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This Week
The Minnesota State University Moorhead football team will face its third nationally-ranked team in four weeks when it plays at No. 4-ranked Minnesota Duluth on Saturday. Game time is 6 p.m. at Jim Malosky Stadium in Duluth, Minn.

The Dragons faced then-No. 4-ranked Minnesota State, Mankato in Week 2 and last week, faced then-No. 24-ranked Sioux Falls in their homecoming game.

Live audio, with Dragon broadcasters Steve d'Eustachio and Larry Scott on the call, can be heard at msumdragons.com. 

MSUM is 1-3 overall and in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference while Minnesota Duluth is 4-0 overall and in the conference.

Series history
MSUM and Minnesota Duluth will meet for a 56th time with the Bulldogs holding a 31-20-4 lead in the series. UMD has won 12 straight meetings, including a 69-45 win over the Dragons a year ago. MSUM's last win in the series came in 1999 in Duluth when the Dragons prevailed 20-14.

Last five meetings:
2013: UMD 69, MSUM 45 (in Moorhead, Minn.)
2012: UMD 45, MSUM 14 (in Duluth, Minn.)
2011: UMD 49, MSUM 21 (in Moorhead, Minn.)
2010: UMD 56, MSUM 7 (in Moorhead, Minn.)
2009: UMD 76, MSUM 7 (in Duluth, Minn.)

The Head Coaches
Steve Laqua is in his fourth season as MSUM's head coach with a record of 8-29 at the school, while Curt Wiese is in his second season as UMD's head coach with a record of 15-2 at the school.

About MSUM
The Dragons are coming off of a 73-21 loss to No. 24-ranked Sioux Falls last week. MSUM fell behind early 35-0 and cut the lead to 35-14 by halftime but the Cougars pulled away in the second half. Junior quarterback Jake Hodge rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown and also threw for 143 yards and a score, while redshirt freshman quarterback Demetrius Carr threw for a touchdown. Junior receiver Adam Jiskra and sophomore receiver Cory Ambrose each had touchdown receptions. For the defense, sophomore Sheldon Jones had 15 tackles while junior Chris Binford had seven tackles and an interception.

Junior running back Zayne Medhaug leads the Dragons with 395 rushing yards. He has three touchdowns.  Hodge has rushed for 314 yards and two touchdowns. Hodge has thrown for 912 yards and six touchdowns. Jiskra has 26 catches for 392 yards and three touchdowns, while Ambrose has 16 catches. MSUM is averaging 230.5 yards per game on the ground and 259.2 yards per game through the air for a total of 489.8 yards per game of total offense. The Dragons are scoring 27.5 points per game.

Sophomore linebacker Aaron Bohl leads MSUM with 39 tackles, while junior cornerback Chris Binford has 33 tackles along with two interceptions. Sophomore defensive lineman Ryan Dahleen, sophomore defensive tackle Zach Drevlow and redshirt freshman safety Abe Roehrich each have a sack. Jones has six pass breakups and an interception.

The Dragon defense allows 55.5 points per game and 261.2 yards per game on the ground. Teams are throwing for 361.8 yards per game against the Dragons, who surrender 623.0 yards per game of total offense.

About Minnesota Duluth
Minnesota Duluth is 4-0 overall and in the NSIC after beating No. 20-ranked Winona State, 28-21 last week.   Drew Bauer threw for 151 yards and three touchdowns while Logan Lauters rushed for 128 yards.

Lauters has rushed for 499 yards and a touchdown to lead the UMD offense.  Bauer has rushed for 274 yards and three touchdowns. Bauer has completed 46-of-95 passes for 521 yards and six touchdowns. Beau Bofferding leads the receiving corps with 14 catches for 129 yards and a score. UMD is averaging 27.2 points per game and rushing for 301.5 yards per game. The Bulldogs throw for 130.2 yards per game and average 431.8 in total offense.

The Bulldog defense surrenders just 15.8 points per game. Teams are rushing for only 95.2 yards per game against UMD while throwing for 221.5.  The Bulldogs allow 316.8 yards per game in total offense. Gavin Grady and David Boegel led the defense with 25 tackles apiece. Grady shares the team lead with 5.5 tackles for loss.

More about the Dragons
National Rankings
The MSUM football team is ranked 20th in all of Division II in total offense at 489.9 yards per game. The Dragons are ranked 23rd in the nation in rushing offense (230.5 yards per game) and 28th in the nation in first downs (96).

Sophomore Sheldon Jones is ranked 15th in the nation in passes defended at 1.8 per game.  Hodge is 26th in total offense per game at 306.5, while Jiskra is ranked 24th in receiving yards at 395. Medhaug is 33rd in rushing yards at 395.

Hodge and Jiskra Climbing the Charts
Hodge is now ranked second in Dragon school history with 4,836 career passing yards and trails career leader Dustin Long, who has 5,748 career yards. Jiskra is now ranked third all-time in career receptions with 134.

Block Party
Redshirt freshman safety Abe Roehrich and freshman defensive lineman Jake Busse both blocked field goals during the Dragons' 40-36 win over Wayne State on Sept 20. In a game decided by four points, keeping those six points off the scoreboard proved vital.

Week 5 Under Laqua
The Dragons are 1-2 in Week 5 games under Head Coach Steve Laqua.  In 2011, the Dragons lost to Minnesota-Duluth, 49-21 and in 2012, loss their homecoming game to Northern State, 45-7. Last season MSUM edged Northern State, 47-46 in Aberdeen, S.D.

All-Purpose Weapon
Junior running back Zayne Medhaug became the first player in the NSIC to return a kickoff for a touchdown in the Dragons' 40-36 win over Wayne State. Medhaug returned a kickoff 98 yards for a score in the fourth quarter to put MSUM up 38-23 in what proved to be the game-winning score. Medhaug leads the NSIC in kick return average at 46.0 yards per return. He is second in the NSIC in all-purpose yardage at 148.5 yards per game, third in rushing at 395 yards and tied for seventh in scoring at 24 points.
It was MSUM's first kick return for a touchdown since 2006 when Jabari Taylor accomplished the feat.

Hodge a Double Threat
Hodge continues to be one of the top all-around threats in the NSIC.  He ranks second in the league in total offense per game at 306.5 yards per game.  Hodge also is ranked sixth in the NSIC in passing yards per game at 228.0.

All-NSIC returners
The Dragons had seven players who earned All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference honors a year ago, and all seven return.

That includes junior wide receiver Adam Jiskra, who was a first-team selection a year ago. Also returning for the Dragons are junior quarterback Jake Hodge (All-NSIC second team), junior running back Zayne Medhaug (All-NSIC second team),  sophomore wide receiver Cory Ambrose (All-NSIC second team), junior linebacker Chris Lee (honorable mention), junior offensive lineman Troy Peterson (honorable mention) and defensive lineman Ryan Dahleen (honorable mention).

2014 Captains
MSUM's senior linebacker Lomumba Ismail and sophomore linebacker Aaron Bohl are the Dragons' 2014 team captains.

No Place Like Home
Nearly half of the Dragons' 2014 roster is from Minnesota, as 43 players hail from the Land of 10,000 Lakes.  The next state is neighboring North Dakota with 18 players.