Oct. 9—MITCHELL — Dakota Wesleyan University football looks for a Blue and White Days bounce-back performance on Saturday, hosting Concordia University in Great Plains Athletic Conference action.
After a 3-0 start to league play, the Tigers suffered a pair of road losses to ranked foes. Now they’re looking to find the win column again against a Concordia squad coming off a ranked loss but has dominated the recent series with DWU.
Here’s a look at DWU’s matchup on Saturday:
When: 1:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Joe Quintal Field
Records: DWU 3-3 (3-2 GPAC); Concordia 2-3 (2-3 GPAC)
Coaches: DWU’s Alex Kretzschmar (11-17, third season); Concordia’s Patrick Daberkow (49-44, 10th season)
All-time series: Concordia leads the all-time series 15-11.
Last meeting: Concordia won 27-22 on Sept. 13, 2025 in Seward, Nebraska.
Last time out: DWU lost 56-20 at No. 7 Morningside on Oct. 3 in Sioux City, Iowa. The Bulldogs lost at No. 21 Northwestern 38-24 on Oct. 3.
Notes: Since 1986, DWU is 18-21 in its Blue and White Days game. DWU has won three consecutive Homecoming games and four of its last five Blue and White contests. … Concordia has won four of the last five meetings and seven of the last nine against Dakota Wesleyan. … DWU’s last win was a 16-12 road victory in 2023. … Concordia is ranked No. 32 in the latest NAIA Massey Ratings, while DWU checks in at No. 46.
About DWU: Defensive back Trevor Sladky leads the nation in interceptions with five. DWU leads the country with 12 defensive interceptions as a team. … Tigers’ Reed Rus has seven sacks on the season. No other defender in the GPAC has more than 3 1/2 sacks. … DWU has forced multiple turnovers in every game this season, up to a nation-best 19 in six games this season. … DWU quarterback Jed Jenson is No. 4 in the NAIA in pass attempts with 197 and is tied for fourth in the country in passing touchdowns with 15. … His top receiving target Caleb Kilbride has eight touchdown catches, which is tied for fifth-best in the nation. He has caught 24 passes for 491 yards and eight touchdowns. … DWU punter Wyatt Bult is third in the country for most individual punts with 32 this season, one off the nation’s most.
About Concordia: The Bulldogs are in the middle of a stretch of three-straight road games in the GPAC. … Concordia started junior Camden Jensen at quarterback last week, throwing for 148 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 54 yards and a score at Northwestern. Regular starter Gideon Stark missed last week with an injury but has thrown for 3,748 yards and 36 touchdowns in 23 career games. … The Bulldogs are among the nation’s leaders in fourth-down percentage, converting at a clip of 64% (7-for-11). … Concordia is one of seven NAIA teams with both a kickoff return touchdown and a punt return touchdown this season. … Saturday’s matchup is a battle of the top-two teams in the GPAC in turnover margin. The Bulldogs have forced 11 and conceded six giveaways this season for a margin of plus-5, while DWU is plus-4 in turnover margin this season.
Next: DWU travels to Hastings on Oct. 17. Concordia has a bye week before playing at Morningside on Oct. 24 in Sioux City.
GPAC schedule
Saturday, Oct. 10
Doane at Dordt, 1 p.m.
Northwestern at Briar Cliff, 1 p.m.
Morningside at Waldorf, 1 p.m.
Mount Marty at Hastings, 7 p.m.