2013 Crusader Football Game Notes Contact: BRAD COLLIGNON Office: 219.464.6953 Valpo Sports Media Relations [email protected] Cell: 618.420.3086 Athletics-Recreation Center www.valpoathletics.com 1009 Union Street Valparaiso IN 46383 Valparaiso (0-0, 0-0 PFL) 2013 Schedule and Results Game #1: Thursday, Aug. 29, 7 p.m. Date Opponent Time/Result at North Dakota (0-0, 0-0 Big Sky) Aug. 29 at North Dakota 7 p.m. Sept. 7 at Saint Joseph’s (Ind.) 12 p.m. Alerus Center (12,283 - AstroTurf Magic Carpet) - Grand Sept. 14 William Jewell 1 p.m. Forks, ND Sept. 28 Campbell * 1 p.m. This Week in Crusader Football: The 2013 football season kicks off on Thurs- Oct. 5 at Marist * 11 a.m. day night at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, as the Crusaders take on North Oct. 12 at Mercer * 11 a.m. Dakota at 7 p.m. The game against the former Fighting Sioux kicks off the 93rd Oct. 19 Morehead State * 1 p.m. season of intercollegiate football at Valpo and begins the fourth season in the Oct. 26 at Drake * 1 p.m. tenure of head coach Dale Carlson. Nov. 2 San Diego * 12 p.m. Nov. 9 at Butler * 12 p.m. On the Air: For the eighth straight season, the Valpo Sports Radio Network will Nov. 16 Dayton * 1 p.m. be home to all 11 Crusader football games in 2013. All 11 games can be heard live on WVUR (95.1FM, Valparaiso), online through www.valpoathletics.com. Todd All Times Central Ickow will handle all the play-by-play, with Brad Collignon adding the color * - Pioneer Football League game commentary this week. Live stats will also be available through All home games at Brown Field www.valpoathletics.com. Pioneer Football League Head Coach Dale Carlson: Dale Carlson is 2-31, starting his fourth season with Standings the Crusaders, and 112-134-3 overall entering his 25th season as a collegiate head coach. He arrived at Valpo from Ohio Dominican where he began the Ohio (through games of Aug. 27) Dominican program from scratch in 2004, just as he did at Tri-State University PFL Overall prior to his tenure with the Panthers. He is the 16th head coach in Valpo history, Team W-L Pct. W-L Pct. and just the seventh since 1946. Butler 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 Campbell 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 Long Time, No See: This will be the first trip to Grand Forks for the Brown and Davidson 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 Gold. Valpo owns the victory in the only matchup between these two teams, Dayton 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 which was in 1920. The Crusaders prevailed over North Dakota 20-10, a tilt that Drake 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 was played in Gary. In fact, Valparaiso is the only Indiana football team North Jacksonville 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 Dakota has faced. Marist 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 Morehead State 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 Wrapping Up 2012: The Crusaders captured their only win of the season on the San Diego 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 road last year by defeating Campbell, 41-21. Valpo ended the season 1-10 and 1- Valparaiso 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 7 in PFL play, but returns plenty of experience for 2013, as the Crusaders return Mercer 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 eight starters on both sides of the ball. Stetson 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 Scouting North Dakota: Formerly known as the Fighting Sioux, North Dakota is coming off a 5-6 2012 season. North Dakota has been picked to finish seventh in the 51st season of Big Sky football. Sixth-year head coach Chris Mussman @ValpoFB returns 13 starters from a squad that placed eighth in its first season in the Big Sky Football Conference last year. Under center for North Dakota is redshirt freshman QB Ryan Bartels, while senior wide receiver Greg Hardin returns after a 2012 that saw him record 14 touchdown receptions and 1,145 receiving yards Valpo en route to All-American honors. Valpo in Season Openers: The Crusaders are 46-43-3 (.517) all-time in season Football openers, but has dropped the first game of the year each of the last five seasons. Last year, Valpo lost 36-34 to Saint Joseph’s (Ind.) at Brown Field on Aug 30th. The Crusaders’ last season-opening triumph came Sept. 1, 2007, a 28-21 victory 2013 Crusader Football Game Notes Contact: BRAD COLLIGNON Office: 219.464.6953 Valpo Sports Media Relations [email protected] Cell: 618.420.3086 Athletics-Recreation Center www.valpoathletics.com 1009 Union Street Valparaiso IN 46383 over Saint Francis (Ill.). Around the PFL On the Road Again: Valpo is opening the season on the road for the first time in Thursday, Aug. 29 the last three years, but it marks the seventh season opener away from Brown Pikeville (Ky.) at Morehead State, 6 p.m. Field since 2003. The Crusaders are 23-18-2 all-time when opening the year on Grand View at Drake, 6 p.m. the road, and has posted a 48-42-2 mark all-time in their season openers. Dayton at #24 Youngstown State, 6:30 p.m. Jacksonville at Delaware, 6:30 p.m. Thursday Night Lights: Thursday’s game at Grand Forks will be the first of four Valparaiso at North Dakota, 7 p.m. consecutive for North Dakota at home inside the beautiful Alerus Center. Valpo has opened the season on a Thursday evening in three of the last five years, Saturday, Aug. 31 each time on the road: 2010 at Western Illinois and 2008 and Saint Francis (Ill.). Campbell at Charlotte, 11 a.m. Reinhardt at Mercer, 5 p.m. Hoffman Returns Under Center: Redshirt junior quarterback Eric Hoffman re- Sacred Heart at Marist, 5 p.m. turns for his third season as the incumbent starter after seeing most of the snaps Butler at #7 South Dakota State, 6 p.m. in his rookie season. Hoffman completed nearly 65.5% of his pass attempts in San Diego at #11 Cal Poly, 6 p.m. his second year, throwing for 1943 yards and 9 touchdowns. Warner at Stetson, 6 p.m. Team Captains: Valpo will have three captains for the 2013 season. Redshirt Saturday, Sept. 7 sophomore running back Jake Hutson will represent the offense, while senior Duquesne at Dayton, 12 p.m. defensive back Alex Grask and sophomore linebacker Alex Green will represent Valparaiso at Saint Joseph’s (Ind.), 12 p.m. the Crusader defense. Morehead State at Youngstown State, 3 p.m. Drake at Northern Iowa, 4 p.m. Crusaders Picked 10th in Preseason Poll: The head coaches selected Val- Davidson at Georgetown, 5 p.m. paraiso to finish 10th in the Pioneer Football League this season according to Virginia-Wise at Campbell, 5 p.m. the preseason poll. The prognosticators selected San Diego to take home the Wittenberg at Butler, 5 p.m. 2013 championship. Marist at Bucknell, 5 p.m. Jacksonville at Jacksonville State, 6 p.m. Back in the Backfield: Sophomore running back Jake Hutson made an impact Stetson at Florida Tech, 6 p.m. as a redshirt freshman in 2012. Hutson earned the most carries of any running Western New Mexico at San Diego, 8 p.m. back, rushing 152 times for 753 yards and eight touchdowns, and also tallied 35 receptions for 266 yards. (all times Central) * - Pioneer Football League game Catch Me If You Can: The Crusaders return a number of strong targets for quarterback Eric Hoffman. Redshirt junior Fred Gladney led the team in recep- tions last season, hauling in 42 passes for 348 yards. Junior Tanner Kuramata Media Relations Information was atop the team leaderboard in touchdown receptions with three. Hoffman connected with redshirt sophomore tight end Matt Mallon twelve times last Requests to cover home football games should be made through season. Brad Collignon, Media Relations Coordinator, by contacting [email protected] or 219.464.6953. Press box seating is available at Brown Field for working media. Updated Just for Kicks: With the graduation of Greg Wood, redshirt junior Mike Pando statistics and notes from both schools will be available to will do both the punting and the kicking for Valparaiso in the team opener. Wood working media. booted all 69 bunts for the Crusaders last season. Pando was 3-for-5 on the During the week, all player and coach interview requests season last year with his longest field goal registering 41 yards against Butler should be directed to Brad Collignon. Media planning to on October 6th. attend practice should call ahead to confirm practice time. Game-day interviews prior to the contest are not permitted. Protecting Their House: The Alerus Center has developed a reputation as a Coach Carlson and requested players will be available following the game down on the field. boisterous, raucous environment. North Dakota is 66-13 in the first 12 seasons at the stadium. Furthermore, the team is 87-29-1 in its home openers. They’ve posted shutouts 41 times in season openers. 2013 Crusader Football Game Notes Contact: BRAD COLLIGNON Office: 219.464.6953 Valpo Sports Media Relations [email protected] Cell: 618.420.3086 Athletics-Recreation Center www.valpoathletics.com 1009 Union Street Valparaiso IN 46383 Valparaiso University 2013 Two-Deep - vs. North Dakota Offense Defense Pos. # Name Ht. Wt. Yr. Pos. # Name Ht. Wt. Yr.