The Winona State football team plays its annual Homecoming game this weekend when it hosts St. Cloud State Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Altra Federal Credit Union Stadium.The Huskies and Warriors will be meeting for the 62nd time dating back to 1919.
Hear the call live on 89.5 FM KQAL or kqal.org with broadcasters TJ Leverentz and John Wojcik. Watch live with Justin Barrientos and Bob Urness on HBC TV 25 and online at www.winonastatewarriors.com/watch.
LAST WEEK: The Warriors rallied from behind with a fourth quarter touchdown from
Paul Preston and blocked a Bemidji State field goal attempt with under a minute to play to record a 20-17 victory Saturday night in Bemidji.
KICKOFF FORECAST: Temperatures look to be seasonably warm, with a kickoff forecast in the upper 70s with sunny skies and no threat of rain.
LONG HISTORY: The Warriors and Huskies have a lengthy history, as the teams have met 61 times since 1919, with SCSU controlling a 43-14-4 advantage. However, the teams did not meet from 1982 to 2009 when St. Cloud State left the NSIC in 1981. Since the Huskies rejoined the NSIC in 2008, the teams have met three times, with SCSU winning twice.
LAST TIME VS. THE HUSKIES: The Warriors and Huskies last met in 2013 in St. Cloud. While the Warriors fell 29-26, it marked the start of the
Jack Nelson era, as the true freshman quarterback made his first career start in the second game of the season. Nelson threw for 228 yards and a touchdown - a 54-yard strike to
Josh Mikes - in his debut while also recording a rushing touchdown.
LAST TIME IN WINONA: The Warriors defeated SCSU 29-16 on Sept. 17, 2011in the only trip the Huskies have made to Winona since 1981. The Huskies came into the game ranked No. 9 in the nation and WSU's victory marked the third straight season it had knocked off a top 10 team.
A LOOK AT THE HUSKIES: The Huskies are coached by Scott Underwood, who's in his eighth season as head coach at St. Cloud State and has a 60-28 career record. The Huskies possess a 1-2 record this season, dropping their past two games to Augustana (41-27) and Southwest Minnesota State (21-20). Last week against the Mustangs a late rally came up short when the Huskies missed a game-tying extra point with 3:25 to play. SCSU ranks 9th in the NSIC in scorring offense (25 ppg) and eighth in scoring defense (24 ppg). Junior quarterback Nate Meyer is statistically the highest percentage passer in the league this season, completing 68.4 percent of his passes.
THE NELSON RECORD BOOK: In just his junior season, Nelson's name is already plastered all over the WSU record book. He currently holds four of the top six all-time passing games, is second in career passing yards (6,482; just 1,086 shy of the all-time record), and is fourth in career touchdown passes (57; 7 shy of the WSU record). A complete list of records can be found on pages 8-9.
SACK ATTACK: The Warrior defense has turned up the pressure throughout the first three weeks, ranking second in the NSIC in sacks with 10. After failing to record a sack in Week One, WSU sacked Minot State three times in Week Two before sacking the Bemidji State quarterback seven times last week. Of those seven sacks,
Jeff Brown and
Michael Ferrante each had 1.5,
Mike Imperiale and
Ian Murray had 1.0 and Collin Corcoan,
Jarrett Wood,
Lauden Wood and
Nickai Poyser had a half a sack.
TRIPLE THREAT: WSU's top three receivers have proven to be offensive threats, with
Alan May,
Josh Mikes and
Cameron Johnson each gaining more than 50 passing yards in each of the past two weeks.
NO PLAYING FAVORITES: Quarterback
Jack Nelson has proven that he doesn't play favorites when it comes to his receivers. The junior quarterback has thrown the ball to nine different receivers in each of the first two games, and six different receivers last week.
McCAULEY'S RECORD KICKS: It was a day for the record books for sophomore kicker
Carter McCauley against Minot State, breaking WSU's record for longest field goal by booting a 53-yarder in the second quarter in last week's win over Minot State. He wasn't done there, breaking his own record in the fourth quarter with a 54-yarder to cement his name in the top two spots of the kicking record. The Owatonna, Minn. native through three games is the top kicker in the NSIC, making six of his eight kicks. Minnesota State's Alden Haffar is the only other kicker with six makes, but his is in 10 attempts.
HIGH-POWERED OFFENSE: The Warrior offense finds itself toward the top of the NSIC in variety of categories. QB
Jack Nelson is second in the NSIC in passing average at 308 yards per game, while
Alan May is second in the NSIC in receiving yards per game with 101.3 and is tied for third in receptions per game with 6.33. The Warriors are also fifth in the NSIC in first downs with 71.
PASSING THE DEFENSIVE TEST: Teams have not had much success passing the ball against the Warriors, as WSU ranks fourth in the league in passing defense, allowing just 187.7 yards through the air. The Warriors are nearly as good in total defense, ranking fourth in the league allowing a relatively stingy 329.7 yards per game.
TACKLE MACHINE: Senior LB
Collin Corcoran has been all around the ball through three games, compiling 34 tackles, which is the second most in the league.
BROWN'S PRESENCE FELT: Senior DL
Jeff Brown has been a force for the Warriors in the trenches. Two weeks ago he racked up a game-best three tackles-for-loss and two sacks - one of which caused a fumble that resulted in a recovery and a 76-yard return by linebacker
Jarrett Wood that set up WSU's first touchdown of the game. He followed up last week with an eight-tackle performance with 1.5 sacks and another forced fumble.
