DULUTH, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (0-1 NSIC) opened the 2014 season with a 20-13 loss at #3 Minnesota Duluth (1-0 NSIC) on Saturday evening at Malosky Stadium in front of an announced crowd of 5,287. Concordia will host Northern State next Saturday, September 13 in the home opener at Sea Foam Stadium with a 6 p.m. kickoff.

UMD built a 20-3 lead after three quarters, scoring three points on the game's only turnover in the first quarter, scoring a touchdown following a missed Concordia field goal in the second quarter and scoring a touchdown after a missed fourth down attempt in the third quarter to account for 17 of its 20 points.

Junior Corey Cole (Fillmore, Calif.) made his first start under center in the game after converting from wide receiver and posted 307 yards of total offense and a four yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Cole rushed for 114 of his career-high 177 yards in the first half, and then turned around and passed for 96 of his 130 yards in the second half while leading Concordia on the comeback trail. He completed 12-25 in the game, didn't commit a turnover or take a sack while averaging 9.8 yards per carry on 18 total rushes.

Concordia held the advantage in first downs (19 to 15), passing yards (130 to 82) and time of possession (32:09 to 27:51) in a clean game that featurd eight combined penalties and one total turnover (a Concordia fumble). But the Bulldogs rushed for 302 yards, averaging 7.6 per attempt compared to Concordia's 232 yards at 6.3 per carry.

The nationally strong UMD squad started the game with the ball, and Concordia made an early statement that it would look to compete for a win on the Bulldogs home turf for just the second time in 46 conference games at Malosky Stadium since 2000. The only team to beat UMD in that time is Concordia, a 37-27 Golden Bear win on October 7, 2000.

The Concordia special teams held UMD to the 11 yard line on the opening kickoff and then held the Bulldogs to a three-and-out on the opening two possessions of the game. Concordia's offense would start with the ball on its own 46 and 41 yard line on its first two drives as the Golden Bears held the upper hand.

After a strong start, the Concordia defense was led by its linebackers as junior Josh Trifunov had 12 tackles (1.0 for loss) while Jordan Halverson added nine (1.0 for loss) and Nick Jauch had six tackles including 2.0 for loss and the game's only sack.

Concordia's first drive stalled on the UMD 36 yard line, though, despite picking up a pair of first downs. On the second drive, a fumble on the second play gave the Bulldogs the ball on the Concordia 48 yard line which set up UMD's first scoring drive.

But while the Concordia defense was given a short field to work with on the third Bulldog drive, they held UMD to a 45-yard field goal to open the scoring with 4:27 to play in the opening quarter.

The strong early showing set the tone for the contest as the score remained tight at 3-0 after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Concordia's offense started to produce. On the Golden Bears' first drive of the second quarter starting from their own 47, they marched to the UMD two yard line facing second and goal. But UMD stopped them in the backfield and a pair of penalties put Concordia into a fourth and goal from the 15 situation, with Tom Obarski's 32 yard field goal sailing wide right. Obarski would make two of three field goals in the game.

The Bulldogs responded swiftly, as Aaron Roth broke free for a 30 yard run and a few plays later UMD quarterback Drew Bauer took a broken play and dashed up the middle for a 34 yard touchdown to push the lead to 10-0. Roth only carried four times, but had 44 yards and led UMD with three catches for 33 yards. Bauer had 85 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 attempts while completing 8-21 for 82 yards and a score in the air.

Concordia put together a second straight strong drive to respond, starting at its own eight yard line. The Golden Bears marched as Cole's 33 yard run sparked the movement, followed immediately by an 11-yard connection to tight end Jermaine Clemon. Cole added another 28 yard run to the UMD 17 yard line and a few plays later the Golden Bears would settle for an Obarski 29 yard field goal. Clemon had two catches for 25 yards in the game, both coming in the first half.

UMD once again kept the offensive pressure on Concordia, going on a 12 play, 57 yard drive that took 3:47 off the clock. But Concordia's defense held the Bulldogs in the red zone, as UMD settled for a 22 yard field goal with nine seconds to play before the break.

In the third quarter, trailing 13-3, the Golden Bears started to roll on offense on their second possession of the half. Starting from their own 20, the Golden Bears took nearly five minutes off the clock with a mix of run and pass plays to get inside the UMD 40 yard line. On fourth and two at the UMD 34, Cole rolled out to his left after a play action to Tre Spears. With a Bulldog defender racing towards him, a second UMD defender committed leaving Jake Munkwitz open beyond the first down marker near the sideline. Cole attempted to shovel pass between the two pursuing defenders, but was unable to complete the toss to Munkwitz, turning it over to UMD.

The Bulldogs would once again capitalize on the Golden Bears missed opportunity. A 27-yard connection from Bauers to Roth put UMD inside the Concordia 35 yard line, and a 19 yard run by Logan Lauters put them in the red zone where Bauer lofted a six yard touchdown toss across the width of the field for a score to make it a 20-3 game. Lauters led UMD with 165 rushing yards on 14 carries as he averaged 11.8 per rush.

Despite the 20-3 score with just over three minutes to play in the third quarter, the Golden Bears remained alive in the contest after a number of successful drives against a vaunted UMD defense.

Minnesota Duluth's first drive of the fourth quarter was seemingly going to put the game out of reach, until the defense clamped down near the Concordia red zone. The Golden Bears held UMD to a fourth and 10 from the 22, with the Bulldogs electing to go for it. Bauers misfired on a pass attempt as he was hurried by junior defensive end Dion Roche to turn the ball over to Concordia with just under 11 minutes to play and a 17-point deficit. Roche had five tackles and three quarterback hurries in his Concordia debut.

Cole would then take over, putting together runs of three and 15 yards along with passes of 17 and 21 to Cordell Smith. An 18-yard pass to freshman Uzziah Davis put the Golden Bears on the four yard line where Cole rushed in on the keeper to cut the margin to 10 (20-10) with just under eight minutes remaining on an eight play, 78 yard drive.

Smith led Concordia with six catches for 75 yards while Davis compiled 129 all-purpose yards (4 rushing, 18 receiving, 107 returning).

Concordia's defense stopped UMD quickly on the ensuing drive despite a 12-yard first down run by Roth on the first play as Bauers threw two incomplete passes and hit Roth for two yards but was forced out of bounds to stop the clock.

Concordia gained possession after a punt on its own 34 yard line with 6:41 to play, and Cole went back to work with a 15-yard strike to Smith followed by a six yard keeper. Then Spears got back in the mix with a 17 yard burst up the middle, brusing through contact to the UMD 28 yard line. The drive would stall from there, but Obarski converted a 45-yard field goal to bring it to a one possession game, 20-13.

With just over three and a half minutes to play, the Golden Bears kicked deep as UMD started on its own 17. Runs of four and five yards by Lauters set up a third and one when Lauters broke loose for a 46-yard first down to the Concordia 28 yard line. With no timeouts remaining, the Bulldogs were able to run out the clock from there to hold off the comeback attempt.