THE MATCHUP Minnesota Duluth Football is on the road to take on the Augustana Vikings on Nov. 5 at 1 p.m. Going into the weekend both UMD and Augustana have overall records of 6-3. In the all-time series against the Vikings, dating back to 2004, UMD leads 11-2. The last time the teams kicked off was Nov. 6, 2021 where the Bulldogs came out victorious 41-15. In last year's game, Wade Sullivan got the game going with a touchdown in the first quarter. In the second quarter Garrett Olson made a 51 yard rushing touchdown to give UMD a 34-7 lead. Olson notched 171 yards in passing and 76 in rushing. The Bulldog defense had a strong game against the Vikings as they had three sacks and five interceptions for a total of 78 yards.  

LAST TIME OUT UMD is coming off a 51-7 win at home against Minot State. The Bulldogs came off strong in the first quarter with a touchdown down by Kyle Walljasper  and a successful two-point conversion from Zach Ojile. On the Beavers following drive Landon Carter returned an interception for 20 yards placing UMD in the red-zone. Ojile followed that up with two more touchdowns and another two-point conversion. Armani Carmickle notched a touchdown at the end of the second quarter to give the Bulldogs a 30-0 lead. As the Bulldogs kept the momentum going into the second half, Armani recorded his second touchdown of the game off a 75 yard reception. In the third quarter, Minot got past the defense to put themselves on the board with seven points. To finish off the game strong, Cameron Miller and Noah Skifton recorded two more touchdowns. The Bulldogs lead with 594-100 total offensive yards. The defense held Minot to just five first downs, kept them to a third-down conversion rate of 2-13, and made five sacks for a loss of 37 yards.  

TOP 'DOGS With UMD's success last weekend, they held their ranks at a conference and national level. Minnesota Duluth holds the number one spot in both the conference and national rankings for time of possession. The special teams also hold their spot at the top of the conference and third nationally for kickoff return defense. The Bulldog defense moved from 19th to ninth in the nation and first in the conference for total defense. UMD's offense is placed second in the NSIC and 16th in the nation for third-down defense, in addition to first in the NSIC and 11th in the nation for rushing offense. 

MILESTONE MOMENT With Carmickle's second touchdown reception of 75 yards, he notched his 2000th career receiving yards. Carmickle is now one of six Bulldogs in program history to record 2000 receiving yards. 
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT Last weekend, Augustana dropped their game against Winona State 24-7. The Vikings were held scoreless till the fourth quarter where. To get on the board quarterback Casey Bauman made a 33 yard pass to Jake Fisher. The teams were close in total offensive yards but Augustana led 263-245. Of the Vikings 263 yards, 231 of them came from passing. They had a third-down conversion rate of 4-15 and fourth-down rate of 0-1. Through the season the Vikings have recorded a total of 3067 offensive yards and kept opponents to 2912. Their leader in rushing yards is David Addo with 398. Leading the team in receiving yards is Jack Fischer who has notched 461. Fischer is ranked third in the NSIC for receiving touchdowns On the defensive side of the game, the Vikings are led in total tackles by TJ Liggett who has made 62. Augustana has made 17 sacks, with 8.5 coming from Grayson Diepenbrock, ranking him third in the NSIC for sacks. Dienpenbrock is ranked first in the conference and 11th in the nation for forced fumbles They have made nine interceptions and five fumble recoveries. Their defense is ranked second in the NSIC for third-down conversion defense. With the Vikings being ranked second for third-down defense and UMD being ranked second for third-down conversions, both teams will be put to the test.