KICKOFF COVERAGE
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - It's a battle of the top two teams in the MIAC Skyline Division as the Bethel University football team travels to Augsburg Saturday afternoon. Kickoff at Edor Nelson Field is set for 1 p.m. Bethel (3-2, 2-1 MIAC, 1-0 Skyline Division) earned its first divisional win under the lights defeating Macalester 49-14. Augsburg (4-1, 2-1 MIAC, 1-0 Skyline Division) is coming off a 41-7 win at Hamline.
SERIES HISTORY
Series:Â BU leads 29-15-3
Last:Â Bethel won 30-27 (Nov. 5, 2022) in St. Paul
• For the second straight year, the Royals and Auggies will clash in Minneapolis. It will be the 48th all-time meeting with Bethel currently holding a six-game winning streak in the series. Last year's 30-27 victory, was the smallest margin of victory for BU over Augsburg since 2013. In the last 10 games against the Auggies, BU is averaging 47.1 points.
COACHES CORNER
ROYAL NOTES
• 54 of Bethel's 69 plays came on the run at Macaelster, it was the most in a game since the Royals 2018 NCAA playoff opener against Wartburg where they ran it 55 times.
• Moving the chains with the ground game, BU's 335 rushing yards was the fourth most in a game going back through the 2018 season. The 20 rushing first downs is also the most since Nov. 2, 2019.
• Sophomore transfer Warren Kinney rushed for a career-high 128 yards on 19 carries with two touchdowns while sophomore Riley Gritz carried it 15 times for a career-high 105 yards and three touchdowns. it's the first time BU has had a pair of 100-yard rushers since Oct. 5, 2019 when Sam Gibas (102) and Sid Boros (102) accomplished the same feat. It's just the fourth time since 2018.
• George Bolt go the start at quarterback for the second straight game. On the ground he rushed it seven times for 59 yards and a career-high two touchdowns. He was 4-of-9 through the air for 65 yards and didn't get sacked.
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BY THE NUMBERS
7 – Bethel's seven rushing touchdowns at Macalester last week was the most in a game since Nov. 2, 2019 when the Royals had eight against Hamline.
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247 – career wins for head coach Steve Johnson who enters his 35th season as the all-time wins leader among DIII active coaches.
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105 – Riley Gritz had a career-high 105 rushing yards against the Scots while punching it in for a career-high three touchdowns.Â
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RUSHING FOR 300+
• The Royals rushed for over 300 yards for the first time since Oct. 23, 2021 with 335 ground yards at Macalester. Bethel's last two 300+ rushing yard games have now come against Macalester.
• Dating back through the 2004 season, Bethel is 32-1 when rushing for 300-plus yards.
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PROTECTING THE RED ZONE
• The Royals have the fourth-best red zone defense in the country with its opponents scoring only 44.4 percent of the time when inside the 20.
• Bethel's foes have only scored on eight of the 18 red zone trips. Three passing TDs, two rushing TDs and three field goals.
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STOPPING THE RUN GAME
• Bethel's defense ranks 17th nationally in rushing defense at 67.8 yards per game.
• Allowing negative six rushing yards to the Scots, it was the second time this year the defense kept an opponent to single digits in the rushing column. The other being at UW-Eau Claire where they allowed four rushing yards. It was the first time since Nov. 2, 2019 (vs. Hamline) that Bethel's defense allowed a negative rushing number.
• Over the last four seasons (2023-19) Bethel has held an opponent under 100 rushing yards in 21 of the last 39 games.
STRONG SECONDARY
• The Royals started the year with seven interceptions in the first three games. Their six in the first two games was the most to start the season for BU since 2004.
• Now with eight INTs on the year, Bethel ranks 27th nationally and is tied with Augsburg and Carleton for most in the MIAC. Isaac Call and Gavin Rataj each have a pair of takeaways.
CONTROLLING THE CLOCK
• The Royals rank 13th nationally in time of possession with a MIAC-leading 34:11 mark.
• BU led the TOP battle in four of this year's five matchups with the margin all being greater than 5:30. The only game not to win the TOP battle was against the Johnnies who held the ball longer than Bethel by a mere 28 seconds.
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LAST TIME THEY MET
• Last year's matchup determined who would go into the MIAC Championship game with the Royals coming out on top 30-27. The win extended BU's winning streak at the time to seven games, matching the longest since 2013.
• The Auggies scored with 31 seconds left pulling within one, 28-27, after an 11-play drive over a 3:42 span. Augsburg lined up for a two-point conversion where freshman corner Devin Williams picked off a pass in the endzone running it all the way to the other side for the two-point touchdown. BU recovered the onside kick moments later allowing the offense to go into victory formation.
• Bethel took full advantage of the ground game rushing for 240 yards, 170 of which came in each half. They threw for 123 yards while the Auggies went for 279 in the air and 149 on the ground.
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SCOUTING THE AUGGIES
• Augsburg started the year 3-0 before suffering a MIAC-opening loss to Saint John's 27-24. They rebounded with a 41-7 win at Hamline with five touchdown passes from senior quarterback Cade Sheehan.
• The offense averages 454.8 yards per game while ranking 22nd nationally averaging 42.4 points. They have only turned it over one time this year, that coming the second game of the year against Martin Luther.
• QB Cade Sheehan is second in the MAIC with a 67.1 completion percentage with his top target being Tretter Braden who has 417 yards and five TDs.
• Defensively the Auggies allow the fewest yards in the MIAC at 295.6 per game and have totaled 23 tackles for loss this year. Hamsa Kahin leads the MIAC at .9 sacks a game and 4.5 total for the year. Â
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>>>Â READ BETHEL'S COMPLETE GAME NOTES BY CLICKING HERE.
