Game 4 Preview: St. Olaf at Concordia

GAME 3: St. Olaf (0-3/0-1 MIAC) at #19/25 Concordia (3-0/1-0 MIAC)

DATE: September 27, 2014
 LOCATION: Moorhead, Minn. (Jake Christiansen Stadium)
GAME TIME: 1 p.m.
RADIO: 1660-AM in the F-M area

Live Video: Concordia Primetime Gameday

 Live Stats: Concordia Primetime Gameday

Live Audio: MN Sports Network

Cobbers vs. Oles Series History:
Series started: 1921
Cobbers lead overall series: 37-25-2
Series Synopsis: Concordia has won two straight against St. Olaf and four of the past five "Lefse Bowl" games. The Cobbers have also won two straight against the Oles at home and are 7-3  in the last 10 games played at "The Jake"...CC head coach Terry Horan is 8-5 vs. St. Olaf in his first 13 years….the longest win streak for either team happened at the very beginning of the series  where the Oles won the first six games...the series took an extended break between 1952-73 because the Oles were not a part of the MIAC during those years. The series resumed in 1974 and that is when the tradition of the Lefse Bowl and Troll Trophy started.
 
History of the Lefse Bowl and Troll Trophy

Cobber vs. Ole Complete Series History (pdf)

Cobber Football in the Fargo-Moorhead Media:

- WDAY-TV
Sandwich week: Cobbers host St. Olaf Saturday

50th Anniversary NAIA Championship Look Back: 1964 Game 2
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 third game of the 1964 season (the '64 season started a week later than this year so we are going with the game closest to this week's date for this feature) was the conference opener Gustavus. The game also happened to be the conference opener for the Cobbers that year. The Gusties were picked to finish fourth in the MIAC that season and were coached by Don Roberts who went on to earn his fame at the college by coaching the men's hockey team to 12 MIAC titles including eight straight starting in 1965-66.


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

Last Year: St. Olaf 29 at Concordia 33
Last year Concordia was able to build up a 26-14 lead at halftime and then hung on to beat St. Olaf 33-29.

The biggest play of the game came in the fourth quarter when the Oles had the ball on the Concordia 2-yard line but then a swarm of Cobber defenders stripped the ball loose and Luke Peterson fell on the ball in the end zone for a touchback. CC then took the ball and went 80 yards in eight plays to come up with the eventual game-winning score. St. Olaf outgained the Cobbers 359-334 in total offensive yards.

The CC special teams accounted for a touchdown and gave Concordia an average starting position on their own 46 and 43-yard lines in the first and third quarters. Hentges finished the game with four kickoff returns for 166 yards and a 41.5-yard average.  CC punter Brett Harmelink also played a key role in the game as he punted five times with a 42.6-yard average. He had a game-high 56-yard punt and had a pair of punts downed inside the 20-yard line.

The Cobbers had 154 rushing yards and 180 through the air. Quarterback Griffin Neal rushed for a game-high 83 yards and was 17-for-27 for 180 passing yards. Fullback Domenic Fraboni rammed his way for 48 yards on 11 carries and scored on a 10-yard scamper in the first quarter. CC wideout Mark Whiting caught a game-high six passes for 61 yards.

Peterson was the top tackler on the day. He finished with a game-high 8.0 tackles. Defensive end Nate Adams had 7.0 tackles and 3.0 tackles for a loss while Tyler Berling came away with 6.0 tackles and 1.0 sacks. 

MIAC Play of the Week:
Jon Baune, Griffin Neal and the Cobber offensive line have now made it a "three-peat" for MIAC Play of the Weekl honors. The trio hooked up for a 45-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter against St. John's to give CC a 16-0 lead.

The three straight MIAC Plays of the Week is a new record for any school in the conference. 

Concordia has owned the MIAC Play of the Week honors in the past two years. The Cobbers have claimed the MIAC POW award in eight of the 11 weeks the feature has been awarded.

MIAC Play of the Week - Week 3

Stat Central:
- 2014 Concordia Statistics

- 2014 St. Olaf Statistics

- 2014 MIAC Statistics

- 2014 Concordia NCAA Team/Individual Rankings

- 2014 St. Olaf NCAA Team/Individual Rankings

Pick 6 - 6 Items To Help You Take It To The House:
1. The Cobbers are facing a "trap" game against St. Olaf on Saturday. A "trap" game can be defined as one that is overlooked by the favorite because of either the previous week's game or the upcoming opponent - or both. That is exactly what the Concordia/St. Olaf game looks like on paper. The No.19-ranked Cobbers are coming off an emotional win at St. John's last week and face No.20 ranked Bethel next week. The Oles are currently winless on the year but have enough individual stars to come away with a win against any team in the MIAC.    

2. Saturday's game is also the annual "Lefse Bowl" between Concordia and St. Olaf with the winner receiving the nationally recognized Troll Trophy - the "Ugliest Rivalry Trophy" in all of college football. The trophy earned its 15 minutes of fame last season when it was featured on ESPN's College GameDay show.  You can click on the link below to relive all the great moments of the Troll Trophy on ESPN.

Troll Trophy ON ESPN College Gameday 

3.Cobber football fans should relish every game in 2014 because of the chance to watch one of the greatest quarterbacks in school history. Senior Griffin Neal is a two-time All- MIAC honoree and the engineer of one of the top ball control offenses in the nation. Neal's ability to call plays at the line of scrimmage (keep an eye on when he backs away from the line and surveys the defense to make the exact right audible) has given the Cobbers the ability to convert third and fourth down attempts at a ridiculously high rate. CC has a 49% success rate on third down and is 7-for-8 on fourth down attempts this season.

Neal is also closing in on the all-time passing yardage record at Concordia. He now has 4,249 passing yards and needs 640 more to break the school record set by Ethan Pole back in 1998.

4. The Cobbers own one of the top five ball control teams in all of NCAA Division III. Concordia has held the ball for an average of 37:28 per game this year and is ranked fifth in all of Division III in time of possession. CC held the ball for 40:10 against St. John's last week and hasn't finished under 35:00 in time of possession in its first three games of the season. In addition to the ability to hold the ball for most of the game, the Cobbers are also adept at putting together long scoring drives. Concordia has had six scoring drives last at least 12 plays this season and last week they put together a 16-play special to start the game. 

5. St. Olaf senior defensive lineman Colin Brown is putting together a monster season. Brown leads the MIAC in tackles for a loss and is second in solo tackles. He has come up with eight tackles for a loss in 2014 which is four higher than the next defender. His  eight tackles behind the line of scrimmage are also tied for the ninth highest total in all of Division III. He had 13.5 tackles for a loss in 2013 and now has 32.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage in his career.

6. The Cobber ground game continues to be a source of strength for the offense. Concordia leads the MIAC in rushing yards per game. CC is averaging 265.3 rushing yards per game which also puts them in the top 20 of the nation in that category. The Cobbers have five backs with at least 10 carries on the season and has three players over 150 rushing yards for the year. The rest of the MIAC combined only has six total rushers with at least 150 rushing yards. 

Scouting the Oles

St. Olaf was picked to finish ninth in the annual MIAC preseason coaches' poll. The Oles finished 0-8 in league play last year and were in ninth place in the final MIAC standings.

The Ole offense is in good hands with junior quarterback Nate Penz. Penz earned All-MIAC
Honorable Mention honors last year after throwing for 17 TD's and over 2,400 passing yards. St. Olaf also has a very good running back in the likes of junior J.J. Strnad. Strnad has carried the ball 37 times this season and has 107 rushing yards. He scored twice against the Cobbers last year and has the finishing ability from anywhere inside the 10-yard line. Senior wide receiver Joel Reinhardt rounds out the triple threat on offense for the Oles. He set a school record for receptions in a single game when he hauled down 19 passes against Luther. Reihardt has 26 receptions this year which leads the MIAC. He had five catches against the Cobbers last season.

St. Olaf leads the MIAC in total tackles this season. They have 237 tackles in their first three games of the year as opposed to only 176 for Concordia. In addition to Brown's prowess on defense, the Oles have three other players with at least 20 tackles on the year. Junior defensive back Seamus Walsh leads the team with 24 total tackles. In addition to Brown's 22 total tackles, Brice Peterson has 21 and Colten Yahn has 20.      

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.

So far this season we haven't been "clicking" on all cylinders and it has been more of a "Pick to Click" jinx. despite of our past track record, we will continue to give the fans an insight on who we think will have a big game.

Offense - #46 Domenic Fraboni, Sr., FB 
Fraboni has been quietly going about his business and has had three solid games but not one special contest. We think that will change on Saturday as the Cobber continue their commitment to run the ball. Fraboni only has one touchdown on the season but we think that total will increase dramatically as the CC offense gets chances to score from down close to the goal line. Fraboni's longest run of the season is 16 yards and the GameDay staff also thinks that mark will be surpassed on Saturday.   

Defense - #99 Nate Adams, Sr., DE
Like a fine-tuned race car, Nate Adams is finally starting to reach some of his top gears. It took him a couple games to ease into the season but Adams is starting to shift into high gear and that could be trouble for opposing quarterbacks. Adams was named the MIAC defensive Player of the Week last week after having three tackles, a sack, two tackles-for-a-loss and a forced fumble. He should get several opportunities to get to Ole quarterback Nate Penz as St. Olaf will more than likely look to get to the CC defense through the air.   

Coach Horan Preview Interview: