This week's Missouri Valley Football Conference players of the week include WR Avante Cox of Southern Illinois; CB Josh Hayes of North Dakota State; and PK Matthew Cook of UNI.

Offensive Player of the Week
Newcomer of the Week
WR Avante Cox, Southern Illinois
5-10, 175, So., Rochester, Ill. (Rochester HS / Wyoming)
Cox led the Salukis to a 48-28 win at South Dakota with 193 yards of offense. On the team's second play from scrimmage, he took a jet sweep, barreled through a pair of tacklers at the line of scrimmage and raced 65 yards to the USD 10. It was the first of many big plays for the Wyoming transfer, who caught eight passes for 113 yards, rushed for 80 yards, and scored three touchdowns. He caught an 11-yard touchdown pass with nine seconds left before halftime to put Southern up, 34-7, and added a 33-yard catch for a TD to make it 41-14. Cox finished the scoring with a five-yard jet sweep for touchdown.



Defensive Player of the Week
CB Josh Hayes, North Dakota State
5-11, 186, Jr., Lakeland, Fla. (Lake Gibson HS)
Hayes’ first career interception came was a big one for North Dakota State in a 23-16 win at South Dakota State. On third-and-9, his leaping catch at the 15-yard line stopped SDSU with 4:56 left and kept the game tied at 16 and the Bison answered with a touchdown on the next drive. Hayes finished with six tackles – all solos – and also had a pass breakup.



Special Teams Player of the Week
PK Matthew Cook, UNI
5-11, 175, Fr., Cedar Falls, Iowa (Cedar Falls HS)
Cook went 3-for-3 on field goals, including a game-opening 49-yarder in suspect weather to help UNI top Missouri State 29-6 Saturday in Springfield. In rainy conditions, he was a perfect 3-3 in field goals and 3-3 in PATs. He hit from 49 yards, 22 yards and 38 yards. He is now 12-14 on the year. He has three more made field goals than the second best kicker in the league. He also has the best percentage in the MVFC (85.7) and the longest made field goal in the league (50). He has made three field goals this season of 49 yards or longer. 


OTHERS NOMINATED

Offense
QB Nathan Mays, Youngstown State
Mays threw for a career-high four touchdowns in a 59-14 win over Western Illinois. He had touchdown passes of 54, 40, 39 and 25 against the Leathernecks. Mays completed 10-of-17 passes for 182 yards in the contest. He had six rushes for 15 yards against WIU.

RB James Robinson, Illinois State
Robinson took the game over and helped Illinois State to its third-straight win with a strong game on the ground. Robinson averaged 9.0 yards per carry and finished the day with 180 yards and two touchdowns. A 41-yard carry set up his first touchdown of the day, a 1-yard physical run for the first score of the day, and he broke the game open with a 77-yard touchdown TD in the fourth quarter. The 100-yard effort was his fourth of the season and he has now scored multiple touchdowns in five contests for the Redbirds.

WR Isaiah Weston, UNI
Weston had another huge day with five catches for 157 yards and two touchdowns, including a career-long 70-yard touchdown to lead UNI to a 29-6 win over Missouri State. He is now up to 10 touchdowns on the season and scored five in the last two games. He scored a 46-yard touchdown in the second quarter to put UNI up 19-0 and added the 70-yard TD in the third quarter give the Panthers a 29-0 advantage. Weston leads the FCS in yards per catch at 26.75. He is third in the FCS for receiving TDs, just one behind the national leaders. He has four more touchdowns than the second-place receiver in the MVFC. He also leads the MVFC in yards (856), and average yards per game (107.0).  

RB Adam Cofield, North Dakota State
Cofield scored the game-winning touchdown for North Dakota State in a 23-16 win at South Dakota State. On fourth-and-inches, he broke a tackle near the line of scrimmage and went 71 yards to put the Bison ahead with 2:24 left in the game. It was the longest play of his career. Cofield finished with seven carries for 86 yards. He has scored in six straight games for NDSU and is averaging 94.3 rushing yards per game over the past three weeks.


Defense
DB Austin Evans, UNI
Evans tallied a team-high seven tackles, recorded 0.5 sacks and 1.0 tackles for loss to go with 2 fumble recoveries to help UNI hold Missouri State to just 169 yards of total offense in the Panthers 29-6 win Saturday. He is now tied for second in the MVFC for fumble recoveries. He also had a pick-six a week ago at home against South Dakota. 

LB Ty DeForest, Illinois State
DeForest led the way for the Redbird defense in a dominant effort Saturday in a win over Indiana State. DeForest tallied seven tackles, including six solo stops, including one for a loss against the Sycamores and he also recovered a fumble on the afternoon. Overall, the Redbird defense recorded five TFLs, recovered three fumbles and held the Sycamores to just 149 yards of total offense in the victory.

LB Terray Bryant, Youngstown State
Bryant had seven total tackles, including five solo stops in the Penguins' 59-14 win over Western Illinois. He also had a fumble recovery and pass breakup.

S Jeremy Chinn, Southern Illinois
Chinn intercepted two passes and led the Saluki defense with six tackles in a 48-28 win at South Dakota. Southern forced five turnovers in the game and Chinn was responsible for two of them. His first interception came on a leaping grab in the end zone that snuffed out a USD drive and preserved a 14-7 Saluki lead. He added a fourth-quarter pick by ranging far to his right and snaring a sideline pass from USD’s Austin Simmons. Chinn now has 13 career interceptions to move into fifth all-time at Southern. 

LB Christian Rozeboom, South Dakota State
Rozeboom matched a season high with 13 tackles and forced a fumble in a losing effort Oct. 26 against North Dakota State. It marked the 22nd time in his career he recorded double figures in tackles in a game as he moved to within five tackles of the SDSU career lead (435 by Greg Osmundson from 1986-89).

DE Jake Richardson, South Dakota
Richardson stripped Southern Illinois quarterback Kare Lyles of the football on the opening drive of the second half and safety Mike Johnson recovered for an easy 31-yard fumble recovery. It was the first sack of the season for Richardson and third of his career.


Special Teams
P Brady Schutt, South Dakota
Schutt netted a career-best 50.7 yards per punt during South Dakota’s game against Southern Illinois Saturday inside the DakotaDome. Schutt had punts of 58, 50 and 47 yards, and Salukis had two returns for three yards. Schutt entered the game with the nation’s fourth-best punting average.

P/K Garret Wegner, North Dakota State
Wegner averaged 45.3 yards per punt on three attempts in North Dakota State’s 23-16 win at South Dakota State. Wegner had a long of 47 and helped limit SDSU to just 10 total return yards. His five kickoffs all went for touchbacks. Wegner is averaging 44.3 yards per punt over the past three weeks.

PK Colt McFadden, Youngstown State
McFadden made seven PATs and had a field goal in the Penguins' 59-14 win over Western Illinois. The 10 points scored were a career-best by McFadden. He made a 25-yard field goal in the contest vs. WIU.

KR Justin Hall, Western Illinois 
Hall ran for a career-high 107 yards on four kick returns at Youngstown State. His longest went for 33 yards. The Northern Illinois transfer currently manages 492 return yards to guide the MVFC and rank 20th in the nation.


Newcomer
QB Will McElvain, UNI
McElvain was 14-of-27 for 238 yards and two touchdowns and ran for nine yards and another score, the first of his career, in UNI’s 29-6 win over Missouri State. He has now passed for over 200 yards in seven of his first eight games. He is third in the Valley in passing TDs, second in passing yards and first in yards per completion. 

RB Jeff Proctor, Illinois State
For the second week in a row, Jeff Proctor made a big impact for the Redbirds. The junior transfer running back improved on his career high of 81 yards set last week in a win at Western Illinois and recorded 85 yards on the ground with a touchdown in No. 7 Illinois State Homecoming win over Indiana State. Proctor averaged 4.0 yards per carry and scored the game’s final touchdown to bring the final score to 24-7.

KR Justin Hall, Western Illinois -- also nominated at Special Teams

PK Colt McFadden, Youngstown State -- also nominated at Special Teams