Northwestern-South Dakota preview by the numbers

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.

Here are a few statistics I cherry-picked from the South Dakota game notes and the Northwestern game notes, in advance of the big game on Saturday. Presented without context, so supply your own.

1927: the last time NU and South Dakota played, a 47-2 Wildcat win in Evanston.

2: Number of wins in 27 tries South Dakota has against Big Ten teams. Both wins are against Minnesota, including a 41-38 win in their 2010 matchup

11: Jersey number of Coyotes DE Tyler Starr, who is on the Buchanan Award Watch List for outstanding FCS defensive player and a preseason All-American

5: Jersey number of Coyotes RB Jasper Sanders, who was an honorable mention junior college All-American in 2011, rushing for 937 yards and 15 TDs for Butler Community College

189: Career coaching victories of South Dakota head coach Joe Glenn, making him the ninth-winningest active coach in FCS

43: Career coaching victories for Pat Fitzgerald, six shy of the all-time NU record of 49 set by Lynn "Pappy" Waldorf in 1946

22: South Dakota's highest ranking last year in FCS, achieved before its final game

276: Yards rushing per game given up by South Dakota's defense in 2012

203: Yards rushing per game by Northwestern's offense

16: Number of teams in the nation that have yet to throw an interception, including Northwestern

16: National rank (out of 120 FBS teams) of NU's rushing defense, giving up just 80 yards per game

148: Rushing yards per game for the South Dakota offense

197: All-purpose yardage per game of Venric Mark

59: Forecasted gametime temperature, with a 30% chance of rain. How will this impact attendance?