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Teams: Minot State vs. St. Cloud State | Series: SCSU leads 6-0-1
Date: Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014 | Time: 1:30 p.m. | Site: Herb Parker Stadium

THIS WEEK: Minot State returns to Herb Parker Stadium for the first of two straight to end the season at home. MSU plays St. Cloud State Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

RECORDS: The Beavers fell to Minnesota State University-Moorhead Saturday as the Beavers drop to 1-8 overall, 1-8 in NSIC play and 1-4 in NSIC North Division games. St. Cloud State comes into the weekend at 4-5 overall, 4-5 in NSIC games and 3-2 in the North.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's head coach is Tyler Hughes, who begins his first season at the helm. He is 1-8 at Minot State and 21-12 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. St. Cloud State is coached by Scott Underwood who is in his fourth season at SCSU. Underwood sports a 28-16 record.

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 did not have a good day Saturday as the Beavers fell 52-7 at Minnesota State University-Moorhead. MSU finished with just 212 total yards. Jarvis Mustipher (So., RB, Melbourne, Fla.) finished with 94 yards rushing and a score to pace the Beavers. Aaron James (Jr., LB, Oklahoma City, Okla.) and Thomas Bryson (Jr., DL, Layton, Utah) finished with 11 and 10 tackles apiece for MSU. SCSU built a 30-8 lead over Bemidji State and then held on for a 30-27 win over the Beavers last week. Nate Meyer rushed for a touchdown and passed for another in the win.

OVERALL SERIES: Minot State has not beaten St. Cloud State in seven previous meetings, going 0-7-1 all time. MSU is 0-2 in games during its NCAA Division II era, including a 38-14 setback to No. 17 SCSU last season. The Beavers pushed the Huskies at St. Cloud, Minn., last season as Wayne Peters and Randel Barber (Jr., DB, Maricopa, Ariz.) both scored on short runs. The Barber run with 6:38 to play in the second half cut the Huskies lead to 21-14, but St. Cloud State outscored Minot State 17-0 from there.

NOTING THE HUSKIES: St. Cloud State struggled early as they lost four times in its first six games, but have been solid in NSIC North play, going 3-2 against the division… The Huskies have struggled stopping teams as they have given up 32.3 points per game and 420 yards per game. SCSU has been solid on offense, averaging 27.56 points per game… Ledell White and Kenneth Walker have teamed for 1,221 yards rushing as White has averaged 94.63 rushing yards per game. He has six rushing TDs… Quarterback Nate Meyer has thrown 12 touchdowns but has 11 interceptions. Overall, he averages 179 yards passing per game and has 1,611 yards through the air… Kyle Risinger has been opportunistic in the defensive backfield with three interceptions to lead the team… Adam Josephson and Brady Westart have combined for 119 tackles and three sacks, all by Westart, as the Huskies top two defensive players… SCSU has been solid on third downs, converting 43.52 percent of the time.

CENTURY MARK IN SIGHT: Minot State senior linebacker Levi Freidt (Minot, N.D.) is just eight tackles away from 100 on the season and just eight away from former linebacker Chad Marshall's team NCAA Division II mark of 100 stops. Freidt should have no trouble reaching the standard as he has only four games this season where he hasn't reached 10 tackles and has hit six twice, seven and eight stops in those contests. He has 153 tackles in his past 19 games.

RUNNING BETTER: The Beavers offense struggled last week to the tune of just 212 total yards, but it was not on the shoulders of the running game – which has struggled much of the year. The Beavers rushed for 107 yards on 28 carries, paced by 94 yards by Jarvis Mustipher (So., RB, Melbourne, Fla.). The Beavers have 192 yards rushing over their past two games after gaining 394 total over the first seven contests.

HOME SWEET HOME: Minot State finished its away schedule and couldn't be happier. The Beavers were outscored badly on the road, giving up a total of 224 points. MSU averaged just 10.4 points per game in five contests away from the Magic City and gave up 44.8 points per game. In four home games, MSU is just minus-11 in points at 120-109. The Beavers have outscored their opponents 96-71 over its past three games at Herb Parker.

NO PARKING IN THE RED ZONE: The Beavers struggles with red zone scoring continued last week with a fumble inside the MSU-Moorhead 2-yard-line. The Beavers are the worst statistical team in the league in red zone scoring at just 65.0 percent and have just nine TDs. MSU has scored one more time than Minnesota Crookston, but has had three more attempts. The Beavers have turned the ball over on downs three times, fumbled twice and had an interception this season.

BRIGHT SPOT IN THE RED: But, the Beavers have been solid in the kicking game in red zone attempts. Senior Brian Gutierrez (K, Granada Hills, Calif.) has connected on 4-of-5 field goals this season inside the red zone. He is 4 of 6 overall with a long of 32 yards this season.

GANG TACKLE: With Thomas Bryson's (Jr., DL, Layton, Utah) 10 tackles last weekend, the Beavers now have four players with 50 or more stops this year. Levi Freidt (Sr., LB, Minot, N.D.) leads the way with 92, followed by Aaron James (Jr., LB, Oklahoma City, Okla.) who also had double figure tackles last week, with 65. Michael Jenkins (So., DB, Orlando, Fla.) is third overall with 52. Freidt and Bryson have 9.5 tackles for a loss each to lead the team.

BY THE NUMBERS
11: Minot State rank in the conference in total defense, giving up an average of 5.8 yards per play. MSU 13th against the run this season and is 10th overall against the pass, giving up 249 yards through the air per game.

14: Points the Beavers and Huskies scored in a 14-14 tie in 1965, the only non-loss for Minot State in the series with St. Cloud State. The series dates back to 1937.

35: First downs picked up on third down for Minot State. The Beavers have struggled to get crucial first down this season, going just 35 for 126 on third down conversions this season.