UMD Football to Retire Reed Ryan’s Number Before Home Opener Against MSU-Moorhead

Ryan will be the first Bulldog football player to have his number retired.

September 10, 2024

Neil Vierzba,

DULUTH, Minn.- After a 35-7 season-opening win back on August 29th against Northern Michigan and a bye week this past weekend, the UMD football team returns to action this upcoming Saturday for their home opener versus Minnesota State- Moorhead.

Recent history has been on the Bulldogs side as they’ve won the last 20 meetings between the two squads.

But, before the ball is kicked off on Saturday, hearts will be heavy for the UMD program as former teammate Reed Ryan has his number 99 retired.

Ryan passed away back in November due to cardiac arrest. During practice Tuesday, head coach Curt Wiese took time to reflect on his former player.

“It’ll be an emotional time I think for our staff and for our program. Certainly for Reed’s family as he’ll be the first UMD football player to have his jersey retired and deservingly so. Reed was a tremendous teammate and good football player for us. Was a guy that always led by example. Those are things we’ll remember from Reed Ryan,” said Wiese.

“He was a joy to be around. We miss him everyday. We cherish every moment we had with him. It’s an honor that we get to honor him this weekend,” added linebacker Andrew Klopp.

As for on the field, the Bulldogs know the Dragons record doesn’t reflect what they can do.

“We know that Moorhead State is one of the top teams in our conference right now. They have a very good passing attack. They are very tough defensively. They got beat last week but I don’t think that’s necessarily an indication of where there program is at and where they are headed this fall,” added Wiese.

“Moorhead is going to be a challenging offense. So it’s going to be a good challenge for us to start the year. We have tons of stuff this week so it’s going to be a very exciting atmosphere,” said Klopp.

Saturday’s contest is also the team’s annual Military Appreciation game. Kickoff between the Dragons and Bulldogs is set for 2 PM.