THIS WEEK
•Southwest Minnesota State University (3-3, 1-3 NSIC South) plays its third straight NSIC North Division foe this Saturday, Oct. 13, facing No. 6 ranked University of Minnesota Duluth (6-0, 4-0 NSIC North) starting at 1:05 p.m. at Malosky Stadium in Duluth.
•SMSU will be looking for its first four-game winning streak since opening the 2015 season with four straight victories.
•SMSU has just one victory in 17 all-time games in Duluth.  
•SMSU begins the week ranked third in Division II in both turnovers gained (17) and turnover margin (+1.5).
•UMD enters the game ranked third in Division II in scoring defense (11.0) and third in total defense (215.0).
•A preview on UMD is located on page 4.

Game Facts
Southwest Minnesota State University (3-3, 1-3 NSIC South) at
Univeristy of Minnesota Duluth (6-0, 4-0 NSIC North)  
Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018 • 1:05 p.m. • Duluth, Minn.
Malosky Stadium (turf)

Broadcasts
Radio Broadcast: 105.1 FM KARL
Internet Radio: marshallradio.net
Internet Video Broadcast: SMSUmustangs.com/watchnow
Live Statistics: SMSUmustangs.com

SMSU vs. UMD Series Notes
(all-time results listed on page 5)
Southwest Minnesota State and Minnesota Duluth meet for the 35th time on Saturday afternoon with UMD leading 26-7-1* in a series that started on Oct. 16, 1976 ... SMSU has won only six games on the field of play ... SMSU was awarded a forfeit victory during the 1986 season ... UMD leads the series 14-2-1* in games played in Duluth with SMSU's lone victory on the field coming in 1999 ... SMSU's win two years ago snapped an eight-game UMD winning streak in the series ... UMD has scored 34 or more points in the past nine games ... SMSU won the last meeting, 42-38, in the 2016 season opener played in Marshall ... UMD has been ranked nationally   in the last five meetings.

The Last Time - SMSU vs. UMD
Blake Gimbel connected on a 14-yard touchdown pass to Ty Steffensen with 23 seconds remaining to help Southwest Minnesota State to a dramatic come-from-behind 42-38 victory over No. 19 Minnesota Duluth on Sept. 1, 2016, in Marshall. UMD held a 38-28 lead with five minutes left in the game, but SMSU rallied with a pair of touchdowns in the final three minutes and 11 seconds to earn its first-ever win over an NCAA Division II Top 25 team. Gimbel finished the night completing 25 of 42 pass attempts for 397 yards and tied a career-high with five touchdown passes. Gabe Galamue caught six passes for 102 yards, while Nate Huot finished with five receptions for 160 yards and one touchdown. Ashanti Payne paced the Mustang rushing attack with 74 yards on 12 carries. UMD closed the game with 539 yards of offense, but was held to just 199 in the second half. UMD ran 83 plays compared to 61 for SMSU and held a 40:29 to 19:31 time of possession advantage. Darren Walker the Bulldogs with 154 yards rushing and one touchdown on 24 carries. Drew Bauer completed 19 of 33 pass attempts for 359 yards and two touchdowns.
 
SMSU vs. UMD Series Information
Overall:    UMD leads 26-7-1*, (includes one SMSU forfeit victory)
In Marshall:    UMD leads 11-5
In Duluth:    UMD leads 14-2-1*
Neutral:     UMD leads 1-0
Last SMSU win:    Sept. 1, 2016 (42-38)
Last UMD win:    Sept. 20, 2014 (38-7)
Largest win for SMSU:    36 (43-7, 1987)
Largest win for UMD:    70 (70-0, 1976)
Longest win streak for SMSU:    2 (1986-87)
Longest win streak for UMD:    10 (1976-85)
Current win streak:    SMSU, 1
Sauter vs. UMD:    1-2
Wiese vs. SMSU:    1-1

    SMSU VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS
•SMSU is 1-22 versus Division II Top 25 teams since the 2008 season including 0-2 this season.
•SMSU's lone victory versus a Division II Top 25 team came in team history came in the 2016 season opener versus No. 19 Minnesota Duluth (42-38) in Marshall.

    OPENING DRIVE TIDBITS
•SMSU has forced a combined 12 turnovers during its three-game winning streak.
•SMSU rushed for a season-high 256 yards in the win over Minnesota Crookston last week.
•SMSU also had a season-high in total yards (548) and first downs (28) in the victory over UMC.
•Junior defensive end Tyshonn Woodard set a career-high with six tackles, including three for loss, recovered a fumble and blocked a field goal in last Saturday's win.
•Sophomore kicker Skyler Crew made his first two field goals of the season in the win over UMC.
•Junior wide receiver Daniel Davis has three 100-yard receiving games in the last four weeks.
•Davis ranks sixth in Division II with eight touchdown receptions and ranks 19th in receiving yards (582) and 27th in receptions per game (6.0).
•Davis ranks third in the NSIC in both receptions and receiving yards.
•Senior Blake Gimbel recorded his 10th career 300-yard passing game two weeks ago at UMary, ranking fourth in team history.
•Junior running back Max Simmons has nine career 100-yard rushing games which ranks tied for fourth in team history.
•The 75-yard touchdown run by Simmons two weeks ago at UMary is the longest play from scrimmage for SMSU this season.
 •Senior Blake Gimbel ranks first in team history with 809 completions surpassing Josh Shudlick's (2005-08) school record of 769. Gimbel set the record in SMSU's road win over UMary on Sept. 29.
•Gimbel ranks sixth in Division II in completions per game (24.8) and is 17th in passing yards (1,605).
•Senior linebacker Shane Ratkovich has led the team in tackles for five straight games. He has a team-high 61 tackles and ranks first in the NSIC and 26th in Division II with 10.2 tackles per game.
•Junior cornerback Cory Hollowell ranks seventh in Division II in passes defended with 1.8 per game.

    SMSU VERSUS THE NORTH
•Since 2012, when the NSIC schedule had each team playing four inter-divisional games, SMSU has a record of 15-11 versus NSIC North Division teams.
•SMSU is 11-3 versus North Division teams since 2015.
•SMSU went a perfect 4-0 versus North Division squads in 2015, finished 3-1 in 2016 and 2-2 in 2017.  

    SMSU / UMD IN THE NCAA RANKINGS
•The following is where SMSU and UMD rank in the current NCAA statistics.
•A full listing of SMSU in the weekly NCAA statistics can be found on pages 22-23.
    (167 teams ranked)    SMSU    UMD    
    Scoring Offense    61st     18th    
    Rushing Offense    131st     24th    
    Passing Offense    31st    54th
    Total Offense    72nd    22nd
    Scoring Defense    86th    3rd
    Rushing Defense    107th    10th
    Pass Defense    114th    4th
    Pass Efficiency Defense    118th    5th
    Total Defense    109th    3rd
    Net Punting    109th    31st
    Punt Returns    92nd    21st
    Kickoff Returns    151st    79th
    Turnover Margin    3rd    71st
    Fewest Penalty Yards/Gm.    35th    125th
    Time of Possession    93rd    2nd
    3rd Down Conversions    79th    6th        
    3rd Down Conv. Defense    72nd    1st

    SMSU EARNS ANOTHER BIG WIN OVER UMC
•SMSU pushed its winning streak to three in a row with a 55-6 victory over Minnesota Crookston on Saturday night Marshall.
•The Mustang defense forced six turnovers and also blocked a pair of field goal attempts.
•SMSU's Daniel Davis led the way tying a school single-game record with four touchdown receptions, while catching a game-high six passes for 134 yards.  •Blake Gimbel completed 24 of 34 pass attempts for 280 yards and four touchdowns.
•SMSU closed the game with a season-high 548 yards offense and also set a season-high with 28 first downs.
•Tyshonn Woodard helped lead the Mustang defense with six tackles, including three for loss, while recovering a fumble and blocking a field goal.
•Alex Ney and Shane Ratkovich both finished with six tackles as the defense finished with three interceptions and three fumble recoveries.

    DAVIS NAMED NSIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
•Junior wide receiver Daniel Davis was named the NSIC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday following his performance in SMSU's win over UMC.
•Davis tied the program single-game record with four touchdown receptions with scoring receptions of 18, 32, 19 and 30 yards. He finished the night with a game-high six receptions for 134 yards.  

    MUSTANG DEFENSE FORCING TURNOVERS
•SMSU has forced three or more turnovers in four of six games this season, including five in a week two loss to Wayne State and six in a win over Minnesota Crookston in week six.
•SMSU has forced 17 total turnovers which ranks third in Division II.
•SMSU forced 22 turnovers last season ranking 52nd in Division II.
•SMSU forced a turnover in 10 of 11 games last season and recorded two or more turnovers in seven games.

    GIMBEL NAMED NSIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
•Senior quarterback Blake Gimbel was named the NSIC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 1 following his performance in a victory at UMary.
•Gimbel completed 21 of 31 passes for 356 yards and tied a career-high with five touchdown passes, while also rushing for a one-yard touchdown. He completed touchdown passes of 38, 64, 10, 18 and 16 yards—all in the first half—in helping SMSU earn its second straight victory.
•It is the fifth time in his career he has earned the weekly award.

    DICKE RECOGNIZED FOR TWO MAJOR AWARDS
•Senior defensive tackle Jon Dicke was recognized for two major awards last month for his work in the classroom and community.
•On Sept. 13, Dicke was named one of 22 college football players in the country named to the AFCA Allstate Good Works Team.
•The prestigious award, which has played a prominent role in collegiate sports for more than 25 years, celebrates student-athletes for their extraordinary commitment to making a lasting impact off the field.
•For his selection to the Good Works Team®, Dicke will be honored at halftime of the 2019 Allstate® Sugar Bowl® in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2019.
•Dicke is the third Mustang football student-athlete to be selected to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team in program history, joining Russ Barclay (1999) and Tyler Fischer (2007).
•On Sept. 26, he was named one of 179 semifinalist for the 2018 National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) William V. Campbell Trophy presented by Fidelity Investments.
•The NFF will announce 12-14 finalists on Oct. 31, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 60th NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class.

    SMSU HEAD COACH
•Cory Sauter is in his ninth season as head coach and has an overall record of 39-56, including 38-54 in conference games.
•Sauter's 39 victories rank second in program history among 10 head coaches.
•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.

    TRANSFERS MAKE IMPACTS
•Several transfer players have made big impacts during their first season in Mustang uniforms.
•Junior wide receiver Daniel Davis has caught a team-high 36 passes for 582 yards and eight touchdowns.
•Junior cornerback Cory Hollowell has 39 tackles and a team-high nine pass break-ups with two interceptions.

    FROM THE HARDWOOD TO THE GRIDIRON
•Senior tight end Carter Kirk, a four-year standout for the SMSU men's basketball, is the team's starting tight end.
•He caught his first career touchdown in the win at UMary and has 18 receptions for 211 yards on the season.  

    POSITION SWITCH IS NO PROBLEM FOR WILKIE
•Fifth-year senior wide receiver Connor Wilkie spent the first four seasons at SMSU as a quarterback, including making four starts a season ago.
•He ranks second on the team with 18 receptions for 194 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

    THREE TRUE FRESHMEN PLAY
•Three true freshmen have played for SMSU this season.
•Linebacker Onte Burns has started all six games and has 25 tackles, including two fumble recoveries.
•Running back Arthur Cox has played on both offense and special teams and has 23 rush attempts and has caught seven passes.
•Running back Codie Meinen has played the last two games and scored on a 52-yard run last week.

    SPECIAL TEAMS LEADERS
•Ben Specht leads the team with 10 special teams tackles with five on punt returns and five on kick returns.
•Dakota Jaeschke and Tahjee Smith both rank second with six tackles.   

    GET IN THE "ZONE"
•SMSU is 17 for 21 inside the "red zone" with 15 touchdowns and two field goals.
•SMSU opponents are 16 of 19 (84,2) inside "red zone" with 15 touchdowns and one field goal.
•The following is SMSU in the "red zone" since head coach Cory Sauter took over in 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    24 of 37 (64.9)    18    6
    2018    17 of 21 (81.0)    15    2

    BIG PLAY MUSTANGS
•SMSU has recorded 32 offensive/defensive plays or kick/punt returns of 20 or more yards in 2018, with 25 coming from the offense (5 run, 20 pass).
•For a complete look at the "long" plays and SMSU's "money" plays for this season, go to pages 18-19.
•The following are 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    68    10    12    28    25    1    1    1
    2018    32    10    5    20    3    2    2    0    







    2018 TEAM CAPTAINS
•Four players--two on offense and two on defense--serve as team captains for the 2018 season.
•The offensive team captains selected were senior wide receiver Connor Wilkie and senior quarterback Blake Gimbel.
•The defensive team captains are senior linebacker Alex Ney and senior defensive lineman Jon Dicke.
•It's the fourth straight season Gimbel has been selected a team captain.
•The team captains were selected by a vote of the Mustang players.

    DICKE NAMED 2017 ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN
•Senior defensive lineman Jon Dicke was named a 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-American.
•Dicke is the 20th SMSU student-athlete in school history to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America® honors and just the seventh to earn first team accolades.
•He is the fifth SMSU football player to earn CoSIDA Academic All-American honors.
•Dicke carries a 4.0 cumulative GPA in exercise science.

    NEY RETURNING ALL-NSIC PLAYER
•Senior linebacker Alex Ney is the only returning player that earned All-NSIC South Division honors following the 2017 season. He was named All-NSIC South honorable mention.
•Ney led the team last season with 120 tackles and also ranked first with 60 solo stops.
•Ney became just the second Mustang to reach 100 tackles in season since 2007 and the first since 2013. The 120 tackles is the seventh highest total in team single-season history and also ranked 13th in Division II in tackles per game.

    GIMBEL RETURNS AT QUARTERBACK
•The 2018 SMSU offense returns sixth-year senior quarterback Blake Gimbel, who missed nearly all of last season with injury. An All-NSIC South honorable mention honoree in 2015 and 2016, Gimbel started the first four games last season, but was injured late in week two and played just a few series in the third and fourth games of the season.
•Gimbel finished the 2016 season ranked fourth in the conference in passing and ninth in total offense, while ranking third in Division II in completion percentage, fourth in completions per game, 21st in passing yards and 32nd in passing touchdowns.
    
    GIMBEL IN THE RECORD BOOK
•Senior quarterback Blake Gimbel ranks first in school history in completing percentage (66.2), first in completions (809), second in passing touchdowns (74) and second in passing yards (8,754).
•Gimbel also 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).  
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    U-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    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
    S23    at Bemidji State    1    2    0    0    6    L, 22-40
    S30    Sioux Falls            DNP - injured
    O7    at Wayne State            DNP - injured
    O14    at Augustana            DNP - injured
    O19    Minnesota State            DNP - injured
    O28    at Upper Iowa            DNP - injured
    N3    Augustana            DNP - injured
    N10    at Concordia            DNP - injured

    2018    Opponent    Comp    Att    Int    TD    Yards    Result
    A30    at Minnesota State    34    49    0    1    279    L 13-49
    S8    Wayne State    19    35    0    1    137    L 14-23
    S15    at Sioux Falls    24    42    1    2    301    L 21-39
    S22    Upper Iowa    27    50    3    3    252    W 21-20
    S29    at UMary    21    31    0    5    356    W 54-24
    O6    Minn. Crookston    24    34    0    4    280    W 55-6

    SIMMONS IN THE RECORD BOOK
•Junior Max Simmons ranks third in team history with 26 rushing touchdowns and is also tied for seventh in total touchdowns (30) and 11th in rushing yards (1,767).
•Simmons' 18 rushing touchdowns in 2016 rank second in team single-season history.
•The 18 rushing touchdowns was a school single-season record for rushing touchdowns by a freshman.  
•Simmons also twice tied the school single-game record for rushing touchdowns (4) during the  2016 season at Minnesota Crookston and at Winona State.

    SMSU HIGH-OCTANE OFFENSE
•Since being shutout on Nov. 5, 2011, Southwest Minnesota State has scored 30 or more points in 35 of its last 74 games dating back to the final game of the 2011 season.
•Since Nov. 12, 2011, SMSU has scored 40 or more points 21 times, 50 or more points 11 times and 60 or more points once.  
•SMSU hasn't been as prolific scoring in the last two-plus seasons, having reached the 30-point plateau just three times in its last 21 games since Oct. 20, 2016, but have reached the mark in the last two weeks in wins over UMary and Minnesota Crookston.
•SMSU scored 51 points in a win over MSU Moorhead in week two last season, scored 54 in two weeks ago at UMary and 55 last week versus Minnesota Crookston.











    TURNOVER MARGIN BY THE NUMBERS
•SMSU is "plus-9" in turnover margin this season.
•SMSU finished "plus-9" in turnover margin in 2017.
•Since the start of the 2004 season (161 games), SMSU has been a "plus" in turnover margin in just 52 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, six times in 2017 and twice in 2018).
•The Mustangs have been "even" or "minus" in turnover margin in 90 of their last 138 conference games.

    SMSU IN SOUTH DIVISION PLAY
•Since the NSIC adapted divisional play prior to the 2008 season, SMSU is 23-47 all-time in South Division games and has finished in the top half of the division three times in 10 seasons.
•SMSU had its highest finish in 2013 at second place and has finished fourth three times, fifth twice, sixth three times and seventh once.  

    MUSTANGS AT HOME
•The 2018 season is the 11th year that Mattke Field at the Schwan Regional Event Center has served as the home for SMSU football.
•SMSU, which is 27-32 all-time at the stadium, is 2-1 this season after finishing 1-4 a season ago.
•SMSU recorded a 4-2 record at home in 2016.
•SMSU recorded back-to-back winning seasons in 2015 and 2016 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 1-2 in road games this season and 3-11 in road games since the 2016 season.
•SMSU went 5-1 in road games in 2015 setting a school record for road wins in a season.
•SMSU is a combined 32-61 in road games since 2000.

    NSIC PRESEASON POLL
•SMSU was picked to finish 12th overall and seventh in the South Division in the annual 16-team NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•Senior quarterback Blake Gimbel and senior linebacker Alex Ney were named "Players to Watch" in the NSIC this season.

    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.

    FOR OPENERS
•Southwest Minnesota State is 22-29 all-time in season openers following this season's loss at Minnesota State.  
•SMSU is 3-6 in season openers under head coach Cory Sauter.

    MUSTANGS ON HOMECOMING
•SMSU is 23-26 all-time on homecoming following this season's 55-6 win over Minnesota Crookston.
•SMSU has won four straight and five of the last six homecoming games.
•SMSU is 7-12 on homecoming since 2000.

    MUSTANG HISTORY
•The 2018 season marks the 51st year of college football at Southwest Minnesota State dating to 1968.
•SMSU owns an all-time record of 197-321-5, including 135-227-5 in conference play.
•SMSU has recorded 10 winning seasons, two NAIA playoff appearances (1987 and 1991) and one Mineral Water Bowl appearance (2013).
•The program earned its lone conference championship in 1990.

    ABOUT MINNESOTA DULUTH
•UMD is 6-0 overall, 4-0 NSIC North, and is coming off a 28-17 road win over Augustana last Saturday afternoon.
•UMD has won nine or more games every season since rejoining the NSIC in 2008 with a pair of NCAA championships (2008 and 2010).  
•Sophomore quarterback John Larson has completed 95 of 159 pass attempts for 1,278 yards with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. He is also the team's leading rusher with 430 yards and four touchdowns on 72 carries.   
•Redshirt freshman running back Wade Sullivan has rushed for a 364 yards and seven touchdowns on 74 carries.
•Senior wide receiver Nate Ricci has caught a team-high 19 passes for 281 yards and two touchdowns.
•Senior linebacker Gus Wedig has racked up 26 tackles, including six for loss. He also has one sack, two forced fumbles and two pass break-ups.
•Curt Wiese is in his sixth season as head coach with a record of 58-11. He has led the Bulldogs to three NCAA playoff appearances. Wiese was head coach at Marietta College in 2006-07 and recorded a mark of 9-11.   

    MUSTANGS ON RADIO
•All SMSU football games during the 2018 season will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL.
•Ryan Rohlik is in his sixth season as the play-by-play voice of SMSU football.