NSIC teams draw notice, and four more things to know about Minnesota college football

Three NSIC teams — Augustana, Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota State Mankato — were included in the first NCAA Division II regional rankings released this week.

Teams in the first regional ranking are listed alphabetically. The regional rankings also included Ashland, Ferris State, Findlay, Northwood, Truman State, Indianapolis and former NSIC member Upper Iowa.

Minnesota Duluth (7-1), ranked No. 10 in the D2football.com Top 25, opened the season with six consecutive victories before losing to Northern State 34-31 on Oct. 11 in Aberdeen, S.D. Last week, the Bulldogs defeated Mary 54-32.

In the victory over Mary, Bulldogs quarterback Kyle Walljasper and tight end Luke Dehnicke each tied program records.

Walljasper, a redshirt senior from Fond du Lac, Wis., passed for 258 yards and six touchdowns. Walljasper also rushed for 90 yards and a TD. Dehnicke, a redshirt freshman from Andover, caught eight passes for 230 yards and four TDs. Walljasper’s six TD passes and Dehnicke’s four TD receptions tied school records. Dehnicke’s 230 receiving yards were 19 yards shy of the program record and the second most in Division II this season.

Walljasper ranks fourth in Division II in passing efficiency (194.9), while Dehnicke ranks in the top 10 in Division II in TD receptions (eighth with nine), receiving yards (fifth with 768) and receiving yards per game (second with 96).

The Bulldogs, who lead the NSIC in scoring offense (40.4 points per game) and are third in scoring defense (19.1 points per game), play at Jamestown on Saturday.

The Tommies are on a three-game winning streak — scoring at least 50 points in victories over Davidson, Valparaiso and Stetson. They defeated Stetson 52-10 last week in DeLand, Fla. Tommies QB Andy Peters had 372 yards of total offense and totaled four TDs (three passing, one rushing), winning Pioneer League Offensive Player of the Week honors.

The Tommies, who are 4-0 all time against Marist, defeated the Red Foxes 39-32 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., last season.

Marist (3-5, 1-3) has lost three consecutive games, including 23-21 to Morehead State on Oct. 18 on a 41-yard field goal with three seconds remaining.

Unbeaten Bethel (7-0, 6-0 MIAC), No. 4 in the D3football.com Top 25 and No. 7 in the NCAA Division III National Power Index, visits Concordia (Moorhead) (5-2, 4-2) on Saturday.

The Royals, the top-ranked team in NCAA Division III Region 6, have won the past six meetings with the Cobbers. The Royals defeated the Cobbers 49-16 last year in Moorhead.

St. John’s junior QB Trey Feeney was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week after his performance in the Johnnies’ 49-10 victory over Carleton on Saturday.

After completing 33 of 41 passes for 409 yards and six TDs in the victory over the Knights, Feeney is second in Division III in completion percentage (78.5) and fourth in passing efficiency (195.1).

On Oct. 18, he completed 34 of 45 passes for 374 yards and four TDs in a 41-6 victory at Concordia (Moorhead). He has completed 139 of 177 passes for 1,782 yards and 19 TDs this season.

St. John’s (6-1, 5-1 MIAC), ranked No. 11 in the D3football.com poll, No. 18 in NCAA Division III NPI and No. 5 in the Division III Region 6 rankings, plays at Gustavus Adolphus (3-4, 3-3) on Saturday.

One game separates the top five teams in the six-team UMAC.