THIS WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University football team (1-2, 0-2 NSIC) hits the road this Saturday, Sept. 19, with a match-up versus Minot State University (0-3, 0-2 NSIC) in Minot, N.D. The teams will kickoff at 2 p.m. at First Western Bank Field at Herb Parker Stadium.
•SMSU is coming off a 30-3 home loss to Northern State on Saturday night and will look to snap a two-game losing skid.   
•MSU has dropped its first three games of the season by a combined 18 points, including a six-point season-opening home loss to Emporia State (Kan.) and a seven-point home loss to Wayne State. The Beavers are coming off a 38-33 road setback to Augustana on Saturday afternoon. 
•The Beavers rank sixth in Division II in rushing offense (330.7) and sixth in first downs (76). Running back Brandon Hines Jr. ranks fourth in the country in all purpose yards (187.3) and fifth in rushing (142.3). 
•A preview of MSU is located on page 4. 

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 HEAD COACH SCOTT UNDERWOOD
•Scott Underwood is in his fifth season as head coach with a record of 8-39. 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 were its highest victory total since 2018. 
•Underwood compiled a record of 86-52 in 12 seasons as head coach at St. Cloud State (2008-19) and is 94-91 overall in his 17th season 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 19. 

SMSU OPENING DRIVE TIDBITS
•Freshman Jayden Cooper caught a career-high six passes for 68 yards in the loss to Northern State.
•Junior David Ola-Kazeem caught a career-high seven passes for 52 yards in the setback to NSU. 
•Kicker Landon Hubbard booted a career-long 38-yard field goal on Saturday night. 
•For the season, freshman Josh Lancifort leads SMSU in rushing with 100 yards on 37 carries.
•Junior Tryg Auten has caught a team-high 14 passes for 140 yards.
•Junior Keegan Patterson leads the team with two interceptions.
•Redshirt freshman Hunter Hanegraaf has racked up a team-high 22 tackles with 4.5 for loss. 
•Senior Avery Johnson ranks second on the team with four tackles for loss. 
•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 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. 
•Senior Macloud 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 season opener in back-to-back seasons. Blake Gimbel was the last Mustang to start back-to-back season openers in 2017 and 2018. 
•Junior Aiden Planer and junior Keegan Patterson each recorded their first career interceptions in the win over VCSU.

SMSU & MSU IN THE 2026 NCAA RANKINGS
•The following is where SMSU and NSU 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    MSU     
             Scoring Offense    155th    52nd
             Rushing Offense    152nd    6th    
             Passing Offense    113th    149th    
             Total Offense    150th    30th     
             Scoring Defense    72nd    127th
             Rushing Defense    41st    114th 
             Pass Defense    145th    111th 
             Pass Efficiency Defense    109th     126th
             Total Defense    105th    127th     
             Net Punting     51st    46th 
             Punt Returns     61st     77th
             Kickoff Returns     69th    137th    
             Turnover Margin     124th     78th
             Fewest Penalty Yards/Gm.     38th      9th     
             Time of Possession     118th    23rd 
             3rd Down Conversions     159th    16th
             3rd Down Conversion Defense    50th    113th

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.

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 Sept. 14) features 111 players with eight seniors, 20 juniors, 19 sophomores, 29 redshirt freshmen and 35 freshmen. 

TURNOVER MARGIN BY THE NUMBERS
•SMSU is 'minus-3' in turnover margin following three weeks.
•SMSU was 'plus-1' in the win over Valley City State, but was 'minus-3' in the setback at Bemidji State and 'minus-1' versus Northern State.   
•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 3 of 7 trips (42.8) inside the red zone this season with one touchdown and two field goals. 
•SMSU has failed to score in four red zone trips with via three missed field goals and one turnover on downs. 
•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    7 of 14 (50.0)    5    2
    2025    19 of 25 (76.0)    15    4
    2026    3 of 7 (42.8)    1    2

LONG PLAYS FOR THE MUSTANGS
•SMSU has recorded 11 offensive/defensive plays or kick/punt returns of 20 or more yards this season with four coming from the offense (0 run, 4 pass).
•Macloud Crowton's 34-yard pass to Tryg Auten versus Northern State is the longest pass play of the season.
•Drew Kluender has the longest rush from scrimmage, 15 yards, at Bemidji State. 
•Aiden Planer's 37-yard interception return versus Valley City State is the second longest play of the 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    48    6    7    15    18    1    6    1
    2025    55    5    2    34    19    0    0    0
    2026    11    0    0    4    6    0    1    0

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 33-63 all-time at the stadium, including 1-1 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 11-40 in road games, including 0-1 this season.
•SMSU's last season with a winning road record occurred in 2015 (5-1). 

SMSU VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS
•SMSU is 1-34 all-time versus Division II Top 25 teams, including 0-3 last season after losing at Minnesota Duluth on Oct. 4 at home to Augustana on Oct. 25 and at Minnesota State on Nov. 1. 
•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 now 23-35 all-time in season openers after defeating Valley City State to open the 2026 campaign. 
•SMSU is 2-7 in its last nine home openers defeating VCSU this season and Concordia-St. Paul in 2022. 

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 211-381-5, including 148-281-5 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 MINOT STATE
•Ian Shields is in his fourth season as head coach and has compiled a record of 9-27. Shields spent four years as the head coach at Division I FCS program Jacksonville University (Fla.), two years as the head coach at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.), and two seasons as head coach at NAIA Eastern Oregon University.
•The Beavers have suffered three close losses to open the season, including two home losses.
•MSU has one of the top rushing offenses in the country averaging 331 yards per game and have racked up 76 first downs.
•Senior slot back Brandon Hines Jr. leads the rushing attack with 427 yards and five touchdowns on 55 carries.
•Sophomore quarterback Jett Lundeen has rushed for 132 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries, while completing 17 of 36 passes for 254 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
•Sophomore slot back Sam Buckhanan has amassed 198 yards rushing on 37 carries.
•Junior safety Calvin Moore leads the defense with a team-high 22 tackles.