darell1976
August 29th, 2013, 08:30 AM
http://www.undsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=58640&SPID=6399&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=209227616&DB_OEM_ID=13500
Grand Forks, N.D. - The North Dakota football team has one of the most intriguing 2013 schedules in the Football Championship Subdivision and it all starts on Thursday night when Valparaiso comes to the Alerus Center. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. as the Crusaders will be just the fifth August opponent for UND.
The Green and White are also just one of two FCS teams that will play its first four games of the 2013 season at home. That has not been the case for a UND since the 1955 squad opened its campaign with four straight home contests.
The three teams that follow Valpo into town are currently ranked in both The Sports Network/Fathead.com and FCS Coaches' Top 25 polls.
THE BLITZ
• Valparaiso and North Dakota have gone 92 seasons since meeting on Thanksgiving Day in 1920. It is the longest stretch between a game in a series in UND history. Valpo won that day by the score of 20-10 in the only previous matchup between the teams.
• UND improved to 87-29-1 with its 66-0 victory over South Dakota Mines in the 2012 season opener.
• This is the second time in three seasons that UND has opened its schedule with a team from the Pioneer Football League. UND blanked Drake 16-0 in 2011.
• August games have been a rarity for UND, but they’ve also been good to the program. UND improved to 5-0 in the month in 2012 after posting a 66-0 victoy over South Dakota Mines on Aug. 30.
• UND’s blanking of SD Mines was its 41st in a season opener. It was the second straight shutout in a season opener, including that win over the Bulldogs in 2011.
• The win over the Hardrockers was also the 23rd straight home-opening win for UND and the 66 points were the most ever scored in a season opener.
LIVE FROM GRAND FORKS
TV: Midco Sports Network (Channel 27, 622)
Video: Watch Big Sky (www.WatchBigSky.com (http://www.watchbigsky.com/?SPSID=58640&SPID=6399&DB_OEM_ID=13500) - FREE webcast)
Radio: UND Radio Network (96.1 FM — Grand Forks) - pregame show at 6 p.m. CT
Audio: UND Radio Network broadcast also available at www.UNDSports.com (http://www.undsports.com/?SPSID=58640&SPID=6399&DB_OEM_ID=13500)
Chat: Chat live at www.UNDSports.com (http://www.undsports.com/?SPSID=58640&SPID=6399&DB_OEM_ID=13500)
Stats: Live stats available at www.UNDSports.com (http://www.undsports.com/?SPSID=58640&SPID=6399&DB_OEM_ID=13500)
Twitter: For live scoring updates and game notes follow @UNDFootball
DID YOU KNOW?
• UND quarterbacks coach Danny Freund used to serve as a ball boy during Valparaiso games as a youngster. Freund grew up in Kenosha, Wis., which is just a couple of hours away from the Indiana school.
• Valparaiso is the only school from Indiana that UND has ever played on the gridiron.
• The 2013 season marks the 21st year for the Pioneer Football League – the nation’s only non-scholarship, football-only NCAA Football Championship Subdivision conference.
• The PFL is one of only two conferences that sponsor football as its only sport (the Missouri Valley Football Conference being the other).
HISTORY OF THE SERIES
These teams met only once previously with Valparaiso taking a 20-10 decision from UND on Thanksgiving Day in 1920.
MAGIC CARPET RIDE
• UND is 66-13 in 12 seasons at the Alerus Center, including a 10-0 mark in the Division II playoffs. UND has gone undefeated in the building during a season three times (2003, 2004 and 2006).
• Head coach Chris Mussman is 20-9 all-time at UND’s home facility and improved to 3-0 in season openers at the Alerus thanks to the 66-0 victory over SD Mines last season.
• In those 20 home wins under Mussman’s guidance, UND is averaging 38.0 ppg and the team is 17-1 at home when scoring 30 or more points. The only setback occurred last season when Northern Arizona defeated UND 45-38 on Oct. 13.
BARTLES EDGES MOLLBERG FOR TOP QB SPOT
Redshirt freshmen Ryan Bartels and Joe Mollberg entered fall camp in a tight battle for the top quarterback spot and it took every snap of fall camp before head coach Chris Mussman decided on his starting quarterback. The winner of that competion would end up being Bartles, who will make his first career start against Valpo. UND has four quarterbacks on its current roster and no one among that quartet has every attempted a pass in a collegiate game. Both Bartels and Mollberg quarterbacks performed admireably in the 2013 Spring Game. Bartels was efficient for the Green Team, completing 9-of-10 passes for 78 yards and a touchdown, while Mollberg led the White Team to the victory after completing 14-of-20 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown. Fellow redshirt freshman Jake Hanson split time between both squads and combined to go 4-for-7 for 76 yards and a touchdown.
NEW COORDINATORS
Head coach Chris Mussman will have two new coordinators calling plays on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball in 2013. Long-time coordinators Greg Breitbach (offensive) and Mike Mannausua (defensive) left the program following the 2012 season. Breitbach is now the head coach at Millersville (Pa.) University - a Division II institution, while Mannausau took over as the Assistant A.D. and executive director of the Champions Club at UND. Their replacements weren’t hard to find, in fact both were just down the hallway as assistant head coach and linebackers coach Josh Kotelnicki was elevated to defensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Luke Schleusner takes over the reigns as offensive coordinator.
Kotelnicki and Schleusner are no strangers to the program as both were key contributors to the 2001 Division II national championship won by UND and both have been on Mussman’s coaching staff. Kotelnicki is entering his eighth season overall on the coaching staff, while Schleusner begins his third. Safeties coach Benny Boyd will take over as the special teams coordinator – a post that Kotelnicki held since the 2008 season.
THURSDAYS WITH MUSSMAN
Head coach Chris Mussman is entering his sixth season at the helm of the North Dakota football team and this will mark the fifth time his team has opened a campaign on a Thursday. Mussman is 3-1 in those contests, including back-to-back shutouts in the previous two season openers (16-0 over Drake in 2011 and 66-0 over South Dakota Mines in 2012).
FROM THE DID YOU KNOW CATEGORY
• UND opens the season with four straight home games; the last time that happened was in 1955.
• UND will play nine of its 11 regular season games indoors. The only road games on the slate are at Portland State (Oct. 26) and UC Davis (Nov. 16) will be played outdoors.
• FCS teams are allowed to play 12 games this season, but UND and Northern Arizona are the only two in the Big Sky that opted to play 11. The remaining 11 league teams all have full schedules. Like UND, NAU is also playing a non-conference game against a Big Sky foe when the Lumberjacks play at UC Davis on Sept. 14.
QUITE THE DEBUT
UND defeated Sacramento State 35-13 in its Big Sky debut behind the powerful running of senior Mitch Sutton and a defense that forced three Hornet turnovers and stopped the SAC offense on fourth down twice. The 22-point victory was the highest-ever by a league team in its first Big Sky game dating back to the league’s inception in 1963.
Grand Forks, N.D. - The North Dakota football team has one of the most intriguing 2013 schedules in the Football Championship Subdivision and it all starts on Thursday night when Valparaiso comes to the Alerus Center. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. as the Crusaders will be just the fifth August opponent for UND.
The Green and White are also just one of two FCS teams that will play its first four games of the 2013 season at home. That has not been the case for a UND since the 1955 squad opened its campaign with four straight home contests.
The three teams that follow Valpo into town are currently ranked in both The Sports Network/Fathead.com and FCS Coaches' Top 25 polls.
THE BLITZ
• Valparaiso and North Dakota have gone 92 seasons since meeting on Thanksgiving Day in 1920. It is the longest stretch between a game in a series in UND history. Valpo won that day by the score of 20-10 in the only previous matchup between the teams.
• UND improved to 87-29-1 with its 66-0 victory over South Dakota Mines in the 2012 season opener.
• This is the second time in three seasons that UND has opened its schedule with a team from the Pioneer Football League. UND blanked Drake 16-0 in 2011.
• August games have been a rarity for UND, but they’ve also been good to the program. UND improved to 5-0 in the month in 2012 after posting a 66-0 victoy over South Dakota Mines on Aug. 30.
• UND’s blanking of SD Mines was its 41st in a season opener. It was the second straight shutout in a season opener, including that win over the Bulldogs in 2011.
• The win over the Hardrockers was also the 23rd straight home-opening win for UND and the 66 points were the most ever scored in a season opener.
LIVE FROM GRAND FORKS
TV: Midco Sports Network (Channel 27, 622)
Video: Watch Big Sky (www.WatchBigSky.com (http://www.watchbigsky.com/?SPSID=58640&SPID=6399&DB_OEM_ID=13500) - FREE webcast)
Radio: UND Radio Network (96.1 FM — Grand Forks) - pregame show at 6 p.m. CT
Audio: UND Radio Network broadcast also available at www.UNDSports.com (http://www.undsports.com/?SPSID=58640&SPID=6399&DB_OEM_ID=13500)
Chat: Chat live at www.UNDSports.com (http://www.undsports.com/?SPSID=58640&SPID=6399&DB_OEM_ID=13500)
Stats: Live stats available at www.UNDSports.com (http://www.undsports.com/?SPSID=58640&SPID=6399&DB_OEM_ID=13500)
Twitter: For live scoring updates and game notes follow @UNDFootball
DID YOU KNOW?
• UND quarterbacks coach Danny Freund used to serve as a ball boy during Valparaiso games as a youngster. Freund grew up in Kenosha, Wis., which is just a couple of hours away from the Indiana school.
• Valparaiso is the only school from Indiana that UND has ever played on the gridiron.
• The 2013 season marks the 21st year for the Pioneer Football League – the nation’s only non-scholarship, football-only NCAA Football Championship Subdivision conference.
• The PFL is one of only two conferences that sponsor football as its only sport (the Missouri Valley Football Conference being the other).
HISTORY OF THE SERIES
These teams met only once previously with Valparaiso taking a 20-10 decision from UND on Thanksgiving Day in 1920.
MAGIC CARPET RIDE
• UND is 66-13 in 12 seasons at the Alerus Center, including a 10-0 mark in the Division II playoffs. UND has gone undefeated in the building during a season three times (2003, 2004 and 2006).
• Head coach Chris Mussman is 20-9 all-time at UND’s home facility and improved to 3-0 in season openers at the Alerus thanks to the 66-0 victory over SD Mines last season.
• In those 20 home wins under Mussman’s guidance, UND is averaging 38.0 ppg and the team is 17-1 at home when scoring 30 or more points. The only setback occurred last season when Northern Arizona defeated UND 45-38 on Oct. 13.
BARTLES EDGES MOLLBERG FOR TOP QB SPOT
Redshirt freshmen Ryan Bartels and Joe Mollberg entered fall camp in a tight battle for the top quarterback spot and it took every snap of fall camp before head coach Chris Mussman decided on his starting quarterback. The winner of that competion would end up being Bartles, who will make his first career start against Valpo. UND has four quarterbacks on its current roster and no one among that quartet has every attempted a pass in a collegiate game. Both Bartels and Mollberg quarterbacks performed admireably in the 2013 Spring Game. Bartels was efficient for the Green Team, completing 9-of-10 passes for 78 yards and a touchdown, while Mollberg led the White Team to the victory after completing 14-of-20 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown. Fellow redshirt freshman Jake Hanson split time between both squads and combined to go 4-for-7 for 76 yards and a touchdown.
NEW COORDINATORS
Head coach Chris Mussman will have two new coordinators calling plays on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball in 2013. Long-time coordinators Greg Breitbach (offensive) and Mike Mannausua (defensive) left the program following the 2012 season. Breitbach is now the head coach at Millersville (Pa.) University - a Division II institution, while Mannausau took over as the Assistant A.D. and executive director of the Champions Club at UND. Their replacements weren’t hard to find, in fact both were just down the hallway as assistant head coach and linebackers coach Josh Kotelnicki was elevated to defensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Luke Schleusner takes over the reigns as offensive coordinator.
Kotelnicki and Schleusner are no strangers to the program as both were key contributors to the 2001 Division II national championship won by UND and both have been on Mussman’s coaching staff. Kotelnicki is entering his eighth season overall on the coaching staff, while Schleusner begins his third. Safeties coach Benny Boyd will take over as the special teams coordinator – a post that Kotelnicki held since the 2008 season.
THURSDAYS WITH MUSSMAN
Head coach Chris Mussman is entering his sixth season at the helm of the North Dakota football team and this will mark the fifth time his team has opened a campaign on a Thursday. Mussman is 3-1 in those contests, including back-to-back shutouts in the previous two season openers (16-0 over Drake in 2011 and 66-0 over South Dakota Mines in 2012).
FROM THE DID YOU KNOW CATEGORY
• UND opens the season with four straight home games; the last time that happened was in 1955.
• UND will play nine of its 11 regular season games indoors. The only road games on the slate are at Portland State (Oct. 26) and UC Davis (Nov. 16) will be played outdoors.
• FCS teams are allowed to play 12 games this season, but UND and Northern Arizona are the only two in the Big Sky that opted to play 11. The remaining 11 league teams all have full schedules. Like UND, NAU is also playing a non-conference game against a Big Sky foe when the Lumberjacks play at UC Davis on Sept. 14.
QUITE THE DEBUT
UND defeated Sacramento State 35-13 in its Big Sky debut behind the powerful running of senior Mitch Sutton and a defense that forced three Hornet turnovers and stopped the SAC offense on fourth down twice. The 22-point victory was the highest-ever by a league team in its first Big Sky game dating back to the league’s inception in 1963.