Missouri Valley Football Conference Week 1 Review

On By Kent Schmidt

The Missouri Valley went a somewhat disappointing 1-8 in the opening week with North Dakota State picking up the loan victory. South Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Indiana State, and Illinois State all lost to FBS foes. Southern Illinois, South Dakota, and Missouri State lost to fellow FCS opponents.

While there was just one win, both UNI and SDSU did make their Power Five oppoents sweat a little. UNI took in-state and Big 12 Iowa State to three overtimes before falling and SDSU had the lead on the Big 10’s Minnesota in the fourth quarter before falling. Indiana State also led the Big 12’s Kansas late into the fourth quarter before losing in the last few minutes. Illinois State also took the MAC’s Northern Illinois also into the fourth quater tied before sucumming to the Huskies.

In the one win this week, QB Trey Lance accounted for six touchdowns in his first start as NDSU rolled up 605 yards of total offense to beat the Pioneer League’s Butler 57-10 in the first game under first-year head coach Matt Entz played at MLB’s Minnesota Twins home of Target Field. Lance,rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns while completing 10 of 11 passes for 185 yards and four scores. He was the first freshman to start a season opener at quarterback for the Bison.

Below are some highlights of each game including a video recap of each game. Note that Youngstown State was off in Week 1 after winning in Week 0 over Samford in the FCS Guardian Classic.

North Dakota State 57 Butler 10 (Minneapolis, MN)

Quarterback Trey Lance accounted for six touchdowns in his first start as the No. 1-ranked Bison rolled up 605 yards of total offense to beat Butler 57-10 in the first game under NDSU first-year head coach Matt Entz played at MLB’s Minnesota Twins home of Target Field. Lance,rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns while completing 10 of 11 passes for 185 yards and four scores. He was the first freshman to start a season opener at quarterback for NDSU.

Minnesota 28 South Dakota State 21 (Minneapolis, MN)

The Jackrabbits scored touchdowns on consecutive drives in the third quarter after Minnesota’s Chris Williamson returned an interception 43 yards for a score on the opening possession of the second half to lead 21-20 into the fourth quater but gave the go-ahead score and two point conversion with 5:59 left in the game. SDSU finished with a 367-308 edge in total offense, including a 190-20 advantage in the third quarter.

Montana 31 South Dakota 17 (Vermillion, SD)

Montana led 17-10 at halftime, and the Coyotes wouldn’t get closer than seven points the rest of the game as Montana scored on five consecutive possessions. South Dakota quarterback Austin Simmons threw for 246 yards and two touchdowns on 23-of-33 passing. Kody Case, a redshirt sophomore who missed much of last season with an injury, tied USD’s single-game record with 11 catches.

Kansas 24 Indiana State 17 (Lawerance, KS)

Indiana State came tantalizingly close to their first-ever win against a Power 5 FBS program in 32 tries as they came back from a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter to take a late lead only to see Kansas put together a game-winning drive in the waning moments as the Jayhawks defeated the Sycamores.

Iowa State 29 Northern Iowa 26 (3OT) (Ames, IA)

The Panther led 13-10 before giving up a game tying field goal with under a minute to play in regulation. UNI and Iowa State traded field goals and then touchdowns in the first two overtime periods. UNI took the lead on the fourth field goal of the game by Matt Cook but gave up the game winning touchdown on the last Iowa State possession in the third OT period.

Northern Illinois 24 Illinois State 10 (DeKalb, IL)

A late scoring outburst of two touchdowns in the fourth quarter by Northern Illinois gave the Huskies to a 24-10 victory over the Redbirds. The game was tied 10-10 going into the fourth quarter.

Northern Alabama 26 Western Illinois 17 (Florence, AL)

In likely the most suprising result, Western Illinois fell to DI transitioning Northern Alabama. WIU’s offense especially in the second half sputtered as it could only tally Nathan Erickson’s 41-yard field goal in the third quarter.

Northern Arizona 37 Missouri State 23 (Flagstaff, AZ)

Missouri State’s offense struggled while the Lumberjacks took advantage of big plays to hand the Bears their first loss of the season. This loss comes after Missouri State defeated Northern Arizona 40-8 in Springfield just a season ago.

Southeast Missouri State 44 Southern Illinois 26 (Cape Girardeau, MO)

SIU jumped on top of Southeast Missouri State 7-0 after scoring on its first drive and had chances on its next two possesions but came up empty. SEMO scored on seven straight possessions after punting on its first three to win easily to retain The Wheel in this rivarly game.

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