For Immediate Release
Saturday, December 3, 2001
NSIC Media Relations
Full PDF Release
Duluth, Minn. - Wayne State University (Mich) fought off a furious comeback effort by the University of Minnesota Duluth to hold on for a 31-25 win in the NCAA II playoff quarterfinals. The defending NCAA II champion Bulldogs had come out on top in each of their previous 14 tries at home, dating back to a 2009 quarterfinal loss to Grand Valley State University.
UMD struck first on in its initial possession, marching 35 yards on 12 plays before three-time All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference senior placekicker David Nadeau nailed 39-yard field goal to put UMD in front for the only time the entire day.
The remainder of the first half served as a defensive battle, and a touchdown reception by Wayne State's Troy Burrell put the Warriors ahead by a 7-3 margin at the break. Wayne State combined for 66 yards of offense in the first half, compared to the 126 yards amassed by the Bulldogs (11-3 overall).
The Warriors opened the second half with a 60-yard scoring drive, extending its lead to 14-3. After Nadeau's kickoff sailed out of bounds, the Warriors strung together 14 plays and took over eight minutes off the clock, capping the drive with a one-yard scoring run by Chet Privett.
UMD responded immediately as D.J. Winfield brought back the ensuing kick off 87 yards for a score -- a career long and and the third touchdown return of his career. The senior from Mount Iron, Minn., who was making his first appearance of the season, finished as the Bulldogs' leading receiver with 101 yards on six catches.
A Wayne State field goal put the Warriors ahead 24-11 at the end of the third quarter, setting the Bulldogs up for another come-from-behind rally. A 22-yard scoring run by freshman tailback Brian Lucas moved UMD to within striking distance, but the Warriors answered again with a rushing score of their own with just under 10 minutes remaining in regulation.
The Bulldogs pulled to within six points at the 6:29 mark when true freshman wideout Aaron Roth hauled down a highlight reel catch in the end zone on an 11-yard pass from junior quarterback Chase Vogler. Roth went up for a jump-ball and had to fight off a defender while making the catch and keeping a foot in bounds, which he did for his third receiving touchdown of the season.
The UMD defense then forced Wayne State (11-3) to punt, giving Vogler and the offense one last chance to extend its season. The Bulldogs marched as far as midfield, but had a hail mary pass attempt was batted down in the end zone as time expired.
"Wayne State did a good job getting after us," said Vogler, who was sacked a season-high five times -- all in the first half -- and wound up completing 16 of 28 passes for 202 yards. "They scouted us well."
The game was a bit of tale of two halves -- the Bulldogs owned a substantial advantage in time of possession (20:36 to 9:24), first downs (12 to 4) and total plays (41 to 18) and total offense (126 to 64) in the opening 30 minutes while the the Warriors turned the tables in the second half in those same categories (22:31 to 7:29 in time of possession; 12 to 10 in first downs; 44 to 26 in total plays; and 229 to 174). UMD ran just plays from scrimmage during the entire third quarter.
The Bulldogs held Wayne State to just 103 yards on the ground, but turned the ball over three times (two fumbles and one interception) versus none for the Warriors.
"We knew if was going to be a battle the whole game and on defense it would be a grind," said senior outside linebacker Derrick Zappa, who paced the Bulldogs with 10 total tackles, including a pair of sacks. "We did our best to shut them down the best we could."
Saturday marked the final appearance for 13 Bulldog seniors, who collectivley rolled up a 52-5 overall record, won two NCAA II national titles and four straight Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference crowns, made four consecutive NCAA II playoff appearances and pieced together two separate 17-game winning streaks.
"I said to all the seniors in the locker room that it has been a real pleasure to be their head coach the past four years,” said an emotional Bob Nielson following the game. “They worked exceptionally hard. They care about each other. They are a group that stayed very focused. Overall, they are a group that enjoyed playing football here. That’s not just because we won a lot of games -- I think we won a lot of games because they were doing things the right way.”