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WEEK 1 TWO-DEEP
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The 2012 season begins on Saturday with a 1 p.m. kickoff at Sea Foam Stadium against the University of Mary. In addition to this game preview, part five of the 2012 season preview on the special teams will be released tomorrow (Friday).
THE SERIES
The Golden Bears and Marauders are 2-2 in the 4-game all-time series, with all four meetings coming annually between 2006 and 2009. Concordia is 0-2 in St. Paul against U-Mary, however, losing in 2007 at Griffin Stadium and in 2009 at Sea Foam Stadium in U-Mary's only trip to Concordia's new home field.
PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS
The Golden Bears and Marauders were cozy in the 2012 NSIC Preseason Football Coaches' Poll, with the Marauders selectd ninth just ahead of the Golden Bears in 10th. U-Mary was picked fourth in the NSIC North Division while the Golden Bears were tabbed sixth in the NSIC South.
NEW LOOK NSIC
The Northern Sun grew from a 14-team league to a 16-team conference in the offseason with the addition of Sioux Falls to the South Divison and Minot State to the North Division. The league now features two 8-team divisions and a full 11-game conference schedule with no non-conference games. The league format starts with four non-divisional games before concluding with seven straight division contests. The seven division games determine the NSIC Norh and South Divisional Champions, while the 11-game schedule determines the NSIC's Overall Champion among all 16 squads.
HEAD COACH RYAN WILLIAMS
The Golden Bears are led by second year head coach
Ryan Williams, who holds a 6-5 career record. He's 1-0 in season openers and 1-0 in home openers, winning on the road to start 2011 with a 43-31 win at Minot State before a 27-22 home win over Northern State in week three. Williams is a graduate of North Dakota State University where he was starting quarterback and team captain for the former Division II-power Bison. He also played in professionally with the Sioux Falls Storm arena football team. He's a Wayzata native and resides in St. Michael, Minn. with his wife, Aleasha and their son, Colton.
PRESEASON HONORS
The Golden Bears have had a number of preseason honors for individuals: junior
Zach Moore has been named a D2Football.com Preseason All-America Second Teamer and one of 32 players selected to the JB Scouting Small School (non-FBS) Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Watch List. Three seniors,
Tre Mason,
Chris Campbell and
Nate Thienes, have been named USA Football News Regional Preseason All-Stars while Thienes was also named a BSN Preseason All-America Honorable Mention pick. Lastly, sophomore kicker/punter
Tom Obarski was named to the Fred Mitchell Award Preseason Watch List.
MEET THE 2012 CAPTAINS
Concordia's four captains for the 2012 season, as voted by the team, are senior
Tre Mason, juniors
Zach Moore and
Mike Willet, and sophomore
James Peterson. The three underclassmen are all in their fourth year in the program while Mason is a second year transfer. Today's honorary captain is
Michael Walcheski (1977-83), an All-UMAC and Twin River Conference performer as a senior football player in 1980.
STRONG FINISH PROVIDES OFFSEASON MOMENTUM
The Golden Bears captured wins in their last three games of 2012, and won four of their last five overall including a win over a nationally-ranked Wayne State squad. The result was a .500 finish in both the NSIC Overall Standings and the NSIC South Divison. The team rode the momentum into a strong offseason that began with a solid National Signing Day recruiting class in early February, thru a competitive spring football season and into fall camp in August.
THE DEPARTED: REPLACING HIGH-END TALENT
Concordia enters the 2012 season faced with the task of replacing a 1,000-yard rusher (
Sam Campbell), 1,000-yard reciever (
Charles Gilbert), All-American left tackle (
Tyler Hendrickson), 5,000-yard career passer (
Spencer Ohm) and the program's fourth all-time leading tackler (
Al Quaye). In addition to the aforementioned losses, the offensive line loses four starters up front.
The Golden Bears counter with players returning from injury, redshirt seasons, impact transfers and first year starters that were in the program a year ago either in reserve or redshirt roles.
KEYS TO THE GAME
1. Pressure Bagnell: The Golden Bear defensive front must find a way into the backfield to disrupt the timing of U-Mary standout quarterback Craig Bagnell. In 2011, Bagnell threw for 2,407 yards and 19 touchdowns in eight games, averaging over 300 yards passing per contest while completing 66.4% of his passes with just five interceptions. It starts with the return of junior
Zach Moore, the NSIC's sack leader in 2010, ranking sixth in the NCAA with a sack per game. Moore returns from a redshirt season in 2011 and is poised to make an immediate impact. He's joined up front by returning All-NSIC nose guard
Chris Campbell, junior
Thomas Flack and sophomore end
Brock Molden.
2. Defend Steffen: While disrupting Bagnell's timing with a strong pass rush is important, so is defending his top target Tyler Steffan. The 6-foot, 4-inch physical target hauled in 17 touchdowns through the air last year to set a club record and lead the Northern Sun. Steffen had 54 catches for 914 yards, averaging 16.9 per catch. Concordia brings corners
Jay Moten,
Jeremy Randle and
Jeremy Head to the outside while safeties
Abdullah Asad,
Mike Willett and
Denzell Blackmon will all provide support. Concordia's defensive backs provide a versatile look and all are experienced collegiate players. It'll take a strong all-around defensive game plan to shut down the Bagnell/Steffen combination.
3. Ground and Pound: The last key to a good defense is a solid ball control offense that keeps the Marauder offense from finding a rhythm while providing the defensive standouts a chance to stay fresh for four quarters. While the Golden Bear defense has solid depth, keeping the aformentioned standouts along with linebackers
Chris Sesson and
Jordan Halverson fresh will help force 3-and-outs, turnovers and big plays on defense.
Not only does ball control help keep the defense fresh, but the Golden Bears will face a U-Mary defense that allowed 232.3 yards per game on the ground in 2011.
The run game for Concordia is among their deepest areas with sophomore
Tre Spears, a solid all-around senior transfer
Jason White (Iowa), junior transfer
Ronald Zollicoffer and the short yardage game from senior
Lance Smith. Spears provides the game-breaking talent and is poised for a breakout year, while White can do a little of everything, is experienced and can receive out of the backfield. Zollicoffer is described as more of a "scat back" with breakaway speed and ability to break open big plays. Having the deep ground game keeps the backs fresh and can provide mismatches with Marauder defenders.
The offensive line, while featuring a number of new faces, still has a strong right side with junior
Steven Davis and senior
Zack Sieber while tight ends
Nate Thienes and
Jermaine Clemon are powerful blockers to help seal the outsides.
The pass game is also explosive, allowing the offense to exploit mismatches should the Marauders defend them heavily in any certain area.
