Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer
Posted: Sep 03, 2011

Cobbers Host Blue Hawks In Season Opener

Dickinson State (0-1) at Concordia College (0-0)
 September 3, 2011 - Jake Christiansen Stadium - Moorhead, Minn.

GAME TIME: 1 p.m.
RADIO: Live on 1660 AM in the F-M area with Larry Knutson doing the play-by-play and color commentator Chris Ohm. Also live on the internet via the Concordia website at www.gocobbers.com.
SERIES: Concordia leads 4-1-0
SERIES STARTED: 1943
The Cobbers are 4-1 against the Blue Hawks. Last year's loss at DSU was the first time that CC had dropped a game to the Blue Hawks. Concordia won the first game in the series 24-14 back in 1943. The most lopsided game in the series came in 2007 when CC beat DSU
41-7 in Dickinson.

LAST YEAR:Last year the Cobbers lost a heartbreaker at Dickinson State. CC took a 24-23 lead on a Nic Johnson 1-yard run with just over 1:00 to play in the fourth quarter but then watched in disbelief as a tipped pass turned into a 58-yard scoring strike with just :29 left on the clock. The Blue Hawk quarterback threw into double coverage but the ball was tipped by the Cobber defenders and ricocheted behind the intended receiver to a DSU wideout who was standing behind the play watching. Concordia almost pulled off its own miraculous comeback but after driving to the Dickinson 32-yard line, a Michael Dunham pass was intercepted on the goal line. The two teams were virtually even statistically speaking. Concordia had 118 rushing and 238 passing yards for 356 total yards while the Blue Hawks had 135 rushing yards and 248 passing yards for 383 total offensive yards. Both teams scored every time they got within the red zone. CC was 4-for-4 and DSU was 6-for-6. Dunham was 27-for-39 for 238 passing yards and also ran for 55 yards to lead the Cobbers. Dickinson State was led by QB Cody Holland who went 11-for-22 for 248 yards. Kicker Tury Escobedo was 3-for-3 in field goal attempts.

GAMEDAY KICKOFF
(What you need to know about Saturday's Concordia-Dickinson State match-up)
- Today's game marks the start of the 94th season in Cobber football history. Concordia has a 481-280-40 overall record in the first 93 years of play
- The Cobbers are an even .500 in their previous 93 season openers, 44-44-5.
- The Cobbers are 12-10 in their past 22 season openers.  
- Concordia has won six straight season-opening games at home. The last time CC played a CC opener at "The Jake" was back in 2009 when they beat Willamette (Ore.) 24-17). The previous five victories all came against MSU Moorhead.
- CC head coach Terry Horan is 9-1 in his 10 home openers and 6-4 in season opening games.
- The Cobber and Blue Hawks have played one other time for Concordia's home opener. That came back in 2008 and CC came away with a 38-13 win.    
- Dickinson State was ranked seventh in the preseason NAIA national poll. The Blue Hawks are coming off a 9-2 season in 2010 and advanced to the NAIA playoffs.
- The Blue Hawks dropped their season opener last weekend at Rocky Mountain College (Mont.) 38-3. It was their worst loss since the final game of the 2009 season when they lost 59-7 to Carroll College.
- Concordia returns nine players on offense and four from defense.
- The Cobbers have seven starting players on offense that started last year's final game vs. St. Olaf (Knowlton, Baumann, Dunham, Baune, Johnson, Shepherd and Starke). CC only has three starting players on defense who started against the Oles (Hvidston, Rysdahl and Spiczka)
- CC racked up 367.7 total offensive yards per game last year and allowed 369.2 yards on defense. 
- The Cobbers were fourth in the MIAC in total offense (357.4 ypg)in conference games in 2010 and sixth in total defense (397.0 ypg).
- Dicksinson State amassed 307.0 yards per game on offense last year and allowed opponents only 283.7 ypg.
- Last week the Blue Hawks gave up 385 total yards to Rocky Mountain last week and came away with 266 total offensive yards.
- Cobber quarterback Michael Dunham is coming off a record-breaking season where he set single season records for passing yards (2027), passing attempts (304) and pass completions (193).
- Dunham enters the season with a three-game streak of throwing for at least 250 yards in a game. He finished last year by throwing for 250+ against Hamline, Bethel and St. Olaf. He also has a three-game streak of 20+ completions.
- Dunham now needs 1,650 yards to break the school record for career passing yards set by Ethan Pole from 1995-98. His 472 career completions are 195 shy of Pole's record of 667.