THIS WEEK
•Southwest Minnesota State University (0-2, 0-2 NSIC South) returns to the road this Saturday night facing No. 24 University of Sioux Falls (1-1, 1-1 NSIC South) at Bob Young Field in Sioux Falls, S.D., with kickoff slated for 6 p.m.
•Both teams are coming off losses last Saturday, with SMSU suffering a 23-14 home setback to Wayne State, while USF dropped a tight 16-15 road game to No. 15 Winona State.
•USF is ranked in the AFCA Top 25 poll for the 51st consecutive week.
•SMSU will look to defeat USF for the first time since the Cougars joined the NSIC in 2012.
•The game will be televised live regionally on Midco Sports Network as part of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference's "Game of the Week".
•A preview on USF is located on page 4.

    SMSU VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS
•SMSU is 1-21 versus Division II Top 25 teams since the 2008 season including 0-1 this season.
•SMSU's lone victory versus a Division II Top 25 team came in the 2016 season opener versus No. 19 Minnesota Duluth (42-38) in Marshall.

    OPENING DRIVE TIDBITS
•SMSU is looking to snap a 10-game losing streak that dates back to week four (Sept. 23) last season at Bemidji State. SMSU's last victory came on Sept. 16, 2017, versus Minot State.
•SMSU has lost 11 straight NSIC South Division games dating back to the final two games of the 2016 season.
•Senior Blake Gimbel moved into sole possession of second place in team history with 713 completions. Josh Shudlick (2005-08) holds the school record with 769.
•Gimble has moved into sole possession of third place in team history with 60 career touchdown passes. He needs four more to tie Steve Elzenga (1983-87) with 64.  
•Senior defensive lineman Jon Dicke recorded a career-high eight tackles in  last week's loss to Wayne State.
•Senior defensive lineman Hayden Acker tied a career-high with seven tackles, including two for loss versus WSC.

SMSU vs. USF Series Notes
(all-time results listed on page 5)
Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls meet for the 11th time on Saturday night with USF leading 7-3 ... the two teams first met on Sept. 21, 1968, in Marshall ... the first game between the two schools was also the first-ever game in SMSU history with USF earning a 13-6 victory at Legion Field in Marshall ... SMSU defeated USF 36-12 in 1969 in Sioux Falls and then won in both 1978 and 1979 ... USF has won the last six games played, including last season's game 24-10 in Marshall ... USF has scored 41, 55, 44, 34 and 48 points in five of the six meetings since joining the NSIC ... USF has been ranked nationally in five of the last six meetings ... SMSU's last win in the series was on Oct. 20, 1979, in Sioux Falls.

The Last Time - SMSU vs. USF
Max Mickey rushed for a game-high 212 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 7 Sioux Falls to a 24-10 victory over SMSU on Sept. 30 in Marshall. USF entered the game with the No. 1 ranked rush defense and No. 2 total defense in Division II. The Cougars limited the Mustangs to 281 total yards including 39 rush yards. SMSU was held to five first downs and 131 yards of offense in the second half. Mickey's touchdowns both came in the second half to help the Cougars break away from a 10-10 halftime score. SMSU's Nate Huot put his name atop the NSIC record book early in the third quarter with a reception to become the league's all-time leader in receptions. He finished with a game-high six receptions for 92 yards. SMSU's Connor Wilkie made his first career start at quarterback and completed 21 of 38 pass attempts for 214 yards and one touchdown. Ashanti Payne finished with 37 yards rushing on 12 attempts to pace the Mustang rushing attack.

SMSU vs. USF Series Information
Overall:    USF leads 7-3
In Marshall:    USF leads 4-1
In Sioux Falls:    USF leads 3-2
Neutral Record:    0-0
Last SMSU win:    Oct. 20, 1979 (24-6)
Last USF win:    Sept. 30, 2017 (24-10)
Largest win for SMSU:    24 (36-12, 1969)
Largest win for USF:    24 (44-20, 2014)
Longest win streak for SMSU:    3 (1969-79)
Longest win streak for USF:    5 (2012-present)
Current win streak:    USF, 6
Sauter vs. USF:    0-6
Anderson vs. SMSU:    1-0

    SMSU / USF IN THE NCAA RANKINGS
•The following is where SMSU and USF rank in the current NCAA statistics following week one.
•A full listing of SMSU in the weekly NCAA statistics can be found on pages 20-21.
    (167 teams ranked)    SMSU    USF    
    Scoring Offense    141st    102nd     
    Rushing Offense    162nd    32nd     
    Passing Offense    77th    121st
    Total Offense    152nd    66th    
    Scoring Defense    123rd    46th
    Rushing Defense    115th    66th
    Pass Defense    138th    92nd
    Pass Efficiency Defense    134th    100th
    Total Defense    143rd    68th
    Net Punting    71st    68th
    Punt Returns    145th    97th
    Kickoff Returns    135th    9th
    Turnover Margin    9th    33rd
    Fewest Penalty Yards/Gm.    112th    15th
    Time of Poss.    87th    126th
    3rd Down Conversions    115th    137th        
    3rd Down Conv. Defense    54th    81st

    SMSU COMEBACK ATTEMPT FALLS SHORT TO WSC
•Wayne State College recorded eight sacks, while limiting Southwest Minnesota State to 142 yards of offense, in earning a 23-14 victory last Saturday in Marshall.
•WSC won the game despite committing five turnovers. •The Wildcat defense forced the Mustangs into 12 punts, while holding SMSU to just 3 of 18 on third-down conversions.
•WSC finished the game with 417 yards of offense with 26 first downs.
•SMSU was held to eight first downs—its lowest total since finishing with nine versus Winona State on Nov. 4, 2006.
•SMSU's Blake Gimbel completed 19 of 35 passes for 137 yards and one touchdown.
•Daniel Davis led the Mustang offense with six catches for 63 yards, while Trey Sachs rushed for a team-high 33 yards and one touchdown on 11 carries.
•Shane Ratkovich finished with a team-leading 14 tackles including three for loss and one forced fumble to pace the Mustang defense.
•Alex Ney added 13 tackles and one fumble recovering with teammate Cory Hollowell racked up 10 stops with two pass break-ups.

    SACHS STARTS IN BACKFIELD
•Redshirt freshman Trey Sachs has started both games at running back and has rushed for a team-high 66 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. He has also caught nine passes for 50 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 six passes for 46 yards in the season opener and had one catch in last week's loss to Wayne State.

    POSITION SWITCH IS NO PROBLEM FOR WILKIE
•Senior wide receiver Connor Wilkie started and finished with six receptions for 71 yards including a 30-yard touchdown reception in the season opener versus Minnesota State.
•Wilkie spent the first four seasons at SMSU as a quarterback, including making four starts a season ago.

    TRANSFERS MAKE IMPACTS IN FIRST TWO WEEKS
•Several transfer players have made big impacts in the first two games.
•Junior wide receiver Daniel Davis has caught a team-high 13 passes for 126 yards.
•Junior cornerback Cory Hollowell has 15 tackles and a team-high three pass break-ups. He had 10 tackles with two pass break-ups in last week's loss to WSC.
•Junior wide receiver Chance Nelson caught two passes for 23 yards in the season opener.
•Junior defensive lineman Richard Ayers has five tackles in two games.
•Junior linebacker Tahjee Smith, a redshirt last season, has six tackles, including 1.5 for loss.
•Junior defensive lineman Job Dallien had two tackles in the opener.
•Junior defensive back Maurice Hunter, who redshirted a season ago, has six tackles.

    A PAIR OF TRUE FRESHMEN PLAY
•Two true freshmen have played for SMSU in the first two weeks.
•Linebacker Onte Burns has started both games and had nine tackles with a fumble recovery last week versus Wayne State.
•Running back Arthur Cox has played on both offense and special teams.


    NSIC SOUTH ACTION TO OPEN THE SEASON
•For the first time since the NSIC adopted an 11-game conference schedule in 2012, all NSIC teams will play their first four games versus divisional opponents.
•Prior to this season, SMSU opened the season with four games versus NSIC North opponents.
•Following the four games versus NSIC South foes, SMSU will play four NSIC North opponents, before closing the season with three games versus NSIC South teams.


    SMSU IN SOUTH DIVISION PLAY
•Since the NSIC adapted divisional play prior to the 2008 season, SMSU is 22-46 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.  

    HEAD COACH
•Cory Sauter is in his ninth season as head coach and has an overall record of 36-55, including 35-53 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 22.

    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.

    THE 2018 ROSTER
•The 2018 SMSU roster features 104 players with 17 seniors, 26 juniors, 21 sophomores, 12 redshirt freshmen 28 freshmen.
•The roster includes players from 12 different states and Canada. Minnesota leads the way with 45 players, followed by Iowa (12) and Wisconsin (12), Illinois (11), California (8), South Dakota (5), Florida (3), Arizona (3), Louisiana (2), Washington (1), Nebraska (1) and Texas (1).

    SPECIAL TEAMS LEADERS
•Ben Specht leads the team with six special teams tackles this season with five on punt returns and one on kick returns.
•Tahjee Smith has three tackles all on punt returns.   

    GET IN THE "ZONE"
•SMSU is 3 for 4 inside the "red zone" this season with three touchdowns.
•SMSU opponents are 8 of 8 (100.0) inside "red zone" this season with seven 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    24 of 37 (64.9)    18    6
    2018    3 of 4 (75.0)    3    0

    BIG PLAY MUSTANGS
•SMSU has recorded seven offensive/defensive plays or kick/punt returns of 20 or more yards in 2018, with five  coming from the offense (0 run, 5 pass).
•SMSU finished with 68 offensive/defensive plays or kick/punt returns of 20 or more yards in 2017, including 40 by the Mustang offense (12 run, 28 pass).
•For a complete look at the "long" plays and SMSU's "money" plays for this season, go to pages 16-17.
•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    7    1    0    5    1    0    1    0

    MUSTANG DEFENSE FORCING TURNOVERS/SCORING
•The SMSU defense/special teams forced five turnovers in last week's loss to Wayne State.
•SMSU forced 22 turnovers last season ranking 52nd in Division II.
•A season ago, SMSU recorded a season-high six turnovers with five interceptions in a week two road victory over MSU Moorhead.
•SMSU forced a turnover in 10 of 11 games last season and recorded two or more turnovers in seven games.

    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 was one of four defensive lineman named to the first team and was one of just eight among 26 first team honorees with a 4.0 GPA.
•Dicke carries a 4.0 cumulative GPA in exercise science.

    GIMBEL RETURNS AT QUARTERBACK
•The 2018 SMSU offense returns 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 2017 season completing 64 of 92 passes for 734 yards and seven touchdowns. He completed a school record 69.2 percent of his passes in 2016 (287 of 415) for 3,030 yards and 24 touchdowns.
•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.

    NEY LEADS THE DEFENSE    
•SMSU returns its leading tackler in senior linebacker Alex Ney, who earned All-NSIC South honorable mention honors in 2017.
•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 IN THE RECORD BOOK
•Senior quarterback Blake Gimbel ranks first in school history in completing percentage (66.9), second in completions (713), third in passing yards (7,565) and third in passing touchdowns (60).
•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    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-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
    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-St. Paul            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

    SIMMONS IN THE RECORD BOOK
•Junior Max Simmons ranks fifth in team history with 23 rushing touchdowns, is tied for 11th in touchdowns (26) and ranks 14th in rushing yards (1,394).
•His 18 rushing touchdowns in 2016 ranks second in team single-season history while also ranking fifth in single-season touchdowns scored (18) and fifth in single-season scoring (108).
•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.

    JACKSON-HANCHETT SETS SINGLE-GAME RECORD
•Senior cornerback Je'Darien Jackson-Hanchett set a school single-game record last season with four interceptions in SMSU's week two win at MSU Moorhead.
•The four interceptions was the highest single-game total in Division II in 2017 and the third highest single-game total in all levels of NCAA football.

    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 70 games dating back to the final game of the 2011 season.
•SMSU reached 30 points just once in 2017 and has failed to score 20 points in a game this 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.

    TURNOVER MARGIN BY THE NUMBERS
•SMSU is "plus-4" in turnover margin this season following two weeks of play.
•SMSU finished "plus-9" in turnover margin in 2017.
•Since the start of the 2004 season (157 games), SMSU has been a "plus" in turnover margin in just 51 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 once in 2018).
•In SMSU's last 134 conference games, which spans from late in the 2004 season through this season, SMSU is minus-28 in turnover margin.
•The Mustangs have been "even" or "minus" in turnover margin in 87 of their last 134 conference games.

    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 25-32 all-time at the stadium, is 0-1 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 at home the 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 0-1 in road games this season and is 2-10 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 31-60 in road games since 2000.

    SMSU VERSUS THE NORTH
•Since 2012, when the NSIC schedule required each team to play four inter-divisional games, SMSU has a record of 13-11 versus NSIC North Division teams.
•SMSU is 9-3 versus North Division teams since 2015.
•SMSU went a perfect 4-0 versus North Division squads in 2015, finished 3-1 in 2016 and ended 2-2 in 2017.

    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.

    SUPER REGION 4 FOR THE NSIC
•SMSU and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference was placed in a new region prior to 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).

    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.
•Ney was named All-NSIC South honorable mention.





    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.

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

    ABOUT SIOUX FALLS
•USF is 1-1 overall, 1-1 NSIC South, following a season-opening, last-minute victory over Concordia-St. Paul and last week's one-point loss at Winona State.
•Jon Anderson is in his second season as head coach at USF with a career record of 10-4.
•The Cougars finished 9-3 last season and advanced to the NCAA playoffs before losing to Midwestern State (Texas) in the first round.
•Junior quarterback Caden Walters has completed 18 of 33 passes on the season with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
•Junior tight end Clint Sigg has caught six passes for 62 yards and two touchdowns.
•Junior running back Gabriel Watson has rushed for a team-high 372 yards on 56 carries with four touchdowns.
•Junior linebacker Brody Grantham has racked up a team-high 15 tackles to pace the defense, while teammate junior linebacker Joe Rodino has 10 tackles.  
•USF is 55-13 in conference games since joining the NSIC in 2012.
•USF is 65-8 all-time at Bob Young Field which opened in 2007.

    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 194-320-5, including 132-226-5 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.

    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.