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Gameday Info

Location: Crookston, Minn.
Away Team: (8) University of Minnesota Duluth (7-1, 7-1 NSIC)
Home Team: University of Minnesota, Crookston (1-7, 1-7 NSIC)
Date: Sat., Oct. 27, 1 p.m.
Stadium: Ed Widseth Field
Seating Capactiy: 2,000
Online Video: NMTV
Live Stats: https://netfiles.umn.edu/users/smithsd/livestats/xlive.htm
Radio: KROX 1260
Play by Play/Color Analyst: Chris Fee/Chris Bruggeman
Sideline: Jake Fee
Twitter: UMCAthletics
Facebook: Golden Eagle Sports

• Record Setter
    Cecil Brown, Jr. needs just seven tackles to become the school's leader in solo tackles in a career. Brown has 146 tackles in a season and the record is 152 for Justin Reed from 2001-05. Brown is 49 tackles from Reed's school record for tackles and 43 tackles from the Reed's record for most assisted tackles.

• Barge Looking to Set Season Passing Marks
    A.J. Barge has made dramatic improves in his passing game as a sophomore for the Golden Eagles. Enough in fact that Barge is inching closer and closer to several school records for UMC. Barge needs just 76 attempts to surpass Scott Strohmeier's attempts for a season mark of 287. In addition, he is just 38 completions away from breaking Strohmeier's mark for season completions. Barge is also currently holding the mark for season completion percentage connecting on 56.1 percent of his passes which is better than Strohmeier's mark of 54.4 percent. All of Strohmeier's school records were set in 1996.

• Finding Cheatham
    Marcus Cheatham has had a break-out year at wide receiver for the Golden Eagles. Cheatham's five touchdown receptions in a season are the most by a UMC wide receiver since Kyle Kraska caught four in 2002. The mark is just three shy of the school record eight set by Carl Aho in 1998. Cheatham has 27 catches for 306 yards this season after not catching a ball last season despite appearing in eight games as a sophomore for the Golden Eagles.

• Rollins In His Sights
    With four games left this season, running back Richard Haley has all-time UMC rushing leader R.J. Rollins in his sights. Haley needs 611 yards to move past Rollins, a task that will be tough but isn't completely out of the realm of possibilities. Haley has 907 yards rushing on 175 carries this season. He had 112 yards on the ground with one touchdown versus MSU Moorhead and gained 89 yards against Minot State last weekend.

Quick Hits

• Final Game at Ed Widseth Field
    Saturday will be the final game at Ed Widseth Field for the careers of 11 UMC student-athletes. The game will not be the final home game however for the Golden Eagles as they will host U-Mary at Alerus Center in Grand Forks, N.D. Nov. 10. The Golden Eagles that will wrap up their home careers will be; Cecil Brown, Marcus Galan, Richard Haley, Stephen Henderson, Mike Johnson, Tevin Kellum, Keith McBride, Tyler Roed, Chris Secrest, Austin Schwager and Joe Stearly


•#CECILBROWN4ALLAMERICA
    Cecil Brown, Jr. has been an absolute force on defense so far this season and currently is third in the entire NSIC with 88 tackles. The senior strong safety is ranked tied for 12th nationally for tackles heading into Saturday's contest against UMD. Brown set a career-high with 16 tackles versus Bemidji State earlier this season. Brown has three fumble recoveries on the year, as well as a sack. Brown's three fumble recoveries is ranked tied for first in the conferece.

• Finding the Scoreboard First
    The Golden Eagles have lost all seven games this season where they failed to find the scoreboard before their opponents. In their lone win against Southwest Minnesota State University, UMC was the first to score as Richard Haley took the first play from scrimmage 60 yards to the house. The Golden Eagles will hope to get the early momentum and be the first on the scoreoboard against the Beavers this weekend.

• Tale of Two Teams
    The University of Minnesota, Crookston has been a tale of two different teams this year, a home version and an away version. The Golden Eagles are averaging just over seven points in road games while they are averaging 26.0 points a game at home. In addition, they are averaging 399 yards of offense and giving up 409 yards defensively at home while compared to road games, where they are giving up 432.6 yards defensively and are averaging 251.4 yards of offense. The Golden Eagles will look to change that trend against UMD.

• Covering The Kickoff
    The University of Minnesota, Crookston Golden Eagles are currently leading the league in kickoff coverage as they are only allowing opponents to an average of 12.8 yards per kickoff return.

The Scoop

    Saturday's game between the University of Minnesota, Crookston and University of Minnesota Duluth will be the final game of the season for the Golden Eagles at Ed Widseth Field this year as they will finish their home schedule Nov. 10 at Alerus Center in Grand Forks, N.D. against University of Mary. This week's match-up pits the No. 8 Bulldogs, who are 7-1 in the league and leading the NSIC North Division, against the Golden Eagles, who are 1-7 and are currently in eighth place in the NSIC North.


Previewing the Golden Eagles

    The University of Minnesota, Crookston has gotten added production from A.J. Barge (So., QB, Carrolton, Ga.) over the last few weeks but have still been unable to put up the points on the road. Barge was 20-of-30 for 220 yards with two touchdown passes last week despite playing with the flu. Along with Barge, two other potent offensive threats this year have been Richard Haley (Sr., RB, Detroit, Mich.), who is second in the NSIC in rushing with 907 yards on 175 carries, and Marcus Cheatham (Jr., WR, Stockton, Calif.), who has 27 catches for 306 yards and five touchdowns.
    Defensively, the Golden Eagles have been led all season by Cecil Brown, Jr. (Sr., DB, Edison, Ga.), who is third in the NSIC in tackles with 88 this season. In addition, Brown has three fumble recoveries, a sack and 3.5 tackles for loss. In addition to Brown, safety
Freedom McCullough (Jr., Valley Village, Calif.) and Ricky Jacobs (Jr., LB, Junction City, Kan.) have had strong seasons. McCullough and Jacobs each have three interceptions this season.

Previewing the Bulldogs

    The UMD Bulldogs come into Ed Widseth Field with only one loss, suffered at the hands of St. Cloud State University Sept. 29. The Bulldogs are the top scoring offense in the NSIC and also boast the conference's top rushing offense, averaging 238.5 yards per game on the ground. Offensively as a whole, UMD is averaging 455.4 yards per game. The Bulldogs are led by a well-balanced rushing attack as they have four players with over 250 yards rushing this season. They are led by sophomore running back Austin Sikorski, who has 498 yards on 89 carries with nine touchdowns. In addition, dual-threat quarterback Chase Vogler has 401 yards on 65 carries with six touchdowns. Back-up running backs Logan Lauters and Brian Lucas also have over 250 yards rushing this year. In the passing game, UMD's Vogler is 122-of-194 for 1,669 with 15 touchdowns and five interceptions. His top target has been Zach Zweifel, who has 438 yards receiving this season.
    Defensively, the Bulldogs are allowing opponents 364.4 yards of offense per game and 20.6 points per contest. UMD is paced by linebacker Colby Ring's 53 tackles. In addition, linebacker Blake Rogers has three sacks this season while Chris Blake and Kenny Chowa each have two interceptions to lead UMD this season.

The Rundown

• Minnesota Duluth leads the all-time series between the two schools 8-1-0 dating back to 1999. The Golden Eagles lone win came in 2001 with a 17-13 victory over the Bulldogs.

• UMC ended their offensive scoreless streak on the road with a 7 yard touchdown pass from A.J. Barge to Marcus Cheatham versus MSU Moorhead.

• The Golden Eagles have had a bit of inconsistency in starting line-ups this season due to injuries and performance. Seven players have started every game this season on offense (Barge, Haley, Foley, Johnson, Smith, Kelly). Of the position groups offensive line has been the most injured group. On defense, five players have started every game (Jackson, Jacobs, Davidson, Brown and Kellum). Of the position groups the defensive line has been very hurt this fall as Cole Jackson is the only player to start every game on the defensive line this season. The Golden Eagles have started six different players at the three other defensive line spots this season.

• The Golden Eagles have 11 seniors this season. Of those 11 seniors, seven have been regular starters when healthy (Cecil Brown, Marcus Galan, Richard Haley, Mike Johnson, Tevin Kellum, Keith McBride, Austin Schwager) while Stephen Henderson has been the regular kicker and Chris Secrest has handled punting duties. Tyler Roed and Joe Stearly have both been key role players off the bench this year.

• Paul Miller picked up his first victory as the UMC head coach three weekends ago as they upended SW Minnesota State 33-28.

• 22 newcomers  have made appearances for the Golden Eagles in the eight games so far this year.

• Josh Ross scored the first offensive touchdown of the season for UMC on the season and the first touchdown of his career against Concordia-St. Paul

• In the theme of the recently completed Olympics, UMC defensive lineman Cole Jackson is the son of former Olympic Gold Medalist Kevin Jackson, who is the current head wrestling coach at Iowa State University.