Football | 9/26/2018 2:36:00 PM

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The Minnesota State University Moorhead faces its first NSIC South opponent of the season on Saturday when it travels south to face Upper Iowa. Game time is 3:05 p.m. in Fayette, Iowa.

MSUM is 3-1 overall and in the NSIC North while Upper Iowa is 1-3 overall and in the NSIC South.

The game will be broadcast live at msumdragons.com with Steve d'Eustachio   on the call. Live video, stats and audio can be found at msumdragons.com.  

An MSUM win over Upper Iowa would...
— give the Dragons their first 4-1 start since 1996
— even the all-time series at 4-4 between the two schools
— extend the Dragons' winning streak to three

Series History
MSUM and Upper Iowa will meet for an eighth time with the Peacocks holding a 4-3 lead. MSUM ended a three-game losing streak in the series with a 23-21 win in 2016.

Previous meetings:
2016-MSUM 23, Upper Iowa 21 (in Moorhead)
2014-Upper Iowa 44, MSUM 36 (in Fayette)
2012-Upper Iowa 51, MSUM 33 (in Moorhead)
2011-Upper Iowa 45, MSUM 31 (in Fayette)
2010-MSUM 28, Upper Iowa 24 (in Moorhead)
2007-MSUM 31, Upper Iowa 28 (in Moorhead)
2006-Upper Iowa 36, MSUM 13 (in Fayette)

The Head Coaches
Steve Laqua is in his eighth season as MSUM's head coach with a record of 32-49 at the school. Tom Shea is in his 10th season as the Upper Iowa head coach with a record of 38-65.

About MSUM
MSUM built a 28-0 halftime lead and rolled to a 48-20 rout of Mary on Saturday in Bismarck, N.D. MSUM outgained the Marauders 300-13 in the first half and 507-279 for the game. Sophomore quarterback Jakup Sinani threw for three scores and rushed for two more while junior receiver Zach Sweep caught two touchdown passes. For the defense, sophomore defensive end Darius Woods-Steichen had two sacks and a forced fumble.

Sophomore running back Zach Simons leads MSUM with 236 rushing yards and four touchdowns.  Junior Herman Gray has rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown. Sinani has thrown for 613 yards and seven  touchdowns.  Sophomore receiver Grady Bresnahan has 21 catches for 211 yards while sophomore receiver Jake Richter has 18 catches for 351 yards and five touchdowns. Sweep has caught 16 passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns.  MSUM is scoring 32.8 points per game and recording 397.8 yards per game of total offense.

Senior safety Aaron Doan leads the defense with 32 tackles while senior linebacker Casey Paskey has 30. Junior cornerback Deiondre Taylor has 29 tackles and a team-best two interceptions. Sophomore Darius Woods-Steichen has a team-best four sacks. Senior cornerback Jerry Race has 23 tackles, an interception and a blocked punt. MSUM is allowing 29.5 points per game and 396.5 yards per game.

About Upper Iowa
Upper Iowa fell to 1-3 on the season with a 21-20 loss at Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday. A missed extra point in the first quarter was the difference.  Quarterback Brent Lammers threw for 234 yards and a score but was intercepted twice. Upper Iowa's lone win came over then-ranked Winona State, 34-33 in Week 2.

Lammers leads the Peacocks with 1,164 passing yards and nine touchdowns. He is completing 52 percent of his passes and has been intercepted six times. Antoine Conner leads the ground game with 214 yards and three scores. DJ Emsweller has caught 20 passes for 227 yards and three scores. Upper Iowa scores 26.5 points per game and records 388.5 yards of total offense per game.

Mitchel Siech has 35 tackles to lead the defense while Jordan Rommes has 32, including a team-best 3.5 sacks. Daniel Ruffin Jr. has two interceptions while Tanner Thompson leads with seven pass breakups. As a team Upper Iowa allows 34.0 points per game and gives up 430.8 yards per game of total offense.

More about the Dragons
Ground Control
MSUM's rushing attack had a season-high 226 yards in the win at Mary. MSUM rushed 54 times and recorded a season-high four touchdowns on the ground, led by two from sophomore quarterback Jakup Sinani. MSUM has rushed for at least 200 yards in three of its four games — all victories.

Grady's Grabs
Sophomore receiver Grady Bresnahan had a season-high 11 catches in the win at Mary. He is second in the NSIC at 7.0 receptions per game, and leads the Dragons with 21 on the season (he missed Week 2 with an injury). Bresnahan is 14th in the nation in interceptions per game.

Woods-Steichen Sack Party
Sophomore Darius Woods-Steichen tied a career-high with two sacks in the win at Mary on Saturday and now has four on the season. Woods-Steichen has four sacks on the season, which is second-most in the NSIC this season. He leads MSUM with five tackles for loss.

First Half Flurry
MSUM has started fast in its past two games, both wins. The Dragons have outscored their last two foes 62-7 in the first half, including building a 28-0 lead over Mary on Saturday. For the season MSUM has outscored its opponents 77-46, including 42-15 in the second quarter.

Solid on Third Down
A key to MSUM's start has been the Dragons' ability to convert on third down on offense. MSUM has converted 28-of-59 of third downs — 47 percent — which is third best in the league, trailing only nationally-ranked Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota State. MSUM was 11-of-16 on third down in the win at Mary.

Simons Says
Sophomore Zach Simons was recruited to MSUM as a quarterback but made the switch to running back last season and has been an important part of the MSUM ground game this season. He leads the Dragons with 236 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Simons is averaging 4.9 yards per carry this season.

Defense Starts Strong
MSUM's defense was dominant in the first half in the win at Mary.  The Dragons held the Marauders to 13 yards of total offense in the first half and forced six 3-and-outs.

Deiondre's Defense
Junior cornerback Deiondre Taylor leads the team with two interceptions, including a key one in the end zone to end a Northern scoring threat in Week 3, and is tied for fifth in the NSIC in that category.  He is second on the team with 25 tackles as well.

Youth Movement
Nearly half of MSUM's roster is freshmen, as 48 are on the roster this year. That does not include nine redshirt freshmen from a year ago.

Home Grown
A total of 69 players on MSUM's roster are from Minnesota and North Dakota as the Dragon coaching staff continues to emphasize recruiting locally. A total of 38 players are from Minnesota.  There are 16 players from Wisconsin and 12 from Illinois.