University of St. Thomas (0-1/0-0 MIAC)
at
#17 Concordia College (1-0/0-0 MIAC)
September 17, 2005
Jake Christiansen Stadium
Moorhead, MN

GAMEDAY BASICS

GAME TIME: 1:00 pm
RADIO: Live on "My FM" 92.7 FM in the F-M area with Larry Knutson doing the play-by-play and color commentator Chris Ohm. Also live on the internet via the Concordia website at www.gocobbers.com.
RANKINGS: Concordia is ranked 17th in the latest D3football.com NCAA Division III poll. The Cobbers are also ranked 26th in the Football Gazette poll. St. Thomas is unranked.
SERIES: Concordia leads 35-27-0
SERIES STARTED: 1931
LAST YEAR: Last year Concordia used a stifling defense to beat the Tommies 20-3. The Cobbers held St. Thomas to only 14 yards rushing, three first downs in the second half and three total points. Ed Oehlers scored a pair of touchdowns for Concordia, and finished the game as the leading rusher with 51 yards on 12 carries. The Concordia offense produced 205 total yards, while the Tommies’ offense totaled 181 yards. Besides Oehlers’ two scores, Cobber kicker Brian Halverson knocked home a pair of field goals to round out the scoring. Defensively, Concordia was led by Tanner Radermacher who came up with two big interceptions. Senior linebacker Josh Dietz led the team in tackles with 11. Dustin Peltier and Andrew Ubbelohde were the driving force behind the Tommie defense. Peltier finished with a game-high 13 tackles and Ubbelohde chipped in 12.
SERIES HISTORY: Concordia has won the last three meetings in the series by a combined score of 117-44. Before that trio, the Tommies had rattled off four straight wins. The last time St. Thomas defeated Concordia was on Parents Weekend in 2001 when they came from behind to beat the Cobbers 38-35 in the final minutes of play. Today’s game is also the first time the two teams have met at Jake Chriatiansen Stadium since 2001...since the 1990 season, St. Thomas has only played four times at “The Jake”. The Tommies hold a 3-1 advantage in those four games...the longest winning streak by either team in the series is 10 games.

GAMEDAY KICKOFF
(What you need to know about this weekend’s Concordia-St. Thomas match-up)

- Saturday’s game with the Tommies in Jake Christiansen Stadium will be only the fifth time since the 1990 season that the two teams have played in Moorhead. St. Thomas holds a 3-1 advantage in the previous four.
With the win in its season opening game against MSU Moorhead, Concordia extended its home winning streak to eight games. The Cobbers went 5-0 at Jake Christiansen Stadium in 2004 and since the 2003 season they have compiled a home record of 9-1.
- Senior kicker Brian Halverson (Fargo, N.D./Fargo North HS) needs only 17 more points to break head coach Terry Horan’s all-time scoring record at Concordia. Halverson currently has 184 career points and is chasing Horan’s mark of 200. Halverson entered the season with 179 points and tallied five more in the season-opening win over the Dragons.
- Concordia is 17-7-1 in the past 25 years in the second game of the season. The Cobbers have won three straight “second” games. The last time Concordia dropped the second game of the year was back in 2001 when they lost 38-35 to the Tommies.
- The Cobbers are 2-1 in games after their bye week since Macalaster dropped out of the league back in 2002. This will be the third time since the 1991 season that Concordia has faced St. Thomas after a bye the previous weekend. The team’s split the previous two games.
- Cory Jonson’s 67-yard scamper in the opener against MSU Moorhead is the second longest run from scrimmage this season in the MIAC. Bethel running back Phil Porta had a 77-yard TD run at Buena Vista in the Royals’ season opener.
- Fellow freshman Levi DeVries also owns the second-most punt return yards in a single game in the MIAC this season. DeVries totaled 30 yards on four returns against the Dragons.
- Mark Halley’s 67-yard interception return for a TD is the longest of the year in the conference but only ranks third in the past two seasons in the MIAC. Bethel linebacker Kirby Carr returned a pick 85 yards for a score last year vs. Gustavus.
- Tyler Ledyard’s two-sack performance vs. MSUM is the most in a single game this season in the MIAC. Bethel’s Matt Ammerman duplicated that feat in its season-opener against Buena Vista. The most sacks in a MIAC game last season was 3.5 by SJU defender Kevin McNamara against the Tommies.
- In Saturday’s last-minute 24-21 loss to Coe, RB Jake Casey made his college debut — and started his first game as a tailback since 1997 as a seventh grader. Casey, a quarterback and fullback in high school, didn’t play in 2003 and 2004. The son of longtime UST athletic trainer Roger Casey and a former Tommie ball boy, Casey rushed 29 times for 119 yards and a TD. That was the Tommies’ 44th 100-yard rushing game since 1992.
- Junior wide receiver P.J. Theisen had seven catches for 98 yards and now has 62 receptions for 929 yards in 20 career games. He needs 71 yards to reach 1,000 career receiving yards.

IN-DEPTH GAMEDAY PREVIEW

Marquee Match-Up –
Cobber Offensive Line vs.

Ben Kessler and Andrew Ubbelohde
The game could very well hinge on Concordia’s ability to grind out valuable yards on the ground and eat up large chunks of time. The Cobber front five will be facing two of the premier defensive players in the league in defensive tackle Ben Kessler and linebacker Andrew Ubbelohde. If Concordia is unable to get a body on the Tommies’ top two defensive players, Cobber quarterback Brian Schumacher will be hurried into throwing the ball a lot sooner and the Concordia running backs will be trying to make a one to two yard gain out of a scrimmage-line hit. In the Cobbers’ opener, Concordia threw for just 80 yards but was able to run for over 200. If the offensive line can clear Kessler and Ubbelohde out of the way, then Concordia could be in line for a big offensive output...the secondary match-up to watch for is the St. Thomas wide receivers vs. the Cobber secondary. The Tommies are coming off a 200-yard passing performance and have the talent at wideout to control the ball as well as strike deep.

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 11-1overall 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.
Don Roney is in his eighth year as head coach of the Tommies. He has complied a 41-19 record in conference play in his first seven seasons. In
2004, he helped the Tommies finish 7-2. Its plus-4.5 win-loss game improvement from 2003 was among the best in Division III. Roney's team has had seven Academic All-Americans in seven years and currently has a team gpa of 3.07. Roney was named UST’s 28th head coach in 1998, replacing five-year head coach Mal Scanlan.

Gameday Preview -

– A Tribute to Family Weekend
Click Your Heels Together Three Times
Repeat after me, “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home.” The Cobbers are starting to feel like Dorothy in the “Wizard of Oz” because for Concordia there is no place like Jake Christiansen Stadium. The Cobbers are unbeaten in their last eight games at “The Jake” and have fashioned a 9-1 record in the past two seasons. The last time someone came to “Kansas” and walked away with the farm is when Bethel downed Concordia 36-19 on Sept. 20, 2003.

The von Trapps
Like the backbone of any good movie, the Cobber defensive supporting cast has once again allowed the starting players to be formed and individuals to steal the show. A pair of defensive linemen was lost in all the hype of the Power Bowl victory. Tyler Ledyard and Travis Almquist each played a huge role in allowing other Cobber players to earn post-game accolades. Ledyard set a Power Bowl record by recording two sacks. He finished the game with five solo tackles and seven total tackles. Almquist anchored the right side of the Concordia defensive line and came away with six tackles and two tackles for a loss. Also lost in “The Sound of Music” were safety Dave Moll and defensive end Adam Peterson. Moll and Peterson each had six tackles. Moll was a force in the secondary and Peterson used his speed to record one sack.

Inconceivable
Senior linebacker Mark Halley duplicated the feat of last year’s starting linebacker Josh Dietz in the team’s opener against MSU Moorhead. Like Dietz, Halley was named the Most Electrifying Defensive Player of the Game. He then went on to capture MIAC Defensive Player of the Week honors as well as being placed on the D3football.com Team of the Week.

Inconceivable Part II
Concordia junior punter Kevin Williamson is second in the MIAC in punting average. Appearing in only his first game as the team’s starting punter, Williamson averaged 40.7 yards on his first three punts of the season. Like the supporting cast in “The Princess Bride,” his kicks were not pretty but they were very effective.

The Best There Ever Was
Concordia kicker Brian Halverson continues to close in on the program’s all-time scoring record, currently held by head coach Terry Horan. Halvorson needs only 17 more points to break the record. He currently has 184 career points and is chasing Horan’s mark of 200. Halverson entered the season with 179 points and tallied five more in the season-opening win over the Dragons. When it comes to kicking, Halverson certainly is “The Natural.”