SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The No. 20-ranked Augustana football team (6-2 overall, 6-1 NSIC) returns to Kirkeby-Over Stadium on Saturday afternoon for a matchup against Concordia-St. Paul. Kickoff is slated 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 and Golden Bears will meet for the 19th time in series history with the Vikings leading 14-4 in the series. The Vikings have won seven consecutive meetings dating back to 2015. A season ago, Jack Fisher caught three passes for 77 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 24-16 victory. 

Scouting the Enemy
The Golden Bears enter the week 2-6 overall and 2-5 in the NSIC after dropping a 35-34 contest to Northern State last weekend. Their last two losses have come by a combined four points and have given up go-ahead touchdowns in the final 16 seconds of both games.

Jaylin Richardson has been one of the premier rushers in the country. The senior is sixth in the country with 966 yards and fourth with 11 touchdowns. He has been dialed in over the last four contests, averaging 154.0 rushing yards and has scored nine of his 11 touchdowns.

Defensively, it all runs through Brayden Hilgemann. The senior linebacker and nephew of Ryan Hilgemann leads the Golden Bears with 32 solo tackles and is second with 48 total tackles. He has also added a pair of tackles for loss, an interception and a forced fumble. 

About the Vikings
Coach Jerry Olszewski became the program's winningest coach with a road victory over then-No. 13 Minnesota State last weekend. It was a sweet victory for Olszewski, who spent a pair of stints with the Mavericks from 1993-1997 (Linebackers, Quarterbacks, Running Backs) and 1999-02 (Assistant Head Coach). The win moved to 80-43 as the head coach of the Vikings to pass Jim Heinitz on the program's all-time wins list and now touts a .650 win percentage at AU, the highest for an Augustana coach since L.A. Olson's .738 percentage from 1931-42, 46.

After an emphatic victory on Saturday, Gunnar Hensley and Kade Lynott earned recognition from the league office. Hensley was named Offensive Player of the Week after totaling 288 yards, two touchdowns and a passer rating of 149.1. Lynott earned Defensive honors after recording seven solo tackles, a 50-yard interception return and helping the defense stymie the MSU rushing offense. 

Jarod Epperson continues to sit alone at the top. The senior has run for 3734 yards in his career, breaking the previous record held by Joe Clark (2006-10). The most remarkable part of the record is he was able to do so in one less game and on 130 less carries than Clark. On the year, Epperson ranks second in the NSIC and 40th in the country with 80.1 yards per game while adding six touchdowns.  

Epperson has also scored 31 rushing touchdowns, third all-time. In all, he has 17 100-plus yard games. He has left his mark in the passing game through out his career as well as he is just 47 receiving yards away from being the third active player amongst all divisions to have over 3,500 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards.

It has been quite the coming out party for sophomore signal caller Gunnar Hensley. The Carlsbad, California native has now been named NSIC Offensive Player of the Week twice in six starts this season. Hensley currently ranks second in the country in completion percentage at 70.3 percent, 10th with 9.36 yards per attempt, 11th with a 171.3 passing efficiency, 22nd with 16.3 points responsible for and 23rd with 243.3 passing yards per game. He has also thrown for 16 touchdowns, 26th most in the country. 

Special teams has, again, been a strength for this year's team as they average 11.70 yards per punt return, 37th in the country, and allow just 17.09 yards per kick return, 29th in DII. They've also had success on their own kick returns, ranking 17th in the country with 25.13 yards per kick return.

Offensively, the Vikings rank sixth with a 67.5 completion percentage, 31st in passing offense at 241.3 yards per game. They're also 17th in red zone offense, scoring at a 88.2 percent clip inside the 20, and 15th in red zone defense, allowing points on 65.4 percent of red zone drives. Ball security has been a theme as well as the Vikings have only lost two fumbles, ranking eighth in the country for fewest fumbles.  

Defensively, it has been all about the front seven. The Vikings average 2.88 sacks per game, 22nd in the country, and are 20th in rushing defense allowing 92.4 rushing yards per game. The defense has also stood tall in the biggest moments, ranking 14th in opponent fourth down conversion percentage, allowing 33.3 percent.  

The Augustana defense has spent plenty of time in the backfield this season. The Vikings third in the NSIC with 6.9 tackles for loss per game and 2.88 sacks per game. Will Davis (4.5) Myles Taylor (3.5), Kade Lynott (3.0) and Gradee Sherman (3.0) have led a team effort. 10 Vikings have at least 0.5 sacks and 17 have at least 0.5 tackles for loss.

One Last Thing
Last weekend's win was the fourth consecutive regular season victory over a ranked DII opponent dating back to 2019. In the four ranked victories, Augustana has won by an average of 15.7 points per game and have won the last three by at least three possessions.