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Teams: Minot State vs. Minnesota Crookston | Series: Series tied at 3
Date: Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014 | Time: 1:30 p.m. | Site: Herb Parker Stadium

THIS WEEK: Minot State returns home in week 8 for a matchup against Minnesota Crookston. It's Hall of Fame weekend at MSU as former student-athletes Ed Boos, Dave Richter and Leonard Volk will be enshrined at halftime of the game that is slated to start at 1:30 p.m.

RECORDS: The Beavers dropped to 0-7 on the season after last week's loss and are 0-7 in NSIC play. Minot State is also 0-3 in the NSIC North. UMC is also winless overall sitting at 0-7, 0-7, 0-3

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's head coach is Tyler Hughes, who begins his first season at the helm. He is 0-7 at Minot State and 20-11 overall as a head coach, all at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, where he coached from 2011-12. Hughes spent last season as an assistant coach with Urban Meyer at Ohio State. UMC is coached by Mike Fritze who is 2-16 overall and at UMC in his second season as the head coach.

FOLLOW THE BEAVERS: The game is broadcast locally on KCJB 910-AM with Scott Kittell calling the play-by-play. Live audio can be accessed online at kcjb.com. MISU provides live video and live stats as well as links to the live audio at MSUBeavers.com. Minot State Athletics also is active on Facebook, Twitter and You Tube with all feeds accessible through the home page.

RANKINGS: Neither team is ranked in either the American Football Coaches Association Poll or the D2Football.com polls.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State dropped a 31-17 decision on the road at Bemidji State, falling to 1-14 in the series with BSU. MSU struggled to move the ball and went just 1-for-4 in scoring touchdowns inside the red zone. The MSU Beavers did get two blocked punts by Randel Barber (Jr., DB, Maricopa, Ariz.), with the second of the day resulting in a touchdown for Michael Jenkins (So., DB, Orlando, Fla.). Glyn Borel (Sr., WR, San Jose, Calif.) caught a touchdown pass, his fourth of the season to lead Minot State. UMC came up just short of its first win of the season, falling 17-10 to the University of Mary. The Golden Eagles gave up 14 points in the third quarter and that proved to be too much. Crookston's Adam Connette caught a TD pass in the loss.   

OVERALL SERIES: Minot State and Minnesota Crookston started its series as members of the NAIA with UMC dominating that stage. Since the Beavers and Golden Eagles both moved to NCAA Division II, Minot State holds a 2-0 lead in the series. Overall, the series is tied 3-3. Last season, MSU kept its perfect NCAA DII mark against UMC alive as Brandon Boston (So., DB, Richmond, Texas) stepped in front of a pass and returned it 59 yards with less than two minutes to play to make Dalton Houghton's (So., DL, Lethbridge, Alberta) blocked extra point loom large in a 20-19 win for MSU. Brian Gutierrez (Sr., K, Granada Hills, Calif.) kicked two field goals in the win.

NOTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES: Minnesota Crookston  has lost 11 straight games and 21 straight on the road… UMC is last in the league in scoring offense at 11.1 points per game and total offense, averaging just over 245 yards per game… Linebacker Greg Lofquist leads the Northern Sun and is tied for second in all of NCAA Division II with a 13.6 tackles per game average. Lofquist has 32 solo stops on the season… The Golden Eagles have lost just three fumbles all season, ranking them third in the NSIC… Starting quarterback Ben Bucholz is one of the tallest players in the league at 6-foot-7 and is the tallest quarter in the NSIC. He has thrown for 1,058 yards and seven TDs this season.

BLOCK PARTY, TABLE FOR ONE: Minot State's Randel Barber (Jr., DB, Maricopa, Ariz.) blocked two punts against Bemidji State last week, the first two blocks for the Beavers this year. Barber jumped into the national rankings with the two blocks, ranking seventh in the country and tied for first in the NSIC. Barber actually blocked a third kick in the game, a field goal attempt, but was whistled for an offside call.

JENKINS FOR SIX, THIRTEEN: Sophomore Michael Jenkins (DB, Orlando, Fla.) was the fortunate recipient of one of the blocked punts as he fell on a loose ball in the end zone for his first career touchdown. The 11-yard punt return ties him for the league lead with seven others with one punt return for a touchdown on the season. Jenkins also had a fine defensive game, gathering 13 tackles for MSU to pace the team.

BEAVERS SEEING RED: One of the most frustrating aspects to 2014 has been Minot State's inefficiency in the red zone. MSU has scored just eight times in 14 trips to the red zone and has come away with a touchdown just five times. MSU has given up more than double the attempts inside the 25 as its opponents have crossed the line 33 times and have given up points 29 times.

FREIDT ALL OVER THE FIELD: Senior linebacker Levi Freidt (Minot, N.D.) has transitioned from defensive back to linebacker very well this season as he leads the team with 80 total tackles and is fourth in the league and 19th in the country in tackles per game with an 11.4 average. He also has nine tackles for a loss, three sacks and five pass breakups, all team leads.

TURNOVER TOUGH TO OVERCOME: Minot State has struggled with turning the ball over this season and is last in the Northern Sun in turnover margin at minus-(1.71). The Beavers have coughed up the ball 17 times, ranking near the bottom of the league, but the bigger issue has been forcing turnovers. MSU only has five take-a-ways this season, ranking it last in the league and third to last in NCAA Division II.

STEADY AS EVER: Beavers linebacker Aaron James (Jr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) has been at the top of the MSU tackling chart all seasons, racking up 51 stops in seven games. He has 7.5 tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks on the season, second on the team in both categories. James also has forced two fumbles to lead the team. He now has 68 total tackles in two just under two seasons for MSU.

BY THE NUMBERS
3-5: Field goal makes and attempts for senior Brian Gutierrez (K, Granada Hills, Calif.) on the season after connecting on a 32-yard attempt in the second quarter last week. Gutierrez has 10 made field goals in his two seasons with the Beavers.

20.7: Minot State senior Leon La Deaux's (WR, Port Orchard, Wash.) kick return average on the season. La Deaux is 12th in the league in returns and added with his 491 receiving yards, is third in all-purpose yards in the NSIC.

167: The Beavers rank in rushing offense out of 167 teams ranked in the nation. Minot State needs to improve its average by 1.5 yard per game to catch No. 166 Lane, who is at 43.5 per game.