IN THE BOOKS: The University of Minnesota-Duluth closed out its 70th year of intercollegiate football on Nov. 23 with a 45-41 road loss to Northwest Missouri State University in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.

THE RECORDS: UMD completed the 2002 season with an 11-1 overall record and captured the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championship --- its first since 1996 -- with perfect 9-0 mark.

FRITZ HEADS 2002 ALL-NSIC TEAM: Senior quarterback Ricky Fritz (Eden Prairie, MN), the owner of nearly two dozen school records, was named the 2002 NSIC's Offensive Player of the Year -- a first for a Bulldog -- and was among a school-record nine UMD players to earn a spot on the All-NSIC Team. Fritz is joined by senior offensive guard Pete Lawton (Spooner, WI), who attained All-NSIC status for a third straight year, junior wide receiver Tim Battaglia (Cloquet, MN), senior defensive end Nate Davis (Portage, WI), junior placekicker Chad Gerlach (Wisconsin Rapids, WI), junior cornerback Cash Langeness (Luck, WI), senior offensive tackle Nate Reimers (Eden Prairie, MN), and senior defensive tackles Ben Tajha (Floodwood, MN) and Mike Walters (Eden Prairie, MN). Davis and Gerlach were both All-NSIC second team picks one year ago while Langeness attained that honor in 2000. A trio of sophomores -- defensive end Geoff Fischer (Lakeville, MN), center Adam Fechhelm (Wausau, WI) and linebacker Adam Skinner (Cumberland, WI) -- were named to the All-NSIC second team for 2002. In addition, Bob Nielson was the recipient of the NSIC Coach of the Year award.

NSIC LEADERS: The Bulldogs topped the NSIC in both scoring offense (47.9 points per game) and scoring defense (15.7 ppg) as well as rushing defense, total offense and total defense. Senior quarterback Ricky Fritz was first in pass efficiency and passing touchdowns (29), senior defensive end Nate Davis tied for top honors in quarterback sacks, junior wide receiver Tim Battaglia was first in scoring and junior Chad Gerlach was first in points among placekickers.

SWAN SONG FOR A DOZEN 'DOGS: A group of 12 Bulldog seniors drew the curtain on their respective collegiate careers in 2002. That group includes wide receiver Steve Battaglia, defensive end Nate Davis, fullback Nick Farrell (Hermantown, MN), quarterback Ricky Fritz, offensive guard Peter Lawton, outside linebacker Pat Nseuman (Eden Prairie, MN), fullback Tim Osthus (Duluth, MN), offensive tackle Nate Reimers, strong safety Curtis Shanklin (Cleveland, MS), wide receiver and long snapper Chris Stanley (Portage, WI), and defensive tackles Ben Tahja and Mike Walters.

RECORDS FALL: Some 60 UMD team and individual single-game, single-season and career records were either broken or equalled(*) in 2002:

TEAM (Game)

Points - 76 (vs. Minnesota-Crookston)

Touchdowns - 11 (vs. Minnesota-Crookston)

Touchdown Passes - 6* (at MSU-Moorhead)

Yards Per Play - 9.1 (at MSU-Moorhead)

TEAM (Season)

Games Played - 12*

First Downs - 283

First Downs Passing - 120

First Downs by Penalty - 29

Pass Completions - 178

Pass Yardage - 3,025

Touchdown Passes - 37

Total Plays - 837

Total Yards - 5,355

Points - 539

Total Touchdowns - 72

Quarterback Sacks - 41*

Wins - 11

Home Wins - 6

NSIC Wins - 9

Consecutive Home Wins - 13*

INDIVIDUAL (Game)

Touchdown Passes - 6* by Ricky Fritz (at MSU-Moorhead)

Pass Reception Touchdowns- 5 by Tim Battaglia (at MSU-Moorhead)

Field Goal Attempts - 4* by Chad Gerlach (at South Dakota and vs. Bemidji State)

Extra Points (1) - 10 by Chad Gerlach (vs. Minnesota-Crookston)

Extra Point (1) Attempts - 11 by Chad Gerlach (vs. Minnesota-Crookston)

Points by a Placekicker - 14 by Chad Gerlach (vs. Bemidji State)

INDIVIDUAL (Season)

Pass Completions - 160 by Ricky Fritz

Pass Yardage - 2,760 by Ricky Fritz

Touchdown Passes - 34 by Ricky Fritz

Total Offense Yards - 3,055 by Ricky Fritz

Pass Receptions - 60 by Steve Battaglia

Pass Reception Yards - 1,166 by Tim Battaglia

Pass Receptions TDs - 19 by Tim Battaglia

Field Goals - 12 by Chad Gerlach

Field Goal Attempts - 16 by Chad Gerlach

Extra Points (1) - 60 by Chad Gerlach

Extra Points (1) Attempts - 67 by Chad Gerlach

Points by a Placekicker - 96 by Chad Gerlach

Punt Returns - 39 by Cash Langeness

Games Played - 12* by Many

INDIVIDUAL (CAREER)

Pass Attempts - 1,090 by Ricky Fritz

Pass Completions - 547 by Ricky Fritz

Passing Yards - 8,711 by Ricky Fritz

Touchdown Passes - 90 by Ricky Fritz

Passes Intercepted - 53 by Ricky Fritz

Pass Receptions - 182 by Steve Battaglia

Pass Reception Yards - 3,037 by Steve Battaglia

Pass Receptions TDs - 33 by Steve Battaglia

Consecutive Games With a Pass Reception - 35 by Steve Battaglia (9/2/00-11/23/02)

Total Plays - 1,464 by Ricky Fritz

Total Yards - 9,926 by Ricky Fritz

Kick Return Yards - 1,710 by Cash Langeness

Field Goals - 22 by Chad Gerlach

Field Goal Attempts - 35* by Chad Gerlach

Extra Points (1) - 121 by Chad Gerlach

Extra Points (1) Attempts - 141 by Chad Gerlach

Points by a Placekicker - 217 by Chad Gerlach

Games Played - 47 by Ricky Fritz

Consecutive Games Played - 46 by Ricky Fritz, Steve Battaglia, Nate Davis and Peter Lawton

Consecutive Starts - 46 by Steve Battaglia and Peter Lawton

BULLDOG BITS: The 2002 Bulldogs were the second team in the 70-year history of UMD football to finish a regular season unbeaten and untied (UMD was 10-0 in 1980) ... Senior quarterback Ricky Fritz wound up his career as the NSIC's all-time leader in passing yardage, passing touchdowns and total offense. In 35 career league outings, Fritz completed 438 of 841 passes for 6,778 yards and 74 touchdowns and amassed 7,796 yards of total offense (nearly 2,000 yards more than the previous record) ... Senior wide receiver Steve Battaglia, who managed at least one catch in all but one of his 46 games as a Bulldog, wound up second on the NSIC's all-time charts for both pass receiving yards (2,415) and touchdown catches (31), and ranked fourth in pass receptions with 144 ... UMD's 11th place ranking in the Nov. 18 AFCA Division II poll was its second highest ever in a national poll. In both 1980 and 1981 the Bulldogs reached the No. 9 position in the NCAA II poll ... Junior flanker Tim Battaglia, who became the first Bulldog to eclipse the 1,000-yard pass reception yardage plateau for a single season this fall, currently resides in the No. 2 spot (behind his older brother, Steve) among Bulldogs for pass receptions (129), pass reception yards (2,466) and pass reception touchdowns (30).

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