What Lies Ahead:  The Minnesota State concludes its two-game homestand Saturday as it hosts Upper Iowa at 1 p.m.

What's in a Win:  A win would give MSU its 371st win in school history...A victory would be the 23rd victory for head coach Todd Hoffner at MSU and the 69th victory of his career...Finally, a win would mark the 21st win for the Mavericks in the NSIC.

A Little History Lesson: The 2010 season marks the school's 84th season playing football.  The Mavericks are 370-370-28 (.500) in 768 games since their inception as a varsity sport in 1922.  Minnesota State is in its third season in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and owns a 21-4 record in league action.  Over the course of its history, MSU has claimed 17 conference championships including 15 NIC titles.

Scouting Upper Iowa: The Peacocks enter Saturday's game owners of a 1-5 record, including a 1-4 mark in the Northern Sun.  Last weekend, Upper Iowa earned a 56-19 win over Minnesota, Crookston, to celebrate homecoming.
   
In the win, senior running back Sam Epsteen rushed 17 times for 103 yards while redshirt freshman running back Marcus West rushed nine times for 82 yards and a touchdown.  Sophomore quarterback Kirby Hovden completed 15-of-24 passes for 317 yards and six touchdowns in the win, while senior widedout John Baldwin caught four passes for 78 yards and a score.  Junior wideout Jessie Hubbard caught three passes for 77 yards and two scores in the win.  Defensively, senior linebacker Aaron Miller had 12 tackles while senior defensive back Craig Henry had 11.  
   
For the season, UIU is averaging 21.5 points per game while allowing 39.5.  The Peacocks are averaging 154.5 yards per game on the ground and 208.7 yards per game in the air while totalling 363.2 yards of offense a game.  Junior running back Jordan Otdoerfer leads the team in rushing with 54 carries for 229 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 45.8 yards per game on the ground and 4.2 yards per carry.  Three quarterbacks have shared time this year for UIU.  Senior Ben Curran leads the way completing 52-of-102passes for 587 yards and three touchdowns (146.8 yards per game) while Hovden is 19-of-30 for 351 yards and seven touchdowns and redshirt freshman Drew Kaluzny is 33-of-56 for 314 yards.
   
Defensively, Upper Iowa is led by Miller who has a team-high 43 tackles, 23 of which are solo.  The Peacocks are coached by Tom Shea, who won the 1990 NAIA Division II National Championship while coaching Peru State College.

Weather Report:  According to www.weather.com, Saturday's forecast in Mankato calls for a high of 65 degrees, sunny with no chance of rain.

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