Looking to bounce back from a rare season-opening home loss, the University of Minnesota Duluth takes its show on the road for the first time in 2017 this Saturday (Sept. 9) when the Bulldogs pays a visit to Fayette, Iowa, for a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference interdivision matchup with Upper Iowa University. Opening kickoff is set for 1:07 p.m. at Harms-Eischeid Stadium (4,000/artificial turf) on the Upper Iowa campus.

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THE RECORDS: UMD, who are 0-1 in 2017,  went 10-2 last season, placed second to the University of Sioux Falls in the overall NSIC standings with a 10-1 record and claimed its ninth straight NSIC North Division title by going a perfect 7-0. The Bulldogs also advanced to the NCAA II playoffs for the eighth time in the past nine seasons.

Upper Iowa, off to a 1-0 start this season, was 3-8 both overall and in NSIC play (11th place tie with Wayne State College and Minot State University) one year ago and tied for fifth in the NSIC South Division (with Wayne State and Southwest Minnesota State University) with a 2-5 mark .

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and Upper Iowa stacked up in this week's  American Football Coaches Association Division II and D2Football.com polls:
 

	AFCA	D2Football
UMD	No. 21	No. 17
UIU	NR	NR

         
THE BROADCAST: The Bulldog-Peacock clash will be carried live locally on KDAL-Radio (610 AM and 103.9 FM) with Jeff Papas handling the play-by-play responsibilities The broadcast can also be heard at: kdal610.com.

Saturday afternoon's game will be videostreammed as well and can be accessed for free at: portal.stretchinternet.com/umd.

THE COACH: Curt Wiese is in his fifth season of head coaching duty with the Bulldogs, having guided them to a 43-9 overall record (only two NCAA II coaches have won more games during that stretch), three NCAA II playoff appearances (2013, 2014 and 2016), one overall NSIC title (it shared that honor with Minnesota State University-Mankato in 2014) and four straight NSIC North Division crowns.  

Last fall, his Bulldogs reeled off 10 straight victories following a setback in the season opener and wound up going 10-2. Along the way they upped their home winning streak to a school-record 22 games, returned to the NCAA II playoffs after a brief, one-year absence, and occupied the No. 13 spot in the final AFCA II poll.  One year earlier, UMD capped off a 9-3 season by defeating Fort Hays State University 30-22 in the Mineral Water Bowl and in 2014 rolled up a 13-1 overall record (the third most wins in program history) and captured a share of its league-record 19th NSIC crown after going 11-0 in league play. That was in addition to advancing to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA II playoffs and ending up at  No. 3 spot in the final AFCA II poll. That followed up Wiese's rookie-go-around that included an 11-2 mark in all games and a No. 8 final AFCA II poll ranking.

For his exemplary efforts, Wiese was selected the 2013 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award winner for Division II, a prestigious honor recognizing coaches for their responsibility, integrity, sportsmanship and excellence, on and off the field.

Since being appointed UMD's sixth head coach on Dec. 21, 2012, Wiese has helped produce 17 different All-Americans and 27 All-NSIC first team selections while his Bulldogs have earned NSIC All-Academic status 55 times. That includes offensive lineman Andrew Pattock, who as a senior in 2013 was named a first team CoSIDA Academic All-American.

Over the course of Wiese's successful five-season run as the team's offensive coordinator, the Bulldogs finished near the top of the NCAA II leader board four times in scoring (third in 2012 with a school-record 46.5 points per game average, fifth in 2008, sixth in 2010 and ninth in 2009) and in 2012 possessed the nation's seventh best rushing attack (after ranking seventh, fourth, and third, respectively, in that department the previous three seasons). The 2012 Bulldogs were also the nation's leader in third down conversions (54.8 percent). In addition, no less than 15 of his pupils landed some kind of All-American recognition, including a pair of Harlon Hill Award finalists -- quarterback Ted Schlafke (2008), the school's career passing and total offense leader, and running back Isaac Odim (2009), UMD's No. 1 all-time ground gainer and scorer and the holder of 17 school records. In addition, his starting offensive guard from 2009-12, Garth Heikkinen, became the school's first recipient of the Gene Upshaw Division II Lineman of the Year of Award and earned a playing spot in the annual East-West Shrine Game in January 2013.

Since Wiese's arrival at UMD in February 2008, the Bulldogs have generated both the second- most victories (they are 105-16) and winning percentage (.868) in the nation while capturing two NCAA II national championships (2008 and 2010), six overall NSIC titles (2008-12 and 2014) and nine NSIC North Division crowns. They've also made eight NCAA II playoff appearances and produced two perfect 15-0 seasons and three 11-0 regular seasons.

Wiese came to UMD following two years of employment as the head coach at NCAA III member Marietta College (Ohio). He compiled a 9-11 career overall record with the Pioneers, including a 6-4 mark in 2006. The Stoughton, Wis., native signed on with the Marietta football program in 2003 when he became the team's offensive coordinator -- a duty he continued to maintain after he was elevated to head coach. In five years of directing the Marietta offense, Wiese helped churn out two All-Americans and 12 All-Ohio Athletic Conference selections and was a finalist for the 2004 AFCA Division III Assistant Coach of the Year Award.

Prior to his move to Marietta, Wiese worked as a graduate assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, tutoring the tight ends for two years and the offensive line for one season. He entered the coaching arena a little over a dozen years ago on the heels of a four-year collegiate playing career. After three seasons at Minnesota State University-Mankato (1995-97), Wiese transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where as a senior in 1998, he quarterbacked the Pointers to a share of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title.

Wiese was one of 10 head coaches nationwide who are honorary coach nominees for the 2016 Allstate Insurance and American Football Coaches Association Good Works Team.

    WIESE BY THE NUMBERS
    Record at UMD (Year): 43-9 (5th)
    Overall Coaching Record (Year): 52-20 (7th)
    Career NSIC Record:  39-6
    Career UMD Home Record: 23-2
    Career UMD Road Record:  20-7
    vs. Upper Iowa:  2-0
    
THE RIVALRY: UMD has met Upper Iowa just six times previously -- during the Bulldogs' first two seasons in the now defunct North Central Conference (2004 and 2005) and in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2015 -- and has won all six of those matchups, outscoring the Peacocks 224-92 in the process.  The two clubs last collided on Sept. 25, 2015 at a foggy James S. Malosky Stadium where the host Bulldogs rallied for a 28-24 victory, getting the go-ahead touchdown with 3:39 to go in regulation.

LAST WEEK: UMD's school-record 22-game home winning streak fell by the wayside last Thursday as defending NSIC champion Sioux Falls took down the Bulldogs 26-7 in the season opener for both clubs.  The then No. 17 Cougars scored on the second play of the night -- a 17-yard fumble recovery -- and never looked back. Senior offensive tackle and part time running back Nolan Folkert accounted for the Bulldogs lone touchdown with a one-yard scoring run early in the second quarter. UMD limited Sioux Falls to just 195 yards of total offensewith 114 of those coming on the ground by Max Mickey (on 37 carries).  Junior inside linebacker Gus Wedig and junior strong safety Sam Lynch paced the Bulldogs with eight tackles each while senior free safety Kegan Wirtz forced three fumbles.
UMD sophomore quarterback Mike Rybarczyk, in his first collegiate start, completed 26 of 50 passes for 228 yards and one pick. He was, however, sacked eight times (the main reason he finished with minus-45 rushing yards) and pressured pretty much the entire night from the Cougars blitz-happy defense. A game-high nine of his completions went to junior wide out Jason Balts.

Earlier that same day, Upper Iowa blasted the University of Crookston 44-7 in its 2017 debut. Junior quarterback Brent Lammers rushed  ball 14 times for 110 yards for the visiting Peacocks and also threw for another 187 yards and one touchdown while going 18 for 29. Upper Iowa, which led 27-0 at the half and 41-0 after three quarters, finished with 517 total yards.

THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING: UMD's team captaincy responsibilities in 2017 are assigned to junior wide receiver Jason Balts, senior outside linebacker Zach Bassuener, senior offensive guard Nolan Folkert, senior wide receiver/return specialist Nate Ricci and senior punter Ty Sullivan.

START ME UP: Eight Bulldogs received their first collegiate starts last Thursday night. That group included junior center Jason Anderson, junior nose tackle Dre Greer, junior outside linebacker Alex Helmer, junior cornerback Jared Karow, junior inside linebacker A.J. Naatz, sophomore quarterback Joe Rybarczyk, redshirt freshman running back Austin Sylvester and junior offensive guard Joe Yernatich.

START ME UP II: After reeling off 15 straight season-opening victories between 2000 and 2014, the Bulldogs find themselves sporting an 0-1 record for the third year in a row.  The last time a UMD club started a season with back-to-back losses was back in 1999.

QUITE THE CATCH: Senior wide out/return specialist Nate Ricci, a 2016 All-NSIC North Division first team pick who hauled in the sixth-most passes (61) for the fourth-most receiving yards (1,047) in program history last fall, made five catches in the setback to Sioux Falls to become the 13th Bulldog to hit the 100 career reception mark. Both he and current UMD offensive coordinator Noah Pauley have an even 100 catches. Ricci has made at least one receptions in 13 consecutive games starting with the 2016 season opener. In his last outing before that, the 2015 Mineral Water Bowl against Fort Hays State University, he was used at quarterback in place of the injured Drew Bauer.

GROUND AND POUND: UMD, which  finished 13th in NCAA II rushing offense last fall (averaging 233.4 yards per outing), had outgained the opposition on the ground in 21 straight games prior to seeing that run end in the season opener.  Before that, host Sioux Falls (Sept. 19, 2015) had also been the last team to rush for more yards than UMD.

SOME LOW MILEAGE: The 195 yards of total offense Sioux Falls mustered in the season opener was the second lowest output by a Bulldog opponent since the 2015 season finale, and exceeded only by Minot State University's 181-yard effort on Oct. 8, 2016.

CLASS WARFARE: Of the 107 individuals who comprise the 2017 Bulldog roster, 18 are seniors, 23 are juniors, 19 are sophomores, 19 are redshirt freshmen, and 28 are first-year Bulldogs.

WHERE THEY'RE FROM: Just under 91 percent of the current crop of Bulldogs are either Minnesota (50) or Wisconsin (47) natives. Illinois (5). California (2),  Florida (1), Indiana (1) and Washington (1) are home to the remaining 10 Bulldogs.

BULLDOG BITS: Cornerback Justic'e King was  the lone true UMD freshman to see playing time against Sioux Falls and was credited with a pair of tackles.

• The Bulldogs, who recovered more fumbles (17) than any team in the nation, pounced on three Sioux Falls miscues in the 2017 opener. All three of those fumbles Thursday were forced by senior strong safety Kegan Wirtz.

• Junior Matt Juneau, who relocated from right tackle to left tackle on the UMD offensive front this season, has cracked the starting lineup in 21 consecutive games--the longest ironman streak of any 2017 Bulldog. Senior outside linebacker Zach Bassuener is next with 17.

• With last Thursday night's loss at the hands of Sioux Falls, UMD is now  62-2 versus NSIC competition (league games and NCAA II postseason) at Malosky Stadium since  Oct. 21,2000. The other setback was inflicted by Minnesota State-Mankato (21-17) on Sept. 21, 2013 and was, before the 2017 season opener, the last time the Bulldogs had failed to win in Duluth.

• Curt Wiese has won 43 of 52 games since taking over the Bulldog program four-plus seasons ago. Only two other NCAA II head coachs -- Colorado State University-Pueblo's John Wristen and Shepherd University's Monte Cater (both with 46) -- have accumulated more victories during that the time period. Of Wiese's nine lifetime losses, six have come against NSIC South Division members.

• Five current Bulldogs have an interception to their collegiate credit but junior strong safety Sam Lynch (four, including a team-leading three in 2016), senior free safety Kegan Wirtz (two, both last season) and sophomore strong safety Bill Atkins (two, both last fall)  are the only members of that group with more than one lifetime pick.

• Last Thursday, the Bulldogs managed negative-16 yards of rushing offense (aided by eight Sioux Falls quarterback sacks). It marked the first time UMD had finished in the red for ground yardage since its opening-round NCAA II playoff loss (23-13) at the University of North Dakota on Nov. 12, 2005  (negative-13 yards on 15 carries).

• Since the 2008 season opener, only one NCAA II team in the country has racked up more victories (105) and posted a higher winning percentage (.868) than UMD. That club, top-ranked Northwest Missouri State University, is the two-time the defending NCAA II champion, and owns the nation's longest winning streak at 31 games, having not lost since falling 25-21 to host UMD in the opening round of the 2014 NCAA II playoffs (Nov. 22).

ON DECK: The Bulldogs will return home to host arch-rival Minnesota State-Mankato on Sept. 16  in their annual Military Appreciation Night game. UMD will also honor the 1987 Bulldogs that evening.


 




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