ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul football team opens the 2015 season on Thursday, September 3 with a 6 p.m. kickoff against St. Cloud State University at Husky Stadium.
 
Concordia was picked to finish eighth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll, while St. Cloud State fifth. In their respective divisions, SCSU opened up at third including a first place vote in the North while Concordia was fifth in the South.
 
The Golden Bears went 5-6 overall and 4-3 in division play last year while SCSU was 6-5 overall and 5-2 in its division. Each team went 1-3 against the opposite division and finished the season strong, making the opener an intriguing battle of two programs looking to retain momentum from the end of last year.
 
The Golden Bears come into the contest riding a four game winning streak to close out the 2014 season with a third place finish in the 8-team NSIC South Division and an eighth place finish overall in the 16-team Northern Sun. The Huskies won their last three games of 2014 to finish third in the North and a game ahead of Concordia in the overall standings in a three team tie for fifth place.
 
"Ending last season with four straight wins was big but we've only talked about it once and that was the opening team meeting of season. But our team motto in 2015 is 'Control Today,' and I haven't really thought about it since then," said head coach Ryan Williams. "'Control Today' doesn't matter about Yesterday and doesn't matter about tomorrow. It just matters about controlling your effort, your positive attitude and your approach to life and football, and your execution of life and football every day. We feel like if we grind that out, production will take care of itself."
 
Williams added that the winning streak's true momentum will be felt if the team can put a 1-0 start to the 2015 season. "It comes down to capturing the opportunity on Thursday to a win a football game. The guys will rekindle all of that momentum from the end of last year and it will grow that much more. That's the point at which we'll feel that spark. None of it matters unless we go into a hostile environment and win a football game, and we expect it to exactly that type of atmosphere."
 
The team depth and experience is what Williams will rely on to carry the club, "When we look at our travel, we return 40 on our 55 man travel roster with quality experience. We have another seven transfers and then freshmen who are ready to play, we have 75 percent of the roster who has played winning reps in our league. That has to play to our advantage."
 
The team returns four of its five starting offensive linemen, two quarterbacks with starting experience led by 2014 opening day starter Corey Cole and last year's starter at the helm of the season ending 4-game winning streak, Ben Schramski. Additionally, a number of returning and redshirted skill players will look to fill the voids left by Tre Spears, Cordell Smith and Jermaine Clemon who combined to account for 2,469 rushing and receiving yards last year and 6,757 yards over four seasons as a four year starting trio.
 
Defensively, the group features even more continuity with senior leaders Hank Goff up front, Jordan Halverson, Josh Trifunov and Jahphet Grant as three of the four linebackers and Jimmy Mireri and Jordan Nieuwsma in the secondary. The team returns seven starters from last year's defense, and eight including Grant as a 2013 starter after losing his 2014 season to injury.
 
The coaching staff remains mostly intact under Williams, with offensive coordinator (OL) Mike Shafer, Derek Branch (RB/TE), Joe Lardinois (DL) and graduate assistants Rob Huberty (LB) and Matt Dovenberg (WR) all in place. The newcomer to the staff is seasoned Division II defensive coordinator Ted Egger (DB), who will have assistance from longtime assistant Russell Gary (DB) at the position. A number of new volunteer and student coaches have also joined the mix to form a cohesive staff.
 
"I think the program's in a really good place. The culture we've created in my four years as head coach. I've never had this experience before, so people aren't wrong when they say it takes a three or four years to get everyone in the program who you feel comfortable with and who embodies your culture and who you are as a person. I hope this football program is at that point where it represents those things that I believe in and have exemplified in my time as a coach and my time here at Concordia. It's exciting and on top of that we have really good talent and a quality coaching staff. It's the people that make the program and we have a lot of good people in place. Now we have to take the next step on the field, execute and win. I am optimistic that we are ready to take that step."
 
SERIES HISTORY
Concordia is 0-3 all-time against the Huskies in a series that didn't start until 2010. Concordia has only made one trip to SCSU, falling 41-13 in 2010. The Huskies have scored 30-plus and held Concordia to 13 or fewer in all three contests with at least a 28-point margin each game.
 
HEAD COACH RYAN WILLIAMS
Fifth year head coach Ryan Williams leads the program, carrying an 18-26 career record including a 6-5 rookie season and back-to-back 5-6 campaigns. Concordia is 2-2 in season openers under Williams and 3-1 in the first road game of the year in his tenure. The Golden Bears are 7-9 against the NSIC North Division under Williams.
 
MEET THE 2015 CAPTAINS
The Golden Bears have announced the 2015 season captains with Corey Cole (QB, Jr., Fillmore, Calif.) and Cole Parker (LT, Sr., Brookfield, Wis.) as offensive captains and Hank Goff (DT, Sr., Minnetonka, Minn.) and Jordan Nieuwsma (FS, Sr., Lakeville, Minn.) as defensive captains.
 
RECORD WATCH: HALVERSON CLOSES IN ON TACKLES RECORD
Senior inside linebacker Jordan Halverson has climbed into fifth on Concordia's career tackles list with 298, just 44 shy of Brian Doyle's (2001-04) team record of 342. Halverson is coming off a career-high 108 tackle season in 2014 and also had 105 tackles with a career-best 14.5 tackles for loss as a sophomore in 2012. In his career, he also has 29.0 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and an interception returned for a touchdown (2014).
 
GRADUATING TO 'THE LEAGUE'
The past two seasons have seen a pair of Golden Bears advance to the NFL, first with the program's first-ever NFL Draft choice, Zach Moore in 2014 (New England Patriots, 6^th round) followed by Tom Obarski who signed a free agent contract with the Cincinnati Bengals following the 2015 NFL Draft. Moore, a defensive lineman played in eight games with a start in his rookie year with the Patriots including a Super Bowl victory. Obarski is competing for the starting kicker role with veteran incumbent Mike Nugent and remained with the club through the end of August and three preseason games.
 
Past players who have signed NFL contracts include Charles Gilbert (St. Louis Rams & Jacksonville Jaguars, 2011), Tyler Hendrickson (Chicago Bears, 2011) and Mike Bailey (Dallas Cowboys, 1970).

RETURNING AWARD WINNERS & PRESEASON HONORS
The Golden Bears will bring back five All-NSIC selections from the 2014 squad headlined by second team selections Jordan Halverson (ILB, Sr., Fridley, Minn.) and Josh Trifunov (OLB, Sr., South St. Paul, Minn.). Joining them as honorable mention selections and returning to the squad are offensive linemen Josh Coyne (LG, Jr., Middleton, Wis.) and Brett Morris (C, Jr., Lyons, Ill.) along with Hank Goff (DT, Sr., Minnetonka, Minn.).

All five returning All-NSIC selections were honored on the USA College Football Preseason All-America Teams with Goff, Halverson and Trifunov appearing on the second team while Coyne and Morris were honorable mention selections.

Additionally, Cole Parker (LT, Sr., Brookfield, Wis.) is a returning Academic All-America First Team performer as a standout athletically and academically.