One Minnesotan is among nation's top college receivers; another just brought fans to tears

Jake Breitbach had never played wide receiver before joining the Gustavus Adolphus program in 2020. He was always a quarterback, so talented that he earned second-team All-Metro honors from the Star Tribune as a senior at Armstrong High.

Gustavus recruited him to play quarterback and pursued him aggressively, except there was one tiny issue: The Gusties already had quarterback Michael Veldman running the show when Breitbach arrived on campus.

"He was such a good athlete that you can't have him be your backup quarterback and not be on the field," Gustavus coach Peter Haugen said, calling Breitbach "one of those athletes that don't come along every day."

So coaches asked him to switch positions.

"I was pretty shocked to hear that because I had never played receiver before in my life," Breitbach said. "It was totally new."

He proved to be a quick study. The receiver who had never played receiver is now one of the best at that position in Division III.

Breitbach leads D-III in receptions per game (12.3), is second in receiving yards per game (177.8) and tied for eighth in touchdown catches (10).

He posted his third 200-yard receiving performance of the season Saturday with 209 yards in a 55-18 rout of Macalester.

"It's been amazing, learning a position from scratch at this time of my career," said Breitbach, who is 6-2, 197 pounds. "Obviously I knew all the routes from playing quarterback but running them is a totally different thing. There was a learning curve at first for sure."

Breitbach's career is a testament to his adaptability. He tore the ACL in his left knee playing basketball in the final game of his junior season. He initially feared the injury would sideline him for his senior season in football. Instead, his recovery took seven months and he was ready for the opener.

Breitbach made an overnight visit to Gustavus on his recruiting trip. The next day, the pandemic began, causing schools to shut down — the same day he gave his commitment.

When the MIAC resumed football in 2021, Breitbach found himself primarily playing receiver but also serving as Veldman's backup. The coaching staff found time in every practice for Breitbach to get reps at quarterback. He played a few games as a freshman in a pinch after Veldman suffered an injury.

"It was a lot to have on my plate figuring out receiver stuff and still trying to stay on top of quarterback," he said. "The playbook was a little more limited when I was in there."

He became a full-time receiver last season, ending his quarterback career.

"It definitely felt like the right [decision]," he said. "Playing quarterback is not like anything else in sports. But it got to a point where it was pretty evident that receiver is where I had the most potential and the highest ceiling."

He credits his transition to being a multisport athlete growing up and developing hand-eye coordination. He also praises his coaches and teammates for helping him navigate "basic 101 receiver stuff."

He has spent a lot of time studying NFL receivers to better understand route concepts and the art of playing the position. He also learned by trial and error. A senior now, he plans to use his pandemic-generated bonus season of eligibility and return to Gustavus next year.

"It was motivating to think that if I really invest a lot of time, a lot of energy, a lot of training, who knows how good I could get?" he said.

He keeps providing that answer each week.

. . .

OVER THE BORDER

Minnesotan stars in N.D. rivalry

Former Cambridge-Isanti High standout Gaven Ziebarth had some understanding of the historical significance of the North Dakota-North Dakota State football rivalry heading into the weekend. Now he's an expert in it, a lesson he learned on the field Saturday after leading North Dakota to its first win over NDSU in 20 years.

"After the game, people were jumping out of the stands," Ziebarth said. "Alumni came up to me crying. It was pretty cool."

So cool that Ziebarth also had tears after a resounding 49-24 win in front of a sellout crowd of 13,091 fans, which was the second-largest crowd in program history at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks. It's North Dakota's first win over NDSU since the schools moved to Division I.

"Just seeing the fans and everyone crying was overwhelming," he said by phone Monday.

Ziebarth played a major role in the upset by posting career highs in rushing attempts (18), rushing yards (156) and touchdown runs (3). He was named Missouri Valley Conference's offensive player of the week Monday, an honor he celebrated on X (formerly Twitter) by posting: "Love my O-line."

His 59-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter capped his team's scoring, which was the most points scored by North Dakota against NDSU since 1896.

"This is the first time I've gotten that many carries since high school," said Ziebarth, a sophomore. "I'm pretty sore. It felt good just to feel that way again and get a big win."

Ziebarth maintained a heavy workload as a four-sport athlete at Cambridge-Isanti. He played football, hockey, baseball and ran track. Once, he finished a baseball game and then hustled to the track to compete in the 4x100 relay.

"That was kind of funny," he said. He borrowed a teammate's track outfit, which was a smaller size.

"It was a little tight on me," he said. "It was like 50 degrees out. I had five minutes to warm up."

He just loves to compete, which was on display in his team's streak-busting win against NDSU.

North Dakota's schedule this season already has included road games at Boise State and top-ranked FCS team South Dakota State. NDSU was ranked No. 7 nationally before Saturday's game.

Ziebarth's emotions had subsided by Monday as he focused on the next challenge: A road game at Northern Iowa this Saturday.

"I'm not going to lie, during the game, I felt like we just won a championship," he said. "But then you have to realize, we still have six more games to play at least."

. . .

AROUND MINNESOTA

Friday night lightning (and rain, and wind, and cold)

The weather gods have not been kind to Minnesota prep football this fall. Friday night was nasty, and that was just the most recent gloomy game night.

"I'm a fisherman so I always say there are three things that will knock me off the lake," Edina coach Jason Potts said. "If you get all three, I'm not going fishing: Cold, wind and rain. The only thing that knocks you off the field is lightning."

Edina was one of many teams that dealt with that element three weeks ago. The Hornets had their road game at Prior Lake delayed roughly two hours at halftime because of lightning.

"A two-hour delay in a locker room with a bunch of high school kids can be tough," Potts joked.

Other than being asked every five seconds if the game would continue, Potts found the time useful. He and his coaching staff watched the entire first half twice on their iPads while players consumed snacks provided by parents.

"You can come out in the second half and almost have a second game plan, which was pretty cool," Potts said. "I'm sure they did the same thing on their end. You have a chance to draw up plays and make a lot more adjustments than a 20-minute halftime."

Edina won the game 33-26.

The Hornets kept an eye on the ominous forecast last week in preparation for Friday's game at Stillwater. A few teams moved their games from Friday to Thursday hoping to avoid inclement weather. Some changed their kickoff time.

Edina's offense operates out of the shotgun. Anticipating heavy rain and high winds, the Hornets practiced all week with quarterback Mason West going under center in case the weather caused problems with snapping in shotgun. Ultimately, that wasn't necessary.

"The wind was not as strong as I thought it would be," Potts said. "The initial report was wind gusts up to 35 miles per hour. I was expecting it to be just absolutely miserable. It was a constant rain but when you watched the film, it doesn't even look like it's raining."

The wind had some impact. West attempted two deep throws early in the game that got altered by the wind and were intercepted.

Potts changed his game plan at that point and went "ground and pound." West entered the game averaging 28 pass attempts per game. He threw only 14 times Friday.

"Before the half, we tried to do our two-minute [offense]," Potts said. "I think there was a minute left on the clock, and we went three-and-out. Then they went three-and-out. Then we went three-and-out. It was like, 'Oh my gosh.' The second half we made the decision to bring in our heavy package and line up with two tight ends and run the football."

The game was scoreless at halftime. Edina won 14-7.

"We practice the mindset of not letting [weather conditions] deter us," Potts said. "Sometimes you get in those scenarios and kids don't play to their full potential because of it. We really wanted to limit our distractions in the mental game."

Teams all over the state might get a chance to try just that on Wednesday, when most of the games will be played this week because of MEA break, with rain — once again — in the forecast. At least it's not snow?

. . .

WEEKEND REWIND

Game balls

• Jordan Hicks: Vikings linebacker grabbed an interception and returned a fumble 42 yards for a touchdown in the 19-13 win over Chicago.
• Danielle Hunter: Edge rusher had another disruptive day for the Vikings defense with two sacks, seven tackles and a pass breakup.
• Koi Perich: Gophers commit returned two interceptions for touchdowns and rushed for 93 yards and two touchdowns on offense in Esko's 41-7 win over Hermantown.
• Ryan Bieberdorf: MSU Moorhead receiver caught six passes for 137 yards and four touchdowns in a 53-40 win over Sioux Falls. His four touchdown catches tied a school record.

He said what?!

"We showed everybody what we're worth. We let them know that we're around, and we're here and we're coming for you."

— Orono linebacker Gage Kracht told the Star Tribune's Jim Paulsen after a 31-7 win over Totino-Grace in a matchup of top-five teams in Class 4A.

Numbers to know

• 133: National ranking in total offense by the Gophers' opponent this Saturday, the Iowa Hawkeyes, who are dead last in FBS in yards per game. The Hawkeyes are also 6-1, ranked 24th and 4-0 at Kinnick Stadium, where Saturday's game will start at 2:30 p.m. (TV: NBC).
• 8: Consecutive losses for the Gophers against Iowa.
• 5: Teams in the NSIC that rank among the top 30 in scoring in Division II: Minnesota State Mankato, Minnesota Duluth, MSU Moorhead, Augustana and Bemidji State.
• 3: MIAC quarterbacks who rank top-five nationally in passing yards per game: Aaron Syverson of St. John's, Michael Nadeau of Macalester; George Sandven of Gustavus.

15-yard penalty

The Vikings managed only 52 rushing yards on 21 carries against the Bears (not counting a kneel-down to close the game) and hover near the bottom of the NFL in rushing. Kevin O'Connell has preached the need to have a more efficient running game, but that has not materialized and they are one of two teams (Steelers) who have yet to score a rushing touchdown this season.

. . .

UP NEXT

Grab your popcorn

Minnesota State Mankato at Augustana, 1 p.m., Saturday. A showdown between the top two teams in the NSIC, both at 7-0. The Mavericks moved up to No. 3 in this week's Division II coaches national poll.

An important 48 hours for:

Athan Kaliakmanis. The Gophers sophomore quarterback had a bye week to process a shaky performance against Michigan that included two pick-six interceptions. The Gophers will need their quarterback to make plays against a Hawkeyes defense that allows only 14.9 points per game.

. . .

A FAM FINAL WORD

"Streak"

North Dakota snapped a losing streak to its state rival on Saturday. The Gophers will attempt to end a long losing streak to their border rivals this Saturday afternoon. P.J. Fleck has not defeated Kirk Ferentz in his Gophers tenure. Will that finally change?

. . .

Thank you for reading Football Across Minnesota (FAM), my weekly column that tours football topics in our state from preps to pros. I'll publish this each Tuesday morning in time for your lunch-hour reading. I appreciate feedback so please reach out anytime. Thanks again — Chip (@chipscoggins on X)