GAME OF THE WEEK
Minnesota Duluth (1-1) at Concordia (St. Paul) (2-0), 6 p.m. Saturday: UMD is coming off a 34-31 come-from-behind home victory over Winona State. The Bulldogs are third in the NSIC in total offense (513.5 yards per game). The host Golden Bears, who defeated Minnesota Crookston 41-18 last week, already have surpassed their 2015 victory total (1-10). The Golden Bears lead the NSIC in scoring defense (9.0) and are second in total defense (271.5) and pass defense (121.5).
WEEK 3 STORY LINES
• Bemidji State is ranked in the Division II poll for the first time since 2011. The Beavers were ranked No. 24 this week after an impressive 45-17 road victory over then-No. 4 MSU Mankato. The Beavers outgained the Mavericks 563-352. The Beavers play host to Wayne State (Neb.) on Saturday.
• MSU Mankato and St. Cloud State will renew their rivalry for the 80th time on Saturday in St. Cloud. The Mavericks (1-1) will try to rebound from their home loss to Bemidji State. The loss ended the Mavericks' 18-game winning streak against NSIC North Division teams. St. Cloud State (1-1) is coming off a 27-20 victory at Upper Iowa.
• St. Thomas, ranked No. 4 in Division III, and St. John's, ranked No. 8, will try to avoid looking past this week's opponents in anticipation of their showdown in Collegeville next week. The Tommies (2-0), coming off a 57-17 victory over UW-Stout, will play host to Carleton (0-2) on Saturday. The Johnnies (2-0), coming off a 40-17 victory over Buena Vista, will play host to St. Olaf (1-1) on Saturday.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Blake Gimbel, QB, Southwest Minnesota State: The junior from Marshalltown, Iowa, leads the NSIC in passing yards (733) and touchdowns (seven). Gimbel has completed 64.8 percent of his passes (59 of 91).
Mitchell Maday, DL, Hamline: The sophomore from Alexandria, Minn., had 4½ sacks, the most by a Division III player this season, in a 21-7 victory over Macalester. He also had seven tackles and two forced fumbles.
BY THE NUMBERS
0 Points given up so far this season by Northwestern (Roseville), which has opened with shutout victories over Augsburg (14-0) and Crown (21-0).
31 Consecutive UMAC victories for St. Scholastica. St. Scholastica is 44-1 in the UMAC since the start of the 2011 season.
499 Victories in program history for Minnesota Duluth. The Bulldogs are 499-265-24 (.648 winning percentage) in 84 seasons.
JOEL RIPPEL
