The University of Minnesota Duluth will continue on its diet of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference competition Saturday (Oct. 23) when the Bulldogs hit the road to take on Northern State University. Kick off is set for 2:30 p.m. at Swisher Field (6,000 capacity/artificial turf) in Aberdeen, S.D.
The Bulldogs are a perfect 7-0 this fall and sport a 6-0 NSIC mark (tied for first place with Augustana College and St. Cloud State University) while the Wolves are 1-6 in all games and 1-5 in NSIC play (tied for 11th place with the University of Mary and Upper Iowa University).
Complete Release (pdf)
HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and Northern State stack up in this week's American Football Coaches Association Division II and D2Football.com polls:
AFCA D2Football
UMD 2nd 1st
NSU 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, all UMD regular season games in 2010, including Saturday's affair in Aberdeen,,will be videostreammed and can be accessed for free at: www.umnd.nmtvsports.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 71-21 overall record at UMD (for a .772 winning percentage -- far and away the best mark in the program's rich 78-year existence) and is 141-54-1 (.723) 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) 71-21 (8th)
Overall Coaching Record (Year) 141-54-1 (18th)
Career NSIC Record 56-12
vs. Northern State 4-4
THE RIVALRY: UMD and Northern State will collide for the 28th time ever this Saturday. The Bulldogs hold a 17-10 lead in the all-time series, which began on Nov. 8, 1980 in Duluth, and, since rejoining the NSIC in 2008, have thumped the Wolves twice (42-0 on Oct. 10, 2009 in Aberdeen and 55-7 on Oct. 11, 2008). One year ago, the Bulldogs rushed a season-high 58 times (for 378 yards) and attempted just 16 passes while battling gusty winds at Swisher Field. Isaac Odim rolled up best 228 yards on 28 carries -- both career bests -- in the shutout win.
LAST WEEK: Even without the current NCAA II touchdown leader Isaac Odim in its lineup, UMD's offensive kept right on clicking and the end result was a 49-0 NSIC victory over the University of Mary in the Bulldogs' annual Homecoming game Saturday. Odim's senior backfield mate, Brad Foss, ran for 121 yards and a personal-high three touchdowns on only 14 attempts while sophomore quarterback Chase Vogler completed nine of 12 passes for 133 yards and threw for two scores. Foss, making his first start since his sophomore year, scored on runs of 24, 12 and 1 yards for the Bulldogs, who led 14-0 after the first quarter and 28-0 at the half. UMD compiled a season-high 30 first downs on the afternoon and 531 yards of total offense while giving up just 235 overall yards to the Marauders, who are 0-4 lifetime against UMD.
Northern State snapped a nine-game losing skid dating back to last season by crushing the University of Minnesota Crookston 38-0 Saturday afternoon in Crookston. Junior running back Chad Morrison scored three times in the NSIC triumph.
A CAREER FOR THE AGES CUT SHORT: Two-time All-American senior running back Isaac Odim underwent surgery last Saturday after injuring his left knee in practice two days earlier and is expected to be out for the remainder of the 2010, Odim, who owns 17 UMD single-game, single-season and career records, is the Bulldogs' all-time rushing (4,245 yds.), scoring (492 points) and all-purpose yardage leader (5,593). He continues top the nation in scoring (19.0 points per game), is third in all-purpose yards (177.2 ypg) and fifth in rushing (132.7 yards per game). The fourth-leading vote getter for the 2009 Harlon Hill Trophy, Odim 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. The Rochester, Minn. native and 2009 CoSIDA Academic All-American also occupied the No. 4 spot on NSIC's career rushing charts with 3,273 yards in league play.
AND THEY'RE OFF: UMD is off to a 7-0 start for just the sixth time in its 78-year history, joining the 2008, 2002, 1981, 1980, and 1974 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 17-1 as a starter during his Bulldog career, has compiled a 188.81 pass efficiency rating this season -- a figure surpassed by only one other NSIC signal caller (his Bulldog counterpart, sophomore Jon Lynch at 222.68). The Inver Grove Heights, Minn., native, threw his first interception of the season last Saturday on his 93rd pass attempt. As a true freshman one year ago, Vogler went six-plus games and put the ball up 91 times before incurring his first pick.
THE BEAT GOES ON AND ON, AND ... : Last Saturday's 49-0 triumph over Mary extended the Bulldogs' school-record NSIC winning streak to 26 games -- still eight 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 University 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 26-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.
READY FOR THE STRETCH RUN: Brad Foss, who responded to his first starting assignment since his sophomore season last Saturday and responded by rushing 14 times for 121 yards (two short of his career-best) and a personal-best three touchdowns in the 49-0 triumph over Mary. In 39 lifetime outings as a Bulldogs, the 2009 All-NSIC North Division selection has ran for 2,308 yards -- good enough for 10th place on the Bulldogs' career ground yardage charts -- on 396 attempts. That figures out to be a nifty 5.8 yards per rush average (6.7 ypr since the start of the 2009 season).
SCORE EARLY, SCORE OFTEN: The Bulldogs have outscored their 2010 opponents 347-78 and 91-9 in the first quarter alone with all nine of those points coming on field goals. They possess the nation's highest scoring offense (49.6 ppg) at the moment as well as the third stingiest defense (11.1 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 leads the 2010 Bulldogs as well, has now caught at least one pass in each of his 36 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 2,406 yards on 145 lifetime receptions -- the third and fifth best marks, respectively, in team history.
WIN BABY, WIN: UMD is a sizzling 34-2 over its past 36 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 sidelined for rest of the season, sophomore offensive tackle Jordan Marriott (ankle) and senior wide receiver Josh Quilling (ankle) are listed as out for this Saturday.
BULLDOG BITS: The Bulldogs have surrendered a first-quarter touchdown in only one of their last 14 games. Grand Valley State University scored twice in the opening 15 minutes of play en route to a 24-10 victory over the host Bulldogs in the 2009 NCAA II playoff quarterfinals last November) ... Senior inside linebacker and team captain Kiel Fechtelkotter, a member of the 2009 All-NSIC North Division first team, still ranks first among the Bulldogs in tackles with 40 despite sitting out last Saturday's bout with Mary with an injury ... Northern State sports the best winning percentage (.429 on a 3-4 record) against a Bob Nielson-coached UMD club of any NSIC team ... Senior wide out Noah Pauley needs just eight catches to hit the century plateau -- something only nine other Bulldogs have done previously ... The Bulldogs have now gone 68 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 108 tries -- going back to a 7-0 setback at Southwest Minnesota State University on Oct. 28, 1989 ... UMD will enter Saturday's encounter with Mary armed with nation's best passing efficiency rating (191.43) ... The Bulldogs are 73-1 in the last 74 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) ... Some 14 different Bulldogs have scored touchdowns this fall, including junior running back Nate Bauer, who found the end zone for the first time this fall in the fourth quarter last Saturday against Mary ... The Bulldogs have been ranked second in the AFCA II poll for seven straight weeks and No. 1 in the D2Football.com poll in each of the last four weeks.
ON TAP: UMD will return to James S. Malosky Stadium next Saturday (Oct. 30) for its final home engagement of the 2010 regular season and a big NSIC showdown with St. Cloud State University.
