UMD football faces reality of another season missing playoffs
DULUTH — With sky-high expectations surrounding Minnesota Duluth at the start of the season, few, if any, could have predicted that the Bulldogs would be out of the playoff picture by the middle of October.
Alas, that is the reality UMD currently faces as a 3-3 team fresh off of a heartbreaking 24-21 loss to Northern State this past Saturday at Malosky Stadium.
"It's gonna be a challenge to bring this football team back mentally and physically," head coach Curt Wiese acknowledged. "We're beat up right now, like everyone else is in the country, but when you're 3-3 and you're beat up, it's tough to come back, and so that's gonna be the focus this week."
With the team set to miss out on the NCAA tournament for a second-straight year, the Bulldogs are left playing for pride in the latter half of the season.
"(Our focus is) rallying the guys and getting ready to strap it up," said Wiese. "This is about the pride of our football program and the pride of our history of this program to make sure that we can continue to fight and finish this season the best that we can."
Getting back in the win column will be a challenge this week as the team gets set to travel to Bob Young Field on Saturday to take on Sioux Falls (5-2), which is coming off back-to-back wins against Minnesota State Mankato and Concordia-St. Paul.
The Cougars, much like the Wolves last weekend, present a similar challenge as a physical and disciplined football team known for its efficiency running the football at 4.6 yards per tote.
"They're an extremely gritty team," said defensive back Jacob Mogensen. "They like to pound the rock — probably a similar game plan to what Northern (did), so what we gotta do is be really tough, play gritty football (and) match their energy."
Last season, the two teams combined to score 76 points in what amounted to a shootout in Week 3 at Malosky Stadium. Running backs Dylan Rudningen, Matt Grzybowski and quarterback Camden Dean accounted for five rushing touchdowns and will likely remain a focal point of USF's offensive attack this Saturday.
UMD quarterback Kyle Walljasper had a big day of his own in the 42-34 win after matching a career high in rushing touchdowns with four, and is coming off of a 145-yard rushing performance against the Wolves on Saturday.
The Fond du Lac, Wisconsin native completed 9-of-14 passes for 115 yards, one touchdown and one interception in a game plan that was supposed to be more pass-oriented, but changed as a result of an injury.
"Kyle dinged his hand up in the first half, couldn't feel the football. (It's) something that we didn't know until Sunday," Wiese shared. "He had a couple of bad passes Saturday that (were) the result of that, so some of that is him being tough and pulling the ball down and running, the other of it is we should've recognized that (or) Kyle should have recognized that that we maybe could've gone with somebody else in those situations..."
The injury setback will be an extra hurdle for the Bulldogs to overcome in an already daunting matchup against the Wildcats, who own a 3-0 home record against UMD dating back to the 2013 season.
Looking ahead to Saturday, Mogensen and company are prepared to tackle the challenge head-on in hopes of finishing the season on a high note.
"The best thing you can do after a loss is watch back the film, self-critique, listen to your coaches, make adjustments and then flip the page and come back stronger the next week," he said.
What: NSIC football game
When:
Where: Bob Young Field, Sioux Falls
Records: UMD 3-3, Sioux Falls 5-2
Forecast: Partly cloudy with a high of 70 and 9 mph wind
Internet: nsicnetwork.com/umdbulldogs
