THIS WEEK: Minot State University celebrates Homecoming 2015 with a 1:30 p.m. matchup against Concordia St. Paul at Herb Parker Stadium.

RECORDS: The Beavers (0-2, 0-2 NSIC) lost their previous game against Winona State (1-1, 1-1). Concordia St. Paul (0-2, 0-2) has yet to secure a victory in 2015.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's head coach is Tyler Hughes, who is in his second season at the helm. He is 1-10 at Minot State and 21-14 overall as a head coach, all at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, where he coached from 2011-12. Hughes spent the 2013 season as an assistant coach with Urban Meyer at Ohio State. Ryan Williams is in his fifth season as the head coach of Concordia, St. Paul. During his time with the Golden Bears he has accrued a record of 18-28. After serving as the interim coach in 2011 Williams was able to secure the full time job leading his team to a 6-5 record. Prior to serving as the head coach Williams was the offensive coordinator for Concordia for six season. With a successful playing career, after two years starting for North Dakota State University at quarterback, he was able to play for two Canadian Football League teams and a National Indoor Football League team.  

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. MSU 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, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube 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 was only able to reach the end zone once in its last game at Winona State despite moving the ball well. Five turnovers cost the Beavers in several drives where they were making gains downfield. Stopping the Winona State offense proved to be a difficult task. After gaining 488 yards in week one MSU was able to hold the team to just 400. Winona State also capitalized on having a kicker that hit two long field goals, one from 53 yards out and one from 54. Suffering a tough week two loss Concordia, St. Paul fell by two points after an MSU Moorhead touchdown in the final seconds put the Dragons up 30-28. After leading 10-7 at half the Golden Bears found themselves trailing 24 21 in the fourth quarter. Scoring what seemed to be the go ahead touchdown with less than a minute on the clock Concordia gave up 75 yards on two plays to erase their lead.

OVERALL SERIES: Minot State trails in the series 1-4 against Concordia, St. Paul, The teams have played five times since 2008 and last played 2013.

LAST TIME OUT: In the 2013 season opening game for both teams Minot State traveled to St. Paul to play in Sea Foam Stadium. The Golden Bears shut out the Beavers 29-0 with 415 yards of total offense. The Concordia defense held MSU to just 191 yards on 56 plays. Jarvis Mustipher (Jr., Melbourne, Fla.) led the Beavers in rushing with 33 yards on six carries. Concordia played well in both facets of the offense passing for three touchdowns and gaining 187 yards rushing.

NOTING THE GOLDEN BEARS: Heading into week three the Golden Bears' record of 0-2 does not tell the entire story. Although Concordia, St. Paul lost in the final seconds of their last game against MSU Moorhead by a score of 30-28 and lost in week one to St. Cloud State 28-10 they have been able to succeed on the offensive side of the ball. Averaging 5.2 yards per play on offense, including 7.2 yards per pass attempt, the Golden Bears have been able to average 370 yards per game. Where Concordia has fallen short is in the end zone, only ending with points on the scoreboard 10 out of their 14 trips while their defense has allowed opponents to score 16 out of 16 times.  

SAFETY IN DEFENSIVE BACKS: In the first two games of the season the defensive backs have been able to be a reliable group despite opponents landing five touchdown passes. All four starting defensive backs are in the top 10 in tackles on the team including cornerback Isaiah Steinwand (Sr., Minot, N.D.) who leads the team with 19 total tackles. Safety Marcel Brinson (Sr., Gilroy, Calif.) is one behind Steinwand with 18 tackles. Steinwand was able to make an athletic play against Winona State intercepting a ball with a one-handed catch. First year cornerback Maurice Talley Jr. (Sr., Elk Grove, Calif.) was also able to catch a ball thrown by Winona State.

RED-ZONE STRUGGLES: Minot State has only been able to convert twice on five trips inside its opponents' red-zone. In the first game against Southwest Minnesota State the Beavers turned the ball over on downs. Twice in the Winona State game MSU gave the ball up, once with an interception and once with a lost fumble. Both of the Beavers' conversions have been touchdowns.

BALANCED TIME OF POSSESSION: Looking at the time of possession marks for Minot State and their opponents so far this season will not show much. With an even split in both games, 30:08/29:52 in favor of the Beavers in their first game and a 29:13/30:47 share in favor of Winona State in their second, MSU has been able to retain possession of the ball even when behind.

BY THE NUMBERS

2: Sacks from Thomas Bryson (Sr., Layton, Utah) in week two. Bryson ranked second in the NSIC in sacks in 2014 with 10.5 and was named the NSIC Preseason Defensive Player of the year. He has a total of eight tackles.

42.5: Average yards per punt by Aaron La Deaux (Jr., Port Orchard, Wash.). La Deaux, a first team All-NSIC North player in 2014 averaged 37.6 yards per punt last season.

155: Receiving yards for senior wide out Porter Sturm (Roy, Mont.). It is the most yards accumulated by a player other than a quarterback for the Beavers. Sturm also has 165 kick return yards.