This week’s Missouri Valley Football Conference players of the week include QB Nic Baker of Southern Illinois; LB Stephen Hillis of South Dakota; K/P Hunter Dustman of South Dakota State; and QB Cade Chambers of Indiana State.

Offensive Player of the Week
QB Nic Baker, Southern Illinois
5-9, 204, Jr., Rochester, Ill. (Rochester)
On a day where teammate Javon Williams Jr. had a league season-high four rushing touchdowns, QB Nic Baker set a school record for pass completion percentage, connecting on 25-of-28 passes — 89.3 percent during SIU’s 30-7 win over Western Illinois. It is believed the single-game completion percentage is also a league record, and Baker's performance was just shy of setting the FCS all-time record established by Ricky Santos of New Hampshire (96.2; 25 of 26 vs. Northeastern in 2005). Baker completed his first 15 throws (also a school record). He passed for 227 yards with no interceptions. Baker has not thrown an interception in his last 120 passes.



Defensive Player of the Week
LB Stephen Hillis, South Dakota
6-1, 235, Jr., LB, Hartington, Neb. (Air Force)
Hillis had a game-high nine tackles including two sacks and broke up two passes in Saturday’s game at Illinois State. Hillis was part of a unit that limited the Redbirds to 264 yards. Hillis forced a fumble on one of his sacks. He leads the Valley with 59 tackles this season.



Special Teams Player of the Week
K/P Hunter Dustman, South Dakota State
6-3, 230, Jr., East Bethel, Minn. (St. Francis) 
Dustman kicked a career-high three field goals — all in the second half — including the game-winning 18-yarder with 3:49 to play in the fourth quarter as South Dakota State rallied for a 23-21 victory over North Dakota State in the battle of the top-two ranked teams in the FCS. Dustman booted a 31-yard field goal on the Jackrabbits’ opening drive of the second half and brought SDSU to within 21-20 on a 38-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter. Dustman also punted three times for an average of 42.7 yards — long of 47 — and recorded touchbacks on three of his six kickoffs. 



Newcomer of the Week
QB Cade Chambers, Indiana State
6-4, 215, R-Fr., Maryville, Tenn. (Maryville)
Chambers recorded five total TDs in the Sycamores' shootout loss at Youngstown State. The redshirt freshman went 15-of-29 through the air for a career-high 311 yards with a trio of touchdown passes, while adding two more on the ground in the 48-42 loss. Chambers connected on a 53-yard pass to Dakota Caton in the first quarter to tie the game up at 14-14. His two-yard TD run at the start of the second quarter added to the Sycamore lead, while his 12-yard toss just before the halftime break cut the deficit down to 28-21. With the Sycamores trailing 45-28 late in the third quarter, Chambers connected on an 18-yard touchdown pass to Justin Dinka to cut the lead down to 45-35. Following a successful onside kick, Chambers called his own number for an 11-yard option keeper to cut the deficit down to 45-42. His 300-yard game marked ISU’s first 300-yard passing game since the 2018 season as the Sycamores rolled to a season-best 498 total offensive yards.


OTHERS CONSIDERED 

QB Theo Day, UNI -- Day recorded a career day accounting for a career-best four touchdowns in a 41-14 rout of Utah Tech. Day threw for three touchdowns plus one rushing score, highlighted by a 70-yard touchdown pass in the 2nd quarter to Sam Schnee, the 2nd longest pass competition of his career. With 308 yards in the air, Day notched his 2nd career game of 300+ passing yards. Day leads the MVFC with 13 passing touchdowns this season, ranking 16th in nation, and also posts a top-10 in the nation pass efficiency rating (162).
 
TB Jaleel McLaughlin, Youngstown State -- McLaughlin rushed for 200 yards on 32 carries and two touchdowns as the Penguins beat Indiana State in a wild 48-42 affair on Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium. In the second quarter he scored on a 68-yard touchdown run before adding a 10-yard score in the third quarter. It was the third 200-yard game of his YSU career while the 32 carries we the most since he arrived at YSU in the spring of 2021. It was his most carries in a collegiate football game since Nov. 30, 2019.

QB Mark Gronowski, South Dakota State -- Gronowski was an efficient 16-of-21 passing for 152 yards and directed the Jackrabbits to scores — three field goals and a touchdown — on their first four drives of the second half to pull out a 23-21 road win over top-ranked North Dakota State on Oct. 15.  Gronowski’s 14-yard run after SDSU took over on downs with just over a minute to play sealed the Jackrabbits’ third Dakota Marker win in a row over North Dakota State. 

QB Cam Miller, North Dakota State -- Miller passed for a career-high 227 yards going 17-for-22 with two touchdowns plus one rushing touchdown against South Dakota State. He completed his first 13 passing attempts and led the Bison to touchdowns on their first three possessions to open up a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter. Miller used eight different receivers for the second straight game. He threw TD passes of 22 and 30 yards and a season-long pass of 41 yards.

LB Luke Weerts, North Dakota State -- Weerts made seven tackles with one sack and one quarterback hurry against South Dakota State. He had two stops at or behind the line of scrimmage, and his quarterback hurry on third-and-9 led to an incompletion and forced a field goal attempt on the opening drive of the second half. Weerts made back-to-back tackles in goal-to-go situations to help force another field goal attempt midway through the fourth quarter.

DE James Jackson, Youngstown State -- Jackson recorded a career-high three sacks as the Penguins defeated Indiana State 48-42 in a key Missouri Valley Football Conference victory on Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium. Jackson, a sixth-year senior, had one sack on the season before Saturday's game. All three sacks came in the second half. His final sack came on ISU's last attempt for a game-winning score. On third-and-8 he sacked Cade Chambers on a three-yard loss and YSU made a stop on fourth down to end the game.

DB Bryce Cross, Western Illinois -- Cross had a career-high 10 tackles in last week's loss to Southern Illinois. Two of those tackles were solo. The previous Leatherneck high for Cross was six.

P John Bickle, South Dakota -- Bickle averaged 45.9 yards per punt while pinning half of his six boots inside the 20-yard line in Saturday’s game at Illinois State. His longest punt of 60 yards was downed on the Redbird 1.

PK Ian Wagner, Illinois State -- Wagner continued his great start to the season and helped Illinois State to a big Homecoming win over South Dakota. Wagner connected on a pair of field goals and accounted for six of the Redbirds’ 12 points in the win over the Coyotes. Wagner scored the first points of the game on a 37-yard field goal and also connected on a career-long 45-yarder in the contest for the Redbirds. With the two makes, Wagner is now 5-of-6 in just two games and leads the Redbirds in scoring with 17 points.

PK Matthew Cook, UNI -- Cook drilled a pair of field goals from 42 and 19 yards while also hitting 5 PAT attempts in UNI’s 41-14 win over Utah Tech. Cook’s field goals now give him sole possession of 3rd place in school history in career field goals made (61), passing Brian Wingert (2003-06). He also broke a tie with Wingert and Mack Hoambrecker (2000-02) for career field goal attempts (77). Cook is now 4 made field goals away from setting UNI’s program record as well as the MVFC’s all-time mark. Cook also surpassed 100 career PAT kicks made now sitting a 104, 6th most in team history.

WR Latrell Fordham, Youngstown State -- Fordham became the first Penguin since 2015 to return a kickoff for a touchdown as the Penguins beat Indiana State in a wild 48-42 contest on Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium. Fordham set a school record with a 98-yard return for a touchdown late in the first quarter. He finished the game with three returns for 139 yards and three catches for 46 yards.

LB George Douglas IV, Southern Illinois -- A Central Michigan transfer, Douglas IV led the Salukis with 5 tackles, a forced fumble and two pass breakups in SIU’s 30-7 win over Western Illinois. The Salukis held Western Illinois to just 11 first downs, 33 yards rushing and only 144 total yards.