THIS WEEK: The Southwest Minnesota State University (0-1 NSIC, 0-0 NSIC South) football team plays its first road game of the 2013 season on Saturday, Sept. 14, taking on MSU Moorhead (0-1 NSIC, 0-0 NSIC North) with kickoff set for 1 p.m. at Alex Nemzek Stadium in Moorhead, Minn. SMSU and MSUM are both coming off losses in its season openers, with SMSU falling 49-35 at home to St. Cloud State, while MSUM dropped a 41-28 road decision to Augustana. A preview on MSU Moorhead can be found on page 4.
THIS WEEK'S GAME QUICK FACTS:
•SMSU has scored 45 or more points in the last three meetings versus MSUM.
•SMSU has not allowed MSUM more than 14 points in the last four meetings.
•SMSU has scored 35 points in its last three games overall dating back to last season's final two games.
•SMSU has scored 30 or more points in eight of its last 13 games overall dating back to the final game of the 2011 season.
A VICTORY FOR SMSU WOULD...:
•Be its fifth straight overall versus MSU Moorhead and third straight win in Moorhead.
•Be its first on the road since beating Northern State on Sept. 8, 2012.
•Give Cory Sauter a 5-11 record in road games.
ON THIS DATE: SMSU is 3-2 all-time when playing on Sept. 14. Below are the results from previous games played on this date.
•1974 - Northland, W 7-0
•1985 - Dakota State, W 23-0
•1991 - at Minot State, W 61-27
•1996 - Augustana, L 38-6
•2002 - Augustana, L 29-23 ot
RECORD ON THE ROAD: Southwest Minnesota State finished the 2012 season with a 1-4 record in five road games. The last time SMSU won at least two road games in a season came in 2009 and the last time the team won three road games in a season occurred in 2008. SMSU is a combined 19-43 in road games since 2000.
THE HEAD COACH: Southwest Minnesota State head coach Cory Sauter is in his fourth season in 2013 and has an overall record of 11-23, including 10-22 in conference games. Sauter was named head coach on March 29, 2010, after serving two seasons as an assistant coach at SMSU. In 2009, Sauter served as the team's offensive coordinator, while in 2008 he served as quarterbacks coach. A complete bio on coach Sauter can be found on page 17.
SAUTER MOVING UP THE LIST: Cory Sauter enters the week with 11 victories and is just one win shy of tying Brent Jeffers for fifth on the SMSU all-time coaching list. He is three victories behind both Ron Flowers and Curt Strasheim for third all-time with 14 victories.
A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK: St. Cloud State used a pair of big plays early in the second half to open a tie game and went on to earn a 49-35 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in the season opener for both teams last Saturday night. The two teams combined for 998 yards and 55 first downs, with SMSU racking up 94 offensive plays and 34 first downs. Charlie Kern, making his first career start for SMSU, completed 36 of 55 pass attempts for 307 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 54 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries. Tyler Tonderum rushed for a career-high 83 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Cody Condon led all SMSU receivers with eight catches for 75 yards. SCSU ended the night with 521 yards of offense, including 224 rushing yards, while SMSU closed the game with 477 yards, with 170 on the ground. Dashawn Miller and Blake Pennock paced the SMSU defense with nine tackles each, while AJ Page had eight tackles with three for loss and two sacks. Tate Bunkers also collected eight tackles in the losing effort.
MUSTANG OFFENSE RACKS UP 90-PLUS PLAYS: The Southwest Minnesota State offense racked up 34 first downs in the loss to St. Cloud State in week one marking the first time SMSU had more than 30 first downs in a single game since Oct. 8, 2011. SMSU also ran 94 offensive plays in the game, the highest total since running 97 versus Bemidji State in a four-overtime game on Oct. 7, 2000. The last time SMSU ran more than 90 plays in a game was on Nov. 3, 2007, in a triple-overtime game versus Winona State.
LONG DRIVERS: Southwest Minnesota State racked up 477 yards of offense in the week one loss to St. Cloud State and in the process put together three impressive scoring drives. SMSU had three scoring drives of 80 or more yards and had another that covered 75 yards. Four of SMSU's five scoring drives were 10 plays or longer. Last season SMSU recorded just eight scoring drives of 80 or more yards.
