SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL 2017 Football Contact: Kelly Loft • [email protected] • (o) 507-537-7177 • @smsumustangs For Immediate Release: Oct. 10, 2017 SMSU 2017 Schedule/Results 2-4 NSIC, 0-2 NSIC South SMSU hits the road for second straight week to Aug. 31 St. Cloud State L 26-41 Sept. 7 MSU Moorhead W 51-35 battle Augustana on Saturday afternoon Sept. 16 Minot State (Ag Bowl) W 28-20 THIS WEEK this season. Jaquan Harris from Division III Framingham Sept. 23 Bemidji State L 22-40 •Southwest Minnesota State University (2-4, 0-2 NSIC State (Mass.) had five on Oct. 6. Sept. 30 No. 7 Sioux Falls (Homecoming) L 10-24 Oct. 7 Wayne State L 6-20 South) plays its second straight Northern Sun Intercolle- •Senior running back Ashanti Payne ranks 10th in team Oct. 14 Augustana 1 p.m. giate Conference South Division road game on Saturday, history with 1,615 rushing yards. He needs 188 yards to Oct. 19 Minnesota State 7:05 p.m. Oct. 14, facing Augustana University (2-4, 0-2 NSIC South) move into ninth all-time. Oct. 28 Upper Iowa 2:07 p.m. in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. at •Sophomore running back Max Simmons ranks 15th in Nov. 4 Winona State 1 p.m. Kirkeby-Over Stadium. team history with 1,176 yards rushing. Nov. 11 Concordia-St. Paul (played at Hamline Univ.) 1 p.m. •SMSU will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak •Simmons ranks seventh in team history with 20 rushing Game Facts since defeating Minot State on Sept. 16. touchdowns. He is one shy of tying Ken Sather and Rich Southwest Minnesota State University (2-4, 0-2 NSIC South) at •SMSU will also be looking to snap a three-game losing Froemling for fifth all-time. Augustana University (2-4, 0-2 NSIC South) Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017 • 1 p.m. • Sioux Falls, S.D. skid versus Augustana dating to 2014. Kirkeby-Over Stadium (turf) •SMSU has lost four straight NSIC South Division games SMSU IN SOUTH DIVISION PLAY dating back to the final two games last season. •Since the NSIC adapted divisional play prior to the 2008 Broadcasts •Saturday’s game is Homecoming for Augustana. season, SMSU is 22-39 all-time in South Division games Radio: 105.1 FM KARL •This will be the fourth straight week SMSU has played a and has finished in the top half of the division three times Internet Radio: marshallradio.net Internet Video Broadcast: SMSUmustangs.com/watchnow Homecoming game (at BSU, at WSC, SMSU, at Augus- in nine seasons. Live Statistics: SMSUmustangs.com tana). •SMSU had its highest finish in 2013 at second place and •Following Saturday’s game, SMSU will host Minnesota has finished fourth three times, fifth twice and sixth SMSU vs. AUGIE Series Notes State on Thursday, Oct. 19, at 7:05 p.m. three times. (all-time results listed on page 20) Southwest Minnesota State and Augustana meet for the 22nd time on Saturday with Augustana holding an 18-3 advantage in a series OPENING DRIVE TIDBITS SMSU DROPS DEFENSIVE BATTLE AT WAYNE STATE that started on Sept. 8, 1990 ... Augustana won last season 35-20 in •SMSU was held without a touchdown last Saturday for •Wayne State used a strong defensive effort and used a Marshall and has won 18 of the last 19 games since 1995 ... SMSU’s win in 2013 snapped Augustana’s 15-game winning streak in the se- the first time since Nov. 15, 2014, versus Augustana. long fourth quarter touchdown run to earn a 20-6 victory ries dating back to 1995 ... SMSU won the first two games of the se- •SMSU ranks seventh in the country in turnover margin over SMSU last Saturday in Wayne, Nebraska. ries in 1990 and 1991 ... Augustana is 8-2 all-time in Sioux Falls with (+1.5) and is 18th in turnovers gained (15). •SMSU was limited to 244 yards of offense including 49 victories coming in 1991 and 2013 ... SMSU has been held to nine or •SMSU suffered its only lost fumble of season on Sept. yards rushing. less points in nine of the 21 games, while Augustana has scored at least 25 points in 18 of the 21 games. 23 at Bemidji State, which came on a kickoff return. •SMSU was held without a touchdown for the first time •SMSU ranks tied for second in Division II in fumbles lost. since Nov. 15, 2014. The Last Time - SMSU vs. AUGIE •Augustana ranks 160th nationally in turnover margin •SMSU quarterback Connor Wilkie--making his second Augustana came through with a pair of big fourth quarter plays to hold off Southwest Minnesota State 35-20 in the 2016 season finale (-1.67). career start--completed 27 of 47 pass attempts for 211 in Marshall on Nov. 12. Matt Heller caught a team-high six passes •Augustana has thrown 15 interceptions which is tied for yards and one interception. for 137 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Augustana offense. the most in Division II. •Tight end Eldridge Joyce caught a team-high eight It was his fifth three-touchdown game of the season. Trey Heid com- •SMSU has outscored its opponents 48-34 in the first passes for 42 yards while Nate Huot finished with four pleted 16 of 31 passes for the Vikings for 264 yards and four touch- down passes. Blake Gimbel completed 42 of 56 pass attempts for quarter this season. It’s the only quarter SMSU has held receptions for a team-high 59 yards. 362 yards and two touchdowns for SMSU, but was also intercepted a scoring advantage this season. •Ashanti Payne led the SMSU ground game with 31 twice. Gimbel's top target was Raphael Lawson-Gayle, who closed •Senior wide receiver Nate Huot broke the NSIC record yards on 12 carries while Max Simmons had 24 yards on his SMSU career with eight receptions for 111 yards and two touch- downs. SMSU's Max Simmons closed the game with a game-high 86 for career receptions in the loss to Sioux Falls on Sept. 11 attempts. yards rushing on a career-high 31 attempts. He also caught nine 30. He now has 220 during his 39-game career. Brian Jark •Alex Ney racked up a game-high nine tackles for the passes for 31 yards. The final key play of the game came with less (2006-09) from Northern State held the previous record Mustangs with teammates Adam Elliott finishing with than seven minutes remaining in the four quarter with Augustana of 210. eight tackles and Alex Werner with seven tackles. holding a 28-20 lead. The Vikings faced third-and-21, but Heid lofted a pass to Heller who leaped over a defender for the catch and ran in •Huot ranks third in the NSIC in receptions per game •Shaylar Burnell had a third quarter interception for the the final few yards for a 59-yard touchdown reception to push the (6.0), fourth in the NSIC in receiving yards per game Mustangs, the first of his career. final margin to 35-20. (86.8) and is ninth in all purpose (99.7). SMSU vs. AUGIE Series Information •Senior defensive tackle Alex Werner has had a strong HEAD COACH Overall: ..........................................................Augustana leads 18-3 season leading the team in both sacks (2.5) and tackles •Cory Sauter is in his eighth season as head coach and In Marshall: ....................................................Augustana leads 10-1 for loss (6). He ranks tied for third in tackles with 28. has an overall record of 36-48, including 35-46 in confer- In Sioux Falls:....................................................Augustana leads 8-2 Neutral Record:............................................................................0-0 Werner had a career-high seven tackles last week at ence games. Last SMSU win: ..............................................Nov. 16, 2013 (34-24) Wayne State. •Sauter’s 36 victories rank second all-time in program Last Augustana win: ......................................Nov. 12, 2016 (35-20) •Junior linebacker Alex Ney ranks 11th in Division II in history among 10 head coaches. Largest win for SMSU: ............................................18 (28-10, 1991) tackles per game (11.0) and second in the NSIC. •Gary Buer (1979-92), the program leader with 70 victo- Largest win for Augustana: ......................................70 (70-0, 2001) Longest win streak for SMSU: ........................................2 (1990-91) •Junior punter Austin Wells ranks fifth in the NSIC in ries, recorded 27 victories during his first seven seasons Longest win streak for Augustana: ..........................15 (1995-2011) punt average at 39.4. as head coach. Current win streak: ......................................................Augustana, 3 •SMSU ranks fourth in Division II in kickoff return de- •Sauter was named head coach on March 29, 2010, after Sauter vs. Augustana:..................................................................1-6 Olszewski vs. SMSU: ....................................................................3-1 fense, allowing 13.6 yards per return. serving two seasons as an assistant coach at SMSU. •SMSU is first in the NSIC in net punting (36.8) and 29th •In 2009, Sauter served as the team’s offensive coordi- SMSU Football Online - Social Media in the country. nator, while in 2008 he served as quarterbacks coach. The following links are available online for media and fans to follow Mustang football during the 2017 season at SMSUmustangs.com •Senior quarterback Blake Gimbel had his 26-game con- •A complete bio on Sauter can be found on page 25. Audio secutive start streak snapped on Sept. 30. He has not SMSU football broadcasts can by heard online by clicking the “live played in the last two games. audio broadcast” on the football home page.