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Nov. 11, 2005

For only the second time in the two-year history of the Great West Football Conference, one school has swept player of the week honors on offense, defense and special teams.

For their performances in Saturday¹s 40-35 victory over Eastern Washington, Cal Poly redshirt freshman running back James Noble was named offensive player of the week while Mustang senior defensive end Chris Gocong earned defensive player of the week honors. Cal Poly sophomore punter Tim Chicoine was named special teams player of the week.

In Great West Football Conference games Saturday, South Dakota State defeated Southern Utah 55-7 in Brookings, S.D., while North Dakota State was a 44-0 winner over Northern Colorado in Fargo, N.D. UC Davis fell 27-17 to Stephen F. Austin in a non-conference game at Nacogdoches, Tex.

This Saturday¹s schedule includes another pair of Great West Football Conference games -- Southern Utah (1- , 1-3) at No. 15 Cal Poly (6-3, 3-1) and South Dakota State (5-4, 2-1) at No. 20/22 North Dakota State (6-3, 2-2). Northern Colorado (3-5, 0-3) hosts Sam Houston State (3-5, 2-3 Southland) for a non-conference game while UC Davis (5-4, 3-1) has a bye.

Noble (5-6, 180, Fr., Barstow, Calif.) became the first Cal Poly running back in seven years to crack the 200-yard mark in rushing, accumulating 221 yards on just 19 carries in Cal Poly's upset of No. 11 Eastern Washington. Noble, averaging 11.6 yards per carry, scored on a 74-yard run early in the fourth quarter for a 40-21 Mustang lead. The redshirt freshman has started seven games and has surpassed the century mark in rushing five times. Noble is fourth in Division I-AA in rushing with a 134.14 average per game and is the 15th Mustang to surpass the 200-yard mark in one game.

Gocong (6-3, 265, Sr., Santa barbara, Calif.), a Buck Buchanan Award candidate for the second year in a row, recorded two sacks and four tackles for lost yardage among his nine total tackles in Cal Poly's 40-35 win over No. 11 Eastern Washington. Gocong also was credited with one quarterback hurry. He now has 13.5 sacks and 19 tackles for lost yardage on the year, No. 2 in the nation in both categories.

Chicoine (6-1, 185, So., Huntington Beach, Calif.) punted four times, averaging 48.2 yards per kick, in Cal Poly's 40-35 homecoming victory over No. 11 Eastern Washington. Included in his punts was a 57-yarder and one of the punts ended up inside the Eagle 20-yard line. Chicoine now leads the nation in punting with a 45.76 average.

Other nominees: Offense -- UC Davis wide receiver Tony Kays and North Dakota State quarterback Steve Walker. Defense -- North Dakota State defensive end Isaac LaVant and UC Davis cornerback Adam Cook. Special Teams -- North Dakota State defensive back Barry Quickstad.

Great West Vs. The Rest Great West Football Conference members are 15-15 so far against non-conference teams in 2005 after posting a 22-13 record last season. :

GWFC Vs. Conferences Vs. Atlantic 10 0-1 Vs. Big Sky 5-7 Vs. D II Independent 1-0 Vs. Gateway 0-1 Vs. Gulf South (II) 1-0 Vs. PAC 10 1-0 Vs. Patriot Football 1-0 Vs. RMAC (II) 2-0 Vs. Southern 0-1 Vs. Southland 3-4 Vs. Sun Belt 0-1 Vs. WIAC (III) 1-0

This Week's Action - Nov. 12 South Dakota State (5-4, 2-1 GWFC) at #20/22 North Dakota State (6-3, 2-2 GWFC) -- Fargo, N.D. -- 6 p.m. No. 20/22-ranked North Dakota State University (6-3, 2-2 GWFC) is scheduled to host South Dakota State University (5-4, 2-1 GWFC) in Great West Football Conference action at 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12 in the Fargodome ... It will be the final home game for 14 NDSU seniors ... The teams will battle for the "Dakota Marker", a traveling trophy unveiled in April 2004 and supported by the NDSU Blue Key chapter and the SDSU Student Association ... The "Dakota Marker" is a model of the original border monuments that were 7 feet long and 10 inches square ... The markers were placed at half-mile intervals along the border, with "S.D." on the south side and "N.D." on the north side ... South Dakota State hoisted the large trophy last year after a 24-21 win in Brookings ... The Bison are 4-1 at the Fargodome this season after defeating Northern Colorado 44-0 on Nov. 5 ... NDSU is 14-3 at the Fargodome over the past three seasons ... North Dakota State snapped a three-game losing streak to UNC ... This is the 92nd meeting between the two schools in a series that began in 1903 ... North Dakota State holds a 49-37-5 lead in the all-time series ... South Dakota State won 24-21 in Brookings last season ... The Bison have lost two of the last three meetings, but have won eight of the last 11 ... All three losses have come in Brookings over that span ... North Dakota State won the last meeting in Fargo, 24-0, in 2003. ... South Dakota State rebounded from its 55-42 shoot-out loss to nationally ranked Georgia Southern to pound Southern Utah 55-7 ... The Jackrabbits have scored over 40 points on five occasions this fall and have tallied over 60 twice in wins over Valparaiso (69-6) and Missouri-Rolla (64-28) ... SDSU's high-powered offense, tops in the conference, will be quite a challenge for the league's top-ranked North Dakota State defense ... The Jackrabbits are averaging 35.1 points and 402.9 yards of total offense including 246.6 yards rushing through nine games ... SDSU uses several running backs to carry the mail including Anthony Watson (94.9 ypg, 9 TDs), Cory Koenig (86 ypg, 6 TDs) and Trevor Hohn (61.3 ypg, 2 TDs) ... South Dakota State can pass too, quarterback Andy Kardoes came back from an injury to start against Southern Utah ... Kardoes has completed 71 of 151 passes for 801 yards, six interceptions and five TDs ... Backup QB Ryan Berry has completed 28 of 51 passes for 425 yards, seven TDs and three interceptions ... Ryan is the brother of former NDSU women's basketball player Jaime Berry ... Josh Davis is the Jacks' top receiver, hauling in 44 passes for 685 yards (15.5 avg.) and six TDs ... Defensively, South Dakota State is led by cornerback Hank McCall, who is one of four players with two interceptions ... McCall also has 56 tackles, three pass breakups, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and a blocked kick ... Defensive end Hank Goff has five sacks ... Linebacker Billy Ray Kirch leads SDSU with 57 tackles ... The kicking game is solid with placekicker Parker Douglass, hitting 37 of 38 PATs and 15 of 21 field goals including a career long 54-yarder against UC Davis ... Punter Neal Bainbridge is averaging 42.1 yards per kick and has placed 15 inside the 20-yard line ... North Dakota State is tied for No. 4 nationally in turnover margin (+1.22), forcing 20 turnovers overall and committing only nine ... The 501 yards of total offense the Bison rolled up against Northern Colorado was the most since 2003 when NDSU had 509 yards in the 33-30 overtime loss to St. Cloud State on Nov. 8 in St. Cloud ... Cinque Chapman rushed for 109 yards against UNC, his second career 100-yard effort ... North Dakota State held the ball for 79 plays and over 39 minutes against the Bears ... For the season, the Bison have averaged 31-minutes, 36-seconds in time of possession compared to 28-minutes, 24-seconds per game for the opponents ... North Dakota State is tied for No. 2 nationally in turnovers lost (9) and fumbles lost (3), and 19th in passes had intercepted (6) ... A dozen different NDSU defensive players have been credited with at least one tackle for loss this season led by linebacker Joe Mays (8.5/37 yards) and defensive tackle Justin Frick (8.5/32 yards) ... Mays also has seven quarterback hurries ... The Bison have 18 sacks led by linebacker Kole Zimmerman, defensive end Joe Lardonis, Mays and Frick ... NDSU is No. 13 in NCAA I-AA attendance with an average of 13,837 fans over five home dates ... Four NDSU opponents are ranked in the Top 25, while five others are receiving votes toward the national polls.

Southern Utah (1-7, 1-3 GWFC) at #15 Cal Poly (6-3, 3-1 GWFC) -- San Luis Obispo, Calif. -- 6 p.m. No. 15 Cal Poly (6-3, 3-1 Great West), which snapped a two-game losing streak last week with a 40-35 victory over then-No. 10/11 Eastern Washington, plays the second of three consecutive home games Saturday night, hosting Southern Utah (1-7, 1-3 Great West) in Mustang Stadium (cap.: 7,500) ... Kickoff for the Great West Football Conference game is scheduled for 6 p.m. PST and the 19th meeting between the two schools -- Cal Poly holds a 12-6 advantage, winning the last four ... Southern Utah fell to South Dakota State 55-7 in a Great West game last week at Brookings, S.D. ... Jerome Eason caught a nine-yard scoring pass from Zac Connors with 2:06 to play for the lone Thunderbird touchdown ... Southern Utah was held to minus-15 yards rushing, punted nine times and converted on just five of 17 third-down plays ... Southern Utah has two quarterbacks sharing duties -- senior Zac Connors passing for 974 yards and seven scores and sophomore Wes Marshall 612 yards and three TDs ... Jerome Eason is 38th in Division I-AA with 5.00 catches per game and has 35 catches for 330 yards and four scores while the top Southern Utah running back is Jamar Lee with 192 yards, a 3.4 average per carry and one touchdown ... The 2005 Mustangs are led by defensive end Chris Gocong, No. 2 in balloting for the Buck Buchanan Award in 2004 ... Redshirt freshman quarterback Matt Brennan has played in five games, completing 23 of 52 passes for 253 yards and two scores ... Redshirt freshman running back James Noble has produced 100-yard games in five of his first seven career starts, including a 221-yard performance against Eastern Washington last week, and has rushed for 939 yards in six games, averaging 7.3 yards per carry. He missed the UC Davis game with a sprained ankle and did not play in the opener at Troy ... Redshirt freshman wide receiver Ramses Barden has 22 catches, senior Jonah Russell 18 catches, senior Jason Holmes 17 and redshirt freshman Tredale Tolver 12 ... Linebacker Kyle Shotwell leads Cal Poly in tackles with 102 after his career-high 17 at Montana, 10 more at UC Davis and 12 against Eastern Washington ... Gocong has 65 tackles and 13.5 sacks among his 19 tackles for lost yardage.

Sam Houston State (3-5, 2-3 Southland) at Northern Colorado (3-5, 0-3 GWFC) -- Noon The University of Northern Colorado Bears football team will look to shake off a tough road loss at North Dakota State this weekend by hosting Sam Houston State in its home finale on Saturday (12 p.m. MT) ... It will be A Salute To Armed Forces Day, as the ROTC will perform maneuvers on the field starting 30 minutes prior to the game. That will be followed by the Senior Day activities, as nine Bears will be playing their last home game at Nottingham Field ... The Northern Colorado football team will honors its nine seniors prior to the Sam Houston State game on Saturday. This year's seniors are Reed Doughty, Shaun Farner, Bradley Forbush, Chris Gebhardt, Greg Gebhardt, Nick Hager, Brandon Joseph, Paul Sweitzer and Justin Zaitz. A pair of athletic trainers and one video coordinator will also be honored prior to kickoff. The seniors have a combined 16-5 record at home in their careers ... Andre Wilson, the nation's No. 4 leading rusher, missed his first game of the season on Nov. 5 at North Dakota State ... A high-ankle sprain kept him out of the contest and the Bears managed only 22 total yards of rushing offense without him ... He is averaging 139.1 rushing yards/game this game. Wilson trails Brown University's Nick Hartigan (163.1 per game), Drake's Scott Phaydavong (150.8 per game) and Portland State's Joe Rubin (148.7 per game) ... Northern Colorado and Sam Houston State are meeting for the second time in program history today. In the only other meeting, which happened last season, the No. 10-ranked Bearkats scored 20 unanswered points following a Jahir Waterman first quarter touchdown to hand the Bears its seventh straight loss. Waterman, playing in place of the injured Andre Wilson, rushed 31 times for a career-high 131 yards in his first college start. Vincent Jackson caught eight passes for 132 yards. Sam Houston's Dustin Long completed 16-fo-28 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns ... Northern Colorado suffered its first shutout loss of the season on Nov. 5 at North Dakota State (44-0), only the program's third shutout loss in the last 13 years. The Bears were shutout twice last season (at Maine, at Cal Poly) but prior to that you have to go back to the 1992 season (14-0 at Minnesota State) to find the last time the Bears were shutout ... Northern Colorado has always had a rough go in games played in Fargo. The Bears have won only two times in Fargo in 16 attempts, although the Bears have won two of the last four meetings in the Fargodome. Northern Colorado scored a 29-7 win in 2002 and a 29-19 victory in 1998 at the Fargodome. The 44-0 loss to NDSU, snapped a three-game winning streak in the all-time series for Northern Colorado.

Last Week's Action - Nov. 5 #18/19 Cal Poly 40, #10/11 Eastern Washington 35 Redshirt freshman running back James Noble rambled for 221 yards and redshirt freshman quarterback Matt Brennan passed for 157 yards and a pair of scores while rushing for two other touchdowns as No. 18 Cal Poly defeated No. 11 Eastern Washington 40-35 in a non-conference NCAA Division I-AA football game before 7,901 homecoming fans in Mustang Stadium.

Noble averaged 11.6 yards on his 19 carries and became the first Mustang running back to surpass the 200-yard mark in a game since Craig Young Noble scored one touchdown on a 74-yard run early in the fourth quarter, giving Cal Poly a 40-21 cushion with 12:25 to play. Eastern Washington scored twice -- a three-yard pass from Erik Meyer to Eric Kimble with 10:04 to go and a 35-yard pass from Meyer to Craig McIntyre with 3:02 to play -- but the Eagles had used all of their timeouts and Cal Poly was able to run out the final three minutes to preserve the victory and even its series against Eastern Washington at 2-2.

Brennan completed eight of 21 passes, including scoring strikes of three and 48 yards to Ramses Barden, another redshirt freshman. Cal Poly scored the first 20 points of the game and led all the way.

Brennan ran two yards for the first Mustang score, Barden caught his three-yard scoring pass from Brennan and Brennan scored on a nine-yard run to stake Cal Poly to its 20-0 lead with 5:42 to play in the first half.

The Mustangs also held leads of 26-7, 33-14 and 40-21 en route to their sixth win in nine tries. Eastern Washington fell to 5-4 and likely dropped out of the Division I-AA playoff chase.

Senior fullback Adam George scored Cal Poly's other touchdown on a 21-yard run early in the third quarter.

Eastern Washington also scored on runs of 14 and 16 yards by Ryan Cole and a 47-yard pass from Meyer to McIntyre.

Brennan finished with 72 yards rushing on 22 carries for Cal Poly. Barden was the top Mustang receiver with four catches for 76 yards. Jonah Russell added two receptions for 59 yards.

For Eastern Washington, Meyer completed 26 of 38 passes for 428 yards and three touchdowns. Meyer was the last Mustang opponent to throw for over 400 yards, netting 417 in last year's 38-21 Eagle victory at Cheney, Wash. Raul Vijil caught nine passes for 164 yards while Kimble added eight receptions for 164 yards and McIntyre seven catches for 160 yards for Eastern Washington. Cole finished with 78 yards on 16 rushes.

Cal Poly sacked Meyer six times, including thee by Matt Chachere and two by Chris Gocong.

Linebacker Kyle Shotwell collected 12 tackles (11 solo) for Cal Poly and Gocong added nine (seven solo and four for lost yardage).

Eastern Washington's defensive leaders were defensive back Brandon Keeler with 12 tackles and linebacker Joey Cwik with 11.

#24/25 North Dakota State 44, Northern Colorado 0 No. 25-ranked North Dakota State's 44-0 shutout of Northern Colorado before 10,809 fans at the Fargodome, featured a little bit of everything. The Bison improved to 28-1-2 all-time in the Harvest Bowl games, but more importantly pulled even at 2-2 in the Great West Football Conference.

North Dakota State offense rolled up a season-high 501 yards of total offense including 284 yards and five TDs on the ground and the defense held UNC to 22 yards rushing -- the lowest since South Dakota State rushed 23 times for 11 yards against the Bison on Sept. 27, 2003. It was the widest margin of victory for NDSU in the UNC series since 1984 when the Bison won 62-14 in Fargo.

NDSU junior halfback Kyle Steffes rushed 18 times for 63 yards and a season-high three TDs. Steffes moved to No. 7 all-time on the Bison rushing charts with 2,496 career yards. He passed former quarterback Kevin Feeney (2,473 yards, 1995-98). Cinque Chapman reached 100 yards for the second time in his career, churning for 107 yards on 20 carries and a score. Chapman rushed for 105 yards in the 2004 season finale at UC Davis.

North Dakota State's running game opened the passing lanes. Harvest Bowl MVP quarterback Steve Walker completed 14 of 18 passes for 218 yards, an interception and a 57-yard scoring strike to tight end AJ Cooper. Walker also scored on 5 yard scoring run. With three catches for 115 yards, Cooper was one of eight receivers to catch a pass against the Bears. Kole Heckendorf caught four passes for 39 yards.

The Bison recorded their first blocked punt since the 2003 season to open the scoring only 1:13 into the game when Barry Quickstad bolted through to stuff Ramon Mendoza's kick. The ball rolled out of the end zone for a safety.

Quickstad's block was one of many alert defensive plays turned in by North Dakota State's defense, which held the Bears to only 172 yards of total offense to post its second shutout of the season. UNC entered the game averaging 29 points and 397 yards of total offense per game.

NDSU senior cornerback Bobby Babich came up with his team-leading third interception of the season. Linebacker Mike Maresh finished with a pair of sacks, while defensive ends Isaac LaVant, Alvin Robinson and Joe Lardinois each had one. Linebacker Joe Mays and LaVant each had a pair of quarterback hurries. Defensive backs Scott Walter, Nick Schommer and Babich also added key pass breakups.

Northern Colorado quarterback Nick Hager completed 15 of 26 passes for 150 yards and an interception. Hager had one of his passes batted back to him by Lavant in the third quarter for a Hager to Hager connection. Andy Birkel caught six passes for 87 yards, while Jahir Waterman rushed 14 times for 26 yards.

UNC's defense was led by Jake Duren with 16 tackles, while Buchanan award candidate Reed Doughty had 13 including eight solo tackles.

Stephen F. Austin 27, #21 UC Davis 17 Louie Runnels highlighted a fourth-quarter rally with a 54-yard touchdown run in Stephen F. Austin's 27-17 nonconference victory against UC Davis.

Runnels, who led all rushers with 101 yards, put the Lumberjacks ahead for good at 20-17 with 5:17 remaining, and Ryan Luedecke sealed the win on a 32-yard interception return for a touchdown with 1:02 left.

Cory Long started the fourth-quarter surge with field goals of 40 and 20 yards about two minutes apart.

UC Davis took a 17-7 halftime lead with two touchdowns in the final two minutes of the second quarter. Quarterback Jon Grant had a 12-yard touchdown run, and Nelson Doris scored from 2 yards with 26 seconds left in the half to cap an 87-yard drive that took just 1:06.

Grant completed 26 of 49 passes for 373 yards but had three interceptions. Matt Engle threw two interceptions for UC Davis, which had 494 yards total offense to 410 for Stephen F. Austin.

SFA's Zeke Dixon was 23-of-53 for 296 yards with one touchdown as the teams combined for 113 passes.

South Dakota State 55, Southern Utah 7 It was a game in which the coin toss helped determine the momentum.

After Southern Utah won the toss and deferred to the second half, South Dakota State University redshirt freshman JaRon Harris bounced off a host of would-be tacklers and went 86 yards for the first of SDSU's seven touchdowns in a 55-7 Jackrabbit victory.

By the time SUU got the ball to start the second half, it was 38-0, and SDSU was protecting a shutout until the Thunderbirds scored with 2:06 to play in the game.

The touchdown by Harris was the first of four first-period scores for the Jacks who benefitted from a defense which held SUU to minus 16 yards total offense in the initial period. Josh Davis, who caught six passes for 115 yards and three TDs, scored twice in the first quarter on passes of 35 and 17 yards from Andy Kardoes, and Anthony Watson rushed for a 3-yard TD as SDSU led 28-0 at the end of the period.

In the second quarter, Parker Douglass kicked a 29-yard field goal and the Kardoes to Davis combo clicked for a five-yard TD.

SDSU`s first score of the second half was a 64-yard pass interception return by sophomore Andrew Hoogeveen. That was one of four SDSU picks as the Jacks set a school record for most interception return yards in a game with 156. The old mark was 140 vs. Morningside in 1961.

In addition to Hoogeveen's interception return, John Perry had one for 50 yards, Scott Breyfogle returned one 27 yards and Tyler Koch had one for 15.

SDSU's last touchdown, with 4:53 to play in the third period, was a six-yard run by Trevor Hohn.

Douglass added another field goal, from 39 yards, in the third quarter, giving him 15 for the season, one shy of the Jackrabbit record. He also kicked seven extra points, giving him 13 points in the game and a school record 82 kicking points for the season. The old record was 69 by Russ Meier in 1981.

The Jacks tied another school record being flagged for 15 penalties. It's the fourth time that has happened, the most recent against Northern Colorado last year. SDSU had 15 penalties for 120 yards while SUU had eight for 101.

SDSU finished with a 394-164 advantage in total offense, and put up 705 all-purpose yards with 156 yards on interception returns, 94 yards on kickoff returns and 61 yards on punt returns.

Kardoes returned to his starting role at quarterback and completed 9-for-18 passes for 127 yards while rushing four times for 30 yards. Watson also returned to the starting lineup and rushed for 118 yards on 17 carries. As a team, the Jacks had 238 yards on the ground.

Defensively, reserve linebacker Justin Kubesh led the Jacks with six tackles. Tackle Mitch Pontrelli had five tackles, two of them for losses while Perry and Marty Kranz also had five stops.

Southern Utah finished the game 22-of-44 passing for 179 yards but was held to minus 15 yards rushing on 22 attempts, with the SDSU defense recording sacks by Eric Schroeder and Gabe Koenigsfeld. rushed for 232 yards against Southern Utah in 1998.