Kearney, Neb. – The 111th football season at Nebraska Kearney begins this Thursday night, August 31st, when the Missouri Western State Griffons come to Ron & Carol Cope Stadium at Foster Field.
The game kicks off at 7:00 p.m and is sponsored by First National Bank. Action can be heard live on
The River (93.1 FM) with the live video stream provided by News Channel Nebraska and the
MIAA Network. Live stats will also be
available.
Loper fans are encougared to wear black as the game is a "Black Out." UNK players will be donning their black jerseys as part of "First Game" festivities.
Safeties George Brown and Dallas Vaughn
Both UNK and Mo West have new head coaches in
Josh Lynn and Matt Williamson. Both were hired in December with Lynn having worked with and against several Mo West assistants. In 2013, the Lopers faced Williamson when he was Defensive Coordinator at FCS-member Central Arkansas. Most recently, he served as DC at another FCS school, Stephen F. Austin State (Texas).
This will be the 28th all-time meeting between the Lopers and Griffons with UNK holding a 16-11 series lead. MWSU has won the past eight games by an average score of 39-18.
Last year in St. Joseph, the Griffs got out to a 16-7 lead and pulled away for a 44-21 victory. UNK committed four turnovers and a safety, leading directly to 23 Mo West points. The Griffs also rumbled for four touchdowns and 329 yards.
Current redshirt junior back Josh Caldwell (5-11, 230 lbs.) started an All-American season by rushing for 168 yards and a score. Not only does he return but also top receiver Dijuan Ussery (33 recep., 797 yds., six TD's) and fifth-year senior quarterback Skyler Windmiller (6-3, 210 lbs.). He completed 61% of his passes last fall and has 35 career TD tosses.
Backup QB Dom Marino (6-2, 200 lbs.), a redshirt at FCS-Florida Atlantic, may see some action as well. Up front, two-time first-team All-MIAA pick Travis Anderson must be replaced but Omaha Benson graduate Shawn Rouse (6-3, 280 lbs.) is penciled in as the starting left tackle.
The Mo West defense also has plenty of familiar faces, led by five returning All-MIAA selections. This group includes senior defensive back Donte Watkins (98 tackles; three interceptions; five PBU's), linebacker senior Cody Lindsay (60 tackles; 10.5 TFL's; four PBU's) and senior end Darrian Bass (53 tackles; 7.5 TFL's; 3.5 sacks). Watkins had a big effort in last year's win as he recorded a team-high 10 tackles (seven solo), had two INT's for 38 return yards and broke up another pass.
Thomas Russell
A young UNK squad (
full 2-deep), with just 10 seniors, will be led on offense once again by fourth-year sophomore QB
Steve Worthing. Starting nine games in 2016, the Elkhorn South product finished with 2,016 yards of total offense and 12 TD's (11 passing and one rushing).
With 2016 third-team All-MIAA back
Luke Quinn (Chandler, Ariz.) sidelined for the year, redshirt sophomore
Thomas Russell (Millard West) is the lone Loper ball carrier with D2 experience. Missing the last five games due to injury, he tallied 99 yards and two TD's in the first half of the year. One of those scores came at Mo West.
Graduate transfer
Darrien Daniels (St. Louis, Mo.) carried the ball 90 times for Central Arkansas and is the current starter in the slot. In UNK's new option offense, slots will touch the ball in a variety of ways.
Blocking for Worthing & Co. will be a young o-line led by fifth-year junior center
David Squiers (Kearney Catholic). Redshirt junior
Daniel Yoshiki (Hawaii) is the new starter at left tackle with the only other upperclassmen being redshirt junior
Leo Wilson (Chicago), JUCO transfer
Isaiah Clethen (Oakland, Calif.) and senior
Devin Hernandez (Lexington), a converted d-linemen.
Fifth-year seniors
George Brown (free safety) and
Sam Stoltenberg (nose guard) lead a Loper defense that is having to replace tackle monster
Tyke Kozeal. Now running a 3-4 scheme, UNK has some more game experience on this side of the ball.
Six returning interior linemen and ends return after racking up 190 tackles (16.5 TFL's) last fall. That group includes 2016 honorable mention All-MIAA end
Tye Spies (Mullen). Three redshirt sophomore linebackers, including
Sal Silvio (Kansas City), managed to have 99 tackles (11.0 TFL)'s last year and learned from Kozeal. They are the "veterans" and will be joined by six transfers and several other underclassmen. UNK has no senior linebackers.
Brown currently has the most career tackles (130) and interceptions (four) on the Lopers. He also has been the starting punt returner the past three falls, a job he'll again handle in 2017.
Familiar faces
Dallas Vaughn (strong safety),
Justin James (corner) and
Famous McKinnon (corner) are the other starters in the secondary. Vaughn (54) ranked second to Kozeal in tackles last year with McKinnon earning All-MIAA honors in 2014 and James joining Brown and safety
Cameron Winston (Kansas City) as seniors in the secondary.
Finally, fourth-year senior
Brendan Wentling (Grand Island) is coming off a breakthrough campaign that saw him boot field goals of 51 and 52 yards. Making 29 of 30 PAT's, he also averaged 59.0 yards on kickoffs.
Kearney has the nation's toughest schedule in weeks two and three, facing current No. 4 Emporia State (Sept. 7) and two-time defending national champion Northwest Missouri State (Sept. 16). Those squads square off Thursday in Maryville.