#10 CONCORDIA Cobbers (8-1/6-1 MIAC)	vs.	UM-MORRIS Cougars (4-5/4-3 UMAC)
	Game 10: Nov. 10, 2005 5:30pm Fargodome Fargo, N.D.

CONCORDIA		UM-MORRIS
Notes	Statistics	Notes	Statistics
Schedule	Coaches	Schedule	Coaches
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- Recap/Live Scoring

- Audio Highlights of 2005 Cobber Season

Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: November 8, 2005

Complete Gameday Notes in Printable PDF

GAMEDAY BASICS

GAME TIME: 5:30 pm
RADIO: Live on 1280 AM in the F-M area with Steve Carlson doing the play-by-play. Also live on the internet via the Concordia website at www.gocobbers.com.
RANKINGS: Concordia is ranked 10th in the latest D3football.com NCAA Division III poll. It is the first time all season they have been ranked in the top 10. The Cobbers are also ranked 14th in the Football Gazette Poll and are ranked 11th in the AFCA poll. UM-Morris is unranked.
LAST WEEK: Concordia racked up a modern-day record 613 yards in total offense as they outgunned St. Olaf 49-35. Three different Concordia players rushed for over 100 yards. The Cobbers ran for 496 yards against the overmatched St. Olaf defense. Cory Johnson rushed for 165 yards, Kevin Williamson had 161 yards and quarterback Brian Schumacher added 134. Williamson ran for three scores, and Schumacher rambled for two more. UM-Morris had a bye week last weekend. They defeated Maranatha Baptist 48-18 on Oct. 29 in the Metrodome in their last game. The Cougars scored 42 straight points from the first quarter to the fourth to grab their fourth win of the year. UM-Morris quarterback Jeff Karschnik threw for 238 yards and five touchdowns. In all, the Cougars had six touchdown receptions and four different receivers hauled in touchdown catches. SERIES: Concordia leads 2-1-0
SERIES STARTED: 1976
SERIES HISTORY: Concordia won the first two games of the abbreviated series before UM-Morris won in the last meeting between theses two teams in 1983. The Cobbers and Cougars played a home and home series in 1976 and ’77 with Concordia winning both games. The Cobbers won the series opener 16-7 and then claimed a 10-0 win in 1977. UM-Morris won 23-14 in 1983 in the first game of that season...the Cobbers hold a 40-30 edge in total points in the series.

GAMEDAY KICKOFF
(What you need to know about this weekend’s Concordia-UM-Morris match-up)

-- With a win in tonight’s game with UM-Morris, the Cobbers would post back-to-back nine-win seasons. That would be the first time in program history that Concordia has won at least nine games in consecutive seasons.
-- The Cobbers have only posted back-to-back eight-win seasons once in program history. In 1980, Concordia won eight games and claimed the MIAC championship and then in 1981, the Cobbers won 11 games and were the Co-Champions of the NAIA.
-- Concordia is currently ranked 10th in the latest D3football.com NCAA Division III national poll. It is the first time this season that the Cobbers have been ranked in the top 10. Concordia is also ranked 14th in the Don Hansen Football Gazette Poll. Last week the Cobbers were ranked 14th in the AFCA poll. That marks the 10th straight week in 2005 that Concordia has been ranked in the top 25 in all three major Division III polls. It is also the 18th consecutive week that the Cobbers have been in the top 25 in a streak that dates back to Oct. 5, 2004.
-- In Saturday’s 49-35 win over St. Olaf, the Cobbers set a modern-day program record for most total offensive yards in a game. Concordia ground out 613 yards in offense, including 496 yards on the ground. That rushing total is the second-highest amount in program history in a single game.
-- Concordia leads the MIAC in time of possession. The Cobbers averaged 34:21 in time of possession in their eight league games in 2005. They have held the ball for over 38:00 in each of the past three games and are 8-0 when they have more time of possession than their opponent.
-- The Cobbers had their longest and most time-consuming drive of the season against the Oles. Concordia embarked on an 18-play, 93-yard drive that ate up 9:11.
-- Offensive tackle Ryan Johnson has started every game in his four-year career for the Cobbers. He has an amazing streak of 41 straight starts as the Concordia left tackle. He is one of two seniors two who has started, and played in, every game for the past four years. Kicker Brian Halverson is the other player on this year’s team to have accomplished that mark.
-- The Cobbers only allowed one field goal all season long. The lone three-pointer came in the Carleton game when Knights kicker Matt Bond successfully hit on a 34-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
-- UM-Morris enters tonight’s game having won its last two games and four of the past six.
-- Cougar quarterback Jeff Karschnik leads the UMAC (Upper Midwest Athletic Conference) in total offensive yards (256.8/gm) and is second in passing yards per game (247.0). He was named the UMAC Northern Division’s Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against Maranatha Baptist.
-- UM-Morris freshman receiver Matt Fragodt is second in the league in receiving yards per game (99.0), and sophomore Adam Turgeon leads the league in kick return yardage (21.6 yds/return).

GAMEDAY KICKOFF

Marquee Match-Up –
Concordia’s Secondary vs. UM-Morris’ Pitch and Catch Tandem Jeff Karschnik and Matt Fragodt
No, the Cobber Gameday staff did not just copy and paste the same match-up from last week. After allowing over 500 yards in total offense and 389 passing yards against the Oles, and in the process giving Co-Defensive Coordinators Scott Lucier and Dave Klug a year’s worth of sleepless nights, the Cobber secondary needs to come out and make a statement in the last regular season game in 2005. The Cougars bread-and-butter is the pass and after watching the tape of the St. Olaf game, Karschnik and Fragodt will have confidence that they can accomplish the same results. Look for the Cobber defensive backs to be more aggressive when going for the ball and not allowing any receivers to have a 10-yard cushion.
The Coaches
Concordia head coach Terry Horan (Concordia ’89) is in his fifth year as head football coach at Concordia College. Last season he helped the Cobbers to an 11-1 overall mark and a perfect 8-0 MIAC record - and the program’s 18th conference title. For his efforts he was named the AFCA Region Coach of the Year as well as the MIAC Coach of the Year. He has compiled a 25-8 conference record and a 30-12 overall mark in his first four seasons. UM-Morris head coach Ken Crandall is entering his eighth season as Head Football Coach with the Cougars. Prior to joining the staff at the University of Minnesota-Morris, Crandall spent two years at Norwich University in Norwich, Vt. as the Offensive Coordinator. In addition to his football duties, Crandall served as the Head Coach for the Men's and Women's Track programs.
Rushing Into the Records
The 2005 Cobbers are a lot like the Fargo-Moorhead winter – you know it is coming and are powerless to stop it! Every opponent knows that they have to stop Concordia from running the ball and no one has figured out a way to accomplish the task. Last week the Cobbers rushed for 496 yards and had three backs rush for over 100 yards. Concordia is now averaging 304.0 rushing yards per game an accomplishment made even more remarkable because of the fact that of all the great ground teams Concordia has produced over the years, not one has averaged over 300 yards per game on the ground for the season. Simple math tells the Gameday staff that if Concordia gains 264 yards against UM-Morris, they will finish the regular season with at least 300 yards per game on the ground.
Triple Poison
Concordia had three players run for over 130 yards in their win over the Oles. That is possibly the first time in recent MIAC history that one team has had three players achieve that feat. Freshman running back Cory Johnson led all players with 165 yards. Kevin Williamson had 161 yards and quarterback Brian Schumacher added 134 yards. All three players are currently in the top six in the league in rushing.
Brian Ballgame
Schumacher has racked up a team-high 1,700 yards in total offense this season. Over the past two seasons, he has accumulated 4,284 total offensive yards, the most by any player in the MIAC over that time span. After Saturday’s 49-35 win over St. Olaf, he remains in fourth place on the school’s all-time list. Ryan Hebrink (’04) holds the school record with 6,420 total offensive yards.
One More Chance!
Cobber kicker Brian Halverson still needs only one more field goal to break the program record for field goals made in a career. He currently has 29 field goals in his 3-plus years in maroon and gold and is tied with Chris Reimertz ’92 for the record. Halverson is 6-of-10 (.600) in field goal attempts this season and 29-of-41 (.707) for his career. Earlier in the season he broke the school record for points scored in a career.
Nationally Speaking
One player drops, three other take his place. That is what happened in the national statistical rankings for the Cobbers. Brian Halverson dropped off the charts while Kevin Williamson, Mark Halley and Tyler Ledyard all made the leap into the national picture. Williamson is ranked 37th in scoring (8.7 pts/game). Halley is 39th in solo tackles (5.9/game) and Ledyard is 50th in sacks (0.8/game). As a team, Concordia is in the top forty in three different categories. On offense, they are fifth in the nation in rushing (304.0/game) and 40th in total offense (419.4/game). After last weekend’s offensive showcase against St. Olaf, the Cobbers are only ranked in one defensive category. Concordia is 15th in rushing defense (82.2/game). UM-Morris is reclassifying with the NCAA and not eligible to be ranked in the ranking summary.