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All notes courtesy of SMSU athletics communications.
THIS WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University football team (1-3, 0-3 NSIC) opens Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division play on Saturday, Sept. 26, hosting Wayne State College (3-1, 2-1 NSIC) at Mattke Field at The Schwan Regional Event Center with kickoff set for 5 p.m.
•SMSU, which opened the season with a home victory versus Valley City State, has dropped its first three games of league play versus NSIC North Division foes.
•Saturday’s game will be the first for SMSU interim head coach, Levi Bullerman, who was named to the position this past Sunday following the retirement of head coach, Scott Underwood.
•Bullerman is in his ninth season on the SMSU coaching staff and fifth as defensive coordinator. He played at SMSU from 2005-09, 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.
•WSC is coming off a 44-7 home victory over Jamestown last Saturday. The Wildcats, 2-0 in road games this season, suffered their lone loss of the season two weeks ago at home to Minnesota Duluth, 20-13.
•A preview of WSC 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 vs. WSC Series Notes
Southwest Minnesota State and Wayne State meet for the 37th time with WSC leading 28-8 in a series that started on Nov. 1, 1969 … WSC has won the last nine meetings and 10 of the last 11, including 51-6 last season in Wayne, Neb. … WSC has won 18 of the last 23 meetings since 2002 … WSC is 14-4 all-time in games played in Marshall, including 7-1 in games at The Schwan Regional Event Center … SMSU’s last victory in the series came on Oct. 20, 2015, in Wayne, 61-3 … SMSU scored 39 or more points in five straight games from 2012-16, but has been held to 16 or less points in the last eight games.
SMSU INTERIM HEAD COACH LEVI BULLERMAN
•Levi Bullerman was named interim head coach on Sept. 20. 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 used three quarterbacks in last week’s loss at Minot State. Fifth year Macloud Crowton started and completed 8 of 18 passes for 53 yards. Junior Drew Kluender completed 4 of 10 passes for 61 yards, including completing a 45-yard pass to freshman Jayden Cooper. Sophomore Tommy Hoffman made his collegiate debut and completed 2 of 4 passes for 15 yards. All three quarterbacks threw one interception in the loss.
•Minot State held a 14-0 advantage midway through the second quarter before starting four consecutive touchdown drives to end the first half at the SMSU 36, 25, 23 and 23-yard lines. SMSU had two drives end via fumbles, along with an interception and a dropped snap on a punt attempt.
•Sophomore linebacker Hunter Hanegraaf closed with a career-high 13 tackles with two for loss at Minot State.
•Senior linebacker Aiden Planer finished with a career-high 10 tackles last Saturday.
•Fifth-year defensive tackle Julius Brown recorded a career-high five tackles in the loss at Minot State.
•Freshman wide receiver Jayden Cooper caught two passes for 49 yards, including a career-high 45-yard reception last Saturday.
•For the season, sophomore running back Josh Lancifort leads SMSU in rushing with 132 yards on 47 carries.
•Senior wide receiver Tryg Auten has caught a team-high 17 passes for 163 yards.
•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 35 tackles with 6.5 for loss.
•Planer ranks second on the squad with 22 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.
•Fifth year 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 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.
SMSU & WSC IN THE 2026 NCAA RANKINGS
•The following is where SMSU and WSC 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 WSC
Scoring Offense 158th 65th
Rushing Offense 156th 41st
Passing Offense 126th 98th
Total Offense 153rd 65th
Scoring Defense 123rd 33rd
Rushing Defense 122nd 104th
Pass Defense 109th 10th
Pass Efficiency Defense 120th 15th
Total Defense 128th 36th
Net Punting 55th 20th
Punt Returns 56th 25th
Kickoff Returns 99th 93rd
Turnover Margin 152nd 38th
Fewest Penalty Yards/Gm. 20th 87th
Time of Possession 139th 118th
3rd Down Conversions 156th 82nd
3rd Down Conversion Defense 75th 4th
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. 22) features 112 players with nine fifth-year players, 11 seniors, 28 juniors, 30 sophomores and 34 freshmen.
TURNOVER MARGIN BY THE NUMBERS
•SMSU is ‘minus-8’ in turnover margin following four weeks.
•SMSU was ‘plus-1’ in the win over Valley City State but was ‘minus-3’ in the setback at Bemidji State, ‘minus-1’ versus Northern State and ‘minus-5’ last week at Minot 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.
SCOUTING WAYNE STATE
•Logan Masters is in his fifth season as head coach with a record of 34-15. He was an assistant coach at WSC (2010-16, 20-21) and was also an assistant coach at Chadron State (2017-19).
•Fifth year running back Dawson Forgy has amassed 455 yards rushing with six touchdowns on 73 carries. He rushed for 92 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries in the win over Jamestown last Saturday.
•Junior quarterback Brady McGill has completed 54 of 98 passes for 729 yards with six touchdowns and one interception.
•Senior tight end Keaten Bonderson leads the receiving corps with 12 receptions for 247 yards and two touchdowns.
•Fifth-year linebacker Kaden Johnson has amassed 30 tackles with three for loss to pace the Wildcat defense.
•Fifth-year defensive back Clyde Hinton has 26 tackles with five for loss and two sacks.
•The WSC defense has racked up five interceptions.