FB Preview vs. Idaho State: #TheStormIsComing

DSU travels to Pocatello for opening tilt with FCS opponent

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Football at Idaho State - 3 PM MST (Holt Arena)
Live Radio: SportsRadio 106.1 FM
Live Online Audio (DSU): Dixie State All-Access
Live Video (ISU): Big Sky Access
Live Stats (ISU): Idaho State StatBroadcaster
Game Notes: Dixie State Idaho State

Dixie State opens the 2013 football campaign with a road test against the Bengals of Idaho State University. It is the ninth game in DSU football history against a Division-I FCS school.

•   Saturday will mark the first meeting against Idaho State on the gridiron. Both teams are coming off sub-par 2012 seasons. Dixie State started the year 2-1 before dropping seven of their last eight to finish 3-8. This will be the only non-conference game on the DSU football schedule in 2013.

•   With nine players on the offensive side of the football, Dixie State has more returning starters on offense than any other GNAC team entering 2013.

•   With a 3-6 record in the GNAC, the Red Storm finished sixth in the league. Dixie State had a promising start with a 2-1 mark (including a win over eventual league champion Central Washington), but lost seven of the last eight league games.

•     Senior tight end Joe Don Duncan (Corona, CA/Notre Dame) (Corona, CA) returns for his highly-anticipated final year holding a prestigious accolade. Duncan was named to the D2Football.com Preseason All-American List on Tuesday, Sept. 3. Two seasons ago, Duncan earned all-league, all-region and multiple All-American honors after leading the country in receptions and yardage for a tight end. He was listed by Phil Steele as the 27th best draft eligible TE available and the ninth best TE in the Lindy's Sports Annuals "Look Ahead".

•     Idaho State enters the 2013 season after a disappointing finish at 1-10 last year, with the only win coming against a D-II squad (Black Hills State out of the RMAC). The Bengals were selected to finish 13th (last) in the Big Sky Conference preseason vote.

QUICK HITS

A WIN BY DIXIE STATE WOULD...
• Mark the first win over a Division-I FCS school since DSU became an NCAA institution in 2006.
• Be the first season-opening win since a 37-28 over Adams State on Aug. 27, 2009 at Hansen Stadium

HISTORY AGAINST THE FCS:
The Red Storm are a combined 0-8 all-time against teams in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (known formerly as Division I-AA):
• 9/9/2006: L 41-7 at San Diego
• 9/16/2006: L 66-14 at Northern Arizona
• 9/15/2007: L 61-7 at Montana State
• 9/13/2008: L 44-7 at Weber State
• 9/3/2009: L 36-7 at Southern Utah
• 9/12/2009: L 23-20 at Montana State
• 10/24/2009: L 44-17 at Cal Poly
• 11/6/2010: L 52-0 at Southern Utah

GNAC, THE PRESEASON BREAKDOWN:
Humboldt State, which returns record-setting running back Nick Ricciardulli and has two former Division I quarterbacks on its roster, is the favorite to win its second Great Northwest Athletic Conference football title in three seasons. The Lumberjacks finished in a tie for second place with Western Oregon last year after winning their first GNAC football title in 2011. HSU received three of six first-place votes and outpointed Central Washington, which won its seventh title last fall, 22-19 in the annual GNAC Coaches preseason poll. The Wildcats finished two points ahead of Azusa Pacific, which closed its 2012 season with four consecutive wins, and Western Oregon for second place. Both the Wolves and Cougars earned 17 ballot points. Simon Fraser ended up in fifth place in the balloting, three points ahead of Dixie State.

TRANFERS A PLENTY, ESPECIALLY FROM SNOW:
Seventeen incoming transfers highlight the active 2013 Dixie State roster. The school leading the way by sending six players to DSU is Snow College in Ephraim. L.A. Southwest Junior College sends a pair of recruits while the following schools each had one player transfer to Dixie State: Copiah-Lincoln, Utah, Santa Barbara City College, USU Eastern, College of the Canyons, College of the Siskiyous, Mt. San Antonio and Arizona Western. Additionally, one transfer comes from DSU's opening opponent - DeShawn Perkins (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan), a redshirt freshman DB - played in limited time for the Bengals of ISU in 2012.

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