SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The 100^th Augustana football season kicks off Thursday at Concordia-St. Paul. The No. 25 Vikings open their NSIC Championship defense at SeaFoam Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota.
 
Complete action can be followed at GoAugie.com/Live and on the GoAugie App, presented by CellOnly. The app can be downloaded in the app store or on Google Play.
 
The Game
Augustana ended the regular season 9-2 last year while winning the NSIC Championship and are the preseason favorites in 2022. The Golden Bears completed their slate 1-10 while earning a preseason pick of 11^th in the NSIC. The contest is the season opener for both teams.
 
The Golden Bears
Concordia-St. Paul is coming off a 1-10 campaign in 2021 with the lone win coming in week two against Upper Iowa. In 2022, the Golden Bears were tabbed 11th in the overall NSIC standings and sixth in the North Division.
 
Quarterback Conner Cordts was named CSP's offensive player to watch after throwing for 857 yards in five-plus games last season. In 141 passing attempts, he committed just one turnover while tossing for six touchdowns and rushing for another 82 yards. He'll be looking for Nathan Gimza as a wideout who produced 153 yards on 11 catches before seeing his season end after three games last year.
 
Defensively, Rhett Sheehan earned the nod as the defensive player to watch. He led Concordia-St. Paul with three interceptions and ranked second on the defense with 63 tackles. The defense also returns Andrew Egnarski who led the team with 68 tackles and 5.0 sacks.
 
The Vikings
The Augustana defense was the nation's best in 2021 at stopping the run. The Vikings allowed just 41.8 rushing yards per game. The scoring defense was second-best in the NSIC, giving up just 21.4 points per game. The defense is led by several standouts including First Team All-NSIC performers Grayson Diepenbrock, T.J. Liggett, reigning NSIC Defensive Newcomer of the Year Peyton Buckley, and this year's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Eli Weber.
 
Diepenbrock was a stalwart on the defensive line and led AU with six quarterback sacks and 13 tackles for loss last season. Liggett was the team leader with 78 tackles. Weber totaled 63 tackles last season (45 solo). Buckley earned the Newcomer of the Year honor after ranking second in the NSIC with five interceptions, a mark that placed him 21^st in the nation.
 
On the other side of the ball, the line protected an offense that led the NSIC and ranked eighth in the nation with 467.1 yards per game. Blake Larson and Trevor Burkhart each return as starters on the offensive line after earning First Team South Division All-NSIC accolades.
 
Jarod Epperson, a fellow First Team South Division All-NSIC honoree, rushed for 1,051 yards last season. That marked the sixth-most in a single season in program history. Second Team All-NSIC South division honoree Logan Uttecht leads the returning wide receivers with his 55 receptions for 709 yards. Devon Jones is also back after totaling nine receiving touchdowns and 559 total yards.
 
Who to Watch For
With eight starters returning on each side of the ball, the tough choice is who to talk about? Blake Larson plays right tackle on the offensive line and started all 12 games a season ago. While serving on the offensive line, he simply earned First Team All-NSIC South Division honors while garnering an honorable mention to the Don Hansen All-America teams. He also earned a nod to the CCA Super Region Four Team.
 
Why bring up an offensive lineman? Well simple, the Vikings' offensive line is one of the most veteran groups in the league. Out of a possible 60 starts in 2021, AU returns 47 of those starts. In 2021, the offensive line spent more than half of the season not giving up a sack and blocked for a running back group that ran for 2,433 yards while protecting a passing game that tossed for 3,451 yards. In all, the offense ended the season ranked eighth in the nation in total offense.
 
Year 100 Tidbit
Augustana's first-ever game took place on Nov. 12, 1920, playing at Canton High School. The first-ever victory for the Vikings was the following week, Nov. 19, 1920, in a 20-13 win over Beresford High School. J.A. Johnson was the head coach of the inaugural team and ended his two seasons with a 3-3-1 record.
 
One Last Thing
Augustana is 53-42-4 all-time in season-opening contests. In the NSIC era, Augustana is 11-2 in the season opener and has currently won three-straight season-opening games. Augustana and Concordia-St. Paul have never faced each other in Week 1.