Photo via SMSU Athletic Communications Dylan Lauer gets in stance to make a block in Southwest Minnesota State’s season-opener against MSU Moorhead on September 2, 2021.

The Southwest Minnesota State football team has had one of the best rushing offenses in the country this year. They’re top 20 in Division II in yards-per-game as a team, and starting running back Jesse Sherwood is second in yards per game as an individual. While Sherwood and running back Donald Austin–who rushed for over 200 yards in SMSU’s game against Sioux Falls–deserve credit for their production, one of the often overlooked pieces of this equation is the performance of the offensive line, led by Dylan Lauer.

While the offensive line isn’t a position that garners much glory, that’s not something that bothers the senior lineman.

“I always joke around that I’ve played football since sixth grade, but I’ve only touched a ball maybe five times in a game,” Lauer said. “You’re not getting a lot of recognition when you play [offensive line], and I kind of like that. I like going under the radar. Guys like Jesse Sherwood, they can be the face of the team, I’m okay with that.”

Upon graduating from Cloquet high school in 2018, Lauer had racked up just about as long a list of accolades as possible for a lineman. A three-year letterman, he was named the Northeast Red District Lineman of the Year in his senior season. That same season, he helped his team reach the Class 4A championship game, which they lost to the Academy of Holy Angels.

The start of Lauer’s college career went less smoothly. The bumps had nothing to do with his play. After committing to head coach Scott Underwood at St. Cloud State, he started all 11 games as a true freshman. He missed time his sophomore year due to injury, but still impacted the six games he played.

After his sophomore year, however, St. Cloud State dissolved its football program, leaving him in the recruitment process all over again.

After some consideration, Lauer committed to play at SMSU under head coach Cory Sauter. Sauter had recruited Lauer out of high school, so their pre-established relationship and Lauer’s desire to remain in Minnesota made SMSU a good fit for him, Lauer said in an interview with the Pine Journal.

Lauer was healthy and ready to jump back into action for his junior season, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused the season to be canceled, forcing Lauer to go another full year without on-field action.

When he finally got his opportunity to jump back on the field, Lauer didn’t skip a beat. Like his freshman year at St. Cloud State, he started all 11 games and helped pave the way for Sherwood to finish top-five in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in rushing yards.

Yet, the Mustangs’ success in the trenches didn’t translate to the win column. SMSU finished with a 2-9 record, going 1-5 in conference play and finishing only above Upper Iowa in the NSIC South.

With the completion of his undergraduate degree looming ahead, it seemed as if his days on the gridiron were over until he found himself at a volleyball game at St. Cloud State. He went up to see some friends playing a game for one last time and his former coach, Underwood, was working as a facilities manager to close out his contract after the football program was cut.

“[Underwood] was applying for the position [at SMSU], and I think he was a finalist at that point,” Lauer said “Once he got it, he reached out to me again over text. I had one last visit here to grab the rest of my stuff and I stopped in his office and talked to him then too.”

From there, Underwood and Brett Patterson–his former offensive line coach at St. Cloud State and current line coach at SMSU–convinced him to come back for a fifth year.

“It seemed almost like something in the universe was looking out for me and giving me one last shot to play with them,” Lauer said.

Coming into the 2022 season, the Mustangs were projected at one win.

“I think everyone was conscious that not many people had faith in us going into the season. I use it as motivation, I know a lot of other guys do too, because I know we’re a better team than people thought we were. I know we’re a better team than we’ve played this year,” Lauer said. “That underdog mentality should be a thing here because I do think we’re the underdogs.”

Part of this can be attributed to a lack of experience. Not only was the team entering their first season with a new head coach, but they were starting a freshman quarterback and an inexperienced offensive line. Lauer was the only senior offensive lineman and, with the exception of a pair of juniors, the rest of the linemen were freshmen or sophomores.

“I hope guys look up to me. That’s my goal. I try to set an example every day for what guys need to do to get better,” Lauer said of the challenges of having a particularly young line.

Cohesion is often said to be the trait that determines the success of an offensive line, but that’s difficult to build when a team is integrating a unit that’s acclimating to both the college pace of play and playing with each other at the same time. As such, bonding sessions are big for the line.

“We call each other a herd, and we have a lot of herd nights where the whole line gets together and hangs out. We try to do that as often as possible… just getting together and playing cards. Spending time together. I think that’s how a lot of strength gets built in a football program,” Lauer said.

The herd nights look like they paid off. After dropping their first game on the road, the Mustangs won four games in a row, including a 47-7 blowout over Upper Iowa. They were outperforming their preseason projections and were on track to go from a two-win team to a winning record in the span of a year.

“Seeing the amount of progress this team’s made from last season to this season is immense. That’s probably my biggest highlight,” Lauer said. ” Seeing everyone’s hard work pay off and knowing that, once I’m done here, they’re going to do better things than I had ever accomplished here.”