Six inaugural North Central Conference games and four first-time opponents highlight the 2004 University of Minnesota-Duluth football schedule.
The Bulldogs will launch their 72nd year of intercollegiate football and put their school-record 17-game home winning streak on the line on August 28 when they host perennial NCAA II power Chadron State College before heading to St. Paul, MN, to take on Concordia University-St. Paul the following Saturday. UMD will sandwich home games with the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (Sept. 11) and Upper Iowa University (Sept. 25) around a Sept. 18 road matchup against Minnesota State University-Moorhead in its final three non-conference assignments. Then, on Oct. 2, the Bulldogs and Minnesota State University-Mankato are set to collide in UMD's initial outing as a member of the North Central Conference. That Homecoming clash will be followed by five more conference engagements, including the 2004 regular season finale at Griggs Field against St. Cloud State University.
Augustana College (Oct. 23 in Duluth), Chadron State, Upper Iowa, and the University of Nebraska-Omaha (Oct. 9 in Omaha) have never previously faced UMD.
\"Overall, this is a challenging, yet exciting, 11-game schedule,\" said UMD head coach
Kyle Schweigert, who will begin his first season with the Bulldogs next fall. \"Having six home games certainly is a plus considering the success UMD has experienced over the past few years at Griggs Field. I was also pleased that we were able keep our rivalries alive with two former NSIC colleagues, Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State-Moorhead. Obviously, the Homecoming game with Minnesota State-Mankato is something we are looking forward to along with the rest of our NCC schedule.\"
UMD, which posted an 8-3 overall record last fall and finished third in the NSIC with a 6-2 mark, will officially begin spring drills on April 3. Practices will generally be held every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, culminating with the annual Maroon-White Spring Game on April 30.
