UMD Football Eager for Season Opener at Northern Michigan

Bulldogs defeated Wildcats in 2023 regular season opener

DULUTH, Minn.- As students flooded UMD’s campus for the first day of classes, Head Coach Curt Wiese and his players continued to gameplan for their 2024 season opener against Northern Michigan.

“This is an opportunity for us to be 1-0, to be able to start the season off the right way,” Noted Wiese, who will coach in his 14th complete season at the helm for the Bullldogs. “We put in a lot of work and a lot of time in the offseason to get to this point, so our team has a little bit different level of excitement this week. They’re ready to get on the bus on Wednesday afternoon, but we’re trying to focus when we’re here for a couple of hours on football, making sure we’re prepared as we can be for this Thursday night.”

This will be the second straight year UMD will begin the regular season against the Wildcats. In 2023, the Bulldogs defeated Northern Michigan in a 47-10 rout, compiling a season-high 379 rushing yards. Running Back Daniel Mitchell says UMD’s offense is capable of having a repeat performance in Marquette on Thursday.

“I think a staple in our offense is always (being) ready to run the ball,” says Mitchell, who is now the Bulldogs’ most experienced running back following the departure of Jaylen McKnight and Chamere Thomas. “I feel like we’ll do it again, but we’ll do our best to play our game, our brand of football: Run the ball, pass the ball, every part.”

“This is a team that we played last year, we have a little bit of film on them from last year,” said Wiese. “So (we’re) relatively familiar, but just like us, we’re going to show new wrinkles, and so will they on Thursday.”

The Bulldogs will kick off against the Wildcats on Thursday at 5 p.m. UMD fans will have to wait until September 14 when the Bulldogs host their home opener at Malosky Stadium against Minnesota State-Moorhead.