This week's Missouri Valley Football Conference Players of the Week include QB Brady Davis of Illinois State; DL Elerson G. Smith of UNI; PK Sam Fenlason of Illinois State; and WR Avante Cox of Southern Illinois.

Offensive Player of the Week
QB Brady Davis, Illinois State
6-4, 215, Jr., Columbus, Mississippi (Memphis)
Davis and the Redbird passing game exploded in a 40-27 win over Northern Arizona. The junior from Columbus, Mississippi, threw for a career-high 419 yards and tossed a pair of touchdowns as the Redbirds improved to 3-1 on the season. His favorite target was Andrew Edgar, who caught a career-high 12 passes for a career-best 228 yards and both touchdowns. Davis connected with Edgar on a 10-yard TD in the first quarter to give the Redbirds an early lead and later found him for a 53-yard strike late in the third quarter to put the game away. The 419 yards passing were the most for the Redbirds since 2012, when Matt Brown threw for 473 against Eastern Illinois. 



Defensive Player of the Week
DL Elerson G. Smith, UNI
6-7, 245, R-Jr., Minneapolis, Minn. (Minneapolis South High)
Smith recorded a career-high three sacks to go along with a career-high 3.5 tackles for loss and nine tackles. He also had a forced fumble and a knocked down a pass. He led UNI to a stifling defensive performance. The Panthers held Idaho State to 203 yards of offense and just 69 yards rushing. The Panther defense tallied three interceptions, 10 tackles for loss and five sacks.  Through the last six games, Smith has 13.5 tackles for loss and 10 sacks.



Special Teams Player of the Week 
PK Sam Fenlason, Illinois State
6-2, 225, Sr., San Diego, California (Idaho)
Senior placekicker Sam Fenlason had a career night in Illinois State 40-27 victory over Northern Arizona. The San Diego, California, native connected on a career-high four field goals to help lift the Redbirds to 3-1 on the season. Fenlason had makes of 23, 28, 32 and 29 yards, respectively, in the contest to improve to 5-for-5 on the season in field goal attempts. He became the first kicker to make three or more field goals since 2017, when Sean Slattery hit three against South Dakota. Fenlason also made all four of his extra point attempts to finish with 16 points scored on the night.



Newcomer of the Week
WR Avante Cox, Southern Illinois
5-10, 175, So., Rochester, Ill. (Rochester High / Wyoming)
The Wyoming transfer caught 7 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown in SIU’s 41-28 loss to FBS Arkansas State. It was the most receiving yards by a Saluki wide receiver versus an FBS opponent since Brent Little had 152 yards at Western Michigan in 2005. On Southern’s first play from scrimmage, Cox hauled in a 62-yard pass down the left sideline that set up a Javon Williams Jr. touchdown run to tie the game, 7-7. Later in the first quarter, he caught a 26-yard pass down the right sideline for a touchdown that tied the score, 14-14. After catching two passes in SIU’s first two games, Cox has 10 catches in the last two contests.




OTHERS NOMINATED

Offense
RB Pierre Strong Jr., South Dakota State
Strong totaled a combined 132 yards and scored two touchdowns in South Dakota State’s 43-7 victory over visiting Southern Utah on Sept. 21. The sophomore running back carried the ball 11 times for 85 yards (7.7 yards per carry) and caught two passes for 47 yards. He scored on a 45-yard pass play in the thirdquarter and added a 9-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

WR Andrew Edgar, Illinois State
Edgar caught a career-high 12 passes for a career-best 228 yards and both touchdowns in the win against Northern Arizona. QB Brady Davis connected with Edgar on a 10-yard TD in the first quarter to give the Redbirds an early lead and later found him for a 53-yard strike late in the third quarter to put the game away.

QB Peyton Huslig, Missouri State
Huslig racked up 292 passing yards -- the third-best passing total of his career -- and his 10th 200-yard passing game of his career in MSU's home opener against No. 6 Kennesaw State. Huslig was 28-for-46 through the air with two touchdowns and no interceptions in his 25th start for the Bears, establishing career highs for completions and (tying) attempts. He also moved into the program's No. 3 spot in career completions (386), attempts (705), total offense (5,809), and 200-yard passing games (10).

WR Rontrez Morgan, Indiana State
Rontrez Morgan put the Sycamores ahead 10-0 late in the first quarter when he took a short screen pass 69 yards to the house for his first touchdown of the season. The 69-yard catch was a career long for the junior. In total, Morgan finished the day with a team-best four catches and 90 yards receiving. 

WR Dennis Houston, Western Illinois
Houston is the only Leatherneck to haul in at least 100 receiving yards and has done so in back-to-back games. On eight receptions against Tennesee Tech, the wideout recorded 111 yards with a touchdown. 

RB Tyler Hoosman, UNI
Hoosman notched 55 yards rushing on 10 carries and added a reception for 29 yards all in the second half to help pace the Panther offense to a come from behind 13-6 win over Idaho State. 


Defense
LB Ty DeForest, Illinois State
Senior linebacker Ty DeForest was a problem for the NAU defense all night long in the Redbirds’ 40-27 victory over the Lumberjacks. The Marshall, Wisconsin, native recorded six tackles, including four solo stops, and added a sack, his first interception of the season and three quarterback hurries in the strong defensive effort.  DeForest and the Redbird defense held NAU to just 25 yards on the ground and his interception was one of two on the night for the Redbirds, as the defense also tallied five sacks and six TFLs in the contest.

S Titus Wall, Missouri State 
MSU co-captain Titus Wall racked up a team-high 11 tackles against No. 6 Kennesaw State, notching 6 solo stops -- also a game high -- and 4 assists against the nation's No. 1 rushing offense. By bringing down 11 Owl ball carriers, Wall set a team season-high for stops in a game and logged his second career double-figure tackle game (first this season).

LB Logan Backhaus, South Dakota State
Backhaus was all over the field as he recorded a career-high 11 tackles (6 solo), broke up a pass and blocked a kick in the Jackrabbits’ 43-7 Beef Bowl win over Southern Utah on Sept. 21. Backhaus led a Jackrabbit defense that limited SUU to 4-of-17 on third-down attempts and 2-of-5 on fourth-down plays. SDSU blocked three kicks – two field goals and one punt – in the contest.

LB Jake Matthew, South Dakota
Matthew got his first collegiate sack and registered a career-best 2.5 tackles-for-loss in leading the Coyotes to a 14-6 win at Northern Colorado Saturday in Greeley. Totaled five tackles in all in helping USD limit the Bears to 223 yards of offense (37 rushing, 186 passing).

SS Michael Tutsie, North Dakota State
Tutsie made his fourth interception in three games to help North Dakota State hold off No. 4 UC Davis 27-16. Tutsie’s interception at the goal line preserved a 20-16 lead with 6:44 to play. He made 10 tackles, his second straight game in double-digits for the Bison defense, which allowed just one touchdown and limited UC Davis to three field goals. He is NDSU’s leading tackler with 32 stops in four games.

LB Clayton Glasco, Indiana State
Glasco was dominant in every facet on the defensive side of the ball in the Sycamores 16-6 victory over Eastern Illinois. The senior recorded nine tackles, two and a half tackles-for-loss for seven yards and a sack in the win. Glasco also recorded his first interception in a Sycamore uniform – one of four takeaways for the ISU defense on the day. 


Special Teams
DL Kameron Cline, South Dakota
Cline blocked a Northern Colorado extra point in the third quarter that kept South Dakota in the lead at 7-6 in a game the Coyotes went on to win 14-6. Cline totaled four tackles including a sack and had one tackle on punt coverage.

P Ben Dinkel, South Dakota State
Dinkel landed all three of his punts inside the Southern Utah 20-yard line and averaged 51.7 yards per attempt as part of a strong all-around special teams effort by South Dakota State in a 43-7 win on Sept. 21. Dinkel booted a career-long 75-yard punt in the game that ranks as the second-longest punt by a Jackrabbit in the Division I era (since 2004).

P Brendan Withrow, Missouri State
The Bears senior punter averaged 48.5 yards on six punts against No. 6 ranked Kennesaw State in MSU's home opener, including a long of 62. He booted four punts of at least 50 yards, two 60-yarders, and five of his kicks were downed inside (3) the 20 or tallied for touchbacks (2). His second-quarter punt of 52 yards was downed inside the Kennesaw one-yard line and helped the Bears convert a short-field touchdown after a turnover two plays later.  Withrow's 48.5 average was the second-highest single-game punting average in school history (min. 5 punts).

PK Matthew Cook, UNI
Cook continues his perfect season hitting a 39-yard field goal and a 20-yard field goal to move to 8-8 on the year. The true freshman hit the 39-yarder in the second quarter to get the Panthers on the board. The 20-yarder capped the scoring for UNI. On the season, he is 3-3 from 20-29 yards, 2-2 from 30-39, 2-2 from 40-49 and 1-0 from 50+.

PK Jerry Nunez, Indiana State
Jerry Nunez accounted for 10 points in a win over Eastern Illinois Saturday, connecting on a trio field goals (21, 23, 27 yards) and an extra point. The Naples, Florida native broke the Indiana State all-time field goal mark after his first field goal as well as the program’s all-time scoring record – both records had stood since 2006. 


Newcomer
WR Kacper Rutkiewicz, Illinois State
Freshman Kacper Rutkiewicz made the quite the impression in ISU’s 40-27 victory over NAU. The Mount Prospect, Illinois, native recorded a career-best 105 yards on four receptions against the Lumberjacks to record his first career 100-plus yard receiving effort. Rutkiewicz hauled in a career-long pass of 42 yards from Davis to help put him over the century mark. 

DB Omar Brown, UNI
Brown continued his strong start as a true freshman. He tallied his second interception in two games with a 15-yard return. He also notched four tackles, including three solo stops and helped UNI hold the dynamic Idaho State passing attack to just 131 yards and helped force five sacks. 

QB Trey Lance, North Dakota State
Lance passed for 156 yards and rushed for 48 yards and two touchdowns in North Dakota State’s 27-16 win over No. 4 UC Davis. Lance completed 13 of 23 passes and had a team-high 13 carries. He scored on a 1-yard run to put NDSU ahead 14-10 in the second quarter and put the game out of reach with a 10-yard TD run in late in the fourth quarter. He leads the Bison with six rushing touchdowns and is second on the team with 70.5 rushing yards per game.

LB Jakari Starling, South Dakota
Starling got his first collegiate sack, had five tackles and was credited with two pass breakups in leading the Coyotes to a 14-6 win against Northern Colorado Saturday in Greeley. One of his breakups stopped a 4th-and-7 play in the first quarter. His sack came on third down in the fourth quarter and ended the Bears’ final possession.