UW-Eau Claire Preview - Game at Bahlke Field Saturday at 12 p.m.
You can listen to Saturday's game FREE online - Click HERE for the Internet Radio Broadcast link!Alma College football returns to action with its second game of the season Saturday at noon at Bahlke Field. The Scots host - for the first time in school history - the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. The Blugolds hail from Eau Claire, Wisconsin (a 12-hour bus ride from Alma). The Scots will make the return trip to Eau Claire in the 2007 season.
Scouting the Blugolds
The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire football team is 1-1 entering Saturday’s contest against Alma College.
The Blugolds head football coach Todd Glaser picked up his first win as UW-Eau Claire defeated Black Hills State (SD), 20-0. UW-Eau Claire held Black Hills State to just 125 yards of offense and –3 yards rushing – the third fewest rushing yards allowed in team history.
UW-Eau Claire opened the season with a 15-11 loss to DIII powerhouse St. John’s. Glaser is the 15th head coach in UW-Eau Claire history and was the head coach at Marietta College (Ohio) for the previous three seasons. St. John’s is ranked fourth in the current D3football.com Top 25 poll while UW-Eau Claire is on the organization’s radar screen, receiving 17 votes this week.
UW-Eau Claire plays in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) which is comprised of University of Wisconsin satellite schools La Crosse, Platteville, Stout, Whitewater, Oshkosh, River Falls, Stevens Point and Eau Claire.
Alma has faced just one of those WIAC schools in the history of the sport – in 1993 Alma lost to UW-River Falls 28-7 at Bahlke Field.
Saturday’s game marks the last non-conference game of the season for the Blugolds as they open the WIAC portion of their schedule against UW-Whitewater on Sept. 30.
The last time that Alma opened its season with a loss on Bahlke Field dates to 1992 – Jim Cole’s second year at the helm for the Scots – when John Carroll defeated the Scots 28-3. Alma went on to finish 3-6 that season.
Alma now holds a 56-18 edge in games played at home under the direction of Jim Cole, a winning percentage of .756. On the road, the Scots are 32-39 under Cole’s leadership, a winning percentage of .450.
Records Watch
Alma junior wide receiver Joe Cline of Ithaca had 175 yards receiving in the Scots’ home opener, leading to an MIAA Offensive Player of the Week nod. That performance brings his career total to 1,205 yards receiving and marks a career best for the junior. His previous game-high was 136 yards against Adrian College on Oct. 8 last season. Cline is 13th on the career receiving yards list, currently 31 yards behind John Fuzak (1966-69). Here is a look at the yards receiving in a career list:
Mark Boehms 2,564 1999-02
Brian Pierce 2,128 1997-01
Stan Izykowski 2,114 1974-77
Brian Burgtorf 2,090 1998-01
Clayton Sims 1,851 2001-04
Kris Ernst 1,844 1998-01
Chuck Fiebernitz 1,833 1976-79
Al Goetz 1,760 1981-84
Cole Thelen 1,623 2002-05
Christian Wiley 1,596 1993-95
Aaron Fletcher 1,554 1987-89
John Fuzak 1,236 1966-69
Joe Cline 1,205 2004-current
Cline put up one of the finest receiving games in school history. His 13 receptions against Cornell College (Iowa) tie him with Cole Thelen’s 2004 performance against Wisconsin Lutheran for fourth for receptions in a game. Mark Boehms holds the school record for receptions in a game with 16 against Kalamazoo in 2002.
Cline’s 175 yards receiving is good for 11th on the yards receiving in a game category. Al Goetz’s 237 yards receiving against Olivet Nazarene in 1984 is the school record.
Last season, Cline put up 874 yards receiving for the season. His 175 yards last week against Cornell is more than 20 percent of last season’s total.
Senior quarterback Josh Brehm continues his assault on the Alma College record book. Already the career passing record holder entering this season, Brehm tacked on 275 yards passing against Cornell College last week to bring his career total to 7,533. His 635 pass completions also extends his lead in that career category. He now has 57 touchdown passes in his career. Brehm’s career total offense yardage now stands at 8,482 after 319 yards of total offense against the Rams.
Posted: Thu, September 14th, 2006 at 6:50PM
