The Minnesota State University Moorhead football team begins the 2021 season on Thursday, September 2nd at Southwest Minnesota State. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Mattke Field in Marshall, MN.
It will be the first game for the Dragons since Nov. 2019. The 2020 season was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
An MSUM win over SMSU would…
—give the Dragons two straight wins in the series
–give the Dragons a sixth straight win in season openers
–be a fourth straight win on the road for the Dragons
Series History
MSUM leads the all-time series with Southwest Minnesota State 28-19. The Dragons beat the Mustangs 23-14 in 2019 for their first win in the series since 2007.
Previous five meetings:
2019: MSU Moorhead 23, SMSU 14 (in Marshall, Minn.)
2017: SMSU 51, MSU Moorhead 35 (in Moorhead, Minn.)
2015: SMSU 48, MSU Moorhead 9 (in Moorhead)
2013: SMSU 27, MSU Moorhead 20 (in Moorhead)
2011: SMSU 45, MSU Moorhead 13 (in Moorhead)
MSUM finished the 2019 campaign with a 6-5 mark overall and 5-2 mark in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference’s North Division. The Dragons return four starters on offense and eight on defense from that squad.
Senior receiver and co-captain Grady Bresnahan returns after catching 59 passes for 716 yards and four touchdowns in 2019.; he was an All-NSIC North First Team selection.
Sophomore Ryan Bieberdorf had 44 catches for 451 yards and two scores in 2019 while junior Trent Marquart had 38 catches for 293 yards.
MSUM’s top three rushers all departed from the 2019 squad as several new faces will be looked upon to carry the ground game.
The offensive line has one starter back — junior Troy Casperson — and will look to several candidates to solidify that unit.
The defense has plenty of experience returning, starting on the defensive line. Senior Darius Woods-Steichen led MSUM with six sacks and shared the team lead with 12.0 tackles for loss in 2019. Senior Jordan Magnuson had 12.0 tackles for loss as well along with 5.5 sacks. Senior Hunter Sall had 7.0 tackles for loss while senior Derek Porozinski had 8.0 tackles for loss.
Senior linebacker and co-captain Matt Schoh led the Dragons with 76 tackles in 2019 while senior defensive back and co-captain Shad Vedaa had 73 tackles and an interception.
MSUM averaged 27.4 points per game in 2019 and had 340.2 yards per game in total offense. The Dragons surrendered 26.5 points per game and 365.0 yards of total offense.
Smashing Debuts
MSUM is 6-3 in season openers during Steve Laqua‘s tenure as head coach. The Dragons have won five straight openers, dating back to 2015 when they christened the new turf at Scheels Field with a 42-17 rout of Winona State.
Sack Attack
MSUM recorded 23 sacks as a team in 2019. All but one of those sacks were recorded by players who return in 2021, including 6.0 from senior defensive end Darius Steichen-Woods and 5.5 from senior defensive tackle Jordan Magnuson. Those two players each had 12 tackles for loss in 2019.
*Courtesy Tom Berg, MSUM Athletics
