GAME ELEVEN || SATURDAY, NOV. 12, 2016 || 12:00 PM
MANKATO, MINN. || BLAKESLEE STADIUM
UPPER IOWA PEACOCKS AT MINNESOTA STATE MAVERICKS

THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK FOOTBALL... Upper Iowa will head north to Mankato, Minn. to square off with the Mavericks of Minnesota State University on Saturday afternoon. The Peacocks are coming off a loss last week at No. 4 Sioux Falls, 51-7. UIU picked up a win two weeks ago over the Wayne State Wildcats on Senior Day at Harms-Eischeid Stadium. After leading the majority of the game, the defense made a fourth-down stop with just second remaining to preserve a 35-30 win. Upper Iowa features a solid rushing attacks, and will look to balance their time in the air with a ground game that is averaging over 186 yards per game. MSU averages 180 yards on the ground as well.

THE SERIES... The Mavericks have won all ten meetings in the series which began in 2004 and 2005 when Upper Iowa was moving up to NCAA Division II and then restarted when Minnesota State gained membership in the Northern Sun Conference prior to the 2008 season.  The Peacocks have struggled in each of the ten meetings to score averaging just 9.9 points per game against the Mavericks.  Last season, UIU took a 10-7 lead into the halftime, but Minnesota State scored 31 unanswered points to roll to a 38-10 win.
 
THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE… Upper Iowa has found success in the ground game this season on both sides of the ball.  The Peacocks are ranked 43rd nationally and 5th in the NSIC in rushing offense and 62nd and 4th in rushing defense. With the ball, UIU has relied heavily on a balanced attack between their two sophomore backs, Derrick Portis and Ryan Parmely, as well as their two quarterbacks Dimitri Morales and Brent Lammers.  The quartet of runners have accounted for 1,741 yards and 19 touchdowns led by Portis (712 yards/7 TD) and Parmely (566 yards/5 TD). Upper Iowa is averaging 186.9 yards per game on the ground, while only allowing 138.4 yards/game to their opponents. The tough play on defense is due in large part to leaders at every level including Zach Ries, Joe Busch, Jojo Simpson and the rest of the defensive line, Zach Gardner, Adam Lytle, Mitchel Siech, Eric Munoz and the other linebackers, as well as Tanner Thompson, Darius Cohen, Marcus McCoy, Jordan Rommes, Nick Corley and Jordan Wymer on the back line.

QUARTERBACK FRIENDLY... Dimitri Morales kept adding to his strong passing performance over the last few weeks last Saturday and threw for 174 yards and a score to push his season totals to 2,165 yards and 17 touchdowns. Morales through for 312 passing yards three weeks ago in his return to the field.  Five Peacocks have reaped the majority of those yards and touchdowns including Jalen Amis (65 catches for 767 yards and 2 TD), Jarred Edmonds (52-555 and 7 TD), Trey MacTaggart (47-497-3), and David Esswein (31-360-2). UIU's passing offense averages 265.8 yards/game and ranks 8th in the conference.

SENIOR FAREWELL… There are 18 Peacocks playing in their final game for Upper Iowa this Saturday. The group of young men are part of Upper Iowa's return to success having posted winning seasons in three consecutive years from 2013-15. They include Darius Cohen (DB), Marcus McCoy (DB), Jalen Amis (WR), Jacob Wrage (WR), Trey MacTaggart (TE), David Esswein (WR), Brian Steffensmeier (OL), Jalen Groth-Chambers (OL), Joe McCaffery (RB), Vincent Otdoerfer (RB), Alex VanGerpen (RB), Cameron Vinsand (P), Kolter Freidhof (QB), Dimitri Morales (QB), Joe Busch (DL), Jeremy Bacon (LB), Zach Gardner (LB) and Matt Sharp (LB).
 
SECOND NCAA SUPER REGION THREE FOOTBALL RANKINGS RELEASED... The third NCAA Regional rankings have been released and the NSIC has three teams ranked in Super Region Three. Sioux Falls (10-0) remained second while Minnesota Duluth (9-1) stayed steady at fifth. Augustana (7-3) made its first appearance in the rankings as they are tenth.  Bemidji State dropped out of this week's rankings. The NSIC, the Great American Conference (GAC), the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) make up the NCAA Super Region Three. Seven teams from the four regions will earn a spot in the NCAA DII Football Playoffs with the number one seed in each region receiving a first round bye. The NCAA DII Football selection show is set to air on NCAA.com on Sun., Nov. 13. Beginning in 2016, the football committee will seed the four teams that advance to the semifinals of the championship so that the #1 seed will play the #4 seed and the #2 seed will play the #3 seed. All seedings will be determined using the current selection criteria.

THE BROADCAST TEAM... Play-by-play announcer, and Upper Iowa alum, Joe Stasi is in his 14th consecutive season as the "Voice of the Peacocks" and 16th overall.  This week he will be joined by Zach Carlyle, graduate of Upper Iowa with an undergraduate degree in sports communications and currently pursuing his masters in sports administration.  Carlyle serves as the Sports Communication Graduate Assistant and enters his sixth season on the call with Joe Stasi.  The AM 950 KOEL pre-game show is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.