COACHES: Augsburg head coach Jack Osberg (Augsburg '62) is in his 13th season and has a 59-70 career mark. Bethel head coach Steve Johnson (Bethel '79) is in his 15th season and has a 99-49-1 career record.

RADIO: Augsburg football is aired on KCCO-AM 950 in the Twin Cities. Returning for their sixth season of broadcasting 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 on gamedays.

SERIES: This is the 29th game in the all-time series between Augsburg and Bethel, a series the Auggies lead 13-12-3. Augsburg and Bethel played three times in nonconference action, with Augsburg winning in 1949, 1953 and 1954. The teams have played every year since Bethel joined the MIAC in 1978, with Bethel holding a 12-10-3 edge in MIAC contests. Bethel has won the last five games in a row in the series. Augsburg's last win in the series was in 1997, when Augsburg clinched the MIAC championship with a 56-22 win over Bethel at the Metrodome. Augsburg head coach Jack Osberg is 2-10 in his career against Bethel. In games played at Bethel since 1978, Augsburg is 4-5-2.

LAST WEEK: Augsburg improved to 4-4 on the season last Saturday with a 17-14 home win over St. Thomas. Bethel remained unbeaten at 8-0 last Saturday with a 41-14 win at Carleton.

MIAC OVERALL PER-GAME RANKINGS (8 games): Total offense -- Augsburg 5th (309.8), Bethel 4th (390.9); Passing offense -- Augsburg 4th (193.9); Bethel 2nd (196.9); Rushing offense -- Augsburg 7th (115.9), Bethel 4th (194.0); Scoring offense -- Augsburg 7th (17.0), Bethel 2nd (38.8); Total defense -- Augsburg 6th (371.8), Bethel 4th (314.9); Passing defense -- Augsburg 4th (170.4), Bethel 6th (174.8); Rushing defense -- Augsburg 7th (201.4), Bethel 3rd (140.1); Scoring defense -- Augsburg 7th (29.0), Bethel 2nd (16.2).

MIAC CONFERENCE-ONLY PER-GAME RANKINGS (6 games): Total offense -- Augsburg 6th (310.8), Bethel 3rd (394.7); Passing offense -- Augsburg 3rd (184.3), Bethel 4th (172.2); Rushing offense -- Augsburg 7th (126.5), Bethel 3rd (222.5); Scoring offense -- Augsburg 7th (16.0), Bethel 2nd (40.0); Total defense -- Augsburg 7th (364.2), Bethel 4th (306.5); Passing defense -- Augsburg 6th (168.0), Bethel 5th (154.7); Rushing defense -- Augsburg 6th (196.2), Bethel 4th (151.8); Scoring defense -- Augsburg 6th (26.8), Bethel 2nd (13.0).

LAST YEAR: Bethel College scored two touchdowns in the final 1:13, including a 24-yard, lob pass from A.J. Parnell to Jeff Lehn with 18 seconds remaining, giving the Royals a 29-22 win over host Augsburg on Nov. 2, 2002 at Edor Nelson Field.

Augsburg had taken a 22-15 lead on a four-yard pass from Dave Fransen to tight end Tony Warren, and a two-point conversion pass from Fransen to Yarzue Slowon with 6:01 left. But after the teams traded punts on subsequent drives, Bethel drove the ball 60 yards in six plays, cutting the game to 22-21 when Mike Johnson scored his second touchdown of the fourth quarter on a two-yard plunge with 1:13 left. Augsburg appeared to clinch the game on the point-after kick attempt, when lineman Sam Harmer drove up the middle to block the kick by Paul Tschetter.

But the Royals recovered an onside kick at their own 47, and drove 53 yards in 55 seconds to claim the game-winning touchdown. Parnell completed a 13-yard pass, threw an incompletion, then was flushed out of the pocket and gained seven yards on a run to the Augsburg 33 with 43 seconds left. After a third-down, nine-yard gain by Johnson for a first down to the Augsburg 24 with under 30 seconds left, Parnell rolled to his right, finding Lehn on a jump-ball play in the front corner of the end zone. Parnell threw a conversion pass to Nate Merritt for the final margin. Augsburg got the ball back at their own 17-yard line, but Jon Foss sacked Fransen, and on the final pass, the Auggies could only reach midfield as time expired.

Augsburg outgained Bethel by a 386-361 margin and held the ball for 13 minutes longer -- 36:29 to 23:31. But the Auggies turned the ball over twice on interceptions and had two punts blocked in the contest. The Auggies surprised the Royals by scoring twice in the first quarter, taking advantage of two fumbles on Bethel's first three drives. After the Royals' second fumble gave the Auggies the ball on the Bethel 35, T.J. Bramwell scored nine plays later on a three-yard touchdown with 6:45 left. On Augsburg's next drive, Fransen completed a 47-yard scoring pass to Slowon to put the Auggies ahead 14-0.

Bramwell ended up with more than a third of Augsburg's offense, gaining 133 yards on 37 carries. His 37 carries fell one short of the school's single-game record, 38 by Hugh Weathers in a 1981 game. It was Bramwell's second 100-plus-yard rushing game of the season. Meanwhile, Fransen completed 20-of-31 passes for 261 yards, including 147 yards to Slowon on seven receptions -- his second time eclipsing the century mark in receiving in his career. Luke Wright caught seven passes for 79 yards.

In the second quarter, Augsburg's defense held firm on a 10-play, 67-yard Bethel drive, stopping the Royals at the Augsburg one-yard line on a fourth-down rushing play. But when the Royals faced another fourth-and-goal play at the Augsburg 1 on their next drive, Royal quarterback Parnell pulled out for a pass, lobbing the ball to Merritt for a one-yard score. A 27-yard field goal by Tschetter, his first field goal of the season, cut the advantage to 14-9 at halftime. Parnell threw for 219 yards, completing 17-of-29 passes. John Kilde caught eight passes for 111 yards. Johnson, who came into the game averaging 105.5 yards rushing per game, was limited to 68 yards on 24 carries against the Auggies.

Near the end of a scoreless third quarter, Bethel got the ball in good field position, when the snap was fumbled on Augsburg's first field-goal attempt of the season, giving the Royals good field position at the Augsburg 36. But the Royals couldn't convert, giving the Auggies the ball at its own 29. However, the Royals got the ball in good field position again, when a punt was blocked by Scott Wessman, giving the Royals the ball at the Augsburg 25. Four plays later, Johnson scored his first TD of the fourth quarter, on a two-yard run. A two-point pass attempt failed on an interception, giving the Royals a 15-14 lead with 10:12 left. Augsburg drove the ball 67 yards in nine plays on the next drive, capping it with Fransen's go-ahead, 4-yard TD pass to Warren with 6:01 left.

Foss led the Royals with 22 tackles (seven solo), including four tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Matt Wassink had 20 tackles (three solo), including three tackles for loss and a sack. Sam Lacy had 12 tackles (five solo), and Jeremy Sather and Josh Kurtz had interceptions for the Royals. Augsburg's defense was led by Mitch Theisen, who had 13 tackles (six solo) and a sack. John Golnitz had eight tackles (four solo).

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 59-70 career record. Nelson went 56-118-10 from 1947-69. Osberg also has the most MIAC wins (47-65-0) of any Augsburg coach, and his career overall winning percentage of .457 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). Johnson has a 99-49-1 career record, and could reach the 100-win plateau on Saturday.

BRANDON FOX NAMED MIAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Augsburg linebacker Brandon Fox (Sr., Springfield, Minn.) earned MIAC Defensive Player of the Week honors with his 14-tackle (four solo) effort in Augsburg's 17-14 win over St. Thomas. Fox added four tackles for loss, a pass breakup and fumble recovery to lead the Auggie defense in one of its best performances in recent years. Fox, a three-year starter for the Auggies, leads the team with 77 tackles (19 solo), including 12.5 tackles for loss.

Fox is the third Auggie to earn MIAC Player of the Week honors this season. Wide receiver Yarzue Slowon (Jr., Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) and punter Nick Schlieman (So., Burnsville, Minn.) earned conference honors for offense and special teams after the Auggies' season-opening, 20-19 win at Jamestown (N.D.).

INJURY BUG BITING THE AUGGIES -- Augsburg has had the injury bug bite over the past several weeks with an already-thin roster. Starting quarterback Tony George (So., Blaine, Minn.), who suffered sprained ankle injuries in consecutive games -- a loss at Gustavus on Sept. 27 and a win over Carleton on Sept. 27. He did not start against Concordia-Moorhead last week, with Troy Deden (Fr., Northfield, Minn.) taking his first collegiate start at quarterback. George returned to the lineup in the loss to St. John's, and will start again this week against St. Thomas.

Wide receiver Shawn Johnson (Jr., Faribault, Minn.) was lost for the season with a broken collarbone in the Gustavus game. Lost for the season 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 also lost for the season with an injury earlier this year. Defensive lineman Chike Ochiagha (Jr., Savage, Minn./Holy Angels HS) has also been scratched for the season due to an ankle injury.

SCHLIEMAN AMONG NATION'S TOP PUNTERS: Augsburg kicker/punter Nick Schlieman (So., Burnsville, Minn.) is among the nation's leaders in punting in NCAA Division III football, according to statistics released after the seventh week of games.

Schlieman ranks fifth nationally in punting, with a 42.4-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.

Schlieman continues to lead the MIAC in punting, averaging 42.4 yards per punt overall and 40.4 yards per punt in conference games, as the only punter in the conference to average 40 yards or more in league play. So far this season, Schlieman has 50 punts. Of those, 30 are 40 yards or longer, 13 are 50 yards or longer and five are 60 yards or longer, including the school-record 74-yarder in the season-opener against Jamestown (N.D.) and punts of 68, 61, 65 and 66 yards. Schlieman has placed 15 punts inside the opponent 20-yard line this season, against eight touchbacks and only two fair catches.

Yarzue Slowon (Jr., Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) cracked the national statistics in the kickoff return category. He is 39th-ranked in the nation in kickoff return average, averaging 24.3 yards per return on 19 runbacks this season.

For Bethel, quarterback Scott Kirchoff is ranked 32nd nationally in pass efficiency rating (140.2). Defensive back Jeremy Sather is ranked 14th in interceptions (0.8 per game, six in eight games). John Kilde is ranked 35th in punt return average (13.2) and 35th in all-purpose yardage average (152.4). Kicker Paul Tschetter is ranked 10th in field goals per game (1.3, 10 in eight games).

DOUBLE-DUTY AUGGIES: Augsburg has several players who will be pulling double duty starting this week, as practices have begun for winter sports. The highest-profile double-duty Auggie is wide receiver Yarzue Slowon (Jr., Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS), who is a rare all-conference player in two team sports -- an All-MIAC second-team selection in football and an All-MIAC first-team selection as a men's basketball point guard last year.

Two football players will join the Auggies' eight-time national-champion wrestling team as upper-weight wrestlers -- defensive lineman Joe Cullen (Jr., Coon Rapids, Minn.) and tight end Andrew Neumann (Fr., Somerset, Wis.), who was a two-time state champion in high school. Running back Brady Seesz (Fr., Northfield, Minn.) will join Augsburg's men's hockey team in the winter.

Linebacker Jon Kozitza (Sr., North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West HS), wide receiver Kurt Dybdahl (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Edison HS) and defensive lineman Tom Stefanacci (Sr., St. Louis Park, Minn.) were on Augsburg's baseball team last season, and quarterback Troy Deden (Fr., Northfield, Minn.), who played baseball last year at St. Mary's before transferring to Augsburg, will join the Auggies as a catcher this season. Offensive lineman Jon Dahlin (Sr., St. Louis Park, Minn.) is a weight thrower for Augsburg's track and field team.

FINAL GAME OF SEASON AT METRODOME: Augsburg will finish the season with an appearance at the Metrodome for the 13th straight season, when the Auggies host Hamline on Thursday (11/6) at 7 p.m. There is no MIAC Metrodome Showcase this season. The Augsburg-Hamline game is being moved to the Metrodome because the air-supported dome over Augsburg's home field, Edor Nelson Field, is being installed for the winter months this Saturday.

Augsburg will make its 17th appearance at the Metrodome on Thursday, the most of any MIAC school. The Auggies have a 6-10 record in its previous 16 Metrodome games and a 7-10 record all-time in games played indoors. Twenty years ago, Augsburg and Bemidji State played the first non-University of Minnesota college football game ever at the Metrodome, as the Beavers beat the Auggies 23-7 on Nov. 20, 1983. As the MIAC team that has played the most on artificial-turf fields (including home games at Edor Nelson Field), Augsburg is 40-33 since 1991 and 43-64-1 since 1984 (the year artificial turf was first installed at what is now Edor Nelson Field, formerly Anderson-Nelson Field).

SCOUTING THE AUGGIES: In one of the biggest victories in recent years for Augsburg football, Ben Paul (Sr., St. Paul, Minn./Johnson HS) scored a one-yard touchdown with 1:23 remaining in the game, lifting the Auggies to a 17-14, come-from-behind victory over St. Thomas at Edor Nelson Field. Augsburg rallied for the third time this season to topple the Tommies for the first time in seven seasons, and only the third time in the last 33 years. Augsburg's last win over St. Thomas was in 1995, and the only other win over the Tommies in the last three decades was in 1992.