SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The No. 5 Augustana football team (8-0 overall, 7-0 NSIC) welcomes NSIC North Division leader Northern State (5-2, 6-2) for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Kirkeby-Over Stadium

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.

Scouting the Enemy
The Wolves are 6-2 on the season and 5-2 in the NSIC after a 49-48 thriller win over MSU Moorhead last weekend. NSU is led by All-America linebacker Jake Adams, whose 13.5 tackles per game ranks second in the country.

NSU is fourth in the nation in total offense and 11th in the country in rush offense. Wyatt Block ranks seventh in the country with 919 rushing yards on the year while the run/pass combo of Daniel Britt and Brock Bagozzi at quarterback has become a lethal tandem.

Last Time Against Opponent
The Gunnar Hensley and Jack Fisher connection dominated while the defense flew around the field as the Augustana Vikings claimed a 41-7 victory over the Northern State Wolves on Sept. 21, 2024.

Fisher finished with six catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns while also throwing a touchdown pass. Hensley threw for 358 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions on 28 of 35 passing and caught Fisher's touchdown pass. The Vikings had a collective effort as three different players threw passes, with all throwing touchdowns, and 15 different players caught passes in the win.

Six different Vikings totaled at least a half of a sack, led by Gradee Sherman. Sherman closed the day with five tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss. Haden Wallace paced Viking defenders with seven tackles and a sack. Logan Leonard recorded an interception for the second consecutive game and JayVian Farr hauled in his first INT of the season.

Weekend Rewind
The Augustana offense flexed once more on Saturday afternoon, knocking off Southwest Minnesota State 57-29 on Mattke Field at The Schwan Regional Event Center.

The point total is the most for an Augustana offense since scoring 63 points on November 5th, 2016 against Concordia-St. Paul. Breylon Blount ran for 136 yards on 15 carries and scored two touchdowns while Cody Oswald added three touchdowns on four catches and 74 yards. Rich Lucero Jr. went 16 for 21 for 221 yards and three touchdowns while throwing an interception. Isaiah Huber sprung a 71-yard return as well to help him reach 120 all-purpose yards. Sam Scholten threw for and caught a touchdown, the first time a player had done each since Gunnar Hensley and Jack Fisher each did it against Northern State Sept. 21, 2024.

Logan Leonard continued his stellar season with four pass breakups to go with two tackles. Ashton Toll led the defense with six tackles, including a sack, while Brock Salm added five tackles. Gradee Sherman recorded a pair of sacks and three tackles for loss while the Viking defense got to the Mustangs for six sacks and 12 tackles for loss.

This (Game)Day in History
Augustana has played on November 1st 14 previous times, going 10-4 in those games. The Vikings have not won on this date the last six times, last losing in 1969. This will be the third time playing Northern State on Nov. 1, losing in 1946 and winning in 1947.

Offensive Outbursts
To say the Augustana offense has been rolling would be an understatement. The Vikings have combined to score 107 points in the last two games, tied for the fifth-highest two game stretch in program history.

The top two totals came in a three-game stretch to open the 2001 season when the Vikings scored 57 points on Aug. 30 against Northern State, 70 points against SMSU on Sept.  and 53 points at Minnesota State on Sept. 15

Top Five Totals
127 points (57, NSU + 70, SMSU, Aug. 30/Sept. 8, 2001)
123 points (70, SMSU + 53, MSU, Sept. 8/15, 2001)
119 points (63, UMary + 56, UMC, Sept. 10/17, 2016)
111 points (35, WSU + 76, CSP, Nov. 7/14, 2015)
107 points (76, CSP + 31, Humboldt St., Nov. 14/21, 2015)
107 points (50, CSP + 57, SMSU, Oct. 11/25, 2025)

Welcome to the Skoldiers
87 different Vikings have played over the first six weeks, including 25 Vikings that have made their AU debut. Josh Larsen, a transfer from South Dakota, has made three starts at left guard and five starts at center.

Rich Lucero Jr. has made three starts under center. DJ Page has six catches for 93 yards in four games. Neal May, a Minnesota State transfer, nine catches for 112 yards and 338 return yards. Klayton Sattler has 17 catches for 244 yards and five touchdowns.

Defensively, true freshman Brody Shuss has 29 tackles, including three tackles for loss. RJ Eckhardt has a sack and two tackles for loss while Ashton Toll has a half sack to go with 12 tackles.

Vikings in the National Rankings
Plenty of statistics have jumped off the page through seven games for Augustana.

As a team, The Vikings are 52.5 percent on third down, the seventh best conversion rate in the country. The team's completion percentage (70.5%) is sixth. Augustana threw its second interception of the season against SMSU and had a streak of 216 pass attempts before Oct. 4 against USF.

The Vikings have just five turnovers, seventh lowest in DII. They are scoring 37.5 points per game, 12th in the country. The red zone offense is also extremely efficient, scoring 94.1 percent of red zone possessions, the seventh best mark in the country. The yardage margins have also leaned in the Vikings favor. Augustana is 19th with 279.0 passing yards a game and 25th with 433.4 total yards per game.

The defense has also allowed just 20.0 points per game, 37th in the country. The special teams have swarmed the opponents, ranking third with 12.5 kick return yards allowed per return while the return team is 25th, averaging 24.5 yards per return.