The University of Minnesota Duluth football team enters its second week on the road facing Concordia University St. Paul University Saturday inside Sea Foam Stadium. The Bulldogs battle the Golden Bears in their first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference game of the season with kick off set for 6:30 p.m.

OPENING STRONG: The Bulldogs improved their historically strong dominance of season openers to a staggering 66-22-4 all-time record with an impressive 9-3 record under Curt Wiese (six straight since 2018).

Notably, in Luke Dehnicke's breakout performance as a redshirt freshman tight end, he climbed his way to 152 receiving yards to knock out Jason Balt's 2017 performance from the program's 150 yards receiving last time list.

EARLY LEAGUE PERFORMANCES: While it is still early with only one game under each NSIC team's belt, UMD currently leads the conference in overall team defense while ranking third in offense behind MSU Moorhead and Minnesota State.

Individually, Mojo Weerts leads the conference in sacks (one solo, two assited) with Luke Dehnicke ranking third in receiving yards with 152 yards following behind TreShawn Watson (155 yds, Minnesota State) and Isaiah Huber (207 yds, Augustana).

THE MATCHUP: The Bulldogs are 13-3 against the Golden Bears all-time with an 11-game winning streak that goes back to 2005. With the win last season, UMD now owns a 5-2 record in St. Paul.
UMD has tallied 466 total points against CSP in their last 11 matches for an average of 42.36 points per game. That includes UMD largest margin of victory against the Golden Bears, a 56-0 thrashing on August 29, 2009 in Malosky Stadium.

MORE ON THE GOLDEN BEARS: CSP suffered a 38-7 non-conference loss in their first match of the season last Thursday against Quincy University. With a combined performance from starting quarterback Zachary Yeager and backup Reed Styer in the second half, the team found a way to a completion percentage of 62.9 percent. The team was held firmly out of scoring position until the final three minutes when the game was already 38-0 to improve to a 38-7 final score.

LAST TIME OUT: After a scoreless first quarter, the Bulldogs broke through in a big way with two touchdowns in the final four minutes of the first half. The first was a 55-yard TD pass from Walljasper to Ames at 3:53, followed by a Curtis Cox extra point kick that gave UMD the game's first lead of 7-0. Then, with just 23 seconds left in the quarter, Walljasper hit Ames again on another 11-yard TD route to give the Bulldogs a 14-0 advantage at the half.

Walljasper and Ames weren't done, however. Jarrett Bennett's interception and 31-yard return at the 12:11 mark set the Bulldogs up well, and UMD scored just five plays later when Walljasper found Ames wide open for the 7-yard TD to push UMD ahead 21-0.

CSP finally ran a score in with 3:16 left in the frame, but they wouldn't strike again, hemmed in by a UMD defense that caused two turnovers in the contest that led to 14 points.

The Bulldogs made it a 28-7 game with 8:56 left in the fourth quarter on a 29-yard TD run from Ben Vallafskey, and RB Daniel Mitchell, who lead all backs with 78 yards and a 7.8 yards per carry average, added a final TD with 21 seconds to make it a 35-7 final.

UMD outgained the Golden Bears offensively 492-149, including a 273-74 advantage on the ground.  Walljasper led the Bulldog passing attack with 219 yards through the air, tossed three touchdowns, and added 99 yards on the ground. The redshirt QB completed 76.9% of his passes on the day, going 20-for-26 while averaging 8.4 yards per attempt. Ames led all receivers with 98 yards on six receptions to pair with his three TDs – a career high for the redshirt junior.

Jacob Mogensen paced UMD's defensive effort with one interception, while Andrew Klopp had five tackles, 1.0 TFL, and one sack in the win. Two other players recorded five tackles – Mac Strand and Jonathan Shrum. The Bulldogs limited CSP's offense and allowed just 149 total yards, and kept the Golden Bears under 100 yards on both the ground and through the air, allowing just 75 passing and 74 rushing yards. The Bulldogs defense disrupted the CSP's passing game with two interceptions and broke up two Golden Bears passes.

NOTES ON THE WINONA STATE GAME: UMD is now 66-22-4 overall in all-time season openers as a program with an impressive 9-3 record under Wiese (six straight since 2018). The Bulldogs now command a 39-10 historic record and 12 straight wins over the Warriors.

-- The UMD offense combined for 388 yards to out gain WSU 388-202, including nearly doubling the rushing effort 105-58.

-- Kyle Walljasper threw for 283 yards (71.4% completion), tossing three touchdowns and rushing for one.

-- Luke Dehnicke's climbed to 152 receiving yards on six receptions with a 64-yard touchdown.

-- Chuck Gilbert III caught four receptions for 90 yards with two touchdown passes (longest 49 yards).

--Alex Riley led the way in rushing yards with 38 yards on six attempts. with Dehnicke leading the way in passing yards with a career best 152 yards.       

-- Ross Rivord led the defense on total tackles (four solo, three assisted).

--Mojo Weerts leads the NSIC in sacks with two for a combined loss of seven yards.

--Brock Unger earned the first Bulldog interception for a 61 yard gain.

THESE ARE YOUR CAPTAINS SPEAKING: UMD has four captains this season including three redshirt seniors DaShaun Ames, Kyle Walljasper, and Alex Sylvester along with senior Mojo Weerts.

SECOND WINNINGEST UMD FOOTBALL COACH: Curt Wiese enters his 13th season at the helm of UMD (15th career season). Wiese commands a dominant 105-27 record with an impressive two perfect 11-0 seasons, seven NSIC North Division titles, two NSIC championship victories, and two National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II playoff appearances. Last season he earned his way to becoming the second-winningest coach in UMD football history behind Hall of Fame coach Jim Malosky.

BULLDOG NOTES:

WALLJASPER EYEING TOP-10: Walljasper currently ranks sixth in career passing yards (4,361 yards with just 947 yards behind John Larson) and fifth in career total offense (6,943 yards, 2,983 yards behind Ricky Fritz). Last season he earned the 10th spot in single season total offense (2,685 yards).
Currently Walljasper has 2,582 career rushing yards and only needs 200 yards to break Amory Bodin's No. 10 spot (2,782 yards). This would make him one of three Bulldog quarterbacks in the category.

AMES INCHING CLOSE TO TOP-10: Ames currently falls just shy of the career 10th spot for pass receptions with him earning 1,410 yards in 75 receptions in three years. This places him behind Terry Egerdahl with 1,425 yards in 111 receptions.