Midwestern State vs. Truman State
Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016 | 7 p.m.
Stokes Stadium | Kirksville, Mo.
Records: Midwestern State (0-0); Truman State (0-0)
Radio: ESPN 95.5 FM
Video: GLVC Sports Network 
Audio: Mustangs Digital Network 
Live Stats: TrumanBulldogs.com 
 
SETTING THE STAGE
No. 14 Midwestern State begins its 15th season of the Bill Maskill era Saturday night as the Mustangs take on Truman State at Stokes Stadium in Kirksville, Mo. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
 
FOR STARTERS
- MSU owns 18-10 record in season openers since bringing back football prior to the 1988 season.
- The Mustangs are 12-2 in season openers during the Bill Maskill era.
- MSU opens with a team from the "Show Me" state for the third consecutive season and for the fourth time in six years.
- The Mustangs have won the previous three openers against teams from Missouri by an average of 28.7 points per game.
- This the fifth time for Midwestern to open a season in the State of Missouri. MSU lost at Evangel in 1990 and to Northwest Missouri State in 1998. MSU took wins over Lindenwood in 1994 and Missouri S&T in 2011.
- MSU's win over Missouri S&T in 2011 stands as the Mustangs' last shutout and kick started an 11-0 regular season run.
 
ABOUT THE SERIES
- Midwestern State scored 17 points in the first quarter to roll to a 31-3 win over Truman State in the only other meeting between the programs in the 2015 opener in Wichita Falls.
- Sophomore Hagen Hutchinson passed for 183 yards and two TDs and ran for another to lead the Mustangs.
 
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
- Truman State begins its seventh season under the direction of coach Gregg Nesbitt. The Bulldogs are 30-35 under Nesbitt's guidance.
- Truman State finished the 2015 campaign with a 5-6 record finishing in a tie for fourth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with a 4-4 league mark.
- Truman returns five All-GLVC performers including first-teamer Austin Zoda; second-teamers Jordan Brown, Joey Schenk and Ben Wellman while Brian Craft gained honorable mention.
- Zoda is a three-time all-GLVC performer piling up 241 tackles in his first three seasons in Kirksville. He posted 95 tackles in 2015 while forcing a pair of fumbles.
 
MUSTANGS IN THE "SHOW ME" STATE
- Midwestern State plays for the seventh time in Missouri on Saturday night at Stokes Stadium in Kirksville.
- The Mustangs are 2-4 in games played in the SHOW ME STATE but rolled to a 41-0 win over Missouri S&T in their last trip to kick off the 2011 campaign. MSU went on to a perfect 11-0 season on the way to an outright Lone Star Conference championship.
 
MSU AGAINST THE GLVC
- Midwestern State battles a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference for the fifth time Saturday night in Kirksville.
- The Mustangs have won the previous three regular season meetings including a home-and-home sweep of Missouri S&T (2011 and 2014) and win over Truman State in the lid lifter last season.
- MSU's only loss came in the opening round of the 2012 NCAA Division II Playoffs at Indianapolis.
 
ABOUT BILL MASKILL
- Bill Maskill is in his 17th season as a head coach and 15th campaign at Midwestern State.
- Maskill has led the Mustangs to winning ledgers in each of his years at the helm of the program including the school's first Lone Star Conference championship in 2009 and first undefeated regular season in 2011.
- Under Maskill's guidance, MSU has advanced to the NCAA Division II postseason in the 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015 seasons while amassing a 111-43 record (.721).  He was named LSC Coach of the Year in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015, and was the AFCA Regional Coach of the Year in 2011.
- In all, Maskill has coached 21 All-Americans, 47 all-region selections and 60 All-Lone Star Conference first teamers in his 15 seasons in Wichita Falls.
- Maskill is starting his 48th year as a football coach. His coaching experience includes stops as a Division I assistant at Vanderbilt (twice), Southern Methodist, Wake Forest, Oregon, Tulane, Louisville, Arizona State, Bowling Green and Iowa.
- Maskill has a 124-51 overall record (.709) and led Southeast Missouri State to a 1988 MIAA co-championship.
 
MUSTANGS IN THE POLLS
- Midwestern State carries an AFCA Division II Top 25 ranking into the season for the fifth time in program history.
- The No. 14 ranking is the second highest for MSU which was ranked 4th following a perfect regular season campaign in 2011.
- The Mustangs are ranked 11th in the D2Football.com Preseason rankings.
- MSU is ranked 24th in the Massey Ratings while its opening week opponent -- Truman State -- is 114th.
- The Mustangs are 16th in the Hero Sports Bennett Rankings.
 
MSU PICKED SECOND IN LSC PRESEASON POLL
- The Mustangs were picked in the 2016 Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll after finishing second to Texas A&M-Commerce in each of the last two seasons.
 
MSU AGAINST NON-LSC FOES
- The Mustangs are 20-3 overall and 19-1 against D2 non-conference opponents during Bill Maskill's tenure as head coach in regular season contests with his lone loss coming at Nebraska-Omaha on Sept. 14, 2002.
- MSU suffered defeats at FCS Sam Houston State in 2002 and 2003, but has now won its last 15 contests against regular season NCAA Division II non-conference opponents dating back to the 2003 season.
- Since joining the Lone Star Conference in 1997, the Mustangs are 23-8 against non-league opposition during the regular season. That includes a 0-5 mark against NCAA FCS teams, a 19-3 record against D2 opposition, 2-0 against NAIA teams and a 1-0 record against NCAA III squads.
 
MAROON SEPTEMBER
- MSU stands at 48-9 (.842) in games played before Oct. 1 in the Bill Maskill era.
- Since 2006, Midwestern stands an outstanding 37-3 to start the season.  All three September losses have been by three points, a 20-17 decision at Angelo State on Sept. 26, 2009, a 20-17 loss at Tarleton State on Sept. 8, 2012, and the 27-24 loss to Tarleton on Sept. 14, 2013.
 
A LONG WAY FROM HOME
- The Mustangs' season opening roadie to Kirksville, Mo. to face Truman State ranks amongst the longest since MSU brought back football in 1988.
- According to Mapquest.com, the distance between campuses is 668 miles which are the most since MSU traveled to face Colorado Mesa last season -- 830 miles.
- The opening trip will be the second longest for the Mustangs this season falling just shy of the 703-mile trip next month to Silver City, N.M.
- Before the suspension of football in 1956, Midwestern faced its four longest trips with the top two coming in the final season.
 
MSU TOPS LSC IN NEW MILLENIUM
- Midwestern State has blazed its way to the top of the Lone Star Conference as one of the steadiest programs in all of NCAA Division II.
- The Mustangs have averaged more than seven wins a season since the start of the 2000 season and overtook Tarleton State to become the league's winning percentage leader over the last decade after defeating Southwestern Oklahoma 46-9 on Sep. 18, 2010.
 
AMONG GRIDIRON ELITE, MSU AT 16
- Midwestern State is one of just two Texas four-year football playing institutions actively sporting 16 straight winning seasons.
- The Mustangs are the only scholarship-granting program in the State of Texas with a current string of 16 consecutive winning seasons.
- NCAA D3 power Mary Hardin Baylor also sports 16 consecutive seasons.
- Hardin-Simmons (NCAA D3) had 22-straight winning seasons before suffering a 4-6 year in 2013.
 
MUSTANGS IN THE NFL
- Midwestern State boasts two players in the NFL in Amini Silatolu and Marqui Christian.
- Silatolu, who was originally drafted in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers, signed a free agent contract with the Chicago Bears over the summer.
- Silatolu suffered a knee injury to miss most of the Carolina Panthers Super Bowl season in 2015.
- Christian, the 2015 Cliff Harris Award winner as the small college defensive player of the year, was drafted in the fifth round out by the Arizona Cardinals.
- Christian, who is listed third at strong safety on the depth chart, made 12 tackles and broke up three passes during the preseason.
 
UP NEXT
Midwestern State enjoys a bye week before traveling to play Texas A&M-Kingsville in its Lone Star Conference opener on Sept. 17. The Mustangs play four of their first five games on the road in 2016.