This Week in the MVFC
Saturday marks the midway point of the 2018 MVFC schedule as all league teams will play their fourth Conference game of the season.  The league will take its TV cameras to Cedar Falls, Iowa, for the UNI-South Dakota State contest (ESPN3).  Brad Wells, Danan Hughes, Don Patterson and Kelly Burke will call the action from the UNI-Dome.  All four other league games this week will be available on ESPN+.

Weekly Notebook (PDF)

Saturday, Oct. 20
Indiana State at Southern Illinois, 2 pm CT  |  Carbondale, Ill. • ESPN+ (Homecoming)
Western Illinois at RV Missouri State, 2 pm CT  |  Springfield, Mo. • ESPN+ (Homecoming)
#7 Illinois State at #1 North Dakota State, 2:30 pm CT  |  Fargo, N.D. • ESPN+ / NBC ND
#2 South Dakota State at #25 UNI, 4 pm CT  |  Cedar Falls, Iowa • ESPN3 (Homecoming)
RV South Dakota at Youngstown State, 5 pm CT  |  Youngstown, Ohio • KELO / ESPN+

Streaking
North Dakota State owns the nation’s longest active winning streak in the FCS, at 12 games.  The 12-game streak is fifth-longest in MVFC history.

Winning Against No. 1
When North Dakota State knocked off top-ranked and previously unbeaten James Madison in last year’s FCS title game, It marked the 17th time an MVFC member had recorded a win vs. the nation’s top-rated team (9 of those 17 wins were against a fellow league member).  As an MVFC member (since 1985), Illinois State owns a 3-5 record against No. 1 teams, claiming wins against Youngstown State (1993), Southern Illinois (2005) and New Hampshire (2014).  The ‘Birds are at No. 1 NDSU this weekend.

Still Perfect
North Dakota State (6-0), Colgate (6-0), Dartmouth (5-0) and Princeton (5-0) still have perfect records through Oct. 13.

Tough Schedules
Seven MVFC teams rank among the Top 33 in the FCS for toughest schedules (based on cumulative opposition).  UNI leads the league and is ranked No. 3 overall.

Home Sweet Home
Three league schools have posted perfect marks at home this season, including North Dakota State (4-0), Illinois State (4-0), South Dakota State (4-0) and Missouri State (3-0).  Missouri State (Homecoming vs. Western Illinois) and North Dakota State (vs. nationally ranked Illinois State) are at home this week.  North Dakota State (13-straight) and South Dakota State (8-straight) boast two of the longest active home win streaks in the FCS.  San Diego (19) has the current longest home win streak among FCS schools.

NCAA Leaders, Home Win Streaks
19 - San Diego (PFL)
13 - North Dakota State (MVFC)
13 - Kennesaw State (Big South)
10 - McNeese (Southland)
10 - Grambling (SWAC)
8 - South Dakota State (MVFC)
8 - Monmouth (Big South)

Ranked vs. Ranked
Prior to games of Oct. 20, there have been 169 games in which two league teams ranked in the top 25 played one another. Of those 169 games, 41 times the meeting involved teams that were both ranked in the Top 10 at the same time. Nine meetings have occurred in the playoffs.  The SDSU-NDSU matchup on 9/29/18 marked just the third time in league history that two teams ranked in the Top 3 played one another.

MVFC Has Top Two Spots in Poll
North Dakota State (1) and South Dakota State (2) hold the top two positions in the STATS FCS Top-25 rankings again this week.  It marks the fifth time in league history that we’ve had the top two spots:

4 Teams Ranked in Top 25
After defeating #24 South Dakota this past weekend, UNI is back in the top-25 STATS poll (at #25).  The Panthers are in the rankings with North Dakota State (1/1), South Dakota State (2/3) and Illinois State (7/8).  Missouri State and South Dakota are also receiving votes this week in both polls. Among conferences, the MVFC is the top-rated league in the FCS (Sagarin Rankings), and also ranks ahead of a number of FBS leagues, including the MAC (East Division), Conference USA (both the East and West divisions), and the Sun Belt (West Division).

Stig Coaches 250th Game
South Dakota State’s John Stiegelmeier marked his 250th game as head coach with a 36-7 victory over Youngstown State. In 22 seasons, Stiegelmeier has led the Jackrabbits to a 152-98 career record (.608 winning percentage), including a 57-26 mark in MVFC contests.

Leaders in Turnover Margin
North Dakota State has played two straight games without a turnover and the Bison are tied with Weber State and Colgate for the FCS lead with a plus-10 turnover margin. NDSU has scored a conference-best 66 points off 14 opponent turnovers. Illinois State is right behind with a plus-9 margin and only two turnovers committed this year.

Kicking It
A pair of league schools are among the Top 5 nationally in net punting.  South Dakota State ranks No. 4 in the FCS (41.0), while Missouri State is right behind (40.5).

In the Red Zone
UNI is one of just four schools in the FCS to convert on every Red Zone opportunity this year.  The Panthers have 16 TDs and six FGs on their 22 trips through four games.  Indiana State (6th in the FCS), Illinois State (11th), South Dakota State (t14th) and North Dakota State (t14th) also rank in the Top 15.

What’s the Rush?
Headlined by Indiana State’s Ja’Quan Keys (3rd in the FCS at 132.0 yards per game), the MVFC has a stable of runningbacks among the national leaders.  James Robinson of Illinois State is 6th, followed by D.J. Davis of Southern Illinois (18th) and Tevin McCaster of Youngstown State (22nd).

A Passing Fancy
With 88 career TD passes, QB Taryn Christion of South Dakota State is the MVFC’s career leader in TD passes, surpassing the 78 thrown by Illinois State’s Matt Brown from 2009-12.  He has also surpassed Brown for the all-time MVFC mark for total offense.