Offense And Defense Shine In Win At Augsburg
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (10/16/10)-- Concordia received great efforts from both their offense and defense and went on to roll past Augsburg 35-16 in Minneapolis on Saturday. The Cobbers limited the high-powered Auggie offense to only 266 total yards as they picked up their first road win of the year.
The winninging combination for Concordia (3-4/2-3 MIAC) was an offense that ate up huge chunks of possession time to keep the Augsburg offense off the field and a defense that got better as the game went on. The Cobbers finished the game with a 38:48-21:12 edge in time of possession and the defense allowed only 88 total yards in the second half and only 18 in the fourth quarter. All told, the 266 yards of offense for Augsburg is a season low for a team that entered the game ranked sixth in the nation in passing offense.
Cobber quarterback Michael Dunham was the most effective player on the field on Saturday. He was 18-for-24 for 175 with no interceptions and one TD. He also ran for 74 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries. He accounted for 249 of the team's 448 total offensive yards and led the offensive without having a turnover in the game. Trent Johnson broke off a 71-yard run and led all players with 84 rushing yards while Bronson Shepherd made six catches for 74 yards.
Defensively, Concordia's success was a total team effort. Not one CC defender had over six tackles in the game while nine Cobber players had at least three tackles. Josh Herzog led the way with 6.0 tackles and 1.0 tackles for a loss. Evan Sammon was one of six players with 3.0 tackles but he also came up with Concordia's lone sack on the day. Junior defensive back Tyler Spiczka came up with the only turnover in the game as he picked off a pass in the fourth quarter and returned it 56 yards down to the Augsburg 38-yard-line.
The tone of the game was set in the very first two possessions. The Cobber defense started the first quarter by forcing a "three-and-out" and then the CC offense scored on the very first time they touched the ball. Concordia went on a 68-yard, 7-play drive that gave the Cobbers a 7-0 lead. CC would then score on their next three possessions to take a 28-13 lead into halftime. In the first half Dunham connected with Shepherd for the first Concordia touchdown and then recorded the next three TD's by himself as he ran for scores of nine, six and one yards.
The second half was all Concordia. They offense held the ball for 22:00 of the 30:00 and the defense all but shut down Augsburg. The Auggies scored only three points in the final two quarters and had only one possession longer than six plays. In the final 15:00, Augsburg ran only 10 plays and only two gained positive yardage.
The Cobbers will return home to put their two-game winning streak on the line. CC will host Hamline on Saturday, Oct. 23 a 1 p.m.
