This week's Missouri Valley Football Conference players of the week are QB Nic Baker of Southern Illinois; DE Dylan Wudke of Youngstown State; PK Jose Pizano of Missouri State; and WR Desmond Hutson of UNI.
Offensive Player of the Week
QB Nic Baker, Southern Illinois
5-9, 204, Jr., Rochester, Ill. (Rochester)
Baker completed 34-of-48 passes for a school-record 485 yards and three touchdowns in a game which featured two of the league's most prolific quarterbacks. Baker also rushed five times for 22 yards and led a comeback from an 11-point deficit, in which the Salukis briefly regained the lead, but fell just shy of victory versus Northern Iowa, 37-36. Baker's 507 yards of total offense are tied for the 7th-most in the league's 38-year history and are the third-most in a league game. His 485 passing yards are the 5th-best in Conference history and are the second-highest in a league game. His passing-yard total was the most in the FCS last Saturday and is the third-highest FCS single-game output in 2022. His total offense figure (507) is only two yards shy of the FCS single-game high this season.
Defensive Player of the Week
DE Dylan Wudke, Youngstown State
6-4, 251, So., Miamisburg, Ohio (Miamisburg)
Wudke had two sacks, five solo tackles and a forced fumble in the Penguins dominate 45-24 win over South Dakota on Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium. His sack-fumble in the second quarter led to a touchdown in the final minute of the first half to put the game away.
Special Teams Player of the Week
PK Jose Pizano, Missouri State
5-7, 215, Jr., Lehi, Utah (Lehi High/Snow College)
Pizano broke a Missouri State school record for points by a kicker by accounting for 16 points in the Bears win over Western Illinois on Saturday. He was a perfect 3-for-3 on field goal attempts (matching a career high) with kicks of 22, 39 and 25 yards. He was also a perfect 7-of-7 on extra points while extending his school-record streak of successful PAT's to 63 in a row. The All-America specialist also averaged 62.3 yards on six kickoff attempts, helping MSU hold the Leathernecks to an average starting field position of their own 27 for the game.
Newcomer of the Week
WR Desmond Hutson, UNI
6-3, 215, Fr., Raytown, Mo. (Raytown High/Iowa)
Hutson may have only caught two passes for the Panthers’ in their 37-36 win over No. 20 Southern Illinois, but both receptions played a critical role in UNI’s late comeback win on Saturday in Carbondale. Hutson caught 2 of QB Theo Day’s career-high 5 touchdown passes, including the game-winning score with 5:55 to play to give the Panthers a one-point lead. Hutson ranks second on the UNI roster with four total receiving TDs this season, which is 7th in the MVFC.
OTHERS NOMINATED
QB Theo Day, UNI -- Day recorded a highlight reel performance with a career-high 5 passing touchdowns and 330 passing yards in UNI’s thrilling 37-36 win at No. 20 Southern Illinois. Day is the first UNI quarterback to throw 5 touchdowns in a single game since at least 2005, one shy of tying the program’s all-time single game record. The Canton, Mich. native connected with 4 different receivers on his 5 scoring opportunities, including the ultimate game-winning score on a 5-yard pass to Desmond Hutson with just under 6 minutes to play. The 330-yard passing performance is his third of the season and fourth of his career. The Michigan State transfer in his second season at UNI completed a career-best 84.4% of his pass attempts going 27-for-32.
QB Mitch Davidson, Youngstown State -- Davidson accounted for four touchdowns as the he quarterbacked YSU to its third straight win beating South Dakota, 45-24 on Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium. Davison completed 14-of-21 passes for a career-high 242 yards and a career-best three touchdowns while rushing for a touchdown. Davidson had touchdown passes of six, 19 and 42 yards and added a score on a one-yard run. He engineered six first-half scoring drives as YSU took control and never looked back in the second half.
QB Jason Shelley, Missouri State -- Shelley passed for three touchdowns and rushed for another to lead Missouri State to its highest point total in 30 years in Saturday's win over Western Illinois. Shelley engineered scoring drives on all eight possessions he played, racking up 346 yards of total offense and completing 17-of-22 passes (77.3 completion percentage) for 311 yards. It marked his sixth 300-yard passing game at Missouri State and the 17th game of 200 or more passing yards with the Bears (20 games). His three TD passes against the Leathernecks moved Shelley into a tie for second place on MSU's career TD pass list (38). He also eclipsed 7,000 career passing yards (all schools) while pushing MSU over 500 yards of total offense for the first time this season.
QB Mark Gronowski, South Dakota State -- Gronowski completed 22-of-28 passes for 233 yards and three touchdowns to lead a balanced Jackrabbit offense in a 49-7 victory over Indiana State on Oct. 29. He connected with eight different receivers, including throwing touchdown passes to Jadon Janke (11 yards), Mike Morgan (2 yards) and Tucker Kraft (21 yards). Gronowski also scored on a 2-yard run as the Jackrabbit first-team offense scored touchdowns on all seven of its drives.
RB Tyler Hoosman, North Dakota - In the 34-31 win over Abilene Christian, Tyler Hoosman was involved in five rushing plays on the final drive, gaining 30 yards in that drive alone to help UND milk the last 7:48 of clock. In the game, he finished as the top rusher, piling up 112 yards on 20 carries to go with two scores. It marked the fourth 100-yard rushing game of his career. With his two rushing touchdowns, Hoosman is now tied for No. 5 on UND’s Division I list for single-season touchdowns, tying himself with Brady Oliveira (2016) with 10.
QB Cam Miller, North Dakota State -- Miller completed 20 of a career-high 30 passing attempts for 174 yards with one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown in North Dakota State’s 24-7 home win over Illinois State. Nine different receivers caught passes and Miller has connected with at least seven different players in each of NDSU’s last four games. He is 71-for-97 (73%) over the last four contests and ranks fifth in FCS with a conference-best 69.8 completion percentage.
LB Logan Kopp, North Dakota State -- Kopp made his first career start in North Dakota State’s 24-7 home win over Illinois State replacing injured NDSU starter James Kaczor. Kopp tied a career high with seven total tackles including five solo stops, one on kickoff coverage, and one tackle for loss while helping the Bison limit Illinois State to 45 yards in the second half.
DB Malachi Buckner, North Dakota -- Buckner, a transfer from Gardner-Webb, picked off the Wildcats and returned it for 16 yards, giving UND the ball deep in ACU territory, which eventually led to a touchdown to put the Fighting Hawks up 34-24 early in the fourth quarter. UND won the game 34-31. Both Kadon Kauppinen and Buckner picked off Abilene Christian to help North Dakota finish +2.0 in turnovers. It was the first time UND has forced a turnover since playing Northern Arizona on Sept. 17 (W, 27-24).
LB Jason Freeman, South Dakota State -- Freeman tallied a game-high 10 tackles and was credited with a quarterback hurry to pace a South Dakota State defense that turned in another strong performance in a 49-7 victory over Indiana State on Oct. 29. Freeman’s 10 tackles also marked a season high.
CB Jamal McMurrin, Missouri State -- In his first career start, the former Washington State product posted his first career interception in Missouri State's historic homecoming win over Western Illinois on Saturday. McMurrin was instrumental in the Bears' breakthrough defensive performance that surrendered just 229 total yards on the day. McMurrin's second-quarter pick (and 29-yard return) set up a Bears touchdown two plays later and helped MSU take a 45-7 lead into the half. It was the most points the Bears have scored in an opening half since 1992. McMurrin also racked up three pass break-ups in the game -- the most by any MSU player this season -- and four passes defended.
PK Colt McFadden, Youngstown State -- McFadden continued his stellar play with the longest field goal by an MVFC kicker this year drilling a 52-yard boot in the first quarter. It was a career long kick for McFadden, the sixth-longest made field goal in school history and the longest by a YSU kicker since Nick Terracina made a school-record 56-yard try in September 2003. He added six extra points for nine in the contest. McFadden has three of the longest six made field goals in the league this year. He earned player of the week honors after making a chip-shot 42-yard game winner last week at WIU.
P Jack Beulke, Western Illinois -- Beulke had four punts with an average of 36.3 yards, with a long of 41. He also threw a touchdown pass on a fake field goal attempt, hitting Nathan Karsjens on an eight-yard toss.
PK Matthew Cook, UNI -- Cook’s four made PATs and lone field goal helped play a major role in UNI’s one-point victory over No. 20 Southern Illinois. Cook etched his name into the history books with a 26-yard field goal in the third quarter to tie the UNI and MVFC all-time record for career makes, his league-best 11th made field goal of the season. He also remained perfect on his career going 4-for-4 on PAT attempts, giving him 113 made kicks in his four seasons as a Panther.
WR Bryce Miller, Southern Illinois -- South Florida transfer WR Bryce Miller had a career-high seven catches for 91 yards versus Northern Iowa and was a key part of an SIU passing attack that generated a school-record 485 passing yards.
