Football Team Prepares To Face Pacific Lutheran For Homecoming On Saturday Posted on October 10th, 2009 by

The Gusties charging out on to the field prior to the Saint John’s game.

The Gusties charging out on to the field prior to the Saint John’s game.


The Gustavus defensive backs will get tested against PLU as the Lutes are averaging 50 pass attempts per game.

The Gustavus defensive backs will get tested against PLU as the Lutes are averaging 50 pass attempts per game.


Special teams play has been very good for the Gusties this season.  Punter Matt Knutson is averaging nearly 40 yards per punt.

Special teams play has been very good for the Gusties this season. Punter Matt Knutson is averaging nearly 40 yards per punt.


A big crowd is expected for Homecoming even though the weather is predicted to be cold and windy.

A big crowd is expected for Homecoming even though the weather is predicted to be cold and windy.

The Gustavus football team will play Pacific Lutheran University of Tacoma, Washington for Homecoming on Saturday at 1:30 pm. You can listen to the game on KNUJ Radio 860 AM out of New Ulm, Minn. or you can watch it live through the Gustavus website.

Welcome

Gustavus welcomes Pacific Lutheran University of Tacoma, Washington to Lloyd Hollingsworth Field today for a mid-season non-conference match-up. The Gusties enter the game with a record of 1-3 overall and 1-2 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference after losing to St. Thomas 45-12 in St. Paul last Saturday, while the Lutes enter with a record of 1-2 overall and 1-0 in the Northwest Conference after beating Lewis and Clark 43-14 a week ago.

The Gusties and Lutes will be wrapping up a two-year contract that saw Gustavus travel to Tacoma last season and now will have Pacific Lutheran travel to St. Peter this year. Both teams are off to slow starts this season with just one victory, but today’s matchup should be very competitive with both teams hoping to start a run that will get them back on track for a winning season.

Gustavus is celebrating its 85th Homecoming today, continuing a tradition that started in 1924 when the Gusties defeated Saint John’s 33-0. Gustavus has experienced great success on Homecoming Day compiling an all-time record of 58-24-2. The Gusties are also celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1959 MIAC Championship team that compiled a perfect 7-0 record in league play.

The Series
Gustavus and Pacific Lutheran will be facing each other for the second time today. The Gusties won the first ever meeting between the two programs by a score of 24-14 in Tacoma, Washington last October. Adam Lukes ran for two touchdowns as the Gusties scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to hold on for the victory.

Meet the Head Coaches

Gustavus Head Coach Peter Haugen is in his first season at the helm of the Gusties after spending the past 15 seasons as the head coach at Minneapolis Washburn High School. He claimed his first collegiate victory three weeks ago when the Gusties defeated Hamline 30-24. Pacific Lutheran Head Coach Scott Westering has compiled a 23-22 overall record in five seasons directing the Lute football program. Named to the position in February 2004, Scott took over for his father, Frosty, who served as PLU football head coach for 32 years.

About Today’s Game

Scouting the Gusties – The Gusties will be looking to re-group after tough losses to Saint John’s (38-10) and St. Thomas (45-12) the past two weeks. Despite the difficult setbacks, Coach Pete Haugen feels the team is sticking to its pre-season goal of getting better every day. Gustavus battled both Saint John’s and St. Thomas tough for a half, but could not maintain that high-level of play for 60 minutes in either game. The Gusties were outscored 24-3 in the first half against the Johnnies, but then were only outscored 14-7 in the second half. Against St. Thomas, Gustavus stayed within reach of the Tommies in the first half trailing 21-12 at the intermission, but St. Thomas broke the game open by outscoring the Gusties 24-0 in the second half. If Gustavus can limit turnovers and more consistently run the football and sustain drives, it will give the defense the ability to stay fresh in the second half and force the opponent to drive the full length of the field rather than have a short field to work with. Coach Haugen was pleased with the improved play of the offensive line against the Tommies and feels that special teams play has been solid in all four games this season.

Through four games, the Gustavus offensive unit is averaging 298.8 yards per game including 96.2 yards on the ground and 202.5 yards through the air. The defense has been allowing 408.5 yards per game including 156.5 yards on the ground and 252.0 yards through the air. Kendrick Hall leads the team in rushing at 67.3 yards per game, while Cameron Maurer is the team’s top receiver with 17 catches for 341 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Jordan Becker has completed 62-of-125 passes for six touchdowns with five interceptions. Linebacker Zach Lundquist leads the team on tackles with 36, including three tackles for loss, and one quarterback sack.

Gustavus Roster

Gustavus Schedule

Gustavus Statistics

Scouting the Lutes – Pacific Lutheran picked up its first win of the season in impressive fashion last week as the Lutes defeated Lewis and Clark College by the score of 43-14. The Lutes jumped out to a 33-0 lead in the first half with the help of two long TD passes, one being a 58-yard TD strike from Jordan Rasmussen to Kyle Whitford, and the other was a 71-yard strike from A.J. Palozollo to Greg Ford. Drew Griffin led the team on the ground with 13 carries for 71 yards. Ford and Whitford had big days receiving as Ford made six catches for 172 yards and one touchdown, while Whitford made five catches for 111 yards and one touchdown. Two Lute quarterbacks saw extended playing time and both performed well as Rasmussen completed 9-of-12 passes for 185 yards and one touchdown, while AJ Palozollo10-of-11 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns.

Through three games, the Pacific Lutheran offense is averaging 288.0 yards per game including36.3 yards on the ground and 251.7 yards through the air. The defense has been allowing 362.3 yards per game including 156.3 yards on the ground and 206.0 yards through the air.

Pacific Lutheran Roster

Pacific Lutheran Schedule

Pacific Lutheran Statistics

Gustie Game Notes

Defensive Back TJ Ridley Named Semifinalist for National Football Foundations National Scholar Athlete Awards – The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced the 154 semifinalists for the 2009 William V. Campbell Trophy and the candidates for the 2009 NFF National Scholar- Athlete Awards. Gustavus senior defensive back T.J. Ridley (Edina, Minn.) has been selected as one of those 154 semifinalists. Ridley, a 2008 CoSIDA Academic All-American, is a biology, pre-medicine major with a 3.95 grade point average. He is one of only two football student athletes from the MIAC to be honored by the NFF. The other is Dominick Haik of Saint John’s. The NFF Awards Committee will select and announce up to 15 finalists on Oct. 29. Each finalist will be recognized as part of the 2009 NFF National Scholar- Athlete Class, receiving an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship.

Remembering the 1959 MIAC Championship Team — Gustavus Adolphus College is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1959 MIAC Championship season today at Homecoming. Many members of the 1959 squad that won the league title with a perfect 7-0 record are here to reminisce about that memorable year. The Gusties, who were coached by the legendary Lloyd Hollingsworth, outscored their opponents 219 to 65 in league play. The team finished with an overall mark of 8-1. The lone loss was a 6-0 non-conference setback to Youngstown State in the first game of the season. The perfect season extended the Gusties conference unbeaten streak at the time to 17 games. Under the direction of Hollingsworth, the Gustavus football program compiled a conference record of 56-7-1 in the decade of the ’50s.

Success On Homecoming Day
— Today marks the 85th Homecoming game in the history of the Gustavus football program. The Gusties have compiled an impressive record of 58-24-2 all-time on Homecoming Day. It is quite unusual for the Gusties to play a non-conference opponent for Homecoming as they are this year against Pacific Lutheran. In the previous 84 Homecoming games, Gustavus has played a conference opponent 82 times, and a non-conference opponent twice. The last time Gustavus played a non-conference opponent for Homecoming was North Dakota State University in 1942.

Gustavus versus the Northwest Conference — The Gustavus football team has compiled a record of 3-0-0 all-time against teams in the Northwest Conference including a 2-0 record against Willamette University of Salem, Oregon, and a 1-0 mark against Pacific Lutheran University. The rest of the institutions that make up the Northwest Conference are George Fox University, Lewis and Clark College, Linfield College, Pacific University, University of Puget Sound, Whitman College, and Whitworth University.

Ryan Hoag Makes New York Sentinel Squad
— Former Gustavus wide receiver (1999-2002) Ryan Hoag has made the New York Sentinel’s squad of the new United Football League. Hoag will play wide receiver as well be a member of all four special teams units. It was a special feeling for Hoag, who has been cut 11 times by five different National Football League teams. He will play his first game on Saturday against the Florida Tuskers at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. The game, which is set to begin at 6:00 pm (CST) will be telecast live on HDnet.. You can follow Ryan’s experience in UFL by reading his twice-weekly blog on the Gustavus Athletics website at http://gustavus.edu/athletics.

Starting Line-Ups

Gustavus Adolphus College

OFFENSE
7 Jordan Becker

 

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