ST. PAUL, Minn. - This Saturday, Concordia-St. Paul football (1-1, 0-1 NSIC) enters a week three home contest against Augustana (2-0, 1-0 NSIC) with a 6:30 p.m. kickoff at Sea Foam Stadium. It will be Concordia's first conference home contest of the season, and is sponsored by American Family Insurance, Greg Nygard & Associates Agency.

WEATHER OUTLOOK
Just two days from kickoff, and Saturday evening appears to be another tremendous fall weather event with a daytime high of 75 and overnight low of 51 and light & variable winds at 5-10mph from WNW/NNW (left to right with slight cross wind when seated in main grandstand). While the day features a 20 percent chance of rain, the evening has an under 10 percent chance with partly cloudy skies predicted.

BUY TICKETS ONLINE – AVOID THE LINE!
Fans are encouraged to buy tickets in advance and bring your QR code to the gates to skip the line! New for 2023, Concordia will be a cashless ticket experience for fans, so if you don't purchase ahead, make sure to bring your card to make your purchase at the gate.
 
Friends and families who utilize the pass list will also be utilizing the online ticketing service, while faculty & staff will access their free CSP tickets through the service. CSP students will have their all-sport season passes sent directly to their csp.edu email address.
 
Fans do not need to create a login, remember a username or password or download an app to purchase tickets. BUY ONLINE

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.
 
The show typically features two segments with Coach Currier along with a segment with Langfellow joined by a pair of student-athletes.This week's podcast guests are a pair of three-time game times this season: junior guard Taylon Hensley and sophomore linebacker Richard Wauer.
 
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!
 
CAPTAINS / HONORARY 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 fifth season in a row. Captains are selected by the coaching staff based on performance on the field and off, as a leader in practice and in day-to-day activities.
 
The season opener's game captains are junior guard Taylon Hensley, sophomore running back Daniel Hornacek, junior safety Cyrus McClure and sophomore linebacker Richard Wauer.

Honorary captains for the week three coin toss represent Sodexo, providing an exceptional campus dining experience and keeping the CSP athletes fed during fall camp: Jamison Cross and Juan Alsides.
 
SERIES HISTORY: AUGUSTANA 13, CSP 4
The Vikings enter Saturday night's game riding a six game winning streak against the Golden Bears, but three of the last four contests have been decided by two touchdowns or less including a one-point loss by CSP on the road two meetings ago in 2019 (21-20). 

Concordia holds a 2-7 record against Augie all-time at home and a 1-5 mark against the Vikings at Sea Foam Stadium, last defeating Augie at home in the 2014 season, 17-7. Head coach Shannon Currier is seeking his first victory over the Vikings, coming up short in the previous five games he's coached against Augustana. The all-time series began the year after Currier's first term at Concordia ended, a 17-16 CSP win in the 2004 season in Sioux Falls.

Last year, the Golden Bears and Vikings met on opening night at Sea Foam Stadium with safety Cyrus McClure making a huge impact to open the season with a pair of first quarter interceptions as the game was scoreless after the first quarter. McClure and the CSP secondary held Augustana to 7-14 passing for 62 yards on the night.

While the Vikings scored a pair of second-quarter touchdowns for a 14-0 lead, Concordia responded with an 8-play, 68-yard scoring drive including a 34-yard pass from Conner Cordts to Jaheim Arnold while Gayflor Flomo capped off the drive with a two-yard touchdown plunge.

The momentum carried into the third quarter as CSP went 79 yards on seven plays with Cordts finding Drew Enke for a 36-yard touchdown strike to tie the game. CSP quickly got the ball back with a chance to claim the lead in the second half, forcing an Augie 3-and-out but Augustana's defense was able to hold CSP from scoring the rest of the night. The visiting Vikings picked up a pair of touchdowns from Jared Epperson and Matt Francis midway through the third and early in the fourth quarter to pull away. Epperson finished with 18-109 rushing as Augustana rushed for 258 yards of their 320 yards of total offense.

Concordia was led by Jaylin Richardson's 89 total yards, leading CSP in both receiving (5-59) and rushing (11-30). Brayden Hilgemann led the defense with eight tackles (one for loss) and had a sack while Rhett Sheehan and Caden Baarts each had eight tackles, as well. Cordts finished 13-21 for 167 yards and a passing TD while Bryce Sievers added 5-10 passing for 31 yards in the fourth quarter.

LAST TIME OUT: WINONA STATE 33, CSP 8
In a defensive battle, the Warriors were able to score with their defense and take away a CSP score in the end zone with a pair of interceptions by Griffin Wiegel while the Warrior special teams racked up four field goals and a blocked punt in a 33-8 contest in Winona.

The Golden Bears held Winona State to 331 yards of total offense in their home opener including just 161 through the air and 3-13 on third downs. CSP was able to top 100 rushing yards on the road in hostile territory, accumulating 109 yards as Daniel Hornacek paced the offense with 59 combined yards on six touches, rushing four times for 39 yards and adding 2-20 as a receiver out of the backfield.

Concordia's defense was led by Kendis Ledbetter's seven tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss while Koffi Gbekle and Jawon Carr each picked up first half sacks and Brayden Hilgemann secured a key interception in CSP territory to end a WSU scoring threat.

CSP held Warrior quarterback Cole Stenstrom to 14-24 passing for 161 yards, a touchdown and an interception and no Warrior rusher had more than Josh Buri's 46 yards on eight carries.

With the two teams combined for just 561 yards of total offense and 5-27 third down conversions, field position became a key factor as the Warriors on average started with the ball with a 16-yard advantage for the game (WSU 39 to CSP 23).

ABOUT THE GOLDEN BEARS
The Golden Bears have had some strong moments this year, protecting the quarterback with just 1.0 sack allowed in two games, the 13th-best mark in the nation, while on the other side of the ball, the defense has played clutch football in allowing just a 16.0 percent third down rate (4-25) to lead the Northern Sun and rank ninth nationally.

Individually, Concordia's rushing duo of Jaylin Richardson and Daniel Hornacek have been potent, separated by just two yards with Richardson (25-141-2) edging Hornacek (14-139-1) in yards and touchdowns, but Hornacek leading the way with 9.9 yards per carry with Richardson still carrying a strong 5.6 average. Dual-threat quarterback Conner Cordts has also rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown, averaging 4.3 per carry, and multi-faceted threat Troy Ellison averages 9.3 yards per rush on his three attempts (3-28).

Richardson & Hornacek teamed up for a 100 yard rushing season debut performance, as well.

In the season opener, Ellison snared 10 receptions for 85 yards and despite being held without a catch at WSU, still leads the team in each while five others have at least three catches and seven others have 20-plus receiving yards for Cordts and the pass game.

Ellison leads the team with 272 all-purpose yards, averaging 136.0 per game as he's racked up yardage across the board: 6-101 (16.8) on kickoff returns, 10-85 receiving, 1-58 on punt returns, and 3-28 rushing.

Meanwhile, Cordts has engineered the offense with 56.9 completion percentage (33-58) and three touchdown strikes with 289 passing yards while spreading the ball around to nine different options in the pass game with 13 players drawing targets. He leads the team with 365 yards of total offense on the year.

The defense is led by Cyrus McClure patrolling the secondary with 13 tackles, a pass breakup, and a forced fumble with his breakup also leading to an interception by Anthony Ukofia, who recovered McClure's force to collect two turnovers in the season opener. Richard Wauer leads the linebackers with 13 total tackles while Kendis Ledbetter leads a deep defensive line with 11 tackles, 2.5 tackles fo rloss and is one of five different players (four defensive linemen) to record at least a half sack.

Two-time All-NSIC North Division kicker Payton Eue, a senior graduate transfer from Northern State, has converted his lone field goal try and delivered three kickoff touchbacks on the year. Junior punter Parker Dahlman ranks among the national top-40 and fourth in the NSIC with a 40.6 punt average, a long of 56, three punts of 50-plus yards among his first 11 punts and a pair of punts inside the 20.

ABOUT THE VIKINGS
The Vikings enter play with a 2-0 record to start the season, winning their conference home opener in week one 38-7 against UMary before topping Chadron State (Neb.) on the road in a week two non-conference game 27-3. In two weeks, Augie has allowed ust 10 total points with a 65-10 scoring margin.

Augustana has used special teams as a weapon as Devon Jones has already returned two punts for touchdowns, averaging 41.2 yards per punt return. In doing so, Jones set school records for longest punt return in consecutive weeks, taking back an 85-yard return in the season opener before topping his own record with an 89-yard run back in week two.

Offensively, the Vikings return 10 regular starters from the 2022 season and all 11 starters from their final game as they finished 7-4 overall and 3-3 in the NSIC South Division. They were picked fourth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll with two first-place votes and 112 total points, just two points behind third-place Wayne State and three ahead of fifth-place Minnesota Duluth.

The offense is led by heavily scouted NFL prospect Blake Larson on the offensive line, a returning two-time All-NSIC First Team selection on an offense that also returns three more All-NSIC Second Team selections Jack Fisher, Mitchell Goodbary and CJ James. So far in 2023, the offense is perfect in the red zone.

Quarterback Casey Bauman has passed for 517 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions while completing 63.4 percent of his passes, adding 9-52 rushing with two more scores to lead the Viking run game in rushing average (5.8) and rushing touchdowns. Augie's ground game has been a team effort with five different players registering at least seven carries and 30 yards and led by Rashad Lampkin's 17-87 (5.1) on the ground as Augie has 300 team rushing yards and a 4.4 average.

Bauman's top target is Jack Fisher with nine catches for 154 yards and a score while Canyon Bauer adds 5-117 (23.4) and two touchdowns. Running back Jarod Epperson brings 6-72 receiving along with his 19-60 rushing total.

Defensively, the Vikings have been led early on by the pass rush from Gradee Sherman with three sacks in the season opener while Peyton Buckley is a returning All-NSIC Second Team defensive selection.