The University of Minnesota-Duluth will begin defense of it Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football championship Saturday (Sept. 20) when the Bulldogs host Southwest Minnesota State University in their 2003 home debut. Game time is set for 1 p.m. at Griggs Field on the UMD campus.
THE RECORDS: UMD, which is off to a 1-1 start in 2003, posted an 11-1 overall record (including a perfect 11-0 regular season mark) last fall and finished first in the final NSIC standings at 9-0. SMSU, which is 2-1 on the season, was 4-7 in all games and 3-6 in NSIC play (seventh place tie) one year ago.
RANKINGS: The Bulldogs are ranked 21st in this week's American Football Coaches Association Division II poll and hold down the No. 24th spot in the d2football.com poll. SMSU is not ranked in either of those two polls.
THE BROADCAST: Saturday afternoon's Bulldog-Mustang game will be carried live locally on WEBC Radio (560 AM) with Howie Leathers handling the play-by-play and Dave Walter providing color commentary. All UMD games during the 2003 season can be heard via the internet at: www.umdbulldogs.com.
THE COACHES: The 2002 NSIC Coach of the year, Bob Nielson (Wartburg College, 1982) is beginning is fifth year at UMD and has a 31-17 overall record (for a .646 winning percentage) record to show for it. The includes a 4-1 mark in five lifetime confrontations against SMSU. Last fall, the Nielson-led Bulldogs posted the first 11-0 regular season record in the program's 70-year history and earned an inaugural berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs. Nielson, who coached UMD to its first-ever post-season appearance in 2001 (Mineral Water Bowl) after his Bulldogs experienced their greatest one-year turnaround in team history the previous fall, joined the UMD program after guiding the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire to the semifinal round of the 1998 NCAA Division III playoffs. He amassed a three-year mark of 22-11 with the Blugolds, including a 10-3 record in his farewell season when Wisconsin-Eau Claire claimed a share of its first WIAC title in 15 years while setting a school mark for victories. Nielson, who sports a 101-50-1 collegiate coaching record (.668), also spent five years (1991-95) as the head coach at Wartburg College where he pieced together five successive non-losing seasons, and two years at Ripon (WI) College (1989-90).
Curt Strasheim (Minnesota State University-Mankato, 1984) is in his fourth year as the head coach at SMSU where he has compiled a 13-23-0 record -- including a 0-3 mark against UMD. Strasheim spent three seasons as an assistant coach at NCAA Division IAA Western Illinois University (1996-98) before returning to the school where he made his mark as an All-NSIC quarterback during the early 1980s. Strasheim began his coaching career with the Mustangs in 1982 before moving to South Dakota State University (quarterbacks coach in 1988 and 1989), to Millersville (OH) University (where he served as offensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator from 1990-92) and to the University of Wisconsin-Stout (offensive coordinator from 1993-95).
THE SERIES: Saturday afternoon's game will mark the 29th meeting ever between UMD and SMSU. The Bulldogs hold a commanding 22-5 lead (with one tie) in the rivalry, which began in 1976. One year ago (Oct. 5), UMD pounded out 456 yards of total offense en route to a 38-7 win over the host Mustangs. The Bulldogs limited SMSU to just nine first downs and 122 total offense yards in the triumph.
LAST WEEK: UMD suffered its first regular season loss in nearly two years as the then No. 9-ranked Bulldogs fell 10-7 to the University of South Dakota Saturday afternoon in Vermillion, SD. UMD, which had won 12 straight regular season games going back to Nov. 10, 2001, trailed 10-0 until the 9:51 mark of the fourth quarter before junior running back Dave Rufledt (Bloomer, WI) scored on a one-yard run. Statistically, the two teams finished with nearly identical totals. UMD had 21 first downs to the Coyotes 22; 324 yards of total offense (354 yards for South Dakota) and held a thin 30:02-29:58 edge in time of possession.
SMSU also fell from the ranks of the unbeatens thanks to a 40-13 setback at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD, Saturday
TEAM CAPTAINS: Cash Langeness (Luck, WI), senior wide receiver Tim Battaglia (Cloquet, MN), senior placekicker Chad Gerlach (Wisconsin Rapids, WI), junior outside linebacker Adam Skinner (Cumberland, WI), and senior left offensive guard Dan Soldner (Cold Spring, MN) -- are serving as UMD team captains for the 2003 season.
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: UMD has registered 13 straight wins at Griggs Field (equalling the school mark set between both Oct. 17, 1959-Nov. 3, 1962 and Oct. 5, 1985-Oct. 24, 1987). The Bulldogs, whose last home defeat came on Oct. 27, 2000 (37-27 to Concordia University-St. Paul), amassed a 6-0 mark at Griggs Field last year, setting a team record for home wins in one season. UMD has been victorious in 16 of its last 17 games played on campus.
FAST STARTS: The Bulldogs, who will join the North Central Conference next fall, are 23-2 in their last 25 NSIC openers. The only defeats during that stretch came at the hands Northern State University (26-22 in 1993) and SMSU (20-14 three years later).
INJURY UPDATE: The Bulldog injury report as of Sept. 15 is as follows:
Player Injury Status
Thomas Cole (DL, Sr) Foot Questionable Pat Kelly (FB, Jr) Ankle Doubtful
Aaron Halda (So, LB) Cracked Tibia Out
RANK AND FILE: UMD's ninth place ranking in last week's AFCA Poll was its highest ever in any national poll. Both the 1980 and 1981 Bulldogs also reached the No. 9 spot in the NCAA II polls.
BATTAGLIA'S CLIMB CONTINUES: Senior wide receiver Tim Battaglia, a member of both the 2003 Football Gazette and d2football.com Pre-season All-American second teams, was on the receiving end of 10 passes (the third highest single-game total in team history) for a game-high 145 yards Saturday afternoon against the Coyotes. He now has been credited with at least one pass catch in all 37 Bulldog outings over the past four years -- a UMD record. Battaglia, a 2002 All-NSIC first team pick who last fall became the first Bulldog ever to eclipse the 1,000-yard pass reception yardage plateau for a single season (he finished with 1,166 yards), needs 41 catches, 325 receiving yards and just 3 touchdown pass receptions to supplant his older brother, Steve (1999-2000) in each of those statistical categories.
BULLDOG BITS: The Bulldogs are 11-1-1 lifetime against SMSU at Griggs Field with that lone loss coming on Sept. 25, 1999 (14-9) ... A pair of sophomores -- free safety Blake Hendrickson (Lake Park, MN) and sophomore defensive tackle Matt Hofman (Champlin, MN), a transfer from North Dakota State University -- both made their first collegiate starts Saturday at South Dakota. Hendrickson was a replacement for second-year starter Woody Seim (Grand Marais, MN), who was sidelined late last week with a hamstring injury ... UMD has turned the ball over nine times (four interceptions and five fumbles) in its two games to date ... This year marks the first time since 1999 (Bob Nielson's inaugural season at UMD) that the Bulldogs haven't jumped out to a 2-0 start ... Saturday's 10-7 defeat to South Dakota snapped UMD's seven-game winning streak against North Central Conference opponents ... Senior right cornerback Cash Langeness will make his 38th consecutive start Saturday afternoon when the Bulldogs butt heads with SMSU. Langeness, who is UMD's all-time kick return yardage leader (1,816 yards), has brought back four kicks, two interceptions and one fumble (a 55-yard scamper at Northwest Missouri State last November in the NCAA Division II playoffs) for touchdowns during his Bulldog tenure. Langeness is within five kickoff returns, 14 punt returns and 93 punt return yards of equalling the Bulldog career records in each of those categories (all three of those marks are currently held by the late Corey Veech, 1983-86) ... Bob Nielson, who will assume the role of director of intercollegiate athletics at UMD on Dec. 1, has compiled a 21-5 record since the opening of the 2001 season ... Prior to this past Saturday, the last time a Bulldog team scored seven or fewer points in a game was on Oct. 16, 1999 in a 16-7 loss to Northern State at Griggs Field ... Junior Cody Fetchelkotter (Maple, WI), who transferred to UMD this fall after a two-year football stint at North Dakota State, received his first taste of game-day activity with the Bulldogs Saturday and had a hand in one tackle. Fetchelkotter, who has been hampered by a sore back this fall, made 16 consecutive starts for the Bison and racked up 22 total tackles in 2002. He was an Associated Press All-State pick as a senior in 1999 at nearby Northwestern High School ... Junior linebacker Adam Skinner and senior linebacker Dave Otto pace the 2003 Bulldogs defensively with 16 total tackles each through two games. Skinner and Otto finished 1-2 on the team tackles charts one year ago ... UMD has failed to score first in both of its games thus far. In 2002, the Bulldogs drew first blood in nine of its 11 outings ... UMD not only laid claim to its first NSIC title in six seasons one year ago, but it also racked up a school-record nine league victories in the process ... Junior running back Dave Rufledt has now rushed for 21 touchdowns during his two-plus seasons with the Bulldogs which puts him on target to break the school record in that department of 36 held by Boyd Hanson (1979-82).
ALL-TIME RECORDS: UMD has compiled a 71-year record of 374-227-24 for a .617 winning percentage -- the 13th best mark among all NCAA II schools.
UP NEXT: UMD will head to Aberdeen, SD for a Sept. 27 NSIC engagement with Northern State.
