WEEKEND PLANS
The North Dakota football team will have a busy Saturday as it opens the home and Great West Conference season against one of UND's biggest gridiron rivals. The Fighting Sioux will host South Dakota as UND plays its 90st Homecoming game. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. (CT) at the Alerus Center.
SERIES HISTORY
One only other team (North Dakota State) has a more storied history against North Dakota than South Dakota. Since 1903, the two teams have faced up on the gridiron 90 times with the Fighting Sioux holding a 57-28-5 (.637) all-time advantage. UND also leads 31-10-1 in Grand Forks and 35-18-4 in Vermillion.
Grand Forks, N.D. was the site of the first meeting between the teams in 1903 with the Sioux opening the series with a 6-0 shutout.
Last season, UND came away with a 34-31 victory in the DakotaDome thanks to an overtime field goal by senior Brandon Hellevang. The win was UND's second-straight on the road against the Coyotes. In 2008, the Sioux snapped USD's school-record, 23-game home win streak with a 31-27 victory.
As far as Homecoming goes, the Fighting Sioux hold an undefeated 9-0 record against the Coyotes and a 209-57 scoring advantage. The last time the two teams met on a UND Homecoming weekend was Oct. 3, 1981 when the Fighting Sioux came away with a 27-0 victory.
HARDCORE HOMECOMING
North Dakota has won six-consecutive Homecoming games, including a 42-32 vicotory over Western Washington last season. All-time the Sioux hold a 60-27-3 (.686) Homecoming record.
UND's last Homecoming loss was a 20-17 setback to St. Cloud State in 2002, which was actually the second-consecutive Homecoming loss. The year prior, UND took a 27-24 overtime loss to No. 2 Nebraska-Omaha. It was the first and only loss that season as UND went on to win the NCAA Division II title with a record of 14-1-0.
ON THIS DAY IN FIGHTING SIOUX HISTORY
Since 1894, North Dakota has played 14 games on the third day in October and currently holds a 7-5-2. The first Oct. 3 game played was in 1904 with UND defeating Grand Forks High School 22-0.
THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN
North Dakota has won 22-consecutive home openers. The last time the Sioux lost on their home turf was on Sept. 13, 1986 with they fell to Texas A&M Kingsville 67-44.
When it comes to opening the season against South Dakota, UND holds a 2-1-1 advantage. North Dakota first opened the season against the Coyotes on Oct. 4, 1952 with a 21-14 loss. On Sept. 19, 1970 the two teams played to a 14-14 tie.
The Sioux nabbed their first home-opener victory over the Coyotes on Sept. 22, 1009 with a 46-12 win and on Sept. 26, 1992 the Sioux were again victories with a 52-3 win.
RECORD REWIND
With the loss against Stephen F. Austin head coach Chris Mussman's career record moved to 6-6 and his record against non-conference foes shifted to 5-4.
All-time, the Fighting Sioux are 595-355-30 on the gridiron ... just five wins away from 600.
NOTING THE FIGHTING SIOUX
For the first time this season, the Fighting Sioux will have the opportunity to play in a familiar atmosphere after three straight road games and over 6,700 miles under their belt already. UND will head into its home and conference opener with a 1-2 record after suffering a 65-31 setback to Stephen F. Austin of the Southland Conference. It was the most combined points scored since Sept. 22, 2007 when UND defeated Western Washington 63-42.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
Through three games, quarterback Jake Landry (Jr., Grand Forks, N.D.) is 50-for-79 (63.3 percent) with a pass efficiency rating of 122.54. He has totalled 487 yards (162.3 ypg) and has thrown three touchdowns ... Landry has twice hit wide receiver Ismael Bamba (So., Montreal, Quebec) for a TD pass, including a 55-yard strike. Bamba leads the Sioux with 245 yards on 15 catches and an average of 81.7 yards per game ... Running back Mitch Sutton (RFr., Plover, Wis.) tops the rushing list with 127 yards on 34 attempts ( 42.3 ypg) with two touchdowns ... The Sioux are averaging 90.3 yards on the ground and 168.0 yards in the air per game and have totaled 775 yards on offense.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
Strong safety Joel Schwenzfeier (Jr., Hallock, Minn.) tops the list with 21 tackles (15 solo) and a trio of interceptions for 32 yards. On Saturday, he was joined on the UND interception list by cornerback Dominique Hawkins (So., Plymouth, Minn.) who nabbed one against SFA and ran it in for a touchdown. Hawkins is third on the team with 16 tackles (10 solo), including 1.5 tackles for loss. Schwenzfeier and Hawkins are joined at the top by free safety Kris Ankenbauer (Jr., Murphy, Texas) who has 17 tackles (12 solo) and a pair of fumble recoveries. Cornerback Delano Saporu (So., Blaine, Minn.) has the team's lone sack this season ... The UND defense has given up 22-of-43 (51 percent) of third-down conversions and 3-of-7 (42.9 percent) of fourth-down conversions.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
Kicker Brandon Hellevang (Sr., Fargo, N.D.) leads the team in scoring with 19 points after a 4-for-4 field goal showing and a 7-for-8 mark in extra points. He has tallied 771 punt yards with an average of 42.8 yards per punt and is averaging 57.3 yards per kickoff after netting 860 yards on 15 kicks ... Reserve kicker Brett Cameron (RFr., Winnipeg, Manitoba) made his first collegiate showing at Stephen F. Austin with 84 yards on two punts ... Wide receiver Ismael Bamba (So., Montreal, Quebec) is UND's top kickoff returner with 223 yards on eight returns, including a 95-yard return for a touchdown at Stephen F. Austin (Sept. 26) ... Opponents have been held to 164 yards on punt returns and 310 yards on kick returns.
NOTING THE COYOTES
South Dakota is coming off of a 44-13 win over Southeastern Louisiana (Sept. 26) that saw quarterback Noah Shepard tie the USD career record for touchdown passes (64) with a pair of tosses for scores against the Lions.
The Coyotes come travel to the Alerus Center with a 3-1 record and are currently on a two-game win streak.
Shepard is 66-for-99 (66.7 percent) for 870 yards and eight touchdowns throws. He has two prime targets, Ben Oberle and Dan Skelly. Oberle has racked up 253 yards (63.2 ypg) on 17 catches with two touchdowns. On 16 receptions, Skelly has totaled 274 yards (91.3 ypg) with a pair of touchdowns. On the ground, Chris Ganious leads the team with 3161 yards (77.8 ypg) on 51 attempts with two TDs.
USD returner Jeremy Blount has racked up a team-high 434 all-purpose yards with the bulk, 302 yards, coming off of kick returns.
On defense, Adam Broders leads USD with 30 tackles (11 solo) and Shane Potter has added another 25 tackles (10 solo) and is one of two players (Mychal Bogan) with an interception. Ten players have nabbed quarterback sacks with Wayne Curry leading the team with three.
The Coyotes are averaging 38.5 points per game with 779 yards rushing (194.8 ypg), and 1,001 yards passing (250.2 ypg). They are outscoring their opponents 154-100 have have coverted 46 percent (26-for-56) of their third downs and 56 percent (5-for-9) of their fourth downs.
SOUTH DAKOTA HEAD COACH ED MEIERKORT
Ed Meierkort is in his sixth season as the head football coach at The University of South Dakota in 2009. During his first five years, he has led the Coyotes to one of their most successful stretches in school history.
Meierkort, 50, has a record of 39-18 as USD's head coach, which is the best for any head coach in his first five years in school history. Meierkort, who is 94-73 overall as a collegiate head coach, has gone 20-12 in conference play in his five seasons at USD.
In addition, USD has set or tied more than 100 school records during the three-year run, which is one of the best in school history. In 2009, the Coyotes will look to continue that success as they enter Year 2 of their transition to NCAA Division I FCS status.
MEDIA INFORMATION
All UND football games can be heard on 96.1 FM ("TheFox") in Grand Forks and on stations across the Fighting Sioux Radio Network. Dan Hammer calls the play-by-play with former Grand Forks Central High School football coach Mike Berg as his color analyst. Former UND defensive back Kelly Howe provides sideline reports. You can also listen online at www.FightingSioux.com.
Fans can watch Saturday's game on FightingSioux.com, Mid Continent Cable channel 23 or on Fox College Sports (FCS) Atlantic. The game will also be re-broadcast five times beginning at midnight (CT) on Sunday morning.
Live stats will be available on both FightingSioux.com.
- Go Sioux -
