Today's college football game

By Jon Nowacki

October 20, 2017 at 7:32 PM

MINOT STATE AT MINNESOTA DULUTH

National rankings: Neither team is ranked.

Series: The teams have met five times since Minot State joined the NSIC in 2012, with UMD winning all five, including 38-7 last fall in Minot, N.D. The Bulldogs have outscored the Beavers by a combined 226-23 in those five contests (45.2 to 4.6 ppg).

Coaches: Mike Aldrich, who was head coach at Augustana in Sioux Falls, S.D., from 2010-12, is 1-6 in his first season at Minot State; Curt Wiese is 48-10 in his fifth season at UMD.

Outlook: In the battle of the Beavers, Minot State lost 40-14 at home last week to Bemidji State, which jumped out to a 19-0 lead. Senior running back Larry Overstreet rushed for one touchdown and threw for another to lead Minot. Overstreet has averaged 75 rushing yards per game and has scored six touchdowns. ... UMD, which returns home after a 23-day absence, rolled to a 41-0 victory at Northern State last week. The Bulldogs had a season-high 300 rushing yards as 10 players were credited with carries. ... Of roughly 170 teams in NCAA Division II, UMD is now the only one to have not allowed a fourth-down conversion this season, with opponents going 0-for-5.

Streaks: UMD has 32 straight NSIC North Division home wins, 78 straight home games without being shut out and 120 straight NSIC home games without being shut out.

Welcome back: UMD will honor the 2002 Bulldogs, who went 11-0 during the regular season while becoming the first UMD football team to qualify for the NCAA Division II playoffs.

Up next: UMD is off to a 3-0 start in NSIC North Division play and has a key divisional matchup coming up Thursday night at Bemidji State, also 3-0. The Bulldogs have claimed at least a share of all nine North Division titles since the league instituted divisional play in 2008. The first NCAA Division II regional rankings come out Monday. "Every game we play right now is an important game for us, so we can't take anybody lightly," UMD coach Curt Wiese said.

By Jon Nowacki

Jon Nowacki joined the News Tribune in August 1998 as a sports reporter. He grew up in Stephen, Minnesota, in the northwest corner of the state, where he was actively involved in school and sports and was a proud member of the Tigers’ 1992 state championship nine-man football team.

After graduating in 1993, Nowacki majored in print journalism at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, serving as editor of the college paper, “The Aquin,” and graduating with honors in December 1997. He worked with the Associated Press during the “tobacco trial” of 1998, leading to the industry’s historic $206 billion settlement, before moving to Duluth.

Nowacki started as a prep reporter for the News Tribune before moving onto the college ranks, with an emphasis on Minnesota Duluth football, including coverage of the Bulldogs’ NCAA Division II championships in 2008 and 2010.

Nowacki continues to focus on college sports while filling in as a backup on preps, especially at tournament time. He covers the Duluth Huskies baseball team and auto racing in the summer. When time allows, he also writes an offbeat and lighthearted food column entitled “The Taco Stand,” a reference to the “Taco Jon” nickname given to him by his older brother when he was a teenager that stuck with him through college. He has a teenage daughter, Emma.

Nowacki can be reached at jnowacki@duluthnews.com or (218) 380-7027. Follow him on Twitter @TacoJon1.

Today's college football game

MINOT STATE AT MINNESOTA DULUTH National rankings: Neither team is ranked. Series: The teams have met five times since Minot State joined the NSIC in 2012, with UMD winning all five, including 38-7 last fall in Minot, N.D. The Bulldogs have outsc...