Minnesota State-Moorhead 41, Wayne State 24
The Dragons got out to a fast start and never looked back. Demetrious Carr started at quarterback, which is noteworthy. Carr has been the backup to Jake Hodge for years, with Hodge being more careful with the football. Hodge has battled injuries since 2012 and it appears Carr has the keys to the offense, for now. Hodge did close out the game in the 4th quarter, but Carr played well going 25-35 for 287 and 4 scores, coupled with 63 yards on the ground and another td.

WR Damon Gibson came on last year as the 'go to' guy in the passing game and that continued Thursday with 8 grabs for 156 yards and 2 touchdowns. WSC and quarterback Zach Osborn can put up points, but with the Dragons getting out to a 35-10 lead by the middle of the 3rd quarter, this game was a one-sided affair. I expected more from the WSC offense against a defense that's struggled over the years.

The blogger picked the Wildcats in the upset here, so kudos to Moorhead for proving that guy wrong.

Minnesota State-Mankato 35, Minot State 7
This one went pretty much as expected. The Mavs got a chance to try out their new parts on a Minot State team that's still trying to find its way. Mankato rolled up 291 yards on the ground, with former QB Nick Pieruccini netting 86 yards and 2 touchdowns in his new role as running back. Kato only threw the ball 22 times cruising to a 35-0 lead and was never threatened.

Preseason Defensive POY Marcus Gooden (LB) was in on 11 stops, with his partner at linebacker Ruben Ibarra contributing 8 more.

Sioux Falls 49, St. Cloud State 13
Winona State 68, Minnesota-Crookston 0
I was thinking Crookston had the pieces together on offense to start the season off well and compete against a WSU defense that's struggled the last few campaigns. Then I saw 42-0 at half. I expected the Winona offense to still be dangerous, but pitching a shutout to open the year (even if against a lower tier opponent) was a nice start.

Some things that jump out in the stats: Jack Nelson throwing only 17 passes and Crookston netting just 91 yards from scrimmage. Paul Preston runs for 123 yards and 2 scores, while Cam Johnson asserts himself as the main target in the passing game with 6 catches for 153 yards and 2 tds. Johnson might very well be one of the top downfield threats in the conference in '16.

Bemidji State 38, Upper Iowa 24Southwest Minnesota State 42, Minnesota-Duluth 38
The Game of the Week didn't disappoint. UMD builds an early lead and makes SMSU chase 2 scores for most of the contest. Drew Bauer throws for 296 yards and 2 touchdowns while Darren Walker does most of the damage on the ground for the Bulldogs with 154 yards and a score. Jason Balts comes out of nowhere for UMD in the receiving corps with 8 grabs for 135 yards and a touchdown.

Things were going fine for the favored Bulldogs as they led 23-14 at half. However, UMD just couldn't put the Mustangs away. With the SMSU running game struggling, Blake Gimbel completed 25 of 42 passes for 397 yards and 5 scores. Gimbel and his wideouts continually made big plays to keep the Mustangs within striking distance. With 10 minutes left UMD's 10 point lead looked safe. However, Gimbel and company struck twice and found themselves up 42-38 with 23 seconds remaining. This clutch performance by the Southwest quarterback is why he'll be in the running for NSIC POY.

Of course yours truly picked UMD to go unbeaten in 2016, so the Witt-Curse continues (ask USF last year). The Bulldog offense played well enough to win, but the defense needs to get off the field sooner if they're going to be a playoff team this season.

As for SMSU, this was a huge victory in Marshall. It was the Ponies first win over a ranked opponent in D2 and over Duluth no less. However, this performance does still raise questions about the Mustang defense as it permitted yards.

Augustana 37, Northern State 34 (OT)Concordia-St. Paul 17, Mary 0
After attending the thrilling NSU/AU tilt, I came home and watched the first half of this one. Not exactly a thing of beauty as Mary showed the growing pains of a new triple option offense for the first time. On the first play from scrimmage both slot-backs go in motion simultaneously, causing a false start. Concordia was also struggling to move the chains. Frankly, this did look like 2 teams that were both trying to get their feet underneath themselves, with neither offense looking remotely sharp. CSP led 3-0 at half.


Week 2 Schedule / Predictions

Augustana (1-0) at Mary (0-1), 1pm
Concordia-St. Paul (0-1) at Minnesota-Crookston (0-1)
CSP heads into their 2nd
St. Cloud State (0-1) at Upper Iowa (1-0)Bemidji State (1-0) at Minnesota State-Mankato (1-0)Southwest Minnesota State (1-0) at Northern State (0-1)
For the 2nd straight week the Mustangs are playing in the NSIC Game of the Week. The Mustangs were able to get their first win over a ranked D2 opponent. The Wolves played in a fantastic game of their own, but falling just short to Augie in OT.

This week it'll be the high flying passing game of SMSU against the run-heavy attack of Northern. At quick glance that's advantage Mustangs, but the Wolves ground attack might be more dangerous than most would think. On the other side of the ball the Mustang defense struggled badly in their opener with UMD while the Northern defense didn't do great against Augie, but they did give them troubles.

In this clash of styles I like the physical play of Northern, coupled with playing in front of what'll be a large home crowd in Aberdeen. Both teams have a certain buzz about them after their 1st week performances. I wouldn't call this a trap game for SMSU, as Northern is a strong opponent, but it'll be hard for the Mustangs to play with the same level of emotion when on the road.
Wolves 27-24

Minnesota State-Moorhead (1-0) at Sioux Falls (1-0)Minot State (0-1) at Wayne State (0-1)
Winona State (1-0) at Minnesota-Duluth (0-1)