This week's Missouri Valley Football players of the week include QB Jacob Clark of Missouri State; DT Eli Mostaert of North Dakota State; DB Tyler Erkman of North Dakota; RB CharMar Brown of North Dakota State; and OL Seth Anderson of North Dakota.



Offensive Player of the Week
QB Jacob Clark, Missouri State
6-5, 220, Sr., Rockwall, Texas (Rockwall HS)
Clark led Missouri State to its third-straight victory Saturday, completing 21-of-29 passes for 325 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions. He was also MSU's top rusher, carrying 7 times for 63 yards (4 times for 77 yards without sacks), giving him 388 yards of total offense in the win. Clark completed his first 10 passes of the game and was 10-of-11 in the first half as MSU scored on all four first-half possessions. Ultimately, his five-yard touchdown pass to Lance Mason with 8 seconds left in the game proved to be the game-winner as Clark marched the Bears 53 yards on 5 plays in the game's final minute. The march included a back-breaking 38-yard rush by Clark on a third-and-two play from the YSU 45 that pushed the Bears inside the 10 with 18 seconds to play. He completed six passes of 20 or more yards and four of 30+ yards in the victory. It marked Clark's fifth 200-yard passing game of the season and third 300-yard game. Likewise, Clark tossed his 20th career TD pass in the victory (11 games) and eclipsed 2,500 career passing yards (he has just 4 career interceptions).



Defensive Player of the Week
DT Eli Mostaert, North Dakota State
6-3, 289, Sr., Lakeville, Minn. (Lakeville North HS)
Mostaert had two of NDSU’s five sacks in NDSU’s best defensive performance of the season as the Bison picked up a 42-10 road win over Illinois State. NDSU limited the Redbirds to eight net rushing yards and 4 of 12 on third down. Mostaert’s sack on the second play of the game helped set the tone for the day as Illinois State went three-and-out on its first two possessions. He finished with three total tackles.



Special Teams Player of the Week
DB Tyler Erkman, North Dakota 
6-1, 200, RFr., Lake Zurich, Ill. (Lake Zurich HS)
In a game that started as a back-and-forth contest, Erkman helped turn the tide in North Dakota’s favor midway through the second quarter and blocked a punt. His blocked punt was exchanged for a touchdown one play later when Gaven Ziebarth scored on a seven-yard rush to bring the score to 38-21 in favor of the Fighting Hawks. UND won the contest, 72-35. 



Newcomer of the Week
RB CharMar Brown, North Dakota State
5-11, 214, RFr., Omaha, Neb. (Creighton Prep HS)
Brown led NDSU in rushing for the third straight game picking up 100 yards on 17 carries with one touchdown in a 42-10 road win over Illinois State. Brown averaged 5.9 yards per carry and scored on a 14-yard run in the third quarter as the Bison pulled away with four straight touchdown drives in the second half. Coupled with his 126-yard game against Towson, he is the first NDSU player with back-to-back 100-yard rushing games since Kobe Johnson in 2022.



Offensive Lineman of the Week
OL Seth Anderson, North Dakota
Sr., 6-4, 300, Moorhead, Minn.
In the 72-35 win over Murray State, Seth Anderson and North Dakota’s offensive line helped the Fighting Hawks rack up 601 yards of total offense. The Hawks had 309 yards rushing and 292 yards passing in the win. Anderson and the offensive line helped running back Isaiah Smith pile up 216 yards of offense, rushing 11 times for 142 yards and two touchdowns, while averaging 12.9 yards per carry. It was the sixth 100-yard rushing game of Smith’s career. He also had a 74-yard receiving touchdown. Bo Belquist hauled in three receptions for 121 yards and a pair of scores. It was his ninth 100-yard receiving game of his career and second consecutive 100-yard receiving game this season. Simon Romfo went 9-for-20 passing for 276 yards and three scores. The Racers did not get to Romfo in the game. Romfo also completed a 74-yard touchdown strike to Isaiah Smith on a screen pass that went for a touchdown, giving Romfo North Dakota’s first pass completion of over 70 yards since Keaton Studsrud had a 74-yard pass to Luke Stanley in the 31-21 win against Cal Poly on Oct. 1, 2016. Anderson graded out at 96 percent with no pressures and four knockdowns.


OTHERS NOMINATED

LT Grey Zabel, North Dakota State -- Zabel graded out at 94% and did not allow a quarterback pressure, sack or tackle for loss in North Dakota State’s 42-10 road win over Illinois State. Zabel led the Bison offensive line in physicality points as NDSU rolled up a season-high 307 rushing yards and 544 total yards while converting 10 of 13 third downs and controlling the ball for nearly 39 minutes of the contest.

RB Isaiah Smith, North Dakota -- Smith was responsible for 216 yards of total offense and three scores in North Dakota’s 72-35 win over Murray State. He scored his first touchdown late in the first quarter and ran in untouched from 33 yards out to bring the score to 24-14. Before intermission, Smith hauled in a screen pass from Simon Romfo and then ran for the 74-yard touchdown to bring the tally to 45-21. At the start of the third quarter, Smith scored a rushing touchdown from six yards out to increase the lead to 55-21.  In the game, Smith rushed 11 times for 142 yards and two touchdowns, while averaging 12.9 yards per carry. It was the sixth 100-yard rushing performance of his career and first since piling up 153 yards rushing in the 45-31 win at Murray State last season. Against the Racers on Saturday, Smith also had one reception for a 74-yard touchdown.

RB Plez Lawrence, Indiana State -- Lawrence recorded Indiana State’s second-longest rushing touchdown in program history on Saturday afternoon to highlight Indiana State’s season-high 264 rushing yards in the game against Houston Christian. Lawrence broke loose on an 89-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter sparking the Sycamore offense as Indiana State nearly came back from a 17-0 deficit in the 27-24 loss. He added late runs of 24 and 11 yards in the fourth quarter on Indiana State’s final drive of the game setting up a game-tying field goal attempt that sailed wide right. Lawrence finished with 17 carries for 160 yards and a touchdown, while adding five catches for 22 yards. It marked his first 100-yard rushing effort since posting 203 rushing yards last season at Murray State, while his five catches in the game give him a team-high 13 for the season. 

QB Cam Miller, North Dakota State -- Miller completed passes to nine different receivers and finished 20 of 23 for 216 yards and three touchdowns in North Dakota State’s 42-10 road win over Illinois State. It was Miller’s 14th career 200-yard passing game, tying the NDSU record set by Brock Jensen from 2010 to 2013. Miller has passed for more than 200 yards in eight of NDSU’s last 11 games and has not thrown an interception in 216 attempts over that span. He leads the FCS in completion percentage (.783), pass efficiency (187.6) and points responsible for (86), and is third nationally with 9.9 yards per passing attempt.

RB Travis Theis, South Dakota -- For the seventh time in his Coyote career, sixth-year running back Theis (Pratt, Kan.) recorded a 100-yard rushing day against a Saluki rush defense that sat No. 27 in the FCS entering the day. Theis ran for a game-high 147 yards, accounting for nearly 50% of the team’s 302 total rushing yards (48.7%). He ran for 5.9 yards per carry and rushed for two touchdown scores. It’s his first 100-yard rushing game of the season and first since Indiana State game last year (Oct. 21, 2023). 

RB Q’Daryius Jennings, Murray State -- Jennings led the Racers rushing attack with 78 yards on just nine attempts for 8.7 yards per carry. The redshirt junior found the end zone twice, including a 65-yard touchdown, the longest touchdown rush for a Racer since 2016. 

DL Mi’Quise Grace, South Dakota -- Grace made his presence felt from the opening possession of the contest against No. 17 Southern Illinois. On third down and long for the Salukis, Grace shot through the line and recorded a sack for a loss of 11 yards. He would being the Saluki backfield all day long, recording three quarterback hurries and a total of 1.5 tackles for loss. Half of his tackles (3) came behind the line of scrimmage. His persistence on the Coyote defensive line was crucial to USD holding SIU to their lowest total of rushing yards this season with just 60 yards on the ground. 

LB Garret Ollendieck, Indiana State -- Ollendieck continues to find the football as the Cresco, Iowa native recorded his second consecutive 15-plus tackle game and third double-digit tackling effort of the 2024 season. The senior linebacker posted a game-high 15 tackles on Saturday afternoon and added a half-sack and half-TFL in the 27-24 loss to Houston Christian. Ollendieck was consistently around the football all throughout the game, but he took over the game late posting three consecutive tackles including teaming up with Kendrick Milford for a fourth-down stop as HCU attempted to close out the game setting up Indiana State’s late rally. Ollendieck has 50 tackles through the first four games of the season and is among the national leaders with 12.5 tackles per game.

DB Jett Sutton, North Dakota -- Sutton recorded one tackle-for-loss and intercepted a pass and returned it 25 yards in the 45-31 win against Murray State. Sutton’s first career interception came on the first Racer possession after halftime and he returned it 25 yards, which led to Isaiah Smith’s third touchdown of the afternoon two plays later in the form of a six-yard rush to increase the lead to 55-21.

P Grant Burkett, Missouri State -- The All-American punter came up big with Saturday's game against Youngstown State hanging in the balance. His 52-yard punt with 3:36 remaining was downed (by Caden Bolz) at the YSU 3-yard line and ultimately forced the Penguins to punt the ball away two-and-a-half minutes later and set up MSU's game-winning scoring drive. Burkett averaged 46.7 yards on 3 punts, in addition to holding for six successful kicks -- all five extra points and one field goal.

LB Alex Rose, Indiana State -- Rose came through with the special teams spark for Indiana State against Houston Christian as the Terre Haute native broke through the HCU punt protection and got his hand on the ball midway through the fourth quarter. Rose’s blocked punt resulted in a net gain of six yards for the Huskies and gave Indiana State possession at the HCU 31. Six plays later, Elijah Owens scored on a four-yard touchdown run to cut the game down to 27-24 with 7:48 to play. Rose added a tackle on kickoff coverage on the day.

QB Elijah Owens, Indiana State -- Owens continues to be one of the nation’s most efficient quarterbacks on the season completing 22-of-30 passes for 131 yards, while adding 13 carries for 47 yards and a rushing touchdown in Saturday’s loss to Houston Christian. Owens completed passes to eight different receivers and nearly led Indiana State to a 17-point come-from-behind win over the Huskies as the Sycamores cut the gap down to 27-24 on his four-yard keeper with 7:48 to play. He guided the Sycamores down to the game-tying field goal attempt late. Owens is completing 74.0% of his passes (57-of-77) through the air for 441 yards and three touchdowns over the 2024 season.

DB Avery Scott, North Dakota -- Scott recorded his first interception and his first pick-six as a Fighting Hawk in the 72-35 victory against the Racers. Scott scored on a 40-yard pick-six with 8:46 left in the game to bring the score to 72-28 at the time.