NAPERVILLE, ILL. - The Vikings football team faced their toughest challenge of the year traveling to #1 North Central to take on the Cardinals. The Vikings would fall Saturday afternoon 76-14.

The Cardinals opened the scoring on their opening drive, marching 62 yards in under five minutes. Quarterback Garrett Wilson capped the series with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Thomas Skokna at the 10:33 mark, putting North Central up 7–0. After the Vikings were forced to punt on their first possession, the Cardinals extended their advantage midway through the quarter as Aidan Ellison drilled a 48-yard field goal to make it 10–0 with 5:51 remaining. Augustana's defense showed resilience, limiting the Cardinals' ground game early behind stops from Toby Splitt, Nate Simon, and Dino Hunt, but North Central continued to find rhythm through the air. Late in the quarter, Wilson connected with Myles Walton for a 23-yard touchdown, stretching the lead to 17–0 with just over a minute remaining in the opening frame. Quarterback Jimmy Makuh completed short passes Ethan Vrabec and Mikey Brosnan as Augustana looked to establish its offense late in the quarter, but the Vikings entered the second trailing 17–0.

Makuh would open the quarter with 6-yard completion to Jake Miller, however the Vikings would punt on 4^th and 1. The Cardinals would capitalize closing a 51-yard dive with a rushing touchdown to make the score 24-0. The following drive the Vikings would put together some promising play, Ludlum would find two yards to bring up 2^nd and 8 before Makuh would fire it to Brosnan for a 15-yard gain to take it to North Central's 43-yard line. Makuh would follow up with a pass Sean Schlanser for a 1-yard gain before connecting with Vrabec on the next play for 16 yards. The drive would end on 2^nd and 10 from North Centrals 28-yard line as Makuh was picked off, with the interception being ran back to the Augustana 3-yard line. North Central would capitalize on the turnover and take a 31-0 lead.

The Vikings would be forced to punt on their next drive, that punt would be taken back 70 yards for a Cardinals TD, however the score would be taken away for a Cardinals holding penalty. The ensuing re-punt would be blocked and returned for a Cardinals TD to make the score 38-0.

After falling behind early, Augustana's offense found its rhythm midway through the second quarter. Makuh sparked the drive with a 37-yard strike down the sideline to Brett Holcomb, followed by quick completions to Vrabec and Miller to move the Vikings inside the red zone. Two plays later, Makuh connected with Miller again across the middle for a six-yard touchdown, capping a 62-yard drive in under three minutes and making the score 38-7 with 5:15 left in the half. The ensuing Cardinals drive would end in a punt as Zach Gray would force an incomplete pass on 3^rd and 5, the Vikings would take over with 3:40 left in the first half.

The Vikings would go 3-and-out on the next drive, following the punt the Cardinals would capitalize with 49-yard TD through the air with 2:39 to play. The Vikings would get the ball back and on 3^rd and 13 Makuh would have the ball knocked out and the Cardinals defense would pick it up and return it to make the score 7-52. The ensuing drive Makuh would find Schlanser twice for six yards and nine yards, Ludlum would also pick up a first down on a seven-yard rush before the drive would end with an interception. North Central would take over with ten seconds left in the half and after a 12-yard completion would kick a 57-yard field goal to finish the half up 55-7.

North Central added to its advantage early in the third quarter as defensive back Jack Renick intercepted a pass and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown, extending the lead to 62–7. Augustana responded with its longest drive of the day, highlighted by a 30-yard completion from Makuh to Miller and a pair of first-down runs from Ben Ludlum, but the Vikings came up empty after a missed 23-yard field goal. The Cardinals answered with a 54-yard touchdown run, making it 69–7 midway through the period.
Late in the third, backup quarterback David Finfer guided the Vikings 69 yards in nine plays, connecting with Zamari Robinson on a 15-yard strike to cap the drive and bring the score to 69–14. Josh Lim would finish the drive with 13 yards on three key runs. North Central tacked on one final touchdown in the fourth quarter as Ashiru found an 11-yard score through the air making the score 76-14 with 7:28 to play. Augustana continued to battle behind late carries from Keegan Otte and completions to Holcomb and Andrew Gallagher, but a red-zone fumble ended their final scoring threat as the game closed at 76–14 in favor of the Cardinals.

Despite a tough matchup, Augustana showed flashes of offensive rhythm in a 14–76 loss to No. 1 North Central. Quarterback Makuh completed 19-of-34 passes for 190 yards and one touchdown, connecting with Miller five times for 76 yards and a 6-yard score. Wideouts Holcomb, Robinson, Vrabec, and Schlanser finished with 47, 31,27, and 24 respectively Otte paced the ground game with 37 yards on 7 carries, while Ludlum added 38 rushing yards. Finfer found 52 yards through the air including a TD connection with Robinson and added 26 yards of his own on the ground.
 
Defensively, Toby Splitt led the way with 12 total tackles, Nate Simon and Dino Hunt each added six tackles. Darren Oregon and Kaden McShaw both contributed stops in the secondary recording a PBU each, with Oregon getting four tackles. Gray added pressure up front against the Cardinals' offense, while Nick Golden nabbed a TFL.

The Vikings return home Saturday, Nov. 1 versus Illinois-Wesleyan at 1 p.m. at Charles-Lindberg Stadium.