Azusa Pacific in Season Openers Series History: Azusa Pacific Vs
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Azusa Pacific Sports Information Sports Information Director: Joe Reinsch AZUSA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY VS. WEST TEXAS A&M Associate Director: Stephen Hinkel Date: Thursday, September 1, 2016 | Kickoff: 7:00 p.m. (Pacific Daylight Time) Graduate Assistant: Sarah Macias Location: Glendora, Calif. | Citrus Stadium | Seating: 10,000 | Playing Surface: Artificial (FieldTurf) Phone: (626) 815-5085 Social Media: @APUCougars athletics.apu.edu Host Media Information Live Video ($7.95): Azusa Pacific Athletics Story Lines Game Day Weather Talent: Steve Stilwell, Jim Milhon Azusa Pacific has produced a 1,000-yard rusher Weather Forecast from Live Stats: Azusa Pacific Athletics each of the past five seasons, with sophomore Kurt wunderground.com Twitter Updates: @APUCougars Scoby extending that streak in 2015 with 1,108 Instagram Story: @APUCougars Conditions Clear yards (6.8 yards per carry) during his redshirt fresh- man campaign. Daytime High Temperature 92° F Tickets Game Time Temperature 80° F Phone: (626) 815-5494 Scoby is one of five returning starters to the Cougar Wind: 8 mph SW Online: apu.edu/eventcenter/tickets offense, and he’ll run behind a massive offensive Humidity: 37% Adults ................................................... $12 line whose average size among projected starters is Cloud Cover: 0% Seniors (age 65 & over) ......................... $7 6-foot-3, 306 pounds. Alumni/Students/Military ........................ $7 Chance of Precipitation: 0% APU students/faculty/staff .... free with APU ID The defense features seven returning starters and Sunset: 7:16 p.m. PDT Children (age 7 & under) ..................... free 27 letterwinners, including All-GNAC second team honorees Billy Tanuvasa (DL, Sr.) and Taliuaki Azusa Pacific Suliafu (DB, Jr.). NCAA Division II Win Leaders (last 37 games) Azusa Pacific is one of just a dozen NCAA Division II programs with a winning percentage of .800 or better School (Super Region-Conference) W L PCT 2015 over its past 30 games, and the Cougars rank in 1. Northwest Missouri State (SR3-MIAA) 35 2 .946 15-0 Division II’s top-10 winningest programs over its 2. Colorado State-Pueblo (SR4-RMAC) 33 4 .892 12-2 previous 37 games (see chart to right). The top four Minnesota State-Mankato (SR3-NSIC) 33 4 .892 10-2 teams on that list (Northwest Missouri State, Colora- 4. Shepherd (SR1-Mountain East) 32 5 .865 13-1 do State-Pueblo, Minnesota State-Mankato, Shep- 5. Ferris State (SR4-GLIAC) 31 6 .838 11-1 herd) represent the past three national champions Henderson State (SR3-GAC) 31 6 .838 11-2 plus the 2014 and 2015 national runners-up. Minnesota-Duluth (SR3-NSIC) 31 6 .838 9-3 The Cougars are 30-7 in their last 37 games overall Ohio Dominican (SR4-GLIAC) 31 6 .838 8-3 and 22-4 in their last 26 conference games. Both 9. Azusa Pacific (SR3-GNAC) 30 7 .811 6-4 stretches date back to a 2012 Homecoming victory Indianapolis (SR4-GLVC) 30 7 .811 10-2 over Central Washington. 11. Lenoir-Rhyne (SR2-South Atlantic) 29 8 .784 5-5 Azusa Pacific currently has two players on NFL Slippery Rock (SR1-PSAC) 29 8 .784 12-2 training camp rosters (Cleveland RB Terrell Watson, West Chester (SR1-PSAC) 29 8 .784 7-4 Detroit OL Luke Marquardt) & one active CFL player (Edmonton DB Tyler Thornton). Azusa Pacific In Season Openers Azusa Pacific is 23-28 all-time in season openers and 31-19-1 all-time in the first home game of a season. This year’s clash with West Texas A&M is just the fourth time in the past 12 years the Cougars have opened the season at home; Azusa Pacific is 13-7 when the season opener is a home game. Most recently, the Cougars kicked off their first season of active NCAA Division II membership (2014) with a thrilling, nationally-televised 26-23 double-OT win over No. 2-ranked Grand Valley State, propelling the Cou- gars to a 10-1 campaign and second consecutive GNAC title. 2016 Azusa Pacific Schedule 09/01 WEST TEXAS A&M 7 p.m. 09/10 *at Humboldt State 6 p.m. Series History: Azusa Pacific vs. West Texas A&M 09/17 *at Central Washington 1 p.m. All-time series: Azusa Pacific evened the all-time series with West Texas A&M with a 27-24 come-from- 09/24 *SIMON FRASER 6 p.m. behind win over the Buffs in last year’s season opener in Canyon, Texas. The Cougars are 5-4 all-time against 10/01 *at Western Oregon 1 p.m. programs from the state of Texas, going 2-1 at home against teams from the Lone Star State. 10/08 at Colorado Mines 12 p.m. Series Streaks 10/15 *HUMBOLDT STATE 6:30 p.m. Current: Azusa Pacific (1, 2015-present) In Glendora/Azusa: none 10/22 *at Simon Fraser 1 p.m. Longest: both teams (1) In Canyon: Azusa Pacific (1, 2015-present) 10/29 *CENTRAL WASHINGTON 6 p.m. Date Location Winner Score 11/05 *WESTERN OREGON 6 p.m. 9/13/2008 Canyon, Texas West Texas A&M 75-13 11/12 at Colorado Mesa 1 p.m. 9/3/2015 Canyon, Texas Azusa Pacific 27-24 2013 Azusa HEAD COACH VICTOR SANTA CRUZ WATCH LIFE ON FILM: VICTOR Head coach Victor Santa Cruz took Azusa Pacific football to a new classification, and he has already established the Cougars as an NCAA Division II destination program. Santa Cruz guided Azusa Pacific through its transition into NCAA membership by leading the Cou- gars to consecutive 10-win seasons and back-to-back Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion- ships in 2013 and 2014, which were the program's second and third seasons of NCAA competition. In four years of NCAA Division II competition, Azusa Pacific is a GNAC-best 30-14 overall, winning 22 of its past 26 conference games entering the 2016 campaign. In 2013, Santa Cruz took a Cougar team picked fifth in the GNAC preseason poll to a 9-1 league record before concluding the historic season with a dominant postseason win in the Victory Bowl, 67-0 over Greenville College, to give Azusa Pacific its third 10-win season in program history. For his efforts, San- ta Cruz was named the 2013 GNAC and National Christian College Athletic Association Coach of the Year. A year later, his team repeated the GNAC title with another 10-win campaign, this time starting the year with a thrilling nationally-televised 26-23 double-overtime win over Division II's all-time winningest pro- gram Grand Valley State in front of a school-record crowd of 6,199 plus the national TV audience. The Cougars responded from the season's lone setback with a season-ending nine-game win streak, led by Terrell Watson, who was the NCAA's leading rusher (all divisions) with 195.7 rushing yards per game. The 10-1 campaign was the first time Azusa Pacific produced back-to-back 10-win seasons. In 2015, despite the departures of Watson and offensive tackle Cody Clay to NFL camps, the Cougars extended their streak of producing a 1,000-yard rusher to a fifth straight year, helping produce the pro- gram's third consecutive winning season by going 6-4 overall and 3-3 in the GNAC. The outstanding coaching staff Santa Cruz has assembled includes NFL Hall of Famer Jackie Slater, who was instrumental in the development of former walk-on tight end Luke Marquardt into an NFL-caliber offensive lineman (currently with the Detroit Lions) and 2014 graduate Cody Clay, who also signed an NFL free agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons and participated in training camp with the Dallas Cowboys. In addition, running backs coach Ben Buys helped develop Watson into the 2015 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl MVP, which led to a spot on the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad in 2015 and a new free agent deal with the Cleveland Browns in 2016. For all his recent success on the field, Santa Cruz is just as proud of the impact he's made on the program by placing his emphasis on the transfor- mation of young men who can achieve success after graduation. His focus on academics has resulted in landing a league-high 44 players from Azusa Pacific on the GNAC All-Academic team over the past four seasons while claiming four consecutive GNAC academic team championships. "I'm a passionate guy," said Santa Cruz. "I'm passionate about Jesus Christ, my family and Azusa Pacific. Through competition on the field and in the classroom, I want to see young men exit this program with an understanding of effective process, a sense of self, and the vision to become suc- cessful husbands, fathers, employees and employers." It's a philosophy that has delivered concrete results, as evidenced by Azusa Pacific's recent success both on and off the field. The Cougars used a four-game winning streak at the end of the 2012 season as a springboard into consecutive 10-win seasons and GNAC titles in 2013 and 2014 and a third straight winning season in 2015 as the program has piled up a 30-7 record since winning its Homecoming game in 2012. The first four years of Division II competition came on the heels of back-to-back playoff appearances which wrapped up the program's long-standing affiliation as an NAIA independent program, and Santa Cruz was recognized as the NAIA Independent Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2011. The 2011 season, which was Azusa Pacific's final year competing in the NAIA, opened with a narrow 42-40 loss to University of San Diego in a wild shootout that featured 48 combined fourth-quarter points in front of 6,124 (school attendance record at the time).