SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana football team is back on the road Saturday as it travels to Winona State for a 1 p.m. kickoff. Both squads were mentioned as part of the 10 teams "under consideration" for the seven NCAA Division II playoff spots in the initial region rankings announced Monday.
 
The Game
Augustana will be looking to recover from its setback against Minnesota State while Winona State is riding the high of defeating the conference's last undefeated team. Augustana has not dropped back-to-back games since the 2017 season, falling to Upper Iowa (Oct. 21) and Sioux Falls (Oct. 28).
 
About the Warriors
Winona State, led by former Augustana defensive coordinator Brian Bergstrom, has been the surprise of the NSIC with its 6-2 record. The Warriors picked up their biggest win of the season, knocking off No. 11 Sioux Falls 20-17 last week. Winona State trailed by 10 points in the game on two occasions and took a 3-point lead with 9:23 remaining while holding off the Cougars the remainder of the game.
 
Trevor Paulson played all eight games as the quarterback, tossing for 942 yards and four touchdowns. Kyle Haas has seen action in six games at quarterback while tossing 565 yards and four touchdowns. The top receiver is Darryl Williams and his 22 receptions for 297 yards while Cooper Nelson has 21 catches for 261 yards. The rushing attack is led by Ty Gavin and his 722 yards and three touchdowns while Sam Santiago-Lloyd owns 375 yards and four touchdowns.
 
On the defensive side of the ball, Clay Schueffner leads the way with 72 tackles, a mark that ranks third in the NSIC and 32^nd in the nation. Bryan Corbins, Jr. is ninth in the nation with his 1.4 passes defended per game while he has seven breakups and three interceptions.
 
Winona State tallies 29.3 points per game while holding its opponents to just 18.5 points per outing. The scoring defense is second-best in the NSIC while the red zone defense is tops by allowing just 57.7 percent of red zone possessions by opponents to score.
 
About the Vikings
Augustana is looking to recover from its 35-14 setback to Minnesota State which dropped it to 6-2 on the season. Although the Vikings were held to just two yards rushing in the contest, Augustana outgained the Mavericks passing 226-199. The bulk of those yards came from the arm of Casey Bauman (more on him later). Devon Jones tallied 10 receptions for 81 yards and a touchdown.
 
For the year, Bauman has seen action in five games while tossing for 786 yards and 10 touchdowns. Jones has been the top target with 37 receptions for 341 yards while Jack Fisher owns the most yards at 394 on 24 receptions. Fisher is also the team leader with six touchdowns through eight games. David Addo leads the team's rushing efforts with 398 yards and three touchdowns.
On the defensive side, T.J. Liggett leads the team with his 55 tackles, 35 of which are solo. Peyton Buckley, last season's newcomer of the year, has recorded 47 tackles with five tackles for loss and a pair of interceptions. Eli Weber, this season's preseason defensive player of the year, leads AU with three interceptions while racking up 40 tackles.
 
Augustana's defense has been stellar on third down, ranking 14^th in NCAA Division II by allowing just 27.7 percent of third downs to convert to a first down.
 
Who to Watch For
Augustana quarterback Casey Bauman has added a dynamic to the Vikings' offense it hasn't seen in a few years. He owns 51 rushing attempts while totaling 123 yards and a touchdown. The last quarterback to have the running ability was the 2017 season when Ryan Rubley played in six games rushing 70 times for 275 yards. In addition to his running, Bauman has tossed for 786 yards and 10 touchdowns. All three stat totals (rushing yards, passing yards and touchdowns) are career bests for the transfer from Montana State where he started three games and saw action in 12 in 2019-20.
 
Year 100 Tidbit
Augustana saw a breakthrough on the national level when a young coach named Jim Heinitz took over the program in 1985. Heinitz, who would go on to become Augustana's all-time winningest coach, lifted the team to a 1-9 record in year one but then saw progress with an 8-4 mark in 1988 and 8-3-1 record in 1989. Those two years were the first two that Augustana qualified for the NCAA Division II Playoffs. Heinitz was named the NCC Coach of the Year in 1988 along with earning the Kodak Region 4 Coach of the Year honor.
 
 
One Last Thing
Augustana is the 14^th-best team in all of NCAA Division II at stopping opponent 3^rd-down conversions. The Vikings allow just 27.7 percent of 3^rd-down conversions to be successful. Wingate tops the country at 19.1 percent.