ST. PAUL, Minn. - This Saturday, Concordia-St. Paul (0-6 NSIC, 0-1 North) hosts Minnesota Duluth (4-2 NSIC, 2-0 North) in an NSIC North Division contest at Sea Foam Stadium with a noon kickoff.

YOUTH DAY
Saturday's game is Youth Day presented by InSports Foundation with special thanks to American Family Insurance: Nygard Agency, the official game sponsor. All kids 5 & under are free of charge while all kids ages 6-12 are $1. Buy tickets online

WEATHER OUTLOOK
Saturday in St. Paul is forecast for a high of 53 degrees, warming from an overnight low of 33 degrees on Friday evening into Saturday morning. Conditions will be partly cloudy in the morning turning to cloudy in the afternoon with winds from the west at 10-15 mph.

WATCH ONLINE – NSIC NETWORK
All Golden Bear NSIC football games will be available to watch online, free of charge, powered by the NSIC Network, and supported by BlueFrame Technology.
 
Visit nsicnetwork.com/cspbears on a laptop or desktop computer, download the NSIC Network app on your mobile device or watch on your supported OTT provider such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Search "NSIC Network" and download the app for the league's full sport and team lineups. NSIC NETWORK FAQ
 
All home games will feature the play-by-play broadcasting provided by Dan Flanagan, the voice of the Golden Bears for over a decade. The St. Paul, Minnesota native studied broadcasting at Fordham University (N.Y.) where he was the voice of the Rams' football and basketball teams in the NCAA Division I Patriot League.
 
DOWNLOAD THE APP
Fans can download the CSP Bears fan app, free of charge and available in the App Store or on Google Play. The app contains rosters, schedules, scores, stats, news, social media and more! Customize your options to get notifications to your favorite teams, as well. Search "CSP Bears" in the app store to stay up-to-date on Golden Bear athletics.

LISTEN TO THE COACHES SHOW
The Coaches Show with Shannon Currier is back on the Twin Cities airwaves for a fourth season, once again hosted by Wally Langfellow of Minnesota Score. The show airs following the Minnesota high school football game of the week, typically on Friday evenings in the 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. hour on KYCR 1440 AM radio, available in the Twin Cities metro area.

This week's show airs live on Friday night and will feature sophomore guard Elliott Wolfe and freshman long snapper Peyton Ihns.

For fans who miss the show or are outside of the radio station's Twin Cities reach, the entire show is accessible via the CSP Bears Podcast, available in Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Play Music. It will typically be uploaded late Friday night (after the initial air time) or Saturday morning prior to the game. Search 'CSP Bears' into your favorite podcast provider!

WEEK 7 GAME CAPTAINS
CSP head coach Shannon Currier and the Golden Bear coaching staff have continued the program's tradition of selecting rotating weekly game captains for the fourth season in a row. Captains are selected by the coaching staff based on performance on the field and as a leader in practice and day-to-day activities.
 
The week seven game captains are to be announced. 

FIFTH-RANKED STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE IN DIVISION II
The Golden Bears have had a daunting first half of the season, with a combined opponent record of 28-8 through six weeks and none of Concordia's opponents have more than two losses.

The Golden Bears add another 2-loss team to the strength of schedule this Saturday against Minnesota Duluth (4-2).

Entering week seven, CSP holds the 5th-toughest strength of schedule in Division II football with a past opposition winning percentage of .733 (excluding CSP games). The next closest NSIC teams are UMary and Minot State with the 18th-ranked strength of schedules (19-11, .636).

While unable to put a positive mark in the win column, the Golden Bears have remained competitive deep into the second half against Augustana (5-1), Southwest Minnesota State (4-2), Minnesota State (4-2) and Bemidji State (4-2).

SERIES HISTORY: UMD 11, CONCORDIA 3
The Golden Bears shocked the Bulldogs by scoring a 35-27 win at Griffin Stadium in St. Paul in CSP's first season of NCAA Division II football in 1999. Concordia showed it wasn't a fluke in 2000, winning 37-27 at Malosky Stadium and the all-time series was split at three games apiece when CSP secured a convincing 38-6 win over the Bulldogs at Griffin Stadium in 2004.

But the Bulldogs have taken command of the series since, winning the last eight meetings. CSP and UMD played to a pair of tightly contested games in 2014 with UMD winning 2013 in Duluth and again in 2016 with UMD winning 52-49, preventing CSP from a 3-0 start in head coach Shannon Currier's first season back with the team since 2003.

The 52-49 shootout also featured CSP with the ball late in the game and a chance to win it on their home turf in UMD's last trip to St. Paul.

The Bulldogs, who rejoined the NSIC in 2008, have only made two trips to Sea Foam Stadium, once in 2012 (70-24 UMD) and again in 2016 (52-49 UMD), but with CSP now in the NSIC North Division, the teams will square-off every year moving forward.

Coach Currier holds a 1-6 record against UMD, dropping the previous six after the 2000 road win.

LAST MEETING, 2021: UMD 33, CONCORDIA 13
Concordia's offensive front faced one of its toughest tests of the year against a Bulldog defense that entered play leading the league with 285 yards of total offense allowed per game and a league-high 23 sacks. CSP's offensive line and game plan worked in concert, allowing just one sack and four tackles for loss while keeping CSP tied through the first quarter, within a field goal at the half and within 12 points entering the fourth quarter.
 
The Golden Bears kept UMD off the scoreboard for nearly the entire first half, with UMD finally converting a 51-yard field goal off the crossbar as time expired in the second quarter.
 
After shutting UMD down on the game's opening drive to a 3-and-out with no yards gained, the Golden Bears executed the bend, but don't break defense well, forcing UMD to miss its first two field goals of the day on the next two drives in the red zone.

Concordia had executed its first half game plan to perfection, taking 5:44 off the clock on a 5-minute, 44-second possession that resulted in a punt from their own 47-yard line, and a 12-play, 38-yard possession that spanned 7:45 of clock on its third possession that resulted in a punt from the UMD 42 yard line after advancing to the 32 yard line.
 
UMD also drained the clock, taking 8:10 off the clock on its second drive that saw the Bulldogs march 66 yards on 16 plays before a missed field goal into the wind at the CSP 14 yard line, and a 4:27 drive taking nine plays and 61 yards for a missed field goal from the CSP 19.
 
UMD's final drive of the half is what broke the scoreless tie, with UMD moving 52 yards in 11 plays to reach the CSP 34-yard line to set up the 51 yard field goal with the wind at their backs, needing just 1-minute and 16-seconds to do so.

It was the first of four made field goals for Bulldog kicker Curt Cox, who made his fourth field goal as the third quarter expired to cap a third quarter that featured three made field goals from 33, 31 and 28 yards to give UMD a 12-0 lead.

In week 7 at Malosky Stadium, the Golden Bears and Bulldogs each entered play with uncertainty on their two-deeps at the quarterback position. The previous week in St. Paul, four different players completed passes for the Golden Bears against BSU while three different Bulldogs had earned significant playing time since week four.
 
Against the Bulldogs, it was Abe Schwartz handling sole possession of the duties under center for CSP in his first career start. He completed 12-22 for 154 yards and a pair of fourth quarter touchdown passes including a long of 67 to Mason Van Zeeland on the first play of a drive following UMD's first touchdown to cut the score to 19-7 with 10:34 to play in the game.
 
He also connected with running back Brian Lankford-Johnson on 3rd-and-goal from the 2-yard line with 1:01 to play in the game's final score.

While Concordia was able to drain clock in the first half, the third quarter saw an aggressive Bulldog defense adapt, limiting CSP to just 12 plays and 30 yards.
 
With just 12 total points between the teams combined across the first three quarters, the offenses finally broke free for a 34-point fourth quarter, but it was UMD who found the end zone three times compared to two touchdowns for Concordia.
 
In the fourth quarter, Concordia flipped its result from the 30-yard third quarter, putting up 120 yards of total offense while averaging 8.6 yards per play to close the game out strong offensively.
 
Concordia's defense was led by Andrew Egnarski's nine tackles, with six coming in the fourth quarter. In the secondary, cornerback Preston Piltoff had three pass breakups while his lone tackle was behind the line of scrimmage as CSP had 6.0 team TFLs, two more than UMD.
 
Up front, defensive end Richard Ficociello had a two-sack performance while freshman defensive tackle Brad Walker secured his first career sack as CSP had three sacks to UMD's one.
 
Jaylin Richardson led CSP's ground game with 18 carries for 40 yards while Schwartz added 6-28 rushing. Out of the backfield, Lankford-Johnson had a pair of catches for 18 yards including a long of 16 along with the short touchdown catch.
 
In the pass game, seven different Golden Bears secured receptions out of 10 players targeted. Wide receiver Jake Shepley led the team in receptions with three, going for 36 yards. He competed against his brother, UMD safety Marcus Shepley, who had four tackles in the game to finish third on the Bulldogs in tackles.

LAST WEEK: BEMIDJI STATE 44, CONCORDIA 0
Concordia's streak of 49-straight games without being shutout came to a close at Bemidji State, falling 44-0 to the Beavers. It was CSP's first shutout loss since 2016, a 38-0 loss at Winona State.

Junior linebacker Andrew Egnarski came one tackle within matching the school record for most tackles in a single game with 19 stops including a half tackle for loss, tying former teammate Gabe Nkumu for second-most in a game in program history.

Despite the final margin, CSP held firm with the Beavers, with BSU breaking a scoreless tie with 24 seconds to play in the first quarter and CSP trailing by just 13 points entering halftime. The Golden Bears had a chance to cut into the lead late in the first half but came up empty on downs at the BSU 24-yard line with 18 seconds to play before the break.

The stalled momentum carried over to the third quarter when CSP came up empty in the BSU red zone when the Beavers blocked a 31-yard field goal. After CSP's defense once again held up to the challenge against one of the nation's top passing offense, stopping BSU to a field goal on the ensuing drive for a 16-0 deficit, the Golden Bears fumbled on their next two possessions including the second time at the goal line, coming up empty on three scoring chances in a span of four possessions.

BSU countered by scoring points on five straight possessions including the field goal to make it 16-0, followed by four-straight TDs to put the game away.

Sophomore running back Jaylin Richardson led CSP with 16-84 rushing and a 16-yard reception to give him a 100-yard all-purpose day for the third time on the season. Sophomore wide receiver Nathan Gimza had his best game of the year with 4-76 receiving and a long of 37 and Conner Cordts completed 12-28 for 134 yards while adding 2-9 rushing. He didn't throw an INT and was not sacked in the game.

While Egnarski had the busy day on defense, he was aided by linebacker Brayden Hilgemann's six tackles and 1.0 TFL and cornerback Zantavious Graham who had six tackles and a pass breakup. Anthony Ukofia and Keyshawn Pettis each had a tackle for loss, as well, and Javon Jones had his first career sack.

NOTES ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
The Bulldogs are tied for first with a 2-0 NSIC North Division record and hold a 4-2 overall record, falling by a TD at Minnesota State in week two and by a field goal (34-31) at Sioux Falls in week four. They've scored 28-plus points in five of six games this year but have yet to post a road victory in two road contests. UMD will finish the season with four of five on the road starting this week at Sea Foam Stadium.

UMD leads the league and is 12th in the country in total defense and second in the league and 20th nationally in red zone defense, surrendering just 255.8 total yards per game and allowing opponents to reach the red zone just 11 times in six games, permitting only seven scores (all TDs).

The defense features big-play capability from Dayvia Gbor with a league-best four INTs (5th NCAA). Brad Dati leads the team with 39 tackles, adding 4.0 TFLs while Drew Hennessey leads the team with 6.0 sacks, adding a forced fumble and a recovery.

Offensively, UMD is third in the NSIC and 14th in the country in rushing offense (226.8). The heavy-run offense was ignited in a 49-14 win over UMary last week by signal-caller Kyle Walljasper, who is coming off of a 4-rushing TD performance on 123 rushing yards while adding a 29-yard pass on his lone completion.

Walljasper is second on the team with 368 rushing yards at 6.5 per carry with six TDs while Wade Sullivan leads the team with 439 yards, averaging 4.8 per carry on a team with four 100-plus yard rushers.

UMD has used two other QBs, Garrett Olson (65.2%, 536 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs) and Logan Graetz (49.2%, 428 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT) while seven players have attempted passes on the roster. Byron Bynum is the top target with 17-266 receiving and five TDs.

On special teams, UMD limits opponents to just 9.8 yards per kickoff returns for a total of just 156 kickoff return yards on the season (26.0/game).