THIS WEEK
•Southwest Minnesota State University opens its 52nd season of football on Saturday night hosting No. 3 ranked and defending Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference champion Minnesota State University with kickoff slated for 6 p.m. at Mattke Field at the Schwan Regional Event Center.
•SMSU returns 42 letter winners including six starters on offense and seven on defense from last season's team that finished 4-7, including 1-6 in the NSIC South Division. The 2019 roster includes 24 seniors, 21 juniors, 14 sophomores, 16 redshirt freshmen and 33 freshmen.
•SMSU, which won three straight games and four of five during the middle of the 2018 season, lost its final three games of the season.  
•MSU, ranked No. 3 in the preseason American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) poll, advanced to the NCAA national semifinals last season and finished with a 13-1 overall record.
•A preview on MSU is located on page 4.

SMSU vs. MSU Series Notes
(all-time results listed on page 5)
Southwest Minnesota State and Minnesota State meet for the 18th time on Saturday with MSU leading 17-0 in a series that began on Sept. 4, 1971 ... MSU has been ranked in the Top 10 in seven of the last eight meetings (including this season) ... MSU is 7-0 all-time in games played in Marshall, including earning a 54-7 win on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017 ... Saturday's game will be the 15th time the two schools have met as members of the same conference ... SMSU has been held to 17 or less points in 11 of the 17 games ... MSU has scored 34 or more points in the last 12 meetings ... MSU won 49-13 in last season's opener played in Mankato.

The Last Time - SMSU vs. MSU
No. 1 ranked Minnesota State racked up 518 yards of offense and pulled away in the second half to earn a 49-13 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in the 2018 season opener in Mankato on Aug. 30. MSU rushed for 268 yards on 39 carries with Nate Gunn leading the way with 119 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. Ryan Schlichte completed 11 of 15 pass attempts for 201 yards and two touchdowns to pace the Mavericks offense. MSU's other quarterback, JD Ekowa, rushed for 91 yards and one touchdown while also completing 5 of 11 passes for 49 yards and one touchdown. SMSU closed the game with 335 yards of offense and 23 first downs, but converted just 4 of 15 on third-down. SMSU quarterback Blake Gimbel completed 34 of 49 passes for 279 yards and one touchdown. Daniel Davis caught a game-high seven passes for 63 yards to pace the Mustangs. SMSU closed the game with 45 rushing yards on 30 attempts with Sachs leading the way with 33 yards and one touchdown on 13 carries. The SMSU defense finished with three sacks as Brad Bahlmann and Tahjee Smith each had one sack while Onte Burns and Shane Ratkovich each had a half a sack.
 
SMSU vs. MSU Series Information
Overall:    MSU leads 17-0
In Marshall:    MSU leads 7-0
In Mankato:    MSU leads 10-0
Last SMSU win:    -
Last MSU win:    Aug. 30, 2018 (49-13)
Largest win for SMSU:    -
Largest win for MSU:    47 (54-7, 2017)
Longest win streak for SMSU:    -
Longest win streak for MSU:    16 (1971-present)
Current win streak:    MSU, 17
Sauter vs. MSU:    0-9
Hoffner vs. SMSU:    9-0

ANNUAL AG BOWL - PRESENTED BY RALCO
•Saturday's 13th annual Ag Bowl concludes a day of celebration of agriculture in Minnesota and features numerous events for both kids and adults prior to the game.
•Proceeds generated by the Ag Bowl will fund scholarships and programming for worthy SMSU student-athletes and young people who will dedicate their careers to business success in agriculture, environmental science and the food industries.

BROADCAST INFO
•Saturday's game will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL with Ryan Rohlik handling the play-by-play duties for the seventh straight season.
•Live stats and video can be found at SMSUmustangs. com.

MUSTANG HISTORY
•The 2019 season marks the 52nd year of college football at Southwest Minnesota State dating to 1968.
•SMSU owns an all-time record of 198-325-5, including 136-231-5 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.

MUSTANG MINUTE
•Senior wide receiver Daniel Davis and senior cornerback Cory Hollowell were named "Players to Watch" in the NSIC this season.
•SMSU recorded 84 tackles for loss last season which is its highest total since 1999 and the third highest in team history.
•SMSU finished with 28 sacks last season tying for seventh highest in team history.
•Senior running back Max Simmons ranks ninth in team history with 1,892 yards rushing. He is four yards shy of moving into eighth place and 54 yards from seventh all-time.
•SMSU rushed for 871 yards (79.2 per game) last season which is the program's lowest total since the 1995 team finished with 555 yards.

FOR OPENERS
•SMSU is 22-29 all-time in season openers.
•SMSU has lost its last two season openers including a 49-13 setback at No. 1 Minnesota State last season.
•Saturday's game is the third time SMSU has opened a season versus MSU but the first in Marshall. SMSU lost in both 1971 and last season.  
•SMSU's last season-opening victory came on Sept. 1, 2016, with a 42-38 victory over No. 19 Minnesota Duluth.
•SMSU is 3-6 in season openers under head coach Cory Sauter.

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

SMSU / MSU IN THE 2018 NCAA RANKINGS
•The following is where SMSU and MSU ranked in the final 2018 NCAA statistics.
•A full listing of SMSU in the final national statistics can be found on pages 22-23.
    (167 teams ranked)    SMSU    MSU    
    Scoring Offense    89th    13th     
    Rushing Offense    156th     19th    
    Passing Offense    8th    73rd
    Total Offense    64th    18th
    Scoring Defense    84th    12th    
    Rushing Defense    76th    11th
    Pass Defense    125th    68th
    Pass Efficiency Defense    122nd    25th
    Total Defense    99th    18th
    Net Punting    97th    14th
    Punt Returns    121st    88th
    Kickoff Returns    143rd    52nd
    Turnover Margin    58th    85th
    Fewest Penalty Yards/Gm.    31st    22nd   
    Time of Possession    54th    12th
    3rd Down Conversions    53rd    2nd         
    3rd Down Conv. Defense    43rd    21st

SMSU HEAD COACH CORY SAUTER
•Cory Sauter is in his 10th season as head coach with an overall record of 40-60, including 39-58 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.

NSIC PRESEASON POLL
•SMSU was picked to finish 11th overall and seventh in the South Division in the annual 16-team NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•Senior wide receiver Daniel Davis and senior cornerback Cory Hollowell were named "Players to Watch" in the NSIC this season.

THE 2019 ROSTER
•The 2019 SMSU roster (Sept. 3) features 108 players with 24 seniors, 21 juniors, 14 sophomores, 16 redshirt freshmen 33 freshmen.

TEAM CAPTAINS NAMED FOR 2019
•Four players--two on offense and two on defense--serve as team captains for the 2019 season.
•The offensive team captains selected were senior quarterback Boyer Bouman and senior offensive lineman Nick Guzman.
•The defensive team captains are junior safety Lucas Fisher and sophomore linebacker Onte Burns.
•The team captains were selected by a vote of the Mustang players.

NSIC SOUTH ACTION TO OPEN SEASON AGAIN
•For the second straight season 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 last season, SMSU opened the season with four games versus NSIC North opponents.
•SMSU again this season will face four NSIC South foes, then will play four NSIC North opponents, before closing the season with three games versus NSIC South teams.

DAVIS HEADLINES THE RETURNING RECEIVERS
•Senior wide receiver Daniel Davis returns after catching 79 passes for 1,113 yards and nine touchdowns in 2018. •A first team all-conference and third team All-American honoree, Davis led the NSIC in both receptions and yards during his first season on the team and had six 100-yard receiving games.
•Davis' 1,113 receiving yards ranks fifth in team single-season history.
•Senior wide receiver Aaron Murphy started all 11 games and ranked fifth on the squad with 26 catches for 356 yards and four touchdowns in 2018.
•Senior wide receiver Gabe Galamue finished with 246 yards receiving on 22 receptions and two touchdowns.

DAVIS COMES THROUGH IN FIRST SEASON
•Senior wide receiver Daniel Davis had a big first season for SMSU in 2018 leading the NSIC in both receptions and receiving yards while ranking third in all purpose yards.
•He finished the season with six 100-yard receiving games including a season-high 162 yards on 10 catches versus Northern State.
•Davis had a team-high 1,113 receiving yards last season ranking fifth in team single-season history and becoming just the eighth player in team history to reach 1,000 yards in a season and the first since 2013.
•Davis ranked 12th in Division II in receiving yards (989), 14th in receptions per game (6.7) and 19th in receiving touchdowns (nine).

DAVIS EARNS 2018 ALL-AMERICAN HONORS
•Senior wide receiver Daniel Davis was named to the Don Hansen All-American third team following last season. Davis was also named second team all-region by Don Hansen.

DEPTH RETURNS AT RUNNING BACK
•Senior running back Max Simmons rushed for a team-high 543 yards and three touchdowns on 132 carries a season ago.
•Simmons also caught 27 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns.
•Simmons enters his final season with 1,892 yards rushing which ranks ninth in team history while his 25 career rushing touchdowns ranks third in program history.
•Sophomore running back Trey Sachs will return after starting the first three games last season before suffering a season-ending injury in week three. He finished the season rushing for 67 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries.
•Sophomore Codie Meinen appeared in five games as a true freshman and recorded 71 rushing yards and one touchdown on six carries.

SIMMONS IN THE RECORD BOOK
•Senior running back Max Simmons begins the season ranked third in team history with 26 rushing touchdowns, is tied for seventh in total touchdowns (30) and is ninth in rushing yards (1,892).
•Simmons' 18 rushing touchdowns in 2016 rank second in team single-season history and was a school single-season record for 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.
•See page 5 for career record rankings.

NEW SIGNAL-CALLER IN 2019
•SMSU will have a new signal-caller this fall as three-year starter Blake Gimbel graduated after setting numerous passing records during his tenure.
•Senior Boyer Bouman will be one of the top candidates to assume the role after starting four games in 2017 in place of an injured Gimbel.
•Also competing for the job are junior college transfers, Steven Nava and Paul Herrera.

BOUMAN BATTLES FOR STARTING SPOT
•Senior quarterback Boyer Bouman returns for his fifth season and will battle for the starting position.
•Bouman has played in 19 career games including making four starts to close the 2017 in place of an injured Blake Gimbel. He made his first career start versus Minnesota State on Oct. 19, 2017.
•In Bouman's four starts, he completed 100 of 168 pass attempts for 799 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions.
•In the final game of 2017, Bouman completed 37 of 55 for 316 yards and one touchdown in a road loss to Concordia-St. Paul.
•In 2018, Bouman was 8 of 14 passing for 32 yards and one touchdown.

OFFENSIVE LINE RETURNS THREE STARTERS
•The Mustangs return three starters on an offensive line that helped an offense average 26 points and 390 yards per game last season.
•Senior left tackle Zach Stratmoen anchors the line having started every game the past two seasons while earning All-NSIC South honorable mention honors in 2018.
•Senior Zach Thissen started all 11 games at right tackle a season ago while senior center Nick Guzman started all 11 games at left guard.

DEFENSIVE LOOKS TO REPLACE TOP TWO TACKLERS
•On defense, SMSU must replace its top two tacklers from last season in linebackers Shane Ratkovich and Alex Ney.
•SMSU does return four of its top six tacklers from last season including senior cornerback Cory Hollowell who ranked third on the team with 64 stops last season.
•Hollowell led the team with 13 pass break-ups and also recorded two interceptions.
•Junior safety Lucas Fisher led the team with three interceptions and ranked fourth with 53 tackles.
•Senior safety Peyton Sanders is another returning starter after compiling 43 tackles and five pass break-ups last season.

TWO STARTERS RETURN AT LINEBACKERS
•Senior Brad Bahlmann and sophomore Onte Burns both return as starters at linebacker.
•Bahlmann finishing with 24 tackles and one interception while Burns had 48 tackles and added one interception as a true freshman.
•Senior linebacker Tahjee Smith is also back after racking up 38 tackles with 5.5 tackles for loss.

SEVERAL VETERANS RETURN ON DEFENSIVE LINE
•Senior defensive tackle Richard Ayers returns after registering 19 tackles with 3.5 for loss in his first season in 2018.   
•Junior defensive end Kyle Richter played in nine games and registered 19 tackles including four for loss.
•Senior defensive end Job Dallien played in 10 games and had six tackles in 2018.

CREW RETURNS AS PLACEKICKER
•Junior Skyler Crew has handled the team's placekicking duties the past two seasons. He connected on 31 PATs while also making five of eight field goal attempts and finished second on the team with 46 points last season.
•SMSU will have a new punter following the graduation of Austin Wells.

ALL-NSIC RETURNERS
•SMSU returns three players from last season's team who garnered All-NSIC South honors in 2018.
•Senior wide receiver Daniel Davis was named first team All-NSIC South, senior cornerback Cory Hollowell was named second team All-NSIC South while senior offensive lineman Zach Stratmoen was named honorable mention All-NSIC South.

MUSTANG DEFENSE MAKES PLAYS IN 2018
•The SMSU defense finished with 84 tackles for loss last season ranking third in team history.
•The defense also recorded 28 sacks ranking tied for seventh in team history.  
•SMSU forced three or more turnovers in four games a season ago including five in a week two loss to Wayne State and six in a win over Minnesota Crookston in week six.
•SMSU forced 21 turnovers during the 2018 season after forcing 22 turnovers in 2017.

GET IN THE "ZONE"
•SMSU finished last season 28 for 37 (75.7) inside the "red zone" with 23 touchdowns and five field goals.
•SMSU opponents were 28 of 36 (77.8) inside "red zone" with 25 touchdowns and three 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    28 of 37 (75.7)    23    5

BIG PLAY MUSTANGS
•SMSU recorded 70 offensive/defensive plays or kick/punt returns of 20 or more yards in 2018, with 59 coming from the offense (8 run, 51 pass).
•The new NCAA kickoff rule in 2018 had a major effect on SMSU's kick returns.
•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    70    15    8    51    7    2    2    0

SPECIAL TEAMS LEADERS IN 2018
•Sophomore Dakota Jaeschke and senior Tahjee Smith both ranked tied for second on the team last season in special team tackles with seven while Jaeschke had one fumble recovery.   

THREE TRUE FRESHMEN PLAY
•SMSU had three true freshmen play last season including one starter.
•Linebacker Onte Burns started all 11 games and recorded 48 tackles with two fumble recoveries and one interception.
•Running back Codie Meinen played in five games with six rushes for 71 yards with included a 52-yard touchdown run versus UMC.

SMSU HIGH-OCTANE OFFENSE
•Since being shutout on Nov. 5, 2011, SMSU has scored 30 or more points in nearly half of its games.
•Dating back to the final game of the 2011 season through 2018, SMSU has scored 30 or more points in 36 of its last 79 games.
•In that time, 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 26 games since Oct. 20, 2016, but three of those games came last season.

SMSU IN NSIC SOUTH DIVISION PLAY
•Since the NSIC adapted divisional play prior to the 2008 season, SMSU is 23-50 all-time in South Division games and has finished in the top half of the division three times in 11 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 NSIC 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, 3-1 in 2016, 2-2 in 2017 and finished 3-1 last season.  










TURNOVER MARGIN BY THE NUMBERS
•SMSU finished "plus-2" in turnover margin last season after finishing "plus-9" in turnover margin in 2017.
•SMSU was a combined plus-11 in two games last season but were a combined minus-nine in the other nine games.
•Since the start of the 2004 season (166 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 95 of their last 143 conference games.

MUSTANGS AT HOME
•The 2019 season marks the 12th year that Mattke Field at the Schwan Regional Event Center has served as the home for SMSU football.
•SMSU, which is 28-34 all-time at the stadium, finished 3-3 at home last season.
•SMSU recorded back-to-back home 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 last season and are 3-13 in road games since the 2016 season.
•SMSU is a combined 32-63 in road games since 2000.

WORKING OVERTIME
•SMSU is 4-7 all-time in overtime games since the NCAA added overtime in 1998.
•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) versus Winona State.
•The program's last multi-overtime game was a 34-31 double overtime loss at Minnesota State on Oct. 13, 2012.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA STATE
•Todd Hoffner is entering his 10th season as head coach at MSU with a career record of 92-21. He has led the Mavericks to six NCAA playoff appearances including an NCAA championship game appearance in 2014.
•MSU finished 13-1 a season ago and advanced to the NCAA semifinals before losing at home to Ferris State.
•The Mavericks averaged 40 points and 461 yards of offense while allowing just 17 points and 300 yards per game in 2018.
•Senior running back Nate Gunn has led the team in rushing the past two seasons including amassing a school single-season record 1,705 yards and 22 touchdowns on 356 carries in 2018.
•Junior running back Justin Taormina, who rushed for 1,140 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2017, finished with 469 yards and four touchdowns last season.
•Senior quarterback Ryan Schlichte passed for 1,914 yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 120 of 220 attempts.
•Junior quarterback JD Ekowa completed 68 of 148 pass attempts for 1,130 yards and 10 touchdowns and also rushed for 380 yards.
•Senior All-American wide receiver Shane Zylstra led the team with 66 receptions for 1,261 yards and 14 touchdowns.
•Senior linebacker Alex Goettl returns after pacing the defense last season with 87 tackles including 13.5 for loss with a pair of interceptions.
•Senior linebacker Zach Robertson ranked second on the squad last season with 74 tackles including 9.5 for loss.