters.
*Northern Colorado athletics ranks first in the Big Sky Conference
in graduation success rate, with last year's rate at 93%.
*Two upperclassmen on the team, junior kicker Zak Bigelow and junior offensive lineman Tim McGraw both have perfect 4.00 grade point averages and are
in the Monfort College of Business.
Playing Clean
Northern Colorado was the least penalized team in the Big
Sky Conference in 2008, getting whistled only 77 times in 11 games
for a total of 692 yards. The Bears also allowed opponents just 212
first downs on the season, the third lowest total in the
conference.
Defending The Red Zone
The Bears hope to continue their red zone dominance in
2009. In 2008, Northern Colorado led the Big Sky in red zone
defense, allowing opponents to score just 71.4% of the time. On the
opposite side of the ball, the Northern Colorado offense was second
in the league in red zone offense, scoring 83.3% of the time.
Making The Move
Since the season finale at Portland State a year ago,
several players have changed positions during the offseason. Junior
James Schrenk moved from quarterback to
linebacker, redshirt freshman Jordan Bible moved
from linebacker to safety, redshirt freshman Marcel Gibbons moved from running back to defensive back, junior
Chris Morgan moved to fullback from defensive end,
Amal Gumbs switched from defensive line to
offensive line and John Eddy moved from defensive
end to linebacker.
Champions Council
This season, head coach Scott Downing decided to have a
council of players who would lead the team and take more of a
leadership role instead of the more traditional 2-3 captains. Those
players, elected by their teammates are: junior Zak Bigelow, freshman John Burnley, freshman
Cameron Friend, senior Chris Jones, senior Ryan Kemp, senior
Ryan Lutz, junior Tim McGraw,
sophomore Chuks Nweke, sophomore Dylan Orms, sophomore Colby Riggins, junior
James Schrenk, senior C.J. Stemo,
senior Thomas Stuemky, freshman Curtis Truett and junior Michael Van Portfliet.
On The Waggener Train
In 2008, quarterback Bryan Waggener threw for the sixth
most yards in school history, passing for 2,546 yards. His 2,716
yards of total offense also ranked fifth. Both totals are the
highest for a quarterback at the FCS level for the Bears.
Passing Yards
1. Corte McGuffey, 1999 3,388
2. Corte McGuffey, 1998 3,054
3. Loren Snyder, 1986 2,724
4. Mark Passard, 2002 2,685
5. Mark Sedinger, 1988 2,638
6. Bryan Waggener, 2008 2,546
7. Tom Beck, 1995 2,442
Total Offense
1. Corte McGuffey, 1999 3,558
2. Corte McGuffey, 1998 3,397
3. Mark Sedinger, 1988 2,828
4. Corte McGuffey, 1997 2,796
5. Bryan Waggener, 2008 2,716
6. Tom Beck, 1995 2,550
