GOLDEN, Colo. – The wait is finally over. Having last played a game on Nov. 16, 2019, the Western Oregon University football team has been waiting for Sep. 2, 2021 for quite some time. That date arrives this week as the Wolves will hit the road to face #10 Colorado Mines for Thursday night football with kickoff set for 5 p.m. Pacific.
The last time we saw the Wolves, they were completing an exiting and historic 2019 season in which they claimed a share of the programs first Great Northwest Athletic Conference title going 5-1 in league games. Overall, WOU went 7-4, with three of the losses being by a possession and one going to overtime.
It's the second straight season the Wolves open the year on the road, as they traveled to Texas to face Angelo State in 2019. The first four games of the 2021 season will all be on the road, as it wasn't too long ago that WOU ended up playing multiple road games to start a season. Back in 2017, the Wolves played three straight road games traveling to Idaho State, Central Washington and Western New Mexico.
The meeting with Colorado Mines is the second between the teams, last facing each other in 2007 with WOU claiming the 26-12 win in the Dixie Rotary Bowl in Utah. The Wolves held a 19-0 lead at halftime and were ahead 26-6 before closing out the victory. The 2007 season was the first as head coach for Arne Ferguson, as he led the Wolves to a 9-2 season that year. He has since added 81 more wins and is 90-72 during his career leading the Wolves.
While 2019 seems like forever ago, WOU had a team that put up some impressive numbers and were among the national leaders in multiple categories. The Wolves were 18th in total offense (465.8), 16th in rushing offense (24.29) and 25th in passing efficiency (150.48). On the other side of the ball, the defense ranked 34th in rushing defense (121.4) and WOU controlled the clock ranking 26th in time of possession (31:59).
Ty Currie guided the offense in 2019 and has since moved on to the WOU coaching staff. Returner Ryan Worthley saw action in six games that season and will look to take over the reins in 2021. The backfield includes a couple returners in top performer Omari Land who rushed for 1,014 yards and nine touchdowns. Andrew Valladares is back after he rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown. The receiving group has a lot of players back from 2019 including Thomas Wright who led the team in receptions with 26, yards with 524 and touchdowns with five. Marquis Sampson is back after grabbing 21 passes for 348 yards and four touchdowns. Jarren Ford tallied 16 catches for 302 yards and two touchdowns, Justice Murphy added 17 receptions for 253 yards and a touchdown. Damon Hickok pulled down six passes for 83 yards and a score. Shaw Jerome added a touchdown during the season as well. The offensive line returns several key players in Jakob Pruitt, Anthony Orlando, Fernando Salazar and Bradley Patenaude.
The defense will be without top tackler Nate Proctor Jr., but Jaylin Parnell put together a big season and was second on the team in total stops with 68 and added a team-high 44 solo tackles. He led the team in tackles for loss with 10.5 and tied for the team lead in sacks at 6.5. Joey Sinclair was fourth on the team in tackles with 50, while adding 34 solo stops, five tackles for loss and three interceptions. Blayne Burnett collected 41 tackles, four tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and eight quarterback hurries. Curtis Anderson led the team in interceptions with five, while adding 40 tackles (27 solo) and 1.5 tackles for loss. Ryan Minniti was among the team leaders in tackles with 35. Others that saw significant time throughout the 2019 season and are back this year include Mack Little, Isaiah Abraham, Machiah Lee, L.J. Lovelace, KJ Ridders and Twister McComas.
On special teams, Anderson will look to make an impact once again in the return game after leading the team in kickoff return yardage taking back 29 kicks for 636 yards. Sampson added nine returns for 202 yards. Sinclair also had a chance at four returns, going for 109 yards. It will be a new punt returner entering the year after Tyler Reid returned 10 for 115 yards, Derek Parnell added five returns. Anderson and Braelen Evans each returned one punt. Andrew Gross handled all the kicking and punting duties as he averaged 38.55 yards on 33 punts, sending six inside the 20 and four that traveled over 50 yards. He made three field goals and on 64 kickoffs he averaged 58.4 yards. Gross added 42 extra points.
WOU will have 36 freshmen on the roster that have jersey numbers early on looking to see time in the 2021 season, as the Wolves have a combination of two recruiting classes over the past two years that will look to make an impact.
Overall numbers in 2019, WOU averaged over 34 points and allowed just over 27 points. WOU tallied 238 first downs, with 126 coming on the ground. The Wolves rushed for 2,672 yards and 30 touchdowns, while the defense held opponents to 1,335 yards and 23 touchdowns. In the air, WOU passes for 2,452 yards and 21 touchdowns, completing 143-266. On defense, the opposition completed 216-381 for 2,618 yards and 17 touchdowns. Overall, WOU tallied 5,119 yards of total offense and 53 touchdowns. The opposition tallied 3,918 yards and 42 touchdowns.
WOU scored in double-digits in all 11 games in 2019, with their lowest point total of 20 coming in the season opener at Angelo State. The Wolves reached at least 40 points on four occasions and hit the 30-point total in six games.
Colorado Mines had a big season in 2019, going 12-1 and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Playoffs. The Orediggers defeated Sioux Falls in the first round of the playoffs and suffered their only loss of the season in the second round at home to Texas A&M-Commerce, a similar opponent to both teams from 2019.
John Matocha powered the offense throwing for 2,825 yards and 29 touchdowns. He also rushed for 598 yards and 11 scores. Michael Zeman led the rushing attack going for 1,421 yards and 12 touchdowns. Three receivers had over 450 yards receiving led by 984 yards from Josh Johnston.
On defense, Kobe Brewster tallied 76 tackles, with 33 solo and added four interceptions and three tackles for loss. Averie Mansfield had 10.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. Nolan Reeve led the way in sacks with 8.5. The defense collected 40 sacks and 11 interceptions.
Colorado Mines has gone 6-1 at home each of the past two seasons and haven't lost more than one game at home since 2014. The Orediggers have won each of their past two season openers with the last loss coming in 2017 at CSU-Pueblo. This is the first non-conference home opener for Colorado Mines since former GNAC opponent South Dakota Mines traveled to Golden to open the season in 2015.
Live video and stats will be available for the game. Live video can be found here and live stats can be found here.
Following the trip to Colorado, WOU will head back to Texas A&M-Kingsville for the third straight season on Sep. 11.
