4/21/2010 - FOOTBALL Tesch unveils 2010 football schedule

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BEMIDJI, Minn. - Bemidji State University head football coach Jeff Tesch today officially unveiled the Beavers’ 2010 football schedule, an 11-game slate featuring five home contests, the 13th annual Beaver Bash and the first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) clash with Augustana College (S.D).

Bemidji State lifts the lid on the 2010 season Thursday, Aug. 26 at Minot State University.  The 7 p.m. kickoff under the lights of Herb Parker Stadium marks the 13th annual “Beaver Bash” pitting the Beavers of Bemidji State against a Minot State team of the same nickname--BSU’s longest-standing consecutive nonconference series. The Beavers’ season-opening draw marks the sixth time Bemidji State has opened the season versus the MSU as Bemidji State opens its season on the road for the 10th time in 15 seasons under Tesch.

BSU will learn to be comfortable in its white, road uniforms as the game at Minot State opens a string of road contests that monopolize five of the first seven outings of the 2010 campaign.

After a weekend free of competition, Bemidji State returns to Bemidji, Minn. to hosts NSIC newcomer Augustana College Sept. 11 for the 2010 home-opener in a contest that will also serve as BSU’s 13th Annual Shrine Game. The outing marks the first time the Beavers and Vikings have met on the gridiron in nearly 21 years and the Vikings’ first trip to Bemidji, Minn. since 1988. Augustana leads the all-time series 3-1, but with AC moving to the NSIC in 2008, the teams will meet for the first time under umbrella of a common conference this fall.

September 18, BSU begins a two-game road swing with their first trip to Marshall, Minn. since 2007.  The meeting with the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State University is set for a 1:00 p.m. start at the Regional Events Center. BSU will remain on the road Sept. 25 when it travels to Duluth, Minn. to battle two-time defending NSIC champion University Minnesota Duluth for a 6 p.m. tilt at Griggs Field at Malosky Stadium.

The Beavers return to the friendly confines of Chet Anderson Stadium for a brief homestand featuring their homecoming game versus Upper Iowa University Oct. 2.  Despite logging two games in the short time since the Peacocks became a member of the NSIC, UIU has never made the trip to Bemidji, Minn. Both of the previous meetings took place in the neutral setting of the NSIC Metrodome Classic.  BSU owns an all-time record of 2-0 and has averaged 50 points per games versus the Peacocks.

Following homecoming, Bemidji State embarks on its second two-game road swing of the campaign.  The Beavers first travel to Concordia University-St. Paul Oct. 9 for a 6 p.m. game at Sea Foam Stadium before renewing one of the most storied trophy rivalries in NCAA Division II history.  October 16, BSU will visit Minnesota State University-Moorhead in the “Battle for the Ax.” The Beavers and Dragons have been dueling for the Battle Axe every year since 1948. BSU will look to retain the traveling trophy for the second consecutive season after regaining ownership for the 10th time in 11 years with a 38-13 victory Sept. 18, 2009 in Bemidji, Minn.

BSU wraps up the month of October with its longest homestand of the 2010 season.  The Beavers tackle University of Mary (N.D.) Oct. 23 before welcoming Northern State University Oct. 30 as they look to extend a five-game winning streak over the Wolves.

The team wraps up its road season Nov. 6 at St. Cloud State University.  In just its second trip to the Granite City since 1981, BSU seeks its first win versus the Huskies since 1977.

The Beavers draw a curtain on the 2010 regular season with a return trip home to face University of Minnesota, Crookston.  The game marks the 12th time in BSU’s 85-year history that BSU has hosted a football game after Nov. 8th, while only a Nov. 15, 2002 date with the same Golden Eagles team saw a Bemidji State home season stretched deeper in to November.

Bemidji State finished the 2009 campaign with an 8-3 overall record and a 7-3 mark in league play to finish third in the NSIC North Division. The team’s eight wins marks the fifth time in 14 seasons under the tutelage of Tesch that a BSU team has accumulated at least eight victories in a season. In the 70 seasons prior to Tesch’s arrival, Bemidji State recorded just one eight-win campaign.

Tesch returns 11 starters on the offensive side of the ball, which includes First-Team All-NSIC quarterback Derek Edholm (Sr., Anoka, Minn.) and eight starters on a defense led by Jordan Lardinois (Sr., DE, New Franken, Wis.) a First-Team All-NSIC defensive lineman.

--bsu--