What’s On Tap -- All nine Missouri Valley Football Conference teams are in action this weekend. It’s the league-opening game for seven of the league’s schools, while South Dakota State closes out the MVFC’s non-conference regular-season slate with a home game against Eastern Illinois.
| Saturday, Sept. 26 |
|
| * [#7/8] North Dakota at Indiana State [ESPN+] |
12 p.m. CT |
| * [#8/12] USD at [#11/13] Youngstown St. [ESPN+] |
1 p.m. CT |
| * [#3/4] Illinois State at UNI [ESPN+] |
4 p.m. CT |
| * [#24/RV] Southern Illinois at Murray State [ESPN+] |
6 p.m. CT |
| Eastern Illinois at [#2/2] SDSU [Midco/ESPN+] |
6 p.m. CT |
| *denotes MVFC game |
|
Click Here for Weekly Notebook (PDF)
SDSU’s Johnson Earns Honor -- South Dakota State RB Josiah Johnson earned Stats Perform National Player of the Week honors as tripled his previous career high with 239 rushing yards with two TDs to fuel SDSU’s 27-20 win over Youngstown State.
Six MVFC Teams Ranked This Week; Two Ranked in the Top Three -- Last week (Sept. 14), the league matched a Conference record by placing five teams in the Top 10 of the Stats Perform Top 10. This week, for the 80th time in MVFC history, two league teams are ranked in the top three of a national poll. South Dakota State (2) and Illinois State (3) lead the MVFC’s ranked teams in the Stats Perform poll (Sept. 21). In all, six league teams are ranked in the Stats Perform poll, and five are in the AFCA coaches poll this week. The league has had five teams ranked in the Top 15 of a national poll during the same week five times this year and 52 times in Conference history.
Redbirds Retain Trophy -- In one of the league’s oldest rivalry games, Illinois State scored touchdowns on its first three drives of the game on Saturday against Eastern Illinois and never looked back, as the Redbirds (4-0) rolled to a 49-13 win over the Panthers in the 114th Mid-America Classic at Hancock Stadium in front of a sellout crowd on Family Weekend. Illinois State moves to 4-0 for the first time since 2017, when the Redbirds won their first four games before suffering a non-conference road loss at Northern Arizona.
Ranked vs. Ranked -- This week, there is one MVFC game that features ranked teams playing one another. In Conference history, there have been 263 previous games in which two league teams ranked in the top 25 played one another. Of those 263 games, 75 times the meeting involved teams that were both ranked in the Top 10 at the same time. Twenty-one meetings have occurred in the playoffs. The home team is 144-117 in those games; the higher-ranked team is 167-95. Those figures include two neutral-site games, and one game in which the teams were both ranked No. 25.
MVFC Ranked vs. Ranked (Sept. 26)
[#8/12] USD at [#11/13] Youngstown St. [ESPN+] 1 p.m. CT
Efficient QBs in the MVFC -- Four MVFC signal callers rank in the top seven of the NCAA FCS leaderboard for pass efficiency, led by South Dakota’s Austyn Modrzewski (193.2) who holds the No. 3 spot in the NCAA.
Perfection -- Illinois State (4-0) is one of just 15 unbeaten teams in the FCS through games of Saturday, Jan. 19. Only six teams have an unblemished record after four games.
Perfect Teams in the FCS
4-0: Illinois State, Lehigh, Montana State, SFA, South Carolina State, Tarleton State
3-0: Dayton, Idaho State, Jackson State, Tenn. Tech
1-0: Brown, Columbia, Harvard, Penn, Yale
Passing Fancy -- MVFC quarterbacks hold the top three spots in the FCS for total touchdown passes. South Dakota’s Austyn Modrzewski leads the FCS with 14 TD strikes this fall. YSU’s Beau Brungard and UND’s Jerry Kaminski are tied for second in the NCAA with 12 touchdown passes this season.
What’s the Score? -- Led by Illinois State (2nd, 48.5 ppg), the MVFC has four teams among the national Top 10 in scoring offense. South Dakota State (5th), South Dakota (7th), and North Dakota (10th) join the Redbirds among the FCS’ most prolific offenses.
Putting Up the Points -- MVFC QBs hold three of the top five positions in the FCS for most points responsible (per game). Beau Brungard of Youngstown State ranks second nationally with 24.5 points per game.
Beau Knows Football -- Beau Brungard of Youngstown State ranks third nationally in the FCS for career rushing yards. He’s second in career rushing TDs among active players.
Against the FBS -- Missouri Valley Football Conference schools have combined for 50 wins against FBS teams since 1985.
MVFC Teams w/ FBS Wins (50)
11 -- UNI
8 -- Western Illinois
6 -- Illinois State, NDSU
5 -- Indiana State, Southern Illinois
4 -- Youngstown State
2 -- SDSU
1 -- Eastern Illinois, Missouri State, South Dakota
MVFC-Big Sky Challenge Series -- The MVFC and the Big Sky Conference announced a Challenge Series between the two leagues before the 2017 season. (Only regular-season contests count in the series standings.) The MVFC claimed the 2026 series with a 3-1 advantage. The MVFC has never lost a season series in the Challenge.
Series History (2017-26)
2017 (MVFC Wins, 5-3) | Playoffs: Big Sky 1-0
2018 (MVFC Wins, 5-3) | Playoffs: MVFC 2-1
2019 (MVFC Wins, 6-4) | Playoffs: MVFC 1-0
20-21 (COVID) | Playoffs: MVFC 2-0
2021 (MVFC Wins, 4-2) | Playoffs: MVFC 3-2
2022 (Series Tied, 3-3) | Playoffs: MVFC 2-1
2023 (MVFC Wins, 4-1) | Playoffs: Tied 3-3
2024 (MVFC Wins, 2-1) | Playoffs: MVFC 3-2
2025 (MVFC Wins, 5-2) | Playoffs: Big Sky 3-1
2026 (3-1) | Playoffs: 0-0
S5 -- at Eastern Washington 34, UNI 24
S5 -- South Dakota 38, at Northern Colorado 23
S12 -- at South Dakota 41, Eastern Washington 23
S12 -- North Dakota 47, at Portland State 23
Quite The Day: 9-0 -- For the first time in the league’s 42-year history, all Conference teams played and all teams won on the same day. MVFC teams went 9-0 on Sept. 12 against non-league foes, which included the league’s 50th all-time win against an FBS opponent (Illinois State defeated Northern Illinois).
PRESEASON HIGHLIGHTS
Missouri Valley Football Preseason Poll -- Click Here for Poll Results
Stats Perform Preseason All-America Team -- Click Here
Phil Steele Preseason All-America Team -- Click Here
FCS Football Central Preseason All-America Team -- Click Here
Stats Perform Preseason Watch Lists -- Walter Payton Award | Buck Buchanan Award
FCS Punter of the Year Watch List -- Click Here