WC Wisconsin News

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire head football coach Wesley Beschorner is counting down the minutes until kickoff.

“I feel like our guys, if they had to play today, they'd be ready to go,” Beschorner told WQOW.com as his team puts on the finishing touches for its Saturday season-opener against Loras College.  

Even with some positions still up in the air, Beschorner doesn’t appear overly concerned, adding all are due to change throughout the start of the season.

"There's still spots to be made; we've told our guys that,” Beschorner said. “You're gonna see guys that are playing in this game that might not be playing in week 10-12. It's a campaign; it's not just one deal at the start of the season. They're looking forward to the challenge of not only this game but the rest of the season."

Back for the Blugolds are quarterbacks Harry Roubidoux and Jonathan Malueg, both of whom started multiple games last season. With Roubidoux tapped to start the opener, junior Ivan Ruble is poised to carry the load at running back after All-American Austin Belot graduated.

"We feel really good about where Harry's at, we feel really good about where Ivan's at," Beschorner said. "We don't have Austin. So, we're gonna use some other guys. I feel confident in our positions right now. We use a lot of personnel, so we're going to continue to do that as much as we can."

The opener against Loras is different from the original schedule due to the Buckshot run, which will be held in Eau Claire the same day. The time change allows for no interference in parking and crowds between the two events.

After Loras, the next home game is Sept. 24 against Albion, Michigan.