Happy Hour with John Gaskins

Jed Stugart was USF's head coach from 2010-16, replacing Kalen DeBoer and ushering in the NAIA to Division II transition.

At first, the Key to the City game wasn't treated quite like a blood-thirsty, gotta-have-it rivalry by one of the two teams involved in the two block tangle.
 
Then one day, the coach of that team showed up to practice and literally saw signs that suggested it truly was "Game On" and this one meant more than all the others.
 
This was a few years into the modern-day Augie-USF showdown that started in 2012 with the Cougars' new Division II and NSIC membership.
 
It's just one story Sioux Falls Live sports editor Matt Zimmer loves to tell about this 13-part saga that started with an electric bang off the foot of USF kicker Braden Wieking in overtime in 2012 that went through the uprights at Kirkeby Over Stadium and sent the visiting side full of purple into pandemonium.
 
That is still Zim's favorite, but he writes about all of them in this Key to the City game article and he shared more during his weekly "Nobody's Listening Anyway" podcast with the Happy Hour host from Gateway Lounge in Sioux Falls. The two also break down the state of both teams and how they'll match up in KTC 14.
 
The backyard brawl — well, we'll be South Dakota nice and call this a backyard battle — is always one of the Games of the Year on the state football slate, and Saturday's matchup appears to be a humdinger if only because both teams are 3-2 and desperate to keep any playoff hopes alive by winning.
 
But Augie-USF may not be the game of the week in South Dakota on Saturday because FCS No. 2 South Dakota State visits No. 10 Illinois State. 

Which remark made unprompted by Jacks coach Dan Jackson on Monday's Happy Hour raised Zim's eyebrows? Is Josh Holst ready and capable of passing well enough should SDSU's nation-best running game not be enough to beat the Redbirds on its own?
 
No. 13 USD comes home to host Indiana State on Dakota Days. Considering the momentum of both teams — the Yotes' fourth-quarter collapse at Youngstown State and the Sycamores scaring No. 5 UND down the stretch — this doesn't feel as sure-fire of a win as it did before the season, and especially a week ago, for the Coyotes.
 
How alarming should the performance at Youngstown State be and how much of a national championship contender should USD still be considered?
 
There's also five minutes of 3-0 Minnesota Vikings talk that sounds more like 0-3 Minnesota Vikings talk, plus a wrap on the J.J. McCarthy era in Minneapolis.
 
Before all this, the hosts enjoy looking back on the "I Still Got It" game on Monday night from former Vikings quarterback Case Keenum, now 38 and slinging for the Chicago Bears. What are Zim and the Happy Hour hosts' middle-aged "I still got it" moments?
 
But to lead off the show, the Gen X hosts pay tribute to their "Dead Guy of the Week" and a guilty pleasure must-see TV show from the early 90's by asking...

"Hey, hey, hey, what is going on here?"

It's hard to believe, but there actually is one college sports rivalry in America that pits two schools closer in proximity than the two blocks separating Augustana and the University of Sioux Falls.
 
Most people don't know where those schools are, but D2Football.com's Matt Witwicki does. He can also rattle off the key players, strengths, stats and situations of all 14 NSIC teams, if not most of the best teams in the country.
 
Chances are, no living soul has a more vivid memory of the details of all 13 prior (modern day) Augie-USF "Key to the City" football games than Tom Frederick, the Voice of the University of Sioux Falls. He called all 13 and will be on the mic again Saturday in Augie's Kirkeby-Over Stadium for the 14th.
 
This is why these two men — friends and co-hosts of the "NSIC Weekly" podcast and YouTube show — are the perfect guests to set the table for a special one-hour "Key to the City Show" on Happy Hour.
 
And so they did in a thorough and enjoyable chat together with the Happy Hour host from Gibs Sports Bar.
 
What makes this rivalry unique beyond its proximity? Again, the two best people to ask that question are here to answer it.
 
Witwicki and Frederick provide insight into both 3-2 teams as they clash in desperation to keep their playoff hopes alive. Each team is coming off a close loss on Saturday, which also leaves them both hungry and maybe a little angry.
 
But to get an even better sense of the vibes within the walls of both the Cougars and the Vikings, the head coaches each sit down with the Happy Hour host to preview the game.
 
 
USF's Jim Glogowski (Coach Glo)
Yes, "Coach Glo" is well aware of his 0-3 record in the Key to the City game. That fact comes with the extra pain of last year's 29-28 loss in which Augie completed a 19-point second half comeback by scoring and converting a two-point try in the final minute.
 
Glogowski opened the vein of that loss — which kept the Coo, who finished 7-4, out of the playoffs — and how it plays into Saturday's showdown. 
 
USF's loss at home to No. 3 Minnesota State last week was not as painful, but literally fumbling away a chance to drive and tie the Mavericks in the final few minutes left a mark.
 
What is the mark of this 3-2 squad, which captured overtime wins in each of its two previous games before MSU?
 
Equally important are the injuries defining the Cougars' current state. Their top six experienced receivers and a few key defensive players were all unavailable for the MSU game. Will any of them return for a game where both sides of the ball could use all the help they can get to combat the NSIC's top offense?
 
Regardless, how can USF pull off what many would consider a mild upset? 
 
Augustana's Jerry Olszewski
"Coach OJ" lost five of his first six Key to the City games, but his teams have beaten USF three consecutive times. 
 
It is difficult to imagine anything sweeter than last year's thrilling comeback, which saw true freshman quarterback Rich Lucero Jr. make his first start after Gunnar Hensley was hurt the week before.
 
This year, Hensley is healthy and leading the nation in Div. II passing, by far, with nearly 2,000 passing yards. Besides excellent targets in Klayton Sattler and D.J. Page, what has Hensley done to elevate an already sublime passing game this season?
 
The Vikings are a shootout team, with 42-37 as the average score of their games, ranking them first in offense and last in defense statistically in the NSIC. That juggernaut offense will face a USF defense that ranks third in the league and will likely return a couple of key players who were unable to take part in the Coo's upset bid against No. 3 Minnesota State last week.
 
OJ breaks down his keys to the Key to the City game. He also takes us back to the bus ride after Augie's 42-41 overtime loss at Winona State last week and the locker room during a nearly two-hour lightning delay at Minnesota-Duluth in this season's second game. 
 
The Vikings led 23-22 with under five minutes left in the contest and could have chosen to get on the bus and go home with a victory. OJ decided to play it out and the Vikings lost. Hear what went into that decision and what it meant for the season.

USF's Jim Glogowski on "Key to the City" rivalry, last year's nightmare, slew of injuries, matchups with Augie

Augie coach Jerry Olszewski on Key to the City Week: Vikings start, Duluth dilemma, Gunnar Hensley, defense, USF matchup