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Dakota State football looks to make it two straight wins Saturday at Dordt (Iowa)
October 20, 2012
THIS WEEK: Dakota State (1-7 overall record) looks to make it two straight wins Saturday afternoon as they travel to Open Space Park to face Dordt (0-7, 0-6 Great Plains Athletic Conference record) in football action. Kick-off is slated to start at 1 p.m. in Sioux Center, Iowa.
THE SERIES: This Saturday's game will mark the second-ever meeting between DSU and Dordt. The Defenders won the first-ever meeting at the Trojan Field last season on Oct. 22, 2011. The Trojans trailed 13-12 at halftime. Dordt outscored Dakota State 27-8 in the second-half to earn a 40-20 victory. The Defenders outgained the Trojans 446-222 in total yards in the last meeting.
TROJANS END LOSING STREAKS: Dakota State recorded their first victory of the season on Oct. 13 at Briar Cliff (Iowa). The Trojans ended their 10-game losing streak with the last win versus Briar Cliff last season at the Trojan Field. DSU also ended their 17-game losing skid on the road (Trojans' last road win was at Mayville State (N.D.) on Nov. 8, 2008 in Mayville, N.D.)
LAST TIME OUT: The Trojans outgained Briar Cliff (Iowa) 484-386 in total offensive yards for a 35-28 road victory on Oct. 13 in Sioux City, Iowa. The Trojans trailed at 28-21 in the early fourth quarter and scored 14 straight points to seal the victory. Dakota State recorded the second most first-downs in a game with 30 in DSU Football record book. Dordt suffered their seventh straight defeat this season as they lost a home contest versus Nebraska Wesleyan 27-7 on Oct. 13 in Sioux Center, Iowa. Nebraska Wesleyan jumped to a 21-0 first quarter lead and never looked back. Dordt was held to 113 offensive yards in the game compared to NWU's 308 offensive yards.
FOOTBALL FORECAST: As of Thursday, the weather forecast for Saturday in Sioux Center, Iowa, calls for a partly cloudy sky with a high temperature of 65 degrees. The wind will come from the south at 5-10 miles-per-hour.
LARGE MENTIONED IN NAIA OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Brandon Large of Dakota State was mentioned in the NAIA Offensive Player of the Week, announced on Monday, Oct. 15. He was listed as one spot away for earning the national honor. Large was 27-for-40 with 317 passing yards and threw two touchdown passes in a 35-28 road victory over Briar Cliff (Iowa) on Oct. 13. In addition, Dakota State recorded 30 first-downs in the game, 19 of those first-downs are from passing.
TROJANS IN THE NATIONAL RANKS: According to the DakStats-NAIA statistical website as of Thursday, Dakota State ranks fourth in the nation in total pass offense with 2195 yards. DSU is ninth in the nation in opponents' fourth-down conversion percentage (28.6 percent). The Trojans are 10th in the nation in pass offense per game (274.4). Stacey Berg is third in the nation in receiving yards per game (123.7) and fourth in total receiving yards (742). Brandon Larges ranks third in total passing (2086 yards) and ninth in passing yards per game (260.8). Eric Liles is 11th in the nation in fumbles forced per game (0.3). Liles and Craig Hertz is 18th in the nation in tackles per game (10.2). Nic Behrens is fifth in the nation in total field goals with five (5). Carl Curtis ranks 30th in total receptions (32) and 46th in total receiving yards (388). Bobby Tisch is 33rd in the nation with 31 receptions and 41st in receptions per game (4.4).
DSU QUICK LEADERS: Brandon Large leads the Trojans' offense attack with an average of 260.8 passing yards per game. He records a passing completion rate of 58.9 percent. Large amasses 13 passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns this season. Large leads the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) in passing category. John Niesen records 342 rushing yards and averages 42.8 rushing yards per game. Stacey Berg records 34 catches for 742 yards (123.7 yards per game). He leads the A.I.I. in the receptions category. Eric Liles leads the team in total tackles with 82 (10.3 tackles per game). Josh Licht records 3.0 quarterback sacks for the Trojans (0.4 sacks per game).
DSU FOOTBALL HISTORY LESSON: Dakota State is in its 93rd year of competition. The Trojans own an all-time record of 268-452-17. DSU opened their first year of competition in 1908 with an overall record of 4-1-1. Dakota State is in their second year membership with the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.).
WATCH & LISTEN TO THE GAME: Dordt will be having both live video and audio webcast of DSU-DC football game on Saturday afternoon. The link to the webcast is http://www.dordt.edu/cgi-bin/events/calendar/webcast.pl?id=6316. There is no charge to the webcast. The link also will be available on www.dsuathletics.com in the 'Live Games' tab above the 'Upcoming Events.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay connected with Dakota State football and athletics all season long on www.dsuathletics.com. The Trojans are also on Twitter, just log onto www.twitter.com/GoDaSUAthletics. The Dakota State University Athletics group page can be found on Facebook on https://www.facebook.com/DSUTrojanAthletics.
UP NEXT: Dakota State returns home for their final two regular-season games, both against former Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC) members. The Trojans host Jamestown (N.D.) on Saturday, Oct. 27 at the Trojan Field. Kick-off is slated to start at 1 p.m. in the A.I.I. conference game.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
