THIS WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University football team (1-6, 0-6 NSIC, 0-2 NSIC South), following a bye week, returns to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action this Saturday, Oct. 24, with a road match-up versus the Augustana University (5-2, 4-2 NSIC, 2-1 NSIC South) at Kirkeby-Over Stadium with kickoff set for 1 p.m.
•SMSU will be looking to snap a six-game losing skid since opening the season with a non-conference home victory over Valley City State (N.D.). 
•Augustana has won the past 10 games in the series with SMSU's last victory coming in 2013. 
•Saturday's game will be the fourth for SMSU interim head coach, Levi Bullerman, who was named to the position on Sept. 20 following the retirement of head coach, Scott Underwood.   
•After three weeks without a home game, SMSU returns home on Oct. 31 and will play two of its final three games at home. 
•SMSU begins the week ranked No. 1 in Division II in fewest penalty yards per game. 
•AU, which is receiving votes in the AFCA Top 25, has won two straight games following an overtime loss at Winona State on Oct. 3. The Vikings are ranked No. 8 in this week's Super Region 3 NPI rankings. 
•AU enters the game ranked No. 2 in passing offense, No. 2 in total first downs and No. 6 in total offense in Division II. 

BROADCAST INFO
•Saturday's game will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL with 14th-year SMSU play-by-play voice Ryan Rohlik. 
•Live stats, radio broadcast (free) and video ($) can be found at SMSUmustangs.com.

SMSU INTERIM HEAD COACH LEVI BULLERMAN
•Levi Bullerman was named interim head coach on Sept. 20 and is 0-3 during his tenure. He is in his ninth season on the SMSU coaching staff and fifth as defensive coordinator. He also coaches the team's linebackers.
•He played linebacker at SMSU from 2005-09, where he was a four-year letter winner and three-year starter, playing in 44 games with 154 tackles and three interceptions. He served as team captain in 2009.
•Bullerman took over for Scott Underwood, who retired as head coach on Sept. 20. Underwood was in his fifth season as head coach with a record of 8-40. He was named the program's 11th head coach on Jan. 7, 2022. 

SMSU OPENING DRIVE TIDBITS
•SMSU ranks first in Division II in fewest penalty yards per game (28.4).
•Sophomore linebacker Hunter Hanegraaf ranks fifth in the country in tackles for loss (1.8) and 43rd in tackles (8.9). 
•SMSU rushed for a season-high 141 yards on Oct. 3 in a loss at home to Minnesota Duluth.
•Sophomore quarterback Tommy Hoffman made his first career start on Oct. 10 at Sioux Falls and completed 17 of 36 passes for 233 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He also rushed for 36 yards and one touchdown.  
•Junior wide receiver Zoan Robinson finished with a career-high six receptions for a career-high 90 yards, including a 37-yard touchdown reception at Sioux Falls.
•Senior cornerback Connor Shelton had his second interception of the season versus Sioux Falls. He had his first career interception the week prior versus Minnesota Duluth. 
•Hanegraaf led SMSU with 11 tackles, including a career-high four for loss in the setback at USF.
•Junior quarterback Drew Kluender, who completed 26 of 43 passes for a career-high 314 yards and three touchdown passes in a home loss to Wayne State on Sept. 26, missed the Minnesota Duluth game with an injury. 
•Freshman wide receiver Cooper Murphy caught a career-high six passes for a career-best 144 yards and two touchdowns to Wayne State on Sept. 26. Murphy is the first SMSU player to have more than 100 yards receiving in a game since Colin Maher on Oct. 25, 2025.  
•SMSU had seven players on defense and three on offense make their first career collegiate starts in the victory over Valley City State on Aug. 27. 
•The SMSU defense, which recorded a pair of interceptions in the season-opening win over Valley City State, limited VCSU to 26 yards rushing. It was the first time SMSU held an opponent to less than 50 yards rushing since the final game of the 2009 season. 
•Crowton started at quarterback in the season-opening victory versus VCSU. It was the first time since 2018 that SMSU had the same quarterback start the first game of the season in back-to-back seasons. Blake Gimbel was the last Mustang to start back-to-back season openers in 2017 and 2018. 

SMSU SEASON NUMBERS
•Sophomore running back Josh Lancifort leads SMSU in rushing with 200 yards on 70 carries.
•Senior wide receiver Tryg Auten has caught a team-high 30 passes for 287 yards.
•Freshman wide receiver Cooper Murphy ranks second with 18 receptions for 245 yards and two touchdowns.
•Senior wide receiver David Ola-Kazeem has amassed 17 catches for 165 yards. 
•Junior quarterback Drew Kluender, has made one start, and has completed 33 of 62 passes for 412 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. 
•Fifth year quarterback Macloud Crowton, who has started five games, has completed 63 of 124 passes for 559 yards with five interceptions. 
•Junior safety Keegan Patterson leads the team with three interceptions.
•Sophomore linebacker Hunter Hanegraaf has racked up a team-high 62 tackles with 13 for loss. 
•Senior linebacker Aiden Planer ranks second on the squad with 42 tackles, including seven for loss. Sophomore linebacker Jake Meier is third on the team with 35 tackles. 
•Fifth year defensive end Avery Johnson ranks tied for third on the team with four tackles for loss. 

SMSU & AU IN THE 2026 NCAA RANKINGS
•The following is where SMSU and AU rank in this week's NCAA statistics.
•A full listing of SMSU in the NCAA statistics can be found on pages 16-17. 
             (159 teams ranked)     SMSU    AU     
             Scoring Offense    158th    9th
             Rushing Offense    157th    102nd    
             Passing Offense    92nd    2nd    
             Total Offense    144th    6th     
             Scoring Defense    120th    99th
             Rushing Defense    126th    95th 
             Pass Defense    133rd    125th 
             Pass Efficiency Defense    114th     115th
             Total Defense    138th    115th     
             Net Punting     79th    15th 
             Punt Returns     59th     5th
             Kickoff Returns     93rd    68th    
             Turnover Margin     149th     48th
             Fewest Penalty Yards/Gm.     1st      30th     
             Time of Possession     141st    75th 
             3rd Down Conversions     156th    5th
             3rd Down Conversion Defense    103rd    127th

TEAM CAPTAINS FOR 2026
•The SMSU football leadership council and team will select four game captains each week for the 2026 season.

THE 2026 SMSU ROSTER
•The SMSU roster (as of Oct. 20) features 112 players with nine fifth-year players, 11 seniors, 28 juniors, 30 sophomores and 34 freshmen. 

TURNOVER MARGIN BY THE NUMBERS
•SMSU is 'minus-9' in turnover margin on the season ranking 149th in Division II. 
•SMSU was 'plus-1' in the win over Valley City State, but have been 'minus' or 'even' in each of the next six games, including 'minus-3' at Bemidji State, 'minus-1' versus Northern State, 'minus-5' at Minot State 'minus-1' versus Wayne State and 'even' versus both Minnesota Duluth and Sioux Falls. 
•SMSU finished 'minus-9' in turnover margin last season.
•The SMSU defense forced a least one turnover in every game last season and forced two or more in six games.

MUSTANGS IN THE 'ZONE'
•SMSU has scored on 7 of 15 trips (46.7) inside the red zone this season with four touchdowns and three field goals. 
•SMSU has failed to score in eight red zone trips with four missed field goals and four turnover on downs. 
•SMSU opponents are 22 of 26 in the red zone with 17 touchdowns and five 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    7 of 14 (50.0)    5    2
    2025    19 of 25 (76.0)    15    4
    2026    6 of 13 (46.1)    3    3

LONG PLAYS FOR THE MUSTANGS
•SMSU has recorded 29 offensive/defensive plays or kick/punt returns of 20 or more yards this season with 17 coming from the offense (2 run, 15 pass).
•Drew Kluender's 53-yard pass to Cooper Murphy versus Wayne State is the longest play of the season.
•Emmanuel Diers has the longest rush from scrimmage, 26 yards, versus Minnesota Duluth. 
•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    48    6    7    15    18    1    6    1
    2025    55    5    2    34    19    0    0    0
    2026    29    4    2    15    10    0    2    0

2026 NSIC PRESEASON POLL
•SMSU was picked to finish 14th overall and seventh in the NSIC South Division in the annual 14-team NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll. 
•Mustang senior quarterback Macloud Crowton and senior defensive lineman Avery Johnson were tabbed a 'Player to Watch' in the NSIC.

MUSTANGS AT HOME
•The 2026 season is the 18th year that Mattke Field at The Schwan Regional Event Center has served as the home for SMSU football. 
•SMSU is 33-65 all-time at the stadium, including 1-3 this season. SMSU's season opening win over Valley City State snapped an 11-game home losing streak. 
•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 11-42 in road games, including 0-3 this season.
•SMSU's last season with a winning road record occurred in 2015 (5-1). 

SMSU VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS
•SMSU is 1-35 all-time versus Division II Top 25 teams, including 0-1 this season after losing at home to No. 19 Minnesota Duluth on Oct. 3.
•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.

MUSTANG HISTORY
•The 2026 season is the 59th year of college football at SMSU and 58th season of competition (2020 was canceled) dating to 1968.
•SMSU owns an all-time record of 211-385-5, including 148-285-5 in conference play. 
•SMSU has recorded 10 winning seasons with two NAIA playoff appearances (1987 and 1991) and one Mineral Water Bowl appearance (2013). SMSU's last winning season came in 2015. 
•The program earned its lone conference championship in 1990.

SCOUTING AUGUSTANA
•Jerry Olszewski is in his 14th season as head coach and has a record of 96-48. He has a career record of 128-67 in 19 seasons as a head coach after spending five seasons as head coach at St. Olaf College.
•The Vikings have two straight and are receiving votes in the AFCA Top 25 poll. AU has suffered a seven-point loss at Minnesota Duluth and a one-point overtime setback at Winona State
•Senior quarterback Gunnar Hensley has completed 173 of 265 passes for 2,524 yards with 23 touchdowns and four interceptions.  
•Junior running back Breylon Blount has rushed for 674 yards and five touchdowns, while junior wide receiver Max Carlson has added 169 yards and eight touchdowns.
•Sophomore wide receiver DJ Page leads the Vikings with 56 receptions for 746 yards and two touchdowns. Senior tight end Klayton Sattler has caught 40 passes for 556 yards and a team-leading nine touchdowns.  
•The Vikings defense is paced by junior linebacker Camron Maciejewski, who has amassed a team-high 56 tackles with two for loss.