ST. PAUL, Minn. - This Saturday the Concordia-St. Paul football program (0-1, 0-1 South) will host Billy Brown, Jr. Day at Sea Foam Stadium with a noon kickoff in the 2018 home opener against Upper Iowa (0-1, 0-1 South).

BILLY BROWN, JR. DAY
The team and athletic department will honor the memory of Billy Brown, Jr. (1995-2018), a former linebacker and sport management graduate who passed away suddenly near his Twin Cities home on Wednesday, June 13. The football team is selling #26GB4L t-shirts to honor Billy's memory with all proceeds from the sale going directly to Billy's family, helping offset the unexpected funeral costs this summer. His family will be recognized by the football team as honorary captains during the pregame coin toss, alongside week two game captains senior Dom McKinzy, junior Jackson Dobbs and sophomores Shaq Johnson and Andy Aune.

He was a consistent contributor and a senior starting linebacker in the 2017 season. He had his top year as a college football player last year, posting 56 tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack and fumble recovery. Across his four years on the field, he played in 38 games for the Golden Bears, making 95 tackles with 6.5 for loss and a pair of sacks.

Following his football career, Brown completed his degree in sport management and was aiming to attend graduate school.

From his obituary: In addition to his parents, Billy Brown Sr. and Tracy (Edward) Cagle, he leaves to cherish his precious memories, four brothers, Julius Cagle of Houston, TX, Semaj Brown of O'Fallon, IL, and Timothy (Trinity) Jones Jr. and Jakari Robertson, both of Peoria; one sister, Brandi Anderson of College Park, GA; grandmother, Janettee Proctor of Peoria; and a host of other family members and friends.

In 2018, senior defensive back Brandon Russell will wear Billy's #26 in honor of his late friend. Head coach Shannon Currier has stated his desire to select a player who fits what Billy meant to the program to wear #26 in future seasons to give deeper meaning to Billy's legacy to Concordia football.

LIVE COVERAGE
The game can be watched online, free of charge as School Space Media produces a multiple camera broadcast with veteran broadcaster Dan Flanagan handling the play-by-play. The St. Paul native is a graduate of Fordham University (N.Y.) where he trained in broadcasting in multiple sports including the Rams football team in the Patriot League. Flanagan has been broadcasting for Golden Bear athletics since 2008. He'll be joined by color commentator Logan Anderson, former voice of Morningside College on 620 AM KMNS in Sioux City, Iowa where he earned a degree in mass communications.

Additionally, live stats are available as is the NSIC live scoreboard to follow league action in real-time.

STREAMING DEVICES
The School Space Media streamed webcast is now available through widely used streaming devices like the Roku, Amazon FireTV, Apple TV and Android TV. Simply search for NSIC to find the Stretch Internet application for the conference to watch games on your TV and in HD (where available).

DOWNLOAD THE CSP BEARS GAMEDAY FAN APP
Follow the Golden Bear football team along with the rest of your favorite CSP Bears squads by downloading the new gameday fan app, hosted by From Now On. The app provides users with a unique and customizable experience, allowing each user to select the sports they want to follow and how they are connected to CSP (fans, students, faculty/staff, alumni, etc). The app will also be a new way to stay updated on the action as well as to be the first to find out about promotions and special events!

BEARS & PEACOCKS SEEKING FIRST WIN
While Concordia is playing in its home opener, the Peacocks are hitting the road for the first time. But the teams share one thing in common: heartbreaking losses to teams from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Last week, Concordia held a 24-20 road lead with 32 seconds to play before #20 Sioux Falls went 60 yards in four plays, scoring the game winning touchdown from 26 yards out with three seconds remaining.

Conversely, Upper Iowa jumped out to a 24-0 lead over Augustana at Harms-Eischeid Stadium in Fayette, Iowa before falling short in a 48-45 shootout. UIU blocked a 46-yard Augustana field goal with just under three minutes remaining but went 4-and-out on the ensuing possession that started on the UIU 29 yard line. From there, Augustana was able to run out the remaining 2:26 of play.

SERIES HISTORY: CSP 8, UPPER IOWA 4
The Golden Bears won the first seven and seven of the first eight meetings between the programs in a series that began in 2006. The teams have played every year since, with Concordia holding a 5-1 record in home games between Griffin Stadium (2007, 2008) and Sea Foam Stadium (2009-present).

UIU's only win in four trips to Concordia's new stadium came in their list trip to St. Paul, a 41-21 loss for the Bears in 2016. Last year, Upper Iowa made it three in a row and four of the last five with a 34-29 win in Fayette.

Half of the contests in the all-time series have been decided by one score or less.

LAST YEAR: UPPER IOWA 34, CSP 29
In week six last season, the Golden Bears' road comeback attempt fell short with three straight incomplete passes from the UIU 9 yard line to turn the ball over on downs with 1:45 to play.

Concordia had trailed 14-0 by late in the second quarter, rallying for a 16-14 lead late in the third. The Peacocks went up by double-digits again in the fourth, 34-22 with 9:35 to play on a punt return touchdown before CSP's late rally fell nine yards short.

Facing a Peacock secondary that entered the game ranked fourth in the country in passing yards allowed (117.4), quarterback Ron Johnson completed 23-44 for 262 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

He connected with wide receiver Marcus Gustaveson nine times for 93 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Darnell Rolle also had a strong performance with 126 combined yards, running for 86 yards on 21 carries while adding 3-40 through the air.

The CSP secondary held a strong Upper Iowa pass game to 174 yards on 10-21 passing but the Peacocks found 245 rushing yards to CSP's 121.

UIU quarterback Brent Lammers was 10-21 for 174 and two touchdowns and also led the ground game with 162 yards on 28 attempts with another score. Ryan Parmely added 22 carries for 79 yards and Jarred Edmonds had four catches for 70 yards and both of Lammers' touchdowns.

Dylan Wood was a force on defense with three of his nine tackles coming behind the line of scrimmage and Chris Garrett added a pair of sacks and tackles for loss among his eight tackles.

Tate Thompson led the UIU defense with eight tackles, two coming for loss with 1.5 sacks.

ABOUT THE BEARS
Concordia's season nearly got off to a huge start, taking a nationally-ranked opponent down to the wire on the road last Thursday night. But #20 Sioux Falls, who has reached the NCAA playoffs three years in a row, converted the game winning touchdown from 26 yards out with three seconds to play. The drive began by returning the kickoff to the 40, and after an incomplete pass, the Cougars used a pair of passes to the sideline to move 34 yards, setting up the score.

Senior quarterback Dom McKinzy was impressive in his debut under center, completing 19-of-32 for 236 yards and three touchdowns, the third coming from 33 yards out on a deep pass down the right sideline to junior Marcus Gustaveson to put CSP ahead 21-20 with under eight minutes left. McKinzy also had a big 3rd and 16 conversion, finding sophomore Keyon Walters for 17 yards with under five minutes to play which helped set up senior Jonas Schenderlein's field goal with 32 seconds left for a 24-20 lead.

Gustaveson had five catches for 94 yards and the touchdown in the game.

Sophomore running back Shaq Johnson had a pair of third down touchdown catches from seven yards out in the second quarter to give CSP a 14-7 lead at the break. He finished with 17 carries for 66 yards and four catches for 23 yards.

The McKinzy to Johnson second quarter touchdowns turned the game around as USF opened play by forcing a 3-and-out by the CSP offense and scored in three plays on its opening drive to seemingly take control early.

The Golden Bears compiled 353 yards of total offense against a defense with a reputation as one of Division II's best over the past few seasons. CSP also maintained the ball with a 33:06 to 26:54 time of possession advantage, and a final 3-to-2 edge in turnover margin which led to a 14-0 scoring deficit off turnovers. The turnover margin had been 3-to-1 until the final kickoff when CSP fumbled in attempting multiple laterals with no time remaining.

QUICK HITTERS: ABOUT THE PEACOCKS

• Upper Iowa was picked to finished 11th in the NSIC and 6th in the NSIC South in the preseason coaches poll after posting a 6-5 overall record and 3-4 NSIC South Division mark in 2017.

• UIU dropped a close one in the opening week of the season, falling 48-45 at home against Augustana after leading 24-0

• The Peacocks amassed 436 yards in their Week 1 loss, but also allowed 489 yards to the Vikings

• Senior quarterback Brent Lammers passed for 325 yards, going 20-41 with four touchdowns and two interceptions against Augie

• Lammers also was the leading rusher for the Peacocks, running for 61 yards on 14 attempts

• Lammers threw for 191.6 yards per game over ten games in 2017, connecting on 12 touchdowns and tossing 13 interceptions

• Sophomore DJ Emsweller caught nine passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns against Augustana

• Senior Jordan Roemmes collected 11 tackles and a sack against Augustana in Week 1

• Roemmes was second on the team with 73 tackles in 2017 and led the team with five interceptions

• Juniort Ryan Parmely, a returning all-conference running back who amassed 871 yards and 4.5 yards per carry in 2017, did not receive a carry in Week 1 and is listed as the backup running back for Upper Iowa

• The Peacocks had eight All-Conference selections last season, five of which are not on the 2018 roster. The returners are Lammers, Parmely, and junior linebacker Mitchell Siech, who had 65 tackles last season, including nine tackles for loss.

• The Peacocks averaged 372.2 yards per game in 2017 (sixth in the NSIC) and 24.6 points per game (eighth in the NSIC)

• UIU allowed 339.9 yards per game and 24.8 points per game in 2017, both eighth in the NSIC

• Upper Iowa's pass defense was the best in the NSIC in 2017, allowing just 157.1 yards per game to opponents

• The Peacocks attempted just six field goals in 2017, converting five