GAME SEVEN || Saturday, October 16 || 1 PM
Mankato, Minn. || Blakeslee Stadium
Upper Iowa @ Minnesota State

This Week in Peacock Football...

The Upper Iowa Football team hits the road this weekend to take on the Mavericks of Minnesota State University in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matchup.  Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Blakeslee Stadium in Mankato, Minn.

Last Time Out: The Peacocks halted a five-game skid last Saturday by defeating the Golden Eagles of UM, Crookston, 56-19.  Upper Iowa’s offense tallied eight touchdowns in the decisive Homecoming victory.

Scouting the Mavericks

After starting the season 3-0, the Mavericks of Minnesota State have dropped their last three contests and enter Saturday’s game with a 3-3 record which includes a 2-3 mark in NSIC play.  MSU was defeated last Saturday at home by St. Cloud State, 31-17.

The Mavericks rank near the top of the NSIC in just a few statistical categories such as passing defense (3rd/172.8 yards per game) and kickoff returns (3rd/23.9 yards per return). 

Minnesota State is also one of the most penalized teams in the conference as they give up 64.7 yards per game in penalties and is the worst team in the league in terms of redzone efficiency (55%).  Only Wayne State ranks behind MSU in penalties in the league.

Series History

The Peacocks has Mavericks have met three times since Upper Iowa became an NCAA Division II program.  Minnesota State has won all three of those meetings.

The Last Meeting

Upper Iowa and Minnesota State last met on October 31, 2009 in Fayette.  The #4-ranked Mavericks defeated Upper Iowa 48-17.

Life on the Road

The Peacock Football team has tallied up quite a few miles on the road this season in just their first three road contests.

Upper Iowa visited Commerce, Texas (1,659 miles roundtrip) for their first game and travelled to Moorhead, Minn. (946 miles roundtrip) for their first NSIC road trip.  Two weeks ago, the Peacocks travelled another 842 miles roundtrip for the game against Bemidji State.

The Peacocks will add another 390 miles round trip this weekend when they visit Mankato.

Upper Iowa will have travelled 3,837 miles after this weekend.  To put that in perspective, if you were able to drive a car from Fayette to Honolulu, Hawaii, you would drive just over 4,000 miles.

Connecting to Hubbard

Upper Iowa’s Jessie Hubbard ranks seventh in the NSIC in receptions per game.  The junior receiver is averaging 4.5 receptions per game.

Radio

Upper Iowa Peacock football can be heard throughout the 2010 season courtesy of AM 950-KOEL. 

Play-by-play announcer Joe Stasi is in his eighth season as the “Voice of the Peacocks” and will be joined by UIU Director of Sports Communications, Howie Thompson in Mankato, Minn.

The pre-game show is scheduled for 12:40 p.m.