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This week
Augustana (0-2, 0-1 NSIC/0-0 NSIC South) travels to Bismarck, N.D., Saturday to battle U-Mary (1-1, 0-1 NSIC/0-0 NSIC North) in a cross-divisional contest. Kickoff from the Bismarck Community Bowl is set for 2:30 p.m.
Television
Midco Sports Network will telecast Saturday's contest in Bismarck. Tom Nieman will handle the play-by-play, while Robert Fuller will provide color commentary. Fuller is a former player at U-Mary and served as the head coach of the Fairbanks Grizzles of the Indoor Football League this past season. MidcoSN can be found on Channels 26 or 622 for Midcontinent Communications subscribers.
The series
Augustana is 2-0 against U-Mary, having beat the Marauders in 2007 and 2010. Last season in Sioux Falls, the Vikings thumped U-Mary 52-21 as Josh?Hanson passed for 406 yards and five touchdowns. Head coach Mike Aldrich is 1-0 against the Marauders.
Football forecast
Saturday's forecast for Bismarck, N.D., calls for a high of 73 degrees and a partly cloud sky.
Last time out
Bemidji State's Lance Rongstad found Brent Kondziolka on a 5-yard touchdown pass in overtime to lift the Beavers to a 30-27 win over then-No. 16 Augustana Saturday afternoon in both teams' NSIC openers at Kirkeby-Over Stadium. Rongstad, who netted 64 yards on the ground, threw for 203 yards and two touchdowns, while Brian Leonhardt caught six balls for 129 yards and a score.
Josh Hanson went 23 of 42 for 301 yards and one touchdown.
Sam Holsen caught six passes for 93 yards and a touchdown.
Austin Luecke set a career high with 15 tackles for the Vikings, recording 2.5 for loss and forcing a fumble.
Nick Andreas logged 14 tackles and an interception.
Viking drop out
Augustana saw itself fall out of the American Football?Coaches Association top-25 poll Monday. The Vikings did receive 16 points in the poll, but it wasn't enough to convince voters to keep them in the top 25. Dating back to last season, the Augustana had been in the AFCA's top 25 for 12 consecutive weeks. The Vikings broke in with a 24th-place ranking on?Sept. 20, 20101 and reached as high as No. 6 in the final poll of the 2010 season released on Dec. 20. That No. 6 ranking tied Augustana for its highest in program history, matching the slot the Vikings were in on Sept. 19, 1989.
Date Rank
Sept. 20, 2010 24th
Sept. 27, 2010 20th
Oct. 4, 2010 15th
Oct. 11, 2010 14th
Oct. 18, 2010 11th
Oct. 25, 2010 8th
Nov. 1, 2010 7th
Nov. 8, 2010 14th
Nov. 15, 2010 9th
Dec. 20, 2010 6th
Aug. 15, 2011 8th
Sept. 5, 2011 16th
D2football.com
D2football.com also dropped the Vikings out its top-25 poll after their loss to Bemidji State. The website had Augustana at No. 14 last week.
Two to open
Augustana's two losses to open the 2011 season marks the first time the Vikings have had two blemishes to start since 1991--a year that turned into a 0-10 campaign. Augustana has had a total of 17 0-2 starts in the program's 89-year history: 1920, 1921, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1939, 1947, 1948, 1952, 1953, 1957, 1963, 1965, 1985, 1991 and 2011.
NSIC openers
For the first time in their tenure in the NSIC, the Vikings fell in a conference-opening game when Bemidji State beat Augustana 30-27 in overtime last Saturday at Kirkeby-Over Stadium. Heading into last Saturday's tilt with the Beavers, the Vikings had beaten St. Cloud State twice (2008 and 2009) and BSU (2009) once to open the NSIC season. The Vikings are now an even 6-6 in conference openers since 2000 and 3-1 in NSIC-opening battles.
Streaky
Dating back to last year's season-ending loss to Minnesota Duluth in the NCAA playoffs, the Vikings have now lost three straight games (two to UMD and one to Bemidji State). The last time Augustana has lost three straight was during the 2007 season under Brad Salem when the Vikings dropped four consecutive mid-season games. That streak included losses to Minnesota State (26-16), Nebraska-Omaha (36-23), North Dakota (37-0) and Minnesota Duluth (34-7).
Conference streaky
If the Vikings were to fall to U-Mary on?Saturday, It would the first two-game conference losing streak since 2008--Augustana's first year in the NSIC. In 2008, Augustana lost back-to-back conference games to Wayne State (28-7) and Winona State (41-24).
Hanson goes for 200, and then some
Josh Hanson (Watertown, S.D.) completed 23 of 42 passes for 301 yards and one touchdown against Bemidji State last Saturday, marking the eighth time in his career the junior has eclipsed the 200-yard mark and second time he has went past 300 yards.
Linebacker presence
Junior linebacker
Austin Luecke (Groton,?S.D.) went on a tear last Saturday against Bemidji State, notching a career- and game-high 15 tackles in the?Viking loss. The South?Dakota native recorded 2.5 tackles for loss, which went for 11 yards, and was in on a sack. His dominant play also included a forced fumble.
He's fast
Wide receiver
Grant Gebhardt (Burwell, Neb.), also a sprinter on the Augustana track and field team, exhibited his speed last Saturday against Bemidji State, snagging four balls for 79 yards and returning two kicks for 59 yards. One of his catches went for 64 yards. The redshirt freshman, who recorded offensive statistics for the first time in his career last Saturday, finished the game with a game-high 137 all-purpose yards.
Rushing drought
For the second straight week, Augustana rushed for less than 100 yards against Bemidji State last Saturday. Augustana found itself in a similar situation last year at this time. In 2010, the Vikings had less than 100 yards on the ground in its first three games, netting 97 yards against St. Cloud State, 63 against Bemidji State and 60 against U-Mary.
Defensive TD
Safety Dan O'Keefe (Aberdeen, S.D.) evened last week's game against Bemidji State at 7-7 when he picked up a loose ball dropped by Bemidji State running back Dustin Kroeplin and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. It was the first fumble return for a touchdown for Augustana since Nov. 8, 2008, when fellow defensive back
Nick Andreas (Lakeville, Minn.) returned a fumble 60 yards for a score against Northern State in a game the Vikings won 43-7.
What the coaches say
The NSIC coaches picked the Vikings third overall and first in the South Division in their preseason poll. Augustana received 145 points overall and 33 points and four first-place votes in the South Division edition of the rankings. Minnesota Duluth was the preseason favorite with 11 first-place votes and 167 points. The Bulldogs were also picked to win the North Division with five first-place votes and 35 points.
All-America nods
Defensive backs Dan O'Keefe (Aberdeen, S.D.) and
Zac Kallas (Eden Prairie, Minn.) accepted a total of four preseason All-America certificates prior to the start of this 2011 season. Consensus Draft Services picked O'Keefe for their team. D2football.com, Lindy's and Sporting News reserved a spot for Kallas.
We like Mike
Mike Aldrich commenced his career as a head coach in eventful style. He immediately rattled of nine wins and led the Vikings to their first playoff appearance in more than two decades. Aldrich also doubles as Augustana's defensive coordinator. The 2010 Region 5 Coach of the Year and a finalist for the Liberty Mutual?Coach of the Year, Aldrich owns a career record of 11-4.
History lesson
Augustana is in its 89th season of competition in 2011. The Vikings owns an all-time record of 365-437-15. The Vikings have posted 32 winning seasons, including the past three years.
Stay connected
It's easy to know the latest on Viking athletics. You can follow Augustana on its various social media outlets, including Twitter (twitter.com/GoAugie), Facebook (facebook.com/GoAugie) and YouTube (youtube.com/GoAugie). To learn more, visit GoAugie.com/stayconnected.
Augustana Sportscene
Augustana Sportscene is a 30-minute weekly television show highlighting Augustana athletics and is hosted by Director of Athletics Bill Gross. The show includes Viking highlights, interviews with various coaches and student-athletes and promotion of upcoming Augustana athletic events. Augustana Sportscene airs Monday's at 10:30 p.m. and Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. on Midco Sports Network and at various times on Mediacom's MC22.
Augustana Coaches' Show
Live from Rookie's in Sioux Falls, The Augustana Coaches' Show airs On ESPN 99.1 each Monday at 5 p.m. Join Jeffy Fylling and Augustana head coaches as they discuss various topics surrounding Viking athletics.
Video webcasts
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and Penn Atlantic have again teamed up to webcast each conference football game in 2011. A complete broadcast schedule is available at www.northernsun.org.
On the radio
Veteran radio man Jeff Fylling is back as the “Voice of the Vikings” for 2011. Join Fylling and color anaylyst and former Augustana quarterback John Schultz for each week's broadcast on KIKN-FM 100.5. You can also stream the broadcast at kikn.com/stream.
