This week's Missouri Valley Football Conference players of the week include QB Theo Day of UNI; WR Carter Bell of South Dakota; SS Dennis Shorter of South Dakota; RB Plez Lawrence of Indiana State; P Orion Phillips of Murray State; and OG Mason McCormick of South Dakota State.
 
Co-Offensive Player of the Week
QB Theo Day, UNI
6-5, 231, R-Sr., Canton, Mich. (Divine Child HS / Michigan State)
Day matched a career-high accounting for five Panther touchdowns (four passing, one rushing) in UNI's 44-41 win over No. 19 Youngstown State. With 337 yards passing on 21 completions, Day moved into fifth on UNI's all-time passing yards list (6,643). Trailing by three points in the early fourth quarter, Day commanded the Panther offense to three touchdowns in the final 14 minutes of play, find receiver Sam Schnee on a 30-yard scoring reception, handing the ball off to Tye Edward for a 30-yard rushing score and keeping it himself on a one-yard sneak at the goal line in the final 90 seconds. Day has now thrown a touchdown pass in a program-record 26 straight games.
 


Co-Offensive Player of the Week
WR Carter Bell, South Dakota
5-11, 180, Jr., Bettendorf, Iowa (Bettendorf HS)
Bell caught touchdown passes of 50 and 52 yards in the first half of South Dakota’s 24-19 upset of No. 2 North Dakota State Saturday inside the Fargodome. Bell caught five passes during the game for 124 yards and two touchdowns. It was his second collegiate game with two touchdown receptions.
 


Defensive Player of the Week
SS Dennis Shorter, South Dakota
5-10, 195, Jr., Daytona Beach, Fla. (Flagler Palm Coast HS)
Shorter had 11 tackles and a key interception in South Dakota’s 24-19 upset of No. 2 North Dakota State Saturday inside the Fargodome. He picked off Cam Miller near midfield and two plays later, USD was back in the end zone for a 21-3 lead. The play went as NDSU’s first turnover of the season and ended Miller’s program-record streak of completions. Shorter also intercepted a two-point conversion in the final minute.


 
Special Teams Player of the Week
P Orion Phillips, Murray State
6-0, 180, Fr., Sandringham, Australia (Sandringham College)
Phillips continued his impressive freshman campaign with a big performance in the Racers first-ever MVFC victory. On the night, Phillips booted five punts, totaling 229 yards for a 45.8-yard average including a massive 67-yard effort that would be downed at the one-yard line.  Phillips placed four of his five punts inside the 20-yard line. This season, the freshman has 580 punt yards on a 44.6 yard average with four punts over the 50-yard mark.


 
Newcomer of the Week
RB Plez Lawrence, Indiana State
5-9, 180, R-Fr., Kokomo, Ind. (Kokomo HS)
Lawrence made the most of his first collegiate start on Saturday afternoon as the redshirt freshman recorded 203 rushing yards on 29 carries and scored three touchdowns against Murray State. The Kokomo, Ind. native took the ball between the tackles for a majority of the contest with a 31-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter his longest carry of the night. Lawrence became the first freshman in the MVFC to break 200 rushing yards in a single game since South Dakota State's Pierre Strong Jr. went for 253 rushing yards and three touchdowns against South Dakota on November 17, 2018.



Offensive Lineman of the Week
OG Mason McCormick, South Dakota State
6-5, 315, Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D. (Roosevelt HS)
McCormick graded at 93 percent with six finish blocks in South Dakota State's 42-21 victory over No. 11/12 North Dakota on Sept. 30. The Jackrabbits rushed for 266 yards in the game for an average of 7.2 yards per carry and scored touchdowns on six of their first seven offensive possessions. SDSU did not allow a sack and allowed only two tackles for loss for a total of three yards in finishing with a 433-234 advantage in total offense.



OTHERS NOMINATED

RB Ro Elliott, Southern Illinois -- had 9 carries for 102 yards and two touchdowns in SIU’s 33-20 win over Missouri State on Saturday. He put the Salukis up, 14-0, with a 64-yard touchdown run on the third play from scrimmage, followed by a a five-yard TD run on SIU’s next possession.

RB Isaiah Davis, South Dakota State -- Davis carried 16 times for a season-high 132 yards (8.2 ypc) and matched a career high with three touchdowns in South Dakota State’s 42-21 home victory over No. 11/12 North Dakota State on Sept. 30. Davis’ first touchdown came from 6 yards out in the first quarter and he added scoring runs of 3 and 1 yards in the second half as the Jackrabbits built a 35-7 lead. He also contributed three receptions for 18 yards. Davis topped the 100-yard mark for the 17th time in his career and scored three touchdowns for the fifth time. 
 
LB Tucker Langenberg, UNI -- Langenberg recorded a career-high and game-high 11 tackles in UNI's win over No. 19 Youngstown State, including five solo stops. The Panther redshirt sophomore also notched one half of a TFL and was part of a pair of critical third and fourth down stops deep in UNI territory defensively in the fourth quarter, stopping the Penguins in short yardage situations to get the ball back and shift momentum back to UNI in the final minutes.

LB Adam Bock, South Dakota State -- In his first action of the season, Bock registered a game-high 10 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack, in South Dakota State’s 42-21 victory over No. 11/12 North Dakota on Sept. 30. The Jackrabbits limited UND to only seven points through three quarters and 68 yards on the ground (on 26 carries) for the game.  Bock’s 10 stops marked the 12th time in his career that Bock registered double figures for tackles in a game. 

LB Branson Combs, Southern Illinois -- led the Salukis with 11 tackles, as Southern held Missouri State to 31 rushing yards on 27 carries. Combs also had one of SIU’s six sacks on the day.

OLB Chris Hill Jr., Murray State -- Hill played a vital role in the Racers win over Indiana State in their first-ever MVFC matchup. To begin the third quarter, Hill was able to grab a batted Sycamores pass and return it 36 yards for the Racers first pick-six since the 2021 campaign. The play was part of two defensive scores for Murray State following a safety on the first drive of the game. 

LB Garret Ollendieck, Indiana State -- Ollendieck posted his second collegiate double-digit tackling effort on Saturday night at Murray State as the linebacker posted 10 tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss, and a sack against Northern Iowa. The Cresco, Iowa was in the backfield from the get-go against the Racers with an early quarterback takedown in the first quarter on the way to his first double-digit tackle game of 2023.

PK Will Leyland, South Dakota -- Leyland kicked a 37-yard field goal with 2:49 left to play to give South Dakota a two-score lead en route to a 24-19 upset of No. 2 North Dakota State Saturday inside the Fargodome. Leyland is 3-for-3 in field goals this season and 11-for-11 on extra points.

RB Josh Jenkins, UNI -- Jenkins recorded 103 kickoff return yards on five returns, helping set the Panther offense up for success in the first half and in the fourth quarter in their 44-41 win against No. 19 Youngstown State. The first game of his career where he returned kicks, Jenkins averaged 20.6 yards per return, which included a long of 35 yards at the end of the second quarter. Jenkins is the first Panther to tally over 100 yards on kick returns since Xavior Williams in 2018 against North Dakota State (124).

PK Owen Rozanc, Missouri State -- Missouri State's kicker capped MSU's two longest scoring drives of the season in Saturday's game at No. 10 Southern Illinois with clutch field goals of 21 and 28 yards. He was also perfect on both extra point attempts in the contest. Rozanc's first field goal late in the opening quarter capped a 12-play, 71-yard scoring drive and pulled the visitors within 14-10 at the time. Later in the opening half, his second three-pointer of the afternoon put points on the board to cash out a season-long 14-play, 67-yard march to keep MSU within 10 points of the Salukis at the intermission.

LB Colin Bohanek, Southern Illinois -- Bohanek had four tackles in SIU’s 33-20 win against Missouri State. The Eastern Illinois transfer made the game’s biggest defensive play, sacking quarterback Jordan Pachot in the fourth quarter at the SIU 26, stripping and recovering the ball. The Salukis were leading, 23-20, at the time, and went on to score the game’s final 10 points. Southern held Missouri State to 31 rushing yards on 27 carries.

DE Mi’Quise Grace, South Dakota -- Grace was credited with three tackles including a sack of quarterback Cam Miller inside the red zone that stalled a 16-play, 10-minute NDSU drive and forced a field goal that preserved an early USD lead. Grace and the Coyotes limited NDSU to a season-low 348 yards of offense, 135 yards lower than the Bison’s season average.

TE Cole Rusk, Murray State  -- Rusk shined as the Racers top receiver for the second consecutive game and played a crucial part in Murray State’s first-ever MVFC victory. The 6-6 tight end hauled in a game-winning 37-yard touchdown in a 30-28 win over Indiana State. Rusk has now found the endzone in back-to-back matchups and leads the team in receptions, receiving yards, and is tied for the team lead in touchdown grabs in his first season in the navy and gold. 

WR Jaiden Ellis-Lahey, UNI -- In just his fourth collegiate game, Ellis-Lahey made a key first half impact for the Panther offense in its 44-41 win over No. 19 Youngstown State, scoring his first career touchdown early in the second quarter on a two-yard pass from quarterback Theo Day. Ellis-Lahey notched a career-best 66 receiving yards on the day with four catches, fueled by a 40-yard reception from Day midway through the first quarter.

?OL Jared Penning, UNI -- Penning played a key role in helping UNI rally and score three fourth quarter touchdowns in the Panthers' 44-41 win over No. 19 Youngstown State. Playing at right tackle, the UNI offense tallied 436 total yards with six touchdowns scored, which included a 337-yard passing day from quarterback Theo Day with four passing touchdowns. Despite Day being sacked three times during the game, Penning protected his quarterback's right side and did not allow a sack from the right, allowing UNI to pick up multiple large yardage chunks throughout the day. The Panther running game also clicked thanks to Penning's performance, with running back Tye Edwards recording a career-high 124 yard on the ground.

RG Isaac Erbes, South Dakota - Erbes aided an offensive unit that scored on four of its five possessions in a 24-19 win at No. 2 North Dakota State Saturday in Fargo. The Coyotes scored touchdowns on each of their first three possessions to take a 21-3 lead. They also ran the ball 11 times during a 12-play, 8-minute drive in the fourth quarter that setup a field goal that made it a two-score game with 2:49 to go. USD averaged 7.1 yards on its 38 offensive plays.