In a game that will decide the postseason fates for both teams playing in it, the No. 24 University of Minnesota Duluth football team will travel to Mankato, Minn, this weekend to face No. 9 Minnesota State University, Mankato. The final regular season game for both teams will get underway at noon Saturday inside Blakesee Stadium.
ALL EYES ON SUPER REGION FOUR: Saturday will determine the postseason fate of a number of NSIC teams, and the Bulldogs and Mavericks are no different. MSU currently sits seventh in the Super Region Four, while the Bulldogs fell outside the top-10 in the final poll -- the top-seven teams secure NCAA Regional Tournament berths.
A GRAND RUSH: Redshirt sophomore quarterback Kyle Walljasper is just eight yards shy of 1,000 rushing yards this season. The QB is sitting at 992, and would be the first Bulldog to hit 1k rushing yards since Cazz Martin ran for 1077 in 2021 and the first quarterback to run for it since Drew Bauer did on 2014.
In fact in the last decade (2013-2023), just four players have hit the 1,000 rushing yard mark -- Martin, Bauer (1,184 - 2014), Logan Lauters (1,552 - 2014) and Austin Sikorski (1,290 - 2013). In fact over the past 20 years, only eight players have run for one thousane or more yards.
WITNESSING WALLJASPER: Kyle Walljasper has run for 15 TDs, passed for 20 and had one touchdown reception this season for 36 total TDs. Those 36 TDs now rank Walljasper in a tie for the fourth most all-time for total touchdowns in a season.
Walljapser has thrown also thrown for 1,370 yards and run for 992, as well as turned in 34 receiving yards for a total offense contribution of 2,396 yards -- which also now sits just outside the top-10 most total yards by a single player in a single season in program history.
With 992 rushing yards, Walljasper has now also run more for more yards in a single season than any UMD quarterback since 2014, when
Drew Bauer, ran up 1,184 yards over the 2014 season.
Walljasper also cracked another top-10 list earlier this season -- he accumulated 406 yards against Sioux Falls on Sept. 16, including 270 on the ground and 136 in the air, the 10th most total yards amassed by a Bulldog in a single game ever.
STATISTICALLY SUPERIOR: As a team, the Bulldogs are leading the NSIC in a number of categories.
UMD owns the top-ranked scoring offense , turning in 38.2 points a game, as well as the best rushing offense in the NSIC with a 252.6 yards rushed a game. The Bulldogs also sit with the most effective red zone offense in the league, scoring 70.0 of the time.
UMD's rushing offense ranks 7th in the NCAA, while its scoring offense sits 19th.
Other stat lines UMD ranks in the top-2 in the NSIC in currently --
1st (11th NCAA) -- Team Tackles for Loss (8.2)
2nd (24th NCAA) -- Rushing Defense (95.8)
1st -- (11th NCAA) Team Sacks (31)
2nd -- (13th NCAA) 3rd Down Conversion (48.1)
2nd -- (45th NCAA) 4th Down Conversion (35.3)
A RUSH TO THE TOP: Kyle Walljasper has run for 16 touchdowns -- by far surpassing his total output for last season (11).
Walljasper ranks fifth in the nation and first in the NSIC in rushing TDs, and eighth in the nation and first in the conference with a 6.99 yards per carry average. Other categories where Walljasper currently ranks in the top-16 in the NCAA:
4th -Total Points Responsible For (218)
5th - Points Responsible for per Game (21.8)
6th - Total Points Scored (96)
6th - Total TDs Scored (16)
8th - Scoring per game (9.6)
16th - Rushing Yards (992)
TO RUSH OR NOT TO RUSH: The Bulldogs sit atop of the NSIC and high in the NCAA with both their rushing offense and second in the league in rushing defense.
On offense, UMD sits first in the conference and seventh in the NCAA with an average of 252.6 yards a game on the ground and a total of 2,526 with 23 touchdowns. In 386 attempts UMD is averaging 6.5 yards per carry.
Defensively, the Bulldogs are allowing 95.8 yards game and just 3.2 yards in 295 attempts. That puts UMD 24th in the NCAA and second in the NSIC.
POINT TAKEN (EARLY): The Bulldogs continue to score early through this season and are averaging 24.2 points before halftime. Four times this season, including last weekend against CSP, the Bulldogs have scored 32 or more points by halftime.
SACK ATTACK: The Bulldogs rank 11th in the NCAA in sacks, averaging 3.10 sacks a game. UMD also sits 11th for tackles for loss, with 8.2 yard a game. In all, UMD has had 31 sacks -- the most in the NSIC.
Twice this season the Bulldogs have turned in eight sacks in a game -- both game-highs for the NSIC this season.
HENNESSEY TRACKS SINGLE-SEASON SACK TOP-10 LIST: Drew Hennessey, who had 3.5 sacks for a league-high against WSU on Sept. 30, ranks 13th in the country with a 0.90 sack per game average -- which also ranks third in the NSIC. Hennessey has 9 sacks so far on the season, which surpasses his 2022 career-high mark of six. Hennessey's 3.5 sacks against the Warriors was also a single-game best by the redshirt senior.
Hennessey's nine sacks lands him in a tie for the eighth most sacks in a season. Hennessey becomes the first Bulldog since former linebacker Nate Pearson to record nine or more sacks in a single season -- Pearson registered nine sacks twice, in both 2021 and 2019.
HAVE LEGS, WILL RUN: UMD's offense is averaging 252.6 rushing yards a game -- the seventh most yards a game in the NCAA and most in the NSIC.
THE MATCHUP: The Bulldogs and Mavericks first met on Sept. 30, 1932, and all-time, have played 41 games against each other. UMD owns the edge with a 21-19-1 record against MSU.
The two programs last tangled on Sept. 10, 2022 in Mankato, a 17-10 Maverick win, but neither program has ever run up a winning streak against the other that has been more than five games long. MSU has more recently had the best of the Bulldogs -- in the last decade, the Mavericks have had a 6-1 advantage in the rivalry.
Last September, MSU held UMD off 17-10 after scoring 17 points in the first half. A busy first quarter saw the Mavericks run back a punt return at 11:24 of the frame, but Curtis Cox made it a 7-3 game with 5:51 left. The Mavericks doubled their TDs with a 21 yd run at 2:44, and after the first 15 minutes, MSU was up 14-3.
MSU added a field goal early in the second quarter, but Kyle Walljasper ran a 1-yd touchdown in at 5:05 of the third quarter to pull UMD to within a single score. Neither team would surrender a point in the fourth quarter, however, ending the Bulldogs efforts at a comeback.
Walljasper had a team-best 87 yards on the ground in 12 rushing attempts, but still split time with Logan Graetz under center, who logged 61 passing yards. Marcus Glodowski led all players with 10 tackles, including seven solo efforts, while Brad Dati added nine (seven solo tackles).
LAST TIME OUT: UMD held of Concordia University, St. Paul last Saturday by a score of 44-32 at James S. Malosky Stadium.
Both sides logged impressive offensive numbers, and the Bulldogs jumped out to a 24-0 lead in the first quarter alone. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Kyle Walljasper found Sam Pitz for a 25 yard touchdown at 10:23, and less than a minute later, UMD's defense logged a safety after Jacob Mogensen stuffed the Golden Bears in their end zone. Just a little over two and a minutes later, Walljasper was on the receiving end of a touchdown after Jimmy Durocher tossed him the ball, and Walljasper ran it in from 34 yards out to make it a 24-0 game with 14 seconds left in the opening frame.
CSP got on the board at 12:01, but UMD scored twice in the final 3:38 of the second quarter – a two yard reception TD from Walljasper to Nick Ojile and then another two yard touchdown from Walljasper to Nathan Litke with 18 seconds left in the quarter. A Golden Bear field goal with no time remaining made it a 38-11 Bulldog lead into halftime.
CSP held UMD two two Curtis Cox FGs in the second half – one at 11:37 of the third quarter and another with 4:48 left in the fourth, and scored three touchdowns of their own, including a 26 yard punt return off a block at 13:12 of the fourth frame. The Golden Bear had one final TD reception with 1:31 remaining in regulation, but it wasn't enough to overcome the points pile UMD rolled up in the first half.
The Bulldogs compiled 428 yards of total offense on 241 yards in the air and 197 on the ground, white CSP turned in 421 yards with 302 of them from the air. Both teams were perfect in the red zone on the afternoon – the Bulldogs went 3-of-3, the Golden Bears 4-of-4.
CSP quarterback Conner Cordts threw for 302 yards and three touchdowns, while Walljapser matched his TDs (3) on 207 yards and surpassed him with a TD reception. DaShaun Ames had a UMD-best 75 receiving yards, including a team-long 40 yd effort.
Senior defensive back Marcus Glodowski had a Bulldog-best seven tackles – all solo efforts, while Brady Herbst added six solo tackles. Four players recorded sacks, including Drew Hennessey. Hennessey's sack late in the game pushed him to nine for the season, making him the first player in two seasons to reach the mark and just the 11th time a UMD player has had nine or more sacks in a season.
NOTES FROM THE CSP GAME: All-time, UMD is now 13-3 against the Golden Bears, and currently own a 10-game winning streak against CSP that started in the 2005.
--CSP put up the most passing yards of the season against UMD's defense, with 304 yards, as well as an opponent-high three passing TDs.
--Walljasper had a season-high 29 passing attempts against the Golden Bears, as well as a season-best 21 completitions.
--Walljasper has now recorded four or more touchdowns six times this season, and now has 20 passing TDs to pair with 15 rushing touchdowns and a recepition TD for a total of 36 TDs this season. The last UMD QB to turn in that many touchdowns in a season was Drew Bauer, who was responsible for 36 in 2016.
--Curtis Cox was a perfect 2-of-2 against CSP Saturday helping earning him the NSIC Special Team Player of the Week, and hit all four of his PATs. The Dodgeville, Wis. native made the second longest FG in all NSIC action last weekend with a 40 yard effort, and has played nine straight games without missing a PAT, going 38-of-38 over that span. This marks the second time this season Cox has earned the weekly honor -- he was also the NSIC Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 25.
