What's Ahead & What Happened: The 22nd-ranked Minnesota State football team (3-0, 3-0 NSIC) opens a two-game homestand this weekend as it entertains MSU Moorhead Saturday afternoon 1 p.m., in historic Blakeslee Stadium. Last weekend, the Mavericks earned their first in St. Cloud since 1999 as they downed the Huskies, 25-21.
A Little History Lesson: The 2012 season marked the school's 86th season playing football. The Mavericks are 385-375-28 (.506) in 788 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 34-7 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 mark the first time since 2009 that MSU has started with a 4-0 record and just the seventh team in program history to do so (1926, 1938, 1967, 1992, 1993, 2009)...It would also mark the 386th win in program history and the 35th win for the Mavericks since becoming members of the NSIC in 2008...A win would be MSU's 16th all-time victory against the Dragons compared to 14 losses...Finally a victory would be the 27th in the collegiate coaching career of acting head coach Aaron Keen.
Next of Keen: Saturday's game may be Aaron Keen's third as acting head coach for Minnesota State, but it is not the first time that he has been the "Big Man" for a football team. From 2003-07 Keen served as the head coach for Illinois College. During that time, the BlueBoys went 23-27 while 51 players earned all-conference accolades.
A Little Bit About Our Opponent: Minnesota State University, Moorhead enters this weekend's game with an 0-3 record, with all three losses coming in league action. Last weekend, the Dragons suffered a 51-33 home loss to Upper Iowa.
In the loss, the Dragons rushed for 78 yards and threw for 222 yards totaling 300 yards of total offense.
For the season, sophomore running back Brandon Schell leads the team in rushing with 39 carries for 114 yards, averaging 38.0 yards per game and 2.9 yards per carry.
The Dragons have platooned at the quarterback position this year as redshirt freshman Myles Montplaisir has played in all three games and is 13-for-34 for 157 yards and three interceptions while freshman Jake Hodge is 26-of-47 for 346 yards and three touchdowns to go with two interceptions, averaging 173 yards per game. Freshman wideout Adam Jiskra has caught 13 passes to lead the team for 250 yards and a pair of touchdowns, averaging 83.3 yards per game and 19.2 yards per carry.
Defensively, freshman safety Shea DeJong leads the team in tackles with 31, while sophomore outside linebacker Nick Seedorff has 24 tackles while senior outside linebacker Tyler Brody has 19 tackles. The Dragons are coached by Steve Laqua who is in his first season with the program.
In the Polls: Minnesota State is featured in both the American Football Coaches Association poll and the d2football.com poll this week. In the AFCA poll (which can be found
HERE), MSU is ranked #22 and in the d2football.com poll (which can be found
HERE) the Mavericks are ranked #7.
Up Next: Minnesota State hosts Concordia University in its annual Homecoming game. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.
To view the complete release, click
HERE
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Team Comparisons (League Rank)
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MSU
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Category
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MSU Moorhead
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198.0 (4th)
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Rushing Offense
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82.3 (15th)
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158.7 (14th)
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Passing Offense
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169.3 (13th)
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356.7 (11th)
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Total Offense
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251.7 (14th)
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35.7 (5th)
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Scoring Offense
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16.3 (14th)
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38.3 (1st)
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Rushing Defense
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269.7 (16th)
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127 (1st)
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Passing Defense
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279.3 (14th)
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165.3 (1st)
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Total Defense
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549 (15th)
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13.7 (2nd)
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Scoring Defense
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48.3 (15th)
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32.5 (10th)
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3rd Down Conversion %
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30.4 (12th)
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33:12 (1st)
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Time of Possession
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28:15 (13th)
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