The University of Minnesota Duluth will look to extend its 12-game Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference winning streak this Saturday (Sept. 19) when the Bulldogs play host to unbeaten and nationally-ranked Augustana College. Opening kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at James S. Malosky Stadium (4,500 capacity/artificial turf) on the UMD campus.
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THE RECORDS: The defending NCAA Division II champion Bulldogs are off to a 2-1 overall start this fall and are 2-0 in NSIC play. Augustana College sports a 3-0 mark in all games and a 2-0 NSIC record.
HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and Augustana College stack up in this week's American Football Coaches Association Division II and D2Football.com polls:
AFCA D2Football.com
UMD 8th 8th
AC 25th NR
THE BROADCAST: Saturday's Bulldog-Viking clash will be carried locally on 1490 The Fan (KQDS-AM) with Mark Fleischer handling the play-by-play responsibilities. The broadcast can also be heard on KQ 105.5 in Grand Rapids/Hibbing and KQ 106.7 in Ely/Virginia.
In addition, all UMD games (home and away) in 2009 will be videostreammed as well and can be accessed for free at: www.northernsun.tv.
THE COACH: After returning to the UMD sidelines last fall following a four-season hiatus, head coach Bob Nielson proceeded to oversee one of the most impressive one-season turnarounds in NCAA II history, taking a club which had gone 4-6 in 2007 and molding it into a national champion. Along the way, his Bulldogs amassed a 15-0 overall mark (only the third NCAA II team to ever accomplish that feat), set or equalled 50 team and individual records, captured the NSIC title by going 10-0 and turned out a whopping nine All-Americans and 17 All-NSIC honorees.
Named the 2008 NCAA II Coach of the Year by American Football Monthly magazine, D2Football.com, and the Football Gazette, Nielson owns an impressive 55-20 overall record at UMD (for a .733 winning percentage -- far and away the best mark in the program's rich 77-year existence) and is 125-53-1 in 16 seasons of collegiate coaching.
Nielson, the 2008 and 2002 NSIC Coach of the Year whose first tour of duty with the Bulldogs ran from 1999-2003, was officially appointed to his old post on Jan. 3, 2008. (He continues to also serve as UMD's athletic director, a position he's held since 2003-04). During his five previous years with the Bulldogs, Nielson helped marshal the UMD program to new heights. In 2002, for example, his Bulldogs posted their second unbeaten, untied regular season record at that time (11-0), advanced to the NCAA II playoffs for the first time ever and captured the NSIC championship. Nielson's resume also includes directing UMD to its inaugural post-season appearance (the 2001 Mineral Water Bowl in Excelsior Springs, Mo.) and the school's second greatest one-year turnaround to date (the Bulldogs went 7-4 in 2000 after managing a 3-8 mark the previous fall).
The runnerup for the 2002 American Football Monthly magazine NCAA II Coach of the Year award, Nielson joined the UMD staff in the spring of 1999 after he had guided the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire to a share of the 1998 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title (its first since 1983) and an initial berth in the NCAA III playoffs. He amassed a record of 22-11 in three years with the Blugolds, including a 10-3 mark in his farewell season when Wisconsin-Eau Claire notched a team standard for victories. Nielson, the Football Gazette's 1998 Division III Coach of the Year, also was employed for five years as the head football coach at his alma mater, Wartburg College, where he strung together five successive non-losing seasons and attained a pair of back-to-back NCAA III playoff berths (1993 and 1994) and two years at Ripon College (1989-90) in Wisconsin.
Nielson is 1-0 lifetime against Augustana College.
THE SERIES: Saturday night's game will mark only the sixth meeting ever between UMD and Augustana. UMD holds a 3-2 lead in the series, which began with a 47-16 home win on Oct. 23, 2004 at Malosky Stadium. The Bulldogs also posted victories over the Vikings in each of the past two years (34-7 on Oct. 6, 2007 and 40-10 on Sept. 20, 2008) -- both on the road. In that 40-10 triumph, the UMD racked up 508 yards of total offense (compared to just 257 for Augustana) and racked up five quarterback sacks.
LAST WEEK: UMD launched the road portion of its 2009 schedule by shading Southwest Minnesota State University 34-27 Saturday night. Junior running back Isaac Odim rushed 25 times for 140 yards and one touchdown -- a 13-yard jaunt with 8:13 to play in regulation to break a 27-27 deadlock. Freshman quarterback Chase Volger completed 15 of 20 passes for 186 yards and a pair of scores for the Bulldogs, who held substantial advantages in total offense (435-333), first downs (27-14), time of possession (37:38-22:22) and rushing yards (249-34). The win was the Bulldogs' sixth straight over the Mustangs.
Augustana College blasted the University of Minnesota 49-0 Saturday in Sioux Falls, S.D. as junior running back Joe Clark rolled up 150 yards and two touchdowns on the ground on 17 carries.
THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING: The Bulldogs' team captaincy responsibilities in 2009 have been entrusted to a trio of seniors -- center Tobias Lemke and cornerbacks Cole Strilzuk and Brandon Wood.
ANOTHER FAVORABLE FORECAST: In their annual preseason poll, the NSIC coaches (for the second year in a row) picked the defending NCAA Division II Bulldogs to finish first in both the North Division and in the overall standings. UMD picked up 165 total points and garnered nine first-place votes to edge out Minnesota State-Mankato (159 points and the remaining five first-place votes), a member of the South Division. Rounding out the top five were Augustana College (145), St. Cloud State University (129) and Wayne State College (129).
In addition, Bulldog junior inside linebacker Robbie Aurich was chosen the North Division Preseason Defensive Player of the Year while junior running back Isaac Odim landed the North Division Preseason Offensive Player of the Year honor. Aurich, a native of Spring Lake, Mich., made the most of his first season of starting activity last fall by topping the Bulldogs in tackles with 101 stops, including a team-leading 57 solos. The 2008 All-NSIC second team pick averaged 10.0 tackles during the Bulldogs' four-game NCAA II playoff turn and was credited with 13 stops (a 2008 Bulldog single-game best) in the national championship clash with Northwest Missouri State. Odim made his Bulldog debut last fall after transferring from Rochester Community and Technical College and wound up setting club marks for rushing yards (1,638), rushing touchdowns (26), average yards per carry (7.3 yards), total touchdowns (30) and scoring (180) while equaling marks for 100-yard rushing games (nine) and consecutive 100-yard rushing games (seven). For his efforts, the Rochester, Minn. native secured a spot on both the D2Football.com (honorable mention) and Don Hansen's Football Gazette (third team) All-American teams in addition to the All-NSIC first team.
START ME UP: While becoming the first true freshman quarterback to start for the Bulldogs in 47 years last Saturday, Chase Vogler threw for 186 yards and made good on all but five of his 20 passes with no interceptions in UMD's 34-27 win over previously unbeaten Southwest Minnesota State. Vogler, who also added 48 rushing yards (on 12 carries), connected on touchdown strikes of 14 and 17 yards in the first half.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: UMD currently leads the NSIC in both total offense (468.0 yards per game) and total defense (247.7 ypg) as well as rushing offense (308.8 ypg) and rushing defense (62.7 ypg).
RUN WITH THE 'DOGS: Junior All-American running back Isaac Odim has rolled up more all purpose yards (699, an average of 233 a night) than anyone in NCAA II football this year and also ranks fourth nationally and first in the NSIC in rushing with a 149.0 yards per game average. Odim has eclipsed the 100-yard barrier in all three games this fall and 12 of his 18 outings as a Bulldog. In Saturday's victory at Southwest Minnesota State, Odim went over 2,000 yards rushing for his career -- the fastest any Bulldog has ever accomplished that feat -- and now has 2,085 yards on 286 carries (a 7.3 per carry average).He holds down a share of the top spot on the NSIC scoring charts (14.0 points per game).
IT TAKES A THIEF: Sophomore strong safety Cody Eich, a first-year starter, has both of UMD's two interceptions this season, one of which he brought back 45 yards for a touchdown (against Southwest Minnesota State last Saturday).
CATCHING ON FAST: Sophomore wide receiver D.J. Winfield, the 2008 NSIC Newcomer of the Year who parlayed his team-leading 71 pass catches into a school-record 1,201 yards, has caught at least one pass in each of his 19 games as a collegian (he played in one outing during his injury-shortened rookie season in 2007).
INJURY UPDATE: The following individuals are expected to sidelined with injuries this Saturday night: redshirted freshman defensive end Joe Akey (foot), sophomore quarterback Jon Lynch (elbow), who is most likely out for the season, redshirted freshman center Eli Kelley (wrist), and reshirted freshman offensive lineman Jordan Marriott (concussion).
BULLDOG BITS: UMD has outscored the opposition 28-9 in the first quarter and 62-15 in the opening 30 minutes of play this season ... Junior wide receiver D'Andre Sherill, who transferred to UMD in 2008 but sat out all of last season while nursing a foot injury, hauled in his first touchdown -- a 17-yard toss from Chase Vogler -- last Saturday night in Marshall, Minn. ... Bulldogs have reeled off 12 straight NSIC victories -- three shy of the school record set between Oct. 26, 1979 and Oct. 24, 1981 ... Senior center Tobias Lemke will take a string of 35 consecutive starts into Saturday evening's clash with Augustana College ... Last Saturday marked the first time the UMD defense allowed more than one touchdown in the past nine games -- and that included four NCAA II playoff outings last fall. The 27 points were also the most racked up against a Bulldog club since Oct. 27, 2007 (a 31-14 home loss to the University of North Dakota) ... The last time UMD and Augustana College hooked up (Sept. 20, 2008 in Sioux Falls, S.D.) current junior wide out Noah Pauley established career bests for receiving yards (96), touchdown catches (two) and longest pass receptions (53 yards) ... The Bulldogs are 58-1 in the last 59 games they have been ahead after three quarters going back to November 2001. On the flip side, since defeating the University of South Dakota 23-21 on the road on Sept. 22, 2002, UMD has lost 22 straight times when trailing at the half and is 0-24 when it's been behind heading into the final quarter. (The Bulldogs last posted a win in that situation on Sept. 8, 2001 by rallying from a 10-7 deficit to edge South Dakota 14-10) ... Junior inside linebacker Robbie Aurich, who paced the 2008 Bulldogs in tackles, continues to occupy the top position on the 2009 UMD defensive charts with 25 total tackles, including a team-high 14 solos. He's finished as the Bulldogs' leading tackler in each of the three games to date ... UMD has committed just one turnover -- fumble last Saturday night -- thus far in 2009 ... Sophomore placekicker David Nadeau is a perfect 12-for-12 in extra point picks this season ... The Bulldogs have yet to return a punt in 2009 although the opposition has punted 18 times .. UMD hasn't faced a nationally-ranked conference foe since it hosted then-North Central Conference colleague North Dakota (No. 9) on Oct. 27, 2007.
ON TAP: UMD will continue on its diet of NSIC competition with a first-ever trip to the University of Mary on Sept. 26.
