Trending
All notes courtesy of SMSU athletics communications.
THIS WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University football team (1-4, 0-4 NSIC, 0-1 NSIC South) continues Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference home action this Saturday, Oct. 3, for the annual homecoming game, taking on nationally ranked University of Minnesota Duluth (3-2, 3-1 NSIC, 0-1 NSIC North) at Mattke Field at The Schwan Regional Event Center with kickoff set for 3 p.m.
•SMSU, which opened the season with a home victory versus Valley City State, has dropped its first four games of league play, including three versus NSIC North Division foes. Saturday’s game will be SMSU final match-up versus a NSIC North Division opponent.
•Saturday’s game will be the second for SMSU interim head coach, Levi Bullerman, who was named to the position on Sept. 20 following the retirement of head coach, Scott Underwood.
•UMD, ranked No. 19 in this week’s D2Football.com poll, while receiving votes in the AFCA Top 25 poll, is coming off a 23-20 overtime loss at MSU Moorhead last Saturday. The Bulldogs, which opened the season with a two-point loss at Slippery Rock (Pa.), were picked to win the NSIC North Division and were selected second overall in the NSIC preseason coaches’ poll.
•A preview of UMD 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 ON HOMECOMING
•SMSU has a record of 25-31 all-time on homecoming and has lost five of the last six.
•SMSU is 5-6 in homecoming games since 2014, but is 8-17 since 2000.
SMSU homecoming games since 2010
2010 Wayne State L, 20-38
2011 Augustana L, 24-37
2012 Wayne State W, 40-24
2013 Sioux Falls L, 48-55
2014 Upper Iowa W, 28-25
2015 MSU Moorhead W, 48-9
2016 Upper Iowa W, 59-41
2017 Sioux Falls L, 10-24
2018 Minnesota Crookston W,55-6
2019 Bemidji State L, 24-25
2021 Sioux Falls L, 7-35
2022 Upper Iowa W, 47-7
2023 Northern State L, 17-24
2024 Wayne Sate L, 7-41
2025 Sioux Falls L, 14-35
SMSU vs. UMD Series Notes
(All-time results listed on page 18)
SMSU and UMD meet for the 40th time with UMD leading 31-7-1 in a series that began on Oct. 16, 1976 … SMSU has won only six games on the field of play as SMSU was awarded a forfeit victory in Duluth during the 1986 season … UMD leads the series 12-5 in games played in Marshall … SMSU’s last win in the series came in Marshall on Sept. 1, 2016, snapping an eight-game UMD winning streak in the series … UMD has played in Marshall just twice since 2013 … UMD has scored 31 or more points in the past 14 games and has shutout SMSU in two of the last three games.
SMSU vs. UMD Series Information
Overall: UMD leads 31-7-1*
In Marshall: UMD leads 12-5
In Duluth: UMD leads 18-2-1*
Neutral: UMD leads 1-0
Last SMSU win: Sept. 1, 2016 (42-38)
Last UMD win: Oct. 4, 2025 (63-28)
Largest win for SMSU: 36 (43-7, 1987)
Largest win for UMD: 70 (70-0, 1976)
Longest win streak for SMSU: 2 (1986-87)
Longest win streak for UMD: 10 (1976-85)
Current win streak: UMD, 5
Bullerman vs. UMD: 0-0
Wiese vs. SMSU: 6-1
*SMSU awarded forfeit victory at Duluth in 1986
SMSU INTERIM HEAD COACH LEVI BULLERMAN
•Levi Bullerman was named interim head coach on Sept. 20 and is 0-1 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 is coming off 38-24 home loss to Wayne State last Saturday night. SMSU, which led 17-7 in the second quarter and 17-14 at halftime, nearly doubled its season point total in the game. SMSU had scored a combined 13 points in its first four games. SMSU also closed the game with a season-high 359 yards offense.
•Junior quarterback Drew Kluender, making his third career start last Saturday, completed 26 of 43 passes for a career-high 314 yards and three touchdown passes.
•Freshman wide receiver Cooper Murphy caught a career-high six passes for a career-best 144 yards and two touchdowns in the loss to WSC. Murphy is the first SMSU player to have more than 100 yards receiving in a game since Colin Maher on Oct. 25, 2025.
•Junior wide receiver Zoan Robinson recorded his first career touchdown last week with a 38-yard reception in the fourth quarter.
•Sophomore linebacker Hunter Hanegraaf tied a career-high with 13 tackles last week, while sophomore linebacker Jack Meier closed with a career-high eight tackles.
•Junior safety Brent Green finished with a career-high seven tackles and had one pass break-up in the loss to WSC.
•Sophomore cornerback Jayden Johnson-Forrest had five solo tackles and a career-high six tackles last Saturday.
•For the season, sophomore running back Josh Lancifort leads SMSU in rushing with 163 yards on 54 carries.
•Senior wide receiver Tryg Auten has caught a team-high 24 passes for 219 yards.
•Junior Kluender has completed 33 of 62 passes for 412 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
•Fifth year Macloud Crowton has completed 59 of 133 passes for 526 yards with four interceptions.
•Junior safety Keegan Patterson leads the team with three interceptions.
•Hanegraaf has racked up a team-high 48 tackles with nine for loss.
•Senior Aiden Planer ranks second on the squad with 28 tackles, including four for loss.
•Fifth year defensive end Avery Johnson ranks tied for 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.
•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.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA DULUTH
•Curt Wiese is in his 14th season as head coach (2020 season was canceled) and has a record of 117-31 with six NCAA playoff appearances. He was head coach at Marietta College (Ohio) from 2006-07 prior to becoming an assistant coach at UMD in 2008. He is 126-42 all-time as a head coach.
•Fifth year running back Derrick Johnson has amassed a team-high 499 yards and four touchdowns on 69 carries.
•Fifth year quarterback Jacob Eggert has completed 77 of 122 passes for 874 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions.
•Junior wide receiver Peyton Menzel has caught 14 passes for 188 yards, while senior wide receiver Joey Flaherty has 14 receptions for 182 yards.
•Fifth year linebacker Jayce Walrath has racked up a team-high 29 tackles with 2.5 for loss.