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Teams: Minot State vs. Minnesota Duluth | Series: UMD leads 2-0
Date: Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014 | Time: 1:30 p.m. | Site: Herb Parker Stadium

THIS WEEK: Minot State finishes the 2014 season with a tough task, taking on No. 2 ranked Minnesota Duluth Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m.

RECORDS: The Beavers fell to 1-9 on the season with a loss at home last week to St. Cloud State. MSU is 1-9 in the Northern Sun and 1-5 in the NSIC North Division. UMD is a perfect 10-0 on the year, 10-0 in NSIC play and 6-0 in the NSIC North.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's head coach is Tyler Hughes, who begins his first season at the helm. He is 1-9 at Minot State and 21-13 overall as a head coach, all at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, where he coached from 2011-12. Hughes spent last season as an assistant coach with Urban Meyer at Ohio State. UMD's head coach is Curt Wiese who is an impressive 21-2 in two seasons as head coach. Wiese was named the 2013 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year after going 11-2 in his first season. He was UMD's offensive coordinator for five seasons before being named head coach.

FOLLOW THE BEAVERS: The game is broadcast locally on KCJB 910-AM with Scott Kittell calling the play-by-play. Live audio can be accessed online at kcjb.com. MSU provides live video and live stats as well as links to the live audio at MSUBeavers.com. Minot State Athletics also is active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and You Tube with all feeds accessible through the home page.

RANKINGS: Minot State will face its highest ranked opponent since joining the Northern Sun and NCAA Division II in the No. 2 ranked Bulldogs. MSU played Minnesota State when the now top ranked team in the latest American Football Coaches Association Poll was ranked No. 3. UMD is also No. 2 in the D2Football.com poll and is ranked third in the latest NCAA Super Region 3 poll.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State gave up 17 points in the second quarter and never fully recovered as MSU fell 27-14 to St. Cloud State Saturday. The Beavers had two prime opportunities in the first quarter to take a lead, but had a touchdown pass called back due to a holding penalty and botched a field goal before the Huskies scored 17 straight. Junior quarterback Zac Cunha (Rocklin, Calif.) threw two touchdowns, while Thomas Bryson (Jr., DL, Layton, Utah) had three sacks, 4.5 tackles for a loss and 12 stops in the loss. UMD ran away from the University of Mary in its final regular season game at home, topping the Marauders 53-35. The Bulldogs led 34-7 at halftime. UMD finished with 325 rushing yards and six touchdowns, while the Bulldogs allowed just 15 U-Mary rushing yards in the game.

OVERALL SERIES: Minot State and Minnesota Duluth have just a short history in football, playing two NSIC games over the past two seasons. But, in that time, UMD has enjoyed all of the success. The Bulldogs lead 2-0 and have outscored 96-6 in the series. Last season, No. 9 ranked UMD rolled to a 52-0 win in Duluth causing seven fumbles and holding the Beavers to minus-35 yards rushing.  Minot State was sacked seven times in the game.

NOTING THE BULLDOGS: Minnesota Duluth started slow in the first half of the season, earning four wins over NSIC South Division teams, but just by a 11.5 points per game including a 23-22 win over Augustana College in overtime. Since starting NSIC North play, however, the Bulldogs have been sensational. They are a plus-191 in six games with a pair of 13-point wins over St. Cloud State the only close contests… UMD has rushed for 3,086 yards this season, averaging a staggering 6.1 yards per carry. The Bulldogs have 33 rushing touchdowns… Logan Lauters has broken the 1,000 yard plateau on the season, rushing for 1,151 yards on 146 carries. He averages 7.9 yards per carry and has nine scores. Lauters, quarterback Drew Bauer and Austin Sikorski have combined for 25 rushing TDs… Bauer has 19 TDs and only four interceptions this year… Even with all the high-scoring offensive numbers, kicker Andrew Brees still leads the team, mainly by virtue of 10 field goals on the season and has two 2-point conversions to his credit. He is 10-for-14 kicking and 29 for 32 on PATs.

NATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR BRYSON: Minot State junior Thomas Bryson (DL, Layton, Utah) has had a great first season for the Beavers as he is the team leader in sacks with 8.5 and third on the team with 62 total tackles. Bryson is third overall in the NSIC in sacks. He finished with 3.5 quarterback sacks last week against St. Cloud State and was named the DII National Defensive Lineman of the Week by Beyond Sports Network. Two weeks ago, Bryson was named a Cutting Edge Sports Performance Dream Bowl Player of the Week as he had three sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in the Beavers win over Minnesota Crookston.

FREIDT TO MOVE ABOUT OPPOSITION OFFENSES: Levi Freidt (Sr., LB, Minot, N.D.) became the second Minot State Player in as many years to top the century mark in total tackles as his gigantic game of 18 stops against SCSU has him at 110 for the season. Freidt joins Chad Marshall, who reached 100 last year, as the only two Beavers with 100 tackles in a season over the past 10 years. They are, in fact, the only two with at least 90 tackles in that span as the next closest is Shaun Sideras' 87 in 2004.

DELIVERY BY AIR FOR THE HERB: Over the past four home games, quarterback Zac Cunha (Jr., Rocklin, Calif.) has thrown for at least 242 yards and at least two TDs. His 315 yards passing last week was his second highest this season and fourth highest in his career. Cunha has 10 passing TDs at Herb Parker Stadium and has averaged 295.5 yards per game since earning back the starting signal caller position in the Wayne State College game in week four.

LAUNDRY DAY: Minot State has struggled at times this season with penalties and last week it had the biggest consequences of the year as an early touchdown was negated by a holding call. But it wasn't just the Beavers Saturday as St. Cloud State was hampered by flags as well. The teams combined for 22 penalties and 204 yards lost. MSU averages 7.9 penalties for 72.8 yards lost per game and opponents have been caught 75 times for 71 yards per game.

BIG DAY FOR LEON: Minot State senior wideout Leon La Deaux (Port Orchard, Wash.) had his best statistical game of his career as finished with seven catches for 142 yards against SCSU Saturday. La Deaux finished with the fourth-best single game receiving total among active players with the 142 yards as well. His former high game was 131 yards at Southwest Minnesota State last season.

BY THE NUMBERS
8: Punts over 50 yards by Aaron La Deaux (So., K/P, Port Orchard, Wash.) this season. La Deaux has been busy, kicking 65 times for 2,492 yards and sports a solid 38.34 average this season. He has 20 kicks inside the opposition's 20 and has a long of 68 yards on the season.

14: TD passes for junior Zac Cunha (Jr., QB, Rocklin, Calif.) this season compared to just five interceptions. He needs just one passing TD to top his season best.

607: Total rushing yards for the Beavers this season, one of the lowest totals in NCAA Division II. UMD, in fact, has two different individuals who have rushed more than the Beavers have as a team.