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Battle of 7-0 teams, and four other things to know about Minnesota college football

Augustana is off to its best start since 2010, but Minnesota State Mankato has had its number over the years.

By Joel Rippel

October 20, 2023 at 12:38AM

Minnesota State Mankato’s Shen Butler-Lawson leads Division II with 1,026 rushing yards. (Jackson Forderer photo/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

With four weeks remaining in the regular season, there are 15 teams in Division II that are undefeated. Two of them — Minnesota State Mankato and Augustana — will square off Saturday in Sioux Falls.

Remaining unbeaten isn't the only thing at stake for both the Mavericks and Vikings, who are each 7-0 overall and 6-0 in the NSIC. So is sole possession of first place in the NSIC.

The Mavericks, who have won 10 of the 11 meetings with Augustana, are ranked No. 3 in the D2football.com Top 25. Augustana is 7-0 for the first time since 2010 and ranked No. 17.

In addition to their identical records, the teams are evenly matched statistically. The Mavericks are averaging 39.3 points and 469.3 yards per game offensively, while the Vikings are averaging 36.4 points and 416.4 yards per game.

Defensively, Augustana is allowing 16.6 points and 303.1 yards per game, while the Mavericks are averaging 19.1 points and 316.3 yards.

Mavericks junior Shen Butler-Lawson leads D-II in rushing yards (1,026) and is third in yards per carry (7.3). Augustana senior Casey Bauman is fourth in Division in passing efficiency (176.45) and is 12th in passing yards (1,819).

The Mavericks won last year's meeting 35-14 in Sioux Falls as Butler-Lawson rushed for three touchdowns and the Mavericks limited the Vikings to 2 rushing yards.

Here are four other things to watch this week:

Tommies travel to Florida

St. Thomas (4-3, 3-1 Pioneer) travels to Deland, Fla. to take on Stetson on Saturday.

The Tommies had their 13-game winning streak in the Pioneer League end last week with a 52-21 loss to Drake in Des Moines. The Tommies led 21-14 in the second quarter, but Drake added a touchdown before halftime and then outscored St. Thomas 28-0 in the second half.

Tommies quarterback Tak Tateoka, a freshman from Waukesha, Wis., was one of 22 players named on Wednesday to the Jerry Rice Award Watch List, given to the FCS Freshman of the Year. Tateoka has started five games, passing for 598 yards and five touchdowns.

Johnnies visit Gustavus

St. John's and Gustavus Adolphus, who are each 1-0 in the MIAC Northwoods Division, will meet in St. Peter, Minn., on Saturday.

The Johnnies (5-1), ranked No. 7 in Division III, have won eight consecutive games in the series, and 33 of 35. The Gusties' last victory over the Johnnies came in 2013, 20-14 in two overtimes.

Both teams won decisively at home last week. The Johnnies beat Carleton 63-7 while the Gusties defeated Macalester 55-18.

The Gusties (3-3) are averaging 39.2 points and 475.2 yards per game, while the Johnnies are averaging 36.8 points and 447.3 yards per game.

UMAC co-leaders on the road

UMAC co-leaders Minnesota Morris and Northwestern (St. Paul) each face a long road trip this week.

Minnesota Morris (3-3, 2-0 UMAC) travels to Fulton, Mo., to take on Westminster (1-5), while Northwestern (3-3, 2-0) ventures to Illinois to take on Greenville (3-3, 0-2).

Northwestern, the defending UMAC champion, and Greenville were the co-favorites in the UMAC preseason poll.

RCTC top seed in MCAC

Rochester Community and Technical College is the top seed for the Minnesota College Athletic Conference playoffs, which begin Saturday.

Rochester, which is ranked No. 2 in the NJCAA D-III poll, has a first-round bye after earning a share of the MCAC title. The Yellowjackets (6-2, 5-1 MCAC) will play the winner of the first-round game between Minnesota State-Fergus Falls and Central Lakes, which is Saturday in Fergus Falls.