Grand Forks, N.D. -- UND's 118th season opener will be the first meeting against Wyoming on the gridiron, but the two head coaches in this contest have faced each other before albeit in different roles with different programs. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. Saturday at Wyoming's War Memorial Stadium.

UND head coach Bubba Schweigert was the defensive coordinator at Southern Illinois from 2008-13, while Wyoming's Craig Bohl was the head coach at a fellow Missouri Valley Conference program, North Dakota State, during that same stretch.

Schweigert was also the defensive coordiantor at UND in 2003 during Bohl's first season at NDSU. Schweigert left UND following that season to become the head coach at Minnesota Duluth (2004-07). That was the last season UND and NDSU played and the outcome was a 28-21 overtime win for UND in Grand Forks. Those two teams will renew a rivalry and play for the first time at the Division I level this season on Sept. 19 in Fargo.

This will be the fourth time since moving to the DI level in 2008 that UND has opened a season on the road - the previous three were also against FBS opponents. UND is 4-3 in season openers at the DI level with all four wins coming at home.

LIVE FROM LARAMIE
Radio: UND Radio Network (96.1 FM — Grand Forks) - pregame at 2 p.m. CT
Audio: UND Radio Network broadcast also available at www.UNDSports.com
Stats: Live stats available at www.GoWyo.com
Twitter: For live scoring updates and game notes follow @UNDFootball

UND Vs. THE FOOTBALL BOWL SUBDIVISION
• Wyoming will be the eighth FBS opponent UND has faced since making the transition to Division I prior to 2008. UND is still looking for its first win in those contests.
• The Cowboys will be the fourth consecutive Mountain West Conference opponent at the FBS level for UND. Here is a look at the previous three contests:
2011 - Fresno State L, 27-22
2012 - San Diego State L, 49-41
2014 - San Jose State L, 42-10
• UND is 2-4-1 all-time against current Mountain West members (UNLV, 1-1-1; Nevada, 1-0; Fresno State, 0-1; San Diego State, 0-1 and San Jose State, 0-1).
• UND is one of four Big Sky schools opening its season against a FBS opponent. Last season there were 10 FBS opponents on the opening weekend of play.

OPPONENT PREVIEW: WYOMING
Head coach Craigh Bohl is in his second season at Wyoming after leading North Dakota State to three consecutive FCS National Championships from 2011-2013. After a 3-1 start to his Wyoming tenure, the Cowboys lost seven of their last eight games to bring Bohl's final record in his first season to 4-8 overall and 2-6 in Mountain West play. Wyoming was picked to finish fifth in the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference in the presason coaches' poll.

Bohl is giving the reigns of the offense to redshirt senior Cameron Coffman, who transferred to Wyoming from Indiana for his final collegiate season. He sat out the 2014 season after transferring, but played in 14 games for the Hoosiers, completing 247-of-407 passes for 2,734 yards and 15 touchdowns. Coffman, who stands 6-foot-2, won the starting job coming out of spring practices.

The running back duo of Shaun Wick and Brian Hill will take the pressure off Coffman. Those two return after both amassed more than 750 yards on the ground in 2014. Hill led the team with 796 rushing yards and seven rushing scores, while Wick was close behind with 753 yards and six rushing touchdowns.

Senior defensive end Eddie Yarbrough was the lone Cowboy on the preseason all-conference team after ranking second on the team with 63 tackles in 2014 and leading the squad with four sacks. The defense yielded 32.8 ppg last season, while giving up 203.0 ypg on the ground and 227.8 ypg through the air.

HISTORY OF THE SERIES
Wyoming and North Dakota will be meeting for the first time on Saturday.

WHAT'S BACK: OFFENSE
QUARTERBACKS: North Dakota has a trio of quarterbacks with at least four career starts under their belts. Junior Joe Mollberg has the most with 15, but enters the season third on the depth chart after coming off an Achilles' injury that sidelined him for the final four games of the 2014 season. Classmate Ryan Bartels has four starts to his credit, which is the same number for sophomore Keaton Studsrud, who had his redshirt pulled late last season after Bartels and Mollberg were both injured in the Southern Utah (Oct. 25) contest. Bartels finished the contest, throwing for a season-high 297 yards, but missed the remaining four games along with Mollberg. Studsrud won the starting job entering the Wyoming contest after working with the first team offense in both spring and fall practices. Bartels will start the season as his back-up.

RUNNING BACKS/FULLBACKS: Converted linebacker Kyle Norberg is the only running back on the roster that has carried the football for UND after netting 255 yards on 87 carries in 2014. He started four games a season ago before an ankle injury derailed his campaign and forced him to miss the final four games. Junior Dustin Iverson, who has to sit out the first two games for failure to comply with athletics department policy, has 12 career receptions for 79 yards from his fullback position.

WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS: Sophomore wideout Josh Seibel and senior tight end Zach Adler led the team in receptions and receiving yards, respectively, during a 2014 season that saw the offense gain just 1,655 yards through the air. Seibel, who went catchless through the first six games, hauled in his team-leading 25 receptions over the closing six contests. He had a pair of nine-reception games to help rack up his team-leading total and hauled in his first touchdown pass in the regular-season finale at Northern Colorado.

Adler, who had just one career reception in 20 games entering the 2014 season, finished the campaign just one catch behind Seibel with 24 and shared the team lead in receiving yards with now departed R.J. McGill at 265. Luke Mathewson also returns at tight end after playing in all 12 games and getting five starts. He had a key two-point conversion catch late in the narrow loss to No. 7 Montana last fall.

Sophomore Brandon Walker earned six starts during his true freshman season and caught seven passes for 105 yards. Senior Miguel Cerriteno garnered four starts in his first season with the program and finished fourth on the team with 14 catches for 153 yards. Senior Romon Bridges missed the 2014 season with a knee injury, but will be healthy for fall camp.

WHAT'S NEW: OFFENSE
RUNNING BACKS: UAB transfer Ja'Won Arrington and a quartet of true freshmen will be looking to help Norberg replace senior Jer Garman, whose late-season production helped provided some offseason momentum for the offense. Arrington transferred to UND for his final collegiate season after the UAB program was shut down following the 2014 season. He was in Grand Forks for spring drills and showed he can be a work-horse, power back for this offense.

The young quartet of running backs, which includes Austin Gordon, Brady Oliveira, John Santiago and Iwarri Smith, all got a chance during fall camp to show what they can do. That group will be asked to provide immediate depth and production for an offense that proved it wants to run the football in 2014. UND ran the ball 443 times last season, while only trying 290 pass attempts. Santiago, who started fall camp at wide receiver, emerged as the top running back on the depth chart after nagging injuries slowed down Arrington, Oliveira and Smith. Those minor setbacks also allowed Gordon, a walk-on from Maple Grove, Minn., to impress the coaching staff with his abilities and get in the conversation to possibly have his shirt pulled in 2015.

WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS: Arizona transfer Clive Georges put together a solid fall camp and earned the starting spot at the “Z” receiver. Georges, a junior from Key West, Fla., spent parts of three seasons with the Wildcats, but is still looking for his first collegiate catch. Redshirt freshman Luke Stanley will also be in the rotation along with JUCO-transfer Alex Reed. Stanley is the tallest of the corps, standing six-foot-four. Another tall target for the UND quarterbacks to throw to this season will be 6-foot-5 tight end Luke Fiedler. The rangy tight end from Orlando will also contribute on special teams.

WHAT'S BACK: DEFENSE
DEFENSIVE LINE: Junior Alec Carrothers is one of two elder statesmen on UND's defensive front. He started all 12 games at right defensive end last season and will be a player position coach Jordan Gigli can move back and forth between end and nose guard. Senior Kyle Woodsmall will be returning from a knee injury that cost him the final six games of the 2014 season. He started four games at nose guard before the setback and will man that position again this year.

Sophomores Brandon Dranka and Drew Greely gained valuable experience as true freshmen a season ago. Dranka ended up as an All-Big Sky honorable mention performer after sharing the team lead with 3.5 sacks, while Greely added three quarterback takedowns. The duo played in all 12 games and Dranka earned starts in the final three contests. Sophomore Nick Schmitz was one of the surprises of fall camp and the walk-on from Mekinock, N.D., has worked his way into the rotation up front.

LINEBACKERS: All four starters are back from a linebacking corps that helped UND register 111 tackles for loss in 2014. Senior Will Ratelle was the team's top tackler becoming the first UND player to register more than 100 tackles at the Division I level. He finished the campaign with 106 total tackles and added two sacks. Fellow inside linebacker Taj Rich finished second on the team with 82 tackles after starting all 12 games. He had just two career tackles entering his sophomore campaign, but flourished in 2014, finishing with 11.0 tackles for loss.

Rich only trailed junior Brian Labat for the team lead in TFL's. Labat finished with 12.0 as he also provided great production in his first year as a starter at outside linebacker. Rounding out the returning starters is Dayo Idowu, who had 61 total tackles and shared the team lead in sacks with 3.5. Sophomore Jake Disterhaupt found his home at outside linebacker after moving from wide receiver to safety during his redshirt freshman season. Disterhaupt finished the campaign with 34 total tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss and two sacks, while also intercepting a pass.

Sophomore Connor O'Brien was a steady reserve at inside linbacker in 2014, finishing with 15 tackles in 12 contests. He will serve as Ratelle's back-up entering the campaign.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: UND's secondary will get half of its starters back for the 2015 as senior Chris Brown will man one of the cornerback spots and sophomore Cole Reyes is back at free safety. Both were first-year starters in 2014 and did not disappoint. Brown finished with 29 tackles and took his first career interception back 14 yards for a touchdown late in a tight contest with No. 7 Montana. Reyes started all 10 games that he appeared in (missed two with injury) and finished fifth on the team with 59 tackles. He added five pass break-ups, an interception and 5.0 tackles for loss.

The key will be finding a replacement for Alex Tillman, who earned All-Big Sky honors at cornerback following his only season at UND. Two candidates for that post are sophomores Chris Carter or Deion Harris, who both played a back-up role as true freshmen in 2014.

Senior William James will help fill the void at free safety after the departure of three-year starter Baylee Carr. James started four games at free safety a season ago and was seventh on the team with 44 tackles.

WHAT'S NEW: DEFENSE
DEFENSIVE LINE: Redshirt freshman Tank Harris will have to sit out the season opener at Wyoming due to a violation of athletic department policy, but will be in the rotation at nose guard when he makes his collegiate debut in the home opener vs. Drake. True freshman Steve Greer will have his shirt pulled and contribute at nose guard as a rookie.

Newcomer Noah Johnson will also play defensive end and provides Big Sky experience after beginning his career at Sacramento State. He reunited with Gigli, who was also his position coach in Sacramento.

LINEBACKERS: JUCO-transfer Dylan Bakker is ready to make his UND debut after redshirting during the 2014 season. Bakker worked his way into the two-deep with solid progression from his arrival in Grand Forks.
New Mexico transfer DaQuan Baker has four seasons of eligibility and be able to play right away at UND. The redshirt freshman earned a spot on the travel roster at inside linebacker and will also contribute on special teams.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: JUCO-transfers Zach Arnell and Jawon Johnson worked their way into the two-deep at safety with strong first impressions after arriving in Grand Forks in January. Arnell was limited in the spring, but earned the top spot at free safety, while Johnson will back-up Reyes at strong safety.

Newcomers looking to get into the rotation at cornerback are sophomore Charles Flowers, who redshirted for UND last season, and Mississippi State transfer Jahmere Irvin-Sills. Flowers and Irvin-Sills are both on the travel roster for the Wyoming contest. Irvin-Sills played in 10 games as a redshirt freshman for the Bulldogs last season and had 10 tackles, including two in the Capitol One Bowl against Georgia Tech.

WHAT'S BACK: SPECIAL TEAMS
SPECIALISTS: A trio of sophomores all return with starting experience to man the placekicker, punter and snapper roles. Reid Taubenheim finished his rookie season with a flourish, connecting on 16-of-21 field goals to earn third-team All-Big Sky honors. His 16 makes were the most by a freshman in the FCS last season.

Punter Mitch Meindel assumes the starting role at that position after making 12 starts there in 2013. He redshirted last season, while now departed Connor Bolduc handled the punting duties. He averaged 41.7 yards per punt as a true freshman.

Long snapper Jacob Holmen held down both long and short snaps for the majority of the 2014 campaign and will be the primary snapper once again. He started the last 10 games in both capacities last season.

DURABLE SILVERBACKS
One area where injuries did not plaque the 2014 squad was the offensive line. Three of the five O-lineman started all 12 games (Colton Boas, C; Ben Henson, RG; and Sean Meehan, RT), while the other two (Brandon Anderson, LG and Devin Barton, LT) each started 11 games. Anderson was the only one who missed a full game (Montana). Boas only missed a couple of plays at center in the upset of No. 22 Northern Arizona (Nov. 14). Anderson, Meehan and Boas are all back to start in 2015. Moving into starting roles this season will be sophomores A.J. Stockwell (LT) and Brandon Miller (RG), who both earned one fill-in start in 2014. Classmate Matt Cox will also be able to play multiple spots on the o-line.

REPEAT CAPTAINCY
Head coach Bubba Schweigert announced the four captains for the 2015 season towards the end of fall camp and half of that group held a similar role in 2014. Senior offensive lineman Brandon Anderson and senior linebacker Will Ratelle were both captains on last year's squad and will be joined this season by classmates Zach Adler and Dayo Idowu.

“These are four guys that really represent us the right way on the field and off the field,” Schweigert said. “They work hard in the classroom and all those things they bring to our football team are real positives.”

The captains are selected by a team vote with the top two players on both offense and defense being awarded one of the positions.

FRESHMEN, NEWCOMERS IN THE FOLD
Head coach Bubba Schweigert plans to travel up to 26 newcomers that would be making their UND debuts at Wyoming on Saturday. There are 11 transfers in that group, including four from FBS programs, six redshirt freshmen and nine true freshman.

COYNE, RUHE OUT FOR SEASON
Fall camp was not without some bad news for the UND football team as fullback Tyler Coyne and tight end Kyle Ruhe were both lost for the 2015 season with injuries. Both players were expected to contribute at their respective positions. Ruhe played in three games as a redshirt freshman last season, catching three passes for 81 yards before a similar leg injury derailed his 2014 campaign.

FIRSTS FOR SCHWEIGERT
Here is a look at the “firsts” accomplished by Bubba Schweigert during his rookie season as UND's head coach in 2014:
• First win and first home win: 16-13, Robert Morris at home (Sept. 6)
• First Big Sky win: 24-16, Portland State at home (Oct. 4)
• First win over a ranked opponent: 30-28, No. 22 Northern Arizona at home (Nov. 15)
• First road win: 33-14, at Northern Colorado (Nov. 22)

STAFF REMAINS IN TACT, ADDS ONE
Head coach Bubba Schweigert made only one change to his coaching staff during the offseason and that was the addition of Carl Reinholz to a full-time position. Reinholz spent the 2014 season as a volunteer assistant and took on the newly created role of video coordinator/assistant coach this summer. Reinholz will work with the defensive staff as well as handle all video related tasks.

RATELLE REACHES CENTURY MARK
Senior inside linebacker Will Ratelle became the first UND player to reach the century mark in total tackles in 2014 since Digger Anderson did so in both the 2003 (124) and 2004 (104) seasons. Ratelle's 106 total tackles, included a career-high 14 stops in the victory over Stony Brook (Sept. 20). He put together a trio of double-digit tackle performances and had four others where he collected nine.Ratelle led the team in tackles in eight of 12 games and tied for 9th in the Big Sky with 8.8 tpg.

TEAMMATES AGAIN
The 2015 roster has a pair of cases where current UND players were also teammates in high school. Defensive backs Jahmere Irvin-Sills and Vashon Tucker were teammates during the 2012 season at Eastern Christian Academy when Irvin-Sills was a senior and Tucker was a sophomore. Both players are newcomers to the UND program this season after Irvin-Sills transferred from Mississippi State. Colorado natives and true freshmen Bryce Blair and Tyus Carter were prep teammates at Cherry Creek High School in Greenwood Village for the past three seasons. Blair is scheduled to redshirt, while Carter is one of two true freshman on the two-deep entering the Wyoming game.

STUFFED BEHIND THE LINE
UND was one of 14 teams in the FCS that registered more than 100 tackles for loss during the 2014 season. The Green and White exceeded the century mark with eight TFL's against the Lumberjacks (Nov. 15) and finished with a Big Sky-best 111 on the season. The defense put up double-digit tackles for loss against an opponent for the fourth time at Eastern Washington on Nov. 1. The team's 15.0 TFL's in that contest was one shy of the unit's season-high of 16.0 TFL's set in the victory over Stony Brook. Sophomore Brian Labat registered a career-high 4.5 TFL's in the Montana game (Oct. 4) and led the team with 12.0 on the season. Labat was joined in double figures by sophomore Taj Rich, who had 11.0 on the season, and freshman Brandon Dranka, who had 10.5. To put things in better perspective, last year, the UND defense managed just 48.5 TFL's in 11 contests. The defense also collected 34 sacks in 2014, which was 19 more than the unit had in 2013. Senior Garret Reineke led all UND players with five sacks on the season, while Dranka and junior Dayo Idowu each had 3.5 on the campaign.

GARMAN FOUND HIS GROOVE
Former running back Jer Garman's emergence as the team's top rushing threat helped UND close out the 2014 season with back-to-back wins. It also left a hole to be filled by a running back corps that has only one player with any UND experience (Kyle Norberg; 87 for 255 yards). Garman had the first four 100-yard rushing days of his career in the team's final five games. His best effort came in the 30-28 upset of No. 22 Northern Arizona when Garman rushed for a a career-high 235 yards. That output tied him for the 10th-most in a single game by a FCS running back during the 2014 season. Garman's first 100-yard rushing game came against Southern Utah (Oct. 17) and snapped a streak of 17 straight games that UND's offense went without one (Jake Miller, 108; vs. Valpo on Aug. 29, 2013). Garman finished the campaign with a team-leading 858 rushing yards and seven touchdowns and was voted the team's Most Valuable Offensive Player for his efforts.

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