No. 12 College of Idaho Football to Kickoff Frontier Conference Play vs. Montana Western

Game Details

Venue (Capacity)	Simplot Stadium (4,760)
Playing Surface	Field Turf
Rankings:	College of Idaho - No. 12
Tickets:	http://www.yoteathletics.com/FootballTIckets
Live Stats:	https://sidearmstats.com/cofidaho/football/xlive.htm
Live Video:	https://portal.stretchinternet.com/yoteathletics/

79 YEARS OF COYOTE FOOTBALL IN THE BOOKS: The 2023 season will mark the 79th year of Coyote football as a collegiate program (C of I competed as an Academy from 1905-16 against high school and local town teams), recording an all-time record of 308-290-28. The Yotes had a football program every season from 1905-77 (minus the 1917 season, due to World War I, and the 1943, 1944 and 1945 seasons due to World War II). The team was disbanded following the 1977 season, with the squad returning to the gridiron in 2014. 

TENTH YEAR BACK: 2023 marks the 10th year since the return of football to the Caldwell campus and head coach Mike Moroski has led the Yotes to a 55-38 mark including six-straight straight winning seasons (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022), including the record-setting 11-1 campaign in 2019.

PICK SIX: Isaiah Griffin's second quarter pick six against Southern Oregon sparked a 21-3 turnaround for the Yotes, who were holding a 7-6 lead with :45 left. Prior to the interception return for a touchdown, the last interception return for a touchdown was when Jacob Arms stepped in front of a Raiders pass and returned it 57 yards for a game-tying touchdown on October 29, 2022.  

SECOND QUARTER SUCCESS: Through the first two games, College of Idaho has outscored its opponents, 31-13. After a big outpouring in the second quarter, the Yotes have gone on to outscore their opponents, 48-7 for the rest of the game. 

RECORD BOOK EFFORT: Junior running back Caden Cobb etched his name to the top of the College of Idaho record back with 118 yards in kick returns against Southern Oregon. In the last two games against Montana Western, Cobb has picked up 142 yards (Oct. 22, 2022) and 119 yards (Oct. 21, 2022). His 118 yards on Saturday put him at 1,094 to move past Keenan Pattwell, who accumulated 984 yards from 2017-19.

CAREER GAME FOR BROCK: Junior wide receiver Brock Richardson caught eight passes (career high: 9) for 163 yards and one touchdown. The 163-yard effort by Richardson is the most by a Yote since a 168-yard day by Tyler HIgby on October 31, 2015 against Montana Western. 

SCHOFIELD FINDS END ZONE: Senior wide receiver Jon Schofield scored two touchdowns on the ground and one through the air for a three-touchdown day. Last season, teammates Hunter Gilbert (at Southern Oregon / Sept. 24) and Allamar Alexander (vs. Eastern Oregon / Sept. 17) scored three touchdowns in a game. 

TALE OF TWO HALVES: College of Idaho had the ball for 8:30 in the first half of last Saturday's game. The Yotes went on to possess it for 19:08 in the second half and did not allow a single third-down conversion to the Raiders on its way to the victory. 

Side note: College of Idaho has allowed just two third down conversions in the second half through the first two games.

SUCCESS AT SIMPLOT: With a 4-1 mark in 2022 and wins in its first two games in 2023, the Yotes have posted a 31-15 record at Simplot Stadium since football returned to the College in 2014. Dating back to their first game at the facility in 1964, the Coyotes have an all-time record of 51-51-2 at the venue.

END ZONE NOTE: In 15 of the last 16 games, College of Idaho has recorded at least one rushing touchdown. In 12 of the contests, the Yotes have recorded multiple rushing touchdowns. 

SPECIAL TEAMS: The 62-yard kickoff return by Caden Cobb is the longest by the Yotes since an 87-yard return by Elijah Carter on September 6, 2014 against Pacific. Ironically, in that game against Pacific, Yotes offensive coordinator Brian Taylor was on the Boxer roster.

TANNER TERROR: The College of Idaho features three individuals with the first name, Tanner. Thru two games, Tanner Leaf (#39) has made 10 tackles including one TFL; Tanner Sackman (#82) has been involved in a pair of tackles for loss; Tanner Steele (#31) has made 13 tackles with a sack and 1.5 TFLs. 

MAKING IT TO THE NFL: Segun Olubi of the Indianapolis Colts will begin his second season in the NFL. Olubi started his college career at College of Idaho before matriculating to Saddleback College, Harding and San Diego State. In his one season with the Yotes, he was second on the team in tackles with 85 and recorded 10 pass breakups. 

FRONTIER FAVORITES: The Yotes enter the 2023 season as the preseason favorite in the poll announced of Frontier Conference head coaches. College of Idaho finished the 2022 season with an 8-2 record, earned 57 voter points and five of nine first-place votes. Behind College of Idaho was Montana Tech, who received a first-place votes, earning 53 points for the second spot in the poll. Next was defending champion Carroll College, who got a first-place votes with 48 points for the third spot with Rocky Mountain College and Saturday's opponent Montana Western to round out the top four. The remainder of the poll was Arizona Christian (31 points), Southern Oregon (21 points), Eastern Oregon (18 points) and MSU-Northern (8 points).

FINAL POLL: For the fifth-straight season, the Yotes ended 2022 ranked in the final NAIA Top-25 Coaches Poll, earning the No. 18 spot in the ranking. C of I ended the 2018 season ranked No. 22, finished the 2019 season at No. 5 and the 2020 season at No. 15.

PRESEASON POLL: The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced the results of the preseason NAIA Football Coaches' Top 25 Poll presented by FirstDown PlayBook. The Yotes will enter the 2023 season ranked No. 12 in the nation, as voted on by a panel of coaches, six spots better than their position of the 2022 NAIA Football Coaches' Final Top 25 Poll.

Two other Frontier Conference opponents appear within the Top 25 (Carroll - No. 15, Montana Tech - No. 16), with two additional Frontier schools appearing in the receiving votes category (Arizona Christian - 30 votes, Montana Western 6 votes)

In 2022, College of Idaho began the season in the receiving votes category after having been ranked in the top 25 for the previous three seasons.

BRAINS and FOOTBALL: Tight end Ben Hruby (Boise, Idaho / Bishop Kelly HS) and wide receiver Brock Richardson (Fallon, Nev. / Churchill County) were named to the 2022 Academic All-America football teams selected by the College Sports Communicators. Hruby and Richardson are the sixth and seventh Academic All-Americans in the history of the program.  The program also had 47 student-athletes earn Academic All-Frontier Conference honors. To be eligible for the team, the student-athlete must be at least a sophomore in standing and maintain a 3.25 GPA or greater. Furthemore, 20 student-athletes on the 2022 Daktronics NAIA Football Scholar-Athlete list as announced by the NAIA National Office. In order to be named as a Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, must appear on the eligibility certificate for the sport and have attended one full year at said institution, and have achieved sophomore academic status prior to the start of the academic year. The NAIA Scholar-Athlete program is sponsored by Daktronics.