THIS WEEK
•Southwest Minnesota State University (4-5, 1-4 NSIC South) continues NSIC South Division play this Saturday, Nov. 3, facing Concordia University-St. Paul (4-5, 2-3 NSIC South) starting at 1 p.m. at Mattke Field at the Schwan Regional Event Center.
•SMSU, which has won four of its last six games, will have a pair of home games to close the 2018 season,  while trying to secure a winning season for the first time since 2015.
•SMSU has had 10 winning seasons in 50 years.
•Three of SMSU's five losses have come to nationally ranked teams.
•SMSU's Blake Gimbel ranks second in the NSIC in passing yards averaging 289.4 per game.  
•CSP redshirt freshman cornerback Marcus Haskins ranks first in the country in passes defended (2.9) and is second with seven interceptions.
•A preview on CSP is located on page 4.

SMSU vs. CSP Series Notes
(all-time results listed on page 5)
Southwest Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul meet for the 22nd time on Saturday with CSP leading 11-10 in a series that started on Sept. 15, 1979 ... the series is tied 5-5 in games played in Marshall with CSP leading 3-2 since the Schwan Regional Event Center opened in 2008 ... SMSU has won four of the last six meetings in the series, but CSP won 37-20 last season in St. Paul ... SMSU won the first three meetings in the series before CSP won six straight from 2000-05 ... SMSU won three straight from 2006-08.

The Last Time - SMSU vs. CSP
SMSU rolled up a season-high 618 yards of offense and recorded a season-high 34 first downs, but Concordia-St. Paul took advantage of several big plays to earn a 37-20 victory in the 2017 season finale on Nov. 11 in St. Paul. SMSU's Nate Huot tied a school single-game record with 19 receptions and in the process became the school's all-time leader in receptions with 269. CSP closed the game with 393 yards of total offense and 15 first downs. The Golden Bears had touchdowns of 80, 63 and 45 yards and added three field goals by Jonas Schenderlein, including a pair of 51-yarders. Shaq Johnson led the Golden Bears with 175 yards rushing and two touchdowns, while he also tossed a 63-yard touchdown pass. CSP quarterback Ron Johnson completed 3 of 16 passes for 78 yards and one touchdown. Boyer Bouman completed 37 of 55 passes for 316 yards and one touchdown for the Mustangs. Shawn Griffin had a career-high 93 yards rushing on 15 attempts while Max Simmons added 82 yards and two touchdowns to pace the Mustang rushing attack.
 
SMSU vs. CSP Series Information
Overall:    CSP leads 11-10
In Marshall:    tied 5-5
In St. Paul:    SMSU leads 4-3
Neutral:     CSP leads 3-1
Last SMSU win:    Oct. 29, 2016 (28-14)
Last CSP win:    Nov. 11, 2016 (37-20)
Largest win for SMSU:    44 (44-0, 1999)
Largest win for CSP:    42 (63-21, 2004)
Longest win streak for SMSU:    3 (1979-1999 & 2006-08)
Longest win streak for CSP:    6 (2000-05)
Current win streak:    CSP, 1
Sauter vs. CSP:    4-4
Currier vs. SMSU:    5-1

    OPENING DRIVE TIDBITS
•Senior Blake Gimbel's 66-yard pass to junior Daniel Davis last week was the longest pass play for SMSU this season.
•Davis has a team-high 954 receiving yards this season and is closing in on becoming just the eighth player in team history to reach 1,000 in a season and the first since 2013.
•Senior linebacker Alex Ney, who has 256 career tackles, needs three more to move into 15th place all-time in team history. He is 20 shy of tying for 10th place all-time.  
•Senior linebacker Shane Ratkovich has led the team in tackles in seven games this season and has a team-high 91 tackles which ranks second in the NSIC and 27th in Division II with 10.1 per game.
•Ratkovich has 17.5 tackles for loss this season ranking tied for fourth in team single-season history and ranks second in Division II (1.9). Jason Jacobs (1999) and Paul Petan (1985) hold the school record with 19.
•Gimbel has 9,754 career passing yards ranking second all-time and is now 362 behind the all-time leader Jeff Loots (1990-92).
•Gimbel recorded his 12th career 300-yard passing game in last week's loss at Winona State moving him into sole possession of second place in team history.
•Gimbel has passed for 300-yards in back-to-back games for the first time since the first two games of the 2016 season.
•Gimbel ranks first in team history with 878 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 eighth in Division II in completions per game (24.2), eighth in passing yards (2,605) and 11th in passing touchdowns (22).
•Junior cornerback Cory Hollowell ranks 28th in Division II in passes defended with 1.4 per game.  
•SMSU has held two opponents to seven on less points this season for the first time since 2015. The last time SMSU held three teams to single digits in a single season came in 2004.  
•SMSU ranks 14th nationally with five blocked kicks.
•Junior Max Simmons (1,838) moved up to ninth place on the school's all-time rushing list. He is 58 yards shy of moving to eighth all-time and 108 from sliding into seventh.
•Redshirt freshman running back Trey Sachs, who started and led the team in rushing the first two games of the season, was injured in week three and will miss the remainder of the season.    

    SMSU/CSP IN THE NCAA RANKINGS
•The following is where SMSU and CSP rank in the current NCAA statistics.
•A full listing of SMSU in the weekly NSIC and NCAA statistics can be found on pages 20-23.
    (167 teams ranked)    SMSU    CSP    
    Scoring Offense    73rd     120th    
    Rushing Offense    146th     52nd    
    Passing Offense    15th    124th
    Total Offense    69th    103rd
    Scoring Defense    93rd    77th
    Rushing Defense    95th    77th
    Pass Defense    120th    99th
    Pass Efficiency Defense    120th    44th
    Total Defense    108th    83rd
    Net Punting    113th    77th
    Punt Returns    110th    85th
    Kickoff Returns    146th    166th
    Turnover Margin    44th    132nd
    Fewest Penalty Yards/Gm.    31st    79th
    Time of Possession    67th    59th
    3rd Down Conversions    54th    111th        
    3rd Down Conv. Defense    73rd    118th

    WSU PULLS AWAY IN FOURTH TO DOWN SMSU
•Winona State broke open a 16-16 tie with 22 points in the final 12 minutes to earn a 38-26 victory over SMSU last Saturday in Winona in the "Battle for the Sledge" game.
•Blake Gimbel completed 19 of 33 passes for 335 yards and two touchdowns.
•Daniel Davis caught four passes for 130 yards, including a 66-yard reception in the fourth quarter.
•Gabe Galamue had two receptions for 50 yards, including a 32-yard touchdown.
•Hudson Walton rushed for a team-high 40 yards on nine carries and one touchdown.
•Shane Ratkovich, who was named SMSU's most valuable player in the game, finished with a team-high 10 tackles, including 2.5 for loss.

    MUSTANG DEFENSE MAKING PLAYS
•The SMSU defense has 71 tackles for loss this season ranking ninth in team history and is just eight shy of third all-time.
•The Mustangs have recorded 25 sacks ranking 12th in team history. Five more sacks will move this season's team into a tie for fourth.
•SMSU has forced three or more turnovers in four of nine 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 19 total turnovers which ranks 27th in Division II.
•SMSU forced 22 turnovers last season and recorded at least one in 10 of 11 games.






    SMSU HEAD COACH
•Cory Sauter is in his ninth season as head coach and has an overall record of 40-58, including 39-56 in conference games.
•Sauter's 40 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.

    DAVIS MAKING GREAT FIRST IMPRESSION
•Junior transfer wide receiver Daniel Davis has five 100-yard receiving games in the last seven weeks. He finished with a career-high 162 yards on 10 catches two weeks ago versus Northern State.
•Davis has a team-high 954 receiving yards this season and is closing in on becoming just the eighth player in team history to reach 1,000 in a season and the first since 2013.
•Davis ranks ninth in Division II in receiving yards (954), 12th in receiving touchdowns (nine) and 14th in receptions per game (7.1).
•Davis ranks first in the NSIC in receiving yards, third in receptions and second in all purpose yards.

    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 in late September and ranks third on the team with 23 receptions for 262 yards.  

    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 25 receptions for 283 yards and three touchdowns.

    THREE TRUE FRESHMEN PLAY
•Three true freshmen have played for SMSU this season.
•Linebacker Onte Burns has started all nine games and has 38 tackles, including two fumble recoveries and one interception.
•Running back Arthur Cox has played on both offense and special teams and has 34 rush attempts for 150 yards and has caught seven passes.
•Running back Codie Meinen has played in three games and has a 52-yard touchdown run versus UMC.

    SPECIAL TEAMS LEADERS
•Ben Specht leads the team with 11 special teams tackles with six on punt returns and five on kick returns.
•Dakota Jaeschke ranks second with seven tackles and one fumble recovery.   

    GET IN THE "ZONE"
•SMSU is 26 for 32 (81.2) inside the "red zone" with 23 touchdowns and three field goals.
•SMSU opponents are 23 of 28 (82.1) inside "red zone" with 21 touchdowns and two field goals.
•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    26 of 32 (81.2)    23    3

    BIG PLAY MUSTANGS
•SMSU has recorded 57 offensive/defensive plays or kick/punt returns of 20 or more yards in 2018, with 47 coming from the offense (8 run, 39 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    57    13    8    39    6    2    2    0
    
    DAVIS NAMED NSIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
•Junior wide receiver Daniel Davis was named the NSIC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 8 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.  

    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.








    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.
    
    GIMBEL IN THE RECORD BOOK
•Senior quarterback Blake Gimbel ranks first in school history in completing percentage (65.8), first in completions (878), second in passing touchdowns (80) and second in passing yards (9,754).
•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
    O13    at Minn. Duluth    21    38    2    2    216    L 13-42
    O20    Northern State    29    42    1    2    449    W 35-7
    O27    at Winona State    19    33    1    2    335    L 26-38

    SIMMONS IN THE RECORD BOOK
•Junior Max Simmons ranks third in team history with 26 rushing touchdowns, ranks tied for seventh in total touchdowns (30) and is ninth in rushing yards (1,838).
•Simmons' 18 rushing touchdowns in 2016 rank second in team single-season history and was a school single-season record 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 36 of its last 77 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 four times in its last 24 games since Oct. 20, 2016, but three of those games have come this season.

    TURNOVER MARGIN BY THE NUMBERS
•SMSU is "plus-4" in turnover margin this season.
•SMSU finished "plus-9" in turnover margin in 2017.
•Since the start of the 2004 season (164 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 93 of their last 141 conference games.

    SMSU IN SOUTH DIVISION PLAY
•Since the NSIC adapted divisional play prior to the 2008 season, SMSU is 23-48 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.  

    SMSU VERSUS THE NORTH
•Since 2012, when the NSIC schedule had each team playing four inter-divisional games, SMSU has a record of 16-12 versus NSIC North Division teams.
•SMSU is 12-4 versus North Division teams since 2015.
•SMSU went a perfect 4-0 versus North Division squads in 2015, finished 3-1 in 2016, 2-2 last season and was 3-1 this season.  








    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 28-32 all-time at the stadium, is 3-1 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 finished 1-4 in road games this season and are 3-13 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 32-63 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.

    SMSU VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS
•SMSU is 1-23 versus Division II Top 25 teams since the 2008 season including 0-3 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.

    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 198-323-5, including 136-229-5 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 CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL
•CSP, 4-5 overall, 2-3 NSIC South, had its two-game winning streak snapped last week with a 52-24 home loss to Augustana.   
•The Golden Bears were limited to 14 first downs and 316 yards of offense. Senior quarterback Dom McKinzy was replaced early in the third quarter by junior Maxon Hutton.
•McKinzy has completed 103 of 206 pass attempts for 1,336 yards with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions on the season. He has also rushed for 322 yards and three touchdowns.  
•Sophomore running back Lajuan Preston has rushed for 557 yards and one touchdown on 84 carries.
•Senior wide receiver MJ Williams has caught a team-high 34 passes for 490 yards and four touchdowns.
•Junior wide receiver Marcus Gustaveson has 24 receptions for 416 yards and two touchdowns.
•Redshirt freshman linebacker Jake Portz has racked up 63 tackles, including four for loss.
•Sophomore defensive end Chris Garrett has nine sacks, ranking sixth in Division II.
•Redshirt freshman cornerback Marcus Haskins ranks first in Division II in passes defended (2.9) and is second with seven interceptions.
•Shannon Currier is in his second stint and seventh season overall as head coach at CSP with a record of 40-35. He was head coach at CSP from 2000-03. He has a career record of 60-70 in his 13th season as a head coach including five seasons at Truman State (Mo.).
 
    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.