UMD Football Ready to Kickoff

NSO-NEWS RELEASE

Two weeks of preseason practice are now in the rearview mirror for the University of Minnesota Duluth and with the 2014 opener fast approaching — Sept. 6 vs. Concordia University-St. Paul at James S. Malosky Stadium — the folks at umdbulldogs.com thought this was as good a time as any to release these number nuggets:

82 – Year of intercollegiate competition for UMD football in 2014. Since they began play in 1930 (the sport was suspended for three years, 1943-45, due to World War II), the Bulldogs have piled up a 476-260-24 overall record. That .642 lifetime winning percentage is currently the ninth best among all NCAA Division II clubs.

78.8 – Ground yards per game UMD allowed during the 2013 season — the fifth best average in the NCAA II ranks. The Bulldogs did even better in total defense, ranking fourth nationally (283.8 ypg).

43 – Lettermen the Bulldogs retain from last year’s club, which went 11-2 overall and advanced to the NCAA Division II playoffs for the sixth time in as many years (they bowed out in the second round to eventual national champion Northwest Missouri State University). Thirteen of those holdovers were starters from a year ago, including seven on offense and five on offense as well as junior placekicker/punter Andrew Brees, a 2012 All-NSIC first team pick.

24 – Years since the same individual handled both UMD’s punting and placekicking duties before current junior Andrew Brees accomplished that feat for a sizable part of the 2013 season.

18 – NSIC championships the Bulldogs have won — tops among any other institutions (they share that distinction with Winona State). UMD had its string of five consecutive NSIC crowns – the longest such run in program history – come to an end last year, despite going 10-1 in conference play.

14 – Straight season-opening victories UMD has racked up coming into this fall. The last time UMD started a year 0-1 was in 1999 in then-coach Bob Nielson’s Bulldog debut (a 35-17 setback to visiting Minnesota State University-Mankato).

14– Size of the Bulldogs’ 2014 senior class. Of that those 14, which includes defensive back Daryl Brown, who transferred last spring from the University of North Dakota, just 11 began their collegiate careers at UMD.

9 – 100-yard rushing games turned in by the Bulldogs one year ago. 2014 senior running back Austin Sikorski had five of those (giving him 11 for his career), junior running back Logan Lauters had three and sophomore quarterback Drew Bauer had one.

6 – NSIC North Division titles UMD has claimed since the league began utilizing a two-division format in 2008. The Bulldogs are a sizzling 36-2 against NSIC North Division opponents (19-0 at home) over that stretch with both of those two losses being inflicted by St. Cloud State (51-49 in 2012 and 35-7 in 2011).

5 – Bulldogs ahead of Zach Zweifel on UMD’s career pass reception charts. The two-time All-NSIC North Division honoree (2011 and 2012) who has played in all 39 games over the past three seasons, comes into the year with 121 catches for 1,570 yards and 12 touchdowns. Fellow true senior Aaron Roth holds down the No. 9 spot on that same list (105 receptions for 1,152 yards and eight scores).

4 – Preseason All-Americans the 2014 Bulldog roster sports: senior offensive guard Andrew Muer (USA College Football and Beyond Sports College Network), senior wide receiver/return specialist Aaron Roth (USA College Football and College Football Development League), senior running back Austin Sikorski (USA College Football) and junior placekicker/punterAndrew Brees (USA College Football). Sikorski, the 2013 NSIC North Division Preseason Offensive Player of the Year who ran for a career-high 1,290 yards as a junior (the fifth largest single-season harvest in team history), currently ranks seventh for career rushing yards among Bulldogs (2,736).

4 – Times the Bulldogs have failed to crack the Top 10 in an American Football Coaches Association Division II weekly poll since Sept. 29, 2008. Those came on Sept. 19, 2011 (No. 11), Oct. 31, 2011 (No. 15), Dec. 17, 2012 (No. 12), and in the 2013 preseason poll (No. 11). The Bulldogs did hold down the No. 1 spot in the AFCA II rankings from Nov. 8, 2010 until their 7-0 loss to Wayne State on Sept. 17, 2011.

4 – Interceptions the Bulldogs brought back for touchdowns last fall. That equaled a school record set in both 1986 and 2010. One of those four thefts was hauled in by current junior linebacker Nathan Zibolski.

4 – UMD football alums on this year’s coaching staff. That quartet includes graduate assistants Garth Heikkinen (2009-2012), Tyler Johnson (2006-09) and Noah Pauley (2007-10) and part-time assistant Scott Hanna (1969-72), who retired from UMD in the spring of 2012 after 44 years of service to the Bulldog athletics as a player (football and baseball), coach (head baseball and assistant football) and equipment manager. In addition, Mike Wendinger, a football Bulldog during the mid-1990s, is UMD’s head athletic trainer. Heikkinen, Johnson and Pauley collectively have five national title rings between them.

3 – 2014 Preseason polls in which the Bulldogs cracked the Top 4 — No. 2 (BennettRank), No. 3 (American Football Coaches Association) and No. 4 (D2Football.com). UMD was also chosen as the team to beat in the NSIC Preseason Football Coaches Poll.

UMD, which held down the No. 3 slot in the American Football Coaches Association Division II Preseason Poll that came out on Aug. 18, checked in at No. 4 in the D2.Football.com rankings and at No. 2 in the BennettRank Division II listing.  The Bulldogs were one of just three Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference schools to crack each of those three polls joining Minnesota State University-Mankato and St. Cloud State University.

0– Number of NCAA II schools in the country with a better winning percentage than UMD’s since the start of the 2008 season (.890 off a 73-9 overall record). No team has also won more national championships (two) or posted more 15-0 seasons (two) during that stretch than the Bulldogs.