THIS WEEK: Southwest Minnesota State University (5-5 NSIC, 2-4 NSIC South) concludes the 2016 season on Saturday, Nov. 12, hosting Augustana University (7-3, 4-2 NSIC South) with kickoff slated for 1 p.m. at Mattke Field at the Schwan Regional Event Center. SMSU, which has lost four of its last five games, will look to end the season on a winning note and also secure the program's second straight winning season and third in the last four seasons. It would also be the 11th winning season in the 49-year history of the program. Saturday's game features two of the top offenses in Division II. Augustana, ranked 10th in this week's NCAA Super Region Three rankings, is ranked third in passing, eighth in scoring offense and ninth in scoring, while SMSU is 24th in offense, 26th in passing and 30th in scoring.   

    A VICTORY FOR SMSU ON SATURDAY WOULD...:
    •Snap a two-game losing streak to Augustana.
    •Be just the second in 11 all-time meetings in Marshall.
    •Give SMSU a 5-1 home record. The five wins would tie the 1990 team for the most home wins in one season in team history.
    •Give SMSU a 23-36 all-time record in NSIC South Division games.
    •Lift SMSU's all-time record to 193-308-5, including 131-214-5 in NSIC play.

    BACK TO BACK WINNING SEASONS: A victory on Saturday with secure SMSU's second straight winning season and just the 11th in team history. The last time SMSU had back-to-back winning seasons occurred in 1991 and 1992.

    THE HEAD COACH: Cory Sauter is in his seventh season as head coach at Southwest Minnesota State and has an overall record of 34-43, including 33-41 in conference games. The 34 victories ranks second all-time among 10 head coaches in program history. Gary Buer (1979-92), the program leader with 70 victories, recorded 27 victories during his first seven seasons as head coach. 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 24.

    MUSTANGS IN THE NCAA STATS: Southwest Minnesota State enters the final game ranked sixth in Division II in third-down conversion pct., ninth in kickoff returns, 16th in first downs, 24th in total offense, 26th in passing offense and 30th in scoring. Blake Gimbel ranks seventh in the nation in completions per game, eighth in completion percentage, 22nd in passing yards and 27th in passing touchdowns. Max Simmons ranks fourth in rushing touchdowns, sixth in scoring and eighth in touchdowns, Nate Huot ranks 46th nationally in all purpose yards and 46th in receiving yards, while Raphael Lawson-Gayle is fifth in kickoff returns. A complete look of the NCAA stats is located on pages 22-23.

    SIMMONS RANKS FIRST IN ALL OF NCAA: Freshman running back Max Simmons not only leads Division II, but ranks first among all freshman players in all four divisions of NCAA football with 18 rushing touchdowns this season. His 18 touchdowns are also a new SMSU single-season history for rushing touchdowns by a freshman and is one shy of tying the SMSU single-season record of 19 set by Tyler Tonderum in 2013.

    SIMMONS IN THE SINGLE-SEASON BOOK: Max Simmons ranks high in a pair of single-season statistical categories entering Saturday's final game. He ranks fifth in touchdowns scored (18) and fifth in scoring (108). Alvin Ashley holds the record in both categories with 23 touchdowns and scoring 144 points in 1991. Simmons' 18 rushing touchdowns ranks second behind Tyler Tonderum's 19 in 2013.

    MUSTANGS/SMSU IN THE NSIC STATS: In the NSIC stats, SMSU's Blake Gimbel ranks sixth in passing yards and 10th in total offense, Max Simmons ranks first in scoring and fourth in rushing, while Nate Huot ranks fourth in all purpose yards, eighth in receiving yards per game and eighth in receptions per game. Raphael Lawson-Gayle is second in kickoff returns, Michael Everett is sixth in interceptions, while Tyler Flud is seventh in tackles. As a team, SMSU ranks third in the NSIC in passing yards, fifth in scoring offense, fifth in total offense, eighth in rushing offense, ninth in pass defense, 12th in rush defense, 12th in scoring defense and 12th in total defense. A complete look of the NSIC stats are located on pages 20-21.

    TURNOVERS DOOM SMSU IN ROAD LOSS TO WINONA STATE: Winona State took advantage of three Southwest Minnesota State turnovers to earn a 42-27 victory last Saturday in Winona. Max Simmons rushed for a career-high 162 yards and four touchdowns on 25 carries for SMSU. It was his second four touchdown game of the season. SMSU's Blake Gimbel completed 19 of 31 pass attempts for 170 yards. It was the first time in 21 starts that Gimbel failed to throw a touchdowns pass. Nate Huot was Gimbel's top target with seven receptions for 61 yards. Raphael Lawson-Gayle finished with four catches for 67 yards.

    MUSTANG DEFENSE FORCING TURNOVERS: The Southwest Minnesota State defense has been opportunistic this season, forcing at least one turnover in all 10 games, including three or more in five games and two or more in six games. SMSU has forced a combined 18 turnovers the past seven weeks, including five in a win versus Upper Iowa. SMSU had four interceptions in the win versus UIU, which is its highest total since racking up four versus Black Hills State in 2009.


    FLUD MOVES INTO TOP 10: Senior linebacker Tyler Flud has moved into sixth on the SMSU career tackles list with 292 and also ranks sixth in solo tackles with 167. A complete look at where Flud ranks is listed on page 5.

    FLUD NAMED NSIC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior linebacker Tyler Flud was named the NSIC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 31 following his performance in SMSU's 28-14 victory over Concordia-St. Paul. Flud finished the game with 10 tackles, including a career-high 3.5 for loss, while also registering one sack, one interception and one pass break-up in the victory.

    HUOT CONTINUES TREND: Junior wide receiver Nate Huot, who led the team in receptions, yards and touchdowns in 2015, has continued his fine play this season. He recorded 11 catches for a career-high 182 yards and two touchdowns versus Upper Iowa and also caught a career-high 12 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns in the loss at Northern State in week two. He currently leads the team in receptions (61), yards (819) and touchdown receptions (6). He has eight career 100-yard receiving games ranking eighth in team history.

    HUOT MOVING UP RECORD BOOK: Junior wide receiver Nate Huot is sixth on the school's all-time touchdown receptions list with 24. He needs one touchdown reception to move into a tie for fifth place. He also ranks sixth in team history in receptions (176) and eighth in receiving yards (2,298). A complete look at where Huot ranks is listed on page 5.

    SIMMONS TIES SCHOOL RECORD...AGAIN: Freshman running back Max Simmons has twice tied the school single-game record for rushing touchdowns. He had four touchdowns in the win at Minnesota Crookston on Sept. 24 and also had four at Winona State on Nov. 5. He is the fourth player in team history to reach the mark, joining Rich Froemling (1974), Robert Lipsey (1990) and Thomas Durham (2004).

    SMSU HIGH-OCTANE OFFENSE: Since being shutout on Nov. 5, 2011, Southwest Minnesota State has scored 30 or more points in 32 of its last 56 games dating back to the final game of the 2011 season. Since Nov. 12, 2011, SMSU has reached 40 points 18 times, 50 points eight times and 60 points once.

    NO TIME OF POSSESSION? NO PROBLEM: Southwest Minnesota State begins the week ranked 167th out of 170 teams in Division II in time of possession. Despite averaging the ball just 25 minutes and 51 seconds, SMSU ranks 30th nationally in scoring, 24th in total offense and 16th in first downs.

    TWO 100-YARD RUSHERS AGAIN: For the second time this season, SMSU had two players rush for more than 100 yards in a game during SMSU's win over Concordia-St. Paul on Oct. 29 with sophomore Hudson Walton (145) and freshman Max Simmons (138) each reaching the century mark. Senior Divonte Beale and Simmons both reached 100 yards rushing in the victory over U-Mary in week three. Beale amassed 164 yards on 27 carries, while Simmons finished with 101 on 13 attempts.

    SCORING ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL: The Southwest Minnesota State defense has recorded a pair of touchdowns through eight games. Sophomore Chance Steward returned a fumble 50 yards for a touchdown at Northern State in week two, while senior Tyler Flud had a 48-yard interception return for a score in week four at Minnesota Crookston. Flud's interception return for a touchdown was SMSU's first since Daryl Thomas had a 27-yard touchdown return at Minnesota State in 2014.

    GERMAIN LED THE WAY: Senior linebacker Gene Germain led the team in tackles in four of the first seven games this season and led the team with 58 tackles through seven games. He suffered a season-ending injury in week seven. He entered week nine ranked 38th in Division II in solo tackles. He set a career-high with 12 tackles, including five solo stops in SMSU's win over Minnesota Duluth in week one.   

    GIMBEL IN THE RECORD BOOK: Junior quarterback Blake Gimbel holds the school single-game record for completions in a game (42, vs. Upper Iowa, 2015 and 2016) and also holds the school single-season record for completion percentage (66.4) set last season. He begins this week ranked first in the school career record book in completion pct. (66.5), seventh in touchdown passes (49), fifth in completions (554), sixth in yards (6,053) and 10th in total offense (5,848). A complete look at where Gimbel ranks is listed on page 5. He threw at least one touchdown pass in each of his first 21 starts, but that streak came to an end in a loss at Winona State on Nov. 5.

    GIMBEL CAREER STARTS GAME-BY-GAME:
    2015    Opponent    Comp.    Att.    Int    TD    Yards    Long    Result
    S3    at Minot State    23    42    0    2    210    26    W, 21-10
    S12    Bemidji State    31    42    1    2    264    22    W,34-30
    S19    at St. Cloud State    16    24    0    1    182    33    W, 21-20
    S26    MSU Moorhead    18    28    0    5    299    44    W, 48-9
    O3    at Augustana    24    37    1    1    332    70    L, 23-48
    O10    at Wayne State    16    26    0    3    247    46    W, 61-3
    O17    Sioux Falls    38    52    0    3    384    24    L, 26-34
    O24    at Upper Iowa    42    56    0    4    454    82    W, 34-19
    O31    Minnesota State    24    40    3    1    253    39    L, 17-55
    N7    at Concordia-St. Paul    25    35    1    3    243    24    W, 48-24
    N14    Winona State    16    29    1    1    185    33    W, 33-38            
    2016    Opponent    Comp.    Att.    Int    TD    Yards    Long    Result
    S1    Minnesota Duluth    25    42    1    5    397    50    W, 42-38
    S10    at Northern State    34    49    2    2    336    41    L, 35-51
    S17    University of Mary    15    19    1    4    175    25    W, 47-23
    S24    at Minnesota Crookston    20    28    0    1    283    45    W, 47-13
    O1    Upper Iowa    42    53    2    3    436    39    W, 59-41
    O8    at Sioux Falls    27    40    1    3    248    42    L, 28-48
    O15    Wayne State    24    35    1    2    256    38    L, 39-41
    O20    at Minnesota State    30    45    1    1    245    38    L, 20-35
    O29    Concordia-St. Paul    9    17    0    1    122    21    W, 28-14
    N5    at Winona State    19    31    0    0    170    26    L, 27-42

    GIMBEL NAMED NSIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Junior quarterback Blake Gimbel was named the NSIC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 6, earning the award for the third time in his career. Gimbel helped SMSU rally from a 10-point deficit to defeat Minnesota Duluth and earn the program's first-ever win over a Division II Top 25 team. He finished the game completing 25 of 42 pass attempts for 397 yards and tying a career-high with five touchdown passes, including the game-winner with 23 seconds remaining.

    GIMBEL TIES OWN RECORD: Junior quarterback Blake Gimbel tied his own school record for completions in a single game in the win over Upper Iowa on Oct. 1, completing 42 on 53 pass attempts. The 42 completions rank tied for the fourth highest total in Division II this season. He also completed 42 passes versus Upper Iowa last season in a victory in Fayette. In two games versus UIU, Gimbel has completed 84 passes on 109 attempts for 890 yards and seven touchdowns.  

    CARRINGTON EARNS NSIC HONOR: True freshman running back Isley Carrington was named the NSIC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 3. Carrington, who was appearing in his first career game, rushed for 181 yards and three touchdowns on just 11 carries and also caught three passes for 24 yards. His 16.5 yards per rushing attempt set a new SMSU single-game record. He is the second SMSU player (Blake Gimbel) to earn the award this season.

    CARRINGTON SETS SINGLE-GAME MARK: True freshman running back Isley Carrington made a big first impression in his first career game in week five versus Upper Iowa. His 181 yards rushing on 11 carries set a school single-game record for highest average per carry at 16.5, breaking the previous mark of 11.8 set by Barry Meyer in 1998.

    U-MARY PASSING HELD IN CHECK: The SMSU defense limited U-Mary to just 85 passing yards on 19 attempts in a week three victory. It was the first time since Oct. 4, 2014, (vs. Minnesota State, 66 yards) that SMSU held a team to less than 100 yards passing in a game.

    SMSU EARNS FIRST-EVER WIN OVER TOP 25 TEAM: Southwest Minnesota State earned its first-ever victory over a Division II Top 25 team on Sept. 1, defeating No. 19 Minnesota Duluth, 42-38, in Marshall.  

    MUSTANG AND THE AFCA TOP 25: Southwest Minnesota State received 20 points in the Sept. 5 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Top 25 poll, the most points the program has ever received in the weekly poll. SMSU's 20 points ranked 33rd overall. Last season, for the first time since 2008, SMSU received votes in the AFCA poll, receiving two votes in each of the polls on Oct. 12, 19 and 26.

    GET IN THE "ZONE": Southwest Minnesota State has scored on 37 of its 43 (86.0) possessions inside the "red zone" this season with 36 touchdowns and one field goal. SMSU opponents are 35 of 39 (89.7) inside "red zone" this season with 27 touchdowns and eight field goals. The following is SMSU in the "red zone" since 2010.
    Year    Red-Zone    TD    FG
    2010    22 of 30 (73.3)    22    0
    2011    35 of 41 (85.4)    29    6
    2012    30 of 37 (81.1)    25    5
    2013    49 of 57 (86.0)    40    9
    2014    35 of 43 (81.4)    26    8
    2015    39 of 50 (78.0)    36    3
    2016    37 of 43 (86.0)    36    1

    BIG PLAY MUSTANGS: SMSU has recorded 89 offensive/defensive plays or kick/punt returns of 20 or more yards in 2016, including 51 by the Mustang offense (15 run, 36 pass). For a complete look at the "long" plays and SMSU's "money" plays for this season, go to pages 16-17. The following is SMSU's "long plays" since 2010.
"Long" plays (20 yards or more) since 2010
    Year    No.    TD    Run    Pass    KR    PR    IR    FR
    2010    61    14    10    32    18    0    0    1
    2011    60    8    13    22    23    1    1    0
    2012    66    20    18    28    19    1    0    0
    2013    125    30    28    51    41    1    2    2
    2014    71    12    15    27    21    3    5    0
    2015    78    18    13    39    18    5    3    0
    2016    89    19    15    36    33    1    3    1

    SPECIAL TEAMS LEADERS: Southwest Minnesota State junior Michael Rivera leads the Mustang special teams with a eight tackles this season with all eight coming on kickoffs. Senior Esten Weber and sophomore Austin Wells each rank second with five tackles all on kickoffs.  

    2016 TEAM CAPTAINS: Four players, two on offense and two on defense, have been named team captains for the 2016 season. The team captains were selected by a vote of the Mustang players. The offensive team captains selected were senior tackle Grant Greenfield and junior quarterback Blake Gimbel. The defensive team captains named were senior linebacker Tyler Flud and senior cornerback Dallin Finley. It's the second straight season Gimbel and Flud have been selected a team captain.

    SMSU IN THE SOUTH: The NSIC adapted divisional play during the 2008 season. SMSU is a combined 22-36 all-time in South Division games and has finished in the top half of the division just once in eight seasons. SMSU had its highest finish in 2013 at second place, but has finished fourth three times, fifth once and sixth three times.

    MUSTANGS AT HOME: The 2016 season marks the ninth year that Mattke Field at the Schwan Regional Event Center serves as the home for SMSU football. SMSU, which is 4-1 at home this season, is 24-26 all-time at the stadium. SMSU has secured back-to-back winning seasons at home for the first time since having four straight winning seasons from 1989-92. The $16 million facility opened in the fall of 2008 with the first college football game played on Aug. 30 versus Minnesota Crookston.  


    RECORD ON THE ROAD: SMSU finished 1-4 on the road in 2016. SMSU finished 5-1 in road games last season setting a school record for road wins in a season. Prior to last season, the 1991 and 2013 teams held the record of four wins. SMSU is a combined 30-54 in road games since 2000.

    GREENFIELD NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN: Senior offensive tackle Grant Greenfield was named a second team NCAA Division II preseason All-American by Lindy's magazine, a noted college football preview publication. Greenfield, who was named all-region in 2015, helped the SMSU offense last season lead the NSIC in total offense with 486 yards per game, including ranking fourth in rushing (196.8) and fourth in passing (288.6). Greenfield is one of just five players from the NSIC to earn either first or second team preseason honors by Lindy's.

    EIGHT VICTORIES THE HIGHEST AT DIVISION II LEVEL: Southwest Minnesota State finished the 2015 season with eight victories setting a school record for wins at the Division II level (since 1995). SMSU finished 8-3 overall and 4-3 in the NSIC South Division, tying for fourth overall in the NSIC and placing fourth in the South Division. It's just the third time ever an SMSU team has won eight or more games in a season. The 1991 team finished 9-1, while the 1990 squad was 8-3.

    SMSU IN THE 2015 NCAA REGION RANKINGS: For the first time in program history, SMSU was ranked in the NCAA Super Region 3 rankings during the 2015 season. SMSU was ranked No. 8 in the first region poll released on Oct. 26 and after falling out of the Nov. 2 ranking, SMSU moved back into the poll at No. 9 on Nov. 9.

    TURNOVER MARGIN: Southwest Minnesota State is "plus-4" in turnover margin this season following 10 games. Since the start of the 2004 season (143 games), SMSU has been a "plus" in turnover margin in just 44 games (three in 2004, two in 2005, one in 2006, two in 2007, three in 2008, three in 2009, two in 2010, three in 2011, seven in 2012, six in 2013, twice in 2014, five times in 2015 and five times in 2016). In SMSU's last 120 conference games, which spans from late in the 2004 season through this season, SMSU is minus-39 in turnover margin. The Mustangs have been "even" or "minus" in turnover margin in 80 of their last 120 conference games.

    THE 2016 ROSTER: The 2016 SMSU roster features 114 players (as of Nov. 8) with 21 seniors, 19 juniors, 18 sophomores, 26 redshirt freshmen and 30 freshmen. The roster includes players from 15 different states and Canada. Minnesota leads the way with 51 players, followed by Iowa (12), Illinois (11), Wisconsin (8), South Dakota (6), California (4), Florida (4), Michigan (3), Oregon (3), Colorado (3), Arizona (3), Nebraska (2), Nevada (1), Georgia (1), Virginia (1) and Ontario (1).

    NSIC PRESEASON POLL: SMSU was picked to finish seventh overall and fourth in the South Division in the annual 16-team Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll. SMSU received one first place vote in both the overall and South Division poll. Junior quarterback Blake Gimbel and senior linebacker Tyler Flud were named "Players to Watch" in the NSIC this season.

    WORKING OVERTIME: SMSU has played in 11 overtime games since the NCAA added the extra session in 1998. SMSU is 4-7 all-time in overtime games, including 1-3 in multi-overtime contests. SMSU's last overtime game was a home loss to Wayne State (48-45) on Oct. 25, 2014, while its last overtime win came on Nov. 2, 2013, (51-44) over Winona State. The program's last multi-overtime game was a 34-31 double overtime loss at Minnesota State on Oct. 13, 2012.

    FOR OPENERS: Southwest Minnesota State is now 22-27 all-time in season openers following this year's 42-38 win versus Minnesota Duluth on Sept. 1. SMSU is 3-4 in season openers under head coach Cory Sauter.

    MUSTANGS ON HOMECOMING: Southwest Minnesota State is now 22-25 all-time on homecoming following this season's win over Upper Iowa. SMSU has won three straight and four of the last five homecoming games. SMSU is 6-11 on homecoming since 2000.

    MUSTANG HISTORY: The 2016 season marks the 49th year of college football at Southwest Minnesota State dating back to 1968. SMSU owns an all-time record of 192-308-5, including 130-214-5 in conference play. SMSU has recorded 10 winning seasons, made two NAIA playoff appearances (1987 and 1991) and one Mineral Water Bowl appearance (2013). The program earned its lone conference championship in 1990.

    SMSU VERSUS THE NORTH: Since 2012, when the NSIC schedule required each team to play four inter-divisional games, SMSU has a record of 11-9 versus NSIC North Division teams. For the first time in program history, SMSU went a perfect 4-0 versus North Division squads in 2015 and this season finished with a 3-1 record. Since divisional play was started in 2009, SMSU is a combined 20-32 all-time in South Division games.

    ABOUT AUGUSTANA UNIVERSITY: Jerry Olszewski is in his fourth season as head coach at Augustana with an overall record of 26-18. He was the head coach at St. Olaf College from 2008-12. The Vikings are led by senior quarterback Trey Heid, who was named NSIC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, after accounting for eight touchdowns in Augustana's win over Concordia-St. Paul last Saturday. Heid ranks second in the country in touchdown passes and total offense this season and enters the final regular season game with an Augustana single-season record 3,318 passing yards. He became just the second player in NSIC history to throw over 100 career touchdown passes in last week's win over Concordia-St. Paul. Heid, who is also the NSIC's all-time leader in total offense, has thrown 100 touchdown passes in 43 career NSIC games and 101 in his career. He has completed 230 of 370 pass attempts with 37 touchdowns and nine interceptions this season and also leads the team in rushing with 658 yards and nine touchdowns. Jackie Davis has rushed for 422 yards and six touchdowns on 72 carries. Senior wide receiver Matt Heller has caught a team-high 71 passes for a Division II leading 1,353 yards and 18 touchdowns, while senior wide receiver Charlie Hayes has 51 receptions for 743 yards and five touchdowns. The Vikings defense is led by sophomore linebacker Kirby Hora, who has 99 tackles with 5.5 for loss. Senior defensive lineman Bryson Hamilton has a team-leading 11.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks.

    MUSTANGS ON RADIO: All SMSU football games during the 2016 season are broadcast on Marshall Radio, 105.1 FM KARL. Ryan Rohlik is in his fourth season as the play-by-play voice of SMSU football, while Anthony Rohlik will provide analysis.