ST. PAUL, Minn. - Typically when a team gains 588 yards of total offense, produces 30 first downs and has a 38:41-to-21:19 time of possession advantage the outcome is predictable. However, when a team commits five turnovers, has over 100 penalty yards and a -15 yard starting possession margin to their opponent, they do not win. Those forces collided, as the Concordia football team produced exactly those results, but they came out on the wrong end of the outcome in a 32-26 loss to the University of Mary in their 2012 season opener.

The Golden Bears received a strong home field advantage with 2,450 spectators in attendance in their fourth year at Sea Foam Stadium.

Sophomore James Peterson (Blaine, Minn. ) had his third career 300-plus yard passing game in just his fourth career start, throwing for a career-high 431 yards on 30-48 passing with two touchdowns and four interceptions. He also added 26 rushing yards on seven attempts with a rushing touchdown. He was not sacked in the game. Five players caught at least three passes and Peterson completed passes to nine different receivers.

Cordell Smith (Mequon, Wis. ) and Nate Thienes (Lake Elmo, Minn. ) each had 100-yard receiving days on eight receptions. Smith finished with 147 yards and a touchdown while Thienes had 116 yards.

Tre Spears (Chicago, Ill. ) added a 117-yard day on 26 carries to shoulder the rushing load. Concordia out-gained U-Mary on the ground 157-to-1 as the run defense stifled U-Mary's ground game on 29 attempts. Concordia's run defense produced 12 tackles for a total of 32 lost yards with one sack and 11 hurries.

Although the Golden Bears committed two first quarter turnovers, the defense held U-Mary to just one first down and two yards of total offense to prevent the turnovers from costing them in the opening quarter.

U-Mary started the scoring with a 24-yard field goal. Concordia responded with a 24-yard strike between Peterson and sophomore Jermaine Clemon (Racine, Wis. ) to cap an efficient 6-play, 88-yard drive that was sparked by a career-long 51-yard catch by Thienes.

Concordia's defense continued to play strong as Jordan Halverson (Fridley, Minn. ) and Thomas Flack (Savage, Minn. ) forced U-Mary quarterback Craig Bagnell to throw into coverage with Jay Moten (Spicer, Minn. ) intercepting the pass.

Six plays and 80 yards later, Peterson snuck into the end zone from one yard out to give Concordia a 14-3 lead with just over two minutes to play in the half. Peterson completed passes of 19, 16 and 34 yards on the drive - the 34-yarder going to Thienes once again.

Things turned for the worse for the Golden Bears after seemingly stealing the game's momentum.

The Marauders would score with just eight seconds to play in the half and then open the second half with a 5-play, 63-yard drive in just 1:08 of play. The Golden Bears committed their fourth turnover on the third play of their ensuing drive and the Marauders scored on a 28-yard pass on the next play.

The end result was 21 points by U-Mary in just under three and a half minutes of game time; giving them a 24-14 lead and completely reversing the game's momentum.

Concordia didn't panic, driving deep into U-Mary territory before missing a 48-yard field goal into the wind; and the defense held the Marauders scoreless the rest of the third quarter.

The Golden Bears capped-off a 13-play, 81-yard scoring drive that took 5:45 off the clock early in the fourth quarter with a 33-yard field goal by Tom Obarski (Burnsville, Minn. ). The drive included passing strikes of 15 and 35 yards to Smith.

Later in the quarter, trailing 24-17 with the Marauders facing a 2nd down and 12 at their own 13, the center and quarterback had a bad snap exchange leading to a safety for the Concordia defense, trimming the margin even further with 6:45 to play.

Following the safety, the Golden Bears started at their own 43 yard line. In 16 possessions in the game, Concordia would start outside of their own 25 yard line just four times. They took advantage of the position, marching to the Marauder 30 yard line in just four plays, but a fumble on 2nd and 10 gave the Marauders the ball back with 4:09 to play.

Three plays later, Bagnell found All-NSIC wide receiver Tyler Steffan and he appeared to be headed for pay-dirt when Denzell Blackmon (Chicago, Ill. ) stripped him at the 1-yard line. The Marauders scrambled to recover in the end zone, however, to put the lead back to 32-19 after a 2-point conversion.

Concordia rallied and scored with over a minute to play, but couldn't get their hands on an onside kick that found a seam in the Marauder hands-team before landing out of bounds.

While Bagnell would pass for 359 yards and four touchdowns in the game, the Marauders received equally solid contributions from their punter and a few of their top defenders. Tyler Ryan punted six times for a 44.5 yard average with a long of 70 and all six punts pinning Concordia inside their own 20. He also drilled a field goal and had a pair of touchbacks kicking off.

Scott Maldonado led all defenders with 19 tackles and had an interception while Grant Singer added 10 tackles and hurried Peterson four times.

Concordia's defense was led by Jordan Halverson's 10 tackles and 3.0 tackles for loss while Chris Sesson (Chicago, Ill. ) added seven tackles and three hurries. Josh Trifunov (South St. Paul, Minn.) made his college debut with seven tackles and had 3.0 for loss as well. Jeremy Randle (Minneapolis, Minn. ) was solid on the outside against Steffen for much of the contest and finished with seven tackles and a pair of pass breakups. Although Steffen finished with 101 receiving yards, he was held in check until the big play late in the fourth quarter.

Concordia's running backs combined for 131 rushing yards and 68 receiving yards for nearly a 200-yard day between the trio as Jason White (Davenport, Iowa) and Ronald Zollicoffer (Chicago, Ill.) each contributed in varying roles along with Spears.

Concordia returns to the field next Saturday in their first road game of the season at Minnesota Crookston as they continue play against the NSIC North Division. They return home on Saturday, September 15 for a 6 p.m. kick against #2 Minnesota Duluth for Concordia's Day of Heroes military, police and fire appreciation event at Sea Foam Stadium.