What to know about Augustana's season opener at Concordia-St. Paul
AUGUSTANA (9-3) AT CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL (1-10)
WHEN/WHERE: 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Sea Foam Stadium, St. Paul, Minn.
ONLINE: NSIC Network
RADIO: KXRB-FM 100.1
COACHES: AU - Jerry Olszewski (10th year, 56-35); CSP - Shannon Currier (11th year, 48-51
SERIES: Augustana leads 12-4
LAST TIME: The Vikings nipped the Bears 21-20 in Sioux Falls in 2019
RANKINGS: Augustana is ranked 25th in the preseason Division II poll.
ABOUT THE MATCHUP: The 2021 season was a nightmare for the Golden Bears. After they’d appeared to build serious momentum with a 6-5 season in 2019, the pandemic wiped them out in 2020, which meant they did not get to enjoy the final season of standout defensive Chris Garrett, who is now a Los Angeles Ram.
More: Augustana Vikings hope to repeat as NSIC football champions. What to know about this season:
When they returned in 2021, COVID-19 and injuries piled up quickly, to the point that the Bears almost ran out of offensive skill players. Their only win was a 24-6 home decision against Upper Iowa in Week 2, after which they lost nine in a row, seven of those coming by 20 points or more.
That means it’s a rebuilding year for the Bears, and they get a tough test to open the season against a Vikings squad that’s been picked to repeat as NSIC champions.
Concordia doesn’t return a lot of production on offense from last year, but they do have a promising young quarterback they’re investing in, in Conner Cordts. In six starts last year, Cordts threw for 857 yards with six touchdown passes and just one interception. He’ll try to steer the resurgence of an offense that averaged a mere 254 yards and 14 points per game last year. Jaylen DeVries, a transfer from Southern Illinois, could push Cordts for the QB1 role. Former Watertown quarterback Adam Kiefer, is in his first season coaching the Bears quarterbacks after spending the last two years on the Vikings' staff. Former NFL receiver Michael Floyd is the Bears' receivers coach.
A Bears defense that gave up an average of 36 points last year returns six starters, led by linebacker Andrew Egnarski, who led the team with 68 tackles and five sacks last year, and senior defensive back Rhett Sheehan, who had three interceptions and ranked second on the team with 63 tackles.
As for the Vikings, this represents something of a trap game. They won the NSIC regular season title and hosted a playoff game for the first time since 2010, but were stunned in that game by Bemidji State, a team they’d hammered in the regular season. Guess who the Vikings play next week in their home opener? That’s right, the Beavers. So the task for Augie in the opener is to avoid looking past the Bears and ahead to their chance at redemption against Bemidji State.
The Vikings return many of their key players on both sides of the ball – the biggest question mark heading into the season is at quarterback, where either 6-foot-7 Montana State transfer Casey Bauman or sophomore Thomas Scholten will replace four-year starter Kyle Saddler, who threw 38 touchdown passes last year.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Augustana University vs. Concordia-St. Paul: What to know
