GRAND FORKS -- Stephen F. Austin coach J.C. Harper has done his homework on the University of North Dakota -- a former Division II power that will play his Lumberjacks on Saturday night in Nacogdoches, Texas.
"If you've been winning 10, 11 games a year since 2001 and you beat Northern Iowa, won a national championship and played for a national championship, you know what it takes to win," said Harper, who obviously took a crash course on UND's football history.
But UND's days in Division II are history.
The Sioux, who are in their second Division I FCS season, now face teams with more depth and more speed -- particularly the three teams from the Southland Conference UND will play this season.
Stephen F. Austin (2-1) is one of the SLC teams with speed. And that speed is complemented by a passing game the likes of which UND may not see again this season.
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"We like to throw the football," Harper said. "We like to throw it as many times as we can. And we want to play at a high pace on offense."
SFA quarterbacks threw 630 passes last season, completing 371 for 4,149 yards. Two years ago, SFA threw for 2,227 yards. Through three games this season, the Lumberjacks have thrown for 1,192 yards.
Quarterback Jeremy Moses leads the SFA offense. Last season, Moses set an NCAA single-game record for pass attempts (85) and completions (57) against Sam Houston State.
With the high number of passes, however, comes the risk of interceptions.
SFA lost its opener, 31-23, at SMU -- a Conference USA team. The Lumberjacks dominated statistically, outgaining the FBS program 460 yards to 355 yards. But Moses, who passed for 391 yards, was intercepted five times by the Mustangs.
Harper said there was a stretch of eight quarters in his first season as head coach that the Lumberjacks didn't score.
"We decided then that scoring was a lot better than not scoring," Harper said. "So we wanted to get as much speed as we could and get a quarterback who could throw it around."
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