Football | 9/29/2021 4:37:00 PM
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The Minnesota State University Moorhead football team hosts No. 22-ranked Minnesota Duluth for its homecoming game this Saturday. Kickoff is at noon at Scheels Field at Nemzek Stadium.
The Dragons (2-2) enter the game coming off of a 33-28 win over Upper Iowa while UMD (3-1) fell 31-28 at home to Wayne State.
Live stats and video are available at msumdragons.com
An MSUM win over Minnesota Duluth would...
—end an 18-game losing streak to the Bulldogs
--give the Dragons their first win over a ranked foe in the Steve Laqua era
--give the Dragons a 1-0 mark in north division play
--give the Dragons their third homecoming win in Steve Laqua's coaching tenure.
Series History
UMD leads the series with MSUM 37-20-4 and has won 18 meetings in a row. The Dragons' last win over the Bulldogs was in 1999 by a 20-14 score.
2019: UMD 48, MSUM 20 (in Moorhead)
2018: UMD 60, MSUM 7 (in Duluth)
2017: UMD 23, MSUM 14 (in Moorhead)
2016: UMD 42, MSUM 34 (in Duluth)
2015: UMD 47, MSUM 14 (in Moorhead)
The Head Coaches
Steve Laqua is in his ninth season, and 10th year overall as MSUM's head coach with a record of 45-59 at the school. Curt Wiese is in his 9th season at UMD with a record of 74-16.
About MSUM
MSUM improved to 2-2 with a come-from-behind 33-28 win over Upper Iowa last Saturday. The Dragons were down 21-10 early in the fourth quarter but scored 23 straight points to surge into a 33-21 lead, on their way to the win. Freshman quarterback Tommy Falk threw for a career-high 426 yards and four touchdowns while Grady Bresnahan caught two touchdowns. Matt Schoh and Josiah Behm each had 11 tackles to pace the defense.
Falk has completed 110-of-169 passes for 1,426 yards and 11 touchdowns while senior receiver Grady Bresnahan has 39 catches for 481 yards and five scores. Sophomore receiver Ryan Bieberdorf has 27 catches for 444 yards and three scores.
On the ground freshman running back Luke Imdieke has 106 rushing yards.
MSUM scores 24.0 points per game and records 398.3 yards per game of total offense.Â
Schoh leads the defense with 32 tackles while senior safety Shad Vedaa has 29 and Behm and sophomore safety Jared Kallenbach have 28 each. Darius Woods-Steichen leads with 1.5 sacks.Â
The Dragons allow 29.75 points per game and 376.3 yards per game of total offense.
About No. 22 Minnesota Duluth
The Bulldogs suffered their first loss of the season last Saturday, falling to Wayne State 31-28. The Wildcats scored 28 second-quarter points.
Cazz Martin hasd rushed for 347 yards and four scores for the Bulldogs while John Larson has thrown for 952 yards and nine touchdowns. Armani Carmickle has 15 catches for 481 yards and five touchdowns.Â
UMD is scoring 32 points per game and recording 385.3 yards per game of total offense.Â
On defense the Peacocks allow 19.5 points per game and 286.8 yards per game on defense.
Brad Dati has 28 tackles and leads the team in tackles for loss (10.0) and sacks (3.5). Marcus Glodowski has two interceptions.
More about the Dragons
Grady Grabs Record
Senior Grady Bresnahan became MSUM's all-time leader in receptions during Saturday's win vs. Upper Iowa. He finished with eight catches and now has 218 for his career, four more than previous school record holder Jabari Taylor.
100 x 3
Three Dragon receivers surpassed 100 receiving yards in the win over Upper Iowa, which is a first in the 10-year tenure of the Steve Laqua coaching era. Sophomore Ryan Bieberdorf had eight catches for 141 yards and a score; junior Trent Marquart had eight catches for 103 yards while senior Grady Bresnahan had eight catches for 101 yards and two scores.
Take Your Pick
MSUM has intercepted seven passes through four games which third-best in all of Division II. Sophomore safety Jared Kallenbach and freshman cornerback Cody Sorenson lead the Dragons with two each.
Tommy's On Target
Freshman quarterback Tommy Falk has only made four collegiate starts but has been on target so far. He is second in all of Division II in passing yards (1,426) and passing yards per game (356.5) and is fifth in completions per game (27.5). Falk is 14th in touchdown passes (11) and 21st in completion percentage (65.1 percent). Falk threw for 428 yards and four touchdowns, both career highs, in the Dragons' 33-28 win over Upper Iowa last Saturday.
Week 5 Under Laqua
The Dragons are 2-7 in Week 5 games under Head Coach Steve Laqua. In 2011, the Dragons lost to Minnesota-Duluth, 49-21 and in 2012, lost their homecoming game to Northern State, 45-7. In 2013, MSUM edged Northern State, 47-46 in Aberdeen, S.D. MSUM had lost four Week 5 games in a row until beating Upper Iowa, 17-13 in 2018.Â
Homecoming in the Laqua era
MSUM is 2-7 in homecoming games under Laqua, with both wins coming over Minnesota Crookston. The Dragons beat the Golden Eagles, 29-22 in 2011 and 41-12 in 2016. From 2012-15 MSUM lost four straight homecoming games. In 2018 MSUM lost to No. 1-ranked Minnesota State 42-20 and in 2019 lost a heartbreaker to Winona State, 28-26.
