What Happened & What's Ahead: The tenth-ranked Minnesota State football team (6-0, 6-0 NSIC), fresh off a 52-14 victory at Augustana returns to the friendly confines of Blakeslee Stadium this weekend for its lone home game of the month as it hosts Southwest Minnesota State. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.
A Little History Lesson: The 2012 season marked the school's 86th season playing football. The Mavericks are 388-375-28 (.508) in 791 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 38-7 (.844) 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 mark the second time in program history that MSU has started the season with a 7-0 record, joining the 2009 squad as the only other team to do so...It would also mark the 389th win in program history and the 39th win for the Mavericks since becoming members of the NSIC in 2008...A win would be MSU's 11th all-time victory against the Southwest Minnesota State...Finally, a victory would be the 30th in the collegiate coaching career of acting head coach
Aaron Keen.
A Little Bit About Our Opponent: The Southwest Minnesota State football team snapped a three-game losing streak last weekend as it earned a 40-24 Homecoming victory over Wayne State.
The Mustangs (2-4, 2-4 NSIC), are averaging 27.7 points per game this season while giving up 36. As a team, SMSU is averaging 184.3 yards per game on the ground and 232.2 in the air for a total for 416.5 yards per game of total offense, while its opponents are averaging 214.3 yards per game on the ground and 191 in the air for a total of 405.3.
Offensively the squad is led by senior running back Warren Matthews who is averaging 89.2 yards per game and 6.7 yards per carry as he has rushed 80 times for 535 yards and three touchdowns. Senior quarterback Tyler Peschong leads the team behind center as he has completed 111-of-204 passes for 1,388 yards and 10 touchdowns, averaging 231.3 yards per game in the air to go with six interceptions. Senior wideout Abe Kos leads the receivers with 24 catches for 319 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 53.2 yards per game and 13.3 yards per catch.
Defensively, junior linebacker J.J. Bobrowicz has a team-high 45 tackles, while redshirt freshman linebacker Blake Pennock has 41 stops and sophomore linebacker AJ Page has contributed 40 tackles, including a team-high five for a loss. The Mustangs are coached by Cory Sauter who is in his third season with the Mustangs and owns a 9-19 record with the program.
Series Notes: Minnesota State has never lost to SMSU...The Mavericks are 6-0 all-time in Mankato against SMSU and in the month of October, the Mavericks are 6-0 against SMSU......The Mavericks have two shutouts in series history against SMSU, the last coming a year ago when Minnesota State won 38-0 in Marshall...Senior wideout
Adam Thielen has seven catches in his three career games against SMSU for 150 yards and a touchdown while junior quarterback
Jon Wolf has two of his three career 100-yard rushing games against the Mustangs as he rushed for 118 yards last season and 101 yards in 2010...In the 2010 contest, Wolf also completed 8-of-14 passes for 136 yards and three touchdowns...Senior defensive back
Jordan Hale had 13 tackles a year ago against the Mustangs.
Rank 'Em: The Mavericks are ranked #10 in this week's American Football Coaches Association Top-25 poll (found
HERE).
To view the complete release, click
HERE
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Team Comparison (League Rank)
MSU……………………………………….Category………………………………SMSU
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235.2 (2nd)
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Rushing Offense
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184.3 (4th)
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150.2 (15th)
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Passing Offense
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232.2 (8th)
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385.3 (10th)
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Total Offense
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416.5 (5th)
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35.5 (2nd)
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Scoring Offense
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27.7 (10th)
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45.3 (1st)
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Rushing Defense
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214.3 (14th)
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156.8 (1st)
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Passing Defense
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191. 0 (3rd)
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202.2 (1st)
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Total Defense
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405. 3 (10th)
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10.8 (1st)
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Scoring Defense
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36.0 (14th)
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38.6 (9th)
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3rd Down Conversion %
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37.5 (10th)
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34:08 (1st)
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Time of Possession
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29:31 (10th)
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