Scouting Report
About Augustana:
• The Vikings went 4-7 last year, their last season in the Northern Central Conference. Augustana joined the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and was picked to finish third by the coaches in the preseason coaches poll. Augustana is 1-0 after a 13-10 OT victory last week against St. Cloud State.
What to look for with
the ESU offense vs. the Augustana defense:
• Higgins is familiar with the Augie defense because Minnesota State played Augustana in 2005 when Higgins was Minnesota State’s offensive coordinator. The Vikings present a much tougher test on defense than Western State, which had an odd defensive scheme. Higgins described Western State’s defense as “feast or famine,” and the Hornets feasted. The Vikings are much more disciplined and have a lot of size on their defensive line with Eric Bergman and Jesse Jones. The Vikings top players on defense are their safeties, seniors Brian Baumgartner and Matt Lien.
What to look for with the Augustana offense vs. ESU defense:
• Emporia State’s defense is coming off its best performance in a long time. The Hornets recorded their first shutout in 86 games and only allowed Western State to get past the 50-yard line once. Augustana should present a tougher challenge. Much of the Vikings’ offense is out of the shotgun and Higgins compared them to Truman State in the MIAA. Quarterback Luke Butler is a transfer from Idaho State and completed 16 of 33 passes against St. Cloud State for 151 yards. His main target is receiver Tyler Schulte. Schulte caught the game-winning touchdown last Saturday and had five catches for 85 yards.
The coaches’ take:
ESU coach Garin Higgins:
“They’re a little bit similar to us offensively. They’ll spread you out a little bit. I don’t think they want their quarterback to carry it like we don’t mind ours. They’ve been doing the same thing. They’re a system ball club. That head coach has been there for five years and they have not changed. They’ve done the same thing year in and year out.”
Augustana coach Brad Salem:
“It’s hard. You don’t know what to expect. You get tapes from last year, but you only have one game to go on this year. It’s a team that played very well. Emporia obviously put some points on the board. We’re going to have to score a lot of points to win this game.”