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MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead football team is back on the road this week when it competes at Minot State on Saturday. Game time is at 1:30 p.m. at Herb Parker Stadium in Minot, N.D.

MSUM is 2-6 overall and 2-2 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference's North Division, while Minot State is 2-6 overall and 1-3 in the NSIC North.

Head Coaches
Steve Laqua is in his third season as MSUM's head coach with a record of 5-25, while Paul Rudolph is in seventh season as Minot State's head coach with a record of 33-37.

Series History
Saturday's game will be the ninth meeting between MSUM and Minot State in football. The Beavers lead the series 5-3, including a 31-10 win in 2012 in Moorhead, Minn.

Previous five meetings:
2013: Minot State 31, MSUM 10
1976: MSUM 28, Minot State 14
1975: Minot State 16, MSUM 6
1974: Minot State 28, MSUM 12
1973: Minot State 49, MSUM 7

About MSU Moorhead
The Dragons improved to 2-6 on the year with a 48-41 win over Mary on Saturday. Sophomore quarterback Jake Hodge threw for 302 yards and three touchdowns in the first half before leaving the game with an injury. Sophomore quarterback Ryan Toelle came in and was 11-of-15 passing for 115 yards and two touchdowns, including a 39-yard game winner to sophomore Adam Jiskra with just under seven minutes left. Jiskra caught eight passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns while redshirt freshman Cory Ambrose had seven catches for 136 yards and a score. Hodge also rushed for two scores. On defense, sophomore linebacker Chris Lee had 14 tackles, while redshirt freshman Jesse Beilke had nine tackles and the game-clinching interception.

MSUM averages 32.1 points per game and rushes for 181.8 yards per game and throws for 274.0. Hodge has thrown for 1,623 yards and 16 touchdowns -- along with only two interceptions -- in six starts this year. He has also rushed for 456 yards and nine touchdowns. Junior Brandon Schell has rushed for 539 yards and two scores while sophomore Zayne Medhaug has 330 rushing yards. Sophomore Adam Jiskra has 47 catches for 727 yards and eight touchdowns, while redshirt freshman Cory Ambrose has 39 catches for 637 yards and five touchdowns.

The Dragon defense allows 43.1 points per game, while allowing 283.1 yards per game on the ground and 215.8 yards per game through the air. Sophomore Chris Lee has 65 tackles -- including a team-best nine for loss -- to lead the defense, while sophomore Chris Binford has 55 tackles and six pass breakups. Redshirt freshmen Aaron Bohl and Jesse Beilke each have 52 tackles, while redshirt freshman Brandon Nelson leads with two interceptions.

About Minot State
Minot State improved to 2-6 on the year with a 20-19, come-from-behind win over Minnesota Crookston last Saturday in Crookston, Minn. The Beavers trailed 19-10 going into the fourth quarter but a field goal, followed by an interception return for a touchdown by Brandon Boston, sparked the the Minot State comeback.  

On offense, Minot State averages 13.6 points per game and is averaging 73 yards per game on the ground and 204.6 yards through the air. Redshirt freshman running back Jarvis Mustipher leads the Minot State ground game with 443 yards on 88 carries. Sophomore quarterback Zac Cunha has thrown for 1,637 yards and nine touchdowns for the Beavers but also has thrown nine interceptions. Senior receiver Wayne Peters is one of the top receivers in the NSIC with 51 catches for 496 yards and four touchdowns.

Defensively, the Beavers allow 33.8 points per game. They surrender 176.9 yards per game on the ground and 191.0 yards per game through the air. Senior linebacker Chad Marshall leads Minot State with 74 tackles, including 6.5 for loss. Junior linebacker Casey Weinmann has 58 tackles, including five for a loss. Sophomore defensive back Cooper Helm has three interceptions.

Top Tandem
Sophomore Adam Jiskra and redshirt freshman Cory Ambrose have combined to form one of the top receiving tandems in the NSIC.  Their 1,400 combined receiving yards is the most of any tandem in the league, and their 13 touchdowns are tied for the most of any tandem. Their 86 combined receptions  are tied for second in the league, trailing only Upper Iowa's Lucas Hefty and Derek Giesking, who have 97 combined. Jiskra is second in the NSIC at 90.9 receiving yards per game, third in receptions per game (5.88) and tie for third in receiving touchdowns (eight). Ambrose is sixth in the league at 84.1 yards per game and tied for eighth at 4.88 receptions per game.  Jiskra is tied for 25th in all of Division II with eight touchdown receptions, 32nd in total receiving yards (727) and 34th in the nation in receiving yards per game (90.9).

Forcing the Issue
Not only is redshirt freshman Aaron Bohl ranked third on the team in tackles (52), he is also ranked 12th in the nation in forced fumbles per game at 0.43. He leads the NSIC in that category as well with a total of three.

Hodge Ranked Nationally
Starting with the game against Concordia-St. Paul on Sept. 28, sophomore quarterback Jake Hodge's play has been stellar.  In his last four starts (he missed the Minnesota Crookston game with an injury), Hodge has completed 97-of-155 passes for 1,350 yards, 13 touchdowns and no interceptions. Hodge has gone 157 straight pass attempts without an interception, dating back to the Winona State game in September. For the season, Hodge ranks third in points responsible per game (25.3), eighth in total offense (346.5 yards per game), 14th in points responsible for (152), 24th in the nation in pass efficiency (151.6), and 31st in passing yards per game (270.5).

Week 9 Under Laqua
The Dragons are 0-2 in Week 9 games under Laqua. In 2011, they lost to Mary, 52-13 and a year ago, lost to Minot State, 31-10 in a home game.

MSUM Practice Players of the Day
Here are last week's MSUM practice players of the day (given out on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday practices)
Tuesday, Oct. 22 - Lee Schroeder (OL)
Wednesday, Oct. 23 - Brock Kolander (RB)
Thursday, Oct. 24 - Matt Hanna (DL)

Record-Setting Day
The Dragons' loss to No. 11-ranked Minnesota Duluth -- which came into the game ranked sixth in the nation in total defense and ninth in the nation in scoring defense -- produced several team single-game records. Quarterback Jake Hodge threw for a single-game record 472 yards, breaking a mark that stood for six years. Redshirt freshman wide receiver Cory Ambrose caught seven passes for a single-game record 237 yards, breaking a record that stood for 50 years. The Dragons' 684 total yards were also a single-game record, breaking a mark that stood for 19 years.

2013 Captains
MSUM's captains for 2013 are senior linebacker Sam Callahan and junior linebacker Lomumba Ismail.

Century Club
After having only two 100-yard rushers in 2013, MSUM has had five already in eight games in 2013. Brandon Schell and Jake Hodge both posted their second 100-yard rushing games of 2013 during at win at Northern State on Oct. 5.  It was the first time the Dragons had two players with more than 100 yards rushing since 2007, when Dustin Long (126 yards) and Enos Gilles (104) accomplished the feat against Wayne State.  Sophomore Zayne Medhaug was the latest Dragon to surpass 100 yards in a game when he rushed for a career-high 135 in MSUM's loss at Minnesota Crookston.

Home Grown
The MSUM football team's roster is represented by seven states, with Minnesota leading the way with 41, athletes, followed by North Dakota with 16.