To celebrate 35 years of excellence in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, the league is recognizing some of its all-time top moments.  We’ve divided these moments into 10 categories, and have selected the top events in each.  Some of the events qualify in multiple categories, so if not listed below, the moment you are looking for should be coming later in another yet-to-be released Top Moment segment.
 
MVFC 35th Anniversary - Top FBS Moments (PDF)

 


TOP FBS WINS
#1 -- Aug. 30, 2013 – (North Dakota State 24, Kansas State 21) NDSU goes 80 yards in 18 plays and consumes 8:30 of the clock in a game-winning drive at K-State.  QB Brock Jensen scores with :28 left in a 24-21 win.
 
#2 -- Sept. 17, 2016 – (North Dakota State 23, #11 Iowa 21) North Dakota State became just the fourth FCS program to notch a win against a top-25 FBS program as Cam Pedersen nailed a 37-yard field goal as time expired.  It marked the league’s fourth win against a member of the Big Ten Conference.
 
#3 -- 2016 – Four league schools picked up wins at FBS programs, setting a league record for FBS wins in a season.  Illinois State won at Northwestern, North Dakota State won at Iowa, UNI won at Iowa State, and Western Illinois won at Northern Illinois.  The two wins against Big Ten schools in the same season also established a league mark.
 
#4 -- Sept. 1, 2012 -- (Youngstown State 31, Pittsburgh 17) The Penguins never trailed in the contest in its first-ever program win over a BCS program.  They built their lead to 28-10 in the fourth quarter and were never threatened.
 
#5 -- Sept. 14, 1985 -- (UNI 10, Kansas State 6) UNI beats Kansas State in Manhattan in the league’s first season – in just the second week.  Since then, the league has recorded more than 40 additional victories against FBS teams, entering the 2019 season with 45 total FBS wins.
 
#6 - Sept. 16, 2006 -- (Southern Illinois 35, Indiana 28) Southern Illinois became the first Missouri Valley Football Conference school to beat a Big Ten Conference opponent, rallying from a 14-point deficit behind four touchdown passes by QB Nick Hill.
 
OTHERS CONSIDERED

Sept. 10, 2016 – (Illinois State 9, Northwestern 7) Sean Slattery kicked a 33-yard game-winning field goal as time expired to lift the Redbirds to the league’s third all-time win against a member of the Big Ten Conference.  The Redbirds held Northwestern scoreless until 9:10 remaining in the fourth quarter.
 
Sept. 26, 1992 -- (UNI 27, Iowa State 10) UNI defeated Iowa State for the first time since 1900 with a 17-point margin.  UNI built a 14-0 at the half behind two field goals and a 61-yard interception return.
 
Sept. 17, 2011 -- (Indiana State 44, Western Kentucky 16) ISU picked up its first win against an FBS opponent since 2001.   Shakir Bell had 221 yards and two scores in ISU’s most lopsided league win against an FBS school.
 
Sept. 23, 2017 -- (Western Illinois 52, Coastal Carolina 10) The 52 points by Western marked the most ever by an MVFC school against an FBS team.  QB Sean McGuire finished 17-of-19 for 276 yards and matched a career-high of three touchdown passes. He also caught a 9-yard TD pass. 
 
Aug. 30, 2014 -- (North Dakota State 34, Iowa State 14) The Bison needed to win this game to set the all-time FCS record with 25 straight wins and fell behind 14-0 before scoring the game’s final 34 points.  John Crockett scored three times to lead the comeback.
 
Sept. 8, 1990 – MVFC Player of the Decade DeAndre Smith passed for what was then a school-record 405 yards at Tulsa a week after leading MSU past UNLV in their only victory over an FBS opponent.
 
Sept. 8, 2012 -- (North Dakota State 22, Colorado State 7) CSU scored 90 seconds into the game, but that was all she wrote as NDSU scored the final 22 points and notched an unprecedented third-straight win against an FBS school.
 
Sept. 24, 2011 -- (North Dakota State 37, Minnesota 24) A crowd of 48,802 – many wearing green – watched NDSU post the league’s second win all-time against a member of a Big Ten program.  Marcus Williams had two interceptions for scores.
 
Sept. 4, 2010 -- (North Dakota State 6, Kansas 3) North Dakota State got two field goals from Ryan Jastram and made that stick in a 6-3 defensive struggle.  It was the league’s first win against the Jayhawks in Lawrence.
 
Aug. 31, 2013 - RB David Johnson rushed for 199 yards and scored four touchdowns as he helped UNI to a 28-20 road win over Iowa State in the 2013 season opener in Ames.
 
Aug. 31, 1996 – Missouri State led the contest 17-10, but Oklahoma State would force overtime with a late fourth-quarter TD score and then won 23-20 in the first official NCAA Division I-A overtime.
 
Sept. 22, 2001 – UNI PK Mackenzie Hoambrecker drilled a 33-yard field goal as time expired to give UNI a 42-39 win at Ball State. Tom Petrie passed for 214 yards and two touchdowns.
 
 
The MVFC, in its first 34 seasons, collected 45 wins against FBS teams.In 2016, the MVFC recorded two wins against Big Ten schools for the first time in the same season, one of them was against No. 11/13 Iowa (by North Dakota State). It marked the MVFC’s first win against a ranked FBS team in conference history.
 
FCS Wins vs. AP Ranked FBS Teams
2007 -- Appalachian State 34, #5 Michigan 32
2010 -- JMU 21, #13 Virginia Tech 16
2013 – Eastern Washington 49, #25 Oregon State 46
2016 – North Dakota State 23, #13 Iowa 21