What Happened & What's Ahead: The 15th-ranked Minnesota State football team (4-0, 4-0 NSIC) closes the books on a two-game homestand this weekend as it entertains Concordia University for its annual Homecoming game. Kick-off is set for 2 p.m., in historic Blakeslee Stadium. Additionally, Saturday's game marks the first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division game for both squads.
A Little History Lesson: The 2012 season marked the school's 86th season playing football. The Mavericks are 386-375-28 (.507) in 789 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 35-7 (.833) 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 5-0 record and just the fourth team in program history to do so (1926, 2003, 2009)...It would also mark the 387th win in program history and the 36th win for the Mavericks since becoming members of the NSIC in 2008...A win would be MSU's fifth all-time victory against the Golden Bears compared to two losses...Finally, a victory would be the 28th in the collegiate coaching career of acting head coach
Aaron Keen.
Homecoming Notes: Minnesota State’s longest Homecoming win streak is 11 games (1966-78)...MSU snapped its longest Homecoming losing streak (six) in 2009 with its 35-32 win over Winona State...The Mavericks have played the most Homecoming games against Bemidji State (11) and holds an 6-4-1 record in Homecoming appearances against the Beavers...The last Homecoming game vs. Bemidji State was in 1968 in which MSU won 49-14...In 76 Homecoming contests, Minnesota State has shut-out 13 opponents and has been shut-out four times themselves...MSU’s last shut-out of a Homecoming opponent came in 1991 when the Mavericks prevailed by a 17-0 margin over Nebraska-Omaha...The last time Minnesota State was shut-out in a Homecoming contest was in 1940 when Moorhead State won 26-0...Since MSU started playing at Blakeslee Stadium in 1962, they hold a 25-23 Homecoming record...The Mavericks’ Homecoming opponent this year is Concordia University...This will be the first time that MSU has hosted the Golden Bears in a homecoming tilt...Last year’s Homecoming game saw a school-record 7,011 fans attend...MSU is 45-33-2 in Homecoming games.
Next of Keen: Saturday's game may be Aaron Keen's fifth 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: Concordia enters the weekend the owners of a 1-3 record and losers of its last two games. Last weekend, the Golden Bears suffered a 24-23 loss at Northern State despite a fourth-quarter rally.
Trailing 24-10 entering the fourth quarter, CU scored a touchdown with 5:50 remaining to cut the deficit to seven and scored another with 34 seconds left only to have the extra point blocked, thwarting the rally and giving the Wolves the victory.
In the loss, CU finished with 439 yards of total offense, 373 of which came in the air and 66 of which came on the ground.
For the season, CU is averaging 26.8 points per game while giving up 37.5. The Golden Bears are rushing for 130.8 yards per game and throwing for 289.8 while averaging 420.5 yards of total offense per contest.
Sophomore running back Tre Spears leads the CU rushing attack with 75 carries for 393 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 95.5 yards per game while sophomore quarterback James Peterson has connected on 78-of-136 passes for 1,151 yards and eight touchdowns to go with eight interceptions. Peterson is averaging 287.8 yards per game.
Sophomore wideout Cordell Smith leads the team in receptions with 22 for 380 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 95 yards per game and 17.3 yards per catch.
On the defensive side of the ball, sophomore linebacker Jordan Halverson has a team-high 41 tackles, including 7.5 for a loss, while junior defensive back Denzell Blackmon has 34 tackles. The Golden Bears are coached by Ryan Williams who is in his second year with a 7-8 record.
In The Polls: Minnesota State moved up seven spots in this week's AFCA Division II Coaches Poll from #22 to #15. The complete poll can be found
HERE. In this week's d2football.com poll (found
HERE) Minnesota State remained #7 for the third straight week. .
To view the complete release, click
HERE
To go deeper into the Concordia football program, click
HERE
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Team Comparison (League Rank)
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MSU
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Category
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Concordia
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233.2 (2nd)
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Rushing Offense
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130.8 (11th)
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141.0 (15th)
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Passing Offense
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289.8 (2nd)
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374.2 (9th)
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Total Offense
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420.5 (5th)
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32.8 (5th)
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Scoring Offense
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26.8 (10th)
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119.8 (1st)
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Rushing Defense
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198.5 (13th)
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158.2 (1st)
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Passing Defense
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237.2 (12th)
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10.2 (1st)
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Scoring Defense
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37.5 (13th)
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36.4 (9th)
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3rd Down Conversion %
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38.9 (8th)
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33:42 (1st)
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Time of Possession
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30:20 (8th)
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