Random Notes & Quotes From The Weekend

The following are some notes and quotes that caught my eye over the weekend...

- It was a dominating performance by the Warhawks in it's 45-0 win over UW-Eau Claire. Through the first six games, the Hawks' defense has been outstanding.

- Entering the weekend, Whitewater ranked 1st in NCAA Division III in Total Offense and 4th in Total Defense. That is quite impressive isn't it?

- UW-Stevens Point's 27-21 victory over UW-Stout Saturday afternoon keeps the Pointers in the WIAC championship race. UWSP hosts La Crosse this week prior to travelling to Whitewater on October 30th.

- I sat in my motel room Saturday night in Eau Claire transfixed to the UW - Ohio State game at Camp Randle. The Badger's 31-18 primetime win over the No. 1 ranked Buckeyes will go down as one of the great Wisconsin victories in Camp Randle history.

- How long is the fantastic game-day weather going to be with us?

- I came back from Eau Claire Sunday "the long way" through my hometown of Durand. A half block of downtown burned down last fall, and now a good 1/3 of all store fronts are empty. It is really sad for someone that grew up in the town of 2000.

- I'm getting very excited and nervous as the days tick down to UW-Whitewater's Hall of Fame Day & Homecoming on October 30th. Knowing that I will be inducted into the Hall of Fame has absolutley humbled me!!

October 16th WIAC Football Roundup

Whitewater 45, Eau Claire 0 (@ Eau Claire)
The Warhawks (6-0, 3-0) used a balanced offense and a dominating defense that handed the host Blugolds (3-3, 1-2) their first shutout loss since 2007.

Lavell Coppage paced the ground game for the Warhawks with 106 yards in 18 carries and two touchdowns.

Quarterback Matt Blanchard threw for 170 yards and score.

The Warhawks' defense, which got a 42-yard interception return for a touchdown from Matt McCulloch, held the Blugolds to 150 yards of offense.


Stevens Point 27, Stout 21: (@ Menomonie)

Jake Swank connected with Anthony Aker with 11:40 remaining in the fourth quarter to give the Pointers (4-2, 2-1) the victory over the Blue Devils (3-3, 2-1) in Menomonie.

Swank completed 26 of 39 passes for 310 yards, with three TDs and three interceptions.

Point's Jared Jenkins led all receivers with 10 catches for 96 yards and one touchdown.


Platteville 21, La Crosse 6 (@ La Crosse)

- Lee Vlasak ran for 158 yards and two touchdowns in leading Platteville past La Crosse, 21-6, on Saturday for its first victory at Veterans Memorial Stadium in La Crosse since 1980.

Nick Anderson hit Jeff Bracken for a 20-yard score in the second quarter for a 7-3 halftime lead for the Pioneers (4-2, 2-1 WIAC). Vlasak ran in from 45 yards out in the third quarter and four yards in the fourth, giving the converted receiver seven TDs in the last two weeks.

Platteville held the Eagles (1-5, 1-2) without a touchdown for the first time in the annual series since 1973.


Oshkosh 35, Lambuth (Tenn) 22

The dynamic duo of Nate Wara and Garrie Fox compiled four touchdowns as the UW-Oshkosh football team posted a 35-22 victory over Lambuth University (Tenn.) in Jackson, Tenn.

Lambuth advanced to the second round of the NAIA playoffs last season.

Voices Eye around the WIAC

• The unbeaten UW-Whitewater football team travels to Eau Claire on Saturday. Now in the middle of the season, the Warhawks cannot “just show up” and get the win. Last year UWEC trailed UWW 17-14 in the third quarter before the Warhawks exploded for the final 21 points.

• The Blugolds are likely to have a “full house” at Carson Park on Saturday for its game vs. Whitewater. Eau Claire has played very well at home this season beating St. Johns 23-20 in overtime and a couple weeks later knocking off Stevens Point 26-20 for another overtime win. The Blugolds outscored Bethel (Tennessee) 35-31 in the season opener. Bethel, in the same conference as Campbellsville who played Whitewater in week 3, is averaging 40 points per game this season.

• UW-Stevens Point and UW-Stout will meet on Saturday in Menomonie. It is a huge game for both teams who enter the weekend with 1 & 1 conference marks. Stout is coming off a 30-7 loss at Whitewater. The Pointers beat Oshkosh at Point in dominating fashion, 41-17. Eau Claire and Platteville are also 1 & 1. Oshkosh enters the weekend in second place in the WIAC by a half-game with a 2-1 conference record.

• With UW-River Falls head coach John O’Grady “retiring” at the end of the season, the rumor is O’Grady may join his college roommate Stan Zweifel at Dubuque. It is JUST a rumor at this point.

• La Crosse Mayor Matt Harter on Tuesday vetoed a measure that would have decriminalized marijuana. The veto occurred just before the end of his five-day veto period. The council had approved the measures Thursday. BTW, Harter didn't object in the veto to the merits of the marijuana ordinance, which would give police and the district attorney's office flexibility to charge first-time offenders. Could the UWL football teams stuggles have something to do with all the talk of legal marijuana in La Crosse?

Perkins Stadium Record Crowd Facts & Figures

Here are some intreguing facts and figures surrounding the record crowd of 12,189 football fans that attended Saturday's UW-Stout at UW-Whitewater football game at Perkins Stadium

There is no doubt that the Warhawks amazing streak of five-plus years has been reflected at the Perkins Stadium turnstiles.

Saturday's attendance broke the former record was set on October 4, 2008 when a Family Day crowd of 11,028 turned out for the annual battle between UW-La Crosse and UW-Whitewater.

Saturday's crowd boosted Whitewater's 2010 season attendance figure per game to 7,906 fans for each of the three games so far this season. UW-Whitewater trails only St. Johns (Minn) in attendance this season.

While thWarhawks and Stout drew 12,000-plus on Saturday, the total attendance of the three other WIAC games on Saturday (10/9) was 8,196.

Whitewater heads to Eau Claire this weekend, and UW-River Falls in two weeks prior to returning home to host UW-Stevens Point on October 30 for Homecoming and Hall of Fame Day.

Stout-Whitewater game Saturday shatters WIAC attendance mark

UW-Whitewater outscored the UW-Stout 20-0 after halftime and ran away with a comfortable 30-7 victory in front of a Perkins Stadium and WIAC record 12,178 fans Saturday afternoon.

The 12-thousand-plus attendance figure shattered the old record of 11,028 set in 2008.

Why the record breaking attendance figure? It was the "perfect storm!" Summer-like temperatures in the upper 70s, a Warhawk football team that won the NCAA Division III Title last year and off to a 4 & 0 start to the 2010 season. The UW-W game was not going "head to head" with the Badgers who played earlier in the day in its homecoming game vs. Minnesota at Camp Randle Stadium.

Despite a 3 p.m. start at Perkins Stadium, the stadium parking lot was totally filled with Warhawk fans enjoying the unbelievable weather with extended pregame tailgating.

Saturday's 12,189 attendance figure elevated UW-Whitewater to second place in 2010 NCAA Division III football attendance. The Warhawks are averaging 7,906 fans to each of the three games at Perkins Stadium this fall.

While thWarhawks and Stout drew 12,000-plus on Saturday, the total attendance of other WIAC games (10/9) was 8,196.

UW-Whitewater hopes to continue its record breaking attendance pace with two home games remaining: October 30 vs. UW-Stevens Point for Homecoming and Hall of Fame Day. The regular season finale on November 13 vs. archrival UW-La Crosse.

Here are the Top 5 attendance games at Perkins Stadium over the past five years:

10/9/10 Stout 12,189
11/4/10 La Crosse 11,028
10/14/10 La Crosse 9,753
10/3/09 Platteville 9,157
10/13/07 Oshkosh 7,825

October 9th WIAC Recap

Whitewater 30, Stout 7: The host Warhawks (5-0, 2-0) scored 23 unanswered points to blow by the Blue Devils (3-2, 2-1).

Stout tied the game at 7-7 when Tyler Butzler fell on a fumble in the end zone.

But Whitewater held Stout to 61 rushing yards and rolled to its 20th straight victory.

The Warhawks finished with 255 yards on the ground in 40 attempts. They only had 54 rushing yards at the half. Levell Coppage led the way with 163 yards in 20 carries and two touchdowns.


Platteville 35, Eau Claire 14: The UW-Platteville running back, who had only one carry in his collegiate career before Saturday, rushed for 114 yards and scored five touchdowns to lead the host Pioneers to a 35-14 victory over UW-Eau Claire.

Vlasak's five touchdowns set a Platteville record. The sophomore, recently converted from receiver, is the sixth player in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference history to have five scores in a game.

Chad Hoiska and Cory Sartorelli, both of Eau Claire, hold the WIAC record with six touchdowns in a game.

Nick Anderson completed 15 of 25 passes for 200 yards for the Pioneers (3-2, 1-1 WIAC).

Joel Sweeney ran for 114 yards and scored the only two touchdowns for the Blugolds (3-2, 1-1). Eau Claire struggled passing the ball, with Austin Neu going 15 of 31 for 152 yards and getting sacked five times.


Stevens Point 41, Oshkosh 17: Jake Swank threw for 228 yards and four touchdowns as the host Pointers (3-2, 1-1) rallied from a 14-point deficit to dominate the Titans (2-3, 2-1).

Charlie Weissman had a game-high 95 yards for Oshkosh. Stevens Point racked up 408 yards, compared with 311 for the Titans.



La Crosse 37, River Falls 20: Nick Anker threw three touchdown passes, and Lee Lauters rushed for 83 yards to help the host Eagles (1-4, 1-1) earn their first victory.

La Crosse snapped an eight-game losing streak that dated back to last season. The Eagles have beaten the Falcons (0-6, 0-3) in 18 straight games.

UW-Oshkosh at UW-Stevens Point an intriguing matchup

The two key football games in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on Saturday are UW-Stout at UW-Whitewater along with UW-Oshkosh at UW-Stevens Point.

The Pointers are coming off of an overtime loss to UW-Eau Claire, 20-13. The Pointers led 13-10 until UW-Eau Claire kicked a game tying field goal with 3:06 left in the fourth quarter. The loss put the Pointers at 0-1 in conference play.

The Pointers have not lost consecutive games since the end of the 2007 season, a streak that has now lasted two plus seasons.

UW-Oshkosh defeated UW-La Crosse last week by a score of 28-17. It was the Titans first triumph in its last 38 games with the Eagles. The victory gives Oshkosh a 2-0 mark in the WIAC.

The question going into Saturday’s game in Stevens Point is: Are the Titans for real?

UW-Oshkosh opened the season with a 45-28 loss to perennial NCAA Division III powerhouse Mount Union. The 28 points were the most the Purple Raiders surrendered during the regular season since 2001 (123 games).

An Oshkosh victory at Steven Point Saturday would serve notice that the Titans are legitimate contenders for the 2010 WIAC championship.

A Stevens Point victory will put the Pointers right back in the championship picture.

Other WIAC games Saturday include: UW-Eau Claire @ UW-Platteville, UW-Stout @ UW-Whitewater, and UW-River Falls @ UW-La Crosse.