Quickly: Sioux Falls (5-3, 3-1 NSIC South) travels to Upper Iowa this weekend for a 6 p.m. kick against the Upper Iowa Peacocks, which is also the only night game on Saturday's eight-game NSIC schedule. USF has won four of its last five contests to remain in the hunt for the NSIC South title. Upper Iowa is 4-4 overall and 1-3 in NSIC South play. They posted an impressive mark of 3-1 against NSIC North opponents but have faltered as of late, dropping back-to-back games to Augustana College and Southwest Minnesota State; two teams that the Cougars have already posted wins against this season. USF and Upper Iowa both suffered defeat at the hands of Winona State.

USF By the Numbers

• 0: Sacks allowed by the Cougar offensive line versus Augustana.
• 2: USF racked up 234 yards on ground last week (on 57 carries) to maintain their no. 2 NSIC ranking for rushing offense (288.5 yards per game). The Cougars are 9th in the NCAA Division II (Harding leads the way with an average of 398.4 yards per contest).
• 6: Different Cougars have been credited with a sack. John Batinich and Evan Gentry are tied for the team lead with three sacks apiece.
• 7: Straight 100-yard rushing games for Nephi Garcia.
• 12: Sacks for the Cougars; five fewer than they had recorded through the first eight games of 2012.
• 14: Cougars' NSIC ranking for pass defense (234.9).
• 18: The Cougars' NCAA D-II ranking for kickoff returns (24.54), down two spots from the previous week. In contrast, Upper Iowa is 69th (20.66).
• 19: Consecutive winning seasons for the USF football program.
• 26: Spots the Cougars jumped in the national rankings for 4th down conversion percentage after going 3-for-3 against the Vikings. USF ranks 36th nationally (up from 62nd) & 5th in the NSIC at 57.9%
• 179: Points USF has scored in its five victories. The Cougars have been held to 57 combined points in losses to UMD, U-Mary & WSU.
• 949: Number of yards that the Cougars have already surpassed last season's rushing total by; USF picked up 1,359 yards on the ground in 2012 and have 2,308 yards through the first five games.

Scoring Early: The Cougars needed 3:56 to get on the scoreboard in their “Key to the City” win against Augustana College, as Bradley Hatfield drilled a 41-yard field goal on the game's 13th play. After going 0-for-4 on opening drives in the first four games of 2013, USF has now scored on the opening series in four straight games (three TD, one field goal) and are 3-1 during that span.

Cougars Capitalizing on Short Fields
USF has scored on 7 of its last 8 (87.5 %) possessions that have started in their opponents' territory. The Cougars finished with four touchdowns and one field goal to one interception at Concordia-St. Paul (6 short field) and scored touchdowns on both short field situations against Augustana.

Charting the Cougars Month-by-Month
USF is 1-0 in August, 11-5 in September, 14-2 in October, 5-2 in November & 1-1 in December during Stugart's tenure.

Scouting Upper Iowa
Upper Iowa boasts a solid defense and a potent air attack led by junior redshirt quarterback Cole Jaeschke. Cougar fans remember Jaeschke well, as the Moorland (Iowa) native set three NSIC passing records last season in USF's 54-41 shoot-out victory at Bob Young Field. Jaeschke completed a league-record 43 passes on 78 attempts and torched the Cougars for a record 606 yards in the air. He leads the NSIC in passing yards per game (290) and ranks third in total offense (297.4). The Peacocks rank sixth in the league in scoring defense (24. 1 points) and pass defense (199.7). They are even better at stacking the box early to stop the run; the Peacocks allow 128.1 yards on the ground per game—the fourth-best mark in the NSIC and 45th nationally. UIU has held six of eight opponents to less than 100 yards rushing; Northern State (158) and Minnesota-Duluth (263). The Peacocks average 4.7 yards per rush, 12.4 yards per catch and 505.1 total yards of offense per game. They've out-sacked opponents 15-10, although six of those came in a blow-out win over Minnesota Crookston.

Butter-Wings
The biggest struggle for the Peacocks this season has been ball security. UIU ranks dead-last in the NSIC (160th in the nation) in turnover margin (-2.29, with 10 fumbles and 12 interceptions through the first eight games of 2013. UIU recorded six turnovers in a 35-6 loss at Augustana, three of which the Vikings converted to touchdowns. Upper Iowa has had at least one turnover in every game this season, including fumbles in seven of eight contests (SMSU) while Jaeschke has been intercepted in six of eight games, including three-pick outings vs. Augustana and Winona State (both UIU losses).