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UMD’s Aaron Roth (86) gets 89-yard kickoff return touchdown escort from Ryan Peterson (57), Justin Fowlkes (17), Brian Lucas (41), Jeron Johnson (22), and Ben Helmer (81). -John Gilbert

The football season is just beginning, but if the UMD Bulldogs somehow manage to win their fifth consecutive NSIC championship, they will undoubtedly be able to look back at their home-opening victory over Winona State as perhaps the biggest hurdle they had to clear. On the scoresheet, the Bulldogs whipped Winona State 38-16, to the delight of 5,055 fans at Malosky Stadium, as sophomores Aaron Roth and Austin Sikorski each scored two touchdowns; in reality, the game was much closer than that.
   UMD coach Bob Nielson was right on in predicting Winona State would be a large threat, primarily because the Warriors have quarterback John Teigland, a 6-foot-4 junior who has a radar-guided passing arm, plus some talented and experienced seniors in running back Rayon Simmons and receivers Tyler Speer and Sean Hertz. Players of that stature can match up well with the Bulldogs, even in their favored battle of big plays.

UMD senior quarterback Chase Vogler jumped to deliver a pass.-John Gilbert

   Nielson sent a herd of running backs out to back up senior quarterback Chase Vogler. Sophomore Austin Sikorski led the way with 113 yards rushing on 16 carries, while Brian Lucas added 47 yards, Chaz Thomas 39, freshman Logan Lauters 34, Jeron Johnson 23, and Vogler himself 22, as the Bulldogs outrushed the Warriors 282-72. Very impressive. But when you break down the statistics, other than the final score, Teigland clicked on enough big plays himself to outgain UMD 375-118 in passing yardage. That gave Winona State a 447-397 edge in combined offensive yards -- a rare statistical beating absorbed by UMD, particularly in a game the Bulldogs won 38-16.
   Chasing down Teigland for losses lessened the effect of the pile-driving Simmons, who gained 87 yards on 21 carries for Winona State. For a while, it appeared Winona State would have the edge in big plays, too. On their first possession, Teigland completed a 43-yard pass to Speer on third and 17 for a huge first down before the Bulldog defense stiffened and stopped the drive. On their second turn with the ball, Teigland again connected with Speer for 22 yards on a third and 14 play, and after a couple of crashing gains by Simmons, Teigland came up with another gem on third and 6, connecting with Speer for 26 yards to the UMD 13. Simmons turned right end and rushed for 10 yards, to the UMD 3, but Colby Ring jolted him and popped the ball loose, where it was recovered by Travis Norhus at the UMD 4, to keep he game scoreless.

Freshman placekicker Andrew Brees was perfect on five extra points and a field goal..-John Gilbert

    As the first quarter ended, Teigland connected with Hertz for a 22-yard pass, and after Simmons gained 12, Teigland hit Hertz again for 24 yards to the UMD 21. Staying with the air game, Teigland found Speer for 13 yards to the UMD 11, turned Simmons loose for a 9-yard run, then hit Hertz from the 3 for a touchdown.
   To that point, the only big play UMD had made was forcing the Simmons fumble that prevented the deficit from being 14-0. Clearly, the Bulldogs were fortunate to only be down 7-0, and they needed something to bring them to life. On the ensuing kickoff, Roth provided it. The Warriors kicked off and flew down the field covering the kick. Roth, maybe trying to start running too soon, let the ball slip through his hands and bounce at the 11. He fielded his one-hopper right there, and took off, racing to his left, and then turning up the sideline to sprint 89 yards for the tying touchdown.
   That turned out to be the pivotal play of the game, not only inspiring the UMD offense, but forcing Winona State to swap its early momentum for some exasperation.
   “It was windy, and I lost sight of the ball for a second,” said Roth, a sophomore from Wayzata High School. “I was too excited, but I realized I’d better beat Winona to the sideline. I was trying to get to our sideline, and I saw a lane open. I had a couple of our guys in front of me, and I got some great blocks. It felt great, especially in front of this crowd.”

Brian Lucas sped arouind end for a UMD gain against Winona State. -John Gilbert

   The accepted theory in football is that when kick coverage is executed perfectly, sometimes if the receiver mishandles the ball, the rhythm of the coverage gets fouled up and it can lead to a surprisingly good runback. “True, they had to take a quick check,” said Roth. “But coach told me later it was open anyway.”
   Nielson, knowing his team needed to counter Winona’s touchdown, had the perfect runback scheme laid out. “If we’d fielded the ball cleanly, our blocking was so good I think Roth would have gone all the way anyway,” said Nielson.
   After working hard for a quarter and more to gain its 7-0 lead, Winona State saw it evaporate in 16 seconds. The turnaround was obvious when the Warriors got the ball next, gained one yard, then two Teigland incompletions, and the Bulldogs got a wind-shortened punt at midfield. Vogler threw a 13-yard pass to Joe Reichert on first down, then four running plays ended when Sikorski went in from the 6. Andrew Brees, in his first game since taking over place-kicking duties from the ultra-reliable but graduated David Nadeau, continued a perfect day that saw him make five extra points and a 33-yard field goal.
    A Winona State field goal late in the second quarter was immediately countered by another UMD touchdown, covering 75 yards in nine plays in the last three minutes, with Vogler connecting with Roth for a 5-yard gain and then for a 15-yard touchdown to make it 21-10 at halftime.
    UMD opened the second half with touchdowns by Ben Helmer and Sikorski, with the Brees field goal between them, gaining a 38-10 lead with all their points in the second and third quarters, easily enough to withstand a late scoring pass by Teigland to Speer, and send the Bulldogs, 2-0, to Concordia University in St. Paul Saturday night for Game 3.
   “We did a good job of containing Winona,” said Nielson. “We knew Teigland and Speer were going to get some yards. We gave up some big plays, but I was pleased with our effort and consistency in the second half. Winona is a good team and they’re going to win a lot of games. And we know we’re going to have to learn to defend the vertical passing game better.”

FOOTBALL SURPRISES

   The opening weekend of NFL football was full of surprises. Consider that the Green Bay Packers, undefeated all last season until the playoffs, were unanimously picked as the No. 1 team in the whole NFL this season. But the Packers were beaten physically, and lost to a much improved San Francisco 49ers team, while the rest of the conference -- Detroit, Chicago and, yes, the Minnesota Vikings -- all won.
   The Vikings won a classic, clinging to a tiny lead until Jacksonville scored with 20 seconds left to go ahead 23-20. Quarterback Christian Ponder hit four passes in the next 17 seconds to get the Vikiings across the 50, and with 0:03 showing, rookie kicker Blair Walsh drilled a 55-yard field goal for a 23-all tie.
   I’ve hated the NFL’s overtimes, where one team wins the toss, completes one or two passes, and wins the game with a 50-yard field goal. The new rule, this year, is that if a team goes down the field for a touchdown in overtime, it wins, but if it gets only a field goal, the other team gets a chance with the ball. The Vikings were first to try out the new rule, but marching first in overtime, but stalling, and Blair Walsh drilled a 38-yard field goal for a 26-23 lead. That thrust the unsung Vikings heroes -- the defense -- into the limelight, and they stopped the Jaguars to give the Vikings the 26-23 victory.
    Meanwhile, the Packers found that Aaron Rogers isn’t going to always be able to bail out their porous defense in their 30-22 loss to the 49ers, while Chicago beat Indianapolis 41-21 behind Jay Cutler’s 333-yard passing day. That was the perfect setting for Thursday night’s Packers-Bears collision that will either right the Packers ship, or prove that this could be a challenging season.
    While Cutler piled up 333 yards, Detroit’s Matt Stafford put up 355, with a 32-48 day as Detroit beat St. Louis 27-23. One of the best games, meanwhile, was at Denver, where Pittsburgh met the Broncos, and big Ben Roethlisberger has a fantastic day, but the Steelers fell to Peyton Manning, who came back from his season-long injury to lead his new team, the Broncos, to a very entertaining chess-match of a 31-19 victory. Having watched the game, it was interesting to read the Associated Press review that said “His 71-yard TD throw to Demaryius Thomas, Manning’s first as a Bronco, was also the 400th of his career.” For the record, Manning’s arm looked plenty strong, and his clever play-calling at the line in Denver’s no-huddle offense was superb, but his “71-yard throw” was a quick-out of about five yards, which Thomas caught in the left flat and then blasted off through the Pittsburgh defense like a low-flying missile, running 71 yards for the touchdown.
   As if the Packers loss wasn’t enough to put the state of Wisconsin in a funk, the highly regarded Badgers went out to Oregon to play Oregon State -- not the Ducks, who beat them in the Rose Bowl. But  Oregon State’s Beavers shocked the Badgers 10-7. That was part of a disastrous day for the Big Ten, where Minnesota was lucky enough to play an easy foe, beating New Hampshire 44-7 in a game that does absolutely nothing for the Gophers but pad their record to 2-0. Elsewhere, Nebraska was beaten at UCLA, and Penn State left itself open for a Virginia comeback for a last-second 17-16 surprise. If that wasn’t enough, how about Iowa State 9, Iowa 6? Purdue fought gamely before losing to Notre Dame, and Michigan held off an inspired Air Force to win, while Michigan State’s 41-7 victory over Central Michigan was totally anticipated. It should be better this weekend, when Big Ten teams have lowered their level of opposition. The only intriguing game has Notre Dame at Michigan State Saturday night. Looks like the Big Ten is destined for stature that is somewhere below the top conferences in the country.
    But it doesn’t matter up in Northern Minnesota. We have the UMD Bulldogs in Division II, and St. Scholastica in Division III. The Saints, by the way, did a 34-10 number on Eureka last Saturday afternoon at Public Schools Stadium. This Saturday, with UMD away, the Saints face Greenville at 4:30 at Malosky Stadium in St. Scholastica’s homecoming game.