UMD Football will face Sioux Falls in the NSIC Showdown on the Road on Saturday

The University of Minnesota Duluh football team will look to get back to winning ways on Saturday when it heads to a make-or-break Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference showdown at the University of Sioux Falls. The game begins at 1:00 p.m. at Bob Young Field in Sioux Falls, SD

TOUCHDOWN AMES: It has been three years since a wide receiver scored more touchdowns in an entire season than a junior wide receiver Da Shaun Ames currently only owns six games.

Ames has seven TDs – including one in each of his last three games – the most touchdowns by a WR since Armani Carmickle had 11 – across 12 games in the 2021 season. In his first six games this year, Carmickle, like Ames, had seven touchdowns.

Ames was quarterback Kyle Walljaspers He is the leading target so far this season with 22 receptions for 520 yards. Ames recorded 481 receiving yards, averaging 26.4 yards per catch – the second most of any WR in the NSIC with 10 or more receptions. With an average of 86.6 yards per game in the six games of the season, Ames ypc is also good enough for third place in the NSIC.

Averaging 3.7 receptions per game, Ames has already doubled his career season-high for receiving touchdowns (three in 2023) and his career-high single-season total last season (5). Ames has rushed for 1,174 yards in his 26-game career, averaging 45.2 yards per game.

The career advancement for WALLJASPER continues: Redshirt junior quarterback Kyle Walljasper has totaled 5,815 yards of offense so far in his career – good enough for the fifth-most total offense in program history. Walljasper has 2,156 career rushing yards and 3,625 passing yards – including 34 receiving yards in the 2023 season.

Walljasper’s 3,625 passing yards already rank eighth all-time and are just 65 yards away from taking the seventh career passing spot, which currently belongs to Bruce Grant, who had 3,690 passing yards between 1980 and 1983.

The redshirt junior currently has 76 total (30 rushing, 45 passing and one receiving). This jump now puts Walljasper fifth all-time for total career touchdowns. Walljasper’s 45 passing TDs are the sixth most of his career in program history, and his 30 rushing touchdowns are tied for eighth with Corey Veech (1982-86) and Brad Foss (2007-10).

Walljasper has turned the stats he posted a year ago on their head: After scoring 16 rushing and 22 passing touchdowns in 2023, he has only scored three rushing touchdowns so far this season, but in just six games already thrown 13 touchdowns. Walljasper’s passing yards per game are also up compared to last year – in 2023 he threw for 143.6 yards per game – this season Walljasper is averaging 212.2 in seven games.

HENNESSEY JOINS THE TOP 10 CAREER SACK CLUB: Drew Hennessey has the ninth-most career sacks in program history, a club he joined on Sept. 28 against SMSU. His sack mark makes him the first Bulldog player since Nate Pearson (2017-21) to record 17 or more sacks in his career and the second-most in program history. Russ Rabe holds UMD’s career sack record with 29, set from 2001 to 2004.

Hennessey is just a single sack away from tying the seventh spot currently held by Rob Huberty (2008-11) and Cody Ahmann (2004-07).

Hennessey delivered a career-best eight sacks in 2023 and was one sack away from tying for 10th place for most sacks in a single season. UMD has had four players record a record nine sacks – a total of 11 players have given up nine or more sacks in a single season.

THE MATCHUP: Sioux Falls is the only NSIC opponent against whom the Bulldogs’ all-time record is upended. In six all-time meetings, UMD is 2-6 overall in a streak that only began in 2013, and the Bulldogs are still winless at 0-3 in three games played on the Cougars’ home court.

However, UMD ended a four-game losing streak against USF with a 42-34 win at Malosky last season on Sept. 16.

In this Military Appreciation Day triumph, the game started offensively for UMD with a blitz of offense in the first quarter. The Bulldogs’ first TD came from the redshirt sophomore quarterback Kyle Walljasperwho capped a nine-play, 73-yard opening march with a 1-yard run at 8:57.

It was the UMD defense that paved the way for the Bulldogs’ second TD when they graduated as a senior DB at the time Tim Pokornowski forced a fumble at UMD’s 5-yard line and graduated as a senior Ty’Rese Gibson returned it 25 yards to set up the Bulldogs’ offense with 1:24 left in the first quarter. No time left on the clock, wide receiver Jimmy Durocher ran a reverse to the right side for a 27-yard TD that paired with a Curtis Cox Kick gave the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead after one.

The Cougars came into the game with two touchdowns less than four minutes apart on a 1-yard touchdown from sophomore quarterback Camden Dean. USF then tied the game at 14 apiece after Matt Grzybowki scored a touchdown at 8:30. But Walljasper needed just three plays and less than a minute and a half to help UMD regain the lead, running 46 yards to bring the Bulldogs to a 21-14 lead that they would hold at halftime.

It was Walljasper again who opened the second half, capping off a six-play, 75-yard drive with a 15-yard run that doubled UMD’s lead to 28-14. Graduate senior running back Chamere Thomas He then ran away from the Cougars for a 31-yard touchdown, extending the Bulldog lead to 35-14 with 6:01 left in the third quarter.

USF countered with two Dylan Rudningen rushing touchdowns just over a minute apart early in the fourth quarter, but UMD and Walljasper again scored the Bulldogs’ sixth total rushing touchdown of the afternoon at 5:09, putting UMD up 42 -27 back on top. The Cougars scored a final touchdown by Dean at 2:03, but the Bulldogs, who never trailed in the contest, held on for a final 42-34 victory.

Walljasper rushed for a career-high 270 yards, while his four rushing touchdowns tied a career mark. Sam Pitz had eight catches for 133 yards – a career high for the redshirt senior tight end, and the Bulldog offense had a season-high 550 yards of offense, including a balanced spread of 280 on the ground and 270 yards through the air. UMD also had its season-best average in both yards per rush (8.75) and yards per catch (11.74).

On the defensive side, DB is in his fifth year Marcus Glodowski led the Bulldogs with a season-best eight tackles, including seven solos, while a redshirt senior linebacker Andrew Klopp had seven (six solo) for his season high. Both Mac Beach and Pokornowski had six for UMD, allowing the Cougars just 137 total rushing yards.

LAST TIME: UMD’s comeback effort was cut short last Saturday by a 24-21 loss to Northern State University at Malosky Stadium.

As the NSIC offensive leader all season, the Bulldogs were held to just seven points in the first three quarters before jumping out to a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter. A last-second field goal by the Wolves gave them the lead as time expired, giving UMD its second loss in as many games.

UMD’s first eight-minute drive ended in a missed field goal, and neither team put a score on the scoreboard in the first quarter.

The Wolves scored 14 straight points in the second, including an 80-yard drive that ended in a 33-yard passing touchdown. Trailing by two points with just over a minute left in the half, the Bulldogs drove 73 yards downfield and finished with a 17-yard passing touchdown Kyle Walljasper To Da Shaun Amestheir seventh goal of the season, cutting NSU’s lead midway through before halftime.

After a scoreless third quarter, the Wolves took a 21-7 lead with a 12-yard rushing touchdown. Two more drives ended in a punt before the Bulldogs’ offense got into full swing. A 73-yard drive by UMD was capped by a one-yard rushing touchdown by Walljasper, bringing UMD back within a touchdown. The Bulldogs quickly regained possession after UMD’s defense made a huge stop on fourth down. This time, Derrick Johnson completed a 44-yard drive with a one-yard rush up the middle.

With the game tied at 21-21 with just two and a half minutes left, the Bulldogs were unable to touch the ball as the Wolves drove up the field for the game-winning field goal.

The Bulldog offense was led by Walljasper, who went 9-14 through the air with 115 yards and a touchdown. The quarterback also led all Bulldog rushers with 145 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Daniel Mitchell added 24 yards on the ground, an average of 6 yards per carry, and Ames had four catches for 39 yards and a score.

Jonathan Shrum led the Bulldogs’ defensive efforts with a 0.5 TFL and one interception. Jarrett Bennett led the Bulldogs with 10 tackles and Drew Hennessey counted one pass of separation.

Bulldog Notes: The Bulldogs are now 29-12 all-time against NSU after the Wolves snapped a seven-game winning streak last weekend, UMD’s longest ever.

– Entering Saturday’s game, UMD was averaging 38.1 points per game against the Wolves but was held to just 21 points.

— The setback marked the first time the Bulldogs have lost back-to-back games in four seasons, since losing back-to-back games to the University of Sioux Falls and Upper Iowa University during the 2019 season.

– It was also the first time since their meeting with Sioux Falls in the 2019 season that the Bulldogs had seven or fewer points in the first three quarters of the game.

—Kyle Walljasper completed a season-high 23 passes on the most 35 attempts of the season, as well as a season-high for rushes (17).

—Ryder Patterson He had a team-high seven receptions, which was also his career-best performance.

—Logan Kobus posted a season average of 43.7 yards per punt for a total of 218 yards – the sixth-highest mark of his career – and tied a season high with five punts in a game.

—Preston McQueen posted a season-high with nine tackles and a career-high for most tackles in a game.