This Week in the MVFC
Saturday marks the beginning of the second half of the 2018 MVFC schedule as all league teams will play their fifth Conference game of the season. The league will take its TV cameras to Normal, Ill., for the South Dakota State-Illinois State contest (ESPN3). Adam Seidel, Danan Hughes and Kelly Burke will call the action from Hancock Stadium. All four other league games this week will be available on ESPN+.
Saturday, Oct. 27
#7 South Dakota St. at #9 Illinois St., 12 pm CT | Normal, Ill. • ESPN3
Indiana State at Youngstown State, 2 pm ET | Youngstown, Ohio • ESPN+
Southern Illinois at RV Missouri State, 2 pm CT | Springfield, Mo. • ESPN+
#1 North Dakota St. at South Dakota, 2 pm CT | Vermillion, S.D. • ESPN+ / NBC ND / Midco
#17 UNI at RV Western Illinois, 1 pm CT | Macomb, Ill. • ESPN+
MVFC Weekly Notebook (PDF)
Streaking
North Dakota State owns the nation’s longest active winning streak in the FCS, at 13 games. The 13-game streak is third-longest in MVFC history.
Ranked vs. Ranked
Prior to games of Oct. 27, there have been 171 games in which two league teams ranked in the top 25 played one another. Of those 171 games, 42 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.
Still Perfect
North Dakota State (7-0), Colgate (6-0), Dartmouth (6-0) and Princeton (6-0) still have perfect records through Oct. 20. There are also five unbeaten FBS teams.
FCS Unbeaten Teams (2018)
7-0 North Dakota State
6-0 Colgate Dartmouth, Princeton
FBS Unbeaten Teams (2018)
8-0 Alabama
7-0 Clemson, Notre Dame, UCF
6-0 South Florida
Home Sweet Home
Three league schools have posted perfect marks at home this season, including North Dakota State (5-0), Illinois State (4-0) and South Dakota State (4-0). The Redbirds host nationally ranked SDSU this Saturday. North Dakota State (14-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.
Winning in Conference
North Dakota State has won six-straight league games, and that streak is the third-best active streak in the FCS. The six-game streak is tied for 15th-best in MVFC history. NDSU established a league record with 18-straight MVFC wins from 2012-14.
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 2008), South Dakota is 0-2 against No. 1 teams. The Yotes did beat NDSU in 2015 when the Bison were ranked No. 2.
Tough Schedules
Three MVFC teams rank in the Top 18 in the FCS for toughest schedules (based on cumulative opposition and ranked by the NCAA Statistics service). UNI leads the league and is ranked No. 2 overall. A separate metrics service (Massey Ratings) has UNI with the nation’s most difficult schedule. All of the league’s 10 members are rated in the Top 34 in the Massey Ratings strength of schedule, including each of the top-four positions (UNI, Western Illinois, North Dakota State and South Dakota).
Sticking It To ‘Em
QB Easton Stick has surpassed 2,000 career rushing yards (2,112), which is second among active quarterbacks. SDSU’s Taryn Christion has 1,313 rushing yards, which is sixth best. Stick is one of just three MVFC QBs to reach 2,000 career yards. He needs 165 yards to overtake record-holder DeAndre Smith of Missouri State (1987-90).
Another 7-0 Start for NDSU
North Dakota State is the only in Missouri Valley Football Conference history to win its first seven games in back-to-back seasons, and the Bison have done it twice. NDSU was 15-0 in 2013 and started 2014 with nine-straight wins. The Bison started 8-0 last year and are now 7-0 this season.
Going for 5-0 in League Play
North Dakota State is looking to join 24 other teams in MVFC history that won their first five league games in a season. Twenty-two of the previous 24 earned a playoff berth, and 21 of those teams won the league crown. A league team has started 5-0 in back-to-back seasons five times: Western Illinois (87-88), UNI (94-95-96), Western Illinois (97-98), Southern Illinois (03-04) and North Dakota State (13-14). The Bison were 5-0 to start the 2017 league slate.
4-0 League Starts Are Key
North Dakota State became the 36th team in league history to start an MVFC season with a 4-0 mark after the Bison defeated Illinois State on Oct. 20, 2018. All but one of the previous 35 teams finished 2nd or better in the league standings (Western Kentucky tied for fourth place in 2005). Twenty nine of the 35 earned playoff berths, and 26 of those 35 teams won the MVFC crown.
5 on STATS Payton Watch List
On Thursday (Oct. 18), RB James Robinson of Illinois State was added as a nominee to the STATS Payton Award Watch List. He joins four others from the MVFC who were named as nominees to the Watch List in the preseason. Joining Robinson from the Conference are RB Bruce Anderson of North Dakota State, QB Taryn Christion of South Dakota State, RB Tevin McCaster of Youngstown State and QB Easton Stick of North Dakota State.
6 on STATS Buchanan Watch List
On Thursday (Oct. 18), DB Andrew Gray of South Dakota was added as a nominee to the STATS Buchanan Award Watch List. He joins five others from the MVFC who were named as nominees to the Watch List in the preseason, including Darin Greenfield of South Dakota, Robbie Grimsley of North Dakota State, Greg Menard of North Dakota State, Christian Rozeboom of South Dakota State and Khalen Saunders or Western Illinois.
Picking It
Robbie Grimsley of North Dakota State ranks second among active players with 13 career interceptions. That’s tied for 11th on the all-time MVFC list.
Rice Award Watch List
UNI redshirt freshman Chris Kolarevic is one of 15 players from around the FCS named to the Jerry Rice Award Watch List released on Oct. 11 by STATS. Kolarevic is one of just four defensive players on the list and the only player from the Missouri Valley Football Conference to be honored.
Freshman Tackle Leaders
UNI’s Chris Kolarevic leads all FCS freshmen and ranks eighth overall with 10.8 tackles per game this season.
4 Teams Ranked in Top 25
UNI jumped eight spots from No. 25 to No. 17 in the STATS FCS rankings after the Panthers defeated previously No. 2 ranked South Dakota State. North Dakota State continues to have its unanimous stranglehold in both polls while South Dakota State and Illinois State are also ranked. 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 Conference USA (both the East and West divisions), and the Sun Belt (West Division).
Back to Back, Jack
Missouri State picked up its second win against a top-25 team in as many games as the Bears knocked off No. 9 Illinois State on Sept. 29, 2018. It marked the first time since 1989 that Missouri State had beaten ranked teams in back-to-back games. [Missouri State had beaten then No. 20 Northern Arizona in its preceding game.] This year, both UNI (South Dakota and South Dakota State) and North Dakota State (South Dakota State and UNI) have earned back-to-back wins vs. a Top 25 team.