Coming off a long off-season, Stout looking forward to 2021 season

2019 UW-Stout Football Statistics

MENOMONIE (August 13, 2021) – When the UW-Stout football team hits the football field Saturday, Sept. 4 in Aberdeen, S.D. against Presentation College, it will have been 658 days since the program's last game in November 2019, the longest time period between games since World War II.

The COVID-19 pandemic knocked the 2020 season right off the map and pushed back the beginning of the practice season into mid-September.

The Blue Devils, with their two classes of recruits (2020 and 2021), along with their patient returners are ready to go.

Blue Devil coach Clayt Birmingham begins his 12th season at the helm and is ready to "shake off one big offseason."

The NCAA did allow Division III programs to practice in pads last spring, allowing the teams to get back to some level of normalcy.
 

"Everyone (in our program) should be excited," Birmingham said. "They should be excited about our team and about the unknown of what everyone else has. All we can do is just prepare, worry about ourselves and see where everyone else is at when we get to league play."

Since the 2019 season, the Blue Devils lost to graduation that senior class as well as many of the seniors who would have played in 2020. With the team practicing in pads last spring, Birmingham said the coaching staff was able to do some evaluation as well as give the players something to look forward to.

Sean Borgerding (Jr, Spring Valley) returns with the inside track on the quarterback spot after earning All-WIAC honorable mention honors in both his freshman and sophomore seasons.  Borgerding is currently seventh on the Stout all-time passing list with 4532 yards and has tossed 38 touchdown passes. In 2019, Borgerding threw for 2446 yards and 24 scores and led the team in rushing.

Borgerding is the only quarterback in the program to have thrown a pass in a collegiate game. Birmingham said that Mitch Waechter (Fr, Campellsport), a first-team all-stater from Fond du Lac Springs, a program that won three state titles during Waechter's high school years, had a very solid spring and will push Borgerding.

"Sean is a very good field general, a great decision maker who can run and throw," Birmingham said. "Mitch has a big arm and can also run. He just needs to see more reps."
The Blue Devils return a solid trio of wide receivers in Tyler Seymour (Sr, Duluth, Minn), Levy Hamer (Jr, Chicago, Ill) and Parker Fossum (Jr, Chatfield, Minn).

Hamer is a two-time All-WIAC second team pick who, as a freshman pulled in 997 yards on 73 receptions, then had 854 yards during his second season on 45 catches, averaging 19.0 yards per reception. He scored seven TDs in both 2018 and 2019.

Seymour brings a bigger body to the Blue Devils' wideouts. Seymour had 22 receptions for 445 yards in 2018 and 30 catches for 389 yards in 2019. He had four TDs his first year and six in his second.

Fossum is "deceptively fast," Birmingham said, and broke out in his first season, starting all 10 games as a freshman, a year he had 31 grabs for 285 yards with two scores and 23 receptions his second year for 300 yards and three TDs, one in each of the final three games of the season.

Birmingham likes the depth at wide receiver. Right behind his returning trio are Robvon Jackson (Fr, Zumbrota, Minn), Charlie Pierce (Fr, Hudson), Will Knutson (So, Dousman), Arthur Cox (So, Dixon, Ill) and Patrick Corcoran (Fr, Mindoro).

The backfield will have a mostly new look, as well as the return of a familiar face – Rayshawn Graham (Sr, Blue Island, Ill), who sat out the 2019 season after leading the team in rushing the two previous years. Graham rushed for 445 yards in 2017, averaging 4.6 yards per tote, and improved on that in 2018 with 580 yards to average 5.0 yards. He rushed for five TDs. Graham was a second team All-WIAC pick in 2017 and honorable mention in 2018.

Matt Pomietlo (Fr, Chippewa Falls) made an impression in spring camp and is expected to make an impact this fall. Josh Nitek (Jr, Blair) returns after seeing action in both 2018 and 2019. Colin Smith (Fr, Rochester, Minn) and JD Bates (So, Sauk Rapids, Minn) will figure into the mix.

At fullback, Raith Bauer (Fr, Mondovi) and Will Hammen (Fr, Combined Locks), who was a thrower on the Blue Devil track and field team last spring, lead the prospects.

At tight end, Bradley Sarauer (So, Bloomer) and Caleb Timm (Fr, Merrill) have the inside track.

The offensive line will need to find a new anchor with the graduation of all-conference center Bailey Roux.

"Our question will be is who is going to take over at center?" Birmingham said.

Justin Schlangen (Jr, Ham Lake, Minn) is listed as a guard, but could play at center. Schlangen started the final eight games in 2019, giving him the title of "veteran" on the line. Freshman Luke Parzyck (White Bear Lake, Minn) is listed at 315 pounds and tops the list opposite Schlangen at guard.

Tyler Nichols (Jr, Eau Claire), who has seen action as long snapper, and Nolan Baker (Fr, Naperville, Ill) should be in the battle for center.

At tackle, Jesus Ambriz (So, Monee, Ill) saw action as a true freshman in 2019 and started a couple of games. Matt Rotter (Jr, Green Bay) came to Stout last season after Division II St. Cloud State dropped their football program at the end of the 2019 season. Senior Caeleb Johnson (Holdingford, Minn) will vie for time at tackle.

Birmingham said there are some young players who could also step in on the offensive line.

On defense, only three starters return. Two of those are team captains - along with Borgerding and Hamer - linebacker Haydon Miller (Sr, Zimmerman, Minn) and defensive back Mason Priebe (So, Menasha). Defensive back Cannon Griner (So, Mesa, Ariz) also returns after starting in 2019.   

Priebe and Griner lead the defensive backfield that also sees the return of Kyle Wilson (So, Eau Claire), who saw action in nine games in 2019, and Kevin Liu (So, Green Bay), who saw action in all 10 games.

Priebe and Griner return at the safety positions and are similar in their work ethic and passion for the game.

"Both are very competitive and are always in the office, watching film and asking questions," Birmingham said.

Wilson will be joined at the cornerback spot by Nick Arguedas (Jr, Waterville, Minn), who moves over from the running back spot.

Birmingham said the team needed to get Arguedas on the field and with the number of running backs, his number of reps would be limited offensively.

Carson Strong (So, Knapp) and Andrew Beine (Fr, Slinger) will also vie for cornerback spots.
Miller, a two-year starter at outside linebacker who has garnered 91 total tackles, will lead a large group of linebackers looking to take the field.

Looking for spots at outside linebacker will be Mack Klafter (So, Mesa, Ariz), Gervase Thompson (Fr, Brule), Logan Clark (Fr, Osceola) and Dylan Larrabee (Fr, Zimmerman, Minn), while inside linebacker spots will be filled by Andrew Thompson (So, Zimmerman, Minn), Noah Benson (So, Prior Lake, Minn), Wyatt Beyerl (So, Mosinee) and Noah Jungwirth (Fr, Rice, Minn).

The defensive line will be almost entirely new. Scott Gustafson (Jr, Victoria, Minn) has been a regular for two seasons and his high motor gets him near the ball to make things happen, Birmingham said. Riley Crotteau (Jr, Rice Lake), Ethan Olson (Jr, Iola) and Rex Meikle (So, Sturgeon Bay) will look at outside line spots, while James Anderson (Jr, Hillsboro) and Jackson Mack (Fr, Minneapolis, Minn) are expected to hold down the nose guard spot.

With the graduation of kicker and all-region punter Alec Benzinger, both spots will be wide open with true freshmen Jack Meyer (Fr, Chippewa Falls) and Luke Cool (Fr, Franklin) the front runners.

The Blue Devils will have some 150 athletes in preseason camp. Birmingham and his staff will look to see who has the passion, who wants to put in the commitment and which players will be tough within the competition.

Stout opens Saturday, Sept. 4 at Presentation College, then comes home to host St. Norbert College, Saturday, Sept. 11 at 1 p.m. Stout will travel to UW-Stevens Point, Saturday, Sept. 18 for a non-conference game with the Pointers, then have a bye the following week.

The conference season begins with two road games, at UW-Whitewater, Oct. 2, and at UW-Eau Claire, Oct. 9. The Blue Devils will host the Pointers for Homecoming, Oct. 16. Stout goes to UW-La Crosse, Oct. 23, then begins a two-game homestand by hosting UW-Oshkosh, Oct. 30, and closing out the home season by hosting UW-River Falls, Nov. 6. The final game of the regular season is scheduled at UW-Platteville, Nov. 13.