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KEARNEY — The University of Nebraska at Kearney football team has entered uncharted waters: the second round of the NCAA Playoffs.

The Lopers have never advanced this far before — last week’s victory over Saginaw Valley State was UNK’s first NCAA playoff win — and no Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference team has advanced past the second round.

The Lopers will try to reach that new height when they play defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth at noon today (Saturday) at the 4,500-seat James S. Malosky Stadium in Duluth.

 “We feel like we did last week. We feel like we can match up with them,” UNK coach Darrell Morris said. “We feel like we can go up there and challenge them with different aspects of our game and we feel like they can challenge us with some aspects of their game. But we feel like we belong there, we’ve earned the right to be there and we can play with them.”

That’s the attitude it takes to win, according to Minnesota-Duluth coach Bob Nielson.

“Play with confidence, that‘s one thing you have to do,” Nielsen said.

He would know. Last year, he turned a four-win team from 2007 into a playoff juggernaut that finished 15-0 and lifted the national championship trophy over its heads.

“We had great confidence and great leadership,” Nielson said.

But that was last year. This year, the winning streak ended the second week of the season when Central Washington, now ranked No. 1, beat the Bulldogs.

However, the Bulldogs have been winning ever since.

“We hope there’s some carryover. Our guys have been there. They understand … what to expect. And we hope that helps as we enter the playoffs for the second time in two years,” Nielson said. “But this team is different. It has different strengths and different weaknesses. It’s a team that sets its own goals but, at the same time, is playing its best football here down the stretch, and that’s the kind of momentum you want coming down the stretch.”

There are other keys that Nielson learned last year.

“You have to be healthy and stay healthy, and we were able to do that last year,” he said. “And you have to find a way to win in games that are going down to the wire when you’re playing outstanding teams. … The teams that play close to their best and teams that are able to execute at a higher level are the teams that are going to advance,” Nielson said.

As far as Morris is concerned, that’s where the Lopers are now.

“I told our kids: Duluth, last year, was us. … They were a complete dark horse, came out of nowhere, got extremely confident down the stretch and was playing good football,” Morris said.

The Lopers have played good football and gained confidence while stringing together 11 straight wins since a season-opening loss to Wayne State.

UNK has also climbed to No. 6 in the Division II ratings, the highest-ever mark for the Lopers. But the ratings aren’t something Morris or his team have discussed very often, even though they are aware of the national view.

“I’ve never heard a kid say, ‘Hey, we’re No. 6 in the country.’ They rarely ever talk about that stuff, at least around the coaches, and I appreciate that fact because that wasn’t their goal,” Morris said.

The goal is to advance as far as they can in the playoffs.

“We’re excited for the opportunity. The kids have been in good spirits all week and practiced well,” Morris said. One of them told me the other day, ‘You know coach, there’s only 16 teams playing Division II football in the United States of America, and we’re one of them,’ He said that with some pride. So that’s kind of cool.”

Minnesota-Duluth’s path to last year’s national title included a 20-10 win over Chadron State in the second round. Chadron played that game without quarterback Joe McLaine, who was injured. McLaine was the biggest offensive threat for the Eagles last year.

“Chadron felt like they matched up well with them … I think Chadron played them about as tough as anybody did in the playoffs, so I’m sure they’ll have respect for us when we get up there and we’ll have respect for them,” Morris said.

The Lopers have Nielson’s respect.

“When you get to this stage, you’re playing a good football team and they’re certainly all that. They’re a football team that’s playing very well right now. They’re on a roll and this is going to be great football game,” Nielson said.

e-mail to:

buck.mahoney@kearneyhub.com

Watch the game

All University of Minnesota-Duluth home playoff games are video streamed on the Internet and can be accessed for free at www.northernsun.tv.

Listen to the game

Today’s playoff game between UNK and Minnesota-Duluth will be broadcast on KQKY FM (102.3) with Dave Jenner handling the call.

Sports Editor Buck Mahoney’s Take on the Game

This UNK team has had a lot of firsts: 11 wins, 11 straight wins, an NCAA playoff win, a highest-ever NCAA rating. Those are feathers in this team’s cap. But the run comes to an end today. UNK runs into a road block in UMD. The Bulldogs are the defending national champions, have won 25 of their last 26 games and, while the Lopers will put up a fight, the decision will go to the ‘Dogs.

The talk is UMD is a lot like the old UNO teams, and we know how successful the Lopers were against those. Throw in Harlon Hill finalist running back Isaac Odim and the Bulldogs have too much.

UNK at Minnesota-duluth PROBABLE STARTERS

Noon today (Saturday)

at James S. Malosky Stadium in Duluth, Minn.

NEBRASKA-KEARNEY (11-1)

Offense                Defense

Pos. — Name    Gr.    Ht.    Wt.    Pos. — Name    Gr.    Ht.    Wt.

WR — Kyle Kaiser    Jr.    6-0    170    DE — Mason Brodine    Jr.    6-7    255

LT — Kyle Davison    Sr.    6-4    305    T — Josh Rohde    Jr.    6-2    255

LG — Stephen Goodin    Jr.    6-6    290    NG — Caleb Tyler    Jr.    6-2    270

C — Jack Hiett    Sr.    6-2    255    DE — Chris Fant    Jr.    6-2    250

RG — Matt Goldenstein    Sr.    6-5    325    LB — Ethan Kuhlmann    Fr.    6-3    235

RT — Orion Matthies    Jr.    6-7    335    LB — Eric Scheele    Sr.    6-2    210

TE — Adam Drudik    Jr.    6-4    260    LB — Chris Senkbile    Jr.    5-11    195

WR — Brendan Liess    Jr.    5-11    190    CB — Mike Neal    Sr.    5-10    175

WR — Tyrone Hilton    Sr.    5-11    195    CB — Ozzie Smith    Sr.    6-0    200

RB — Rustin Dring    So.    6-0    200    FS — Jake Mandelko    Sr.    6-0-    210

QB — Jake Spitzlberger    So.    5-10    175    BS — Pat Ackerman    Sr.    6-0    180

PK — Jordan Alegria    Sr.    6-1    255    P — Jordan Alegria    Sr.    6-1    255

MINNESOTA-DULUTH (10-1)

OFFENSE                DEFENSE

Pos. — Name    Gr.    Ht.    Wt.    Pos. — Name    Gr.    Ht.    Wt.

WR — D.J. Winfield    So.    5-8    175    DE — Riley Lealos    Jr.    6-4    260

LT — Sam Whitney    Sr.    6-4    280    NG — Tyler Johnson    Sr.    6-3    280

LG — Garth Heikkinen    Fr.    6-4    280    DE — Kevin Pexa    Sr.    6-3    250

C — Tobias Lemke    Sr.    6-5    275    LB — Rob Huberty    So.    6-1    215

RG — Francis Herzog    So.    6-5    285    LB — Robie Aurich    Jr.    5-11    240

RT — Dan Beck    So.    6-5    290    LB — Kiel Fechtekotter    Jr.    5-11    220

TE — Jake Coauette    Sr.    6-6    240    LB — Korey Horn    Sr.    6-4    225

WR — Noah Pauley    Jr.    5-6    160    CB — Cole Srilzuk    Sr.    5-11    200

QB — Chase Vogler    Fr.    6-0    175    CB — Brandon Wood    Sr.    5-9    185

RB — Isaac Odim    Jr.    6-0    215    SS — Cody Eich    So.    6-0    200

RB — Brad Foss    Jr.    6-0    210    FS — Brad Just    So.    6-0    180

PK — David Nadeua    So.    6-2    195    P — Alex Miller    So.    6-5    205

NOTES

Radio coverage: KRNY-FM (102.3 FM) and www.lopers.com. Videostream is available at www.northernsun.tv. … This is the first time UNK and UMD have met on the football field. … UMD is ranked No. 4 in the most recent American Football Coaches Association poll, while UNK is No. 6. At D2football.com, UMD is No. 3 and UNK No. 4. … Minnesota-Duluth is 3-0 against current members of the RMAC. … This is the first NCAA playoff game UNK has played on the road. … The winner advances to play the winner of the Grand Valley State/Hillsdale game in the Super Region 3 final Nov. 28.