Armed with an 11-game home winning streak, the University of Minnesota Duluth will make its first Duluth appearance of the young 2015 season Saturday (Sept. 12) when the Bulldogs play host to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference comrade Wayne State College. Opening kickoff for the Bulldogs'  annual Military Appreciation Night game is set for 6:05 p.m. at James S. Malosky Stadium (4,500 seating capacity/artificial turf) on the UMD campus.

THE RECORDS: UMD, which posted a 13-1 overall record one year ago and went 11-0 in NSIC play (to claim a share of the overall league title with Minnesota State University-Mankato), is off to a 0-1 start this fall. Wayne State sports a 1-0 mark in 2015 after finishing 5-6 one year ago   (tied for eighth place in the NSIC standings).

THE BROADCAST: The Bulldog-Wildcat matchup will be carried live locally on 92.1 FM The Fan with Jeff Papas handling the play-by-play responsibilities  and ex-University of North Dakota offensive lineman Gregg Swartwoudt providing color commentary. The broadcast can also be heard on KQ 105.5 FM in Grand Rapids/Hibbing, Minn.; KQ 106.7 FM in Ely/Virginia, Minn.; 105.7 FM The Fan Siren/Pine City, Minn., and Red Zone Sports Radio 930 in Aitkin, Minn., as part of the Bulldog Radio Network and at: 921thefan.com or free via the iHeartRadio app.

For the eighth consecutive year, My9 (KBJR DT 6.2/KRII DT 11.9) is televising all UMD home games, including the one Saturday afternoon against Wayne State. Northland Newscenter sports director Zach Schneider and former long-time UMD defensive coordinator Vince Repesh will serve as the on-air talent. The telecast, which is also available locally on Charter and Mediacom cable, will be videostreammed as well and can be accessed for free at: portal.stretchinternet.com/umd.

THE COACH: Curt Wiese is in his third season of head coaching duty with the Bulldogs, having guided them to a 24-4 overall record (only three NCAA II head coaches have won more games during that stretch), two consecutive NCAA II playoff appearances, one overall NSIC title (it shared that honor with Minnesota State last fall) and two straight NSIC North Division crowns. One year ago, UMD went 13-1 (its third most single-season victories ever) and closed out the season holding down the No. 3 spot in the final AFCA Division II poll. That followed up a rookie-go-around that included an 11-2 mark in all games and a No. 8 AFCA II poll ranking.

For his exemplary efforts, Wiese was selected the 2013 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award winner for Division II, a prestigious honor recognizing coaches for their responsibility, integrity, sportsmanship and excellence, on and off the field.

Since being appointed UMD's sixth head coach on Dec. 21, 2012, Wiese has helped produce 10 All-Americans and 16 All-NSIC first team selections while 26 of his Bulldogs have earned NSIC All-Academic status (including offensive lineman Andrew Pattock, who as a senior in 2013 was named a first team CoSIDA Academic All-American).

In addition, UMD has cracked the Top 11 in every American Football Coaches Association Poll during Wiese's coaching tenure while racking up a victory total unsurpassed by all but two NCAA II club in the country.

Over the course of Wiese's successful five-season run as the team's offensive coordinator, the Bulldogs finished near the top of the NCAA II leader board four times in scoring (third in 2012 with a school-record 46.5 points per game average, fifth in 2008, sixth in 2010 and ninth in 2009) 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 No. 1 all-time ground gainer and scorer and the holder of 17 school records. In addition, his 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 in January 2013.

Since Wiese's arrival at UMD in February 2008, the Bulldogs have gone 86-11 (for an NCAA II-best .887 winning percentage) while capturing two NCAA II national championships (2008 and 2010), six overall NSIC titles and seven NSIC North Division crowns. They've also made seven NCAA II playoff appearances and produced two perfect 15-0 seasons and three 11-0 regular seasons.

Wiese, 39, came to UMD following two years of employment as the head coach at NCAA 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 and 12 All-Ohio Athletic Conference selections and was a finalist for the 2004 AFCA Division III Assistant Coach of the Year Award.

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 years 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.
 
THE RIVALRY: The Bulldogs are 11-1 lifetime against the Wildcats in a series which began on Nov. 13, 1993 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. UMD's lone loss over to the Wildcats came on Sept. 17, 2011  -- a 7-0 setback in Wayne, Nebraska. The two clubs last collided two years ago (Sept. 28, 2013) on the Wildcats' home turf where UMD closed out the afternoon with 28 unanswered points en route to a 68-21 triumph.

LAST WEEK:  UMD launched its 83rd year of intercollegiate football by falling 20-17 at No. 1 ranked Minnesota State-Mankato last Thursday night. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 17-0 second quarter lead as junior quarterback Drew Bauer ran for one touchdown (two yards) and passed for another (an 11-yard stike to senior wide out Justin Fowlkes) and senior placekicke Andrew Brees nailed a 41-yard field goal.  The Mavericks did all the scoring after that, however, getting the go-ahead touchdown with 7:21 to go in the fourth quarter. UMD accumulated 213 yards of total offense in the first half but was held to just 44 yards in the final 30 minutes. Minnesota State-Mankato, meanwhile, finished with 380 overall yards, 238 of which was generated after halftime. Bauer completed 10 of 22 passes for 131 yards -- but was picked off twice and sacked three times -- and also rushed  17 times for a team-high 64 yards

Wayne State got its 2015 season off to a rousing start by clobbering the University of Minnesota Crookston 58-16. The Wildcats torched the visiting Golden Eagles for 662 total yards, 167 of which came off 17 carries from running back Alex Kline.  

AYE, AYE CAPTAIN: The Bulldogs' team captaincy responsibilities this fall are being shared by a trio of seniors - defensive nose tackle Jonathan Harden, running back Logan Lauters and inside linebacker Brent Stiglich -- along with junior inside linebacker Beau Bates and junior quarterback Drew Bauer.

THE BIG 5-0 FOR MO: Saturday evening will mark the opening of the 50th year of Bulldog football at Malosky Stadium. Since moving on campus to that on-campus facility on Oct. 29, 1966 (and christening it with a 20-14 win over the Universtiy of St. Thomas), the Bulldogs have won over 77 percent of their home games, going 189-54-4 (.773). In recent times, visiting clubs have found victories even harder to come by at Malosky Stadium as UMD has amassed a sizzling 44-3 mark there since the 2008 opener. In addition, the Bulldogs have gone 50-1 versus overall NSIC competition at Malosky Stadium since Oct. 21, 2000 with that lone loss being inflicted by Minnesota State-Mankato on Sept. 21, 2013 (21-17). In addition, UMD has yet to lose a home bout with a colleague from the NSIC's North Division (24-0),

AND THAT'S NOT ALL ...: UMD will come into Saturday night's opener riding an 11-game home winning streak, a run that began on Oct. 5, 2013 -- two weeks after a 21-17 loss to Minnesota State-Mankato.

TAMING THE WILDCATS: Not only is Wayne State winless in its six lifetime engagements at Malosky Stadium, but the Wildcats have been outscored 269-78 during that stretch. The Wildcats also have never held a lead or kept the Bulldogs under 41 points. Wayne State's  last visit to  Duluth was for UMD's 2010 home opener. The then No. 2 Bulldogs cruised to a 42-10 triumph over the 18th-ranked Wildcats that evening.

GETTING THE STARTING CALL: Seven Bulldogs made their first starts as Bulldogs last Thursday at Minnesota State-Mankato. That group includes sophomore outside linebacker Zach Bassuener, junior strong safety Tavaughn Blair (a transfer from the University of Northern Iowa), sophomore offensive guard Nolan Folkert, sophomore defensive end Regis Henke, senior outside linebacker Mark Nahorniak, senior inside linebacker Brent Stiglich and redshirt freshman offensive guard Trapper Ward.

FOOL ME ONCE: This is the first time UMD has opened a season 0-1 since 1999 (the same year the Bulldogs dropped their first two games before prevailing in Week 3). UMD also hasn't suffered back-to-back losses since in almost eight years (42-17 to the University of Nebraska-Omaha on Oct. 20,2007 and 31-14 to the University of North Dakota one week later.)
  
BAUER POWER: Drew Bauer, who was selected the 2015 NSIC North Division Preseason Offensive Player of the Year in a vote of league coaches,
is 24-4 while starting all 28 games over the past three seasons.  Bauer, a 2015 Bulldog team captain and the holder of the school's single-season rushing record for a quarterback (983 yardsin 2014) has already generated the fourth most all-time total yards (5,898) and fifth most passing yards (4,113 -- 63 yards from supplanting Trevor Theelke; 1995-98, in the No. 4 spot) in program history.

THIS DEFENSE DIDN'T REST: Senior cornerback Darion Fletcher may have pulled off a UMD (and maybe even a collegiate) first against Minnesota State-Mankato last Thursday when he both intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble in his team's own end zone. Fletcher finished the night with nine total tackles (all solos) and equaled a team record by breaking up four passes.

NOT IN OUR HOUSE: UMD hasn't been blanked by a visiting NSIC club since Minnesota State University-Moorhead turned the trick (29-0) back on Oct. 31, 1981. Wayne State was the last team from any league to hold the Bulldogs scoreless, doing so on Sept. 17, 2011 in Wayne.

WHAT A RUSH: Senior team captain Logan Lauters, who rolled up 1,531 yards on the ground last fall -- a figure eclipsed by only one other Bulldog ever in a single-season (Isaac Odim in both 2009 and 2008), definitely has a shot of exiting the UMD program as its career rushing leader. The 2014 Associated Press Little All-American (third team) now ranks fifth among all-time Bulldog ball carriers with 3,051 yards while his career 6.5 yards per run average takes a backseat only to three-time All-American Isaac Odim's 7.2 clip (2008-10) among Bulldogs with 1,000 or more yards.

BULLDOG BITS:  Junior wideout/runningback Beau Bofferding has caught at least one pass in each of the last 14 games since being blanked in that department in the 2013 season opener ...UMD captured a share of its league-record 19th NSIC championship last year -- and did so with the most victories (11) in program history. In addition to owning more NSIC crowns than any other institution (they have one more than Winona State University), the Bulldogs have compiled an all-time winning percentage of .736 (off a 231-81-5 record), which is second only to Sioux Falls' .764 mark (28-8 in three-plus seasons of NSIC membership) .... The season-opening loss to Minnesota State-Mankato snapped UMD's 19-game regular season winning streak,the third longest of its kind in program history ... Four different Bulldogs combined to eclipse the 100-yard rushing barrier on 15 occasions last fall, including Logan Lauters who did it a team-leading seven times giving him 12 such afternoons for his career. Drew Bauer was second among 2014 Bulldogs with four ... Just 11 individuals make up the the Bulldogs' 2015 senior class and of those 11, only eight -- David Boegel, Andrew Brees, Ty Fischer (who joined the Bulldogs this fall after a two-season absence), Darion Fletcher, Justin Fowlkes, Logan Lauters, Mark Nahorniak and Brent Stiglich -- began their collegiate careers at UMD ... Junior wide out Dominic Bonner , a tansfer Cabrillo College (California), parlayed his first collegiate pass reception into a 51-yard gain in the opening half of UMD's season opener at Minnesota State-Mankato ... Senior Andrew Brees,who earned a spot on the Fred Mitchell Placekicker Award Watch List (excellence on the football field and in the community) for the second straight year, is in his fourth season as UMD's primary placekicker this fall and is also handling the club's punting duties as well. The two-time All-NSIC North Division first team pick (2014 and 2012) was one of seven Bulldogs to attain USA College Football Preseason All-American honors for 2015, joining junior offensive tackle Peter Bateman, sophomore quarterback Drew Bauer, senior free safety David Boegel, senior nose tackle Jonathan Harden, senior running back Logan Lauters and junior offensive guard Connor Randall ... The Bulldogs have appeared in every AFCA II poll since Aug. 12, 2008 and haven't been knocked out of the Top 15 in almost seven years (a run that started on Sept. 8, 2008).

ON TAP: UMD will pay a first-ever visit to the University of Sioux Falls on Sept. 19. The Cougars were ranked 15th in this week's AFCA II poll.

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