Complete Release (pdf)

There are three unbeaten teams still remaining in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and two of them --  the University of Minnesota Duluth and Bemidji State University -- will square off this Saturday night (Sept. 22). Opening kickoff is set set for 6:05 p.m. at James S. Malosky Stadium (4,500/artificial turf) on the UMD campus.

THE RECORDS: UMD, which went 9-3 last season and tied for third place (with the University of Sioux Falls) in the final NSIC standings at 9-2, and Bemidji State (8-3 overall and in the NSIC one year ago) are both off to 3-0 starts in 2018.

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

	AFCA	D2Football
UMD	No. 11	No. 13
BSU	NR	NR

            
THE BROADCAST: The Bulldog-Beaver clash will be carried live locally on 102.5 DUKE 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: dukefmduluth.com.

For the 11th consecutive year, My9 (KBJR DT 6.2/KRII DT 11.9) is televising all UMD home games, including Saturday's bout with Bemidji State. One-time KBJR-TV sports director Tom Hansen 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 Bemidji State will meet for the 58th time ever Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs hold a commanding 46-10-1 lead in the all-time series, which began back on Nov. 14, 1931 -- the second year of intercollegiate football at UMD.

One year ago (Oct. 26) parlayed another dominating defensive effort into a 17-0 Thursday night triumph over Bemidji State in blustery conditions in Bemidji, Minn. Running back Anthony Wood rushed for a pair of first half touchdowns finished with 104 yards on the ground, which was more than double what Bemidji State accumulated in total offense as an entire team (50 yards). The Beavers also mustered a mere three first downs and eight rushing yards, lost three fumbles and had a punt blocked.

LAST WEEK: UMD hiked its regular season road winning streak to 12 games by downing St. Cloud State 41-17 on Thursday night and, in the process, the Bulldogs also maintained possession of the "The Bone" trophy, which goes to the winner of the annual matchup between these two long-time intrastate rivals. UMD got touchdowns from five different players, including redshirt freshman running back Wade Sullivan, who scored on runs of 12 and three yards and paced UMD with 39 rushing yards (on 11 carries). Sophomore quarterback John Larson, ran for one touchdown and threw for two others. He completed 16 of 27 passes for 188 yards, spreading the wealth among eight receivers. UMD held the Huskies to a mere 78 total yards the entire second half and 191 yards (while generating 350 yards of its own). The two St. Cloud State quarterbacks combined to go just 8-for-25 for 105 yards with one pick (by senior cornerback Tareq Abulebbeh). The Bulldogs finished with a substantial advantage in time of possession (38:22 to 21:38) and third down conversions (they were 10 of 18 while the Huskies went just 2-for-10) en route to defeating St. Cloud State for a sixth consecutive time.
Bemidji State turned in its second shut out in as many weeks , throttling the the University of Minnesota Crookston 69-0 Saturday afternoon in Bemidji, Minn.-The Beavers rolled up 328 yards on the ground while picking off four passes and recovering three fumbles.

NO STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT: The Bulldogs have gone to battle with Bemidji State on more occasions (57) than all but one lifetime opponent -- Minnesota State University-Moorhead (60).

HARDLY HOSPITABLE HOSTS: Not only are the Bulldogs a perfect 19-0-0 lifetime against Bemidji State at Malosky Stadium (their football home since 1966), but they haven't lost to the Beavers anywhere in Duluth in nearly 77 years (34-0 on Oct. 10, 1941). That translates into a 22-game winning streak.

THEY'VE HAD THEIR NUMBER: UMD has reeled off 16 straight victories at the Beavers' expense since dropping a 35-26 decision at Chet Anderson Stadium on Oct. 23, 1999. That active winning streak is the Bulldogs' longest against any team, with the exception of MSU-Moorhead, which has been defeated by UMD 17 times in a row (including a 60-7 thumping earlier this season).

SOME NORTHERN EXPOSURE: Since the NSIC instituted divisional play in 2008, the Bulldogs are a sizzling 65-3 in North Division assignments. Two of those losses came at the hands of St. Cloud -- on consecutive years (35-7 in 2011 and 51-49 in 2012) at Husky Stadium. UMD is the 10-time defending NSIC North Division champion and is a perfect 35-0 all-time at home against North Division foes.

OFF AND RUNNING: For just the second time in the last eight seasons (with the last coming in 2014), UMD has gotten off to a 3-0 start. The Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 150-27 thus far in 2018 and those 150 points are the most ever generated by a UMD club through the opening three games of a season. What's more, the last time the Bulldogs gave up fewer than 27 points after the first three weeks of play was in 1979 (10 points).

GREAT BALTS OF FIRE: Jason Balts, the 2018 NSIC North Division Preseason Offensive Player of the Year who rolled up a NSIC-leading (and a personal-best) 1,003 receiving yards one year ago, owns the second-best career yards per reception average (18.1) of any active NCAA II player in the country. He has now caught at least one pass in 21 consecutive games and in each of his last 26 appearances (he missed the 2016 trip to Minot State while nursing an injury). In 33 lifetime outings, Balts has been credited with 2,191 pass reception yards -- the sixth highest total in program history.

GETTING IT DONE: UMD 65.8 percent efficiency (25 of 38) on third-down conversions is tops among all NCAA II schools at the moment. The opposition, one the other hand, has managed to convert just six of its 36 third down opportunities and that .167 mark is the third lowest in the country at the moment.

NOT IN OUR HOUSE: 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 of any kind to hold UMD scoreless was St. Cloud State (28-0 in a North Central Conference clash on Nov. 6, 2004).

NOT IN OUR HOUSE II: Since the 2008 opener, the Bulldogs are 52-6 at Malosky Stadium (with two of the losses coming to Minnesota State-Mankato in 2013 and 2017 and two in the NCAA II playoffs). Here are the some of the home streaks UMD will put on the line this Saturday night:

Consecutive NSIC North Division Home Wins: 35
Consecutive Home Games Without Being Shut Out: 81
Consecutive NSIC Home Games Without Being Shut Out: 123

QUITE THE CATCH: Senior wide outs Jason Balts (121 receptions) and Nate Ricci (115) hold down the No. 8 and No. 9 spots, respectively, on UMD's all-time catch charts. This year marks just the second time in program history the Bulldogs commenced a season with two members of the 100-reception club on their roster (2014 -- with Aaron Roth and Zach Zweifel -- was the other).

POINT TAKEN: UMD currently ranks fourth among all NCAA II teams in both scoring offense (50.0 points per game) and defense (9.0 ppg). Bemidji State tops both categories (57.7 ppg and 5.7 ppg, respectively).

HE'S NO PASSING FANCY: John Larson holds down the No. 1 spot on the NSIC charts for both pass completion percentage (.656) and points responsible for (60) and is second in passing efficiency (179.8).

ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER UNBEATEN: This Saturday night marks the fourth time in as many weeks this season the Bulldogs will face a team with an unbeaten record.BALL-STOPPING BULLDOGS: UMD is giving up just 174.0 total yards per outing this season, a figure bettered by only one other NCAA II school (Davenport University with 171.3 ypg).

START ME UP: Senior offensive tackle Matt Juneau, a three-time All-NSIC North Division honoree, has started 35 consecutive games -- the longest ironman streak of any 2018 Bulldog. Senior wide receiver Jason Balts is next at 21

WE'LL SECOND THAT: The Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 172-44 in the second quarter since the 2017 season opener and have given up a just one second-quarter touchdown (last week against St. Cloud State) in any of their last 11 games.

OH, WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Junior Cameron Hausman, whose 65 punts last fall were four shy of the program record and the most by a Bulldog since 1998, has been called upon only five times (four of those occasions came at St. Cloud State) in 2018.

WHAT A RUSH: UMD has outgained the opposition on the ground in 33 of the past 36 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 exception.

WHAT A RUSH II: Sophomore quarterback John Larson leads all current Bulldogs in career rushing production (532 yards on 117 attempts). He also ranks first in lifetime rushing touchdowns with six -- which is three more than senior nose tackle and part-time fullback Dre Greer. Greer has found the end zone three of the four times he's carried the football as a Bulldog with the latest of those touchdowns coming in the 2018 opener at Minot State.

QUITE THE RUN: Since taking over the Bulldog program five years ago, Curt Wiese has won 55 of 66 games. Only one other NCAA II head coach -- Colorado State University-Pueblo's John Wristen (56) -- has accumulated more victories during that the time period. Of Wiese's 11 lifetime losses, seven have come against NSIC South Division members (including four at the hands of Minnesota State-Mankato) and one against a NSIC North Division foe (at Northern State on Oct. 31, 2015). The other three setbacks have occurred in postseason play (besides Minnesota State-Mankato).

SACK IT TO ME: The Bulldogs have sacked opposing quarterbacks seven times this season while allowing just one sack themselves..

IT TAKES A THIEF: Six current Bulldogs have an interception to their UMD credit and four of those have multiple thefts -- senior strong safety Sam Lynch (five) sophomore strong safety Bill Atkins (three), sophomore cornerback Justic'e King (two) and senior cornerback Tareq Abulebbeh , a transfer from the Southern Illinois University who has the Bulldogs's only two picks in 2018). Senior cornerback Mitchell Johnson-Martin nad senior outside linebacker Alex Helmer have the two other interceptions.

IN GOOD HANDS: The Bulldogs have held the upper hand in time of possession in 29 of the past 30 games. Last fall, UMD ranked second among all NCAA II schools in that department this season (39:05) after finishing 3rd and 1st, respectively in 2017 and 2016.

WELCOME BACK: In celebration of the 10th anniversary of their conquest of the school's first NCAA II football championship, the 2008 Bulldogs will be UMD's guests of honor at Malosky Stadium this Saturday night.

Under the direction of sixth-year coach Bob Nielson (who was in his second tour of duty with the Bulldogs after having served as the school's full-time athletic director the previous four years), UMD put a huge exclamation mark on a season for the ages by holding off No. 3 Northwest Missouri State University 21-14 in the NCAA II title game to finish with a a perfect 15-0 record -- one of only three NCAA II schools at the time to ever reach that mark. UMD was buoyed by a defensive unit that allowed only four touchdowns during its four-game NCAA II playoff run (against a quartet of Top 12 clubs) and the offensive wizardry of senior All-American quarterback Ted Schlafke, the school's first Harlon Hill Trophy Top 8 Finalist.

In all, the 2008 Bulldogs shattered or equaled some 50 individual and team single-game, single-season and career marks. In addition, some nine different Bulldogs attained some kind of first team All-American honors.

Four current members of the UMD coaching staff were that 2008 team -- head coach Curt Wiese (offensive coordinator), John Steger (defensive coordinator), Peter Lue (offensive line) and Noah Pauley, who is now the Bulldogs offensive coordinator but then a sophomore wide receiver/return specialist.

UP NEXT: UMD will remain at home on Sept. 29 to host Concordia University-St. Paul in the Bulldogs' first NSIC interdivisional assignment of 2018.