GAME 4
Gustavus Adolphus College (0-4/0-2 MIAC)

at

#15 Concordia College (3-0/2-0 MIAC)

Oct. 1, 2005
Homecoming 2005
Jake Christiansen Stadium

Moorhead, Minn.

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 15th in the latest D3football.com NCAA Division III poll. The Cobbers are also ranked 15th in the AFCA poll and 22nd in the Football Gazette poll. Gustavus is unranked.
LAST WEEK: Concordia had to hold off a hard-nosed Carleton team for a 39-31 victory. The Cobbers built a 39-21 lead with 4:00 remaining in the third quarter, and had to use a last second goal line stand to preserve the victory...Gustavus gave up 21 unanswered points in the second half and lost 41-14 at St. John’s. The Gusties were only down 20-14 at the half, but were undone by the final two quarters.
LAST YEAR: Concordia overcame a 21-14 deficit at halftime and rallied to claim a 42-27 victory over Gustavus in St. Peter. Cobber quarterback Brian Schumacher threw for five touchdowns and the Concordia defense limited the Gusite offense to only four first downs and 84 total yards in the final 30 minutes of play.
SERIES: Gustavus leads 40-31-0
SERIES STARTED: 1923
SERIES HISTORY: Gustavus dominated the early stages of the series but lately it has been all Concordia. The Cobbers have won the last three games and 10 of the past 13... The longest winning streak for the Cobbers in the series is six games. That happened twice - from 1976 through 1981 and then again from 1992 until 1998. The longest streak for the Gusties is eight games. That string happened from 1946 through 1953...The most points scored by a single team in the series is 48 points. Concordia put up four dozen points on Gustavus in back-to-back seasons. In 1994, the Cobbers won 48-0 and then in 1995, the Cobbers won 48-6. The most points scored by Gustavus in a single game is 47 (1950)...The most points scored by both teams in a single game is 73. That "defensive showcase" was back in 1987 when Gustavus prevailed 38-35. In that game the Cobbers had some player named Terry Horan catching passes in the Gusties' secondary!..There have been 16 shutouts in the series. Gustavus holds a 9-7 edge in that category. The last time Concordia was shuotut in the series was back in 1967...There have been two 0-0 games in the series, and they occurred in back-to-back games. In 1932 and '33 the two teams did not score a single point.

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

-- Concordia enters Saturday’s game having won 12 consecutive MIAC conference games. The last time the Cobbers lost a league game was on October 25, 2003 at St. John’s.
-- The Concordia program record for most consecutive conference wins is 18. That was set from 1980 through the middle of 1982.
-- Concordia has also won nine straight games at home. They have won their first two home tilts of the 2005 season. That, coupled with a 5-0 record at “The Jake” last year and two wins at the end of 2003 puts the streak at nine.
-- Concordia is currently ranked seventh in the nation in rushing yards per game. The Cobbers are averaging 316.3 yards per game on the ground.
-- Concordia has won their last three Homecoming games and nine of their last 11. The Cobbers are also 14-2 in their last 16 Homecoming tilts and 19-2 in their last 21. The only two losses have come at the hands of Bethel in 2001 and St. Thomas in 1993.
-- The highest season rushing average in the history of the program is 278.3. The 2003 Concordia team led by quarterback Ryan Hebrink set the school record.
-- Concordia finished the month of September 3-0. The Cobbers have a 14-4 record in the opening month of the year under current head coach Terry Horan.
-- Cory Johnson is the only Concordia offensive player among the national leaders. Johnson ranks 45th in rushing yards per game (112.3)
-- A pair of defensive linemen are in the national rankings. Tyler Ledyard ranks 13th in sacks per game (1.5). Fellow linemate Travis Almquist is 38th in the same category (1.0 sacks/game). Almquist is also 33rd in tackles for a loss per game (2.2).
-- Concordia has outscored its opponents 70-27 in the second and third quarters this season. The Cobbers have also been leading at half time in all three games this season.
-- Saturday’s game marks the first time Gustavus has played in Moorhead since the 2002 season. The past two years, the teams have hooked up in St. Peter. The last time the Gusties won at “The Jake” was back in the 2001 season. Before that victory, it had been 13 years since the Gusties had posted a victory over Concordia on the road. The Cobbers are 6-1 in the past seven games at home vs. the Gusties.
-- Gustavus enters Saturday’s game winless in their first four games of the season. They dropped a pair of non-conference games to start the season before falling to Hamline and St. John’s at the start of the MIAC campaign.
-- The first three Gustavus losses were by a combined total of 14 points.
-- Gustavus sophomore linebacker Jared Sieling is ranked 11th in the nation in total tackles per game (13.8) and 28th in solo tackles (7.3/game).
-- The Gustie offense has sputtered in the first four games of the year. Gustavus ranks last in the MIAC in points per game (9.0), total offense (239.2 yds/game) and rushing offense (62.2 yds/game).
-- Gustavus is one of the two teams in the MIAC that owns a winning record against Concordia in the overall series. The Gusties lead the series with the Cobbers 40-31-0. St. John’s is the only other team in the league to have the better of the Cobbers (36-29-7).
-- Gustavus leads the MIAC in turnovers forced (15).

GAMEDAY PREVIEW -

Saturday's Marquee Match-Up –
Concordia Defensive Secondary

vs.

Jordan “Hot Potato” Stolp
The Concordia secondary will take stage this week as they face one of the league’s top young arms in Gustavus quarterback Jordan Stolp. The Cobbers currently rank seventh in the MIAC against the pass in conference games. For the entire season, Concordia is giving up 212.7 yards per game through the air. That total is almost more than the Cobber defense averaged giving up in total offense last year (230.5). Gustavus has the lowest rated rushing attack in the league and Concordia has one of the top rushing defenses in the MIAC, so it doesn’t take an astrophysicist to know that this probably means the ball will be in the air a few times. Stolp, despite not starting the season slowly, has the capability to light up a defense – and a scoreboard – in a hurry. He is the proverbial “hot potato” with opposing defenses hoping to pass him on to the next opponent before they get burned.

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. Jay Schoenebeck is entering his 12th season as the head coach of the Golden Gusties. He has compiled a mark of 54-56 overall and 49-47 in the MIAC. Schoenebeck’s squads have been ranked in the Division III Top 25 in two of the past five seasons while finishing no lower than fourth in the MIAC in seven of the last eight years.

Record Watching and Waiting
Cobber senior kicker Brian Halverson is now only seven points shy of breaking head coach Terry Horan’s program scoring record of 200 points. Halverson currently has 194 points. He entered the season with 179 points and has tallied 15 in the team’s first three wins.

Three-Headed Monster + 2
The Cobber ground game features three of the top seven runners in the league plus one very talented back and one that is set to return from an injury. Cory Johnson and Brian Schumacher are 1-2 in rushing in conference games this season, while fullback Kevin Williamson is seventh. Add to the mix senior Tyler Anderson who is averaging 6.6 yards per carry and you have four outstanding running backs. In a case of the rich getting richer, junior Ben Thoresen is set to make his 2005 debut after breaking his jaw in the team’s annual gold/maroon scrimmage in the preseason.

Getting the Call
Concordia’s defense is led by three players who have all fought through adversity to establish themselves as solid starting performers. Linebackers Mark Halley and Matt Kleber and defensive back Dave Moll are all seeing their first extended period of starting action. The trio has lived through injuries and setbacks in the past years and has answered the call in 2005. Halley leads Concordia with 22 tackles. He has been the team leader in all three of the games this season. Kleber and Moll (pronounced Mall – as any informed SID would tell you!) are tied for second with 13.0 tackles apiece.

Scouting the Gusties
Gustavus has started the season with four straight losses, the first three by a total of 14 points. They feature a tough defense led by sophomore linebacker Jared Sieling. Sieling is nationally ranked in total tackles and solo tackles and leads the MIAC in both categories. He is the brother of 2004 All-American Isaac Sieling. The Gustavus offense has yet to get on track but has the capability of putting up big numbers because of its strong-armed quarterback Jordan Stolp.

Conference Rankings
Entering Saturday’s game the teams are ranked in overall games:
Concordia – Scoring Offense (3rd); Scoring Defense (6th); Pass Offense (9th); Pass Defense (5th); Kickoff Returns (8th); Punting (3rd); Turnover Margin (6th); Rushing Offense (2nd); Rushing Defense (3rd); Total Offense (5th); Total Defense (2nd); Punt returns (4th); Pass Efficiency (8th); Def. Pass Efficiency (6th); First Downs (4th); Sacks By (2nd); Penalties (7th)
______________________________________________
Gustavus – Scoring Offense (9th); Scoring Defense (5th); Pass Offense (6th); Pass Defense (6th); Kickoff Returns (9th); Punting (6th); Turnover Margin (4th); Rushing Offense (9th); Rushing Defense (5th); Total Offense (9th); Total Defense (5th); Punt Returns (9th); Pass Efficiency (9th); Def. Pass Efficiency (5th); First Downs (6th); Sacks By (T8th); Penalties (3rd)