Monmouth University (0-0, 0-0 Big South) at Western Michigan University (0-0, 0-0 MAC)
Saturday, August 31, 2019; 7:00 p.m.
Powers Field at Waldo Stadium (27,300), Kalamazoo, MI
Television/Streaming Video: ESPN3
Shawn Kenney (play by play), Marcus Ray (analyst)
Monmouth Radio Coverage: Shore Sports Network (Shoresportsnetwork.com, Andriod/IOS App/ 1310 AM)
Eddy Occhipinti (Play by Play); Emory Hunt (Color Analyst)
Ticket Info:
For tickets visit
HERE for more information.
Directions to Waldo Stadium:
For directions and parking information visit
HERE
A LOOK AT THE GAME:
- Monmouth begins its 27th year of football with tonight's game against Western Michigan.
- The Hawks open the season with an opponent from the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for the second straight season.
- Today's game will be the first matchup between Monmouth and Western Michigan. The Hawks have played both Eastern Michigan (2018) and Central Michigan (2015) along with Kent State from the Mid-American Conference.
- Western Michigan was selected to finish second in the Mid-American Conference West division and returns 17 starters from last year's bowl team.
- Monmouth owns a 7-19 record all-time in season openers (3-15 on the road), last winning in week one against Lafayette in 2017. Today's game can be viewed on ESPN3
- The game can heard on The Shore Sports Network, with Eddy Occhipinti (pxp) and Emory Hunt (analyst) on the call.
THE COACHING MATCHUP:
Kevin Callahan is in his 27th season at Monmouth as the Hawks' head coach. Callahan owns a 152-121 career coaching record, all with Monmouth. Coming into the season, Callahan's 152 victories ranks him 8th among active coaches in the Football Championship Subdivision. He is one of three FCS coaches with 150+ wins all at one institution and his 26 years as a head coach is the seventh most among active coaches. The only coach in Monmouth history, he has led the Blue & White to five conference championships, in 1996, 1998, 2003, 2004 and 2006 and its first at-large playoff berth in 2017. Callahan has earned conference coach of the year accolades in 1998, 2003 and 2006 and was named as an Eddie Robinson Award finalist in 2017, finishing 10th in the voting. Prior to arriving in West Long Branch, Callahan served as defensive coordinator at Colgate for eight seasons and at Wagner for three years. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Albany (1977-79) and Syracuse (1980) before becoming a Seahawk assistant in 1981.
Tim Lester, a 2000 graduate of the University, was named as the 16th head coach in January of 2017. Lester has led the Broncos to back to back Bowl bids while his recruiting classes have been ranked atop the Mid-American Conference in each of the last two years. Lester came to WMU after a 2016 stint at Purdue as the Boilermakers' quarterbacks coach and spent the previous three seasons at Syracuse including two seasons at offensive coordinator. He spent five seasons heading up Elmhurst College where he earned conference coach of the year honors. Lester was inducted to the WMU Hall of Fame in 2011, being honored for a career that included over 11,000 passing yards, a MAC Freshman of the Year award and a professional playing career in the XFL and AFL.
VIEW THE GAME WITH OTHER HAWKS FANS AT OFFICIAL "WATCH" LOCATIONS
If you can't make it out to the game, catch Monmouth's game with the Broncos on ESPN3, with other Hawks' fans, at one of two official watch party locations. You can catch the game at Asbury Ale House in Asbury Park and Jack's Goal Stand in West End, Long Branch. Both locations will host viewing parties for the remainder of Monmouth's games this season, both home and away.
INSIDE THE MU-WMU SERIES
First Overall Meeting
Overall Record: 0-0
West Long Branch: ---
Kalamazoo, MI: ---
First Meeting: Aug. 31, 2019
Last Meeting: ---
Longest MU Win Streak: ---
Longest WMU Win Streak: ---
Largest MU W Margin: ---
Largest WMU W Margin: ---
Smallest MU W Margin: ---
Smallest WMU W Margin: ---
Shutouts: ---
Overtime Games: ---
MONMOUTH AGAINST THE MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE
- Today's game is the fourth time Monmouth has faced an opponent from the
Mid-American Conference, with the Hawks facing Central Michigan in 2015
and Kent State in 2016 and Eastern Michigan last year.
- Monmouth is 0-3 against MAC teams, falling 31-10 to CMU and 27-7 to
Kent State and opening 2018 with a 54-24 setback to EMU. The Hawks will face Rutgers to open next season, their first matchup against a power five opponent.
- Monmouth's other Division I teams play in the other MAAC, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
KENJI BAHAR NAMED BIG SOUTH PRESEASON OFFENSIVE POY
- Senior quarterback Kenji Bahar has been named Big South Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Bahar led the league in almost every passing category a season ago en route to setting the Monmouth single season passing record with 2,626 yards in 11 games.
- Bahar, Monmouth's first preseason offensive player of the year, was also named to the Walter Payton Watch List the FCS version of the Heisman.
- In addition to the Big South Honor, the fifth-year senior who has started 26 consecutive games for the Blue & White, was named to the NFLPA Bowl Watch List and as a CFPA Performer of the Year Watch List.
HAWKS SELECTED SECOND IN PRESEASON POLL
Monmouth University was selected to finish second in the 2018 Big South Conference preseason poll, tied for the highest it has been selected since joining the league in 2014. The Hawks received five first place votes, the most in program history.
HAWKS SELECT TEAM CAPTAINS
Fifth-year senior quarterback Kenji Bahar, senior linebacker Evan Powell, fifth-year senior defensive back Tymere Berry and fifth-year senior John Gallina have been named as team captains for the 2019 season. Berry is the only returning captain and the move to four captains is a departure from the last two seasons when MU had two season captains and two game captains.
AUMER NAMED AS AFCA ALLSTATE GOODWORKS NOMINEE
Junior defensive lineman Kurt Aumer recently became the second Monmouth player to be named as a AFCA AllState Goodworks Team Nominee (Ryan Wetzel, 2018). Off of the field, Aumer is in involved with almost every community service project that the team is involved with. For the second straight year he was an integral part of the Monmouth's "Be the Match" campaign, a national football program that matches donors to patients with blood cancers. Aumer is also heavily involved with Monmouth Football's Team Impact effort, mentoring and spending time with the Hawks' selected teammate. He spent hours in January reading to children as part of the 'Read Across America' and he annually participates in the Schroth School for Children Holiday Party and Super Bowl Party. He is part of the Monmouth SAAC Executive board and one of the Co-Founders and MSAAC Representative of the Peer Mentor Program starting this fall called FLIGHT Academy.
DID YOU KNOW?
Monmouth has two players who have graduated and are working on advanced degrees in fifth-year senior captains Kenji Bahar and John Gallina. Bahar is working towards his master's degree in public service while Gallina has begun coursework towards a human resources degree.
LISTEN TO THE GAME ON YOUR MOBILE PHONE OR TABLET FOR FREE
Fans with a mobile phone or tablet using Apple's IOS or Googles Android operating systems can download the FREE Shore Sports Network application to listen to all of the action.
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