Upper Iowa (3-5) at Wayne State (5-3)
Last Year: 21-20, Upper Iowa

Those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it. Last year after a tough loss to Southwest Minnesota State at home, Upper Iowa rebounded dramatically by going out and beating Wayne State.

The Peacocks had just let a lead slip away the week before against the Mustangs, when with 1:25 to go in the game, Nick Pulscher scored to pull the Wildcats within a point at 21-20, a missed extra point wound up costing the Wildcats the game.

I will tell you after watching the Peacocks last week, they are better in every facet of the game then they were a year ago. Upper Iowa running back Chris Smith is a matchup problem, and he certainly have the potential to cause the Wildcat defense headaches.

Smith has run for 793 yards, he has an excellent shot at eclipsing the 1,000 yard mark this season. His straight ahead style running is something that you don't see by a lot of backs that possess his size and speed, but when Smith see's a hole he is moving straight for it, and his speed makes it hard for linebackers and safety's to get the holes closed before he has struck for a 6-plus yard gain, which can quickly turn to 60 if the defense isn't careful.

The thing Upper Iowa will have to watch, is the turnovers, Wayne's defense as we talked about will give up yards, but they are opportunistic, young and athletic. I would expect them to get hit with a few big plays, but I also expect them to make a few big plays as well. One thing is for sure, Upper Iowa will have to protect the quarterback better than they did last week, coming into the game last week Peacock quarterback Kole Jaeschke had been sacked just four times, all year, he was sacked three times by a Mustang defense that had just six sacks on the season prior to the game.

Historically, the Peacocks have been playing the Wildcats pretty tough in recent years, they lost 24-21 in 2009, before beating them last year.

The real key will be keeping Jaeschke protected up front. They need to get back to the quick rhythm passing, and using Smith to keep Wayne State honest, if that happens I think Upper Iowa has a great chance to win the game, I give them the best chance to pull out an upset this week.

I will take the Peacocks.


Southwest Minnesota State (3-5) at Winona State (4-4)
Last Year: 44-19, Warriors

The Mustangs completed their comeback last week over Upper Iowa, just one week, over not being able to finish it off against St. Cloud State.

I think this is the other game, where the "favored" team will have to be on the lookout for an upset Saturday, but I think this one will be a little tougher.

Outside of last season, the Mustangs and the Warriors have had some very close games, whether it was in Marshall in 2007, when the Mustangs beat the Warriors in 08, or back in Winona in 2009, outside of last season, these games have been pretty close.

The problem for the Mustangs is that the same guy that beat them last year in Marshall, is still in Winona, and if last week was any indication, Rayon Simmons is healthy. Add to it, the Mustangs have some big deficincies remaining against the run (see Chris Smith last week against Southwest).

The Warriors have finished over .500 for 14 straight years, they absolutely need this one if they want to continue that stretch, with a road game at Mary (ask Bemidji State how tough that is) and a home game against Wayne State left on the schedule, the Warriors need the win on Saturday.

I will take the Warriors to beat the Mustangs.

EXTRA POINT: Winona has been a tough place to play for a lot of teams, but for Southwest especially, the Mustangs haven't won in Winona since 1992.


Bemidji State (6-2) at Northern State (2-6)
Last Year: 41-13, Bemidji State

The most disappointing loss of last week, clearly belongs to Bemidji State, and that "Gang Green" defense.

The Beavers collapsed last week in a 49-21 loss to the Beavers. Bemidji, with a few games on the horizon, allowed themselves to get tripped up before one of those big showdown games next week against St. Cloud.

Certainly that came at a bad time for the Beavers, who now will have to beat the Huskies if they want to get into the playoffs, but I don't think its over for them just yet. They remained in the regional, top 10, so I think they could be in the mix, as long as they win out--another loss though, and Bemidji will be talking about a Mineral Water Bowl instead of the NCAA Playoffs.

I also think Bemidji's loss came at a bad time for Northern State, because I don't expect the Beavers to put themselves in a position to get beaten on the road by weaker teams two weeks in a row, I will take the Beavers to rebound, look for a focused effort by the Beavers, and a comfortable road win.