MSU Football
 
SATURDAY... Lone Star Conference Champion No. 8 Midwestern State (9-1, 7-1 LSC) opens the first round of the NCAA Division II Championships against Great Lakes Valley Champion No. 18 Indianapolis (9-2, 8-0 GLVC).  Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. at Key Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind.

WHERE TO FIND THE GAME…
 
100.9 BOB-FM: The broadcast features the play-by-play voice of two-time Lone Star Conference Broadcaster of the Year Bill Powers. He is joined by KAUZ TV-6 anchorman Chris Horgen, who serves as color analyst.

ON THE WEB: BOB-FM's audio broadcast is simulcasted on BOBradio.fm. LINK 

WEB VIDEO: The game is being video webcast courtesy of the University of Indianapolis and the NCAA.  LINK

LIVE STATS: Live stats are available courtesy of the Indianapolis Sports Information Office.  LINK 

 
SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS …
 
Indianapolis, like Midwestern, enters the postseason on a nine-game winning streak.  The Greyhounds are the outright champions in the inaugural season of the Great Lakes Valley Conference and won the league title last week with a 31-24 come-from-behind win at Urbana (Ill.).

The Hounds are under the command of head coach Bob Bartolomeo, who sports a 22-11 record in three seasons at UIndy and a 36-18-1 overall record in five seasons.  He is the GLVC Coach of the Year and was the Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference Coach of the Year in 1991 when leading Butler to the Division II playoffs.

The Greyhounds have a nearly balanced offense that favors the passing game slightly.  Senior receiver Mar'Quone Edmonds is the GLVC Offensive Player of the Year after grabbing 89 receptions for 1,250 yards and 17 touchdowns, bettering the nubers of all three receivers behind him on the UIndy receiving corps combined.  Junior quarterback Chris Mills is one of the top passers in Division II, hitting 209-of-306 passes for 2,702 yards with 26 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.  He sports an efficiency rating of 163.32, seventh in the nation.

But don't doubt the running game, led by junior Klay Fiechter who is 11th nationally in rushing averaging 132.4 yards a game, totalling 1,436 yards on 234 carries with 18 touchdowns.  He also has 18 receptions for 177 yards and a touchdown as well.

Defensively, senior middle linebacker Max Davis leads the team with 102 total tackles, ranking 57th nationally with 9.3 stops a game.  He's joined by junior weakside linebacker  Todd Hacker with 97 stops (8.8 tpg, 85th nationally) and senior strongside linebacker Tyler Peterman with 81 tackles (7.4 tpg).  Junior defensive end Vince Maida leads the team with 10.5 tackles for losses (-32 yards) and 7.0 quarterback sacks (-24 yards).  UIndy has nine interceptions, led by Davis with three.

UIndy is averaging 451.5 yards of total offense a game (second in GLVC, 29th nationally) to go with 38.4 points an outing (second in GLVC, 22nd nationally), while allowing 284.7 yards defensively (tops in GLVC and 10th nationally) and 18.6 points an outing (tops in GLVC and 15th nationally). 

All-Time Series: This is the first game between the schools.  MSU has a 1-0 record against the Great Lakes Valley, a 41-0 win at Missouri S&T in 2011.
 
 
NOTEWORTHY

• The Mustangs moved up to No. 8 in the latest AFCA Division II Coaches Poll after being ninth last week.  They opened the season No. 4.
• MSU has been ranked in the last 21 polls (including 10 in the Top 10), in 43 of the last 48 polls and has received a vote in 82 of the last 83 AFCA coaches polls.
• The Mustangs are ranked No. 6 in the D2Football.com Poll.
• This is the fifth appearance for Midwestern State in the NCAA Division II Football Championship, with a record of 1-4.  The Mustangs win came in the first round of 2006, when they mounted a come-from-behind win over Missouri Western 28-26.
• MSU is seeded fifth in Super Region 4, with UIndy seeded fourth.  The winner of this game travels to top seed and No. 1 Colorado State-Pueblo next week.
• Junior running back Keidrick Jackson, the leading rusher in the Lone Star Conference, tallied 104 yards on 17 carries with a touchdown before being pulled at halftime against West Georgia for his seventh 100-yard game of the season last week.  He has 1,263 yards for a 126.3 average per game to lead the league and rank 14th in NCAA Division II.  Already it's the third best rushing season in MSU history.  He needs just 29 yards to pass Henry Anders (1991-92) 1,291 yards in 1991 and 125 yards to break the MSU single-season rushing record held by former Indianapolis Colt Dominic Rhodes (1999-2000) of 1,387 yards in 2000.
• Jackson moved up to second on the MSU All-Time rushing list.  Now with 2,736 yards, Jackson is the top rushing running back in MSU history after passing Rhodes who rushed for 2,541 yards.  Quarterback Daniel Polk (2004-2007) has the MSU record of 3,590 yards rushing, just 854 yards away.
• Jackson is now third in NCAA Division II in scoring with 11.40 points a game (114 in 10 games).  He's behind Monterae Williams of Findlay (126 points in 10 games, 12.60 ppg) and Franklyn Quiteh of Bloomsburg (Pa.) (138 points in 11 games/12.55 ppg).
• Jackson is one of the 24 players to appear on the 2012 Harlon Hill Award Ballot.  The Harlon Hill Award recognizes the top player in NCAA Division II football.
• Running back Chauncey Harris chalked up the fourth-best rushing game in MSU history with his 232 yards on 16 carries against West Georgia, a remarkable 14.5 yard average with touchdowns of 21 and 31 yards.  It's the best game of an MSU running back in history and the best performance since quarterback Daniel Polk rushed for 290 yards against Abilene Christian on Nov. 10, 2007.
• MSU has seven 150-yard rushing games from three players in 2012. Jackson has four (156-TAMUK, 173-UIW, 193-West Alabama, 197-ACU), Chauncey Harris two (155-ENMU, 232-UWG) and Brandon Kelsey has one (156-ASU).
• Junior cornerback Neiko Conway grabbed his fourth interception of the season last week against West Georgia to give the junior 10 for his career, which is second on the MSU career list.  He owns the school record for interception return yardage with 231 yards.
• Midwestern State is 48-of-52 (92.3%) in the Red Zone through 10 games with 40 touchdowns and eight field goals, and while MSU opponents are 31-of-38 (81.6 %) with 22 touchdowns and nine field goals.      
• The Mustangs 52-48 win over then 12th ranked West Texas A&M marked the 100th career win for MSU Coach Bill Maskill.  Maskill has a career mark of 101-41 (.711) in 13 seasons overall, with a record of 88-33 (.727) at Midwestern in 11 seasons as the winningest coach in Midwestern history.