SIOUX FALLS -- The #17/18 USF Football Team (1-0, 0-0 NSIC South), which opened the season with a 49-13 win over St. Cloud State and has won 21-of-25 games, will host Minnesota State, Moorhead (1-0, 0-0 NSIC North) in the 2016 home opener on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Bob Young Field.     On Saturday, the Sioux Falls Lincoln Band will perform at halftime and pre-game by performing the National Anthem. USF will also welcome South Dakota Junior Football to the game.

Game Breakdown
Both teams come into the game after success in the opening weekend. As noted, the Cougars defeated SCSU, while MSUM opened with a 41-24 home win over Wayne State. After the win over St. Cloud State on the road, USF is 35-10 in NSIC games and 41-15 in all DII games since the transition in 2011. USF's 22 straight winning seasons is unmatched in D2 and the fifth-longest streak across all divisions. The string of success began with an 8-3 season for legendary head coach Bob Young in 1994. In the four seasons in the NSIC, USF has gone 9-2, 6-5, 11-1 (Mineral Water Bowl champs) and 9-3 in 2015.  The Cougars are also tough at home with a 54-5 mark since playing games at Bob Young Field in 2007.

USF, which moved up in both the AFCA and D2Football.com polls to #17 and #18 respectfully, was just one of eight schools nationally ranked in all 13 AFCA and D2Football.com polls in 2015. The only other NSIC school ranked all thirteen weeks was Minnesota State.
 
SERIES - USF 2 MSUM 0
USF owns a 2-0 edge in the series with Minnesota State, Moorhead, including a 45-10 win in 2012 in Sioux Falls. and a 73-21 victory at MSUM in 2014 In the home opener three years ago, USF rolled up a 45-0 lead after three quarters. Former Cougars assistant coach Kristian Porter led the USF rushing attack with 14 carries for 117 yards and a TD. QB Taylor Perkins completed 13-of-21 passes for 170 yards and three TDs. Wide receivers Carrington Hanna (5-88-2 TDs) and Jeremiah Oates (4-80-2 TDs) both caught a pair of TD passes. USF totaled 472 yards in total offense, including 258 rushing yards and 39 carries. In the game two years ago, USF totaled 663 yards in total offense, which is the best total at the DII level for USF. Quarterback Luke Papilion became USF's first player in the DII era with 300 yards passing (318) and 100 yards rushing (125) in the same game while totaling five TDs (3 pass, 2 rush). Josh Angulo had nine receptions for 120 yards and a TD while then redshirt freshman Max Mickey had 113 yards, including a 72 yard jaunt (his longest run from scrimmage at USF) and a TD.

USF rolls past SCSU in opener
USF (1-0) rolled up 585 yards in total offense, including 343 yards rushing, in the 49-13 win over SCSU to open the season. It is the most rushing yards for USF since rolling up 424 against Southwest Minnesota State on Oct. 5, 2013.  It was a night when the offense, directed by offensive coordinator Dustan Hovorka, rolled up its fifth game of 500 yards or more in the past 13 games. In addition, the defense, led by defensive coordinator Tremaine Jackson, had three sacks and two interceptions while limiting SCSU to 13 points. With 585 yards on 64 plays, the Cougars averaged 9.1 yards per play, which is the best mark at the NCAA DII level and the best since averaging 11.4 yards per play (638 yards on 56 plays)  in a 66-13 win over Doane College on Sept. 18, 2010. As for the rushing attack, the Cougars had two players rush for over 100 yards in the same game for the first time since a 35-31 win over Minnesota-Duluth at Bob Young Field in the third game of the 2015 season. Junior Max Mickey had 13 carries for a career-best 178 yards or 13.7 yards per carry, and added a 20-yard TD reception. Meanwhile, Justin Fulks had 13 carries for 103 yards and a TD.  Meanwhile senior Luke Papilion accounted for four TDs, including two TD runs and two TD throws. The Harlon Hill candidate completed 10-of-20 passes for 171 yards and two TDs, including a 64-yard pitch and catch with senior Brady Rose, who had a big game with seven receptions for 163 yards. Rose also threw his first career TD pass, a 39-yard toss to Kyle Groeneweg.  Papilion also completed a TD throw to Josh Angulo. The defense was led by newcomer Trevor Coleman, a junior linebacker, who had seven tackles as did sophomore defensive end Logan Dykstra, who had 1.5 TFLs while Evan Gentry had six stops and a TFL. Michael Mehling had five stops and a TFL in his first career start while Drew Jackson and Josh Butler also had five stops.

Preseason Honors
Senior offensive guard Antonio Green has earned three preseason All-American honors, including first team honors by Lindy's Sports Magazine and second team recognition from Football Gameplan and HERO Sports. Meanwhile Westly Johnson has been named second team All-American by Football Gameplan and HERO Sports while also an NSIC Player to Watch. Two-time Harlon Hill candidate Luke Papilion as been named an NSIC Player to Watch in 2015.

On MSUM
In their opener, MSUM took a 41-27 decision by jumping to a 21-10 halftime lead. Quarterback Demetrius Carr completed 26-of-36 passes for 288 yards and four passing TDs while rushing 13 times for 63 yards and a TD. Carr's favorite target was Damon Gibson who had eight catches for 156 yards and two TDs.  Austin Stone led the MSUM ground attack against Wayne State with 19 carries for 97 yards and a TD. Overall, MSUM had 85 plays for 528 yards in total offense while allowing 391 on 74 plays. Defensively, MSUM had two sacks, three TFLs and three TFLs with Jerry Raye, Grant Heuer and Deiondre Taylor had eight tackles each.

MSUM HC Steve Laqua
MSUM head coach Steve Laqua is entering his sixth year as the head football coach with an 18-38 overall mark.  A native of Cavalier, N.D., Laqua is the 17th coach in Dragon history, being named to the post in the spring of 2011. Prior to MSUM,  Laqua turned around the Fargo Shanley HS program, coaching four seasons.  In 2015, the Dragons recorded their first winning season in nine years by posting a 6-5 mark. Laqua served as the running backs, tight ends and punt team coach at NDSU from 2005-07. In 2004, Laqua was the Minnesota Crookston Offensive Coordinator, where he led an offense that led the NSIC in rushing yards, yards per attempt and least turnovers. He also coached at St. Olaf in Northfield, Minn. He started at safety at NDSU, eventually earning a Master's degree in 2007 (education).  
 
Numbers to Watch
Luke Papilion ranks 3rd all-time on NSIC Total Offense Chart
Senior quarterback Luke Papilion already ranks as one of the school's all-time greats. Here is a breakdown of some of the milestones that Papilion has reached or is closing in on as a Cougar. He already owns six school marks.
~ Next 100-yard rushing game ties him with Dax Michelena (1997-2001) for most by a quarterback at USF with seven, which ranks seventh most overall at USF
~ Needs 997 yards to set USF's all-time total offense record held by Dax Michelena (1997-2001) with 10,410. Papilion has 9, 414 yards in total offense.
~ Ranks second on the NSIC all-time chart in total offense with 305.4 yards per game, trailing only  Jeff Loots of Southwest Minnesota State at 343.2.
~ Sits eighth on NSIC all-time total offense yardage with 8,859 in 29  league games.
~ Ranks  25th on NSIC all-time rushing yards list with 2,298 or 79.24 game and 6.2 per carry (356 att.), which is fifth best all-time
~ With 2,459 yards, needs 296 yards rushing to go past Dax Michelena (1997-2001, 2,755 yards). With 2,459 yards ranks 7th all-time at USF.
~ Needs two passing TDs to pass Lorenzo Brown (2008-09, 65) for  third in career TDs passes at USF at 66.
~ With 6,954 yards passing, needs 46 passing yards for 7,000, which would make him just fourth player in school history to reach 7K passing.
~ With 712 passing yards he moves into all-time passing lead at USF  currently held by Dax Michelena (997-2001), 7,665 yards.
~ Takes over all-time passing attempts leader with 138 attempts

Gentry searching for top 10
Evan Gentry, a senior defensive end, is just two sacks from moving into the top 10 all-time at USF. He has 16.5 with Letarius Lee at 18.5.

Angulo moving up charts
With two catches against St. Cloud State on Sept. 1, senior wide-out Josh Angulo has 152 career receptions and passed Trey Erickson (151, 2004-07) for  fifth on USF's  all-time receptions chart. Angulo seven-yard TD reception vs. SCSU moved him into a tie with Jason Yurkovich (1994-97) with 22 TDs for sixth on the all-time list at USF. Two more TDs and he ties Randy Lang (1979-82) for fifth with 23 TDs.  

Rose continues to climb receiving charts
Senior H-back Brady Rose had a career day in the win over SCSU, both catching and throwing a TD.  Rose had seven catches for 163 yards and a 64-yard TD reception. He also threw a 39-yard TD pass to Kyle Groeneweg. Rose now has 139 career receptions for 1,854 yards, which ranks seventh all-time on USF's receiving list. With 146 yards, Rose will reach 2,000 yards and become the sixth receiver in USF history to reach that milestone.  

USF's "lightning fast" offense
During 2015, USF's spread offense was a quick-strike offense.  In 2016, USF is continuing that fast break offense. In a week one win over SCSU, USF had six TDs with drives taking three minutes or less. Of that six TDs, five came in two minutes or less and two in under a minute. A year ago, USF had 44 TD drives of three minutes or less drive time with 33 in under two minutes and 16 in one minute or less.  In the past two years USF has had 91 TD drives in three minutes or less.

Cougars sit 54-5 all-time at Bob Young Field
Despite a loss at home on Oct. 24, 2015, USF has a home record at Bob Young Field of 54-5 (.915). The Cougars, which has won 9-of-11 home games, were victorious the first 32 games at the stadium and have since taken 23-of-28 at the friendly confines of Young Field. Overall, including play at Howard Wood Field (through 2006), the Cougars have won 74 of the past 79 games and 64-of-68 home conference games, including 47 in the GPAC (NAIA) and 17 as an NSIC member in NCAA DII.  Since 2000, USF is 92-10 at home.   

USF records 22nd straight winning season
At 9-3 in 2015, USF cinched a 22nd consecutive winning season,  a run which began with an 8-3 record in 1994 season with legendary head coach Bob Young. This is the sixth consecutive winning season for the Cougars under the direction of head coach Jed Stugart.

By the numbers under Stugart
USF is 52-3 when leading at halftime in the Coach Stugart era.  They are 1-11 when trailing at halftime and 1-2 when tied at halftime. USF is 43-5 when scoring first and when opponents score first, the Cougars stand 14-11.

Scoring streak hits 126 games
Since moving to DII in 2011, the Cougars have scored 2,021 points in 56 games or 36.1 ppg. In 2015, USF averaged 39.33 points per game for third in the league and 24th nationally. In 18 of past 24 games, they scored at least 34 points. It has been 126 games since USF has failed to score, which was a 55-0 loss to Carroll College in the final game of the 2005 season. USF had a DII-best 73 points vs. Minnesota State-Moorhead (Sept. 27) in 2014. The previous high was in 2011 when the Cougars defeated the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, 71-0. In the past 28 games, USF has scored over 50 points, eight times.   

Cougars are 65-0 all-time when scoring 50
When the Cougars reach 50 points, they are 65-0 all-time and 25-0 when scoring over 60 points. They are 7-0 all-time when breaking the 70-point mark. When the Cougars have scored over 40, USF has a 152-1 mark, including 22-1 in DII. When they have scored over 30 points, USF is 225-8. The only time USF has lost when scoring over 40 points was a 45-40 setback to Winona State on Oct. 12, 2013 at Bob Young Field.

Offense lighting it up
With 1,033 points in the past 25 games (start of 2014 season), USF is averaging 41.32 points. The league's third-ranked scoring team (39.8 ppg)  in 2015, the Cougars also third in the NSIC in total offense at 472.1 per game of which 190.9 was on the ground and 281.2 through the air.  In total yards, USF had a league-best, 5,665. In the past 25 games, the Cougars have scored 139 TDs or 5.56 per game.  USF has averaged more than six yards a play in 13 of the last 19 games,.  With 585 yards on 64 plays, against SCSU on Sept. 1, the Cougars averaged 9.1 yards per play, which is its best mark at the NCAA DII level and the best since averaging 11.4 yards per play (638 yards on 56 plays)  in a 66-13 win over Doane College on Sept. 18, 2010.

Backfield opens big
USF's backfield had a big opening weekend when the Cougars accumulated 343 yards rushing, the most since going for 424 in 2013. Junior Max Mickey had a league-high 178 yards rushing on 13 carries and caught a 20-yard TD. He now has 239 carries for 1,108 carries yards. Mickey now has five career 100-yard rushing games. His total of 178 yards is the most by a USF back since Nephi Garcia had 225 in the regular season finale of 2014 against Wayne State in a snowstorm.  Senior Justin Fulks, who earned the start in the opener, had 13 carries for 103 yards and a TD. He recorded his second 100-yard rushing game at USF. Fulks, who has been on a playoff team three straight years (twice with Northwest Missouri State, who won a national title his freshman year), now has 139 carries for 665 yards and four TDs at USF.