SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana football team (2-2 overall, 2-1 NSIC) looks to bounce back against Minnesota Duluth (3-1, 2-1) for an afternoon showdown in celebration of Viking Days. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. 
 
Complete action can be followed on GoAugie.com/Live and the GoAugie app, presented by The Original Pancake House. The app can be downloaded in the app store or Google Play.
 
About the Game
The Vikings look to bounce back after a heartbreaking road loss in Moorhead last weekend. The last time the two teams met, Thomas Scholten threw for a pair of touchdowns in a 2022 home loss. Augustana enters the game on a six-game Viking Days win streak. 

Scouting the Enemy
The Bulldogs enter the week 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the NSIC after taking down SMSU 62-0 last week. Their only loss came at the hands of the MSU Moorhead Dragons.

The UMD offense is powered by Kyle Walljasper, one of the best players in the conference at the quarterback position. The junior has thrown for 927 yards while running for 194 yards and has an 11/0 TD/TO ratio. He leads the county with a 206.3 passing efficiency.

A stout defense that allows just 11.0 points per game is led by three players with at least three sacks; Drew Hennessey, Matt Weerts and Landon Carter.

About the Vikings
The Augustana Viking football team dropped a back-and-forth affair on the road to MSU Moorhead 43-41 on Saturday afternoon at Scheels Field at Nemzek Stadium.

It has been quite the coming out party for sophomore signal caller Gunnar Hensley. The Carlsbad, California native earned NSIC Offensive Player of the Week honors after throwing for 358 yards and four passing touchdowns while adding a four-yard receiving touchdown in a 41-7 win over Northern State on Sept. 21. He accounted for all five of his touchdowns in the first half and completed 28 of 35 passes.

Hensley currently ranks second in the country with 24.0 points responsible for, third with a 74.2 completion percentage, sixth with 9.98 yards per attempt, seventh with a 183.8 passing efficiency and ninth with 296.0 passing yards per game. 

The Vikings rank fifth in the country with 3.75 sacks per game. They're also one of 16 teams to not lose a fumble and one of four not to allow a fourth down conversion on at least four attempts. Special teams has, again, been a strength for this year's team as they average 14.3 yards per punt return, 20th in the country, and allow just 15.09 yards per kick return, 13th in DII.

Myles Taylor, Will Davis, Jett Lamb and Christian Connelly each have at least 2.0 sacks, making Augustana the one of two program in the NSIC to have four players record at least two sacks. A total of nine Vikings have at least 0.5 sacks while 15 have at least 0.5 tackles for loss. Davis has also appeared at the national level, ranking ninth in the country with 1.13 sacks per game. 

Jack Fisher continues to make noise in the passing game. After making the most of his final home opener, Fisher collected his second consecutive 100-yard receiving game with eight catches and 115 yards while adding a touchdown. He currently ranks 20th in the country with four receiving touchdowns and is in the top 100 for receiving yards and receptions per game.

Jarod Epperson returns for one final season and has a chance to cement his legacy. Epperson is up to 3,341 career rushing yards, a number that ranks third in program history, just 281 yards away from the program's all-time record and fourth-most among active DII running backs. Epperson has also scored 26 rushing touchdowns, good for fifth. In all, he has 15 100-plus yard games.

Another receiver making a gigantic impact for the Vikings is Isaiah Huber. The junior /is leads the team with 270 yards and is second with three touchdowns while averaging 15.0 yards a catch. He also made an impact int he return game last week, taking six returns for 212 yards, including an 82-yard return to set up a one-play touchdown drive. 

Five different Vikings have collected at least 20 tackles through four games. Haden Wallace had a team-high eight tackles to move him into the team lead at 26 tackles. Logan Leonard has 23 to go along with a pair of interceptions and Kade Lynott has 22 and 5.0 tackles for loss. Peyton Buckley (20) also has an interception and a pair of pass breakups.

One Last Thing
After a 101-yard day last Saturday, Jarod Epperson has run for 3,341 yards in his career, fourth most among active DII players and moved to second most in Viking history.