at Minnesota State		Winona State
Not Ranked	National Ranking (AFCA)	Not Ranked (Receiving Votes, 4)
Not Ranked	National Ranking (D2football.com	Not Ranked
Northern Sun Intercollegiate	Conference	Northern Sun Intercollegiate
3-1 (3-0 NSIC)	2011 Record (Conf.)	2-1 (1-1 NSIC)
Todd Hoffner (28-11)	Head Coach (Record at School)	Tom Sawyer (127-49)
2-1	Head Coaches’ Record Against Opponent	1-2
www.msumavericks.com	Home Page	www.winonastatewarriors.com
defeated Concordia, 57-34	Last Week	defeated Upper Iowa, 72-31
408.8	Total Offense Per Game	440.5
275.5	Total Defense Per Game	349.5
38.8	Points Per Game	38.8
18.8	Points Allowed Per Game	20.0

What Lies Ahead:  The Minnesota State opens October with its first of three home games during the month as it entertains Winona State at 2 p.m.  The game will serve as the annual Homecoming contest on the campus of Minnesota State and marks the second time in the past four seasons that these two teams have met for Homecoming at MSU.

A Little History Lesson: The 2011 season marks the school's 85th season playing football.  The Mavericks are 376-373-28 (.502) in 777 games since their inception as a varsity sport in 1922.  Minnesota State is in its fourth season in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and owns a 25-7 record in league action.  Over the course of its history, MSU has claimed 17 conference championships including 15 NIC titles.

What's in a Win:  A win would give MSU its 377th win in school history...A victory would be the 29th victory for head coach Todd Hoffner at MSU and the 75th victory of his career...A win would give MSU its 27th victory in the Northern Sun Conference...A win would mark the 31st win against the Warriors for Minnesota State and the third for Hoffner against WSU...A win would also improve head coach Todd Hoffner's record against the Warriors to 3-1...A win would improve MSU's all-time record on Homecoming to 25-23 and would represent its fourth win against the Warriors during the occasion.

Scouting Winona State:  Winona State enters this week's game with a 3-1 record and are 3-0 in the NSIC and 1-0 in the NSIC South Division.  Last weekend, Winona State upended Upper Iowa, 72-31, thanks in part to 21-point outbursts in both the second and third quarters.  Junior running back Rayon Simmons led the way with 12 carries for 181 yards and a touchdown averaging 15.1 yards per carry.  Sophomore quarterback Bryan Bradshaw completed 14-of-24 passes for 226 yards and a touchdown while Junior wideout Tyler Speer led a receiving corps that saw nine different players record a catch with two catches for 81 yards.  Defensively, junior strong safety Ryan Williams had six tackles.
  
For the season, Winona State is averaging 440.5 yards of total offense per game, 236 of which are on the ground and 204.5 of which come through the air, while their defense gives up 349.5 per game (135.2 on the ground, 214.2 through the air).  Simmons leads the team in rushing with 63 carries for 498 yards and six touchdowns, averaging 124.5 yards per game and 7.9 yards per carry.  Bradshaw is averaging 181.0 yards per game as quarterback, completing 43-of-61 passes for 543 yards and two scores to go with two interceptions while Senior running back Curtis Dwberry has caught 13 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown averaging 11.7 yards per catch and 38 yards per games receiving.  

Defensively WSU is led by Williams' 27 tackles, 14 of which are solo.

Series Notes:  Saturday's game is 51st meeting between the two schools with MSU holding a 30-16-4 record all-time against the Warriors...Before the two teams resumed their series in 2008 (a 35-32 MSU win), the series enjoyed a 28-year hiatus with Winona State last defeating MSU 26-20 on Sept. 27, 1980 in Mankato....Among active players, junior defensive end Austin Schachtner leads all Mavericks with four career tackles against Winona State while junior linebacker Ross Jirgl and sophomore defensive end Chris Schaudt each have three tackles...Junior wideout Adam Thielen leads MSU with six catches for 62 yards and a touchdown while fellow junior wideout Dennis Carter has three catches for 64 yards and two kick returns spanning 65 yards...Sophomore wideout/quarterback Jon Wolf has rushed five times for 27 yards against Winona State and has completed 2-of-5 passes for 41 yards.

Weather Report:  According to weather.com, Saturday's high in Mankato is to be around 63 degrees and sunny skies.
    
Radio Show and Weekly Luncheons: The Todd Hoffner Radio Show will air live on AM 1230 KYSM, the Fan Mankato from 7-7:30 at the downtown Buffalo Wild Wings location.  The show will be hosted by Mike Sullivan and/or Casey Lloyd, the voices of the Maverick football program and will feature head coach Todd Hoffner as the Mavericks will recap the previous week's contest and look ahead at their next opponent.  Each week a special guest will also make an appearance during the show.

For fans who cannot make it to Buffalo Wild Wings or cannot tune in live, they can listen to the show each week on www3.mnsu.edu/athletics.

Additionally, the Loose Moose will host the Maverick Football Luncheon on the Friday before each home game. Each luncheon will feature comments from Coach Hoffner as well as players and are open to everyone.  The Loose Moose will have lunch menu items available to order during this time.

To view the complete version of the release, click HERE

To view the complete version of the Winona State release, click HERE

To view the game's livestats, click HERE

To watch the free webstream of the game, click HERE

To listen to the webstream of the game, click HERE

To listen to the game over the air in the Greater Mankato Area, tune into AM 1230 KYSM The Fan Mankato