*** 2018 Academic Honors Candidate ***

Career: Kupp has started 13 of the 33 career games he’s played, and has 152 career tackles with 2 1/2 sacks.

2018: Listed as a starter at strong-side linebacker on the preseason depth chart. Is one of four Eagle seniors serving as co-captain for the 2018 season, joining safety Mitch Fettig, center Spencer Blackburn and quarterback Gage Gubrud (two-time captain).

2017: Was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team. Started and played in Eastern’s last eight games at strong-side inside linebacker. He finished with 66 stops as a junior after missing the first three games of the season with an injury. Had he met the minimum of nine games played to be ranked, his average of 8.3 tackles per game would have ranked 14th in the Big Sky. He had 10 or more tackles four times, including a career-high 12 versus Montana State (10/14/17). He also had 10 against Montana (9/23/17) in his first action of the season, 11 against UC Davis (10/7/17) and 10 late in the year against Weber State (11/4/17) when he also broke-up a pass. He closed the season with eight tackles against Portland State (11/18/17). He was selected as a third team choice on the College Sports Madness preseason All-Big Sky squad. He had 12 tackles in three spring scrimmages to rank third on the team.

2016: Was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team. Kupp, in his second season playing on the same team as his brother Cooper Kupp, had 67 tackles and 1 1/2 sacks in 14 games played. He and fellow sophomore linebacker Kurt Calhoun made their starting debuts as injury replacements against top-ranked and five-time defending FCS champion North Dakota State (9/10/16). Kupp had eight tackles in that game and went on to also start games against Northern Iowa (9/17/16) and all three games in the FCS Playoffs. He had 28 tackles in the playoffs, including a season-high 11 versus Central Arkansas (12/3/16) seven against Richmond (12/10/16) and 10 versus Youngstown State (12/17/16). The game-winning catch on the final play of the game for the Penguins came as the ball was jammed against the shoulder pad of Kupp, and YSU’s Kevin Rader managed to maintain possession as they both fell to the ground.

2015: Was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team. He played in all 11 Eastern games as a true freshman, finishing with 19 tackles and an interception. He had an interception and six tackles in a 45-28 victory over Idaho State (10/17/15) in which his brother, Cooper, had 14 catches for 161 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He had four tackles one game earlier against Cal Poly (10/10/15).

HS: Graduated from Davis HS in 2015. As a senior, Kupp was named to the Associated Press 4A All-State first team as a linebacker. He was named by the Seattle Times as a “White Chip” selection as one of the top 100 prospects in the state of Washington. Was the Columbia Basin/Big 9 (CBBN) Defensive Player of the Year and was a first team All-CBBN linebacker. As a senior in 2014, Kupp had 91 total tackles, 3 1/2 sacks, two other tackles for loss, five passes broken up, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and he blocked three field goals on the season. Offensively, he had 17 receptions for 253 yards and three touchdowns. Kupp helped lead Davis to a 9-2 record and the school’s first ever berth in the State 4A Playoffs. Prior to the season, Kupp was named to Ron Siegel’s Preseason Senior All-State second team as a defensive back. He was a team co-captain as a junior in 2013. Kupp had 51 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, three sacks, two passes broken up and one fumble recovery. On offense, he contributed 33 receptions for 333 yards and two TDs. Kupp was named as a first team All-CBBN pick as a linebacker. Kupp was a three-year starter for the Pirates and coach Rick Clark, playing the 2012 season alongside his brother and future EWU teammate, Cooper Kupp. Ketner Kupp was also on the track and field team at Davis, where he ran the 100 meters as well as a leg on the 4x100 relay team. He also competed in the discus and shot put. In addition, he played baseball one season.

Personal: Management major and has a 3.48 grade point average at EWU thus far. Born 11/15/96 in Yakima, Wash. Will turn 22 two days before Eastern hosts Portland State. His brother, Cooper, was a consensus All-America wide receiver for the Eagles in each of the past three years, and won a trio of 2015 Offensive Player of the Year honors in NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (including the Walter Payton Award) and the 2013 Jerry Rice Award given to the top freshman in FCS. Their parents are Craig and Karin Kupp, who were both inducted into the Pacific Lutheran University Hall of Fame in 2003. Karin (formerly Karin Gilmer) was a soccer player and Craig played football. Craig, who graduated from Selah (Wash.) High School, was a fifth-round draft pick by the New York Giants in 1990 and played in 1991 for the Phoenix Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys. Ketner’s great-uncle, Jeff Kupp, lettered as an offensive lineman at Eastern from 1982-84 during EWU’s transition from NAIA to the FCS (then known as I-AA). Ketner’s grandfather, Jake Kupp, was an offensive lineman for the UW and was drafted in the ninth round of the 1964 NFL draft by the Dallas Cowboys. He played from 1964-75 as a guard with Dallas, the Washington Redskins, Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints. Named to the NFL All-Rookie team, he later was a five-time captain for the Saints. He was named to the franchise’s 25-year All-Time Team and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1991, the same year that Craig played in the NFL. And Karin’s father, Tom Gilmer, is also a member of the PLU Hall of Fame as a Lute quarterback and record-setting punter in the late 1950’s. He is also in the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall of Fame after also serving as the long-time football coach for Washington High School in Tacoma.

 

Year	GP	TT	Hi	S	TL-Yds	FF-FR	PBU	I-Yds
2015	11	19	6	0	1-1	0-0	0	1-0
2016	14	67	11	1.5	5-12	0-0	0	0-0
2017	8	66	12	1	3-11	0-0	1	0-0
Totals	33	152	12	2.5	9-24	0-0	1	1-0

KETNER KUPP Top Tackling Performances (6 with 10+)
12 tackles – Montana State – 10/14/17
11 tackles – UC Davis – 10/7/17
11 tackles ­– Central Arkansas – 12/3/16
10 tackles ­– Weber State – 11/4/17
10 tackles – Montana – 9/23/17
10 tackles ­– Youngstown State – 12/17/16