Game 2 Preview: Buena Vista at Concordia

 GAME 2: Buena Vista (0-1) at Concordia (1-0)

DATE: September 13, 2014
LOCATION: Moorhead, Minn. (Jake Christiansen Stadium)
GAME TIME: 1 p.m.
RADIO: 1660-AM in the F-M area
SERIES: Concordia leads 3-0
SERIES STARTED: 2011

Live Video: Cobber UStream

Live Stats: Cobber Primetime

Live Audio: MN Sports Network

    
Cobbers vs. Beavers Series History: CC leads 3-0

Cobber Football in the Fargo-Moorhead Media:

- Fargo Forum Feature:
Dan Berdan: Cobber Since the Crib

- WDAY-TV
Neal and Baune Leading Concordia

- KVRR-TV
Fargo's Neal Leading the Cobbers

Cobber SID Features:
- Thorson Athletic Center Tour

50th Anniversary NAIA Championship Look Back: 1964 Home Opener
This year will be a season-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1964 NAIA National Championship Team. That team was honored with the Murray Warmath Legendary Team Award given out by the Minnesota Chapter of the National Football Foundation earlier this spring and we will be remembering the games and players from the '64 season all during 2014.  

The opening home game of the 1964 season was also against a team from Iowa. Fifty years ago Concordia squared off against Parsons College from Fairfield, Iowa which is located in the southeastern tip of the state.

Here is the game report by Paul Sandager that appeared in the Concordian the next week:

"Hard driving Concordians under the master tutelage of veteran quarterback Bob Nick, handed the Parsons' Wildcats a stinging 28-14 defeat before a capacity crowd in last Saturday's opening gridiron clash. Favored Parsons gained a marked advantage in total yards passing but fell far short of Concordia's ground gains. The minus six yards in rushing by the Wildcats can largely be attributed to the tough Cobber line defense against the superior weight advantage held by Parsons.

Neither team managed to break the scoring barrier in the tense first period. However, interceptions by Jim Knutson and Gary Williams gave the 'Cats a preview of what was in store for the afternoon. A 24-yard pass from Gary Gardner to end Steve Gilliant early in the second period plus a successful extra point kick gave a 7-0 opening lead to the visitors. The fast-reeling Nick led the decisive march late in the first half to give the Cobs an 8-7 advantage combining with end Paul Brynteson on a 52-yard touchdown pass play which was followed up with a 2-point conversion from Nick.

The football game from this point on was strongly dominated by Concordia as the galleries witnessed a 49-yard, well blocked touchdown run by quarterback Nick on the third play after the second half kickoff. Brynteson kicked the extra point to thrust the Cobs further ahead, 15-7. Another pass to Brynteson in the third period, gave the Cobbers their third scoring play. Sharp kicking by Brynteson rapped the score out of reach of the depleted 'Cats.

The fans had not seen the most thrilling plays the Cobs had to offer. On the 44-yard line, Nick handed off to halfback John Nellermoe, who reversed to halfback Lowell Gorseth. Gorseth then flipped a lateral to Nick, who scampered across the field for 50 yards and the final Concordia touchdown. Parsons, with an anti-climactic touchdown and extra point kick tallied to make the final score 28-14. This victory was a true revenge after last year's 28-8 loss to the Wildcats."        

Last Year: Concordia 21 at Buena Vista 13
Last year the Cobbers held Buena Vista to a single touchdown, and only three points in the second half, to come away with a 21-13 in Storm Lake, Iowa.

Concordia got off to a quick start when Griffin Neal combined with Brandon Zylstra on an 85-yard touchdown reception. That would be the only touchdown pass of the game as the Cobbers scored their other TD's from the legs of Matt Peterson and Cooper Gauldin.

Concordia had a 14-10 lead at the half and then turned it over to the "Black Shirt" defense. The CC defense held the Beavers to one first down and only 29 yards of total offense in the third quarter and backed that up by allowing only 11 rushing yards and 82 total yards in the fourth quarter. BVU had a chance to tie the game on their final possession but failed to gain any yards on a 1st-and-10 situation from the CC 42-yard line.  Nate Adams was the star of the day on defense as he had a game-high 9.0 tackles, 2.5 sacks and recovered a fumble.

The Cobber offense came away with 361 total yards and was led Neal, Zylstra and Peterson. Neal was 8-for-19 for 147 yards while Zylstra had 147 receiving yards and Peterson had a team-high 71 rushing yards.

Pick 6 - 6 Items To Help You Take It To The House:
1. Concordia has won its last seven home openers and head coach Terry Horan is 12-1 in his previous 13 openers at Jake Christiansen Stadium. The lone loss came against St. John's back in 2006. The Cobbers home-opening dominance goes ever farther back as CC is 18-2 in the first game of the season at "The Jake" in a stretch that dates back to 1994. 

2. Concordia came away with over 500 yards in total offense against Jamestown last week. The 515 yards of total offense was the most for CC since they racked up 634 against Buena Vista in the home opener in 2012. Included in the 515 total yards were 291 total rushing yards. Concordia rushed for over 250 yards only once last year and broke a streak of four games where they accumulated more passing yards than rushing yards.

3. A pair of newcomers to the Cobber "Black Shirt" defense led the team in tackles last week. Senior defensive back Dan Berdan and sophomore linebacker Hank Van Liew both had seven tackles each. The pair combined for only 13 total tackles in all of 2013. The Concordia defense only allowed Jamestown to record four first downs in the first half of play and plugged the line of scrimmage to limit the Jimmie offense to less than 50 total rushing yards. The Cobbers only came up with one game last year where they allowed less than 50 rushing yards.

4. A pair of Cobber offensive weapons had career number games. Junior wide receiver Jon Baune had the biggest game of his career. He hauled six passes for 125 yards and added a highlight reel touchdown catch in the first quarter. Baune hauled down a deflected pass off of a Jimmie defender as he was falling over and lying flat on his back in the end zone. The play went on to earn MIAC Play of the Week honors (see below). Senior fullback Alex McLean had a career-high 11 rushing attempts and powered his way to a game-high 79 yards. He also had the longest rush of the day when he broke free down the right sideline and chugged his way to a 29-yard TD in the second quarter.

Scouting the Beavers

The Beavers return 15 starters from a team that won their final four games of the 2013 season and tied for third place in the final IIAC standings. One of the players to watch on Saturday is senior quarterback Bobby Brown. Like Neal, for the Cobbers, Brown is a two-year starter with a chance to finish at the top of several BVU career passing categories. He was named to the All-IIAC Second Team last year after throwing for 2,307 yards and 18 TD's.

Buena Vista has two other weapons on offense. Senior running back Dylan Barrett had 714 yards on 172 carries and was named to the All-IIAC Second Team. He ranked third in the IIAC in rushing yards per game last season (89.2) and was sixth in all-purpose yards per outing (96.0).

The Beavers have an outstanding kicker/punter. Tyler Stolen earned All-IIAC First Team honors in his freshman season last year. He is the first player in conference history to be named to the All-IIAC First Team as both a punter and kicker. 

For the year, Stolen made 24-of-25 PAT attempts and made a league-high 11 field goals.  He finished the year ranked third among kickers and sixth overall in scoring (57 points).  His season long field goal came last year against the Cobbers when he canned a 46-yard attempt at the end of the second quarter. As a punter, he averaged a league-best 40.3 yards per kick.  Of his 44 punts on the year, 11 landed inside the 20 yard-line and seven others went for touchbacks.  He also registered at least one punt of 40 yards or more in nine of the 10 games, including a career-best kick of 62 yards against Dubuque.          

Cobber SID Picks To Click:

This year we are adding a new feature to the Gameday preview. We will choose one offensive player and one defensive player who we think will have a chance to have a big game on Saturday. It will give the fans a chance to watch the "key" players on either side of the ball. It will hopefully give an insight into what the keys to success might be.

Offense - #13 Griffin Neal, Sr. QB  
We are going with the historical theory for this pick. In the home opener in 1964, quarterback Bob Nick threw for two scores and ran for two more in the team's 28-14 win over Parsons College. Three of the four touchdowns engineered by Nick came from over 40 yards out. We are going with that same long-strike ability this week as Neal has shown the capability to beat teams with his legs and arm. last time these two teams hooked up in Moorhead, Neal threw for a TD and ran for another He came away with 93 rushing yards in that game vs. the Beavers.

Besides, both quarterback's last names start with the letter "N" and both last names have four letters. Coincidence - we think not.

Defense - #18 Dan Berdan, Sr., S
The Cobber senior captain has been making the media rounds this week and we think his time in the spotlight will extend through Saturday. Berdan is coming off a team-high seven tackles last week and was solid the enitre game. His 6-4 frame should see lots of action with Buena Vista's offense likely to take to the air. We are hoping the historical perspective helps with this pick as well. In 1964 defensive backs Jim Knutson and Gary Williams came up with two huge interceptions in the first quarter to swing the game in CC's favor. We are calling for Berdan to have the team's first INT of the season on Saturday.      

Coach Horan Preview Interview: