ST. PAUL, Minn. - This Saturday, Concordia-St. Paul (1-5 NSIC, 0-2 South) will host the top-ranked team in Division II football, Minnesota State University, Mankato (6-0 NSIC, 2-0 South) with a noon kickoff at Sea Foam Stadium. The game is also Concordia's Randy Shaver's Cancer game, and ESPN College GameDay will have a camera team at the game to build footage of Hank Goff for a feature set to air in advance of Veteran's Day on Saturday, November 7.

TICKET INFORMATION
This Saturday's game has been designated as a premium game with general admission tickets to the stadium priced at $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors with children 5 years of age and under free of charge. CSP students, faculty and staff are free with CSP ID.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Saturday's game will be available to watch online, free of charge through the Northern Sun's agreement with Stretch Internet and Concordia's agreement with Stream Powered Productions. The voice of the Golden Bears since 2008, Dan Flanagan will handle play-by-play while CSP alum Ren Clayton will join him as a color analyst and sideline reporter. Clayton spent time as an intern with KSTP-TV Channel 5 in the sports department with Joe Schmit, Chris Long and Darren "Doogie" Wolfson as an undergraduate and also interned for the CSP sports information office and was a student producer for Stream Powered Productions.

THIS WEEK: RANDY SHAVER'S TACKLE CANCER
This week's contest is Randy Shaver's Tackle Cancer game, with the wives and significant others of the football coaches tackling the lead on this initiative today, collecting donations just inside the main entry gates. Cancer is a disease that has impacted all communities, most of our families, and many of our football teams throughout Minnesota. The Randy Shaver Cancer Research and Community Fund partnered with the MFCA to challenge every football team to sponsor at least one "Tackle Cancer" night during the months of September and October. Fans attending the game can make donations towards funding additional cancer research and together we are "Tackling Cancer."

VIKINGS.COM PREVIEW: CU (Moore) vs MSU (Thielen)
VIDEO: From Vikings.com: Sunday's Vikings-Chiefs matchup isn't the only big football game this weekend, as Adam Thielen's Minnesota State Mavericks take on Zach Moore's Concordia Golden Bears. Thielen and Moore talk about the rivalry, playing against each other in the past and more.

ESPN COLLEGE GAMEDAY IS IN THE HOUSE
Today, be on the lookout for a pair of extra camera and audio operators on the sideline or in the stands as ESPN College GameDay is preparing for a feature story to run on Saturday, November 7 in advance of Veteran's Day.

The top college football pregame show in the country will highlight the unique journey forged by senior defensive lineman Hank Goff, a 2005 state champion and Division I prep recruit out of Minnetonka High School. Originally from the Northeastern part of the country, Goff played his true freshman season in 2006 at South Dakota State, leading the Jackrabbits in tackles for loss after breaking into the starting lineup.

Academics were not high on Goff's first year agenda as a college football player, and he left the SDSU program after the fall semester. Back at home, Goff found himself walking down the wrong path and decided to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps.

He was deployed to Afghanistan as a machine gunner, and during intense combat vowed to return to the gridiron after his tour was complete. When he completed his service, Goff connected with Concordia's coaching staff and was playing football again in the fall of 2013.

Now an All-NSIC South Division honorable mention performer, Goff entered his senior year on the USA College Football Preseason All-America Second Team.

As a senior, Goff has registered a pair of sacks, three tackles for loss and 10 total tackles while defending three passes. As a Golden Bear in 27 games, Goff has 48 tackles, 11.5 for loss, nine pass breakups (two interceptions) and 3.5 sacks.

Goff's story as a top recruited athlete dealing with success, adversity and failure as a college athlete into heroism with the Marines and now redemption as a Division II student-athlete has been well document. His story first appeared in Sports Illustrated, penned by his uncle Austin Murphy. It also appeared on Fox Sports 1 website (Reid Forgrave) as well as local TV.

NOTES ON THE 2015 HOME SCHEDULE
The Golden Bears look to play a six game home schedule for the first time since the 2010 Mineral Water Bowl season and just the second time since Sea Foam Stadium opened in 2009.

The team will welcome a pair of opponents who have never played at Sea Foam Stadium, MSU Moorhead in week two and Southwest Minnesota State in week 10.  Additionally, Sioux Falls (week nine) has only played at Sea Foam Stadium once (2013), while Bemidji State (week four) and Winona State (week five) have not appeared at Sea Foam Stadium since the 2010 Mineral Water Bowl season.

MEET THE 2015 TEAM CAPTAINS
Concordia head coach Ryan Williams has announced four captains for the 2015 season, junior Corey Cole (QB, Fillmore, Calif.) and senior Cole Parker (LT, Brookfield, Wis.) on offense and seniors Hank Goff (DL, Minnetonka, Minn.) and Jordan Nieuwsma (FS, Lakeville, Minn.) on defense.

SERIES NOTES: MINNESOTA STATE 7, CONCORDIA 2
The Mavericks have won four consecutive games in the series with Concordia's last win coming in 2010 in Mankato when the Mavericks were ranked #11 in the country. Concordia won that game 28-26 with the game ending on a blocked field goal. The Golden Bears would use that win as a catalyst towards a Mineral Water Bowl campaign.

The series opened in 2004 in Mankato, and in the second meeting in 2005 at Griffin Stadium, the Golden Bears defeated the Mavericks 35-21 in a non-conference game on their way to a second Mineral Water Bowl in a three year stretch.

The 2005 win was Concordia's only home win in the series as the Golden Bears have yet to top the Mavericks at Sea Foam Stadium, falling in 2009, 2011 and 2013.

SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS:
The Mavericks enter the weekend as the top team in the country after winning their first six games of the season. Minnesota State has dominated on both sides of the ball to earn that distinction as they have the second-leading scoring offense (38.5 points per game) and leading defense (11.2 points against per game) in the NSIC to put up a staggering average margin of victory of 27.3. After a dramatic 20-17 comeback win against then-#3 Minnesota Duluth, the Mavericks have outscored their opponent by at least eight points in every game.

The centerpiece of the impressive MSU offense has been their run game as Minnesota State has averaged 254.7 yards per game on the ground with 18 rushing scores, both tops in the league. Senior Connor Thomas leads a deep stable of running backs with 113 carries for 619 yards and seven touchdowns on the year. Thomas ranks second in the NSIC in rushing yards and third in rushing touchdowns. After Thomas, Chad Zastrow and Virgil Hammond have also gotten significant work in the backfield as Zastrow has rushed for 296 yards and three touchdowns on 42 carries while Hammond has rushed for 154 yards four touchdowns on 21 carries.

Junior Ricky Lloyd and sophomore Nick Pieruccini have split work at the quarterback position for Minnesota State with both players seeing action in all six games. Pieruccini has completed 47-80 for 696 yards through the air with a 5-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio while Lloyd has completed 31-64 for 442 yards and four touchdowns along with four interceptions. Both have also made an impact in the run game as Pieruccini has 261 yards rushing on 47 attempts with four scores while Lloyd has contributed 171 yards on 36 totes.

The Maverick defense has been nearly impenetrable this season as they have held opponents to an average of 225.0 yards and 11.2 points per game. The defensive unit is a deep one with 18 different players registering at least 10 tackles on the season, led by Tyler Henderson's 41. Henderson has also chipped in 3.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions and a sack on the year. Joshua Gordon has also been a big part of the defense as he leads the league in sacks with 9.5 and tackles for loss with 15.0 while also intercepting a pass and forcing two fumbles.

LAST MEETING (10/17/14): MSU 38, CSP 6
The Mavericks presented the Golden Bears with their third nationally-ranked opponent on the road in a seven week span. Despite a 38-6 final score in favor of the second-ranked Mavericks, the game was significantly more competitive.

Concordia held MSU to 105 passing yards and had an interception while holding the Mavericks to under 400 yards of total offense. The defense also held MSU to 2-9 on third downs while the CSP offense was slightly better at 6-17. Concordia also held the time of possession advantage at 30:40 to 29:20.

Ben Schramski made his first career start in the game and the redshirt freshman wasn't shy in the hostile environment against one of the top pass rushing units in the country. He connected with senior Jermaine Clemon on Concordia's opening play for a 35-yard gain deep down the right sideline.

Clemon finished with a career-high 99 yards on six catches.

Concordia would take the first lead, too on a 32-yard Tom Obarski field goal on the game's opening drive as Concordia marched 59 yards on eight plays over 3:15.

The Mavericks countered with a strong drive before Concordia's defense held firm in the red zone, limiting MSU to a 22-yard field goal.

The two defenses went toe-to-toe from there as the score remained knotted at 3-3 at the quarter break.

MSU finally broke through again with under six minutes to play in the second quarter when Connor Thomas took a 55-yard run up the middle of the field for a touchdown.

A CSP special teams miscue would follow after the ensuing drive went 3-and-out with the Mavericks scoring two plays later for a 17-3 lead with 3:39 to play in the half.

Another special teams mistake, this time a fumble on the ensuing kickoff led to a one play Maverick scoring drive and a 24-3 lead with three touchdowns in just over three minutes of game action and on five total plays by the Mavericks.

CSP responded with a strong two minute offense drive highlighted by a 30-yard run by Schramski and a 31-yard connection from Schramski to Uzziah Davis to the MSU 5-yard line. Although Concordia couldn't punch it into the end zone, Obarski delivered a 20-yard field goal to make it 24-6 at the break, but it was too much to overcome as MSU scored on its opening drive of the third quarter to pu the game out of reach.

In the final tally, Concordia had 17 first downs to MSU's 19 and racked up 287 yards of total offense to MSU's 378.

Schramski completed 13-33 for 198 yards while officially credited with 20 rushing yards which were held down as a result of being sacked seven times in his debut start.

Tre Spears rushed 20 times for 66 yards, bruising his way to a 3.3 average with an 11-yard long while only being tackled behind the line of scrimmage once for a one yard loss against one of the better defensive fronts in the country.

Connor Thomas led MSU with 145 yards on 13 carries including the 55-yard touchdown dash. Andy Pfeiffer added 84 yards on 13 rushes with a touchdown as well.

MSU played two quarterbacks as Nick Pieruccini started and completed 4-8 for 27 yards and an interception with Ricky Lloyd finishing and completing 6-10 for 77 yards and a touchdown.

Jordan Halverson led the CSP defense with 14 tackles, 1.5 for loss and teamed up with Chazz Roberts for a half sack.

LAST WEEK: UPPER IOWA 52, CONCORDIA 20
The Golden Bears used strong special teams and capitalized on turnovers in the first half last Saturday in attempting to spoil Upper Iowa's homecoming.

But the Peacocks had too much offensive firepower throughout and held off the Golden Bears.

Redshirt freshman Alquawn Vickers put Concordia on the scoreboard in the first quarter for the first time this season with a 91-yard kickoff return for touchdown to make it a 14-7 game. It was his second kickoff return for a touchdown of the season and part of a big first half for Vickers.

Later in the quarter, Jackson Dobbs and Chazz Roberts teamed up for a strip sack with Dobbs recovering on the UIU 9-yard line setting up a one play drive for a Darius Chapes touchdown run, cutting the score to 14-13 with 3:14 to play in the first quarter.

After UIU extended its lead to 31-13 in the second quarter, Jordan Halverson forced and recovered a fumble at the UIU 15-yard line, setting up another one play drive. This time, Ben Schramski connected with Sammy Baucham for a 15-yard TD strike for a 31-20 score, which it remained at the half.

In addition to the two fumbles, cornerback DeCeon Schumann also had an interception as the Golden Bears forced three Upper Iowa turnovers which led to 14 points.

Vickers was unstoppable in the first half, returning three kickoffs for a 48.7 yard average and an NSIC single game high of 146 yards.

But Upper Iowa stopped kicking it to him in the second half and he'd finish the game 188 all-purpose yards, adding three punt returns for 36 yards (12.0 avg) and a catch for six yards.

Josh Trifunov had a big defensive performance, producing three sacks which is the third most in a game in the NSIC this year and is now second in the league with seven sacks. He also had 3.5 tackles for loss among his nine tackles. Halverson tallied a team-high 13 tackles including a tackle for loss and forced fumble.

But Upper Iowa had 31 first downs to CSP's eight and had 598 yards of total offense including 460 through the air while Concordia had 120 yards offensively.

UIU quarterback Dimitri Morales completed 38-48 for 460 yards and five touchdowns despite being sacked six times in the contest and also added 32 rushing yards and a touchdown.
 
HEAD COACH RYAN WILLIAMS
The Golden Bears are led by fifth year head coach Ryan Williams. Prior to being named head coach, Williams had served as offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator for the previous six seasons at Concordia. He is a Wayzata, Minn. native and played collegiately as starting quarterback and team captain at former Division II-power North Dakota State from 1997-2000.

With a 19-31 career record, Williams is 0-4 against Minnesota State. He is 10-19 in his career in NSIC South Division play which includes a 4-3 third place finish in 2014, and he carries an 8-13 career record at Sea Foam Stadium.

JORDAN HALVERSON SETS TACKLES RECORD
Senior inside linebacker Jordan Halverson became the program's all-time leader in tackles against Winona State in week five. He was the fifth player in program history to eclipse 300 career tackles which he accomplished in the 2015 season opener  He now has 356 career tackles and also ranks 8th in team history in tackles for loss with 32.0. In his senior year, Halverson leads the defense with 58 tackles which is third in the NSIC and 52nd in Division II. On the year, he has four double-digit tackle games including three in a row.
CAREER TACKLES LEADERS - TOP TWO
356 - Jordan Halverson (2010-2015)
342 - Brian Doyle (2001-04)

MIRERI SETS PASSES DEFENDED RECORD
Senior cornerback Jimmy Mireri is etching his name into the Concordia record books as well. He holds the program record for career passes defended (INT + PBU) with 41 and his 37 pass breakups is also a career record. He was able to breakup 14 passes each of the last two seasons, adding an interception in 2013 and three INT's in 2014. In 2015, Mireri has six pass breakups, averaging a solid one per contest and also has 31 total tackles (23 solo).

TRIFUNOV OFF TO A STRONG START
Senior outside linebacker Josh Trifunov is making a name for himself as one of the top pass rushers in the Northern Sun, ranking second in the league  and 12th in the country with 7.0 sacks (1.17/game).  He's also 29th in the league with 39 tackles (6.5/game) and sixth in the NSIC with 8.0 tackles for loss (1.33/game).

In week six, Trifunov had three sacks, the third most in a game in the NSIC this year while adding 3.5 tackles for loss and nine total tackles.

A four year contributor, and multi-year starter, Trifunov has 245 tackles (10th all-time), 24.5.0 tackles for loss, 12.0 sacks and nine passes defended with one interception.

RUNNING BACK COMMITTEE
Alex Carr and Darius Chapes have teamed up to shoulder much of CSP's rushing load this year. Chapes leads the team with 55 carries and two touchdowns  and is second with 235 yards while Carr leads in yards with 235 and is second with 52 carries. In six games, CSP has had four different players lead the team in rushing with Carr's 16 carry, 144 yard performance in the opener at SCSU being the high mark. While four different players have led the team in rushing, the unit has also produced five touchdowns from four different ball carries led by Chapes' two with Charles Arnold, Ben Schramski and Jay Parker all scoring one.

BIG PLAY VICKERS
Redshirt freshman Alquawn Vickers has been one of the most dangerous playmakers in the Northern Sun this year, specifically as a kickoff returner but also as a wide receiver and punt returner. He's made 11 plays of at least 25 yards on the year including three returns of at least 80 yards (80, 91, 99).

He leads the team in receiving yards (21-291) but leads the nation in combined return yards (737), is 12th in the nation and the league leader in all-purpose yards (172.5/game), and is third in the NSIC and 14th in the nation in kickoff return average (29.1).

He's had at least 115 all-purpose yards in every game and at least 150 in five of six games with a pair of 200-yard performances. Vickers has the NSIC single game high in kickoff return yards (146, at Upper Iowa, week 6) and is one of just four players in the country with two kickoff return touchdowns.

QUARTERBACK NOTES
For the second straight year, opening day starting quarterback Corey Cole was lost to a season ending injury early in the year. In two years as the team's starter, Cole has played 10 quarters at the position.

Sophomore Ben Schramski filled in last year, engineering a four game winning streak to end the year while making starts in the last five games in his debut season.

In 10 career starts and parts of 14 total games as a college quarterback, Schramski has passed for 1,571 yards and nine touchdowns while adding 257 rushing yards and three scores. His career long pass was in week two against MSU Moorhead this year, a 69-yard strike to Sammy Baucham for one of their two TD connections in 2015.

This year, Schramski has passed for 777 yards and five touchdowns in five starts while adding one rushing touchdown.

DOBBS & ROBERTS DISRUPTING BACKFIELDS
Redshirt freshman Jackson Dobbs and sophomore Chazz Roberts have made a solid impact on the defensive line. Roberts leads CSP's DL with 28 tackles and 6.5 for loss while Dobbs has added 22 with 4.0 TFL. They each have 1.5 sacks while Roberts has a pair of forced fumbles and a blocked kick and Dobbs has recovered both of those fumbles. Roberts had 3.0 TFL in week five against WSU and Dobbs had 3.0 TFL in week three at Minot State including a solo sack.