Gustavus vs. Hamline
Date: Saturday, Sept. 23
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: St. Peter, Minn. | Hollingsworth Field
Live Coverage: Live Stats | Watch/Listen
ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus football team is set to host Hamline University on Saturday afternoon during homecoming and Gustavus Athletics Hall of Fame day. The Gusties (2-1, 1-0 MIAC) host the Pipers (1-1, 0-0 MIAC) at 1 p.m. at Hollingsworth Field.
MEET THE HEAD COACHES
Head Coach Peter Haugen is in his ninth season at the helm of the Gustavus football program. Haugen has a combined record of 39-44 after going 5-5 overall and 3-5 in the MIAC last season. A graduate of Bethel University, Haugen was the head coach at Washburn High School in Minneapolis prior to coming to Gustavus.
Chip Taylor enters his second season as the head coach of Hamline University. In his first season at the helm of the program in 2016, Taylor led the Pipers to a 5-5 overall record, their best record since 1997, while going 3-5 during conference play to finish fifth in the MIAC. A graduate of Illinois State University, Taylor spent time coaching at Bucknell University and Valparaiso University prior to coming to Hamline.
THE SERIES
Saturday’s game marks the 85th all-time meeting between the Gustavus and Hamline football programs. Last season, the Pipers snapped the Gusties’ 10-game winning streak within the series, defeating Gustavus by a score of 42-40 at Klas Field in St. Paul, Minn. The Gusties held a 38-35 lead late in the fourth quarter, but a touchdown pass with 1:35 left in the game proved to be the difference for the Pipers.
HOMECOMING
Gustavus is celebrating its 93rd Homecoming today, continuing a tradition started on Nov. 8, 1924, when the Gusties defeated Saint John’s 33-0 on Hallander Field. Gustavus has enjoyed a good deal of success on Homecoming Day, compiling an all-time record of 63-27-2. In 85 Homecoming contests, Gustavus has compiled a 57-26-2 record against conference opponents, including a 4-3 mark against Hamline. The last meeting between these two teams on Gustavus’s Homecoming came in 1992, a 34-24 Hamline victory.
FORMER GREATS ENTER THE HALL
Two Gustavus football players will enter the Athletics Hall of Fame this weekend, the 2017 class of inductees including former greats Brian Bergstrom ‘02 and Ryan Britz ‘00. Gustie linebacker Brian Bergstrom exemplified what is means to be a student-athlete, earning First Team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors twice, 2001 Hewlett-Packard All-America honorable mention, and three consecutive MIAC All-Conference honors before receiving an NCAA postgraduate scholarship. Bergstrom led the team in tackles from 1999-2001 and finished with 407 career tackles after playing in all 40 games during his collegiate career.
BEULKE RECEIVES MIAC OFFENSIVE LAURELS
The MIAC announced its Football Athlete of the Week awards on Monday afternoon, with Gustavus dual threat Jamison Beulke (Jr., Montgomery, Minn.) earning the Offensive Player of the Week honor. Beulke led the Gustavus offense in its conference-opening 42-37 victory on Saturday at Augsburg University. Leading the Gustie ground and aerial attack, Beulke established career-highs in both categories while totaling 284 all-purpose yards. Beulke rushed 21 times for 99 yards with two touchdowns and brought in 14 receptions for 185 yards. His total receiving yards marks the most by a Gustie since two-time AllAmerican Matt Boyce recorded 217 yards in the 2015 season opener.
SCOUTING THE GUSTIES
Gustavus opened its 2017 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule with a 42-37 victory at Augsburg University last Saturday. Guided by a strong start and offensive onslaught, the Gusties totaled 532 yards of offense to take down the Auggies and improve their record to 2-1 overall.
The Gusties opened the game recording four scores, led by three touchdown passes from quarterback Michael Veldman (Jr., Becker, Minn.), while the Gustie defense limited the Auggies to just one score, taking a 28-7 lead into the intermission. Despite Augsburg bouncing back in the second half with 17-straight points, the Black and Gold scored twice in the final frame to secure the win.
Beulke led the Gustie offense with a career-best performance. Earning MIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors, Beulke led the ground and aerial attack, establishing career-highs in both categories while totaling 284 all-purpose yards. Beulke rushed 21 times for 99 yards with two touchdowns and brought in 14 receptions for 185 yards. Out of 79 total offensive plays throughout the game, Beulke touched the ball 35 times.
Through week one of conference competition, Gustavus ranks second in the MIAC with an average of 473 yards of total offense per game, and ranks second with 1,054 total passing yards. Individually, the Gusties have multiple players ranking within the top five of the statistical leaders. Veldman tops MIAC quarterbacks with 351.3 passing yards per game and has the second most touchdowns with eight. Beulke ranks within the top five in rushing yards per game and touchdowns, including the second-best receiving yards per game mark with 111.0. Josh Kirk (So., Garvin, Minn.) ranks just below Beulke with 101.3 receiving yards per game, while Brice Panning (So., Hamburg, Minn.) and Kirk rank third and fourth, respectively, in the conference in receiving touchdowns. Defensively, Casey Decker (Sr., Mapleton, Minn.) leads the MIAC with four sacks.
SCOUTING THE PIPERS
Hamline enters Saturday’s game with a 1-1 overall record after enjoying a bye last Saturday, meaning today is the Pipers’ conference opener. In their season opener, the Pipers overmatched Crown College 51-0, compiling 407 yards of total offense and limiting Crown to 166. Junior quarterback Justice Spriggs led the Hamline offense, completing 16 of 22 passing attempts with four touchdowns. Outside of Spriggs, a combined effort guided the offense, with four different Pipers scoring touchdowns.
Macalester College handed Hamline its first loss of the season, defeating the Pipers 23-14 in week two of their 2017 campaign. Down 10-0 at halftime, Hamline came back with a couple touchdown passes, Spriggs to senior tight end Josiah Harris. However, the Pipers allowed two more Macalester touchdowns and were hindered by seven penalties for 69 yards in the loss.
Through two games, the Hamline offense has registered an average of 32.5 points per game and 742 yards of total offense. Relying on their aerial attack, the Pipers totaled more than 200 passing yards in both of their games, led by quarterback Spriggs. Spriggs has completed 36 passes on 52 attempts for 467 total passing yards and six touchdowns. Harris and Nick Kampa guide the receiving core – Harris with 13 catches for 164 yards and three touchdowns, and Kampa with 10 catches for 132 yards and a touchdown. A trio of players lead the ground game, as Brandon Miller, Spriggs, and Frank Mems have each tallied double-digit carries.
Defensively, Hamline has averaged 278 yards allowed per game, particularly with a strong rushing defense. The Pipers have allowed 112 total rushing yards, while opponents have averaged just 1.6 yards per rush. Luke Trudell, Jordan Deno, Devin Ulmen, and Loren Lorang lead the Piper defense, as each owns double-digit numbers in tackles. Trudell has tallied 18 tackles, followed by 15 from Deno, and 10 from each Ulmen and Lorang.