After Opening Win, UMD Switching Focus to Northern State

Bulldogs have defeated Wolves in last six matchups

DULUTH, Minn.- The UMD Bulldogs’ season opener couldn’t have gone much better, winning 47-10 while getting to rest their starters in the fourth quarter. But before calling it a night, starting quarterback Kyle Walljasper put up some eye-popping numbers behind center.

In just three quarters, the redshirt sophomore scored five total touchdowns and added 149 rushing yards on 10 attempts. Walljasper says he expects to throw the ball more this season, but with Northern Michigan unable to stop the run game, he was happy to keep it on the ground.

“Whatever gets points on the board.” Walljasper said with a smile.  “I mean, our team’s good with whatever happens. No one’s being selfish, no one needs the ball, so we’re all just happy to win. I think the confidence really comes from our O-line, because obviously I’m not getting any touchdowns without them, so I need to put a lot of confidence in their mind. So I think we’re just ready to keep running the ball all season.” However, Walljasper admits the Bulldogs’ impressive opening win wasn’t all perfect.  “Coming out of that game, there’s a lot to work on. Obviously, we’re happy getting a win over that squad, but all the little mistakes that we made, you want to fix that, iron them out before we play Northern State this week.”

UMD enters Saturday’s game as the favorites after Northern State lost to Bemidji State last weekend. Head Coach Curt Wiese says he’s studied the tape from Northern State’s opener, along with the Bulldogs’ previous games against the Wolves.

“This is the first week that we have film on somebody that we have an idea on all three phases of what the team is going to do. I think Northern State is a super-explosive team on the offensive side of the football. They were that against Bemidji…They just couldn’t put the ball in the end zone enough…So we expect a dog fight.” says Wiese. “Aberdeen is as good as an atmosphere as we’re going to play in all year. We’re going to try to prepare our guys for that this week.”

The Bulldogs have won their last six matchups against Northern State. Gametime is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday night in Aberdeen.