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The University of Minnesota Duluth will close the books on the 2018 regular season this Saturday (Nov. 10) when the Bulldogs host Northern State University in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division matchup. Opening kickoff is set for 1:05 p.m. at James S. Malosky Stadium (4,500) on the UMD campus.

THE RECORDS: The 11-time defending NSIC North Division champion Bulldogs are 10-0 on the year (and 6-0 in the NSIC North) while Northern State is 4-6 overall and 3-3 in NSIC North play.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how the Bulldogs and Wolves stacked up in this week's American Football Coaches Association Division II and the D2Football.com polls and the latest NCAA II Super Region 4 Rankings:
 

	AFCA	D2Football	Region 4
UMD	No. 6	No. 5	No. 3
NSU	NR	NR	NR

           
THE BROADCAST: The UMD-Northern State clash will be carried live locally on KDAL-Radio (610 AM and 103.9 FM) 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 at: kdal610.com.

For the 11th consecutive year, My9 (KBJR DT 6.2/KRII DT 11.9) is televising all UMD home games, including Saturday's matchup with Mary. KBJR-TV sports director David Coy and former long-time UMD defensive coordinator Vince Repesh will serve as the on-air talent. The telecast will be videostreammed as well and can be accessed for free at: portal.stretchinternet.com/umd

THE RIVALRY: UMD and Northern State will collide for the 36th time ever Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs hold a commanding 24-11-0 lead in the all-time series, which began on Nov. 8, 1980 in Duluth, and are 9-1 in their last 10 meetings with the Wolves. The lone setback during that stretch occurred on Halloween three years years ago in Aberdeen S.D. (a 23-15 decision). Last fall (Oct. 14), the Bulldogs overpowered the host Wolves 41-0, giving up just 83 yards of total offense on 58 plays and seven first downs on their way to posting their first shutout in two years.

LAST WEEK: UMD rolled to a 55-0 victory over winless University of Mary on Saturday afternoon at Malosky Stadium. The Marauders hung tough for the better part of the first half and trailed just 7-0 before UMD reeled off 20 points in the final five minutes of the second quarter to pull away for good and move to 12-0 all-time against Mary. The Bulldogs amassed a season-high 625 yards of total offense and held the winless Marauders to just 59, including a minus-14 yards on the ground. They also finished with 31 first downs (their most in past 23 games) compared to a mere four for Mary. Redshirt freshman running back Zach Ojile ran for 120 yards and one touchdown (UMD's first score of the afternoon) while three Bulldog quarterbacks -- juniors Mike Rybarczyk and Ben Everhart and redshirt freshman Garrett Olson -- combined to throw for 296 yards and three scores. Everhart went 10-for-16 for 131 yards and two scoring strikes (both to sophomore wide out Johnny McCormick) while Rybarczyk made good on 7 of 10 passes for 114 yards and one touchdown.

Northern State registered its first shutout since 2015 taking down the visiting University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles 27-0 in its 2018 home finale on Saturday.

SENIOR SALUTE: Saturday's bout will mark the final regular season home appearances ever for UMD's 22 seniors. That group, which will be honored in a pre-game Senior Day ceremony, includes cornerback Tareq Abulebbeh, center Jason Anderson, wide receiver Jason Balts, linebacker Ryan Duxbury, offensive tackle Chris Edyvean, nose guard Dre Greer, linebacker Alex Helmer, cornerback Mitchell Johnson-Martin, defensive back Bryce Juedes, offensive tackle Matt Juneau, tight end Tyler Lattery, running back Alex Lasinski, strong safety Sam Lynch, linebacker A.J. Naatz, wide receiver Nate Ricci, linebacker Andrew Schiessl, tight ends Brandon Scott and Jack Sims, defensive end Trevor Thompson, offensive tackle Trapper Ward, linebacker Gus Wedig, and offensive guard Joe Yernatich.

THE PERFECT FINISH: UMD is one win away from running the regular season table for the sixth time in the program's 86-year history. The Bulldogs previously accomplished that feat in 2014, 2010, 2008, 2002 and 1980.

UP FOR GRABS: With a victory this Saturday, the Bulldogs would finish in at least tie for the overall NSIC championship -- their 20th title ever -- and first since 2014.

DIVISION DOMINATION: UMD has already captured a share of its 11th consecutive NSIC North Division crown and can win that title outright by defeating Northern State Saturday.

DIVISION DOMINATION II: Since the NSIC instituted divisional play in 2008, the Bulldogs are an eye-popping 68-3 in North Division assignments. Two of those losses came at the hands of St. Cloud State -- on consecutive years (35-7 in 2011 and 51-49 in 2012) at Husky Stadium with the other setback being inflicted by Northern State -- 23-15 on Oct. 31, 2015 of Aberdeen, S.D. UMD is a perfect 37-0 all-time at home against North Division foes.

HUNGRY LIKE A WOLF (FOR WIN IN DULUTH): Since turning in 16-7 victory on Oct. 19, 1999 Northern State has lost six straight games to the Bulldogs in Duluth.

NOT IN OUR HOUSE: Going back to the 2008 opener, the Bulldogs are 54-6 at Malosky Stadium (with two of the losses coming to Minnesota State-Mankato in 2013 and 2017 and two in the NCAA II playoffs).

NOT IN OUR HOUSE II: The Bulldogs haven't been blanked by a NSIC foe at Malosky Stadium since MSU-Moorhead turned the trick (29-0) back on Oct. 31, 1981. The last visiting team to hold UMD scoreless was St. Cloud State (28-0 in a North Central Conference clash on Nov. 6, 2004).Here are a few of the home streaks the Bulldogs will put on the line this Saturday:

Consecutive Home Wins vs. Northern State: 6
Consecutive Home Wins: 8
Consecutive NSIC North Division Home Wins: 37
Consecutive Home Games Without Being Shut Out: 85
Consecutive NSIC Home Games Without Being Shut Out: 127

GET AHEAD, STAY AHEAD: UMD has trailed for only 3:49 all season -- and that was all in one stretch during the second half of the Bulldogs' 26-19 double overtime triumph over Bemidji State on Sept. 22 at Malosky Stadium.

THE BEAT GOES ON: The Bulldogs are now guaranteed of finishing with a winning record for the 11th consecutive year. That's the longest such run by a UMD club since it went 19 seasons in a row above the .500 mark between 1970 and 1988.

THE BEAT GOES ON II: UMD will take a 18-game NSIC winning streak into Saturday's bout with Northern State. That is still well off the program record of 31 consecutive league victories set between Sept. 30, 2008 and Sept. 22, 2012.

GETTING A BIT DEFENSIVE, AREN'T WE?: UMD is giving up just 192.6 total yards per outing this season, a figure unmatched by any NCAA II outfit. They also rank first in third down conversion defense (.218) and second in both rushing defense (61.7 ypg) and scoring defense (10.3 points per game)

SCORE EARLY, SCORE OFTEN: The Bulldogs, one of 10 remaining unbeaten NCAA II teams in the country, have outscored the opposition 111-3 in the first quarter this fall (with that lone field goal coming in the season opener at Minot State) and 265-29 in the first half.

ON THE RUN: Last Saturday at Malosky Stadium, freshman redshirt running back Zach Ojile became the fourth different Bulldog in five weeks (and this season) to crack the 100-yard rushing plateau. Ojile ran 12 times for 120 yards -- the largest ground harvest by a Bulldog since Sept. 28, 2017 (Anthony Wood with 128 yards). He joins junior running back Tory Adams (101 yards at Minnesota Crookston on Oct. 27),  junior junior quarterback Mike Rybarczyk (111 yards vs. Southwest Minnesota State on Oct. 13) and sophomore quarterback John Larson (104 yards at Augustana University on Oct. 6) in UMD's 100-yard rushing club for 2018.

ON THE RUN II: UMD has outgained the opposition on the ground in 40 of the past 43 games with the 2017 opener against Sioux Falls (when UMD managed negative-16 yards of rushing offense), the ensuing weekend (59 yards versus Minnesota State-Mankato) and the 2017 finale (79 yards vs. the University of Central Missouri) being the exceptions.

ON THE RUN III: The Bulldogs have surrendered just one rushing touchdown all season -- at St. Cloud State on Sept. 13.

HE'S QUITE THE CATCH: Nate Ricci, UMD's current pass reception leader (30), now has 138 catches to his collegiate credit. That's good for the No. 8 spot on the program's all-time charts and puts him 11 receptions short of supplanting Tony Doherty (2005-08) at No. 7. Fellow senior wide out and 2018 NSIC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Jason Balts (who incurred a season-ending lower body injury against Bemidji State University in Week Four.) sits at No. 9 with 126 catches.

SPREADING THE WEALTH: Some 18 different Bulldogs have recorded a pass reception so far in 2018 and half of those have a scoring strike to their credit.

GROUNDED: The minus-14 ground yards finished with last Saturday were the lowest total by Bulldog opponent since Oct. 19, 2013 (minus-45 by Minot State University).

START ME UP: Senior offensive tackle Matt Juneau, a three-time All-NSIC North Division honoree, has started 42 consecutive games -- the longest ironman streak of any 2018 Bulldog.

COMING UP EMPTY: The 55-0 win over Mary last Saturday marked the first shutout by a Bulldog club since Oct. 26, 2017 (17-0 at Bemidji State).

SACK IT TO ME: The Bulldogs have been credited with 34 sacks this fall, the second highest total in the NSIC, while allowing less than half of that (13). Senor linebacker Alex Helmer paces UMD with 9.5 sacks, which ranks 11th in the nation and is good for the No. 6 spot on the Bulldogs' all-time single-season charts.

IT TAKES A THIEF: Senior cornerback Tareq Abulebbeh, a transfer from Southern Illinois University who has sat out the past four Saturdays with an injury, has five interceptions in 2018. The last Bulldog to rack up more thefts in one season was Cole Strilzuk in 2008 (six thefts in 15 games).

IT TAKES A THIEF II: Seven current Bulldogs have an interception to their UMD credit and four of those have multiple thefts -- senior strong safety Sam Lynch (seven), senior cornerback Tareq Abulebbeh (five), junior strong safety Bill Atkins (three), and sophomore cornerback Justic'e King (two). Senior outside linebacker Alex Helmer, sophomore cornerback Michael Kirkendoll (a 2018 transfer from North Dakota State School of Science) and senior cornerback Mitchell Johnson-Martin have the one interception each.

WE'LL SECOND THAT: UMD has outscored the opposition 283-68 in the second quarter since the 2017 season opener and has given up a just two second-quarter touchdowns (to St. Cloud State on Sept. 13, 2018 and to Winona State on Oct. 20, 2018) in any of their last 18 games.

BIG PLAYS: The Bulldog offense has generated 52 offensive plays that have resulted in gains of 20 or more yards this season compared to 23 for the opposition. Five of those were registered by Winona State pn Oct. 20.

IN GOOD HANDS: The Bulldogs have held the upper hand in time of possession in 35 of the past 37 games (one of the outliers occurred tin their last home games against Southwest Minnesota State). This fall, UMD ranks second among all NCAA II schools in that department (34:43) after finishing 3rd and 1st, respectively in 2017 and 2016.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs' postseason fate will be determined this Sunday (Nov. 11) when the NCAA II playoff field is officially announced at 4 p.m. (CT) on ncaa.com.