Football Set To Take On Augsburg In Final Road Test Posted on November 5th, 2010 by Ethan Armstrong

The Gustavus football team will travel to Minneapolis to take on the Auggies of Augsburg College on Saturday, Nov. 6, at 1:00 p.m. Gustavus enters the game with an overall record of 3-5 and a MIAC record of 2-4, while Augsburg enters with an overall record of 3-5 and a MIAC record of 1-5.

Game Notes

The Series – Saturday’s game will be the 69^th meeting between Gustavus and Augsburg on the football field. The Gusties hold the advantage in the all-time series with a record of 54-14. Last season, Augsburg’s Nick Nourle caught an 11-yard game-winning touchdown pass with :46 seconds on the clock to defeat Gustavus 28-21 in Minneapolis, Minn. In the past decade, Gustavus has an 8-2 record against the Auggies, yet have suffered losses in the past two trips to Minneapolis.

Darin Wagner attempts to bring down a jump ball

POINTS!!! – In the past ten meetings with the Augsburg, Gustavus has scored an average of 33 points while the Auggies have scored 22.5. In the previous five contests, the two teams have combined to score 333 points (66.6 ppg).

Tendencies – In the past four meetings between the two squads, two glaring tendencies stand out. The pass-happy Auggies will look to exploit Gustavus through the air, and Gustavus will look to attack Augsburg on the ground. Augsburg averages 405 yards passing in the last four showdowns, while Gustavus is picking up an average of 226.8 yards on the ground.

Attack By Air – The Auggies enter Saturday’s game with the top passing offense in the MIAC. Augsburg is averaging 286.9 yards per game with an average of 6.7 yards per pass. They have scored 19 touchdowns through the air this season, which ranks second in the conference behind St. Thomas. Gustavus is averaging 153.8 yards per game passing with 11 touchdowns.

QB Comparison – Gustavus quarterback Logan Becker will look to get back into rhythm after facing three of the top defenses in the conference in consecutive weeks. Becker is 127-for- 216 (58.8%) for 1180 yards and 10 touchdowns this season. Augsburg quarterback Marcus Brumm is the top passer in the MIAC. He is 191-for-326 (58.6%) for 2161 yards and 18 touchdowns thus far. Brumm ranks sixth in pass efficiency at 127.6 while Becker is ninth at 110.7. After Brumm was sidelined by an injury two weeks ago, wide receiver Muneer Al-Hameed has stepped in as signal-caller for the Auggies. He was 7-for-14 for 66 yards with one interception through the air, and gained 81 yards on 17 carries on the ground last weekend against St. Olaf.

Jeffrey Dubose will look to get the run game on track against Augsburg Saturday

Pass Catchers – Muneer Al-Hameed has emerged as Augsburg’s top receiver this season. He has totaled 832 yards on 70 catches for an average of 11.9 yards per catch. He ranks first in the MIAC in yards per game at 104. Cody Sukalski went over the 300 yard mark receiving last weekend against St. Thomas. He now has 331 yards on 21 catches for an average of 15.8 yards per catch. Sukalski leads the Gusties in receiving touchdowns with five.

Top Tacklers – Augsburg’s Adam Mead and Gustavus’s Dustin Kammerer currently rank third and fourth, respectively, in the MIAC in tackles this season. Mead has made a total of 73 tackles and averages 9.1 per game, while Kammerer has registered 72 tackles and averages 9.0 per game.

Pick Man – Gustavus junior safety Brad Kruckeberg is currently in a three-way tie for first place in the MIAC in interceptions this season. He has picked off five passes while defending a total of 11 passes (1.38 avg/g).

Third Down – The Gustie defense will look to shut down the second best third down offense in the conference on Saturday. The Auggies are 47-for-107 for a percentage of 43.9 on third down. Gustavus is last in the MIAC on third down, going 40-for-115 (34.8%).