The University of Minnesota Duluth will get its first taste of 2013 daytime football this Saturday (Sept. 28) when the Bulldogs take to the road for a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference engagement with Wayne State College. The opening kickoff for the Wildcats' Homecoming/Hall of Fame Game is set for 1 p.m. at  Bob Cunningham Field/Memorial Stadium (3,500 capacity/artificial turf) on the Wayne State campus.

(Complete Release PDF)

THE RECORDS: UMD is off to a 2-1 start this season both overall and in NSIC play while Wayne
State sports a 1-2 record.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and Wayne State stacked up in this week's American Football Coaches Association Division II and the D2Football.com polls.

    AFCA    D2Football    
UMD    No. 13    No. 9
WSC    NR    NR  
     
THE BROADCAST: The Bulldog-Wildcat matchup will be carried live on 1490 The Fan (KQDS-AM) with Jeff Papas handling the play-by-play responsibilities r. The broadcast can also be heard on KQ 105.5 FM in Grand Rapids/Hibbing , KQ 106.7 FM in Ely/Virginia and at: www.fan1490.com.

In addition, Saturday's game will be videostreammed and can be accessed for free at: client.stretchinternet.com/client/umd.portal#.

THE COACH: After spending the previous five years overseeing UMD offensive units which moved the football with as much proficiency as any NCAA II team in the country, Curt Wiese received a much-deserved promotion on Dec. 21, 2012 when he became the sixth head coach in the Bulldogs' storied 81-year history.

During his successful half-decade run as the team's offensive coordinator, the Bulldogs finished near the top of the NCAA II leader board four times in scoring (third last fall with a school-record 46.5 points per game average, fifth in 2008, sixth in 2010 and ninth four years ago) and in 2012 possessed the nation's seventh best rushing attack (after ranking seventh, fourth, and third, respectively, in that department the previous three seasons). The 2012 Bulldogs were also the nation's leader in third down conversions (54.8 percent). In addition, no less than 15 of his pupils landed some kind of All-American recognition, including a pair of Harlon Hill Award finalists -- quarterback Ted Schlafke (2008), the school's career passing and total offense leader, and running back Isaac Odim (2009), UMD's all-time top ground gainer and scorer and the holder of 17 school records. Wiese's starting offensive guard from 2009--12, Garth Heikkinen, became the school's first recipient of the Gene Upshaw Division II Lineman of the Year of Award and earned a playing spot in the annual East-West Shrine Game last January while offensive tackle Jake Bscherer participated in the Seattle Seahawks Training Camp this past summer.

Since Wiese's arrival at UMD in 2008, the Bulldogs have gone 64-8 (a record unmatched by any NCAA II school), captured two NCAA II national championships (2008 and 2010), four overall NSIC titles and five NSIC North Division crowns, made five NCAA II playoff appearances and produced two perfect 15-0 seasons.

Wiese, 37, came to UMD following two years of employment as the head coach at NCAA Division III member Marietta College (Ohio). He compiled a 9-11 career overall record with the Pioneers, including a 6-4 mark in 2006. The Stoughton, Wis., native signed on with the Marietta football program in 2003 when he became the team's offensive coordinator -- a duty he continued to maintain after he was elevated to head coach. In five years of directing the Marietta offense, Wiese helped churn out two All-Americans, 12 All-Ohio Athletic Conference selections and five Academic All-OAC honorees and was a finalist for the American Football Coaches Association Division III Assistant Coach of the Year Award in 2004.

Prior to his move to Marietta, Wiese worked as a graduate assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, tutoring the tight ends for two years and the offensive line for one season. He entered the coaching arena a little over a dozen ago on the heels of a four-year collegiate playing career. After three seasons at Minnesota State University-Mankato (1995-97), Wiese transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where as a senior in 1998, he quarterbacked the Pointers to a share of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title.

    WIESE BY THE NUMBERS
Record at UMD (Year)    2-1 (1st)
Overall Coaching Record (Year)  11-12 (3rd)
Career NSIC Record    2-1
vs. Wayne State     0-0

THE SERIES: The Bulldogs are 10-1 lifetime against the Wildcats in a series which began on Nov. 13, 1993 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. UMD's lone loss came the last time the two clubs butted heads -- Sept. 17, 2011 in Wayne where the host Wildcats prevailed, 7-0.

LAST WEEK:  In a clash of NCAA II Top 10 powers, the then-seventh ranked Bulldogs were ambushed 21-17 at James S. Malosky Stadium by No. 2 Minnesota State University-Mankato, which put the clamps on UMD's remarkable 41-game NSIC home winning streak. An overflow crowd of 5,723 (the fourth largest in program history) saw the Bulldogs jump out to a 10-0 second-quarter lead on sophomore Andrew Brees' 41-yard field goal and redshirt freshman quarterback's 29-yard touchdown toss to junior wide out Aaron Roth. The Mavericks struck twice in the final 11 minutes of the half to go up 14-10 at the break before the Bulldogs went back on top on their first possession of the third quarter as Bauer and junior wide out Zach Zweifel hooked up from 23 yards to cap off an 11-play, 90-yard scoring drive. Later in the same  quarter, Minnesota State-Mankato took advantage of a UMD fumble (the first of three straight Bulldog turnovers) by hitting pay dirt one play later --  a 34-yard pass -- and held off the Bulldogs the rest of the way. Bauer finished the night with 252 yards of total offense, rushing 18 times for 79 of those and connecting on 17 of 23 passes for another 173 yards with one pick.

Senior running back Charlie Davidson ran 26 times for 172 yards and a pair of touchdowns  and redshirt quarterback Zach Osborn passed for another three scores to help propel Wayne State to a 41-25 road victory over the University of Minnesota Crookston.

THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING: The Bulldogs' team captaincy responsibilities this fall are being shared by a quartet of seniors -- strong safety Travis Nordhus, offensive tackle Tom Olson, inside linebacker Colby Ring and outside linebacker Nate Zuk -- along with junior wide receiver/return specialist Aaron Roth.

ANOTHER FAVORABLE NSIC FORECAST: For the first time since 2007 (when UMD was a member of the now defunct North Central Conference), the NSIC coaches chose someone other than the Bulldogs as the team to beat. In their annual preseason poll, the league coaches picked the defending NSIC kingpin Minnesota State-Mankato to finish first in both the South Division and in the overall standings while the Bulldogs were slotted to capture the North Division crown (for a sixth straight years) and place second to the Mavericks overall (like the did one year ago after a four-year run as league champs). UMD had been chosen as the overall NSIC preseason favorite during each of its previous six years of league membership (2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2003.

WHERE STREAKS WENT TO DIE:  The Bulldogs were the No. 1-ranked team in the country when they paid their last visit to Wayne (Sept. 17, 2011).  When it  fell 7-0 to the Wildcat that evening, UMD saw a number of impressive runs fall by the wayside including:

•128 straight NSIC games without being shut out (going back to a 7-0 loss at Southwest Minnesota State University on Oct. 28, 1989).
•41 road victories in a row against NSIC competition.    
•23 consecutive overall road wins.
•17 straight wins (UMD's last loss prior to that was in the 2009 NCAA II playoff quarterfinals against Grand Valley State University.

BULLDOG BITS: Even with last Saturday night's rare setback to Minnesota State-Mankato, the Bulldogs still own the highest victory total (64) and best winning percentage (.901 off a 64-8 record) of any NCAA II program since the 2008 season opener.

Wins (2008-present)
1.    UMD            64
2.    Northwest Missouri State    63
3.     Grand Valley State        55
4.    California U. (Pa.)        54
5.    Minnesota State-Mankato 50               

Winning Percentage (2008-present)
1.    UMD    (64-8)    .901
2.    Northwest Missouri State    (63-11)    .851
3.    CSU-Pueblo    (42-8)    .840
4.    Grand Valley State    (55-11)    .833
5.     California U. (Pa)    (54-14)    .794
    
•Last Saturday marked the first time in 12 games the Bulldogs failed to create a turnover. They did, however, cough up two fumbles of their own and threw their first pick of 2013.

•Junior Phillip Rutz received his first collegiate starting assignment against the Mavericks as a replacement for injured redshirt freshman offensive guard Connor Randall. At the other end of the spectrum, senior offensive tackle Tom Olson is expected to make his 45th consecutive start (which covers every game over the past four seasons) at Wayne State.

•UMD, which has come away with points (two touchdowns and a field goal) on its opening series in all three games to date, are outscoring the opposition 34-0 in the first quarter and 57-21 in the opening 30 minutes of play. The Bulldogs, however, have come up empty in the fourth quarter so far while surrendering just six points to the opposition during that time.

•Redshirt freshman quarterback Drew Bauers had the most productive day of his young Bulldog career against the Mavericks, establishing personal bests for pass completions (he was 17 of 23), passing yards (173) and  touchdown passes (two). He also rushed for a game-high 79 yards (on 18) carries in the setback.

•The Bulldogs, who tumbled six spots to No. 13 in the latest AFCA Division II poll, have cracked the Top 25 in every AFCA II poll since Aug. 12, 2008, and haven't fallen out of the Top 15 in over five years (the last time being Sept. 8, 2008).

•Junior running back Austin Sikorski, UMD's leading rusher this fall, has rolled up more career ground yardage (1,702) than any other current Bulldog. In addition, he has a team-best six 100-yard rushing days to his collegiate credit with his last coming in the first round of the 2012 NCAA II playoffs at Missouri Western State University.

•The Bulldogs currently rank first in the NSIC and seventh nationally in average time of possession (35:54).

•Two players -- senior Alex Brown and sophomore Andrew Brees -- have split UMD's punting duties thus far. Brown, a third-year starter, has punted five times for a 28.8 yard average this fall while Brees, the team's primary placekicker is averaging 36.5 yards (four punts).  This is the first year since 2001 two Bulldogs have registered four or more punts.

•Defensively, UMD has allowed just 15.7 points per game in 2013, tops among all NSC schools.

•The Bulldogs will depart Duluth Friday morning and practice later that day at Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter, Minn., before continuing on to Wayne.  

•The 2013 UMD roster sports 22 seniors -- believed to be the most in program history.

UP NEXT: UMD will return to Malosky Stadium on Oct. 5 to take on No. 20 St. Cloud State University in a Homecoming Game showdown.