GRAND FORKS — Only three teams in the Missouri Valley Football Conference played games this weekend, but there was still plenty to learn about the resumés of the league after four weeks of college football.
Let’s take a look around the league.
1. South Dakota State: The Jacks were on bye but received plenty of strength of schedule help from Montana State.
SDSU has played three games and two against teams not fully funded at the FCS level in Western Oregon and Drake.
But SDSU’s 20-16 win over Montana State in Brookings back on Sept. 9 takes on a new perspective when the No. 3 Bobcats went to Ogden and thumped No. 10 Weber State 40-0.
The Jacks host UND on Saturday and have shown few signs they’re not the team to beat in the FCS and the MVFC.
2. North Dakota State: The Bison also saw strength of schedule help during the bye.
NDSU’s wins over Eastern Washington and Central Arkansas look a little sweeter now after Central Arkansas throttled Abilene Christian 52-17 and Eastern Washington went to Davis and picked up a second-straight Top 25 win by beat No. 15 UC Davis. EWU beat No. 19 Southeastern Louisiana two weeks ago.
3. UND: Boise State provided another example of why UND was so pleased to have bottled up Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty. The shifty Jeanty ran for 205 yards in a 34-31 win over San Diego State.
Jeanty’s rushing and receiving yardage through four weeks is 153 against Washington, 212 against Central Florida, 73 against UND and 254 against San Diego State.
UND’s win over Northern Arizona earlier this season also saw a shot in the arm as the Lumberjacks stunned Montana 28-14 in Flagstaff.
4. Southern Illinois: The Salukis quietly put together a very strong first three weeks in wins over Austin Peay, FBS Northern Illinois and then-No. 13 Southeast Missouri.
SIU has to navigate Missouri State, Youngstown State and Murray State first but a showdown with South Dakota State in Carbondale on Oct. 21 could feature a 6-0 Salukis up against the No. 1 team in the FCS.
5. Northern Iowa: Northern Iowa is 1-2 with the classic term “quality losses” to Weber State and Iowa State but UNI’s win over Idaho State doesn’t tell anyone a ton about the Panthers yet.
A big matchup this weekend at the UNI-Dome with Youngstown State will be a great barometer for UNI. A loss would put UNI in a dangerous spot with South Dakota State and UND on the schedule in October.
6. Youngstown State: The Penguins are 2-1 with the only loss to Ohio State but wins over Valparaiso and Robert Morris don’t carry lots of value from a national perspective.
Youngstown State will rattle off Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois and South Dakota the next three weeks, which well tell us much more about the Penguins.
7. South Dakota: The Yotes are 2-1 after dominating St. Thomas and Lamar in games in which they gave up a combined six points.
South Dakota is itching to prove 2022 was fluky. North Dakota State is up next but don’t be surprised if the Yotes can start gaining national love because USD follows the Bison with winnable games against Murray State, Youngstown State and Indiana State before an Oct. 28 showdown with the Jacks in Vermillion.
8. Missouri State: The Bears picked up their first win of the season on Saturday in dismantling 1-3 Utah Tech 59-14.
Missouri State quarterback Jacob Clark threw for 414 yards and five touchdowns.
Terique Owens, the son of NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Terrell Owens, caught five balls for 140 yards and two touchdowns. The third-year transfer from Florida Atlantic had a career game as he already has more receiving yards in 2023 than he did in 2022.
The Bears have a tough two-week stretch now with games against Southern Illinois and North Dakota State.
9. Illinois State: The Redbirds used a big second half to knock off Lindenwood 48-17 on Saturday.
Zack Annexstad was 26-for-33 for 288 yards and two touchdowns.
Daniel Sobkowicz was his top target with five catches for 99 yards and a touchdown.
Sobkowicz, a 6-3 sophomore, is putting together an impressive 2023. He’s had at least four catches in every game and at least 77 yards receiving in every game. He’s up to 22 catches for 355 yards.
10. Indiana State: The Sycamores are 0-3 and have only scored 14 points all season.
Indiana State has a chance to maintain its spot in this poll with a matchup with Murray State on Saturday.
11. Murray State: Murray State is 1-2 with a win over Presbyterian and can climb this poll a bit against winless Indiana State in Murray, Ky., on Saturday.
12. Western Illinois: The Leathernecks dropped to 0-4 with a 37-17 loss to previously winless Southern Utah on Saturday.
Matt Morrissey threw for 268 yards but was picked off three times.
WIU ran for minus-7 yards rushing.
WIU’s Jaylin Jackson, a 5-foot-8 senior wide receiver, was the top offensive threat with seven catches for 94 yards.
Miller has covered sports at the Grand Forks Herald since 2004 and was the state sportswriter of the year in 2019 and 2022.
His primary beat is UND football but also reports on a variety of UND sports and local preps.
He can be reached at (701) 780-1121, tmiller@gfherald.com or on Twitter at @tommillergf.
2023-09-25 02:55:00
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