What Happened & What's Ahead:  The fifth-ranked Minnesota State football team (12-0, 11-0 NSIC) hosts Missouri Western State in the national quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Football Playoffs this weekend.  Last week, the Maverick earned a 38-35 victory over Northwest Missouri State while Missouri Western State downed Henderson State, 45-21.

A Little History Lesson: The 2012 season marked the school's 86th season playing football.  The Mavericks are 394-375-28 (.511) in 798 games since their inception as a varsity sport in 1922.  Minnesota State is in its fifth season in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and owns a 42-9 (.823) record in league action.  Over the course of its history, MSU has claimed 18 conference championships, including 16 NIC titles.

What's in a Win: It would also mark the 395th win in program history...A win would be MSU's fourth all-time in the NCAA playoffs and its second all-time against Missouri Western State...A win would push the Maverick home winning streak and its overall winning streak to 13 games...A win would be its second playoff win in Blakeslee Stadium...Finally a win would be MSU's second victory in the month of December in program history.

Five With a Dozen: Minnesota State enters the weekend one of five NCAA (FBS, FCS, Division II & Division III) teams with a 12-0 record.  In the Bowl Subdivision, Ohio State and Notre Dame are both 12-0, while Winston-Salem and Colorado State Pueblo join Minnesota State with 12-0 records in NCAA Division II.

The Last Time:  The last time Minnesota State lost on its home field was Oct. 9, 2010, when it suffered a 31-17 loss to St. Cloud State.  Minnesota State  has won its last 12 at home and is  147-100-5 (.594) in Blakeslee Stadium.

A Little Bit About Our Opponent:  Missouri Western State enters Saturday's regional final with a 12-1 record after earning a 45-21 victory last weekend at Henderson State.  The Griffons opened a 31-14 halftime advantage and never looked back in the win.

Offensively, MWSU accumulated 233 yards on the ground and 204 in the air for a total of 437, gaining 5.6 yards per play.  As a defense, the Griffons allowed 480 yards of total offense, 412 of which came in the air.

Senior running back Michael Hill – a Harlon Hill candidate – led all rushers with 27 carries for 122 yards and a touchdown while redshirt freshman running back Raphael Spencer rushed six times for 95 yards and a touchdown.  Junior quarterback Travis Partridge completed 22-of-29 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns, both of which were caught by junior tight end Reggie Jordan who finished with two catches for six yards.  Senior wideout Kyle Knox caught four passes for a team-high 59 yards.  

Defensively senior linebacker Raymond Cottman registered seven tackles and an interception while sophomore defensive back Marc Harrison also tallied seven tackles.  As a unit, the Griffon defense gathered four interceptions and broke up nine passes.

On the season, MWSU is averaging 44 points per game while giving up 22.6.  As a team they are gaining 278.4 yards on the ground and 196.8 in the air for an average of 475.2 yards.  As a team, MWSU is giving up 154.8 per game on the ground and 228.3 in the air for a total of 383.1.  

Hill leads the team in rushing with 296 carries for 2,118 yards and 16 touchdowns, averaging 162.9 yards per game and 7.2 yards per rush.   Partridge has completed 205-of-311 passes for 2,546 yards and 30 touchdowns averaging 195.8 yards per game with 30 touchdowns against nine interceptions.  Additionally,  Partridge has a team-high 17 rushing touchdowns this year.  Junior wideout Tyron Crockom has caught a team-high 41 passes for 426 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 32.8 yards per game and 10.4 yards per catch while Knox leads the team with 605 yards on 40 catches averaging 46.5 yards per game and 15.1 yards per catch. Jordan has a team-high 11 receiving touchdowns.
    
Defensively, sophomore linebacker Stephen Juergens has 84 tackles while Marrison has 76 stops.  As a unit, the defense has 19 interceptions this year and has broken up 56 passes.
    
Playoff Notes:  Missouri Western State is 2-3 all-time in the playoffs and 1-2 on the road...MWSU is 1-0 against schools from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference this season in playoff games, earning a 57-55 triple-overtime win against Minnesota Duluth...The national quarterfinals is the farthest that MWSU has advanced in the playoffs in program history.

To view the complete postseason media guide, complete with team & player notes, stats, and much, much more, click HERE

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