Cobbers Open 2012 Season

Welcome to the 2012 season! The Cobbers open the New Year by playing at Jamestown College on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Rollie Greeno Field. Concordia will be looking to erase the memory of the final two games of 2011 when they dropped a pair of conference contests to Bethel and St. Olaf. Despite those two losses, the Cobbers wound up winning four of their final six games of the season.

There will be plenty of new faces in the Concordia lineup on Saturday. CC will have eight new starters between the offense, defense and special teams. The spotlight will shine the brightest on starting quarterback Griffin Neal. Neal, who starred at Fargo South HS, played in only four games last year and threw only four passes.   

Jamestown heads into the game having already played in 2012. The Jimmies lost a 38-19 decision last week at Rocky Mountain College in Miles City, Mont.   

Fans can follow the action on the web by going to the live broadcasts link at the bottom of the athletic website: Concordia vs Jamestown Live Audio

Cobber Football Gameday Links
- Concordia Football Page
- Jamestown Football Page
- Directions to Jamestown College
- Last Week – Jamestown Game Recap vs. Rocky Mountain
- Cobber 2011 Season Stats
- Jamestown 2011 Season Stats

Cobber Head Coach Terry Horan Video Preview

Cobber Football Gameday Preview
Concordia College (0-0)
at
 Jamestown College (0-1)
September 1, 2012

Rollie Greeno Field
Jamestown, N.D.

GAME TIME: 1 p.m.
RADIO: Live on 1660 AM in the F-M area with Larry Knutson doing the play-by-play.  Also live on the internet via the Concordia website at www.gocobbers.com.

SERIES: Concordia leads 1-0
SERIES STARTED: 1947

SERIES SYNOPSIS: The two teams have only played one time before. That came back on the opening day of the1947 season. Concordia's defense was the story of the game as they held the Jimmies without a point. The Cobbers went on to down Jamestown 26-0 in the inaugural game of the series. Concordia went on to finish the 1947 with a 3-4 overall record and a 1-4 mark in MIAC play.
 
Gameday Kickoff  
(What you need to know about Saturday's Concordia/Jamestown match-up)
- Match-Up of the Day: Cobber Hogs vs. Jimmie Defensive Line
The key for the Cobbers in the early part of the 2012 season will be the ability of the offense to sustain long drives and put points on the board. The Cobber offensive line, better known as the "Hogs", will be front and center on Saturday. With a brand new starting quarterback and without the services of a legitimate speed threat on the ground, the Cobber o-line will have to carve out holes for the "ground and pound" rushing attack and give QB Griffin Neal time to get comfortable in the pocket.


The Jamestown defense gave up over 100 rushing yards last week in their season opener at Rocky Mountain and will be looking to shore up a defense that allowed over 170 rushing yards and 17 rushing TD's in 2011. 

Cobber Notes
- Concordia was 6-4 overall and 4-4 in the MIAC last season.
- The Cobbers are 7-4 in their previous 11 season openers under current head coach Terry Horan. All four of the losses have come on the road. The last time Concordia won a season opener on the road was 2004 when they beat MSU Moorhead 30-7.
- Since discontinuing their "Power Bowl" series with the Dragons in 2007, CC has dropped away season-opening games to Willamette and Dickinson State.
- Concordia was 4-1 on the road last season with their only loss coming in the final game of the season at St. Olaf.
- The Cobbers enter the 2012 season on a two-game losing streak. CC lost at home to Bethel and then at Olaf to finish off the 2011 campaign. 
- The two losses to end the season came after the Cobbers had fashioned a four-game winning streak.
- Concordia fullback Brett Baune led the Cobbers in scoring last season. He had 15 rushing TD's and one receiving score to rack up 96 total points. He had at least two TD's in six of the team's 10 games.
- Baune needs 13 more TD's to break head coach Terry Horan's school record of 33 career TD's
- Newly appointed starting quarterback Griffin Neal threw only four passes last season. He went 1-for-4 and finished with four total passing yards.
- One of the biggest question marks on offense comes from the wide receiver position. The Cobbers graduated almost 50.0% of their total receptions. The top returning receiver is senior Mike Starke who caught 17 balls all year.
- Cobber senior offensive tackle Tom Knowlton was named to the Beyond Sports Network preseason All-American Team.  
- The Cobber defense returns nine of their 11 starters from last year's squad that finished third in the MIAC in rush defense.
- Concordia has two returning All-MIAC First Team players on defense. Juniors Bryce Hentges and Mark Wychor will be back and looking to improve on last year's number when they finished seventh in the MIAC in opponent's scoring average and ninth in pass defense.
- Hentges was third on the team in tackles for the league and had a pair of interceptions in conference play. He finished with 47 total tackles and also had 4.0 pass break-ups.
- Wychor was the anchor of the three-man defensive line last year. His all-around defensive game helped him record 24 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for a loss and 1.5 sacks in the eight conference games.
- Concordia has one new coach this season. Brian Mistro replaced Josh Vickerman as the defensive backs coach. Mistro comes to CC from Northern State where he spent the last two years as the safeties coach. Coach Mistro should be very familiar with the Jimmie program as he played for Jamestown from 2006-09.  

Jimmie Notes
- Jamestown went 3-7 overall and 2-4 in the DAC in 2011. 
- Jamestown enters Saturday's game 0-1 after dropping their season opener 38-19 at Rocky Mountain College. The Jimmies fell behind 31-0 in that contest before scoring 19 of the final 26 points.
- The Jimmies were outgained 364-245 against the Battlin' Bears. Jamestown also turned the ball over three times in the game.
- The highlight of the afternoon against Rocky Mountain came from the Jamestown defense which forced six turnovers. The Jimmies picked off two passes and recovered four fumbles. All told, JC caused Rocky Mountain ball carriers to put the ball on the field six different times.
- The leader of the defensive charge for the Jimmies last week was senior defensive back C.J. Costello who had a team-high 13 tackles and also came away with both INT's in the game.
- Jamestown had a pair of players earn preseason All-American honors. Senior cornerback A.J. Downs and special teams standout Lance Johansen were both named to the USA College Sports, Inc. 20th Annual USA College Football NAIA Pre-Season All-American Team.
- JC sophomore quarterback Gus Ramasco was17-for-31 for 164 yards and one TD last week. His lone TD pass came with under 1-minute to play in the first half and helped the Jimmies cut the Rocky Mountain deficit to 31-7 at the break.
- Johansen is a huge threat all over the field for the Jimmies. He led the team in rushing last season. He was also second in receptions and averaged a team-high 120.7 all-purpose yards in 2011.
- Johansen was held to only 27 rushing yards on 12 carries last week.