BULLDOGS UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA DULUTH FOOTBALL
Communications Office • Bob Nygaard, Director • University of Minnesota Duluth • Duluth, MN 55812-2496 bnygaard@d.umn.edu • (218) 726-8191 • www.umdbulldogs.com • @umdbulldogs November 15, 2012
OPENING ROUND NCAA II PLAYOFF BOUT AT NO. 9 MISSOURI WESTERN SATURDAY AWAITS NO. 7 BULLDOGS HUDDLE UP: The University of Minnesota Duluth's quest for a third NCAA Division II national championship in six seasons starts this Saturday (Nov. 17) when the seventh-ranked Bulldogs pay a visit to St. Joseph, Mo., for a first-round playoff clash with No. 9 Missouri Western State University. Opening kickoff is set for 12 p.m. at Spratt Stadium (8,000/artificial turf) on the Missouri Western State campus. THE RECORDS: UMD, owners of a six-game winning streak, is 10-1 overall and placed second in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings with that same record. Missouri Western, which has won five straight, also sports a 10-1 mark in all games and claimed the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association title by going 9-1. HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and Missouri Western stacked up in this week's American Football Coaches Association Division II and the D2Football.com polls as well as the last NCAA II Super Region 3 Rankings. AFCA D2Football Region 3 UMD No. 7 No. 5 No. 6 MWSU No. 9 No. 8 No. 3 THE BROADCAST: The Bulldogs-Griffons matchup will be carried live on 1490 The Fan (KQDS-AM) with Jeff Papas handling the play-by-play responsibilities The broadcast can also be heard on KQ 105.5 FM in Grand Rapids/Hibbing , KQ 106.7 FM in Ely/Virginia and at: www.fan1490.com. Saturday's NCAA II playoff opener will be videostreamed as well and is available for free at: http://www.americaonesports.com /static/misswest.html THE COACH: The numbers certainly speak for themselves. Two NCAA II national championships, five NSIC titles (including four in a row from 2008 to 2011), three perfect 11-0 regular seasons, six NCAA II playoff appearances, five NSIC North Division crowns, an even 100 victories and a .800 overall winning percentage. Bob Nielson has accomplished all this -- and much more -- in his 10 seasons of head coaching activity at UMD. Last fall, Nielson directed his charges, which included 15 All-NSIC picks and a quartet of All-Americans, to an 11-3 overall record and a quarterfinal round berth (their fourth in as many
2012 NSIC FOOTBALL STANDINGS Team (Overall) Minnesota State-Mankato (11-0) UMD* (10-1) Winona State (9-2) U. of Sioux Falls (9-2) St. Cloud State* (7-4) Bemidji State* (7-4) Northern State* (6-5) Wayne State (6-5) Augustana (5-6) Southwest Minnesota State (4-7) U. of Mary* (4-7) Minot State* (3-8) Upper Iowa (2-9) Concordia-St. Paul (2-9) Minnesota Crookston* (2-9) Minnesota State-Moorhead* (1-10)
W 11 10 9 9 7 7 6 6 5 4 4 3 2 2 2 1
L 0 1 2 2 4 4 5 5 6 7 7 8 9 9 9 10
PCT 1.000 .909 .818 .818 .636 .636 .545 .545 .455 .364 .364 .273 .182 .182 .182 .091
PF 416 503 409 344 394 265 358 290 401 325 274 190 287 282 187 184
PA 171 224 279 222 294 206 292 238 357 400 385 358 448 348 451 400
*North Division members
years) in the NCAA II playoffs before bowing out to eventual national runnerup Wayne State University. In 2010, the Bulldogs did something no other NCAA II club had ever been able to do – finish 15-0 for a second time. Along the way, UMD brought home the school’s second NCAA II title and third consecutive NSIC crown (a program first), amassing a 10-0 league mark for the third time in as many years. For his efforts, Nielson was bestowed with two of the most prestigious national coaching honors in Division II football – the American Football Coaches Association DII Coach of the Year and the Liberty Mutual DII Coach of the Year awards – in addition to being selected for that same honor by Don Hansen’s Football Gazette and the NSIC. Nielson returned to the UMD sidelines in 2008 following a four-season hiatus and proceeded to oversee one of the most impressive oneyear turnarounds in NCAA Division II history, taking a club which had gone 4-6 in 2007 and molding it into a national champion. Along the way, his Bulldogs rolled up a 15-0 overall mark (only the third NCAA II team to
2010 & 2008 NCA A II Champions
ever accomplish that feat), set or equaled 50 team and individual records, captured the NSIC title and turned out a whopping nine AllAmericans. He followed that up two years ago by going 11-2 in all games and advancing to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA II playoffs. Named the 2008 NCAA II Coach of the Year by American Football Monthly magazine, D2Football.com, and the Football Gazette, Nielson now owns a dazzling 100-25 overall record at UMD (that .800 winning percentage is far and away the best mark in the program’s storied 80-year existence) and is 170-58-1 (.744) in his 20 seasons of coaching at the collegiate level. Nielson, a three-time NSIC Coach of the Year honoree (2010, 2008 and 2002) whose first tour of duty with the Bulldogs ran from 19992003, was officially appointed to his old post on Jan. 3, 2008. (He continues to also serve as UMD’s athletic director, a position he’s held since 2003-04). During his five previous years with the Bulldogs, Nielson helped marshal the UMD program to new heights. In 2002, for example, his Bulldogs posted their second unbeaten, untied regular season record at that