THIS WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University football program (0-0, 0-0 NSIC South) opens its 53rd season on Thursday, Sept. 2, hosting MSU Moorhead (0-0, 0-0 NSIC North) at Mattke Field at the Schwan Regional Event Center with kickoff slated for 7 p.m.
•SMSU will be playing its first game since Nov. 16, 2019, following the cancellation of last season due to COVID.
•SMSU returns just one starter on offense and four on defense from the 2019 team that finished 3-8, including 1-6 in the NSIC South Division. The 2021 roster includes 11 seniors, 23 juniors, 13 sophomores, 25 redshirt freshmen and 57 freshmen.
•SMSU was 3-4 in 2019 following a victory at St. Cloud State, but closed the season with four straight losses.
•MSU Moorhead is coming off a 6-5 season in 2019, including 5-2 in the NSIC North.
•A preview on MSUM is located on page 3.

BROADCAST INFO
•Thursday's game will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL with ninth-year SMSU play-by-play voice Ryan Rohlik.
•Live stats, radio broadcast and video can be found at SMSUmustangs. com.

THE 2021 SMSU ROSTER
•The 2021 SMSU roster (as of Aug. 30) features 11 seniors, 23 juniors, 13 sophomores, 25 redshirt freshmen and 57 freshmen.

FOR OPENERS
•SMSU is 22-29 all-time in season openers and has lost its last three lid-lifters.
•No. 3 Minnesota State defeated SMSU 38-23 in the 2019 season opener in Marshall.
•SMSU's last season-opening victory came on Sept. 1, 2016, 42-38, versus No. 19 Minnesota Duluth in Marshall.
•SMSU is 3-7 in season openers under head coach Cory Sauter.
•SMSU has lost its last three home openers with the last victory coming on Sept. 1, 2016, versus Minnesota Duluth.
•Thursday is the first time SMSU has opened a season versus MSU Moorhead.  

MUSTANG HISTORY
•The 2021 season is the 53rd year of college football at SMSU dating to 1968.
•SMSU owns an all-time record of 201-333-5, including 139-239-5 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.

OPENING DRIVE TIDBITS
•Junior linebacker Onte Burns led the NSIC in 2019 in tackles with 108 (9.8 per game).
•Also returning is senior Gage Roberson, who ranked fourth on the team in 2019 with 69 tackles, including 7.5 for loss.
•SMSU outscored its opponents a combined 158-145 in the second and third quarters during the 2019 season, but was outscored 132-52 in the fourth quarter and overtime.
•SMSU finished 0-5 at home in 2019 recording its first winless season at home since 1995 (0-5). SMSU's last victory at home occured on Oct. 20, 2018, versus Northern State.

2021 SMSU SEASON NOTES
•The lone starter on offense is sophomore right tackle, Brad Gould, who started the final nine games in 2019. •Senior transfer, Andrew Haidet, will start at quarterback, after transferring from Northern Illinois in the spring of 2021.
•Another senior quarterback, Steven Nava, returns after playing in two games in 2019 with one start, combining to complete 24 of 39 pass attempts for 319 yards and three touchdowns in the two games.
•Sophomore running back, Duce Reynolds, is the team's top returning rusher from 2019. He scored four touchdowns and rushed for 405 yards on 93 attempts in 11 games. He amassed 100 yards on 20 carries versus Bemidji State and also scored two touchdowns and finished with 61 yards on 13 carries at Upper Iowa.
•SMSU's top returning receiver is sophomore Albert Lemon, who ranked ninth on the squad in 2019 with eight receptions for 136 yards.
•On defense, SMSU returns its leading tackler from 2019 in All-NSIC South first team honoree, junior linebacker Onte Burns. He led the NSIC with 108 tackles and also recorded 5.5 tackles for loss and had one interception.
•Also back is senior linebacker, Gage Roberson, who amassed 69 tackles with 7.5 tackles for loss in 2019.
•Senior linebacker, Adihia Bell, is another returning starter who racked up a team-high nine tackles for loss and led the team with four sacks.
•Senior cornerback, Marshawn Reese, started all 11 games in 2019 and tied for the team-high with two interceptions and had four pass break-ups.

SMSU HEAD COACH CORY SAUTER
•Cory Sauter is in his 12th season as head coach with an overall record of 43-68, including 42-66 in NSIC games.
•Sauter's 43 victories rank second among 10 head coaches in program history.
•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.

2021 NSIC PRESEASON POLL
•SMSU was picked to finish 11th overall and sixth in the South Division in the annual 14-team NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•Senior quarterback Andrew Haidet and junior Onte Burns were named 'Players to Watch' in the NSIC this season.

BURNS RANKS HIGH IN FINAL 2019 NCAA STATS
•Junior linebacker Onte Burns finished the 2019 season ranked 24th nationally with 9.8 tackles per game and 47th in solo tackles per game at 4.9.

SIGNAL CALLERS IN 2021
•The SMSU offense will feature one quarterback with returning experience in a Mustang uniform in senior Steven Nava while senior transfer Andrew Haidet joined the team last spring and is expected to start on Thursday.
•Haidet spent the 2020 season at Northern Illinois University and appeared in four games completing 3 of 6 passes for 44 yards and one touchdown.
•Haidet spent four seasons (2016-19) at Houston Baptist University where he played in 11 career games completing 23 of 57 pass attempts for 348 yards with three touchdowns.
•In 2019, Nava was pressed into duty in the second half of the season-opening loss to Minnesota State replacing injured starter Boyer Bouman. Nava completed 15 of 21 pass attempts for 184 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
•Nava started at Wayne State in week two, but was injured late in the third quarter and missed the remainder of the season.

BURNS EARNS MAJOR 2019 AWARDS
•Junior linebacker Onte Burns was named All-NSIC South Division first team and Don Hanson All-American third team in 2019. A two-year team captain, Burn registered an NSIC-leading 108 tackles in 2019.

TEAM CAPTAINS NAMED FOR 2021
•Three players will serve as permanent team captains for the 2021 season.
•Senior Andrew Haidet and senior Adihia Bell along with junior Onte Burns were selected as permanent captains. It's the second straight season Burns has been named a captain.
•New this season, the SMSU coaching staff will select a game captain each week to serve as a fourth captain for the game.
•The team captains were selected by a vote of the Mustang players.

ROOKIES IN 2019 RETURNING THIS SEASON
•Three of nine true freshmen who played for SMSU in 2019 are on this season's team.
•Running back Duce Reynolds rushed for 405 yards on 93 carries with four touchdowns. He also has a team-high 18 kickoff returns for 312 yards.
•Defensive lineman Gary Barnes started seven games and had 13 tackles.
•Wide receiver Albert Lemon played in seven games and had eight receptions for 136 yards.

SMSU / MSUM IN THE 2019 NCAA RANKINGS
•The following is where SMSU and MSUM ranked in the final 2019 NCAA statistics.
•A full listing of SMSU in the final 2019 national statistics can be found on pages 22-23.
         (166 teams ranked)     SMSU     MSUM
             Scoring Offense    123rd     83rd
             Rushing Offense    146th      156th
             Passing Offense    30th     29th
             Total Offense    95th     105th
             Scoring Defense    116th     77th
             Rushing Defense    141st     79th
             Pass Defense    110th     97th
             Pass Efficiency Defense    145th     94th
             Total Defense    145th     86th
             Net Punting     31st     48th
             Punt Returns     75th     44th
             Kickoff Returns     156th     165th
             Turnover Margin     97th     38th
             Fewest Penalty Yards/Gm.     110th     4th   
             Time of Possession     90th     81st
             3rd Down Conversions     99th     97th
             3rd Down Conv. Defense    136th     48th

GET IN THE 'ZONE'
•SMSU finished the 2019 season 22 for 29 (75.9) inside the 'red zone' with 19 touchdowns and three field goals.
•SMSU opponents closed the 2019 season 34 of 42 (81.0) inside "red zone" with 28 touchdowns and six 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
    2019     22 of 29 (75.9)    19    3
    2021    --

BIG PLAY MUSTANGS
•SMSU recorded 56 offensive/defensive plays or kick/punt returns of 20 or more yards in 2019 with 41 coming from the offense (4 run, 37 pass).
•For a complete look at the "long" plays and SMSU's "money" plays from 2019, 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
    2019    56    12    4    37    12    1    2    0

SMSU VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS
•SMSU is 1-24 versus Division II Top 25 teams since the 2008 season including 0-1 in 2019.
•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.

TURNOVER MARGIN BY THE NUMBERS
•SMSU finished 'minus-two' in turnover margin in 2019.
•SMSU finished 'plus-2' in turnover margin in 2018 and was 'plus-9' in 2017.
•Since the start of the 2004 season (177 games), SMSU has been a 'plus' in turnover margin in just 58 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, twice in 2018 and six times in 2019).
•The Mustangs have been 'even' or 'minus' in turnover margin in 100 of their last 154 conference games.

SMSU IN NSIC SOUTH DIVISION PLAY
•Since the NSIC adapted divisional play prior to the 2008 season, SMSU is 24-56 all-time in South Division games, while finishing in the top half of the division three times in 12 seasons.
•SMSU had its highest finish of second place in 2013 and has also placed fourth three times, fifth once, sixth five times, seventh once and eighth 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 18-14 versus NSIC North Division teams, including 2-2 in 2019.
•SMSU finished 3-1 versus NSIC North opponents in 2018, went a perfect 4-0 in 2015, 3-1 in 2016 and 2-2 in 2017.  

MUSTANGS AT HOME
•The 2021 season marks the 13th year that Mattke Field at the Schwan Regional Event Center served as the home for SMSU football.
•SMSU is 28-39 all-time at the stadium, including an 0-5 record in 2019.
•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.  

MUSTANGS ON THE ROAD
•SMSU finished 3-3 in road games in 2019 and are 6-16 in road games since the 2016 season.
•SMSU is 20-33 in road games since head coach Cory Sauter took over in 2010.

WORKING OVERTIME
•SMSU is 4-8 all-time in overtime games, including 0-1 in 2019, since the NCAA added overtime in 1998.
•SMSU is 1-3 in multi-overtime contests.
•SMSU's last overtime game was a loss at Wayne State (19-13) on Sept. 14, 2019.
•SMSU's 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 MSUM MOORHEAD
•Steve Laqua, the 2018 NSIC Coach of the Year, is in his 10th season as head coach with a record of 43-57. •MSUM finished the 2019 season with a record of 6-5, securing the program's second straight winning season.
•Redshirt freshman Tommy Falk takes over at quarterback for the Dragons and is expected to make his first career start on Thursday.
•MSUM is looking to replace its top three rushers from the 2019 team.
•Senior wide receiver Grady Bresnahan caught a team-high 59 passes for 716 yards and four touchdowns in 2019.
•Sophomore wide receiver Ryan Bieberdorf finished with 44 receptions for 451 yards and two touchdowns in 2019.
•MSUM returns its top two tacklers from 2019 in senior  linebacker Matt Schoh, who registered 76 tackles and senior strong safety Shad Vedaa, who amassed 73 tackles.
•Senior defensive tackle Jordan Magnuson also returns after tying for the team-high in 2019 with 12 tackles for loss.