Game Notes (.pdf) | Live Stats | Watch Live | Listen Live

The Northern State football team closes out the 2013 season Friday afternoon as the Wolves will host No. 5 Minnesota Duluth in a 1 p.m. kick from Swisher Field. Friday will be Senior Day as well at The Swish as 12 Wolves will be honored prior to the game.

Setting the Stage
Northern is coming off its second shutout of the season last weekend as the Wolves blanked Minnesota, Crookston 28-0. Connor Doherty caught six passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns in the win while the NSU defense held the Golden Eagles to just 105 yards of total offense. UMD will be the third ranked opponent the Wolves have faced this season (Minnesota State, St. Cloud State).

Minnesota Duluth has won seven consecutive games and is coming off a 32-14 win over U-Mary last Saturday. The Bulldogs are currently ranked fourth in NCAA Super Region Three.

About the Bulldogs
Duluth is second in the NSIC in scoring averaging 42.5 points per game. UMD is also third in scoring defense as it allows just 15.8 points per contest. The Bulldogs lead the league in rushing as they average nearly 290 yards per game on the ground which is first in the league. Their 89.1 yards allowed rushing is the second best in the conference.

A big reason for UMD's success on the ground is the trio of Austin Sikorski (99.3), Logan Lauters (75) and Drew Bauer (55.4) who all average more than 50 yards rushing per game. Sikorski is seventh in the NSIC in rushing. Bauer, who is the Bulldogs' quarterback, has 15 passing touchdowns in 2013 and just four interceptions, his 135.6 passing efficiency is eighth-best in the league.

Sikorski and Lauters also have a knack for finding the end zone as they have rushed for 13 and 12 TDs, respectively on the year. Wideout Justin Fowlkes is the league-leader in kickoff returns averaging 33.4 per run back.

Last Meeting
The Bulldogs beat Northern in 2012's finale 49-31 for the division title. UMD rushed for 496 yards in the game while NSU quarterback Jared Jacobson amassed 298 yards of total offense and threw for two scores. Safeties Logan Dosch and Jayson Geditz each had 14 tackles in the loss.

The Series
Duluth leads the all-time series 20-10 and have won five-straight dating back to 2003 when the Wolves won 46-7.

Wolves Notes
Jacobson ranks sixth in the NSIC and 40^th nationally with 148 points responsible for this season. His 18 passing touchdowns rank seventh in the league while his 232.7 yards of total offense is the eighth-best mark in the conference.

Doherty is second in the league in receiving amongst tight ends with 541 yards and his six receiving touchdowns lead the Wolves. Northern does a good job of protecting the ball and the quarterback, its six fumbles lost this year rank fourth in the league while the Wolves lead the NSIC in protecting the QB. The Wolves have given up just eight sacks this year which is seventh in the nation. NSU's 32:29 time of possession per game ranks third in the league and 16^th nationally.

Devin Olson and Cam Pudwill lead the team with five tackles-for-loss this year while Jalon Bibbs' 2.5 sacks lead the team.

The senior duo of Dosch and Geditz will be playing their final games in Wolves uniforms. Both have recorded five interceptions in their careers. Dosch has played in 44 games for NSU while Geditz has appeared in 42 contests. Geditz has 185 career tackles while Dosch is Northern's all-time leader in that category with 246 stops.