THIS WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University football team (1-3, 1-3 NSIC) steps out of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play for the first time since the 2013 season traveling to Valparaiso, Ind., to face Valparaiso University (0-3, 0-1 Pioneer Football League) on Saturday afternoon with kickoff slated for 1 p.m. at Brown Field.
•SMSU, which is looking to snap a three-game losing skid, will be playing its first Football Championship Subdivision opponent since the 1999 season and fifth time overall.
•SMSU's three-game losing streak has come against opponents with a combined record of 11-1, including a pair of Top 25 teams.
•SMSU is playing the non-conference game due to the departure of Upper Iowa University to the Great Lakes Valley Conference this summer.
•SMSU's last non-conference game took place at the 2013 Mineral Water Bowl versus Pittsburg State (Kan.), with the last regular season non-conference game occurring in the 2011 season opener at Northern State.
•Valparaiso, which opened Pioneer Football League play last Saturday with an overtime home loss to Marist. The Beacons have also lost to Indiana Wesleyan and Youngstown State. The Beacons were picked to finish sixth out of 11 teams in the Pioneer Football League preseason poll.  
•A preview of Valparaiso is located on page 4.

BROADCAST INFO
•Saturday's game will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL with 11th-year SMSU play-by-play voice Ryan Rohlik.
•Live stats, radio broadcast and video can be found at SMSUmustangs.com. The game will also air live on ESPN+.

SMSU vs. VALPO Series Notes
SMSU and Valparaiso meet for the first time ever on Saturday afternoon ... SMSU is 0-4 all-time versus FCS opponents .. Saturday will be SMSU's first game versus an FCS opponent since losing at Northern Iowa in the final game of the 1999 season ... SMSU also played at Illinois State in 1992 and twice at Weber State in 1983 and 1989 ... SMSU has played one school which is a current member of the Pioneer Football League. SMSU is 1-2 all-time versus St. Thomas losing in 1972 and 1986, before earning a victory in 1987.
 
SMSU All-Time vs. FCS Opponents
Sept. 3, 1983 • at Weber State 33, SMSU 21
Nov. 11, 1989 • at Weber State 55, SMSU 0
Sept. 5, 1992 • at Illinois State 51, SMSU 12
Nov. 20, 1999 • at Northern Iowa 55, SMSU 14

OPENING DRIVE TIDBITS
•SMSU registered its first two sacks of the season in last week's loss to No. 23 Minnesota Duluth. Lee Wilson, who racked up a career-high five tackles in the game, and Jason Samec combined for the first sack, while Josiah Hedensten recorded a solo sack later in the game.
•Junior running back Donald Austin, who ranks 31st in Division II with 87.5 rushing yards per game, reached the career 1,000-yard rushing mark during last week's loss to Minnesota Duluth. He has amassed 1,000 yards on 194 career carries and is the 20th player in team history to reach 1,000 career rushing yards. Austin recorded his fourth career 100-yard rushing game two weeks ago with 115 yards on 24 carries at Wayne State.
•Junior kicker/punter Carter Dicker drilled a career-long 67-yard punt last week versus UMD. Dicker, who was the team's punter the previous two seasons, was filling in for Mason Carver who missed the game due to a wedding.
•Redshirt freshman punter Mason Carver booted a career-best 51-yard punt two week's ago at Wayne State.
•Redshirt freshman right guard Eddie Garcia and sophomore wide receiver Colin Maher both made their first career starts in last week's game versus UMD.
•Junior linebacker K'Mari Watson made his first career start last week and finished with four tackles.
•Junior Tate Gaul blocked and recovered a Wayne State punt two weeks ago for a touchdown. It's the first blocked punt for a touchdown for the Mustangs since 2019 when Chris Bain blocked a punt and Nathan Hill recovered in a loss to Augustana.  
•Sophomore quarterback Marcus Martin finished with career-highs in both completions (27) and attempts (42) in the loss to Bemidji State in week two.
•For the season, Austin has rushed for a team-high 350 yards and one touchdown on 78 carries. He also has six receptions for 63 yards and one touchdown.
•Martin has completed 62 of 117 pass attempts for 781 yards with five touchdowns and seven interceptions.
•Senior wide receiver Peter Osman has caught a team-high 16 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns. Junior wide out Rashaan Palmer has eight receptions for 161 yards and one score, while sophomore Eric Lira has 12 receptions for 126 yards in two games.
•Sophomore linebacker Josiah Hedensten leads the club with 28 tackles with 1.5 for loss with junior linebacker Thomas Mergen recording 24 tackles, including 2.5 for loss.
•SMSU is 'minus-10' in turnover margin this season and has not forced a turnover since week one.

SMSU HEAD COACH SCOTT UNDERWOOD
•Scott Underwood is in his second season as SMSU head coach with a record of 5-10. He was named the program's 11th head coach on Jan. 7, 2022.
•Underwood was the first SMSU head coach in team history (11 head coaches) to begin his SMSU coaching career with a 4-1 record.
•Underwood compiled an overall record of 86-61 in 12 seasons as head coach at St. Cloud State (2008-19).
•SCSU recorded 10 winning seasons with three NCAA playoff appearances during his tenure. SCSU won seven or more games seven times, including a school record 12 victories in 2013.
•SCSU made NCAA playoff appearances in 2010, 2011 and 2013 and won a share of both the NSIC North Division and NSIC overall championship in 2011.
•He was also an assistant coach at SCSU (2001-07), North Dakota (1997-2000), Sioux Falls (1993-96) and Augustana (1988-92).
•A complete bio on Underwood can be found on page 18.

SMSU LAST TIME OUT
•Minnesota Duluth, ranked No. 23 nationally, remained undefeated on the season forcing four Southwest Minnesota State turnovers to earn a 33-0 victory last Saturday afternoon at The Schwan Regional Event Center.
•Turnovers haunted SMSU once again with UMD recording a pair of interceptions and recovering two fumbles. It's the second straight week the Mustangs have committed four turnovers.
•UMD closed the game with 349 yards of offense and 20 first downs, while SMSU was limited to a season-low 158 yards and 11 first downs.
•SMSU's Marcus Martin finished the game completing 12 of 25 passes for 159 yards and two interceptions, while being sacked five times.
•Donald Austin led the Mustangs with 45 yards rushing on 16 attempts.
•Colin Maher caught three passes for 46 yards for the Mustangs, while Eric Lira finished with three receptions for 25 yards.
•Josiah Hedensten paced the SMSU defense with a game-high 10 tackles with one sack and one pass break-up. Thomas Mergen added nine tackles with two for loss.

BOHANNON EARNS NSIC WEEKLY HONOR
•Junior safety Hunter Bohannon was named the NSIC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 5 following his performance in SMSU's 28-23 season opening victory at Minot State on Aug. 31.
•Bohannon forced two fumbles, recovering one, recorded three solo tackles and one pass break-up.
•It's the second time Bohannon has earned the award in his career. He also earned the award on Sept. 27, 2021.  

MUSTANGS WITH FIRST NON-LEAGUE GAME SINCE
•With the departure of Upper Iowa University to the Great Lakes Valley Conference, SMSU will have its first regular season non-conference game since the 2011 season when SMSU plays at FCS foe Valparaiso this Saturday.  
•The game will be SMSU's first game versus an FCS opponent since losing at Northern Iowa in the final game of the 1999 season. SMSU also played at Illinois State in 1992 and twice at Weber State in 1983 and 1989.
•SMSU's last non-conference game was the 2013 Mineral Water Bowl versus Pittsburg State, while the last regular season non-conference game occurred in the 2011 season opener at Northern State.

THE 2023 SMSU ROSTER
•The SMSU roster (as of Sept. 25) features eight seniors, 19 juniors, 28 sophomores, 11 redshirt freshmen and 42 freshmen.

TEAM CAPTAINS FOR 2023
•Four players serve as team captains for the 2023 season with seniors Cam Irvin and Peter Osman and junior Donald Austin and Thomas Mergen selected by the Mustang players.

SMSU / VALPO IN THE NCAA RANKINGS
•The following is where SMSU and VALPO rank in the latest NCAA Division II and FCS statistics.
•A full listing of SMSU in the NCAA statistics can be found on pages 17-18.
             (163 teams ranked in D2)     SMSU     VALPO
    (122 teams ranked in FCS)
             Scoring Offense    150th     77th
             Rushing Offense    139th      121st
             Passing Offense    85th     55th
             Total Offense    120th     109th
             Scoring Defense    130th     102nd
             Rushing Defense    109th     49th
             Pass Defense    127th     44th
             Pass Efficiency Defense    121st     41st
             Total Defense    125th     36th
             Net Punting     110th     77th
             Punt Returns     49th     103rd
             Kickoff Returns     135th     29th
             Turnover Margin     158th     122nd
             Fewest Penalty Yards/Gm.     37th     1st   
             Time of Possession     34th     49th
             3rd Down Conversions     56th    76th
             3rd Down Conv. Defense    151st     56th

TURNOVERS MARGIN BY THE NUMBERS
•SMSU is 'minus-10' in turnover margin this season after finishing the 2022 season 'minus-1' in turnover margin.
•SMSU has not forced a turnover in its last three games  after forcing at least one turnover in each game in 2022 and two or more in six games.

GET IN THE 'ZONE'
•SMSU is 3 of 7 inside the 'red zone' this season with two touchdowns and one field goal
•SMSU opponents are 20 of 21 inside the 'red zone' with 13 touchdowns and seven field goals.
•The following is SMSU in the 'red zone' since the 2010 season.
    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    20 of 29 (69.0)    16    4
    2022    20 of 33 (60.6)    17    3
    2023    3 of 7 (42.9)    2    1

BIG PLAY MUSTANGS
•SMSU has recorded 14 offensive/defensive plays or kick/punt returns of 20 or more yards with 12 coming from the offense (1 run, 11 pass).
•Marcus Martin's 44-yard touchdown pass to Rashaan Palmer versus Minot State is the longest play from scrimmage this season.
•Donald Austin's 37-yard touchdown run versus Minot State is the longest rush from scrimmage this season.
•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
    2021    42    6    8    18    10    1    2    3
    2022    51    14    14    23    13    0    1    0
    2023    14    5    1    11    1    1    0    0

2022 RUSHING ONE OF THE BEST IN TEAM HISTORY
•SMSU finished the 2022 season rushing for 1,901 yards ranking fourth in team single-season history.
•SMSU's 172.8 rushing yards per game also ranked fourth in team single-season history.

2023 NSIC PRESEASON POLL
•SMSU was picked to finish ninth overall in the annual 13-team NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•Senior wide receiver Peter Osman and junior linebacker Thomas Mergen were named 'Players to Watch'.

MUSTANGS AT HOME
•The 2023 season marks the 15th year that Mattke Field at The Schwan Regional Event Center has served as the home for SMSU football.
•SMSU is 31-49 all-time at the stadium, including 0-2 this season.
•New turf was installed at the stadium in the summer of 2022.
•SMSU lost 12 straight home games from late in the 2018 season through 2021. SMSU was winless at home in both 2019 and 2021 (2020 season was canceled).  
•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
•After recording its last winning road record in a season in 2015 (5-1), SMSU is 10-25 in road games since the 2016 season, including 1-1 this season.

SMSU VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS
•SMSU is 1-29 versus Division II Top 25 teams all-time, including 0-2 this season following a week four home loss to No. 23 Minnesota Duluth.
•SMSU's lone victory versus a ranked team came in the 2016 season opener versus No. 19 Minnesota Duluth (42-38) in Marshall.

WORKING OVERTIME
•SMSU is 5-8 all-time in overtime games since the NCAA added overtime in 1998, including 1-0 last season after defeating Minot State, 27-20, on Sept. 24.
•SMSU is 1-3 in multi-overtime contests.
•SMSU's previous overtime home win came on Nov. 2, 2015, versus Winona State.
•The program's last multi-overtime game was a 34-31 double overtime loss at Minnesota State on Oct. 13, 2012.

SEASON OPENERS
•SMSU is 23-31 all-time in season openers after beginning the 2023 season with a victory at Minot State on Aug. 31. The win snapped a five-game losing skid in season opening games.

MUSTANG HISTORY
•The 2023 season is the 55th year of college football at SMSU (including the 2020 season that was canceled) dating to 1968.
•SMSU owns an all-time record of 208-352-5, including 146-258-5 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.

SCOUTING VALPARAISO
•Landon Fox is in his fifth season as head coach and has a record of 14-30. Over the last three seasons, Fox has led Valparaiso to 12 Pioneer Football League victories, the most in a three-year period in program history. The program finished with a PFL record of .500 or better for a third consecutive season in 2022, the first time that has occurred since 1998-2000.
•The Beacons rank first in FCS in fewest penalty yards per game (26.6) and ninth in fewest penalties (12).
•Valpo is coming off 36-30 overtime homecoming loss to Marist last Saturday afternoon. The Beacons blocked a Marist PAT with 12 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime.
•Valpo missed a 33-yard field goal in overtime, while Marist answered with a 25-yard touchdown run on its first play from scrimmage.
•Senior wide receiver Solomon Davis caught a game-high 10 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns for the Beacons. Davis leads the team through three games with 17 receptions for 275 yards and three touchdowns.
•Sophomore quarterback Michael Appel Jr. completed 16 of 25 passes for 234 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. On the season, Appel has completed 53 of 94 pass attempts for 614  yards with five touchdowns and six interceptions.
•Junior running back Barret Labus leads the team with 78 rushing yards on 24 attempts in two games. •Senior Jashon Butler has 61 yards on 17 carries, while sophomore Ryan Mann has amassed 48 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries.
•The Beacons are averaging 50 yards rushing per game on the season.  
•Senior punter Evan Matthes an All-PFL second team honoree in 2022, is averaging 46 yards per punt (third in FCS nationally) with three of 50 yards or more.
•Senior linebacker Evan Annis has racked up a team-high 22 tackles with 1.5 for loss.
•The Beacon defense has five sacks and one interception on the season.