UWSP football ready to make a stand
Scott A. Williams
Stevens Point Journal Media
Editor's note: This is the third in a four-part series previewing the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point football team as it prepares to open the 2014 season Saturday with the annual Spud Bowl game.
STEVENS POINT – University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point football coach Tom Journell could care less what the statistics say.
Heck, the third-year coach, who also served as defensive coordinator, doesn't even look at statistics in-season, preferring to focus on the challenge in front of his unit each and every week.
When Journell finally took a gander at the stat sheet at the end of the 2013 season, he had a lot of reasons to smile.
UWSP ranked second in several important categories within the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, including total defense at 309.3 yards per game and rushing defense after allowing 98.2 yards a game. Stevens Point ranked third in scoring defense (22.4 points/game).
But statistics don't guarantee wins, and Journell insists his defense needs to be even better if the Pointers want to improve on a 5-5 campaign in 2013, including 3-4 in the WIAC.
"We need to get that number in the teens," said Journell, who served as the defensive coordinator for four years prior to taking the head coaching job. "I always say 17 points is usually the benchmark, and missing less than 10 tackles.
"If you do those things, you usually win games."
If you hold to the belief that games are won and lost in the trenches, then surpassing those results from last season might seem impossible when taking into account UWSP lost its top six defensive linemen to graduation.
But considering the Pointers regularly rotate between eight to 10 players up front, Journell is confident the pieces are in place to take care of business along the line of scrimmage.
That doesn't mean that there can't be some tweaks here and there to help the DL unit. With that in mind, former linebacker and Edgar graduate Aaron Karlen has been moved to defensive end with the belief that he can be a disruptive force.
"We think Aaron can be a lot like (former All-WIAC performer) Matt Lunder and give offensive tackles some major, major problems," Journell said. "Aaron is really excited about the move."
Karlen should have plenty of help making life miserable for opposing linemen.
Seniors Jordon Denfeld, who is returning from an injury, and Luke Hackl are back, along with Dan Brown, a junior, and sophomores Christian Stiehl and Adam Wachowiak, a former all-state lineman at Stevens Point Area Senior High.
"We want these guys to give us great penetration and wreak havoc," said Journell. He added that Brown is a "strong, intense and violent type of player."
If running backs happen to make it past the Pointers first line of defense, a talented and experience group of linebackers — even without Cody Seibel, an All-WIAC player and Karlen — will be counted on to handle things from there.
Bo Seibel returns for his senior season after starting all 10 games least season and finishing third on the team in tackles with 44.5. Jake Luedtke, who saw extensive playing time when Karlen was injured, will move to the "Sam" position, and ranked fourth in tackles with 41.
John Kontowicz returns from a medical redshirt to man the "Mike" spot that was held by Cody Seibel.
Supplying depth will be juniors Austin Cordell and Brad Birkhauser, an Assumption graduate and transfer from UW-Eau Claire, Tyler Roberts and freshman Justin Dentici.
"All of them fly and run and hit. All of them are great athletes who are safeties that can play linebacker and run," the defensive coordinator said. "With our linebacker corps, we want them to see ball and get to ball, and play with great emotion and passion."
Journell can also take comfort in knowing his entire secondary is back, with the addition of cornerback Danny Wall, who started in 2012 but missed last season with an injury suffered in preseason practice.
Also back are Mike Longmeyer and Zach Vallafskey. Pushing to be part of the secondary are Tim Burmeister, Jay Kuenster, Deion Jones, A.J. Harris, Kyle Narges and former Edgar athlete Blake Lehman.
"We feel like we have six corners who are really good and four safeties who we feel really good about," Journell said. "In coverages, we're probably simpler than we've ever been, so the guys can play faster."
He hopes all the pieces can come together and be even better than last year.
"We're not going to change what we do," Journell said. "We will go with a nine-man front and we will not let you run the ball and try to make you one-dimensional, and then we can get really creative in our pass schemes.
"We're going to keep it simple so these guys can play with no fear or hesitation, and play fast and physical."
Scott A. Williams can be reached at 715-345-2282. Find him on Twitter as @SPJScottWill
2014 Pointers schedule
Sept. 6 - vs. Albion, Mich. (Spud Bowl), 6 p.m.
Sept. 20 - at Coe College, 1 p.m.
Sept. 27 - vs. North Central (Ill.), 2 p.m. (Homecoming)
Oct. 4 - at UW-River Falls, 2 p.m.
Oct. 11 - vs. UW-Eau Claire, 1 p.m.
Oct. 18 - at UW-Platteville, 2 p.m.
Oct. 25 - vs. UW-La Crosse, 1 p.m.
Nov. 1 - vs. UW-Oshkosh, 1 p.m.
Nov. 8 - at UW-Whitewater,m 1 p.m.
Nov. 15 - vs. UW-Stout, 1 p.m.
* All home games played at Community Stadium