Article

Football Looks to Get Back On Winning Track Against USD

Coyotes come to Mankato No. 1 in the NCC and 11 nationally.

by Kaleb Roedel
Issue date: 10/26/06 Section: Mens Sports

With the football season at the halfway mark, the North Central Conference is beginning to take shape and Minnesota State, 0-5 in conference play, has yet to mold into a contender.

A win last week over St. Cloud State would have brought home the coveted Traveling Training Kit and more importantly a first conference win and a much-needed morale boost. Instead, a 16-3 loss to the Huskies was draped on their shoulders as the Mavericks struggled to orchestrate touchdowns - something that has been plaguing MSU all season.

"We just aren't scoring enough points," said MSU head coach Jeff Jamrog after the game. "It's very, very frustrating."

Pouring in the points and knocking teams down, however, is MSU's upcoming opponent, South Dakota - sitting atop the NCC ladder at 5-0. In conference play, the Coyotes have yet to be restrained to single-digits and are second in scoring average with 27 points per outing. On the converse end, the Mavericks have needed to scrape to manage double-digits and teeter on the bottom of the scoring-heap with a mere 10 points per game.

South Dakota put up 38 points on Augustana last week and 42 points on Western Washington the week prior. And in their opening nonconference games, USD toppled Quincy 59-0 and Minnesota-Crookston 66-6. Meanwhile, Minnesota State's highest point-production in conference is 16 points and their highest all year is 34.

"South Dakota is a very good club," said MSU head coach Jeff Jamrog. "We're going to have our work cut out for us."

Much of the Mavericks' work will stem from the challenge of containing South Dakota's running back, Stefan Logan, who Jamrog used the word "premiere" to describe. Logan has been breaking down defenses in the NCC and setting records in the process. Last Saturday in USD's 38-14 toppling over Augustana, he rushed for 138 yards on 15 carries, propelling him to become the first player in NCC history to rush for 1,000 yards in four-consecutive years.

MSU will look to its defense, which ranks fourth in the NCC in points-allowed, to put the clamps on Logan.

"I feel good about our defense, we just got to play our game and fly to the ball like we've been doing," said defensive coordinator Ken Gordon. "We know they're going to run the option, we know they're going to put the ball in Logan's hands, so we're going make them beat us with the pass."

Kaleb Roedel is a Reporter staff writer