What Lies Ahead: The Mavericks open a two-game road trip – their final road trip of the season – Saturday as it travels to Wayne State for a 1 p.m., contest against the Wildcats.
What's in a Win: A win would give MSU its 372nd win in school history...A victory would be the 24th victory for head coach Todd Hoffner at MSU and the 70th victory of his career...A win would be MSU's second in the city of Wayne, Neb...A victory would also push MSU to 3-0 all-time against Wayne State...Finally, a win would mark the 23rd 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 371-370-28 (.501) in 769 games since their inception as a varsity sport in 1922. Minnesota State is in its third season in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and owns a 22-4 record in league action. Over the course of its history, MSU has claimed 17 conference championships including 15 NIC titles.
Scouting Wayne State: Wayne State enters Saturday's contest with a 5-2 record after suffering a 17-14 home loss to Concordia last weekend. In the loss to CU, WSC the Wildcats accumulated just 257 yards of total offense, 150 on the ground and 107 in the air. Sophomore quarterback Evan Johnson led the Wildcats in rushing with 74 yards in the loss and completed 12-of-21 attempts for 107 yards. Sophomore wideout Kevin Paulsen caught a team-high seven passes for 74 yards. Defensively, redshirt freshman safety Austan Pomajzl led the team with 12 tackles and a pass break-up.
For the season, the Wildcats are averaging 33 points per game while giving up 21.4. WSC averages 157.3 yards per game on the ground and 233 in the air, for an average of 390.3 yards of total offense per game. Johnson leads the squad in rushing (328 total yards, 46.9 yard per game, six touchdowns) and passing (1,053 total yards, 87-of-125, 150.4 yards, seven touchdowns). Sophomore Cyle Schultz is second on the team in passing completing 37-of-63 passes for 556 yards and seven scores. Paulsen leads the team in receiving with 37 catches for 378 yards, averaging 54 yards per game and 10.2 yards per catch, while senior Frederick Bruno is second with 29 catches for 338 yards and seven touchdowns.
Defensively, sophomore linebacker Ben Perry leads the team with 42 tackles. He also has three tackles for a loss, two interceptions, a pass break-up and a forced fumble. The Wildcats are coached by Dan McLauglin who is 38-26 in sixth season with the program. Prior to his time at Wayne State, McLaughlin served as the offensive coordinator at Minnesota State in 2004 under head coach Jeff Jamrog.
Weather Report: According to www.weather.com, Saturday's forecast in Wayne calls for a high of 63 degrees, with partly cloudy skies and a 30% chance of rain.
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