THE MATCHUP Minnesota Duluth Football will kick off against Bemidji State Saturday at 1 p.m. for their second consecutive road game. Going into this weekend's game both UMD and BSU have an overall record of 5-2 and are 3-0 in divisional play. In the all-time series, UMD leads 48-11-1. The teams last played on Oct. 23, 2021 where the Beavers made a late comeback in the fourth quarter to take the win 42-35. BSU's win broke UMD's 18 year win streak, dating back to 2000. In last year's game, Armani Carmickle scored two touchdowns off deep passes from Logan Graetz. Byron Bynum also recorded one touchdown off a short three yard pass. Carmickle was three yards short of 100 receiving yards. 

LAST TIME OUT The Bulldogs are coming off a road victory of 53-7 against Concordia St. Paul. UMD played a complete game all around, which led to their highest win margin this season. As the possession time was in UMD's favor 42:28-17:32, the Bulldogs controlled the game. On the offensive side of the game the team tallied 34 first downs. There were eight touchdowns put on the board scored from eight different Bulldogs. Against the Golden Bears, UMD had their highest total offensive yards this season with 573. Leading the offense was quarterback Kyle Walljasper with 132 passing yards, Wade Sullivan with 100 rushing yards, and Armani Carmickle with 81 receiving yards. Defensively, the Bulldog kept the Bears to just 164 offensive yards. CSP was kept to a third down conversion rate of 2-10 and fourth down conversion rate of 0-2. The Bulldogs made two fumble recoveries that resulted in touchdowns as well as Harrison Kielar made a return on an interception. 

WALLJASPER FOR THE WIN Quarterback Kyle Walljasper had another great game against the Golden Bears. Walljasper posted his first and second touchdown pass completion. He threw for a total of 132 yards, with his longest at 30. Walljasper also rushed for 67 yards and recorded one rushing touchdown. 

CAN'T STOP SULLIVAN Running back Wade Sullivan posted his second game of at least 100 yards. His game of the season he rushed for 121 yards and rushed 100 yards last weekend against the Golden Bears. Sullivan scored a touchdown off a season high 56 yard rush. On the season, Sullivan has recorded three rushing touchdowns and one passing touchdown.  

TOP 'DOGS Minnesota Duluth continues to hold their spots at the top of the conference and national ranking. The team is ranked first in both the national and the conference for possession time. On the defensive side of the game, the Bulldogs have moved up to ninth nationally and first in the league for total defense. UMD is still ranked first in the conference and 15th nationally for first down defense and 15th nationally. For fumble recoveries, they are ranked first in the NSIC and 22nd in the country. On the offensive side of the game, UMD ranks third in the conference for both third and fourth down conversion rates. The Bulldogs are ranked second in the NSIC and 24th in the nation for first down offense. Bynum is ranked second in the conference for receiving touchdowns, along with Walljasper who is ranked third for rushing touchdowns. 

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS Bemidji State will put UMD to the test. Bemidji is currently on a five game win streak. Having lost to Minnesota State 37-34 and Augustana 30-29. They have totaled 2977 offensive yards and have scored 248 points in seven games. When in the red-zone they have scored 90% of the time (27-30). Leading the Beavers with 434 rushing yards is junior Jalen Frye. Brendan Beaulieu will be one to watch on the passes as he leads with 757 receiving yards. The Beavers primary quarterback is junior Brandon Alt. Alt has notches 1906 yards in passing with his longest of the season at 66 yards. Alt has made 19 touchdown passes. Alt is ranked first in the NSIC and 15th nationally for completions per game. On the defensive side, Max Buduris has notched the most tackles for the Beavers with 19 solo and 13 assists for a total of 32. When the defense has had an opportunity to intercept they have capitalized on it. On five interceptions BSU has gained 149 yards. Defensive back Caleb Young made an interception and rushed 80 yards. In the conference and nationally the Beavers rank high. They are ranked first in the NSIC and nationally in both passing offense and first down offense. For total offense BSU is ranked first in the conference and fourth nationally.