SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The No. 22 Augustana football team is on the road to face its first ranked opponent in 2021 as the Vikings travel to No. 23 Wayne State.
 
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The Game
Kickoff in Wayne, America, is slated for 1 p.m. at Cunningham field. The contest marks the first time since 2016 that Augustana is facing a ranked opponent as a ranked team. The winner of the game will hold first place in the overall NSIC Standings while an AU win will tie the Vikings with WSC atop the NSIC South Division.
 
The Wildcats
Wayne State enters at 5-1 following an upset win last week against No. 11 Minnesota State. The Wildcats, ranked No. 23 in both the AFCA Top-25 and D2Football.com Top-25, are currently on a four-game win streak with wins against Minot State, Minnesota Duluth and Winona State prior to last week's win. The Wildcats are on the top of the NSIC South standings after being projected to finish fifth in the preseason coaches' poll.
 
Freshman Nick Bohn took over as the Wildcats QB midway through the season and has taken full advantage. Throwing for over 800 yards and rushing for over 200 yards so far this season. Taurean Grady is Bohn's favorite target with 29 catches for 484 yards and 4 touchdowns this season.
 
The Wildcat defense currently ranks fifth in the NSIC giving up 381.5 yards per game average. Along with being fourth in the NSIC only giving up 23 points per game.
 
The Vikings
Augustana continued its winning ways of 2021 with a 37-20 victory over Upper Iowa on Viking Days, pushing its home winning streak to third in the nation at nine games. Kyle Saddler threw for 377 yards and four touchdowns while Sean Engle caught three of those touchdowns and totaled 153 yards receiving. The defense held Upper Iowa to just 35 yards rushing, continuing its trend as the nation's best as Eli Weber totaled 4.0 tackles for a loss and 1.5 sacks. He led the AU defense with eight tackles on the day.
 
For the season, Saddler has tossed for 1,651 yards and 19 touchdowns. He averages just over 275 yards passing per outing with his top target being 2019 NSIC First Team All-South Division selection Sean Engel. Engel averages 85.3 yards receiving per game and has hauled in eight touchdowns. The ground game is controlled by Jarod Epperson and his 106.6 yards rushing per game as he has totaled 640 yards on the year.
 
Defensively, T.J. Liggett leads AU with 39 tackles while Weber has recorded 33. Grayson Diepenbrock leads the Vikings with 6.5 tackles for loss, with Weber right behind at 6.0. The defense continues to lead all of college football (all divisions) with a rushing defense that allows just 19.6 yards rushing per game.
 
Who to Watch for
It's not often that the punter gets attention. A lot of times, it can be not the best possible outcome when the punter is getting attention. However, Augustana has quietly become very, very good at punting the ball. Drew Jurgens ranks 19^th in the nation with his 40.9 yards per punt, a mark that is second in the NSIC.
 
One Last Thing
As noted above, Augustana hasn't played a ranked opponent as a ranked team since the 2016 season. That is when Augustana was ranked No. 25 in the nation and faced No. 12 Sioux Falls on Oct. 1, 2016. Continuing with ranked trends, the Vikings last beat a ranked foe on Oct. 24, 2015. That is when AU took down the then-No. 5 USF Cougars 35-28. Augustana played two AFCA Top-25 teams in the 2019 season, at Minnesota State in the regular season and at CSU Pueblo in the NCAA Division II Playoffs.