The University of Sioux Falls football team (11-0) will put their 25 game win-streak on the line when they play NAIA No. 14 Minot State University at the USF Sanford Complex on Saturday, November 21, beginning at 1:00 p.m. The game is the first round of the playoffs for the No. 1 Cougars, who will be defending their national championship.
USF has spent the entire season at the No. 1 spot in the NAIA polls and are coming off a 49-21 defeat of then-No. 4 Morningside College. The Mustangs, now No. 7, drew a match against No. 11 Missouri Valley College. A third GPAC team made the playoffs, as No. 13 Hastings College will play No. 5 Ottawa University (Kan.).
Minot State University is a member of the Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC) where the Beavers tied Dickinson State in conference with a 7-1 record. Dickson State won the conference title on a tie-breaker by defeating MSU head-to-head 28-13. The Beaver's other loss was a 47-20 to Division II Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Bemidji State University in the season opener. MSU did defeat the other NSIC team they played this season, Concordia University St.-Paul, by a score of 24-21.
Statistically speaking, the Beavers average 389.6 yards of total offense per game and score 30 points a contest. At quarterback 6'4, 220 pound Jon Meier has been the Beaver's starter for three seasons. This year Meier has thrown for 1,938 yards and 16 touchdowns along with only six interceptions. Over half of Meier's passing touchdowns have gone to junior receiver Johnny Lester (5'7, 175), who has 47 receptions for 803 yards (17 yards per reception) and nine touchdowns. Freshman running back Nico Youngren averages 5.3 yards per carry and has six touchdowns.
On defense, MSU surrenders 18 points and 281 yards per game. MSU has also made 15 interceptions, recovered seven fumbles and blocked four kicks. Individually senior defensive back Jeremy Kessler is the team's leading tackler with 58 stops. Linebacker junior Tommy Weidler has 47 tackles this season with 10.5 of those coming behind the line of scrimmage. Weidler leads the team with four sacks.
In an interesting pairing, USF and MSU are in the first season of transition to NCAA Division II and both have submitted application to Division II conference NSIC.
