Independent file photo SMSU’s Paul Herrera throws a pass during their Sept. 21 game against the University of Sioux Falls. The Mustangs will face Upper Iowa University tonight.

MARSHALL — Southwest Minnesota State University (0-3, 0-3 NSIC South) concludes the first half of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division play tonight taking on Upper Iowa University (0-3, 0-3 NSIC South) with kickoff set for 6 p.m. at Harms-Eischeid Stadium in Fayette, Iowa.

•Both teams are looking for their first victories of the season.

•SMSU has won 10 of the last 11 meetings in the series.

SMSU coach Cory Sauter said while they were disappointed with the final outcome, they were able to show some promising things on both sides of the ball and knows they just need to continue building and challenging themselves going into this week.

“I thought we finally had some moments where we could run the football, which was promising against a very good defensive line. We had some creases and some holes to hit that were formed by our offensive line and our backs ran really hard,” Sauter said. “All in all, the scoreboard didn’t reflect it but I thought guys certainly battled and we’re looking to just keep building. We’re not going to look at our record, we’re going to look at constantly challenging ourselves and taking a look at ourselves in the mirror and just keep working for perfection.”

•Following today’s game SMSU will have four straight games versus NSIC North Division opponents during the month of October. SMSU will resume NSIC South play at home on Nov. 2 versus Winona State.

SMSU vs. UIU

series notes

Southwest Minnesota State and Upper Iowa meet for the 16th time on Saturday with SMSU leading 12-3 in a series that started on Sept. 18, 2004 … eight of the 15 games have been decided by seven or less points … SMSU has won 10 of the last 11 meetings since 2008 … UIU’s lone win since 2007 came in the last game played in Fayette on Oct. 28, 2017 … SMSU is 5-2 all-time in games played in Fayette … SMSU leads the series 11-2 since UIU joined the NSIC in 2006 … the two teams have played two overtime games with SMSU winning in both 2006 and 2010.

SMSU vs. UIU

series information

Overall: SMSU leads 12-3

In Marshall: SMSU leads 7-1

In Fayette: SMSU leads 5-2

Neutral Record: 0-0

Last SMSU win: Sept. 22, 2018 (21-20)

Last UIU win: Oct. 28, 2017 (31-20)

Largest win for SMSU: 28 (52-24, 2009)

Largest win for UIU: 12 (28-16, 2004 & 39-27, 2007)

Longest win streak for SMSU: 9 (2008-16)

Longest win streak for UIU: 1 (2004, 2007, 2017)

Current win streak: SMSU, 1

Sauter vs. UIU: 8-1

Shea vs. SMSU: 2-12 (0-3 at DSU, 1-0 at PSC, 1-9 at UIU)

Broadcast info

•Today’s game will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL with seventh-year SMSU play-by-play voice Ryan Rohlik.

•Live stats and video can be found at SMSUmustangs. com.

Opening drive tidbits

•SMSU is 0-3 for the second straight season.

•SMSU will be looking to avoid its first four-game losing streak to open a season since the 1978 team opened the season with six straight losses.

•SMSU has lost 11 straight NSIC South Division road games over the last three seasons. SMSU’s last divisional road victory came on Nov. 7, 2015, versus Concordia-St. Paul.

•Senior wide receiver Daniel Davis’ 44-yard reception from Paul Herrera last Saturday is the longest play from scrimmage this season.

•Sophomore Dakota Jaeschke registered his first three career receptions in last week’s loss to Sioux Falls.

•Freshman Adien Belt leads the NSIC averaging 44 yards per punt. Belt’s 64-yard punt in last week’s loss to USF was the longest by an SMSU punter since Mike Wenk had a 74-yarder versus Concordia-St. Paul on Nov. 1, 2014.

•Davis, who recorded his 100th career reception in last week’s loss to Sioux Falls, ranks second in the NSIC in receptions with 22 and is first in receiving yards with 310.

•Junior safety Garrett Chapman (29) and sophomore linebacker Onte Burns (27) rank third and fourth respectively in the NSIC in total tackles.

•Senior safety Davaeon Johnson ranks tied for seventh in the NSIC in tackles with 23.

SMSU high-octane

offense

•Since being shutout on Nov. 5, 2011, SMSU has since scored 30 or more points in nearly half of its games.

•Dating back to the final game of the 2011 season through three games this season, SMSU has scored 30 or more points in 36 of its last 82 games.

•In that time, SMSU has scored 40 or more points 21 times, 50 or more points 11 times and 60 or more points once.

•SMSU hasn’t been as prolific scoring in the last two-plus seasons, having reached the 30-point plateau just four times in its last 29 games since Oct. 20, 2016, including three last season.

Sauter added offensively they’ve been working on making sure they’re carrying the ball strongly and not creating turnovers and putting the defense in a difficult situation as well as making sure they’re technically sound with some of their new players who are seeing some time on the field.

“As any week, a couple of things come to mind right away, ball security is a premium and last week we had a couple of turnovers. One was unfortunately a tipped ball, which does happen, but we definitely have to make sure that we don’t give the ball away and put our defense in a tough spot, so that’s first and foremost,” Sauter said. “We’re going to continue to emphasize running the football, just because with any good offense, that’s where it starts. And just being more technically sound; we’ve got some new pieces in place such as Bradley Gould who had his first start as an offensive lineman. As a true freshman going against some grown men who are 22 years old, that’s not an easy thing to do, but one of the best things was we didn’t notice him a whole lot during the game, which was a good thing because a lot of times when you’re making a lot of mistakes, you’re going to get noticed up front as an offensive lineman and that wasn’t the case with our true freshman.”

Scouting Upper Iowa

•Tom Shea is in his 11th season as head coach at UIU with a career record of 40-72. He has also been head coach at Dakota State, Peru State, UMary and William Penn.

•The Peacocks have been shutout twice this season including a 28-0 road loss to Winona State in their last game on Thursday, Sept. 19.

•Freshman quarterback Myles Herrera took over in last week’s loss to WSU and competed 13 of 26 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns.

•Junior quarterback Jake Schuman started the first three games and has completed 41 of 76 passes for 432 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.

•Freshman running back Levon Bellemy started last week’s game and rushed for 67 yards on 19 carries.

•Senior running back Matt McDonald has rushed for a team-high 96 yards on 30 carries, which all came in the first two games of the season.

•Senior wide receiver Brandyn Tulloch caught four passes for 61 yards at Winona State and has 12 receptions for 130 yards on the season.

•Junior wide receiver Alexander Stevens has a team-high 14 receptions for 136 yards and three touchdowns.

•Senior linebacker Mitchel Siech has racked up a team-high 21 tackles with a team-leading 5.5 for loss

— Content courtesy

of SMSU Athletic

Communications