2019 Football Game Notes Valpo Football
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2019 Football Game Notes Contact: BRANDON VICKREY Office: 219.464.5396 Valpo Sports Media Relations [email protected] www.valpoathletics.com Athletics-Recreation Center 1009 Union Street Valparaiso IN 46383 2019 Schedule and Results Valparaiso (0-0, 0-0 PFL) Date Opponent Time/Result at Eastern Kentucky (0-0, 0-0 OVC) Aug. 29 at Eastern Kentucky 6 p.m. Game #1: Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019, 6 p.m. CT Sept. 14 Central Connecticut State 1 p.m. Roy Kidd Stadium (20,000) – Richmond, Ky. Sept. 21 at Truman State 7 p.m. This Week in Valpo Football: The Landon Fox Era begins on Thursday as the Sept. 28 University of Charleton 1 p.m. Valparaiso University football team kicks off its centennial season under the direc- Oct. 5 at Drake* 1 p.m. tion of a new head coach. An entirely new-look coaching staff will guide a group Oct. 12 Dayton* 1 p.m. of Valpo players that is poised to combine household names with new standouts. Oct. 19 at San Diego* 4 p.m. The season opens with a considerable test as Valpo visits an Eastern Kentucky team Oct. 26 Stetson* Noon that received 12 votes in the preseason FCS Coaches Poll. Nov. 2 at Davidson* Noon Nov. 9 Morehead State* 1 p.m. Centennial Season: In addition to marking the start of a new head coaching tenure, Nov. 16 at Butler* 11 a.m. 2019 is a significant season for Valpo football as the program is set to celebrate Nov. 23 Marist* 1 p.m. its 100-year history over the course of the campaign. Valpo Athletics is set to recognize and celebrate individuals and teams from select eras at four games this season. The program has won 11 conference championships, including six in the * - Pioneer Football League game Indiana Collegiate Conference and two in the Pioneer Football. It’s also the 50th All home games at Brown Field anniversary of the 1969 team that won an ICC crown, an anniversary that will be celebrated at this year’s Homecoming game. In addition, Valpo will retire the numbers of two University legends at the Homecoming game on Sept. 28 at Brown Field. Garry Puetz ’73 and Fuzzy Thurston ’56 (posthumous) will become the first Pioneer Football League players in program history to have their numbers retired. The use of No. 80 will be Standings discontinued in honor of Thurston, while No. 71 will be retired for Puetz. Both were All-Americans in college and went on to win Super Bowl rings in the NFL – Puetz PFL Overall with Washington in 1982 and Thurston with the Green Bay Packers in the first two Team W-L Pct. W-L Pct. Super Bowls, his fifth and sixth NFL Championships. San Diego 0-0 --- 0-0 --- Drake 0-0 --- 0-0 --- Head Coach Landon Fox: After spending the last 11 seasons as the defensive co- ordinator and secondary coach at the University of Dayton, the new man in charge Marist 0-0 --- 0-0 --- of the Valpo football program is no stranger to the Pioneer Football League. Landon Stetson 0-0 --- 0-0 --- Fox’s teams held opponents to an average of 19 points per game during his time as Dayton 0-0 --- 0-0 --- the defensive coordinator at Dayton. He helped the Flyers finish with 10 winning Butler 0-0 --- 0-0 --- seasons in his 11 years on staff and guided a defensive backfield that produced one Davidson 0-0 --- 0-0 --- All-American, four Academic All-Americans, two PFL Special Teams Players of Morehead State 0-0 --- 0-0 --- the Year and three corners who were invited to NFL Rookie Minicamp. Prior to Valparaiso 0-0 --- 0-0 --- joining Dayton’s staff, Fox served as the linebackers coach and special teams coor- Jacksonville 0-0 --- 0-0 --- dinator at Wayne State University in Detroit from 2005-2007. He also spent time as a defensive graduate assistant at Ball State University (2004), Dayton (2002-2003) and Lakeland College (2001). Fox began his coaching career as an assistant varsity coach at Preble Shawnee High School in Camden, Ohio during the 2000 season. During his playing days, Fox was a team captain and all-conference performer at Defiance College in Defiance, Ohio from 1995-1999 and graduated with a degree in physical education and health in May 2000 before earning his master’s degree @ValpoUFootball in education from Lakeland in May 2002. Valpo in Openers: If Valpo can come away with a victory on Thursday night, Fox would become the program’s second coach since 1942 (Loren Ellis) to win his first game at the helm, joining Stacey Adams (2005). Valpo is also seeking to start the Valpo season with a victory for the first time since 2007, in large part because the program has played challenging scholarship opponents in Week 1 in recent years. Valpo will play a Thursday night game for the first time since 2015, also at Eastern Kentucky. Football The last time Valpo played under the lights was Sept. 3, 2016 at Illinois State. 2019 Football Game Notes Contact: BRANDON VICKREY Office: 219.464.5396 Valpo Sports Media Relations [email protected] www.valpoathletics.com Athletics-Recreation Center 1009 Union Street Valparaiso IN 46383 Following Valpo Football: This week’s game will be carried on ESPN+, which is available on a subscription basis at the cost of $4.99 per month. In addition, all six Around the PFL home games will be carried on the ESPN+ platform this year. Todd Ickow (play-by- Thursday, Aug. 29 play) and Brandon Vickrey (color commentary) will have the radio call on Thursday Union (Ky.) at Morehead State, 5 p.m. night, which is available on 95.1 FM Valparaiso and online via the TuneIn Radio app. Links to live video, audio and stats can be found on ValpoAthletics.com. Valpo at Eastern Kentucky, 6 p.m. Jacksonville at Richmond, 6 p.m. Series Notes: This marks the fifth all-time meeting between the two teams and the first since 2015. Eastern Kentucky holds a 3-1 edge in the all-time set, which dates Saturday, Aug. 31 back to 1945. The Colonels were ranked No. 17 in the nation at the time of the most Georgetown at Davidson, noon recent meeting, a 52-10 victory over Valpo to open the 2015 season in Richmond. Butler at North Dakota State, 3 p.m. That was the only meeting since 1947. Valpo’s lone victory over Eastern Kentucky Drake at North Dakota, 4 p.m. came on Oct. 27, 1945 by a score of 7-6. San Diego at Cal Poly, 4 p.m. Presbyterian College at Stetson, 6 p.m. Same Face, New Place: There’s only one person who will coach in Thursday’s game who has coached a game at Valpo previously, and it’s not someone on the Saturday, Sept. 7 Valpo sideline. Eastern Kentucky defensive coordinator Kurt Mattix was the special teams coordinator and linebackers coach at Valpo under Dave Cecchini during the Marist at Georgetown, 11:30 a.m. 2015 campaign. He is also a former Valpo player who graduated in 1999 with a Dayton at Indiana State, Noon degree in physical education. Mattix hails from Northwest Indiana and the Portage UC Davis at San Diego, 4 p.m. native started his coaching career working with the offensive line and defensive Indiana Wesleyan at Butler, 5 p.m. line at Portage High School in 1998 and 1999. Virginia Lynchburg at Davidson, 5 p.m. Louisiana College at Stetson, 5 p.m. Scouting Eastern Kentucky: The Colonels are under the direction of fourth-year Truman State at Drake, 6 p.m. head coach Mark Elder, who led the team to seven wins and a Top 3 conference Morehead State at Illinois State, 6:30 p.m. finish last season. The program has a history of success, owning two national cham- pionships, 21 Ohio Valley Conference titles and 21 NCAA playoff appearances. In Saturday, Sept. 14 addition to receiving 12 votes in the FCS Coaches Poll, Eastern Kentucky registered Stetson at Marist, 11 a.m. 175 points in the Preseason STATS FCS Top 25, which would rank 30th nationally if the poll extended beyond the Top 25 teams. The team is ranked 24th in the Pre- Central Connecticut at Valpo, 1 p.m. season HERO Sports Top 25 and 25th in the Lindy’s Sports Preseason Poll. Three Drake at South Dakota State, 1 p.m. Eastern Kentucky players – running back Daryl McCleskey Jr., defensive end Aaron Dayton at Robert Morris, 2 p.m. Patrick and defensive back Leodis Moore III – earned spots on the Preseason All- Kentucky Christian at Morehead State, 3 p.m. OVC Team. The Colonels were selected third of nine in the OVC preseason poll. Taylor at Butler, 5 p.m. Eastern Kentucky ended the 2018 season on a four-game winning streak. West Virginia Wesleyan at Davidson, 6 p.m. Jacksonville at Presbyterian College, 6 p.m. A Look Back at 2018: After enjoying its first winning season in 15 years in 2017, Valpo finished an injury-riddled campaign with a record of 2-9. The team topped (all times Central) rival Butler 35-17, beating the Bulldogs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2005. In addition, Valpo won on Senior Day for the fourth time in the last five years, sending the senior class out with a 48-30 win over Jacksonville in the home finale. The team produced a first-team all-PFL performer, a second-team all-PFL honoree, seven PFL Honorable Mention athletes, two Academic All-PFL First Team Media Relations Information recipients, one Academic All-PFL Second Team achiever and two FCS National Requests to cover home football games should be made through Bowl participants during the season.