MORE THAN JUST BRAGGING RIGHTS WILL BE ON THE LINE FOR THE BLUGOLDS FOOTBALL TEAM ON SATURDAY WHEN THEY TAKE ON UW-WHITEWATER TO OPEN THE W-I-A-C SEASON. THE GAME WILL BE BATTLE OF TWO OF THE CONFERENCE'S PREMIERE TEAMS, AND COULD HELP DECIDE THIS YEAR'S CONFERENCE CHAMP. MATT CULLEN HAS MORE...
IT'S ONLY THE SECOND WEEK OF THE SEASON, BUT ALREADY THE UW-EAU CLAIRE FOOTBALL TEAM MAY BE FACING ITS BIGGEST GAME OF 2008. THE 12TH RANKED BLUGOLDS HOST DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPION AND NUMBER-TWO RANKED UW-WHITEWATER SATURDAY AT CARSON PARK. WHILE THE WIN COULD GIVE THE BLUGOLDS AN EARLY LEAD IN THE W-I-A-C, HEAD COACH TODD GLASER SAYS SATURDAY'S GAME IS JUST ONE OF TEN ON HIS TEAM'S SCHEDULE...
TODD GLASER/BLUGOLDS HEAD COACH: IT'S A LONG SEASON, TRY TO WIN EVERY PRACTICE, WE'RE PLAYING A GOOD TEAM, WE'LL KNOW WHERE WE'RE AT...
LAST SEASON, UW-EAU CLAIRE COMMITTED THREE TURNOVERS AND STRUGGLED TO FIND A RHYTHM IN A 27-0 LOSS TO THE WARHAWKS. HOWEVER, THIS YEAR THE BLUGOLDS WON'T BE PLAYING A TEAM WITH MANY VETERAN'S, AS UW-WHITEWATER RETURNS ONLY EIGHT STARTERS. DESPITE THE WARHAWKS LACK OF EXPERIENCE, GLASERKNOWS HIS TEAM IS FACING A TALL TASK.
TODD GLASER/BLUGOLDS HEAD COACH: THEY HAVE A VERY GOOD TEAM AGAIN, YOU HAVE TO PLAY EXTREMELY WELL, AND CAN'T BEAT YOURSELVES IF YOU WANT TO WIN...
DAVE WICKLUND/BLUGOLDS SAFETY: THEY HAVE A GREAT COACH, THEY ARE VERY TALENTED, THEY WILL BE A GOOD FOOTBALL TEAM...
MATT CULLEN/REPORTING: THE SAYING GOES, TO BE THE MAN, YOU HAVE TO BEAT THE MAN, THE ROAD TO THE TOP GOES THROUGH THE WARHAWKS, UW-EAU CLAIRE KNOWS THEY CAN ONLY CONTROL WHAT HAPPENS ON THE FIELD...
FOR THE BLUGOLDS OFFENSE, THE MAIN FOCUS WILL BE MAINTAINING A CONSISTENT ATTACK. EAU CLAIRE MANAGED JUST 130 YARDS OF OFFENSE IN LAST YEAR'S MATCH-UP. RUNNING BACK COREY SARTORELLI IS EXPECTING THE SAME TOUGHNESS FROM THE WARHAWK DEFENSE SATURDAY...
COREY SARTORELLI/BLUGOLDS RUNNING BACK: THEY ARE VERY FAST TO THE BALL, VERY PHYSICAL, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO EXECUTE THE GAME PLAN VERY WELL...
MEANWHILE, WICKLUND SAYS A GOOD PASS RUSH ON FIRST-YEAR WARHAWKS QUARTERBACK JEFF DONOVAN COULD GIVE UW-EAU CLAIRE MORE TURNOVER OPPORTUNITIES...
DAVE WICKLUND/BLUGOLDS SAFETY: GETTING PRESSURE ON THE QUARTERBACK WILL ALLOW THE SECONDARY TO MAKE PLAYS...
WHILE SATURDAY'S MATCH-UP WON'T GUARANTEE A CHAMPIONSHIP FOR EITHER TEAM, IT WILL SHOW BOTH SQUADS EXACTLY WHERE THEY SIT IN THE CONFERENCE...
COREY SARTORELLI/BLUGOLDS RUNNING BACK: IT WILL BE A VERY EXCITING GAME, WE'LL SEE HOW GOOD WE REALLY ARE...
MATT CULLEN, WEAU 13 SPORTS...