This week's Missouri Valley Football Conference Players of the Week include WR Isaiah Weston of UNI, RB Javon Williams Jr. of Southern Illinois, P Jack Colquhoun of Southern Illinois and LB Chris Kolarevic of UNI.

Offensive Player of the Week
WR Isaiah Weston, UNI
6-4, 208, R-So., Albertville, Minn. (St. Michael-Albertville High)
Weston tied the UNI-Dome TD reception record and racked up a career-high 189 yards receiving to lead UNI to its biggest offensive day on the year. He tallied four catches, three of which were touchdowns and three of which were over 50 yards.  He has now scored touchdowns in six consecutive games. He has an MVFC-high eight touchdowns, MVFC-high 699 yards and is first in the MVFC and second in the FCS in yards per reception at 25.89. He is the first Panther to score three receiving TDs in a game since Elias Nissen accomplished the feat in 2017. He is the first to score a touchdown in six consecutive games since UNI Hall of Famer Eddie Berlin scored in seven consecutive games in 2000. He broke his mark for long reception twice with 62- and 65-yard catches.



Defensive Player of the Week
LB Chris Kolarevic, UNI
6-1, 230, R-So., Traverse City, Mich. (Saint Francis HS)
Kolarevic recorded a career-high 19 tackles, including a sack to lead the Panther defense. The 19 tackles are one shy of the NCAA single-game high in the FCS this season.  It's also the most in the MVFC this year (surpassing the previous high by three tackles).  He also added a pass breakup in the win over USD, snapping the Coyotes' three-game win streak.  Kolarevic played in just his fourth game of the season since coming back from an injury. He is already fifth on the UNI defense with 43 total tackles. 



Special Teams Player of the Week
P Jack Colquhoun, Southern Illinois 
6-2, 190, Jr., Melbourne, Australia (Carey Baptist)
Colquhoun averaged 43.5 yards per punt, including a long of 56, in SIU's 35-10 win against No. 18 Youngstown State. Three of his punts were longer than 50 yards, giving him nine punts on the year of 50+ yards. Three of his punts pinned YSU inside its own 20. 



Newcomer of Week
RB Javon Williams, Southern Illinois
6-1, 239, R-Fr., Centralia, Ill. (Centralia HS)
Williams Jr. became the first player in school history to rush for a touchdown, catch a touchdown, and throw a touchdown pass in the same game. In a 35-10 win over No. 18 Youngstown State, Williams Jr. totaled 177 yards (63 rushing, 73 receiving, 41 passing). His highlights included a seven-yard touchdown run, a 73-yard touchdown catch and a 41-yard TD pass. He has scored nine touchdowns on the season and has already surpassed last year’s team leader (7).


Others Nominated

Offense
RB Javon Williams Jr., Southern Illinois
(earned MVFC Newcomer of the Week Honors)

QB Kurtis Wilderman, Indiana State
Redshirt sophomore Kurtis Wilderman made his first career start at quarterback against No. 3 South Dakota State Saturday. The Wadesville, Indiana product passed for 196 yards on 19-of-31 attempts, including a pair of touchdowns.

RB James Robinson, Illinois State
Robinson found the endzone three times for the Redbirds in their road win at Western Illinois. The Rockford, Illinois, native was held to just 68 yards on the ground but scored three times on the ground to up his season total to 12. Robinson’s 16-yard score just over a minute into the game got things rolling for ISU and he later scored from two yards and seven yards out to post his second three-touchdown effort of the season. With this three TDs, Robinson moved into second place on ISU career rushing touchdowns list with 38. 

WR Cade Johnson, South Dakota State
Johnson recorded season highs of seven receptions and 134 receiving yards with a touchdown in South Dakota State’s 42-23 road win at Indiana State on Oct. 19. Johnson’s touchdown covered 25 yards and marked the fifth consecutive game in which he has scored a receiving touchdown.

Defense
S Michael Griffin II, South Dakota State
Griffin came up with a pair of takeaways and added five tackles in South Dakota State’s 42-23 road win at Indiana State on Oct. 19. He recovered one of three first-half fumbles and also returned an interception 19 yards on the final play of the first half.

DB Devin Taylor, Illinois State
Taylor led a Redbird defense that came up with five turnovers in No. 10 Illinois State’s road win at Western Illinois. The Lansing, Michigan, native set a career-high with 10 tackles and recorded one of two interceptions on the day for the Redbirds while adding another pass breakup. WIU was poised to score at ISU two-yard line, but a trick play by the Leathernecks backfired as Taylor picked off the pass at the goalline and returned it 42 yards for the Redbirds. 

LB McNeece Egbim, Missouri State
Egbim posted a game-high 14 tackles, including 7 solo stops, in Saturday's game at top-ranked North Dakota State to help the Bears hold the two-time defending national champs to a season-low point total (22 points). With Egbim's support, MSU also forced NDSU into a season-high seven punts. Egbim logged 3.5 tackles for loss in the game for a career-high and brought down five ball carriers on key third-down plays. Egbim has now posted double-figure tackles in three straight Valley games and is averaging 13.7 stops per game in league play.

DB Austin Evans, UNI
Evans scored a 16-yard interception return for a touchdown, the first of his career and the first of the season for UNI. His pick was one of three on the day for UNI to go along with six total turnovers. Along with his pick-six, Evans recorded six tackles, a tackle for loss and an additional pass breakup to help UNI hold South Dakota out of the end zone for nearly the final three quarters, en route to the 42-27 win. 

SS Michael Thomas, Indiana State
Safety Michael Thomas recorded a game high 10 tackles (six solo) in the loss for the Sycamores. The redshirt sophomore also recorded a sack and a forced fumble late in the second half for the Sycamores.

S Jeremy Chinn, Southern Illinois
After missing two games with injury, safety Jeremy Chinn led the Salukis with 9 tackles, including 8 solos. He also added a pass break-up and quarterback hurry and helped the Salukis hold Youngstown State to 30 yards rushing.

LB Jabril Cox, North Dakota State
Cox made seven tackles and tied a career-high with two pass breakups to help top-ranked North Dakota State to its first shutout victory of the year. Cox had one sack deep in Missouri State territory and a second tackle for loss as NDSU allowed just 185 total yards in a 22-0 victory.


Special Teams
P Nate Murphy, UNI
Murphy came off the bench and into the punting role to help UNI in its win over South Dakota. In his first punt of the year, the USD receiver muffed the punt giving UNI the ball inside USD’s territory. He also pinned the Coyotes inside their 20 twice, including one that was dropped on the two-yard line. He had a long of 50 and an average of 36.8 for six punts. 

P/K Garret Wegner, North Dakota State
Wegner averaged 40.5 yards per punt on six punts to help North Dakota State to a 22-0 win over Missouri State. He did not allow a kickoff return and put three of his punts inside in the 20-yard line resulting in just one return for 16 yards. Missouri State’s average starting spot was the 20 and the Bears only crossed midfield three times.

PK Jerry Nunez, Indiana State
Senior Jerry Nunez accounted for 11 points in a loss to South Dakota State Saturday, connecting on a field goal, two extra points and throwing for a touchdown. The Naples, Florida native picked up the first touchdown by a special team’s player since Jeremy Patterson threw a touchdown at Liberty in 2017. The 14-yard passing touchdown in the third quarter to Zach Larkin was the second offensive touchdown of the day for the Sycamores. Nunez also drilled a 37-yard field goal in the second quarter.

PK Mason Lorber, South Dakota
Lorber made all five kicks Saturday at UNI, making field goals of 33 and 30 yards and hitting all three extra points. He also got touchbacks or drew fair catches on all six of his kickoffs.


Newcomer
WR Billy Conaway, South Dakota 
Conaway’s first collegiate catch was a 56-yard bomb in the middle of the first quarter that gave South Dakota a 14-7 lead against UNI Saturday. Conaway added a 17-yard catch in the second half for two catches for 73 yards. He also averaged 25 yards on three kickoff returns with a long of 35.

QB J’Bore Gibbs, South Dakota State
Gibbs accounted for four touchdowns – three passing and one rushing – as South Dakota State posted its sixth consecutive victory, winning 42-23 at Indiana State on Oct. 19. Gibbs completed 18-of-28 passes for a career-high 274 yards and matched his career best with the three touchdown passes. The redshirt freshman signal-caller led a 28-point outburst in the second quarter by completing all seven of his passes in the stanza for 140 yards, including touchdown passes of 23 and 25 yards to Jaxon Janke and Cade Johnson, respectively.

RB Jeff Proctor, Illinois State
Transfer running back Jeff Proctor did it all for the Redbirds in their win at Western Illinois. The Munster, Indiana, native led ISU in rushing (81 yards) and receiving (46 yards) to account for 127 yards for the Redbirds. His one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter capped off the scoring for the Redbirds and a career day for Proctor, who set career bests in rushing and receiving.

QB Will McElvain, UNI
McElvain threw for three touchdown passes and 213 yards passing on 8-17 passing. He also ran fo 59 yards to help pace the offense in UNI’s 15-point win over South Dakota. He recorded his sixth 200-plus yard passing performance in seven games. He tallied three receptions over 50 yards.