Olson named starting QB for Bulldogs’ season opener

We are now less that 48 hours away from kick-off on not only the season, but the home opener for the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) football team. Fans in attendance can also expect 5th year quarterback Garrett Olson to lead the Dogs out of the tunnel as he has been named the starter for week one.

I am definitely excited to get after it with my teammates here this Thursday. We have been playing each other all Fall camp, it will be nice to go against someone else. We have a lot of guys returning on offence, offensive line men returning, a lot of wide receivers returning, we have returning backs as well so it should be fun,” said Olson.

For head coach Curt Wiese he says that Olson has earned the spot and is confident in his veteran presence. Sharing the role last season, he threw for 692 yards and 8 touchdowns, while rushing for two, all collegiate career highs.

“Garrett is an executer, he has done a great job executing our offence. He is not a quarterback right now that comes into this game without a ton of experience, he has played a lot of football for us. He understands our expectation, he fits well with the guys, our offensive unit trust him so we are excited to see what Garrett Olson can do,” added Wiese.

The team is also set to take on Southwest Minnesota State for the first times since 2018, which presents an interesting challenge for the coaching staff to prepare for.

“Whenever you are facing a new opponent and a new coaching staff on the first game you don’t necessarily know what your getting into on game one. This game is going to be super important to be able to adjust in the middle of the series. Also on the field and talk it at have time. Being able to play our game but also focus on what we are seeing on the field. Since we don’t have a lot of film and opportunity to know what we are going to get this weekend,” Wiese continued.

That bend and not brake mentality also trickles down from the teams leadership core.

“We just need to take each play a step at a time. We don’t really know what we are going to see, since it is the first game of the year and we don’t have a ton of film. We just have to use all our knowledge that we gained at camp and be ready to make adjustments. See things we haven’t seen and be able to adjust to things we haven’t expected,” said senior Line backer Brad Dati.

Kick-off on the season opener against Southwest Minnesota State is this Thursday, at 6:00 p.m.