Bulldogs big-play opener puts Mankato on the Fritz, 23-18
Whether you call it “putting on the Fritz,” or “Touchdowns in the Mist,” a record-shattering performance by sophomore quarterback Ricky Fritz ignited UMD to a 23-18 victory over Minnesota-State Mankato Saturday before 3,181 fans at Griggs Field.
UMD, wearing new maroon helmets, reversed the trend of having suffered early-season losses to Minnesota State-Mankato each of the past four years, and may indicate that coach Bob Nielson’s rebuilding job is ahead of schedule. Nielson, starting his second season, had the Bulldogs well-prepared to spring the prestigious upset for the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
The Northern Sun allows only about half the football scholarships of NCC colleges, so it was no surprise UMD had lost its last 12 starts against Minnesota’s two NCC entries, Minnesota State-Mankato and St. Cloud State — this weekend’s Bulldog foe at Griggs Field.
Fritz picked up right where he left off last season, running a varied-look offense by accumulating 319 total yards, a UMD single-game record. The only criticism of Fritz was that he was too impatient — so impatient that he did most of his damage on the first play after the ‘Dogs gained possession, including 47- and 88-yard touchdown passes to Chris Walker, a freshman from Waukesha, Wis.
Although it took him nearly 10 months to do it, Fritz established a possibly unreachable successive-game record for total yards. Last season, when the Bulldogs sputtered to a meager 3-8 record, Fritz concluded his freshman term with a school record 306 total yards against Winona State.
Saturday night, in his next opportunity, the former Eden Prairie broke his one-game-old record with 294 yards on an 11-21 night passing, plus 25 more yards on 10 carries.
The victory required a total team effort, as the defense came through repeatedly in the second half, when the ever-increasing mist blew in hard off Lake Superior and led to several fumbles.
“I’m really proud of our kids,” said Nielson. “I think we showed the people of this community that we’ve got our pride back. I thought we lacked that last year. I could tell we had some confidence from hearing the guys talk this week. I think the people saw tonight the kind of offense we’re going to have. We’re going to make some big plays.”
On defense, freshman Shaun Fisher, from Milltown, Wis., led UMD with six unassisted tackles from free safety, and junior strong safety Kevin Westbrock had four unassisted and 10 assisted tackles.
But the whole unit contributed to a bend-but-don’t-break form that prevented the Mavericks from matching UMD’s big-play offense, despite yielding a 20-14 edge in first downs and 121-57 in rushing yards. Fritz outgained Mankato’s Ryan Dutton and spot-reliever Andrew Shea 294-146 in passing yards.
A pair of seniors collaborated for a pivotal turnover in the first quarter, as Justin Hipple’s solid hit jarred a fumble loose and Jimmy Malo recovered it at the Mankato 47. On first down, Fritz rolled left and passed back across his body to Walker, who sped up the left sideline for the 47-yard touchdown. Chad Gerlach’s kick gave the ‘Dogs a 7-0 lead.
The Mavericks countered when Dutton merely gave the ball to T.J. Schraufnagel, who carried on 15 of 19 plays on a 70-yard drive, including the final rush, from the 2, early in the second quarter. But the tying kick missed, and the Bulldogs still led 7-6.
After the ensuing kickoff, Fritz again ignited UMD with a first-play pass, this time a 41-yarder up the right sideline to Cloquet freshman Tim Battaglia, setting up Gerlach’s 28-yard field goal for a 10-6 lead.
But the chance to come undone availed itself later in the second quarter. Troy Gago mishandled a Mankato punt and Colin Bryant recovered for Mankato at the UMD 16. On first down, as if to provide a grim reminder of last season, the defense sagged, and Schraufnagel tore off right tackle for an easy 16-yard touchdown. But any similarity to last year vanished when the Bulldogs snapped back into focus and prevented Schraufnagel, a 6-2, 220-pound sophomore who carried 33 times for 108 yards, from any other runs as long as that 16-yarder.
“One of the toughest things to do in this weather was handle punts,” said Nielson. “I’m not sure we would’ve gotten any guys to volunteer to field punts tonight.”
The Bulldogs held their poise in the second half, and erased the 12-10 halftime deficit after receiving a punt at their 12 midway through the third quarter. With the wind at his back, Fritz launched a high, hard one on first down and Walker ran under it, tipping it away from the deepest two Maverick defenders before grabbing it and running away for the 88-yard touchdown and a 16-12 UMD lead.
The Bulldog defense stopped the Mavericks on downs at the UMD 31 late in the third quarter, and Fritz worked his magic yet again, firing a first-play, 33-yard pass to Steve Battaglia, the sophomore half of the Cloquet receiving brother tandem. Moments later, he found freshman Tim Battaglia for a 25-yard pass on fourth down and four that put the ball on Mankato’s 5, and Erik Conner scored from the 1 on the first play of the fourth quarter.
That made it 23-12, but the Bulldog defense had to come up with some big plays to hold the lead.
Cash Langeness, a freshman from Luck, Wis., intercepted a Dutton pass at the 39 to stop one series, but there was still time to crack. With five minutes left, Mankato’s Lubin Joseph recovered a low, slithering snap on a UMD punt attempt at the 21, and this time the Mavericks capitalized when Shea’s only completion, on third and 9, produced a 20-yard touchdown to Dan Weldon with 4:01 remaining.
“We had a couple kicking-game screw-ups that cost us touchdowns, but for the first game, we limited the amount of our mistakes, and we did a great job defensively. The big thing was we put them in a position where they couldn’t just run the football, and our defense stepped up for a couple of big series.”
True, UMD might have won more convincingly with tighter special-team execution, because two of the three Maverick touchdowns were the result of special-team turnovers. But at 23-18, the Bulldogs offense avoided turnovers, and the defense came up with key stops, ultimately holding the Mavericks on downs with 39 seconds left. One play later, the coach didn’t have to ask for volunteers to stream off the bench to celebrate a successful season opener.
Scuba diver, fish mingle at aquarium
A giant sturgeon seemed unimpressed at Saturday’s Great Lakes Aquarium opening by the invasion of a Scuba diver in the two-story Lake Superior fish tank that featured dozens of lake trout, salmon and other fish.
What does the backside look like?
More sights from the aquarium
Scuba diver, fish mingle at aquarium
A giant sturgeon seemed unimpressed at Saturday’s Great Lakes Aquarium opening by the invasion of a Scuba diver in the two-story Lake Superior fish tank that featured dozens of lake trout, salmon and other fish.
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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