ST. PAUL, Minn. - This Saturday, Concordia football (1-3 NSIC) embarks on its third road trip of the season, heading to take on #17 Minnesota State (3-1 NSIC) for the Mavericks' homecoming game at Blakeslee Stadium at 2 p.m. in Mankato, Minnesota. BUY TICKETS

Temperatures are expected to hit 70 degrees during game time with a slight 7-to-8 mph wind out of the NW and a 20-25 percent chance of rain with overcast conditions.

WATCH ONLINE – NSIC NETWORK
All Golden Bear football games will be available to watch online, free of charge, powered by the NSIC Network, supported by BlueFrame Technologies. Visit nsicnetwork.com/cspbears on a laptop or desktop computer, download the NSIC Network app on your mobile device or watch on your supported OTT provider such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Search "NSIC Network" and download the app for the league's full sport and team lineups. NSIC NETWORK FAQ
 
The broadcast crew and production for Saturday's game will be provided by Minnesota State University.

The game can also be heard online, on the Tune-In Radio app or locally on the Mankato airwaves on 1230 AM The Fan.
 
DOWNLOAD THE APP
Fans can download the CSP Bears fan app, free of charge and available in the App Store or on Google Play. The app contains rosters, schedules, scores, stats, news, social media and more! Customize your options to get notifications to your favorite teams, as well. Search "CSP Bears" in the app store to stay up-to-date on Golden Bear athletics.

LISTEN TO COACH CURRIER ON THE COACHES SHOW
The Coaches Show with Shannon Currier is back for a third year, once again hosted by Wally Langfellow of Minnesota Score. The show airs following the Minnesota high school football game of the week, typically on Friday evenings in the 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. hour on KYCR 1440 AM radio, available in the Twin Cities metro area. This week's guests include freshman wide receiver Jaheim Arnold and senior defensive end Jake Richardson.

For fans who miss the show or are outside of the radio station's Twin Cities reach, the entire show is accessible via the CSP Bears Podcast, available in Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Play Music. It will typically be uploaded late Friday night (after the initial air time) or Saturday morning prior to the game. Search 'CSP Bears' into your favorite podcast provider!

FULL PREVIEW
Get the full story ahead of this Saturday's game in this week's game notes [pdf].

2021 TEAM CAPTAINS
CSP head coach Shannon Currier features rotating team captains each week for the third year in a row in 2021. Captains are selected by the coaching staff based on performance on the field and as a leader in practice, meetings and day-to-day activities.

This week's game captains: freshman quarterback Conner Cordts (5x) and sophomore center Sam Marshalek (4x) on offense and defensive ends Jake Richardson and Mark O'Reilly each as first time selections this season on defense.

SERIES HISTORY: MINNESOTA ST 12, CONCORDIA 2
The Golden Bears have dropped nine straight to the Mavericks dating back to 2010 in CSP's only win at Blakeslee Stadium in seven trips to the Key City.

The Mavericks have been nationally-ranked in nine of the last 11 meetings, ranked in the top-three in the country in five of those meetings and never lower than #15.

In 2010, with MSU ranked #11 in the D2Football.com Top-25, the Golden Bears escaped Blakeslee Stadium with a 28-26 win following a blocked 40-yard field goal by future NFL Draft pick and Super Bowl champion Zach Moore with 33 seconds to play in the fourth quarter. Moore also had a blocked PAT in the first half in a disruptive game for the sophomore.

Moore wasn't the only future multi-season NFL player to compete in the game, as future Minnesota Viking Adam Thielen, a sophomore, had six catches for 85 yards and a seven yard carry.

Since then, it's been all Mavericks, who have won every encounter by at least 20 points, and aside from CSP scoring 34 points in a 57-34 loss in 2011, MSU has held CSP to 13 points or less in every game and scored at least 27.

The teams have met every year since MSU joined the NSIC in 2008 and have two non-conference NCAA Division II tilts on their ledger, with CSP falling in the first meeting 45-20 in 2004 at MSU before beating the Mavericks in the return trip to Griffin Stadium in 2005 when MSU was a member of the now-defunct North Central Conference (NCC).

LAST MEETING, 2019: MINN ST 29, CONCORDIA 3
It was a battle of the last two unbeaten teams in the NSIC South Division in week three at Sea Foam Stadium two years ago, with MSU holding host Concordia to three points in a 29-3 decision.

The Mavericks entered play averaging 550 yards per game of total offense and 364 on the ground, with CSP limiting them to 386 yards overall and 220 rushing, both well below their season averages in the first two weeks.

But MSU's defense was better, holding CSP to 134 yards of total offense and eight first downs. Just a week after CSP had rushed for 300 yards at Upper Iowa in a road win, MSU held CSP to 14 rushing yards.

MSU also had a strong advantage in field position, with an average starting boost of 16 yards (38 yard line for MSU, 22 for CSP).

Linebacker Jake Portz topped 15 tackles for the second week in a row with 15 and had 40 through the first three games. Senior defensive end Jackson Dobbs had eight tackles including 2.0 TFL and a first quarter sack on third down on MSU's opening drive to hold the Mavericks to a 3-and-out to start the game.

Chris Garrett, a 2021 NFL Draft Pick following the missed COVID season, picked up a sack for his fourth of the season which extended an incredible pace that included 18.0 sacks and 20.5 TFLs in a nine game stretch dating back to the back half of the 2018 season.

Cornerback Lorenzo Kendricks added an interception in the second quarter for CSP but MSU won the turnover battle with three forced turnovers in the game.

MSU's defense was led by Jack Leius with seven tackles and 4.5 TFLs.

Offensively, Maxon Hutton completed 11-21 for 120 yards and a long of 35 while adding 15 yards on the ground with a long run of 19. He connected four times to MJ Williams for 52 yards including the 35 yarder while Jabril Clewis had 2-39 receiving.

MSU's offense was sparked by Nate Gunn with 14-103 rushing after sitting out the first quarter while three MSU QBs combined to completed 17-27 for 166 yards and a TD.

Danny Laudet led CSP's special teams with a fourth quarter 44-yard field goal and had a 42.3 punting average on seven punts including a long of 63 yards.

LAST WEEK: SMSU 34, CONCORDIA 24
Starting with the ball, Concordia lost a fumble on the first offensive play of the game, setting up a short field and touchdown for SMSU which set the tone in a 34-24 loss at Sea Foam Stadium.

The Golden Bears would turn the ball over four times, including a fourth quarter 80-yard pick-6 following CSP's lone takeaway deep in SMSU territory. The pick-6 was decisive, as CSP was trailing 20-17 but looking to reclaim the lead following the SMSU fourth down lost fumble.

Concordia freshman quarterback Conner Cordts had another strong performance under center, completing 22-33 for 260 yards and three touchdowns and added 9-41 on the ground to top 300 yards of total offense.

He threw his first career interception, taking 111 pass attempts to start his career. He was 6-7 on third downs including four first down passes and a touchdown and had another third down completion set up a successful fourth and short conversion.

With Cordts under center and CSP producing its top rushing performance of the year with 159 yards on 34 attempts, the Golden Bears put together three drives of at least 12 plays and at least 83 yards and at least four minutes.

The hightlight was a season-long 15 play, 91-yard drive taking 6:26 of clock in the first quarter, setting up a Sam Henson 24 yard field goal to put CSP on the scoreboard.

The run game featured five players with at least 13 yards and three players with at least 40 yards led by Jaylin Richardson's 10-44 and Lajuan Preston's 7-43.

Cordts targeted eight different receivers with seven of them recording at least two catches led by Isaiah Koran with nine catches for 78 yards on 13 targets, also adding a 13 yard run.

Jake Shepley had a big day with a 49-yard touchdown reception to tie the game at 10-10 in the second quarter, and had three catches on four targets for 66 yards with a pair of TDs.

Jaheim Arnold had the other TD catch for CSP, a late first half score to put CSP ahead 17-10 at the half. He finished with 3-45 and a long of 27 yards.

SMSU was led by Jesse Sherwood's 19-178 rushing and also forced a fumble on a kickoff. He had a 56-yard TD run, as well. The Mustangs had 241 yards on the ground on 47 carries.

CSP shut down the SMSU pass game to just one completion on seven attempts for -4 yards in the first half, and the Mustangs finished with just 70 passing yards on 5-12 attempts on the day, but that included a third quarter 53 yard TD connection from Andrew Haidet (5-6, 70 yards) to Zeke Robinson on his only catch of the day.

Parker Dahlman had another strong punting day, averaging 42.8 yards on four punts wiht a long of 47 and one inside the 20.

Defensively, Rhett Sheehan, Dalton Smerchek and Andrew Egnarski each had seven tackles with Sheehan adding a forced fumble. Mark O'Reilly added 1.5 tackles for loss up front.

NOTES ABOUT THE MAVERICKS
Minnesota State holds a 117-14 (.893) record as Northern Sun (NSIC) members, now in its 13th year in the league with seven NSIC championships. The Mavericks have appeared in 12 NCAA playoff appearances, most recently in 2019, and are 14-12 in the NCAA playoffs.

MSU has won nine consecutive homecoming games and holds a 52-33-2 all-time record in 87 prior homecoming games. This will be the third time MSU has hosted CSP on homecoming, also defeating Concordia 30-10 in 2012 and 45-10 in 2016.

The Mavericks are second in the league offensively with 40.8 points per game and seventh in the league with 24.5 points allowed, and rank second in the league in both total offense (486.0) and defense (318.3). Their ground game leads the NSIC with 246.0 yards per game at a 5.1 per carry average and 14 touchdowns while allowing just 107.8 to opponents, sixth best. MSU also outgains through the air with 240.0 yards per game and a 6-5 TD-INT ratio while opponents have put up 210.5 yards per game and a 7-4 TD-INT ratio.

The league's sixth-ranked rusher is  Kaleb Sleezer with 355 yards at 6.2 per carry while Charles Coleman adds 163 yards at a strong 11.6 per carry rate.

JD Ekowa is the leading passer on the squad with 126.5 passing yards per game, completing 43.9 percent of his passes with two TDs and four INTs.

His top target is Jalen Sample with 15 catches for 338 yards and a score, ranking ninth in the NSIC in receiving yards.

Bedale Naba (3.5) and Trent Carpenter (3.0) lead the MSU in tackles for loss, while they each have 1.5 sacks along with Jacob Dalton.

In the secondary, James Williams leads the team with four pass breakups and Ty'Shonan Brooks has a pair of INTs including a 50-yard pick-6