What Lies Ahead: Minnesota State travels to St. Cloud State Saturday to face the Huskies in the annual "Rivalry Game". The game marks the 73rd meeting between the two schools with SCSU owning a 38-30-4 record in the series.
What's in a Win: A win would push MSU's record to 11-0, which would establish a school record for wins in a season...The previous record was held by the 1993 team which finished 10-3...MSU has never started 11-0...A win would be MSU's seventh straight Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference road victory...A win would also allow Minnesota State to retain the coveted Traveling Training Kit...It would be MSU's first win in the city of St. Cloud since Oct. 16, 1999 when MSU downed the Huskies 28-20...It would also mark the first time that MSU has won multiple games in the series since a three-year span in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
Husky Happenings: St. Cloud State enters Saturday's game the owner of a 6-4, record, including a 4-2 mark in league play. Last weekend, the Huskies earned a 47-0 road victory at MSU Moorhead. Junior running back Jake Machacek led the way with 14 carries for 125 yards while fellow junior running back Dante Steward rushed 15 times for 92 yards. Senior quarterback Derek Stripling completed 9-of-14 passes for 147 yards while junior wideout Fred Williams hauled in seven catches for 126 yards.
For the season, the Huskies are scoring 34 points a game while allowing 22.2. SCSU is averaging 194.9 yards of rushing a game and 93 yards of passing per game. Sophomore running back Brandon Geiss leads the team in rushing with 87.1 yards per game and 4.9 yards per carry to go with his six touchdowns. Senior quarterback Mitch Watkins has completed 138-of-207 passes (66.7 percent) for 17 touchdowns and is averaging 179. 8 yards per game while Williams leads all receivers with 67 catches for 842 yards, averaging 84.2 yards per game and 12.6 yards per catch. He has also hauled in 11 touchdowns this season. Defensively sophomore defensive back Tony Kubes leads the team in tackles with 70, averaging seven a game.
The Huskies are coached by Scott Underwood who is his second year with the program and owns a 13-7 record, including a 0-1 record against MSU.
On the Air: Fans can follow Minnesota State football all season long on the Radio Mankato family of stations. Tune into AM 1230 KYSM The Fan Mankato at 12:40 p.m., for the pregame show featuring MSU Hall of Distinction member Casey Lloyd. Fans can also listen to the games on the world wide web at
www.msumavericks.com/broadcast.php.
Weather Forecast: Saturday's forecast calls for a beautiful day in St. Cloud with the high of 56 and a 10 percent chance of rain with partly cloudy skies.
Then There Were Three: Minnesota State, which is ranked #4 in this week's AFCA Coaches pool are just one of three teams in the nation with an undefeated record, joining #1 North Alabama (9-0) and #2 Central Washington (9-0).
Can't Make It To The Game: Fans who can't make the journey to Husky Stadium can follow the action live in a variety of ways. Video of the game will be streamed live and for free on Penn Atlantic
(www.northernsun.tv), the SCSU will provide livestats of the game at:
http://www.stcloudstate.edu/athletics/sports/livestats/sportsstats2/xlive.htm and you can listen to the Minnesota State audio broadcast at:
www3.mnsu.edu/athletics
Ticket Information: Tickets for Saturday's game are $10 for adults and $5 for students (12th grade and younger). For more information contact the SCSU ticket office at 320-308-2137.
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