The University of Minnesota Duluth will embark on the second half of its 2010 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference schedule Saturday (Oct. 16) when the Bulldogs play host to the University of Mary. Kick off is set for 1:05 p.m. at James S. Malosky Stadium (4,500 capacity/Artificial Turf) on the UMD campus.
The Bulldogs are a perfect 6-0 this fall and sport a 5-0 NSIC mark (tied for first place with Augustana College and St. Cloud State University) while the Marauders are 1-5 in all games and 1-4 in NSIC play (tied for 11th place with the Upper Iowa University).
(Complete Release pdf)
HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and Mary stack up in this week's American Football Coaches Association Division II and D2Football.com polls:
AFCA D2Football
UMD 2nd 1st
Mary NR NR
THE BROADCAST: Saturday's Bulldog-Marauder clash will be carried locally on 1490 The Fan (KQDS-AM) with Jeff Papas 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 and is available on the internet at: www.fan1490.com.
In addition, My9 (KBJR DT 6.2/KRII DT 11.9) will televise all UMD home games during the 2010 season, including Saturday's affair with the University of Mary. Veteran sportscaster Tom Hansen and Don Leighton of the iFan Sports Network will serve as the on-air talent. My9 is also available locally on Charter and Mediacom cable. The telecast will be videostreammed as well and can be accessed for free at : www.pennatlantic.com.
THE COACH: Long-known for his knack of putting college football programs back on the winning track, Bob Nielson has done just that -- and how -- in his two tours of duty with the Bulldogs. After returning to the UMD sidelines in 2008 following a four-season hiatus, he proceeded to oversee one of the most impressive one-season turnarounds in NCAA Division II history, taking a club which had gone 4-6 in 2007 and molding it into a national champion. He followed that up last fall by going 11-2 in all games and advancing to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA II playoffs. UMD also maintained its stranglehold on the NSIC title trophy by posting a second consecutive 10-0 mark in league play.
Named the 2008 NCAA II Coach of the Year by American Football Monthly magazine, D2Football.com, and the Football Gazette, Nielson owns an impressive 70-21 overall record at UMD (for a .769 winning percentage -- far and away the best mark in the program's rich 78-year existence) and is 140-54-1 (.720) in 18 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, 51, 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).
NIELSON BY THE NUMBERS
Record at UMD (Year) 70-21 (8th)
Overall Coaching Record (Year) 140-54-1 (18th)
Career NSIC Record 55-12
vs. Mary 2-0
THE RIVALRY: Saturday afternoon's game will mark only the fourth meeting ever between UMD and Mary. The Bulldogs have won all three of the previous confrontations -- 35-7 on Sept. 26 in Bismarck, N.D. and 44-7 (Sept. 27, 2008) and 34-13 (Sept. 6) at Malosky Stadium. In UMD's first-ever road match with Mary one year ago, running back Isaac Odim ran for 187 yards and four touchdowns on just 14 carries.
LAST WEEK: The Bulldogs kept their unblemished record 2010 record intact by thrashing long-time rival Winona State University 59-17 Saturday night at Malosky Stadium. The Bulldogs amassed 371 yards on a season-high 58 rushes and had three players – senior running backs Isaac Odim and Brad Foss and sophomore quarterback Chase Vogler – average over seven yards a carry. Odim, who tops the NCAA II ranks in scoring, ran 23 times for 165 yards and a pair of touchdowns while Foss finished with 97 yards and one score on 13 rushes. Vogler added another 74 yards and a touchdown on the ground (on nine attempts) in addition to completing 10 of 16 passes for 144 yards – including a 26-yard scoring pass to senior wide receiver Dre Sherril which put the Bulldogs up 35-17 with two seconds to go before halftime.
UMD limited its long-time rivals to just 35 yards of total offense in the second half and 190 yards on the night.
Mary fell just short in its bid to upset NSIC colleague Wayne State College, falling 33-28 in Bismarck despite a stellar passing performance from redshirt freshman quarterback Craig Bagnell (24-of-35 for 260 yards and one touchdown).
THE BEAT GOES ON AND ON, AND ... : Last Saturday's 59-17 triumph over Winona State extended the Bulldogs' school-record NSIC winning streak to 25 games -- still nine outings shy of the league mark set by the University of Minnesota-Morris between 1975-79. UMD hasn't lost to a NSIC opponent since falling 24-17 to Winona State on Nov. 15, 2003 and its last league setback at home came on Oct. 7, 2000 (37-27 to Concordia University-St. Paul). That translates into another 25-game winning streak. And, speaking of streaks, the last time the Bulldogs dropped a game away from Malosky Stadium was on Oct. 20, 2007 when the University of Nebraska-Omaha prevailed 42-17 in a North Central Conference clash. The Bulldogs have reeled off a school-record 18 road wins since.
RUN, ISAAC, RUN: Two-time All-American senior running back Isaac Odim continues to top the nation in scoring (19.0 points per game) and is fifth in both in rushing (132.7 yards per game) and all-purpose yards (177.2 ypg). The fourth-leading vote getter for the 2009 Harlon Hill Trophy, Odim has now eclipsed the 100-yard barrier in 25 of his 34 games as a Bulldog, including 12 of 13 outings one year ago when he was chosen to a program-best five different All-American teams. Odim, UMD's all-time leading rusher (4,442 yds.), scorer (492 points) and all-purpose yardage gainer (5,593), has moved into fourth place on the NSIC's all-time leading rushing charts with 3,273 yards in league play. He needs just 59 more yards to supplant former Northern State star Tryone Morgan (1998-2000) at the No. 3 spot. Concordia University-St. Paul's Chris Washington (4,216 yards between 2000-03) and Bemidji State University's Eddie Acosta (4,074 yards between 1999-2003), hold down the top two positions on that list.
AND THEY'RE OFF: UMD is off to a 6-0 start for just the seventh time in its 78-year history, joining the 2008, 2002, 1981, 1980, 1974 and 1934 clubs. In three of those years -- 2008, 2002 (both under current head coach Bob Nielson) and 1980, the Bulldogs went on go unbeaten and untied in the regular season.
HE'S NO PASSING FANCY: Sophomore quarterback Chase Vogler, who is 16-1 as a starter during his Bulldog career, has compiled a 196.0 pass efficiency rating this season -- a figure unsurpassed by only one other NSIC signal caller (his Bulldog counterpart, sophomore Jon Lynch at 224.4). The Inver Grove Heights, Minn., native, went six-plus games and 91 pass attempts before throwing his first interception last fall and has gone pick-free through six outings this year (while putting the ball up 81 times).
SCORE EARLY, SCORE OFTEN: The Bulldogs have outscored their 2010 opponents 298-78 and 70-9 in the first quarter alone with all nine of those points coming on field goals. They possess the nation's highest scoring offense (49.7 ppg) at the moment as well as the fourth stingiest defense (13.0 ppg).
CATCH OF THE DAY: Junior wide receiver D.J Winfield, who has paced UMD in receptions in each of the last two seasons and tops the 2010 Bulldogs as well, has now caught at least one pass in each of his 35 games as a collegian (he played in one contest -- against Bemidji State University during his injury-shortened rookie season in 2007), including the last 34 in a row. Winfield has amassed 2,350 yards on 143 lifetime receptions -- the third and fifth best marks, respectively, in team history.
WIN BABY, WIN: UMD is a sizzling 33-2 over its past 35 games with both of those losses coming at home to a pair of perennial NCAA II powers -- 13-10 to Central Washington University on Sept. 3, 2009 and 24-10 to Grand Valley State University a little less than three months later.
INJURY REPORT: Besides freshman linebacker Nate Zuk (knee) and freshman running back Chaz Thomas (knee), who are both expected to be sidelined for the remainder of the season, sophomore offensive tackle Jordan Marriott (ankle) and senior wide receiver Josh Quilling (ankle) are listed as out for this Saturday.
HAIL TO THE CHAMPIONS: As part of the Homecoming festivities, UMD will honor its 19 NSIC, Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and North Central Conference champions during a special halftime tribute.
BULLDOG BITS: Senior inside linebacker and team captain Kiel Fechtelkotter was bestowed with the NSIC Defensive Player of the Week award after having a hand in a career-high 11 total tackles in last Saturday's 59-17 win over Winona State. The 2009 All-NSIC North Division first team pick tops UMD in stops with 40 through six games ... The Bulldogs have now gone 67 games in a row without being shut out. The last team to hold UMD off the scoreboard was visiting St. Cloud State University, which pinned a 28-0 whitewash on the Bulldogs in the 2004 season finale (Nov. 6). In addition, UMD hasn't been blanked by an NSIC foe in its last 107 tries -- going back to a 7-0 setback at Southwest Minnesota State University on Oct. 28, 1989 ... Senior wide out Noah Pauley needs just 11 catches to hit the century plateau -- something only nine other Bulldogs have done previously UMD will enter Saturday's encounter with Mary armed with nation's second passing efficiency rating (187.79) ... Sophomore wide receiver Collin Stinogel scored his first collegiate touchdown last Saturday when he hauled in a 23-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Jon Lynch 4:18 into the fourth quarter ... The Bulldogs are 72-1 in the last 73 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 23 straight times when trailing at the half and is 0-25 when it's been behind going 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 best South Dakota 14-10) Senior inside linebacker Robbie Aurich, who has finished as the Bulldogs' leading tackler in 16 of the past 23 outings, holds down the No. 4 spot on UMD's career defensive list with 259 stops. His next targets is the No. 4 occupant, middle linebacker Marc Achterkirch (261 tackles between 1991-94). Aurich is one of seven Bulldogs who has a team-leading one interception to his name this fall. In addition to those seven picks, UMD has also recovered six opposition fumbles while coughing up four of their own. That works out to be a 1.50 turnover ratio which is second best among NSIC schools heading into this weekend ... Some 13 different Bulldogs have scored touchdowns this fall.
ON TAP: UMD will remain on its diet of NSIC competition with an Oct. 23 clash at Northern State University.
