GAME OF THE WEEK

Winona State at St. Cloud State, 6 p.m. Saturday: Winona State, which was picked to finish second in the NSIC South Division, will be looking to rebound from a season-opening overtime loss to Bemidji State. The Warriors led 27-6 going into the fourth quarter. St. Cloud State, picked to finish second in the NSIC North, opened its season with a 49-35 victory at Southwest Minnesota State.

WEEK 2 STORY LINES

• For the second consecutive season, the MIAC went unbeaten in Week 1 (7-0). Last year, MIAC teams went 6-0 in Week 2. It was the first time in more than 50 years that the conference opened the season with consecutive unbeaten weekends.

• Minnesota State Mankato, which is ranked No. 2 in the AFCA Division II poll, opened its season with a 34-21 victory over Mary in Bismarck, N.D. It was the 12th consecutive regular-season victory for the Mavericks, who play host to Minnesota-Crookston on Saturday. The Mavericks were 11-0 in the regular season last year and reached the national semifinals. In Week 3, the Mavericks travel to No. 7 Minnesota Duluth.

• St. John's, which scored 10 points in the final minute to rally for a 17-14 season-opening victory over Wisconsin-River Falls, will try to avoid looking ahead to next week. The Johnnies play host to Wisconisin-Eau Claire on Saturday before opening MIAC play on Sept. 21 at St. Thomas. Wisconsin-Eau Claire, which has won two of the past three meetings against St. John's, opened its season with a 52-7 loss at St. Thomas last Saturday.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Ayrton Scott, QB, Augsburg: The 5-11 sophomore from Minneapolis Southwest has picked up where he left off last November. Scott, who was third in total offense in Division III last season (368.1 yards per game), passed for 285 yards and rushed for 197 in the Auggies' season-opening, 51-17 victory over Concordia (Wis.).

Drew Bauer, QB, Minnesota Duluth: The 6-2 redshirt freshman from Eagan High School made his collegiate debut last week in the Bulldogs' 32-7 victory over Sioux Falls. Bauer rushed for 57 yards (in 10 carries) and a TD and completed 10 of 16 passes for 68 yards.

BY THE NUMBERS

1 Football games that St. Scholastica has played outside the Central time zone. St. Scholastica, in its sixth season of fielding a team, opened its season against Whitworth (Wash.).

36 Completions (in 55 attempts) for SW Minnesota State's Charlie Kern in the Mustangs' 49-35 loss to St. Cloud State. Kern, a junior from Belle Plaine, was making his first collegiate start.

173 Rushing yards (in 32 carries) for Hamline RB Austin Duncan in the Pipers' 41-33 victory over Minnesota-Morris. It was the most rushing yards by a Piper since 2005.

399 Passing yards (a school record) for Martin Luther's Luke Rothe. Rothe, a sophomore, had a school-record 27 completions in the Knights' 56-54 loss to Maranatha Baptist.

JOEL RIPPEL