CONCORDIA GAME PREVIEW -- CLICK HERE

THE GAME: The Augsburg College Auggies (3-2 overall, 2-1 MIAC) host the Concordia College-Moorhead Cobbers (4-1 overall, 3-1 MIAC) in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football game on Saturday, October 11 at 1 p.m., at Edor Nelson Field (capacity 2,000) in Minneapolis, Minn.

COACHES: Augsburg head coach Jack Osberg (Augsburg '62) is in his 13th season and has a 58-68 career mark. Concordia head coach Terry Horan (Concordia '89) is in his third season and is 16-9 overall.

RADIO: Augsburg football is aired on KCCO-AM 950 in the Twin Cities. Returning for their sixth season of broacasting Auggie football are Tom Witschen on play-by-play, with Russ Bohaty on analysis. Auggie games can also be heard online on Augsburg's athletic website, through an arrangement with SportsJuice.com. Point your browser to http://www.augsburg.edu/athletics/liveaudio/ and click on the Live Audio link. Concordia games are broadcast on KVOX-AM 1280 in Fargo, N.D., with Larry Knutson and Chris Ohm on the call. The Concordia broadcast can also be heard online by going to the Carleton website: http://home.cord.edu/dept/sports/soundfb.html. The game will also be webcast on the Minnesota Sports Update website with Alan Armstrong on the call. The web address is http://www.minnesotasportsupdate.com/.

SERIES: This is the 61st game in the all-time series between Augsburg and Concordia, a series the Cobbers lead 46-12-2. Concordia has won the last three games in a row in the series, and Augsburg head coach Jack Osberg is 5-8 in his career against Concordia. The teams began the series in Augsburg's first year of football, 1926, and have played every year since 1953, with the exception of the 1974-75 seasons.

LAST WEEK: Augsburg improved to 3-3 on the season last Saturday with a 19-0 home win over Carleton. Concordia improved to 4-1 overall last Saturday with a 57-14 home win over Hamline.

MIAC OVERALL PER-GAME RANKINGS (5 games): Total offense -- Augsburg 5th (325.4), Concordia 2nd (446.2); Passing offense -- Augsburg 3rd (208.2), Concordia 7th (161.6); Rushing offense -- Augsburg 7th (117.2), Concordia 1st (284.6); Scoring offense -- Augsburg 6th (19.4), Concordia 3rd (37.4); Total defense -- Augsburg 5th (340.8), Concordia 2nd (298.8); Passing defense -- Augsburg 2nd (164.8), Concordia 8th (195.8); Rushing defense -- Augsburg 5th (176.0), Concordia 2nd (103.0); Scoring defense -- Augsburg 6th (24.6), Concordia 3rd (17.4).

MIAC CONFERENCE-ONLY PER-GAME RANKINGS (3/4 games): Total offense -- Augsburg 6th (338.0), Concordia 2nd (439.2); Passing offense -- Augsburg 3rd (198.7), Concordia 6th (167.2); Rushing offense -- Augsburg 7th (139.3), Concordia 1st (272.0); Scoring offense -- Augsburg 6th (19.0), Concordia 3rd (36.2); Total defense -- Augsburg 5th (305.0), Concordia 4th (285.0); Passing defense -- Augsburg 4th (156.3), Concordia 8th (187.8); Rushing defense -- Augsburg 5th (148.7), Concordia 2nd (97.2); Scoring defense -- Augsburg 5th (17.3), Concordia 3rd (14.8).

LAST YEAR: Concordia-Moorhead claimed a 38-13 win over Augsburg on Oct. 12, 2002 at Concordia's Jake Christiansen Stadium. Concordia dominated on both sides of the ball, gathering 359 yards of total offense compared to 247 for Augsburg. Augsburg was limited to just 69 rushing yards, while Concordia put together 206 net rushing yards.

The first quarter went by scoreless, but the Cobbers jumped on the board on the first play of the second quarter, a two-yard plunge by Jeremy Hinderks. Quarterback Ryan Hebrink put the Cobbers up 14-0 with 9:52 left in the half, finding a hole and running in from 49 yards out. Hebrink then went to work through the air, hooking up with Shawn Reile on a 26-yard touchdown pass with 2:32 to go in the half, giving the Cobbers a 21-0 halftime advantage. Augsburg cut the lead to 21-7 with 13:25 left in the third quarter on a 16-yard pass from Dave Fransen to Yarzue Slowon. The Cobbers had the answer however, as Bobby Clark broke loose for a 54-yard touchdown run on the first play of the following drive.

The Auggies returned the favor on another scoring strike from Fransen to Slowon, a 10-yard pass with 10:16 remaining in the third quarter, cutting the lead to 28-13. The Cobbers put the game away on a second touchdown pass from Hebrink to Reile, a 31-yard strike with 3:17 left in the third. Brian Halverson tacked on a 27-yard field goal, his third of the season, to give the Cobbers a 38-13 victory. Fransen completed 17-of-33 passes for 169 yards, with Slowon catching eight balls for 78 yards. T.J. Bramwell led the Auggies with 37 rushing yards on 17 carries. Brandon Fox led the Auggie defenders with eight tackles (five solo), with Andy Stephenson and Joe Cullen collecting five tackles apiece.

OSBERG NOW AUGSBURG'S ALL-TIME FOOTBALL VICTORY LEADER: Augsburg head coach Jack Osberg has been the architect of a rebirth of Augsburg College football since he was named head coach in 1991. Now, Osberg can add the mantle of the winningest coach in school history to his resume. With Augsburg's 31-24 win over St. Olaf on Sept. 20, Osberg passed his former coach, Edor Nelson, to claim his 57th career win, one more than Nelson on the all-time football win list. Osberg, a 1962 Augsburg graduate, is in his 13th season with the Auggies and now has a 58-68 career record. Nelson went 56-118-10 from 1947-69. Osberg also has the most MIAC wins (46-63-0) of any Augsburg coach, and his career overall winning percentage of .460 is second-best in school history. Bill Caris (1972-75) was 19-19, for the school's best winning percentage of .500. Osberg has the third-longest tenure among current MIAC football coaches, behind St. John's John Gagliardi (55th season, 51st at St. John's in 2003) and Bethel's Steve Johnson (15th season).

INJURY BUG BITING THE AUGGIES -- Augsburg has had the injury bug bite over the past several weeks with an already-thin roster. Perhaps the biggest injury is to starting quarterback Tony George (So., Blaine, Minn.), who suffered sprained ankle injuries in consecutive games -- a loss at Gustavus and last week's win over Carleton. He will not start on Saturday against Concordia-Moorhead. Troy Deden (Fr., Northfield, Minn.) will get his first career start at quarterback.

Wide receiver Shawn Johnson (Jr., Faribault, Minn.) was lost for the season with a broken collarbone in the Gustavus game. Lost for the season last week against Carleton was linebacker Kyle Voelz (Jr., Morgan, Minn./Cedar Mountain HS), who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Running back Pat Lofboom (Jr., Stillwater, Minn./Mahtomedi HS) was lost for the season earlier this year.

Also likely not to play in Saturday's game will be running back Steve Houser (So., Zimmerman, Minn./Elk River HS), bruised knee; defensive end Jacob Koelln (So., Rochester, Minn./John Marshall HS), concussion after-effects; cornerback Major Williams (Jr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington HS), bruised shoulder; and defensive lineman Chike Ochiagha (Jr., Savage, Minn./Holy Angels HS), ankle injury.

SCHLIEMAN, CULLEN AMONG NATION'S LEADERS: Augsburg kicker/punter Nick Schlieman (So., Burnsville, Minn.) and defensive lineman Joe Cullen (Jr., Coon Rapids, Minn.) are all among the nation's leaders in several categories in NCAA Division III football, according to statistics released after the fourth week of games.

Schlieman ranks 12th nationally in punting, with a 41.3-yard average. In the season-opener against Jamestown (N.D.), Schlieman had eight punts for 419 yards (52.4-yard average), including a school-record 74-yard punt on Augsburg's first drive. He also had punts of 68, 59 and 52 yards in the game to earn both MIAC and Division III National (Don Hansen's Football Gazette) Special Teams Player of the Week honors.

Cullen ranks 21st nationally in sacks, with 6.0 through five games, a 1.2 sacks-per-game average.

Concordia also has two players in the Division III national rankings. Quarterback Ryan Hebrink is ranked 37th nationally in pass efficency (137.2 ranking), and running back Robert Clark is ranked 20th in all-purpose yardage (166.4 yards per game).

As a team, Concordia ranks 15th nationally in total offense (446.2 yards per game), 11th nationally in rushing offense (284.6 yards per game) and 18th in scoring offense (37.4 points per game).

RUSHING SUCCESS: For a team known for its passing, Augsburg shined in the rushing department in last week's 19-0 win over Carleton. Augsburg accumulated 224 rushing yards, the most in a single game for Augsburg since Augsburg rushed for 283 yards on 50 carries in the Auggies' 52-21 win over Carleton on Sept. 15, 2002. It's just the eighth time Augsburg has had 200 rushing yards or more in a single game in the last five seasons. Augsburg's 52 rushing attempts were the most in a single game since the Auggies had 57 rushes in a 2001 win over Macalester. Steve Houser (So., Zimmerman, Minn./Elk River HS) rushed for a career-best 128 yards on 29 carries in the win over Carleton.

Augsburg used the run effectively on its longest drive of the season on Saturday. In the third quarter, after recovering a fumble on their own 3-yard line, the Auggies took the ball 97 yards on nine plays in 4:20 to score its final touchdown. Eight of the nine plays on the drive were rushing plays.

NO SPLITTING THE UPRIGHTS ... YET: Augsburg did not attempt a field goal all of last season, but it had its first field goal attempt of the season last week against Carleton, a missed 37-yarder by Nick Schlieman (So., Burnsville, Minn.). Augsburg's last successful field goal attempt was a 42-yarder by Tim Mauseth in the final game of the 2001 season, against Concordia-Moorhead at the Metrodome.

FIRST AUGSBURG-CONCORDIA GAME AT AUGSBURG SINCE 1997: Saturday's game marks the first time Concordia has visited Edor Nelson Field since the 1997 season. Two entire Augsburg classes (graduating classes of 2002 and 2003) went through their entire four-year careers without hosting Concordia on the turf at Augsburg.

The Cobbers played at Augsburg in the 1997 regular season (a 13-10 Augsburg win), and played an NCAA Division III national playoff first-round game on Nov. 15, 1997 at the Fargodome in Fargo, N.D. (technically a Concordia home game, a 34-22 Augsburg win). From 1998 to 2001, the two teams played in the Metrodome -- three years (1998-2000) as part of the MIAC Metrodome Showcase, and in 2001 as an Augsburg home game. Last season, Augsburg and Concordia returned to an on-campus game, a contest the Auggies lost 38-13 at Jake Christiansen Stadium in Moorhead.

Since 1960, Augsburg has played Concordia 16 times at Augsburg, with the Cobbers holding a 12-4 advantage. Augsburg has won at home over Concordia in 1961 (27-20), 1973 (35-22), 1977 (7-3) and 1997 (13-10). Augsburg head coach Jack Osberg has hosted Concordia at Augsburg just twice in his 13-season tenure, losing 38-6 in 1995 and winning 13-10 in 1997.

SCOUTING THE AUGGIES: Ben Paul (Sr., St. Paul, Minn./Johnson HS) tied an Augsburg College single-game school record with three rushing touchdowns, as the Auggies shut out Carleton College 19-0 last Saturday at Augsburg's Edor Nelson Field. Augsburg put together 418 yards of total offense -- 224 rushing and 218 passing -- to score the win.

Steve Houser (So., Zimmerman, Minn./Elk River HS) rushed for a career-best 128 yards on 29 carries to lead the Auggies, while Paul rushed nine times for 38 yards. His touchdowns of three, six and 12 yards tied him for the school's mark for single-game rushing touchdowns. T.J. Bramwell accomplished the feat in a 2002 game, while Marty Alger scored three rushing TDs in a 1993 game and Mike Strandness did the same in a 1994 game.

The Auggies had 81 offensive plays to Carleton's 68, and limited the Knights to 281 yards of total offense (86 yards rushing, 195 passing). Augsburg held the ball for 33:13 compared to 26:47 for the Knights. Augsburg took advantage of three Carleton turnovers -- all on rushing fumbles near the line of scrimmage -- turning two into touchdowns.

On Carleton's first drive of the game, the Knights turned the ball over on a fumble at their own 36-yard line. Seven rushing plays later, Paul scored from three yards out. Late in the second quarter, Augsburg struck paydirt again. Two long passes from Tony George (So., Blaine, Minn.) -- a 23-yarder to Jamie Smith (Sr., Oakdale, Minn./Tartan HS) and a 22-yarder to Andrew Neumann (Fr., Somerset, Wis.) -- set up Paul for a six-yard rushing score with 3:25 left in the half.

The teams exchanged punts in the third quarter before Augsburg shut the door on the Knights early in the fourth quarter. Carleton had its longest sustained drive of the game -- a nine-play, 80-yard drive -- before fumbling the ball at the Augsburg 3-yard line. Augsburg then took the ball 97 yards in nine plays, which included a 49-yard pass from George to Yarzue Slowon (Jr., Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS). The drive was capped on a 12-yard rushing score by Paul to put a close on the shutout victory.

George threw for 200 yards, completing 14 of 27 yards. Slowon caught three passes for 90 yards, Neumann had four catches for 59 yards and Smith caught three passes for 44 yards.

Augsburg's defense played a huge role in the victory, claiming four sacks, forcing one fumble and accumulating 13 tackles for loss and four pass breakups. Brandon Fox (Sr., Springfield, Minn.) had 12 tackles (five solo), including two for loss and a fumble recovery. Joe Cullen (Jr., Coon Rapids, Minn.) had nine tackles (three solo), with 1.5 sacks and two tackles for loss, and John Golnitz (Sr., Green Bay, Wis./Preble HS) had nine tackles (one solo). Sam Harmer (Sr., Silver Bay, Minn./Kelley HS) had four tackles for loss and a sack. Taylor Kroger (So., Cottonwood, Minn./Lakeview HS) had two fumble recoveries in the game.