Missouri Valley Football Conference Week 4 Review

Courtesy North Dakota State Athletics

The Missouri Valley Football Conference did well in Week 4 in going 6-3 against its non-conference schedule in Week 4. That included going 5-0 against the Big Sky Conference in the MVFC-Big Sky challenge. The league guaranteed a winning mark against the other strong western US conference as it now sits at 6-3 with one game remaining (UNI at Weber State) in Week 5. Youngstown State was the one and only MVFC team this week with a bye.

The biggest game of the week was one of the Big Sky-MVFC challenge contests that pitted two Top 5 ranked teams with North Dakota State hosting UC Davis. S Michael Tutsie and DT Cole Karcz each made interceptions in the fourth quarter as the Bison held on to beat the Aggies 27-16. Tutsie’s interception at the goal line preserved a 20-16 lead with 6:44 to play, and Karcz snared a deflection by DE Derrek Tuszka to put the Bison in the red zone with 3:43 to play that later proved to put the game away.

South Dakota State made easy work of Southern Utah. The Jackrabbits blocked three kicks in the contest — two field goals and a punt — in closing out the non-conference with a convincing 43-7 win in the annual Beef Bowl.

Northern Iowa had a tougher time with Idaho State but overcame a overcame a sluggish offensive start with smothering defense and a strong second half to earn a 13-6 win despite trailing at the half.

Illinois State used QB Brady Davis, who three for a career-high 419 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Redbirds to a 40-27 win over the Northern Arizona. Davis became the first Redbird to throw for over 400 yards since 2012, when Matt Brown threw for an ISU single-game record high of 473 yards against Eastern Illinois.

South Dakota’s defense limited Northern Colorado to 219 yards of offense in a 14-6 victory. QB Austin Simmons threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Connor Herrmann in the first half and Ben Klett rumbled for a 12-yard score early in the fourth quarter as the two scores to win its first game of the year.

Indiana State’s defense was dominant throughout the day, holding Eastern Illinois to just 200 yards of total offense in its 16-6 win. Indiana State forced four turnovers on the day with three interceptions and a fumble recovery.

Western Illinois remained winless with but battled all day in a weather delayed game against Tennessee Tech at home in Macomb. It was just a one-score game late in the fourth quarter, but Tennessee Tech claimed the decision 38-24.

Southern Illinois could not make it two for two against FBS opponents but lost some opportunites in its 41-28 loss to Arkansas State. The Salukis out-gained the Red Wolves in total offense 526-474, but four times they came up empty on drives deep inside Arkansas State territory. Twice, SIU was turned away on 4th-and-goal opportunities. Southern also threw an interception in the end zone and missed a short field goal.

Missouri State held recent Big South Conference power Kennesaw State scoreless through the first 27 minutes of the game but the Owls scored on three consecutive rushes after this to turn the tables on Missouri State in a 35-24. KSU ultimately tallied 28 unanswered points to help turn a 13-point deficit into a double-digit advantage overall late in the first half though the rest of the game.

See the full recaps of each game in the score, as well as video highlights from each game below.

North Dakota State 27 UC Davis 16 (Fargo, N.D.)

South Dakota State 43 Southern Utah 7 (Brookings, S.D.)

Illinois State 40 Northern Arizona 27 (Normal, Ill.)

Northern Iowa 13 Idaho State 6 (Cedar Falls, Iowa)

ndiana State 16 Eastern Illinois 6 (Terre Haute, Ind.)

South Dakota 14 Northern Colorado 6 (Greeley, Colo.)

Kennesaw State 35 Missouri State 24 (Springfield, Mo.)

 

Tennessee Tech 38 Western Illinois 24 (Macomb, Ill.)

(highlights in the link)