GAME 3
#16 Concordia College (2-0/1-0 MIAC)
at
Carleton College (1-1/0-1 MIAC)
September 24, 2005
Laird Stadium
Northfield, MN

GAMEDAY BASICS

GAME TIME: 1:00 pm
RADIO: Live on 1280 AM 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 16th in the latest D3football.com NCAA Division III poll. The Cobbers are also ranked 19th in the initial AFCA poll and 24th in the Football Gazette poll. Carleton is unranked.
SERIES: Concordia leads 18-5-0
SERIES STARTED: 1921
LAST YEAR: Concordia used a 20-point second quarter to break the game open and remain unbeaten on the year. Cobber fullback Ed Oehlers scored two touchdowns as the Cobbers scored all five touchdowns on the ground. Carleton scored both of their touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Sophomore quarterback Darren Caspers accounted for both of the Knights’ scores. He threw a five-yard strike to Ben Cooprider and then ran in from two yards out with only 12 seconds remaining in the game to cap the scoring at 40-15. The Cobbers outgained the Knights 379-157 and held Carleton to only 21 yards on the ground. Andrew Passanante hauled in four catches for 71 yards. That was almost half of the total receiving yards for Concordia. Concordia quarterback Brian Schumacher was 7-of-12 for 132 yards.
SERIES HISTORY: Concordia has won the last 12 games in the series. The last time the Knights won was in 1991...There have only been two shutouts in the series. In 2001 when the Cobbers won 35-0 and in the series opener in 1921 when Concordia beat the Knights 74-0…After the 1921 game, the two teams did not play again until 1983. They have played every year since then…The 74 points scored by the Cobbers in 1921 is the record for the most points scored by a single team in the series…The record for most points scored by both teams in a single game is 76. That occurred in 1994 when Concordia won 55-21.

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

-- Concordia enters Saturday’s game with Carleton having won its last 11 conference games. The Cobbers have not lost a league game since Oct. 25, 2003.
- The longest conference winning streak in the history of the program is 18 games. That streak occurred from 1980 through the middle of 1982.
-- Concordia also has an extended winning streak at home. The Cobbers extended their home winning streak to nine games with the victory over St. Thomas. The Cobbers went 5-0 at Jake Christiansen Stadium in 2004 and since the 2003 season they have compiled a home record of 10-1.
-- Saturday’s game is the first road game of the 2005 season for Concordia. After playing their first two games at Jake Christiansen Stadium, the Cobbers will play two of the next three on the road. Last season Concordia was undefeated on the road, posting a perfect 5-0 record. Under Terry Horan, Concordia is 15-5 in away games.
-- Senior kicker Brian Halverson (Fargo, N.D./Fargo North HS) needs only 10 more points to break head coach Terry Horan’s all-time scoring record at Concordia. Halverson currently has 191 career points and is chasing Horan’s mark of 200. Halverson entered the season with 179 points and has tallied 12 more in the team’s first two wins of the season.
-- Freshman Cory Johnson (Moorhead, Minn.) ran for 168 yards and one touchdown on 11 carries in Concordia’s 31-20 victory over St. Thomas. Johnson’s 15.3 yard per carry average was the second highest in the past 15 years for the Cobbers. He has now scored a touchdown in each of his first two collegiate games.
-- Junior defensive tackle Tyler Ledyard (Duluth, Minn./Duluth Central HS) currently leads the MIAC in sacks. Ledyard has 3.5 sacks in his first two games of the year. He set a Power Bowl record in the first game of the season against MSU Moorhead by posting a pair of sacks. He followed that game by recording 1.5 sacks against St. Thomas. The Concordia record for sacks in a season is held by Gregg Kruse who had 16.5 in 1986.
-- Saturday’s game against Concordia will be the 2005 home opener for Carleton. The Knights opened the season with a 35-28 victory at Beloit (Wis.), and then dropped its conference opener to St. John’s last weekend 41-7.
-- The Knights were 1-5 at Laird Stadium in 2004 and are 1-25 since the 2000 campaign at home. The lone win came last season against Macalester.
-- In a bad news/good news situation for the Knights, senior punter Luke Muellerlei was forced to punt eight times against the Johnnies. The good news is that he averaged 44.6 yards per punt. Included in this total were two punts of more than 40 yards early in the game that helped Carleton in the field position battle, a 59-yarder in the second quarter and a 65-yard boomer in the fourth.
-- Carleton junior quarterback Darren Caspers (Bemidji, Minn.) is creeping up the Carleton career passing chart. He enters this week with five yards shy of passing Thomas Shanley (’85) for eighth on the all-time passing yardage list.

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.
Chris Brann enters his fifth season as Carleton's head football coach in 2005. Brann, who took over the Knights' program prior to the 2001 season, led the Knights to their best record in seven years in 2003 as the Knights won their final three games of the season.

GAMEDAY PREVIEW -

Cobber “Hands” People vs. Carleton Defense
Saturday’s game could come down to a simple case of holding onto the ball for the Cobbers. In the opening two games of the 2005 season, Concordia has put the ball on the ground eight times. Although they have only turned the ball over on four of those miscues, the case of Cobber “fumbleitis” will have to be cured in order for Concordia to keep its winning streak intact. Last year, the Cobbers only lost 14 fumbles the entire 12-game season. This sudden propensity to cough the ball up, coupled with the fact that Carleton forced four takeaways last week against St. John’s, could turn the game into a very interesting contest in a hurry. The Knights have caused six fumbles in the first two games and have recovered three of the miscues. The opportunistic defense will be a key for Carleton in trying to derail the Cobber conference win-streak train.

Scouting the Knights
It seems as though the GameDay staff has been writing about the same Carleton players for years. We are even tempted to take out last year’s GameDay preview and just post it this year. That is because the same talented playmakers are back for one more season. On offense, look for the Knights to use the legs of Wade Thompson and the arm and legs of quarterback Darren Caspers to try and break down the Cobber defense. Caspers’ favorite target, Mike Kootsikas, also returns to the Carleton offense. He is Carleton’s leading receiver this season and led the Knights in receiving in 2004. The new wrinkle for Carleton this season is the running of sophomore R.J. Jackson. Jackson leads the Carleton ground game this season, averaging 107.0 yards per game on the ground. He led the Knights in rushing last season, taking over for Thompson in the middle of the season. Defensively, the Knights return middle linebacker Randy Foss, strong safety Luke Muellerlei and defensive end Adam Witt. The trio was three of the top four tacklers on the Carleton team last season. Foss led the team with 91 tackles, while Muellerlei tied for the team lead in interceptions with three.

The Hogs Returneth
One of the question marks heading into the season for Concordia was the offensive line. Lost to graduation was All-American tackle Nick Didier and All-Conference guard Jason Kelly, and then Concordia lost All-MIAC center David Uselman to an injury before the start of the year. Two weeks into the year, Uselman donned his Superman cape and came back to action against the Tommies. Making a new legacy on the line are guards Josh Linman and Matt McCallum and tackles Ryan Johnson and Grant Weller. How good has the line been? Just look at the Cobber ground stats in the first two games. Concordia has rushed the ball a total of 107 times and put up a total of 609 yards on the ground in the first two games. The Cobbers are once again leading the league in rushing offense. Grunt once if you can smell what the hogs are cooking!!

He Looks Sort of Familiar
One of the keys for the Concordia field goal and extra point kicking crew this season was to find a replacement for All-American holder Jordan Talge ’05. Enter freshman quarterback Jesse Nelson who has warmed very nicely to the position. After a couple of shaky snaps and holds against the Dragons in the season opener, Nelson set the ball down against St. Thomas like a seasoned veteran. The scary part is that Nelson is wearing the same number (9) that Talge did and he has the kicker head pat down after Brian Halverson converts on any kick.

Who is That Guy?
One of the unsung heroes for the Cobber special teams this season has been kickoff specialist Jeff Jungers (Sr., Richfield, Minn.). Jungers took over the kickoff duties from last year’s “leg man” Luke Draxten and has done a terrific job of hitting the ball high and deep. The result; Jungers is averaging over 55 yards on his kickoffs and the average starting position for Cobber opponents is the 29-yard line.