This week's Missouri Valley Football Conference players of the week include QB Tommy Schuster of North Dakota, Rush LB Brendan Webb of South Dakota, P/K Hunter Dustman of South Dakota State, RB Mason Blakemore of Illinois State, and OL Seth Anderson of North Dakota.

 
Offensive Player of the Week
QB Tommy Schuster, North Dakota
6-0, 195, Sr., Macomb, Mich. (Chippewa Valley HS)
Tommy Schuster went 18-for-23 passing for 279 yards and five touchdowns in the 45-31 win at Murray State. He broke the all-time record for touchdowns thrown in a career at UND in the second quarter with his third touchdown pass, bringing his total up to 59 touchdowns thrown at the time. He shattered the record of Kelby Klosterman (1999-2002), who threw for 58 touchdowns in his career. By the end of the game, Schuster's career total was up to 61 touchdowns thrown.  Schuster’s five touchdown passes in the game was a new career best. He became the first UND QB to have five touchdowns thrown in a game since Braden Hanson threw five in the 40-34 win over Montana on Oct. 20, 2012.


 
Defensive Player of the Week
Rush LB Brendan Webb, South Dakota
6-4, 260, Sr., Buhler, Kan. (Buhler HS)
Webb registered 4.0 sacks, most in recorded history in a single game at USD, in South Dakota's 14-7 win at Southern Illinois Saturday. The 4.0 sacks are second-most by an FCS player in a game this season. He also had a pass breakup on the final play of the game that shot the ball into the air before being intercepted. It happed on a 4th-and-goal play from the 2 in the closing seconds. Webb leads the Valley with 8.5 sacks this season. SIU was held to its second-lowest scoring total this year.


 
Special Teams Player of the Week
K/P Hunter Dustman, South Dakota State
6-4, 225, Jr., East Bethel, Minn. (St. Francis HS)
Dustman connected on a career-best four field goals in South Dakota State’s 33-16 home victory over North Dakota State. The reigning MVFC Special Teams Player of the Week was good from 31, 21, 44 and 26 yards as he improved to 11-of-14 on field goal attempts for the season.  Dustman punted only twice in the contest, landing both of his attempts inside the NDSU 20-yard line for an average of 43 yards with a long of 53.
 


Newcomer of the Week
QB Mason Blakemore, Illinois State
6-1, 225, Jr., Centralia, Illinois (Centralia HS/Northern Illinois)
Running back Mason Blakemore bounced back from a tough effort last week and put together one of his best games of the season in Illinois State’s 36-35 win at Missouri State. The Northern Illinois transfer recorded his third 100-plus yard rushing performance of the season, amassing 125 yards on 25 carries with two rushing touchdowns on the day. His first score of the day came on a 7-yard run late in the first quarter that made the score 14-7 in favor of the Redbirds at the time and later added another 7-yard score late in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 28-28.




Offensive Lineman of the Week
OL Seth Anderson, North Dakota
In the 45-31 win at Murray State, Anderson’s blocking helped the Fighting Hawks accumulate 507 yards of offense with 279 yards through the air and 228 yards on the ground. Anderson ended the week with 39 finishing points, grading out at 96 percent on assignment, 75 percent on technique, 80 percent on his finish and 84 percent overall.


OTHERS NOMINATED

WR Jadon Janke, South Dakota State -- Janke caught a pair of touchdown passes to help lead the Jackrabbits to a 33-16 victory over No. 10/11 North Dakota State before a record crowd at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium on Nov. 4. Janke’s first touchdown reception covered 46 yards and gave SDSU a 17-9 lead late in the second quarter. He added a 7-yard TD catch and run on the opening drive of the second half to push the SDSU lead to 27-9.  For the game, Janke tallied game highs of five receptions and 89 receiving yards. He also moved into sixth place on the SDSU career receiving touchdowns chart, upping his total to 25. 
 
TE Cole Rusk, Murray State -- Rusk had a standout game in the Racers bout with North Dakota with a two-touchdown performance with three receptions and 52 yards total. Rusk ranks first on the team with 369 yards this season with a team-high five touchdown receptions across nine games in 2023.  

LB Jason Freeman, South Dakota State -- Freeman registered a game-high 12 tackles (5 solo), including 1.5 tackles for loss, and added an interception in South Dakota State’s 33-16 home win over North Dakota State on Nov. 4. His 12 tackles also established a new career high.  SDSU recorded three takeaways, with Freeman’s interception the second of the game. 
 
LB Wyatt Pedigo, North Dakota -- Pedigo recorded eight total tackles in the 45-31 win over the Racers. Six of Pedigo’s tackles were solo.

LB Jalan Gaines, Illinois State -- Gaines took over the game late for the Redbird defense and came up with three huge plays on Missouri State’s final offensive drive of the game to clinch the win for ISU. The Chicago native led the way for the Redbird defense with a career-high 2.5 sacks, a career-best 3.5 TFLs and 8 total tackles against the Bears, saving his best for when it counted the most. With the Redbirds leading 36-35 with just 38 seconds left, the Bears had a chance to move the ball down the field but Gaines broke up a pass on first down and then sacked Missouri State QB Jordan Pachot for a 15-yard loss. After a pass breakup on third down by the Redbird defense, Gaines sacked Pachot again to turn the ball over on downs back to the Redbirds who would kneel out the victory. 

PK Brady Stevens, North Dakota -- Stevens helped North Dakota control field position in the 45-31 win at Murray State, recording eight kickoffs for 510 yards and six touchbacks. He averaged 63.8 yards per kickoff.

K/P Ian Wagner, Illinois State -- Wagner had a solid game all-around for the Redbirds in their thrilling with over Missouri State. Wagner connected was 2-for-2 on field goal and PAT attempts and put a pair of punts inside the Missouri State 20-yard line as he continued his kicking and punting duties for the Redbirds. He connected from 27 yards late in the second quarter and then hit from 22 yards with 2:31 left in the third quarter and tacked on two PATs to finish with 8 points on the day for the Redbirds. He also put six kickoffs into the endzone for touchbacks and two of his three punts on the day pinned the Bears deep in their own end, one at the 10-yard line.

P Tyler Ebel, South Dakota -- Ebel averaged a season-high 47.8 yards on seven punts and pinned three inside the 20-yard line in South Dakota's 14-7 win against Southern Illinois Saturday. He set a new season-high with his 60-yarder in the fourth quarter. SIU's average starting field position on its 10 drives was its own 23. The Salukis outgained the Coyotes 332-196 and field position was the difference.

PK Matthew Cook, UNI -- Cook accounted for 12 of UNI's 50 points scored (6-6 PAT, 2-2 FG) in the Panthers' 50-6 rout of Western Illinois. The senior placekicker etched his name into UNI history late in the first quarter with his third made PAT of the game, passing David Johnson as the all-time leading scorer in program history. With 394 career points scored, Cook has the chance with two games remaining in the regular season to pass NDSU's Cam Petersen (399) for second on the MVFC's all-time scoring list and join SDSU's Zach Zenner as the only players in league history to score 400+ points in their careers.

RB Sawyer Seidl, North Dakota -- True freshman Sawyer Seidl recorded seven carries for 49 yards in the 45-31 win against the Racers. Seidl averaged 7.0 yards per carry.

LB Parker Fryar, South Dakota -- Fryar earned extended snaps Saturday and responded with a season-high nine tackles and forced a fumble in Saturday's 14-7 win at Southern Illinois. 

RB Tye Edwards, UNI -- Edwards helped anchor a dominant Panther running game in UNI's 50-6 home win over Western Illinois with 99 rushing yards recorded on 12 carries, fourth-most among rushers in the MVFC this week. The former UTSA Roadrunner scored his fourth rushing touchdown of the season early in the third quarter during an afternoon where he averaged eight yards per carry. UNI's 240 total rushing yards were the most by the Panthers this season, and most since also racking up 240 yards against Utah Tech last season.

C Peter Bussone, Illinois State -- Bussone played the best game of his season for the Redbirds in their thrilling 36-35 victory over Missouri State. The Normal, Illinois, native graded out at 85 percent and helped guide the Redbird offense to over 500 yards of total offense for just the second time this season. ISU ran for over 200 yards on the ground for the fifth time this year and Redbird quarterbacks Zack Annexstad and Tommy Rittenhouse combined to throw for 300 yards as ISU finished with 508 yards total on the day. The Redbird offensive line also did not allow a sack on the day to the Bears defense, while averaging 5.6 yards per play.

OL Blake Anderson, UNI -- UNI's offense had a field day thanks to Anderson's blocking up front in helping the Panthers secure a commanding 50-6 home win over Western Illinois. Protecting the left side of the offensive line, Anderson helped protect quarterback Theo Day and his backup Aidan Dunne in not allowing a single sack all afternoon, allowing UNI's passing offense to total 251 yards through the air with three passing touchdowns. Northern Iowa's run game also benefited from Anderson's stellar play, allowing Tye Edwards to run for 99 yards with a touchdown and Amauri Pesek-Hickson to carry the ball 12 times for 74 yards and two touchdowns. The Panthers would finish with 240 total rushing yards.