Photo by Samantha Davis: Southwest Minnesota State University wide receiver Tryg Auten celebrates after a 35-yard touchdown reception during a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football game against Concordia-St. Paul at Mattke Field on Saturday. The Mustangs lost to the Golden Bears 27-17 but will look to bounce back on Saturday when they head to Duluth for a matchup against the UMD Bulldogs.
By Jake McNeill
jmcneill@marshallindependent.com
MARSHALL — It’s been a while since the Southwest Minnesota State University stole a win in Duluth. To be precise, Wednesday marked 25 years since the Mustangs’ last road win over the Bulldogs, with SMSU pulling out a 14-9 win on Sept. 25, 1999. They’ll look to buck the trend on Saturday when the 0-3 Mustangs face off against Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference foe Minnesota Duluth (2-1) in Malosky Stadium at 12:05 p.m.
“They’re a very good team, picked number one in our league in the preseason polls for a reason based on their personnel and certainly their experience,” SMSU head coach Scott Underwood said of UMD. “The key thing for us is that we played very well against them two years ago up there.
“We didn’t win, but for us, going out and executing, doing the things that we need to do, and put that four quarters together both offensively, defensively and with our special teams. Not having ups and downs in different spots that have taken points off the board or allowed them to put big-play points on the board.”
In 2022, SMSU scored a pair of third-quarter touchdowns to head into the final frame tied with Minnesota Duluth at 21-21 before falling 31-21. That performance was a far cry from last year’s matchup, in which Duluth led 20-0 at halftime and finished the game with a 33-0 victory.
This is a different Mustangs team than last year. Wide receiver Colin Maher is the only Mustang that threw, caught or carried the ball in last year’s matchup that is on this year’s two-deep depth chart. Still, that change has come with growing pains in the form of an 0-3 start.
While the Mustangs have struggled early, they showed signs of life in their last matchup. After losing by 33 points in each of their first two games of the season against Minot State and Bemidji State, SMSU held its first lead of the season against Concordia-St. Paul last Saturday and remained within a possession of the Golden Bears until the final six minutes of the third quarter. SMSU lost 27-17, but it showed growth from the group.
“I think in all games, there are certain things that we did well, we just didn’t do enough of them,” Underwood said. “At times, we executed both offensively and defensively, particularly in the first half. In the second half, for whatever reason, we weren’t nearly as good as we needed to be offensively… Putting the full four quarters together is the key.”
Kendon Krogman had flashes of potential in his first career start in the brown and gold. He threw 28 passes for 186 yards, a touchdown and an interception on the day. He was also the team’s leading rusher with 14 carries for 52 yards and a score.
Krogman had his highs, such as a 35-yard touchdown pass to Tryg Auten to give the Mustangs their first lead of the season. But he also had some lows, such as when he fumbled on a 19-yard rush and Concordia-St. Paul scooped and scored for the go-ahead touchdown. Overall, Krogman played well enough to keep his spot atop the depth chart after relieving Wyatt Oak due to injury two weeks ago.
SMSU protected Krogman well enough against Concordia-St. Paul, limiting the Golden Bears to two sacks. The line will have a tougher test this time around, however, with UMD’s veteran group already amassing 13 sacks through their 3-0 start. Matt Weerts leads the defense with three sacks while Landon Karter and Drew Hennessey have tallied two and 2.5 sacks respectively. Weerts also ties Andrew Klopp with a team-leading 5.5 tackles for loss.
In contrast, SMSU has totaled two sacks and five tackles for loss as a team. The Mustangs’ offensive line has also surrendered eight sacks for 40 yards.
“When you look across the roster, either from the offensive or defensive side, they have numerous guys that are on the graduate level or fifth-year seniors, so they’ve played a lot of football cohesively together,” Underwood said. “We’ll have to work well together in communicating, certainly on the offensive line, and then you’re going to get those blocks in. Lots of twists motions and movements that you’re going to see, so our offensive line has to be on high alert so we don’t end up cutting one guy off the edge loose or in the interior.”
Underwood continued to say that those missed blocks are where the big plays come from, so being able to protect Krogman and allow him to open up the box by taking some deep shots will be key.
Being able to take the top off the Duluth defense is key for putting points on the board. Underwood noted that Minnesota State Moorhead threw the ball 69 times in their 30-29 upset over the Bulldogs, saying that the Mustangs likely won’t throw it that often but that they will look for those opportunities to get the ball to their wide receivers when they’re covered one-on-one.
Offensively, the Mustangs have had some success on the ground with an average of 148 yards per game. Jacob Honstetter, in his first year as the feature back, has shined with an average of 64 rush yards per game on an average of 4.3 per carry.
While his play so far has been impressive, the passing offense hasn’t done Honstetter any favors. SMSU has averaged 115 yards per game and 4.9 yards per attempt in the air, throwing for six interceptions and two touchdowns. Maher and Tryg Auten each put together over 60 receiving yards last week, but the Mustangs will look to get their pass-catchers more involved to prevent opposing defenses from being able to stack the box.
“For what they do and how they do it, sometimes you can’t keep slamming it in there on the run game when they’ve got more guys than you do. You’ve got to try to see if you can win something on the outside in those matchups,” Underwood said.
Turnovers have been a struggle so far for SMSU, holding a minus-8 margin heading into Saturday. Duluth, meanwhile, has put together a plus-2 margin behind their five interceptions from five different players. SMSU’s turnovers have been particularly costly, as they allowed five defensive touchdowns in their loss to Minot State alone.
“It’s going to be critical from the standpoint for us to not turn the ball over and put ourselves in bad positions. We struggled a little bit defensively in the red zone as well in the first game,” Underwood said. “We gave away turnovers and points both, so those are critical, critical mistakes on our end. The turnover battle, particularly on a team that thrives on being aggressive defensively and playing a lot of man, blitzing you and doing things like that, you can’t get yourself behind the sticks and continue to have turnovers, whether it be on interceptions or getting something stripped from the quarterback.”
While the Bulldogs have a variety of offensive playmakers, quarterback Kyle Walljasper is in particular a game-changer. Described by Underwood as being built like a linebacker, Walljasper has averaged 260 yards per game in the air and 72 yards per game on the ground. He’s also thrown nine touchdowns, run for another and hasn’t turned the ball over so far this season.
“He’s their team leader, so you’ve got to do some things to limit his yards and keep him away from big plays,” Underwood said of Walljasper. “When you get to third-and-4s, stuff like that, you’ve got to get off the field by making him get to the ground… For us, it’s about competing, not giving up the big plays over the top, and limiting him in the run game and keeping him out of the end zone.”
In the receiving game, junior DeShaun Ames has been Walljasper’s top target. His 12 catches for 273 yards and three touchdowns are all team-highs, with his touchdown count already tying his season total from his sophomore year. His current pace of 91 receiving yards per game also would have put him second in the NSIC last season.
Kickoff between the Mustangs and Bulldogs is slated for 12:05 p.m. Live stats and radio and video broadcasts can be found online at SMSUmustangs.com. The radio broadcast can also be found on 105.1 FM KARL.
