This week's Missouri Valley Football Conference players of the week include LB Ferrin Manuleleua of Missouri State; P Nate Murphy of UNI; and QB Jason Shelley of Missouri State.

Offensive Player of the Week & Newcomer of the Week
QB Jason Shelley, Missouri State
5-11, 197, Sr.,  Frisco (Texas) Lone Star High / Utah State
Shelley tied a Missouri State school record with 29 completions and accounted for four touchdowns to help the Bears pull off a thrilling come-from-behind home win over North Dakota. Shelley engineered the game-winning drive in the final 1:39 by marching the Bears 76 yards on just eight plays before firing a two-yard TD pass to Isaac Smith for the win with 15 seconds left. His 12-yard rushing touchdown and subsequent two-point conversion pass just minutes earlier helped put a dent in the Bears' 11-point deficit and made the late-game heroics possible. He finished 29-of-42 (.690) for 349 yards and 3 passing touchdowns.  Also noteworthy in Shelley's big day was the 10th-best single-game passing yardage (349) total in program history, tied a program record with his eighth 200-yard passing game in a season (all in his first eight games), and moved into the program's single-season top five in passing TD's (16), passing yards (2,254) and top seven in total offense yards (2,254) -- with three games still remaining on the schedule.  It was also Shelley's third game-winning, fourth-quarter scoring drive of the season.



Defensive Player of the Week
LB Ferrin Manuleleua, Missouri State
6-1, 230, Jr., Manteca (Calif.) High, Modesto JC
In his 13th start in just two seasons with the Bears, Manuleleua racked up 10 total stops as part of a solid MSU defensive effort against North Dakota. Manuleleua helped neutralize a lethal UND rushing game late in the game and also had a key quarterback hurry in the second half. Just as critical, he played a role in Missouri State's two fourth-quarter fumble takeaways that made the late-game comeback possible.



Special teams
P Nate Murphy, UNI
6-1, 185 pounds, Jr., West Des Moines (Iowa) Valley High
Murphy had a season long punt with a 59-yarder in UNI's win over No. 3 Southern Illinois. Murphy tallied 246 yards in his five attempts, averaging 49.20 yards a punt. 


OTHERS NOMINATED

RB Pierre Strong Jr., South Dakota State -- Strong rushed 19 times for a season-high 163 yards (8.6 ypc) with two touchdowns in South Dakota State's 47-16 victory at Youngstown State on Oct. 30. In recording his fifth two-touchdown game of the season, Strong's scoring runs covered 5 yards in the first quarter and 35 yards in the third quarter. It was his sixth 100-yard game of the season and 16th of his career. In the game, Strong moved into fourth place on the SDSU career rushing charts with 3,827 yards, passing Anthony Watson (3,712 yards from 2003-06) and also moved into a tie for fourth place on the Jackrabbit career list with 34 rushing touchdowns, matching Jerry Welch's total from 1951-54. Strong ended the day with 986 rushing yards for the season, putting him 14 yards away from his third career 1,000--yard campaign.

RB Cole Mueller, Illinois State -- Mueller did it again for the Redbirds, as he had another big day carrying the football against Western Illinois. The Wentzville, Missouri, native recorded his second-straight 150-plus yard rushing effort and scored a career-high three touchdowns against the Leathernecks. Mueller finished the game with 159 yards on 27 carries (5.9 yards per carry) and added two catches for 18 yards. His first touchdown of the game on a 45-yard dash just a minute into the contest and he added his second of the day on a 14-yard run early in the second quarter. Just a minute later, he tallied his third touchdown of the contest on a one-yard plunge to put the Redbirds up early.  He now leads the team with 737 yards on the season and team-high six touchdowns.

QB Connor Sampson, Western Illinois -- Sampson went 27-of-39 on Saturday for 298 passing yards and three touchdowns thrown. During WIU's comeback win over Illinois State he became a new program holder in single-season pass completions, moving past Paul Singer's 239-mark set in 1987. He currently sits at 253 completions this year. 

RB Otis Weah, North Dakota -- Weah put together his best game of the season at No. 17 Missouri State, rushing for a season-high 156 yards on 21 carries to record his second straight 100-yard rushing game and third of the campaign. The Moorhead, Minn., native found the end zone three times on the ground for the Hawks to notch his second three-touchdown game of the season and second of his career. Weah also hauled in four catches for 25 yards

RB Kobe Johnson, North Dakota State -- Johnson rushed for a career-high 155 yards and averaged 31.0 yards on five carries in North Dakota State’s 44-2 home win over Indiana State. His 97-yard touchdown run was the longest run from scrimmage in NDSU history, third longest in the FCS this year, and one of only four carries covering 97-plus yards in conference history. Johnson added a 49-yard run from the NDSU 12 to spark another touchdown drive on the next possession as the Bison built a 30-0 halftime lead.

S Michael Tutsie, North Dakota State -- Tutsie led the Bison for the third straight week with a game-high eight tackles in North Dakota State’s 44-2 home win over Indiana State. He assisted a tackle for loss on a fourth-and-1, stuffed another run for zero yards on third-and-1, and made a solo tackle on third-and-goal from the 1 as NDSU held its opponent out of the end zone for the third time this season.

DL Caden Houghtelling, UNI -- Houghtelling notched his first career interception and added a fumble recovery to his tally in UNI's win over No. 3 Southern Illinois. Houghtelling was in on six tackles, including one solo stop. 

Branson Combs, Southern Illinois -- Combs recorded a career-high six tackles and had two interceptions at Northern Iowa. SIU’s defense allowed just 280 yards of total offense against the Panthers. The last Saluki to record two interceptions in a game was Jeremy Chinn, who had two picks in the game at South Dakota in 2019.

PK Nico Gualdoni, Southern Illinois -- Gualdoni was 3-for-3 on field goal attempts at UNI, including 48 and 49-yard makes. His previous career-long was 46. Gualdoni also converted an extra point, and three of his kickoffs went for touchbacks. 

K Jake Reinholz, North Dakota State -- Reinholz scored eight points in North Dakota State’s 44-2 home win over Indiana State. He converted all five of his PAT kick attempts and made a 43-yard field goal on NDSU’s second possession to give the Bison an early 10-0 lead. Reinholz has made six consecutive field goals including four from 40-plus yards. He is 27-for-27 on PAT kicks this year and 56-for-56 in his career.

P Cade Peterson, North Dakota -- Only brought into punt twice in the contest but made both count. Pinned both punts inside the 10-yard line, including dropping his second at the 1.

P Travis Reiner, Indiana State -- Reiner put together a standout performance for Indiana State this weekend against North Dakota State as the redshirt senior punter averaged 41.7 yards over his seven attempts in the game. Reiner also pinned four punts inside the 20-yard line in Saturday’s loss to the Bison. Reiner dropped all four of his punts in the first half inside the 20-yard line, while over the second-half he connected on a game-best 51-yard punt in the fourth quarter. Reiner leads the MVFC with 20 punts downed inside the 20 on the season with 23 fair catches on the year.

RB Bradrick Shaw, UNI -- Shaw led UNI in rushing yards in a win over No. 3 Southern Illinois. He gained 128 yards of rushing, including a 38-yard run. It was a season high for Shaw, topping his 45 yards at Youngstown State. 

LB Zach Burrola, Southern Illinois -- A transfer from Riverside City College, Burrola led the Salukis with a career-high 13 tackles. The junior linebacker also recorded a forced fumble that was recovered by SIU. SIU’s defense allowed just 280 yards of total offense against the Panthers.