MVFC Reality Check: What Week 0 Told Us About the Valley

Week 0 has come and gone. We learned some things and then were left asking a lot more questions. Let’s dig in.

Youngstown State 43, Mercyhurst 10

Unlike last year, Youngstown State took it to Mercyhurst and put the game away early. However, the Penguins showed every intention of once again making Beau Brungard their entire offense.

Brungard accounted for 351 of Youngstown State’s 484 yards of total offense, and that doesn’t even account for the fact that he was pulled halfway through the fourth quarter. They’ll need to find some other options against better teams, but man, is he a weapon. The defense performed better, but it is Mercyhurst, so I’ll reserve judgment for now.

West Florida 34, Southern Illinois 31

This game was not as close as the final score would indicate. West Florida mauled Southern Illinois on both lines of scrimmage, and once DJ Williams got hurt, things turned sloppy both ways.

Jake Curry came in in relief and finished 13-of-29 for 153 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. The Salukis were able to run the ball for 5.3 yards per carry, a respectable number, but having to play from behind made it difficult for them to lean on the ground game.

Eastern Illinois 28, Murray State 14

Murray State turned to Collin Shannon instead of incumbent Jim Ogle for the start at quarterback. Shannon went a respectable 26-of-40 for 257 yards and two touchdowns but also threw two interceptions.

Unfortunately, the Racers were entirely one-dimensional and managed just 2.4 yards per carry on the ground. Defensively, it was an OK performance. Murray State won 11 of 16 money downs and held Eastern Illinois to a near-median 5.7 yards per play, but the poor offensive performance and turnovers meant the defense needed to be stronger than it was

North Dakota 42, Long Island 21

North Dakota went into halftime up 42-0 and then took its foot off the pedal. UND was very pass-heavy, throwing for nearly 300 yards compared to 168 net rushing yards, which isn’t surprising given where the strengths of this roster lie at quarterback and wide receiver.

It may be reading into things a little too much, but I do think the Fighting Hawks’ depth is something to watch going forward. The backups were outscored 21-0, even if it was against Long Island’s starters.

South Dakota 59, Central Connecticut State 20

All eyes were on Austyn Modrzewski, and man, did he deliver.

Modrzewski earned MVFC and National Player of the Week honors after accounting for 385 all-purpose yards and seven total touchdowns in a fantastic debut. The Yotes’ defense was much better against the pass than the run, but the run defense was still average at worst. It will be interesting to see how the unit handles better competition, but there is also reason to believe this defense will continue to grow and improve as the year goes on.

Southeast Missouri 23, Indiana State 21

Have you ever heard the term “rock fight” used to describe a football game? With as much respect as is appropriate to afford both teams, that describes what this was. Both teams averaged fewer than two yards per rush. I, along with several others, thought Elijah Owens could be the X-factor for Indiana State. Unfortunately, the one interception he threw likely ended up being the difference in what was an extremely tight game.

South Dakota State 70, Stetson 7

One of the best teams in the subdivision played what is, by most metrics, one of the bottom-five teams. That pretty much sums it up. The Jackrabbits’ staff said they wanted to put an emphasis on becoming more explosive offensively, and that was certainly one of the bright spots in this one. They were explosive and then some.

Illinois State 76, St. Francis (Ill.) 0

Much like the game above, this was a very good team against a not-very-good team. There was a scary moment when Victor Dawson had to be checked out in an ambulance after apparently landing awkwardly on the ball, but thankfully, it sounds like it will not be a long-term issue.

All three quarterbacks played well, so it will be interesting to continue monitoring who gets the nod going forward. The defense was lights out, as expected. If there was a game ball to hand out on that side, it would go to Dexter Niekamp after recording five tackles, 1.5 sacks and an interception.

FCS Week 2 Previews

Southern Illinois (0-1) at Samford (0-1)

Thursday, Sept. 3 | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN+

DJ Williams is officially week-to-week, and I personally would not expect to see him this week. Samford is not very good, and if the Salukis can’t beat them without Williams, they probably aren’t going anywhere anyhow.

As bad as last week was for Southern Illinois, this is a game the Salukis should, and borderline need to, win for the sake of their season. Let’s see if Jake Curry can improve with a full week of preparation as the planned starter. The defense will need to make some significant strides as well.

Indiana State (0-1) at Purdue (0-0)

Friday, Sept. 4 | 6 p.m. CT | Big Ten Network

Purdue is not very good. Unfortunately, neither is Indiana State.

Purdue’s defense was bad last year, so Elijah Owens should give the Sycamores a chance to make this interesting. As good as he is, though, he is not good enough to carry a team to a win over a Power Four opponent by himself.

Youngstown State (1-0) at Kentucky

Saturday, Sept. 5 | 12 p.m. ET | SEC Network+

Youngstown State seems content to let Beau Brungard continue to shoulder the entire offense as I somewhat alluded to above, that could become a challenge against a team with a much larger roster of high-level athletes. I am genuinely curious to see how Brungard competes against the big boys, but I do not have a ton of faith in the rest of the Penguins’ roster in this matchup

St. Thomas (1-0) at North Dakota (1-0)

Saturday, Sept. 5 | 3 p.m. CT | Midco Sports/ESPN+

St. Thomas barely hung on to beat a middling Division II team last week, and now it has to head to one of the toughest places to play in all of FCS football.

I expect North Dakota to once again build on the fundamentals and momentum for the season ahead. As mentioned above, if you’re Eric Schmidt, you also want to see a stronger performance from your depth pieces once the starters leave the field.

Murray State (0-1) at Middle Tennessee (0-0)

Saturday, Sept. 5 | 6 p.m. CT | ESPN+

Middle Tennessee may be a glorified FCS team by nature of being an average Conference USA team, but the Blue Raiders are still the heavy favorite in this one.

I do think this could maybe be an unlikely spot to pick up an FCS-over-FBS upset, but realistically, this Murray State roster is too young.

At the very least, this should give the Racers an opportunity to experience an FBS matchup while still playing against an opponent they can realistically compete with.

Illinois State (1-0) at Western Illinois (1-0)

Saturday, Sept. 5 | 6 p.m. CT | ESPN+

This is another game Illinois State should win going away.

However, Western Illinois, while still not overly formidable, is better than it has been over the past few years.

There are two interesting things to watch here: Does Victor Dawson play? It sounds like the answer is yes. And which quarterback does Illinois State turn to?

It will be particularly interesting to see whether one QB gets more opportunities than the others, especially given that this game should be more competitive than the opener.

Northern Iowa (0-0) at Eastern Washington (0-1)

Saturday, Sept. 5 | 4 p.m. PT | ESPN+

Northern Iowa opens its season on the infamous red turf in Cheney, Washington, against an Eastern Washington team that gave a very good Northern Arizona squad all it could handle and then some. I think this will be an uphill battle for the Panthers.

UNI has some nice pieces, including quarterback Jaxon Dailey, wide receiver Ayden Price, defensive back Jajuan Jackson and linebacker John Powers, but the holes on this roster are too large and too numerous. This will be a very tough opening test for Northern Iowa.

South Dakota (1-0) at Northern Colorado (0-1)

Saturday, Sept. 5 | 6 p.m. MT | ESPN+

The Yotes are riding high after looking impressive in all phases of the game against Central Connecticut State. Northern Colorado, on the other hand, is coming off a heartbreaker against Weber State.

This was an overtime game last year that Northern Colorado probably should have won if it had the stones to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the one with less than a minute remaining.

Combine that with the fact that South Dakota historically has not been a great road team, and this one could be closer than you might expect based on the talent disparity.

Even if it is closer than expected, I think the Yotes pull it out. I’ll specifically be watching South Dakota’s defense. The Bears’ offense was pretty good in their loss last week and will present a much bigger challenge than what the Yotes faced in Week 0.

South Dakota State (1-0) at Northwestern

Saturday, Sept. 5 | 7 p.m. CT | Big Ten Network

The Jackrabbits will play just their fourth Power Four opponent since upsetting Kansas in 2015 for their first win over a power-conference program. I do think the Jacks have the roster and team to make this competitive, but these Power Four games are incredibly difficult to win. There is a reason victories for FCS programs in these matchups are few and far between. There are two major things I’ll be watching. First, how does Chase Mason perform against what will likely be, by far, the best secondary he sees all season?

Second, how does what appears to once again be the weak spot on the Jackrabbits’ roster, their secondary, hold up against the best quarterback and wide receiver tandem they are likely to face all year?

Week 2 should start giving us some answers.