Game Notes
Live Video

Gameday Info

Location: Aberdeen, S.D.
Away Team: University of Minnesota, Crookston (1-8, 1-8 NSIC)
Home Team: Northern State University (5-4, 5-4 NSIC)
Date: Sat., Nov. 3, 1 p.m.
Stadium: Swisher Field
Seating Capactiy: 6,000
Online Video: NMTV
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/northern/football/scoreboard.aspx
Radio: KROX 1260
Play by Play/Color Analyst: Chris Fee
Twitter: UMCAthletics
Facebook: Golden Eagle Sports

Quick Hits

• Record-Setting Season
    Cecil Brown, Jr. became the school's all-time
leader for solo tackles as he notched eight solo tackles against No. 8 Minnesota Duluth to move past Justin Reed's mark of 152. Brown also has several other records in his sights. The Golden Eagle safety needs 38 total tackles to move past Reed's career mark of 349 for total tackles and 40 assisted tackles to move past Reed's career mark of 197. Brown is also inching closer to the mark for tackles in a season. He needs 25 tackles to surpass the mark set by Neil Austin.

• Getting The Rock
    The Golden Eagles have had problems turning the ball over this season but on the other end, they have also done a great job of forcing their opponent's to turn the ball over. UMC's 13 forced fumbles this season is the most by a Golden Eagle team during the NSIC era (since 1999). The previos high for UMC was 10 in 2000. The Golden Eagles also have 10 interceptions this year Andrew “Rock” Hall leads the team with three forced fumbles while Ricky Jacobs and Freedom McCullough each have three interceptions.

• Stopping Foes Through The Air
    The Golden Eagles haven't had a lot of success stopping the run this season but they have been great stopping the pass. UMC currently has the top pass defense in the NSIC and is ranked 31st nationally. UMC is only giving up 188.6 yards per game through the air. The Golden Eagle secondary was UMC's strongest area defensively coming into the year as several experienced players returned led by Tevin Kellum, Freedom Mcullough and Cecil Brown, Jr., all who were returning starters heading into the 2012
campaign.

•Top Target
    Marcus Cheatham has had a break-out year for the Golden Eagles after catching 30 passes for 385 yards so far this year. Cheatham did not have a catch last season despite appearing in most games. The junior wide receiver has six touchdowns and needs just two more to tie Carl Aho's record of eight in a season.

• Barge Looking to Set Season Passing Marks
    A.J. Barge has made dramatic improvements in his passing game as a sophomore for the Golden
Eagles. Enough in fact that Barge in inching closer and closer to several school records for UMC. Barge needs just 51 pass attempts to surpass Scott Strohmeier's school record for attempts in a season of 287. In addition, he is just 27 completions from breaking
Strohmeier's record of completions in a season. Barge is also currently on pace to break Strohmeier's mark for completion percentage. He currently has a completion percentage of 54.9 %, just slightly better than
Strohmeier's record of 54.4%

• Junior College Linebackers Coming On Strong
    Ricky Jacobs and Andrew “Rock” Hall have had a noticeable impact on the UMC defense this fall. The pair of junior college transfers have each had great first years in the Maroon and Gold. Hall was second on the team with 10 tackles last week while also making an acrobatic
interception in the end zone and making two tackles for loss. Hall is UMC's second-leading tackler this season with 50 and has 4.5 tackles for loss and leads the team with three forced fumbles. Jacobs is fourth on the team with 41 tackles, has 3.5 tackles for loss and is the co-leader with three interceptions. Both players will look to be centerpieces for UMC next season.Joined by Crookston High School
product Brody Davidson, the trio has arguably been the most productive defensive unit this season as Davidson is third on the team in tackles with 44.

• Finding The Scoreboard First
    The Golden Eagles have lost all eight 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 Wolves 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 five points in road games while they are averaging 23.8 points a game at home. In addition, they are averaging 337 yards of offense and giving up 397.5 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 Northern State on the road.

The Scoop

    The Golden Eagles will finally try to get over their road woes this season as they head to Aberdeen, S.D. to face the Northern State Wolves. Northern State is on a role as of late as they are tied for the lead in the NSIC North with a 4-1 mark in the division. UMC has not had a rhythm in road games this season as they are averaging just over five points this season on the road.


Previewing the Golden Eagles

    A.J. Barge (So., QB, Carrollton, Ga.) has shown much improvement as the signal called for the Golden Eagles this season. After throwing for only 732 yards as a freshman, Barge has accumulated 1,233 yards through the air and is on pace to break the season records for most passing attempts and completions. Barge has eight passing touchdowns this season, six of which have gone in the direction of Marcus Cheatham (Jr., WR, Stockton ,Calif. Cheatham has had a break-out year with 30 catches for 385 yards. Josh Ross (Fr., WR, Palmdale, Calif.) has also had a strong year with 31 catches for 263 yards. The Golden Eagles have to find a way to get Richard Haley (Sr., RB, Detroit, Mich.) going in the rushing game after he had just 15 yards rushing last week against UMD. Haley is the second-leading rusher in the NSIC with 922 yards this season.
    The Golden Eagle defense has been led all season long by the stellar play of senior safety Cecil Brown, Jr. (Sr., DB, Edison, Ga.). Brown recently become the all-time leader for solo tackles in a career at UMC. He has had 99 tackles this season and needs just 25 to become the leader for tackles in a season. In addition to Brown, Andrew “Rock” Hall (Jr., LB, Detroit, Mich.) has been a force of late. He had 10 tackles last week against UMD along with an acrobatic interception in the end zone to stop a Bulldog drive.


Previewing the Wolves

    Northern State has had a stellar last six games as they are 5-1 after starting the season 0-3. The Wolves' only loss during that stretch came to an equally hot team in
Bemidji State University Oct. 13. Northern State is fresh off a 65-17 win over U-Mary last weekend.
    The Wolves have been led offensively by sophomore quarterback Jared Jacobson, who is 161-of-286 for 2,157 yards with 17 touchdowns and only five interceptions. Jacobson's top target this year has been senior Mark Hanley, who has 51 catches for 705 yards and eight touchdown. Two other players have over 400 yards receiving this season as Jordan Piatz has 33 catches for 418 yards and Chris Morton has 26 grabs for 497 yards. In the running game, Northern State has been led by John Hughes with 113 carries for 529 yards. Jacobson has added to the running game with 120 carries for 467 yards this season.
    Defensively the Wolves come in giving up 365 yards of offense to the opposing teams this season. Their leader on defense has been Logan Fahnhorst, who has 64 tackles. Mason Thorstad has also been a force with 10 tackles for loss and four sacks.

The Rundown

• Northern State leads the all-time series 12-1 over UMC. The Golden Eagles only win came  Oct. 21, 2000 as UMC upended the Wolves 25-21 in Crookston.

• The Golden Eagles are leading the NSIC on kickoff coverage this season as UMC has only given up 12.7 yards per kickoff return this season.

• Richard Haley needs just 78 yards to reach the 1,000 yard rushing milestone for the second time in his two-year career at UMC.

• Cecil Brown, Jr. needs just one tackle to move over the 100 tackle milestone for this season.

• The Golden Eagles have had a bit of inconsistency in starting line-ups this season due to injuries and performance. Six 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 eight different players at the three other defensive line spots this season.

• The Golden Eagles have nine seniors this season. Of those nine seniors, five have been regular starters when healthy (Cecil Brown, Marcus Galan, Richard Haley, Mike Johnson and 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 seven 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