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After opening up the 2018 season with four straight Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division assignment, the University of Minnesota Duluth will spend the next three weekends battling South Division foes. That starts this Saturday (Sept.. 29) with a 1:05 p.m, confrontation against Concordia University-St. Paul at James S. Malosky Stadium (4,500/artificial turf) on the UMD campus.

THE RECORDS: The 10-time defending NSIC North Division champion Bulldogs are a perfect 4-0 on the year while Concordia-St. Paul sports a 2-2 overall record.

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

	AFCA II	D2Football
UMD	No. 8	No. 12
CSP	NR	NR

            
THE BROADCAST: The Bulldog-Golden Bear 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 bout with Concordia-St. Paul. 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 Concordia-St. Paul will meet for the 13th time ever Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs hold a 9-3 lead in the all-time series, which began in St. Paul on Oct. 9, 1999 -- Concordia-St. Paul's first year of membership in the NSIC. UMD has won nine of the past 10 bouts with the Golden Bears, including the last six in a row. Concordia-St. Paul's latest triumph over the Bulldogs was on Sept. 4, 2004 -- a 38-6 non-conference home decision (UMD was in its first year of play in the now-defunct North Central Conference). The Golden Bears are 1-5 in their six lifetime visits to Malosky Stadium. That lone victory came on Oct. 7, 2000 (37-27) during the debut season of current Golden Bear Head Coach Shannon Currier in his first tour of duty at Concordia-St. Paul (he left the program in 2004 to take the head coaching job at Truman State University before returning to the Golden Bears in 2016).

LAST WEEK: UMD kept its perfect lifetime record against visiting NSIC North Division opponents intact (36-0) by taking down Bemidji State University 26-19 in double overtime Saturday night.

After both teams missed field goal tries in the first overtime, UMD opened the second extra session by scoring four plays in on a two-yard run by redshirt freshman running back Wade Sullivan. Bemidji State took over and following a five-yard gain, a holding penalty, and two incompletions, quarterback Alec Ogden was sacked by senior nose tackle Dre Greer and sophomore linebacker Nate Pearson on fourth down. That sealed the Bulldogs' 17th consecutive triumph over Bemidji State, who are now 0-20-0 all-time at Malosky Stadium. and have dropped 23 straight games to the Bulldogs in Duluth.

The Beavers, trailed the entire evening until going up 19-16 late in the third quarter. UMD answered on its ensuing possession, getting a 22-yard touchdown strike from sophomore quarterback John Larson to sophomore wide out Johnny McCormick. Bemidji State drew even with a field goal midway through the fourth quarter and the Bulldogs then mounted a seven-minute drive, eventually getting down to the Beaver four-yard line. With less than a minute to go in regulation, junior Dan Branger's potential game-winning field goal from 21 yards out sailed left. Branger had nailed a 34-yarder earlier in the game.

Sullivan finished with 89 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns on 26 carries while Larson ran 14 times for a game-high 90 yards. He also completed 19 of 36 passes for 242 yards with one interception. His favorite target was senior wide out Jason Balts, who had five receptions before being sidelined with an injury in the third quarter.

Bemidji State, which came into the weekend sporting the nation's highest scoring offense, managed just 13 first downs on the night and 295 total yards (226 below its season average). UMD rolled up 460 yards of total offense, including 187 on the ground (compared to 46 yards for the Beavers).

SOME CLOSE SHAVES: UMD's last two confrontations against Concordia-St. Paul have been anything but walks in the park. The Bulldogs rallied for a 52-49 shootout win on Sept. 16, 2016 in St. Paul and held off the Golden Bears 20-13 in the 2014 season opener at Malosky Stadium.

ON THE RIGHT TRACK: If the past is any indication, a victory over the Golden Bears Saturday would put UMD in a favorable position -- to say the least. Consider this: In each of the last four times the Bulldogs have gotten off to a 5-0 start (2014, 2010, 2008 and 2002), they have finished with an unbeaten 11-0 regular season record.

RANK AND FILE: The Bulldogs, who were unranked in the 2018 AFCA II Preseason Poll, have now climbed all the way to No. 8 That represents their highest position in that poll since being slotted third in the 2015 preseason rankings.

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 to hold UMD scoreless was St. Cloud State (28-0 in a North Central Conference clash on Nov. 6, 2004).Here are a couple of streaks the Bulldogs will put on the line this Saturday afternoon:

Consecutive Home Games Without Being Shut Out: 82
Consecutive NSIC Home Games Without Being Shut Out: 124

NOT IN OUR HOUSE II: Since the 2008 opener, the Bulldogs are 53-6 at Malosky Stadium (with two of the losses coming to Minnesota State-Mankato in 2013 and 2017 and two in the NCAA II playoffs).

NOTHING HE COULDN'T TACKLE: Junior free safety Bill Atkins, who is in his first year of full-time starting duty, was credited with a career-high and a 2018 UMD single-game best nine total tackles in last Saturday's double overtime takedown of Bemidji State.

MAKING THEIR POINT: The Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 176-46 thus far in 2018 Those 176 points are the third-most ever generated by a UMD club through the opening four games of a season -- bettered by only the 2002 (187 points) nd 2010 (183 points) Bulldogs. What's more, the last time UMD gave up fewer than 46 points after the first four weeks of play was in 1983 (31 points).

MAKING THEIR POINT II: UMD ranks sixth in the nation in scoring offense (44.0 points per game) and ninth in scoring defense (11.5 ppg).

SACK IT TO ME: The Bulldogs have sacked opposing quarterbacks 13 times this season while allowing just two sacks themselves (only four other NCAA II clubs have been sacked less). Sophomore outside linebacker Nate Pearson and senior inside linebacker Gus Wedig both rank third among NSIC defenders in that department with 3.5 sacks each.

WHAT A RUSH: UMD has outgained the opposition on the ground in 34 of the past 37 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.

WHAT A RUSH II: Sophomore quarterback John Larson leads all current Bulldogs in career rushing production (622 yards on 130 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.
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START ME UP: Senior offensive tackle Matt Juneau, a three-time All-NSIC North Division honoree, has started 36 consecutive games -- the longest ironman streak of any 2018 Bulldog. Senior wide receiver Jason Balts is next at 22.

SCORE OFTEN, SCORE EARLY: Through four games, UMD is outscoring the opposition 55-3 in the first quarter.

AND THAT IS THAT: This Saturday will mark the first time in 2018 UMD will not face a team with an unbeaten record.

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 ninth-best career yards per reception average (17.9) of any active NCAA II player in the country. He has now caught at least one pass in 22 consecutive games and in each of his last 27 appearances (he missed the 2016 trip to Minot State while nursing an injury). In 33 lifetime outings, Balts has amassed 2,259 pass reception yards -- the fifth highest total in program history.

This past week, Balts was announced as one of the 179 finalist (25 from the NCAA II ranks) for 2018 National Football Foundation William V. Campbell Trophy recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation. The NFF will unveil the 12-14 finalists on Oct. 31, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 60th NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class.

Balts, a native of of Barron, Wis., maintains a 3.98 grade point average as a physical education major. In 2017, he was chosen to the CoSIDA All-Academic first team in addition to receiving the NSIC Elite Award for football.

GETTIN' DOWN: UMD's 55.6 percent efficiency (25 of 38) on third-down conversions is the third-best percentage in NCAA II football to date. The opposition, on the other hand, has managed to convert just seven of its 51 third down opportunities and that .137 mark is the lowest in the country at the moment.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Jason Balts (126 receptions) and Nate Ricci (118) 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).

Ricci, a sixth-year senior, is an inaugural nominee for the first-ever Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award. Ricci was on the doorstep of an All-American-caliber season in 2017 before injuring his clavicle in week three and missing the remainder of the year.

HE'S NO PASSING FANCY: John Larson holds down the top spot on the NSIC leaderboard for both pass completion percentage (.608) and points responsible for (66) and is third in passing efficiency (154.9).

GETTING A BIT DEFENSIVE: UMD is giving up just 204.3 total yards per outing this season, a figure bettered by only two other NCAA II schools (Davenport University with 177.0 ypg and the University of North Carolina-Pembroks with 200.5 ppg).

WE'LL SECOND THAT: The Bulldogs have outscored the opposition 181-44 in the second quarter since the 2017 season opener and have given up a just one second-quarter touchdown (to St. Cloud State on Sept. 13) in any of their last 12 games.

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.

LET THE SUN SHINE: Last Saturday was the Bulldogs' fourth, and final, night game of the 2018 regular season.

QUITE THE RUN: Since taking over the Bulldog program five years ago, Curt Wiese has won 56 of 67 games. Only one other NCAA II head coach -- Colorado State University-Pueblo's John Wristen (57) -- 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).

IN GOOD HANDS: The Bulldogs have held the upper hand in time of possession in 30 of the past 31 games. Last fall, UMD ranks first among all NCAA II schools in that department this season (38:23) after finishing 3rd and 1st, respectively in 2017 and 2016.

UP NEXT: UMD will hit the road to face NSIC South Division member Augustana University on Oct. 6.