THIS WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University football team (0-4, 0-4 NSIC) steps out of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play this Saturday facing the University of Nebraska-Kearney Lopers (2-2, 1-2 MIAA) with kickoff slated for 1 p.m. at Mattke Field at The Schwan Regional Event Center.
•Saturday's game will be the first non-conference home game for the Mustangs since opening the 2010 season versus Northern State. The last time SMSU hosted a team not from the NSIC, came in 2009 versus Black Hills State (S.D.).
•SMSU, still in search of its first victory of the season, is coming off a shutout road setback last Saturday to Minnesota Duluth. UNK, which opened the season with wins over Chadron State (Neb.) and Northwest Missouri State, have dropped its last two games to Central Oklahoma and Central Missouri.
•UNK is a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA). The Lopers are coming off a 3-8 season in 2023. In 2002, UNK finished 8-3, while in 2021 the Lopers were 10-3 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA playoffs.

BROADCAST INFO
•Saturday's game will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL with 12th-year SMSU play-by-play voice Ryan Rohlik.
•Live stats, radio broadcast and video can be found at SMSUmustangs.com.

SMSU vs. UNK Series Notes
SMSU and UNK meet for the first time ever on Saturday afternoon ... SMSU is 0-3 all-time versus current MIAA members .. SMSU is 0-2 all-time versus Missouri Western State and 0-1 versus Pittsburg State.
 
SMSU All-Time vs. MIAA Opponents
Sept. 4, 1993 • Missouri Western State 35, @SMSU 20
Sept. 3, 1994 • @Missouri Western State 30, SMSU 20
Dec. 7, 2013 • vs. Pittsburg State 90, SMSU 28

SMSU HEAD COACH SCOTT UNDERWOOD
•Scott Underwood is in his third season as SMSU head coach with a record of 6-20. 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. SMSU's four victories in 2022 was its highest victory total since 2018.
•Underwood compiled a record of 86-51 in 12 seasons as head coach at St. Cloud State (2008-19) and is now 92-71 overall in 15 seasons as a head coach.
•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 showed why it has the No. 4 ranked defense in the country last Saturday afternoon limiting Southwest Minnesota State to 78 yards and six first downs in earning a 62-0 victory in Duluth.
•SMSU was sacked 10 times for minus-40 yards and closed the game with five total yards rushing. Jacob Honstetter led the Mustangs with 17 yards rushing on 12 carries. He also caught two passes for 28 yards.
•Kendon Krogman started at quarterback for SMSU and played the first half completing 7 of 19 pass attempts for 58 yards and one interception.
•True freshman Drew Kluender entered the game in the third quarter under center and finished 3 for 10 for 15 yards.
•Tryg Auten finished the setback with three receptions for 27 yards.
•Avery Johnson had a pair of first quarter sacks to pace the SMSU defense, while Josiah Hedensten racked up a team-high eight tackles with 2.5 for loss.

OPENING DRIVE TIDBITS
•Junior running back Jacob Honstetter has rushed for a team-high 210 yards on 57 carries on the season.
•Junior wide receiver Colin Maher, who missed last week's game with an injury, has six receptions for 122 yards and one touchdown.
•Junior wide receiver Jake Anderson has caught seven passes for 43 yards, while Tryg Auten has a team-high nine receptions for 102 yards and one touchdown.
•Junior linebacker Josiah Hedensten has a team-high 31 tackles with one sack, four tackles for loss and two forced fumbles. Junior linebacker Gideon Ervasti has 25 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss.
•Senior linebacker Thomas Mergen has registered 22 tackles, including three tackles for loss.
•Junior defensive end Avery Johnson leads the club with 2.5 sacks.
•Redshirt freshman safety Parker Knutson has two interceptions on the season.
•Redshirt freshman Connor Shelton booted his first career field goal, a 33-yarder, two weeks ago versus Concordia-St. Paul.
•For the second straight season, the NSIC will not have a divisional format in football. Each team will play 10 NSIC games with five at home and five on the road.

THE 2024 SMSU ROSTER
•The SMSU roster (as of Oct. 2) features 10 seniors, 24 juniors, 10 sophomores, 25 redshirt freshmen and 35 freshmen.

SMSU / UNK IN THE NCAA RANKINGS
•The following is where SMSU and UNK rank in the latest NCAA Division II statistics.
•A full listing of SMSU in the NCAA statistics can be found on pages 16-17.
             (159 teams ranked)     SMSU     UNK
             Scoring Offense    159th     84th
             Rushing Offense    110th      90th
             Passing Offense    153rd     105th
             Total Offense    151st     136th
             Scoring Defense    151st     67th
             Rushing Defense    139th     34th
             Pass Defense    32nd     154th
             Pass Efficiency Defense    149th     96th
             Total Defense    99th     136th
             Net Punting     100th     85th
             Punt Returns     69th     59th
             Kickoff Returns     52nd     127th
             Turnover Margin     157th     3rd
             Fewest Penalty Yards/Gm.     7th     145th   
             Time of Possession     108th     133rd
             3rd Down Conversions     158th    126th
             3rd Down Conv. Defense    116th     67th

TEAM CAPTAINS FOR 2024
•Four players serve as team captains for the 2024 season with senior Thomas Mergen and juniors Avery Johnson, Colin Maher and Tyler Nebelung selected by the Mustang players.

NEW QUARTERBACK IN 2024
•With sophomore Wyatt Oak starting at quarterback in the season opener, it marked the sixth straight season SMSU had a different quarterback starting week one.
•Redshirt freshman Kendon Krogman has started the past two weeks.
•Blake Gimbel was the last Mustang to start back-to-back season openers in 2017 and 2018.
•Steven Nava started the season in 2019, with Andrew Haidet in 2021, followed by Justus McComb in 2022 and Marcus Martin in 2023.

TURNOVERS MARGIN BY THE NUMBERS
•SMSU is 'minus-9' in turnover margin following four games this season.
•SMSU finished 'minus-10' in turnover margin last season and was 'minus' in turnover margin in nine of 11 games.
•SMSU forced a turnover in five of 11 games in 2023 and twice (vs. MSU Moorhead and Sioux Falls) forced four turnovers. 

LOOKING FOR TIME IN THE 'ZONE'
•SMSU is 2 of 7 (33.3) in the red zone this season with two field goals. SMSU has failed to score five times in the red zone registering two interceptions, a fumble, a missed field goal and a turnover on downs.
•SMSU finished 17 of 30 inside the 'red zone' last season with 14 touchdowns and three field goals.
•SMSU opponents are 10 of 12 in the red zone this season with eight touchdowns and two 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    17 of 30 (56.6)    14    3
    2024    2 of 7 (28.5)    0    2

LONG PLAYS FOR THE MUSTANGS
•SMSU has recorded 19 offensive/defensive plays or kick/punt returns of 20 or more yards with nine coming from the offense (5 run, 4 pass).
•Wyatt Oak's 55-yard touchdown pass to Colin Maher  versus Minot State is the longest pass play this season.
•Jacob Honstetter's 55-yard run versus Minot State is the longest rush from scrimmage this season.
•Tryg Auten's 52-yard return versus Concordia-St. Paul is the team's longest kick return 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    50    9    8    29    11    1    1    0
    2024    19    3    5    4    7    1    2    0

MUSTANGS WITH FIRST NON-LEAGUE HOME GAME
•With the departure of Upper Iowa University to the Great Lakes Valley Conference following the 2022 season, SMSU will play a non-conference game for the second straight season and will host its first non-league game since 2010.  
•SMSU's game versus Nebraska-Kearney, a member of the MIAA, will be SMSU's first home non-conference game since facing Northern State in 2010.
•In last season's lone non-league game, SMSU suffered a 16-15 road loss to FCS foe, Valparaiso.

2024 NSIC PRESEASON POLL
•SMSU was picked to finish 11th overall in the annual 13-team NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•Junior offensive tackle Tyler Nebelung and junior linebacker Josiah Hedensten were named 'Players to Watch'.

MUSTANGS AT HOME
•The 2024 season marks the 16th year that Mattke Field at The Schwan Regional Event Center has served as the home for SMSU football.
•SMSU is 32-53 all-time at the stadium, including 0-2 this season.
•New turf was installed at the stadium in the summer of 2022.
•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
•Since the 2016 season, SMSU is 10-31 in road games, including 0-2 this season, following its last winning road record in a season in 2015 (5-1).

SMSU VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS
•SMSU is 1-31 all-time versus Division II Top 25 teams, including 0-1 this season.
•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.
•SMSU's last overtime game occurred on Sept. 24, 2022, with a 27-20 home victory over Minot State.
•SMSU is 1-3 in multi-overtime contests.
•The program's last multi-overtime game was a 34-31 double overtime loss at Minnesota State on Oct. 13, 2012.

SEASON & HOME OPENER INFORMATION
•SMSU is 23-32 all-time in season openers after losing at home to Minot State this season. SMSU is now 1-6 in its last seven home openers with the lone victory coming over Concordia-St. Paul in 2022.

MUSTANG HISTORY
•The 2024 season is the 56th year of college football at SMSU (including the 2020 season that was canceled) dating to 1968.
•SMSU owns an all-time record of 209-362-5, including 147-264-5 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 NEBRASKA-KEARNEY
•Ryan Held is in his second season as head coach with a record of 4-11. He previously had been a head coach at junior colleges, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M and Highland (Kan.) Community College, Division II Southwestern Oklahoma State and Oklahoma Panhandle State, and NAIA Peru State College.
•Held spent 2022 as interim head coach and offensive coordinator at FCS-member North Alabama. Prior to that, he was an assistant/running backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Nebraska (2018-21) and assistant/running backs coach at the University of Central Florida (2016-17).
•UNK is coming off a 36-35 road loss to No. 12 Central Missouri last Saturday afternoon. The Mules scored the game-winning touchdown with just under six minutes remaining in the game. UNK trailed 27-7 at halftime before storming back and taking a 35-30 advantage early in the fourth quarter following an 88-yard interception return for a touchdown.
•Lopers quarterback, Regan Jones, completed 14 of 23 passes in the game for three touchdowns and one interception. He also ran for a game-high 74 yards on eight carries, including a 44-yard run.
•For the season, Jones, a senior transfer from Missouri Western State has rushed for a team-leading 216 yards on 39 carries and has completed 54 of 99 pass attempts for 703 yards with seven touchdowns and one interception.
•Senior wide receiver Reggie Anderson has caught a team-high eight passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns.
•Junior running back Isaiah Harris has rushed for 198 yards and one score on a team-high 57 carries.
•Senior cornerback Kendall Brewer has a team-leading three interceptions, including an 88-yard return for a touchdown in last week's game.
•Senior safety Jamere Jones has racked up 32 tackles with two interceptions to lead the Loper defense.
•Senior defensive lineman Quillan Felton leads the team with nine tackles for loss with four sacks.