The Week Ahead
All 10 league teams are in action this weekend with five Conference games on the slate.  All five games this weekend will be available on ESPN3.  The league’s ESPN3 production is the South Dakota State-Missouri State contest at 2 pm CT.  Scott Warmann, Danan Hughes and Kelly Burke will be on the call from Springfield, Mo.

Saturday, Oct. 21 (Times CT)
#4 South Dakota at #24 Illinois State, 2 pm  |  Normal, Ill. • NBCSCH / ESPN3
Southern Illinois at Indiana State, 2 pm  |  Terre Haute, Ind. • ESPN3
#13 South Dakota St. at Missouri State, 2 pm  |  Springfield, Mo. • ESPN3
#10 Western Illinois at #2 NDSU, 2:30 pm  |  Fargo, N.D. • NBC ND / ESPN3
#9 Youngstown State at UNI, 1 pm  |  Cedar Falls, Iowa • PSN / ESPN3

Valley Football Weekly Notebook (PDF)

Cox Earns National Honor
LB Jabril Cox of North Dakota State has earned National Freshman of the Week honors from STATS -- he’s the sixth MVFC player to be honored by STATS this season.

Two Teams Looking for 7-0
The 2014 season marks the only time in league history that two MVFC teams reached 7-0 in the same year.  Two teams have been 6-0 in the same season three times in league history, including this year.

Seasons with 2 MVFC Teams 4-0 or better
2007    UNI (12-0); Southern Illinois (6-0)
2012    Illinois State (5-0); North Dakota State (5-0); Youngstown State (4-0)
2013    North Dakota State (15-0); UNI (4-0)
2014    North Dakota State (9-0); Illinois State (7-0)
2017    North Dakota State (6-0); South Dakota (6-0); Illinois State (4-0)

Yotes Eclipse 700 Yards
South Dakota defeated Indiana State and recorded a league season-best 705 yards of total offense.  It marks only the eighth time in league history an MVFC team has surpassed 700 yards of offense in a game, and its fifth-best in a conference game.

Working Overtime
Youngstown State played (and lost) its second overtime game of the season, falling to visiting North Dakota State, 27-24, on Saturday, Oct. 14.  The Penguins lost their season opener in overtime (at Pitt).  UNI beat Cal Poly in the other OT game involving an MVFC school this season.  As an MVFC member, Youngstown State is now 6-5 all-time in overtime contests, while North Dakota State improved to 3-1.

Against the FCS
The MVFC is 18-5 against FCS schools this year, which includes two road losses to ranked FCS teams, one of which (Liberty) is transitioning to FBS.  CAA Football is an FCS-best 20-3 against FCS peers, and only the Big Sky (9-6), Ivy (17-6), SoCon (9-5) and Southland (6-4) have winning records.

Jake Grabs No. 51
South Dakota State WR Jake Wieneke added another milestone to his career as he collected his 51st career TD reception in the loss to UNI.  He moved into sole possession of fourth-place in FCS history.  Wieneke holds league career receiving records for TDs (51), yards (4,513) and is tied for third in receptions (249).

Among the Best All-Time
The MVFC’s 20-10 (.667) non-conference record ranks fourth-best all-time in league history, behind 2014 (35-12, .745), 1999 (30-12, .714) and 1996 (27-13, .675).   Those numbers also include playoff results, including an MVFC-best 7-1 non-league playoff record in 2014.  The .667 regular-season record this year is seventh-best all-time, while the 2014 regular-season record (28-11, .718) set the league standard in that column, too.   That year, the MVFC had two teams in the FCS championship game.

Nation’s Top Offenses
The MVFC has two of the nation’s top five offenses (yards gained per game), led by South Dakota’s FCS-leading 565.3 ypg.  The Coyotes’ offense this year (565.3 yards/game) would eclipse the league’s all-time mark, established by Southern Illinois in 2004 (502.7 yards/game).

Earl Notches MSU Mark
Missouri State’s Malik Earl established a Missouri State program record with his 14 receptions against Western Illinois on Saturday.  Earl had 145 receiving yards and moved up to sixth on MSU’s all-time receptions list (128), just 22 shy of Clay Harbor’s school record for career catches.  The 14 receptions are tied for sixth best in the NCAA this year and rank No. 4 in league history for a single contest.  Western’s Jaelon Acklin set the league standard earlier this season with 19 catches against South Dakota.

Nation’s Top Defense
North Dakota State leads the FCS in total defense (188.8 yards allowed/game), passing yards allowed (109.8/game), scoring defense (9.2 points/game), and ranks 2nd in pass efficiency defense (77.20) and 8th in rushing defense (79.0 yards allowed/game).

Road Warriors
North Dakota State extended its FCS-best road winning streak to 12-straight, dating back to last year, with its win at Youngstown State.   NDSU and South Dakota are both 3-0 on the road this season.  Notably, only 20 teams in league history have won five road games in a season and all of them participated in the FCS playoffs.  The league record for road wins in a season, including post-season play, is six -- accomplished by UNI in 2007 and Illinois State in 2012.   Western Illinois leads the league with its four road wins this year.

Tackle Machine
LB Brett Taylor had an FCS-best 28 tackles in Western Illinois’ game vs. South Dakota.  That number ranks 5th all-time for a single game in league history.  He currently leads the FCS in tackles per game (14.5) after notching 16 total stops against Missouri State last week.  UNI’s Jared Farley ranks ninth in the FCS at 11.2 tackles/game.  Only 14 players in MVFC history have reached 425 career tackles, and Taylor is rapidly approaching that mark -- he ranks 2nd among active FCS players with 394.

Stick Enters Record Book
Easton Stick rushed 11 times for a career-high 172 yards and a touchdown in North Dakota State’s 27-24 overtime win at Youngstown State.  The 172 yards rank sixth-best for a single game for an MVFC QB.  Stick has 1,447 career rushing yards.  Notably, against YSU, he extended his streak to 149 pass attempts without an interception, passing the NDSU record of 143 set by Carson Wentz.

Streveler Leads FCS
QB Chris Streveler has a combined 25 touchdowns (17 passing, 8 rushing), which is the best in the FCS.  He trails J.T. Barrett of Ohio State and Lamar Jackson of Louisville (each with 26, but with an additional game).  The MVFC record is 44, set by North Dakota State QB Brock Jensen in 2013 (15 games).

Tough Schedules
  Based on cumulative opposition (past opponents and future opponents), eight of 10 MVFC schools rank in the Top 19 in the NCAA for ‘toughest schedules.’  SDSU and Illinois State lead the MVFC at No. 3 (.686 winning percentage by their past and future opponents).

Scoring Margin
  North Dakota State leads all of Division I with a 38.3 scoring margin (47.5 ppg scored and 9.2 ppg allowed rank 3rd and 2nd among Division I, respectively, while both figures lead the FCS).