MVFC Review 2015.8

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MVFC Week 8 Review

Chad Lenz & JT Nutt, MVFC  Contributors | October 27, 2015

JT Says-

North Dakota State – 28  Indiana State – 14
No Carson Wentz for NDSU, instead it was Easton Stick,whose name is popular in hockey country, under center for the Bison. Easton went 9-20 for 126 yards 1 pick and 1 TD thru the air but also ran for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns. Indiana State did tie it early in the 2nd half with a 81 yard run by Sycamore quarterback Matt Adam. He finished the day with a rather pedestrian 10-25 for 86 yards and 1 TD thru the air and 75 yards on 8 rushes and another touchdown. North Dakota State held the Sycamores to 201 total yards of offense. NDSU held the ball for nearly 40 minutes on 77 plays. Control the clock, dominate on defense, win games, win championships, NDSU football.

South Dakota – 40  Missouri State – 10
South Dakota beating North Dakota State, shocking. Anybody beating Missouri State, not shocking. Somewhat shocking was the 40-10 final. After 3 field goals in the first quarter, Ryan Saeger threw a 34 yard strike to Eric Shufford to go up 16-7 and they never trailed. Missouri State managed a meager 155 yards of total offense to South Dakota’s 529 total yards of offense. Saeger was 20-29 for 175 yards, 1 pick, and 1 score. Michael Frederick led the Coyote ground attack with 129 rushing yards on 22 carries and 1 touchdown. Missouri State has now only scored 66 points in four conference games while giving up 207 points. The 207 points are as much as Illinois State, North Dakota State, and South Dakota state COMBINED.

Chad says-

Southern Illinois – 38  Youngstown State – 31 OT
Another season, another late season collapse by YSU. Going back to 2010 the Penguins are just 16-26 in the months of October and November, after starting those seasons a combined 18-6 in August/September. Kevin asked last week if this was something Pelini could fix, and if he can it isn’t happening this year. YSU feasts on Pioneer and Northeastern Conference teams early in the season and is never prepared for a full 60 minutes against MVFC teams. That was on full display last week as the Salukis blocked two second half kicks and outscored the Penguins 31-17 in the second half, and overtime, with 17 of those points coming with less than 5:10 left in regulation.

Northern Iowa – 10  South Dakota State – 7
I’m not sure what was uglier, the field conditions or the offensive performance from both teams. Coughlin–Alumni Stadium was drenched in rain all day Friday and had a high school game played on it Thursday night. Those conditions created an environment for defenses to strive. The Panthers lived in the Jackrabbit backfield, and held an offense that had been averaging 427 yards, and 33 points, per game to just 259 yards and 7 points. Splitting reps in practice all week may have caused some timing issues for the Jacks offense as Zach Lujan started the game for the Jacks, but after going just 1-5 on his first two possessions the reigns were handed back to Christion. I’m not sure Christion taking all the reps would have made a difference though, as the Panthers’ defensive performance was as good as I’ve seen from that unit.

Illinois State – 48  Western Illinois – 28
For two and a half quarters the Leathernecks made me look like a genius after what I said last week. Norvell was hooking up with Lenoir and Joey Borsellino like there was no secondary on the field for the Redbirds. Nikko Watson struggled to get going, but was doing enough to keep the Redbird defense honest. Then, after taking a 28-21 lead halfway through the third quarter, the Leatherneck defense forgot they needed to tackle Marshaun Coprich and Tre Roberson. Coprich finished the game with 206 yards and two scores on 29 carries, while Roberson added 111 on 9 carries and 2 scores of his own on the ground. The Redbirds scored the final 27 points of the game, with scoring plays of 83, 65, and 19 yards included. To further prove all of the momentum was going the Redbirds way, Coprich fumbled the ball in the redzone but the ball bounced right into Anthony Warrum for the final score of the game.

CONFERENCE P.O.W.

Offense:
WR Anthony Warrum – Illinois State
Warrum accounted for three touchdowns and had 170 yards on 4 receptions – a stellar 42.5 yards per catch.

Defense:
DL – Karter Schult – Northern Iowa
Schult lived in the Jackrabbit backfield totaling 7 total tackles, with 4 of those for loss and 3 sacks. The 4 tackle for loss move Schult into third all time at UNI he is just one shy of the national lead in sacks.

Special Teams:
LB Chase Allen – Southern Illinois
Allen played only in the second half and overtime, but he managed a blocked field goal and punt in the fourth quarter to give his Salukis a chance at overtime, and the win.

Newcomer:
QB Easton Stick – North Dakota State
Making his first start for the Bison, Stick threw for 126 yards with a score and added 124 yards and two scores on the ground.