THIS WEEK
•Southwest Minnesota State University (2-1, 0-0 NSIC South) takes on its final NSIC North Division foe of the season this Saturday, Sept. 23, facing Bemidji State University (1-2, 0-0 NSIC North) starting at 2 p.m. at Chet Anderson Stadium.
•Saturday's game is Homecoming for BSU.
•SMSU will be looking for its third straight victory following an opening season loss.
•SMSU's last three-game winning streak was last season from Sept. 17 to Oct. 1.
•BSU was picked third in the NSIC preseason poll and was ranked No. 25 in the preseason American Football Coaches Association Top 25.
•Saturday's game will be televised live on Midco Sports Network. It's the second of three games that SMSU will appear on Midco Sports Network this season.

    SMSU OPENING DRIVE TIDBITS
•Senior Ashanti Payne ranks 12th in team history with 1,452 rushing yards while sophomore Max Simmons ranks 15th with 1,152 yards.
•Junior Je'Darien Jackson-Hanchett's four interceptions on Sept. 7 at MSU Moorhead is the highest single-game total in all levels of NCAA football this season.
•SMSU is 9-2 versus NSIC North Division teams the past three seasons.  
•SMSU has lost seven straight at BSU with its last victory coming on Sept. 27, 1997.
•SMSU ranks third in Division II in turnover margin (+2.3) and fourth in turnovers forced (+10).
•SMSU ranks 13th in Division II in third-down conversion percentage (50.8).
•SMSU is one of just 11 teams in Division II to not turn the ball over via fumble this season.
•SMSU has outscored its opponents 34-17 in the first quarter this season. It's the only quarter SMSU has held a scoring advantage this season.
•Senior Blake Gimbel needs one more touchdown pass to tie Josh Shudlick (2005-08) for third all-time in team history with 59.  
•Gimble is 180 passing yards shy of moving into third place in team history with 7,323 yards.
•Senior Nate Huot ranks third in NSIC history with 203 career receptions. He is seven receptions shy of tying the conference record of 210 (NSIC games only) set by Brian Jark of Northern State (2006-09).
•Huot ranks fourth in team history in receptions and fifth in touchdowns.
•Huot has 10 career 100-yard receiving games which ranks tied for fourth in team history.
•Sophomore Max Simmons ranks seventh in team history with 20 rushing touchdowns. He is one shy of tying Ken Sather and Rich Froemling for fifth all-time.
•SMSU returns home for Homecoming on Saturday, Sept. 30, taking on No. 7 Sioux Falls at 5 p.m.

    STRONG SECOND HALF LEADS SMSU TO VICTORY
•SMSU earned its second straight victory with a 28-20 Ag Bowl victory over Minot State on Saturday night.
•Ashanti Payne rushed for a career-high 154 yards with a career-high three touchdowns on a career-high 30 carries.
•Payne rushed for a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to rally the Mustangs from a 20-14 fourth quarter deficit. •Max Simmons added 124 yards rushing and one touchdown on 24 carries.
•SMSU closed the game rushing for a season-high 272 yards on 55 attempts and finished the game with 421 yards of total offense.
•SMSU starting quarterback Blake Gimbel played just two series before leaving with an injury.
•Connor Wilkie finished the game and completed 13 of 21 pass attempts for 95 yards.
•Michael Rivera caught a career-high seven passes for a career-high 72 yards.
•Michael Griffin recorded a career-high 10 tackles.
•Webb Bolstad had a strong game with a career-high five tackles with two for loss and one sack.
•A pair of safeties made fourth quarter interceptions to seal the victory. Adam Elliott and Lucas Fisher each recorded their first career interceptions to end MISU drives in SMSU territory.

    MR. PRESIDENT WITH CAREER-HIGHS VS. MSUM
•Senior Ashanti Payne had a career night in the victory over Minot State on Saturday.
•He set career-highs in rushing attempts (30), yards (154) and touchdowns (3) including scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
•Payne served as SMSU student body president from 2015-17.

    SMSU VERSUS THE NORTH
•Since 2012, when the NSIC schedule required each team to play four inter-divisional games, SMSU has a record of 13-10 versus NSIC North Division teams.
•SMSU is 9-2 versus North Division teams since 2015.
•SMSU went a perfect 4-0 versus North Division squads in 2015 and last season finished 3-1.

    HEAD COACH
•Cory Sauter is in his eighth season as head coach and has an overall record of 36-45, including 35-43 in conference games.
•Sauter's 36 victories rank second all-time in program history among 10 head coaches.
•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 Sauter can be found on page 24.

    SMSU / BSU IN THE NCAA RANKINGS
•A full listing of SMSU in the national statistics can be found on pages 22-23.
    (170 teams ranked)    SMSU    BSU
    Scoring Offense    36th    40th    
    Rushing Offense    78th    88th    
    Passing Offense    30th    57th
    Passing Efficiency    41st    107th
    Total Offense    36th    72nd
    Scoring Defense    114th    81st
    Rushing Defense    74th    42nd
    Pass Defense    151st    149th
    Pass Efficiency Defense    70th    29th
    Total Defense    131st    108th
    Net Punting    83rd    70th
    Punt Returns    70th    58th
    Kickoff Returns    90th    30th
    Turnover Margin    3rd    21st
    Fewest Penalty Yards/Gm.    63rd    107th
    Time of Poss.    70th    163rd
    3rd Down Conv.    13th    113th    
    3rd Down Conv. Defense    146th    74th    

    MUSTANG DEFENSE FORCING TURNOVERS/SCORING
•The SMSU defense has forced a total of 10 turnovers in three games ranking fifth in Division II.
•SMSU recorded six turnovers with five interceptions in a week two road victory over MSU Moorhead.
•SMSU forced a pair of turnovers in its loss to St. Cloud State to open the season and forced two more in the win over Minot State in week three.
•The SMSU defense has scored one touchdown this season with Hunter Cushman returning an interception 68 yards versus St. Cloud State. Cushman also had a 31-yard fumble return at MSU Moorhead but was tackled at the MSUM 1-yard line.
•The SMSU defense was opportunistic last season, forcing at least one turnover in the first 10 games, including three or more in five games and two or more in six games.

    GIMBEL IN THE RECORD BOOK
•Senior quarterback Blake Gimbel ranks first in school history in completing percentage (67.3), third in completions (659), fourth in passing yards (7,143) and fourth in passing touchdowns (58).
•Gimbel holds the school single-game record for completions in a game (42, vs. Upper Iowa, 2015 and 2016 and vs. Augustana, 2016) and twice has set the school single-season record for completion percentage (69.2).
•A complete look at where Gimbel ranks in school history is listed on page 5.
GIMBEL CAREER STARTS GAME-BY-GAME
    2015    Opponent    Comp.    Att.    Int    TD    Yards    Result
    S3    at Minot State    23    42    0    2    210    W, 21-10
    S12    Bemidji State    31    42    1    2    264    W, 34-30
    S19    at St. Cloud State    16    24    0    1    182    W, 21-20
    S26    MSU Moorhead    18    28    0    5    299    W, 48-9
    O3    at Augustana    24    37    1    1    332    L, 23-48
    O10    at Wayne State    16    26    0    3    247    W, 61-3
    O17    Sioux Falls    38    52    0    3    384    L, 26-34
    O24    at Upper Iowa    42    56    0    4    454    W, 34-19
    O31    Minnesota State    24    40    3    1    253    L, 17-55
    N7    at Concordia    25    35    1    3    243    W, 48-24
    N14    Winona State    16    29    1    1    185    W, 33-28    

    2016    Opponent    Comp.    Att.    Int    TD    Yards    Result
    S1    Minnesota Duluth    25    42    1    5    397    W, 42-38
    S10    at Northern State    34    49    2    2    336    L, 35-51
    S17    University of Mary    15    19    1    4    175    W, 47-23
    S24    at Minn.Crookston    20    28    0    1    283    W, 47-13
    O1    Upper Iowa    42    53    2    3    436    W, 59-41
    O8    at Sioux Falls    27    40    1    3    248    L, 28-48
    O15    Wayne State    24    35    1    2    256    L, 39-41
    O20    at Minnesota State    30    45    1    1    245    L, 20-35
    O29    Concordia-St. Paul    9    17    0    1    122    W, 28-14
    N5    at Winona State    19    31    0    0    170    L, 27-42
    N12    Augustana    42    56    2    2    362    L, 20-35

2017    Opponent    Comp.    Att.    Int    TD    Yards    Result
    A31    St. Cloud State    25    39    2    2    285    L, 26-41
    S7    at MSU Moorhead    32    44    0    5    389    W, 51-35
    S16    Minot State    6    7    0    0    54    W, 28-20

    GIMBEL TIES OWN COMPLETION RECORD
•Quarterback Blake Gimbel twice tied his own school record for completions in a single game last season.
•In the win over Upper Iowa on Oct. 1, he completed 42 on 53 pass attempts while he also completed 42 of 56 passes in a loss to Augustana on Nov. 12.
•The 42 completions ranked tied for the fourth highest total in Division II last season.
•He also completed 42 passes versus Upper Iowa in 2015 in a victory in Fayette.
•In two games versus UIU, Gimbel has completed 84 passes on 109 attempts for 890 yards and seven touchdowns.  

    HUOT LEADS THE WAY IN RECEPTIONS...AGAIN
•Senior wide receiver Nate Huot has led the team in receptions the last three seasons.
•Huot is just the third player in team history and first since Ray Denson (2003-05) to lead the team three straight seasons.
•No player in team history has led the team in receptions for four straight seasons.

    HUOT MOVING UP SMSU RECORD BOOK
•Senior wide receiver Nate Huot ranks fourth in team history in receptions (203)
•He ranks fifth on the school's all-time touchdown receptions list (27) and is seventh in receiving yards (2,657).
•A complete look at where Huot ranks is listed on page 5.

    HUOT IN THE NSIC RECORD BOOK
•Senior wide receiver Nate Huot is closing in on the all-time receptions record in NSIC history (NSIC games only).
•He now has 203 receptions in 36 games ranking fourth in conference history.
•Brian Jark from Northern State (2006-09, 36 games) holds the record with 210 career receptions in conference games.
•He opened the 2017 season ranked seventh in NSIC history with 184 receptions in 33 career games.
•A complete look at where Huot ranks in the NSIC is listed on page 5.

    SIMMONS IN THE RECORD BOOK
•Max Simmons ranks seventh in team history with 20 rushing touchdowns and ranks 15th in rushing yards (1,152).
•His 18 rushing touchdowns last season ranked second in team history while he also ranked fifth in touchdowns scored (18) and fifth in scoring (108).
•The 18 rushing touchdowns was a school single-season history for rushing touchdowns by a freshman.  
•Simmons also twice tied the school single-game record for rushing touchdowns last season (at Minnesota Crookston and at Winona State).

    JACKSON-HANCHETT SETS SINGLE-GAME RECORD
•Junior cornerback Je'Darien Jackson-Hanchett set a school single-game record with four interceptions in SMSU's week two win at MSU Moorhead.

    GIMBEL AND JACKSON-HANCHETT EARN AWARD
•Senior Blake Gimbel and junior Je'Darien Jackson-Hanchett were named the NSIC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week on Sept. 11.
•It' the fourth time Gimbel has earned the award in his career.

    THE KICK IS UP...AND GOOD
•Freshman kicker Skyler Crew booted three field goals in SMSU's week two win at MSU Moorhead. He is the first Mustang to make three in a game since Mike Wenk on Sept. 13, 2014.
•He is also 12 of 14 on PATs.

    CUSHMAN MAKING BIG TIME PLAYS
•Junior cornerback Hunter Cushman has made a big impact with several big plays this season.
•He returned an interception 68 yards for a touchdown in week one versus St. Cloud State.
•He also had a 25-yard fumble return versus MSU Moorhead in week two setting up a 1-yard SMSU touchdown drive.




    NEY RACKS UP 20 TACKLES IN OPENER
•Junior linebacker Alex Ney racked up 20 tackles including 11 solo stops during SMSU's loss to St. Cloud State in week one.
•The 20 tackles by Ney is the most by an SMSU player since the 1997 season. The single-game record is 27 set by Pat Litwicki versus Dakota State in 1978.

    SMSU HIGH-OCTANE OFFENSE
•Since being shutout on Nov. 5, 2011, Southwest Minnesota State has scored 30 or more points in 33 of its last 60 games dating back to the final game of the 2011 season.
•Since Nov. 12, 2011, SMSU has scored 40 or more points 18 times, 50 or more points nine times and 60 or more points once.

    SPECIAL TEAMS LEADERS
•Sophomores Josh Bauer leads the Mustang special teams with a five tackles with all five on kickoffs.
•Shaylar Burnell ranks second on the team with four kickoff return tackles.   

    GET IN THE "ZONE"
•Southwest Minnesota State has scored on 11 of its 13 (84.6) possessions inside the "red zone" this season with eight touchdowns and three field goals.
•SMSU opponents are nine of 11 (81.8) inside "red zone" this season with eight touchdowns and one field goal.
•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    38 of 45 (84.4)    37    1
    2017    11 of 13 (84.6)    8    3

    BIG PLAY MUSTANGS
•SMSU has recorded 25 offensive/defensive plays or kick/punt returns of 20 or more yards in 2017, including 15 by the Mustang offense (4 run, 11 pass).
•For a complete look at the "long" plays and SMSU's "money" plays for this season, go to pages 17-18.
•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    93    21    15    40    33    1    3    1
    2017    27    7    4    11    8    0    1    1

    2017 TEAM CAPTAINS
•Four players--two on offense and two on defense--serve as team captains for the 2017 season.
•The offensive team captains selected were senior center Austin Hilgert and senior quarterback Blake Gimbel.
•The defensive team captains are junior linebacker Alex Ney and junior defensive lineman Chance Steward.
•It's the third straight season Gimbel has been selected a team captain.
•The team captains were selected by a vote of the Mustang players.

    FOUR TRUE FRESHMEN SEE ACTION
•A total of four true freshmen have seen game action in three games this season.
•Brenton Shaw and Chris Bain have both played on kickoff return with Shaw recording five returns for 95 yards including a long of 22 yards versus St. Cloud State.
•Lucas Fisher has appeared on special teams and defense and has one interception.  
•Skyler Crew handles place kicking duties and made three field goals in the win at MSU Moorhead.  

    THE 2017 ROSTER
•The 2017 SMSU roster features 109 players with 17 seniors, 28 juniors, 25 sophomores, 15 redshirt freshmen and 24 freshmen.
•The roster includes players from 15 different states and Canada. Minnesota leads the way with 53 players, followed by Iowa (15), Wisconsin (9), South Dakota (7), Illinois (7), Florida (3), Oregon (3), Arizona (2), Nebraska (2), Louisiana (2), California (1), Texas (1), Washington (1), Georgia (1), Maryland (1) and Ontario (1).

    NEW LOOK REGION FOR THE NSIC
•SMSU and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference has been placed in a new region for the 2017 season.
•The NSIC is now a part of Super Region 4, which consists of schools from the NSIC, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), the Lone Star Conference (LSC) and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC).

    SMSU IN THE SOUTH
•The NSIC adapted divisional play prior to the 2008 season.
•SMSU is 22-37 all-time in South Division games and has finished in the top half of the division three in nine seasons.
•SMSU had its highest finish in 2013 at second place and has finished fourth three times, fifth twice and sixth three times.  

    MUSTANGS AT HOME
•The 2017 season marks the 10th year that Mattke Field at the Schwan Regional Event Center serves as the home for SMSU football.
•SMSU, which finished 4-2 at home last season, is 25-28 all-time at the stadium including 1-1 this season.
•SMSU has recorded 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 is 1-0 on the road this season.
•SMSU finished 1-4 on the road in 2016.
•SMSU went 5-1 in road games in 2015 setting a school record for road wins in a season.
•SMSU is a combined 31-54 in road games since 2000.

    TURNOVER MARGIN BY THE NUMBERS
•SMSU is "plus-7" in turnover margin in 2017.
•SMSU finished "plus-2" in turnover margin in 2016.
•Since the start of the 2004 season (147 games), SMSU has been a "plus" in turnover margin in just 46 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, five times in 2016 and twice in 2017).
•In SMSU's last 124 conference games, which spans from late in the 2004 season through this season, SMSU is minus-34 in turnover margin.
•The Mustangs have been "even" or "minus" in turnover margin in 82 of their last 124 conference games.






    NSIC PRESEASON POLL
•SMSU was picked to finish eighth overall and fifth in the South Division in the annual 16-team NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•Senior quarterback Blake Gimbel and junior linebacker Alex Ney were named "Players to Watch" in the NSIC this season.

    ALL-NSIC RETURNING PLAYERS
•SMSU has three players on this season's team that earned All-NSIC South Division honors following the 2016 season.
•Running back Max Simmons was named the NSIC Offensive Newcomer of the Year and second team All-NSIC South.
•Senior quarterback Blake Gimbel and senior wide receiver Nate Huot were both named honorable mention All-NSIC South.

    2016 ALL-REGION HONORS
•Running back Max Simmons was named the 2016 Don Hansen Football Super Region Three Freshman of the Year and was named third team all-region.

    SIMMONS RANKS FIRST IN ALL OF NCAA
•Running back Max Simmons not only led Division II, but he ranked first among all freshman players in all four divisions of NCAA football with 18 rushing touchdowns in 2016.

    WORKING OVERTIME
•SMSU has played in 11 overtime games since the NCAA added overtime in 1998, recording a 4-7 record.,
•SMSU is 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.

    MUSTANGS ON HOMECOMING
•SMSU is 22-25 all-time on homecoming.
•SMSU has won three straight and four of the last five homecoming games.
•SMSU is 6-11 on homecoming since 2000.

    SMSU TO APPEAR ON NSIC GAME OF THE WEEK
•SMSU will appear twice on the "NSIC Thursday Night Game of the Week" aired Midco Sports Network.
•SMSU's game at MSU Moorhead on Sept. 7 and SMSU's home game versus Minnesota State on Oct. 19, will air live on Midco Sports Network.

    ABOUT BEMIDJI STATE
•Bemidji State is 1-2 on the season with both losses on the road to Winona State and Augustana.
•BSU dropped a 30-27 overtime contest to Augustana last Saturday afternoon.
•Brent Bolte is his second season as head coach at BSU with a record of 10-5. He led BSU to a 9-3 record and a  Mineral Water Bowl victory last season.
•Jordan Hein has completed 55 of 111 passes for 727 yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions.
•Michael Washington leads a balanced rushing attack with a team-high 138 yards and two touchdowns on just six carries in two games.
•Tahi Nomane (136) and Andrew Lackowski (132) have combined for 268 yards rushing and one touchdown.
•Blake Holder has caught 13 passes for 133 yards and one touchdown.
•Blair Van Ess has a team-leading three touchdown receptions.
•The BSU defense is paced by Niko Daniello, who has amassed 27 tackles with 4.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks.
•John Vogeler is tied for the team lead with three interceptions and has 23 tackles.
•All-American cornerback Gunner Olszewski has recorded 16 tackles and has nine career interceptions in three seasons.
•Kicker Isaac Aanerud was named the NSIC Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday for making two fields goals three PATs at Augustana.

    FOR OPENERS
•Southwest Minnesota State is now 22-28 all-time in season openers following this season's loss to St. Cloud State.
•SMSU is 3-5 in season openers under head coach Cory Sauter.

    MUSTANG HISTORY
•The 2017 season marks the 50th year of college football at Southwest Minnesota State dating to 1968.
•SMSU owns an all-time record of 194-310-5, including 132-216-5 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.

    MUSTANGS ON RADIO
•All SMSU football games during the 2017 season will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL.
•Ryan Rohlik is in his fifth season as the play-by-play voice of SMSU football, while Anthony Rohlik provides analysis.