Herald Missouri Valley Football Conference power poll for Oct. 8
Oct. 8—GRAND FORKS — Apparently, Southern Illinois couldn't handle the pressure of rising to the No. 2 spot in the Herald Missouri Valley Football Conference poll last week.
The Salukis responded with a 31-3 meltdown at the hands of Youngstown State this past weekend to throw a wrench in the league power poll.
Let's take a look around the conference.
1. South Dakota State: The Jacks ran for an incredible 374 yards in a 40-21 win at Illinois State.
Isaiah Davis ran for 197 yards and two touchdowns, while Amar Johnson ran for 103 yards.
The Janke brothers combined for three touchdowns in the passing game.
2. North Dakota State: The Bison didn't led the Yotes setback linger in beating up on Missouri State in Springfield.
NDSU used 160 receiving yards and two touchdowns from Zach Mathis. The Bison defense only took advantage of Missouri State's quarterback situation and picked off three passes.
Cam Miller and Cole Payton have developed a steady 1-2 punch at quarterback for NDSU.
3. South Dakota: The Yotes don't have a real deep resumè but that win over North Dakota State in Fargo is still a big win.
This past weekend, the Yotes slowly picked apart Murray State 38-7 behind 190 rushing yards and two touchdowns from the tough running of Travis Theis.
Three of USD's five opponents have been held to single digits now.
4. Southern Illinois: Southern Illinois went to the Ice Castle undefeated, with a Top 25 win and an FBS win.
Then the Salukis were destroyed 31-3 by Youngstown State.
SIU had 100 yards of total offense and just 6 rushing yards.
Salukis quarterback Nic Baker was just 12-for-27 for 94 yards, no touchdowns and an interception.
5. UND: UND needed a win and some style points weren't going to hurt against winless Western Illinois.
The Fighting Hawks were able to do that with a 49-10 win in which UND didn't punt for the first time in about 10 years.
The game's most important development may have been an injury to Bo Belquist. The New Rockford native was hurt in the first quarter and didn't play the rest of the game.
6. Youngstown State: The Penguins sacked Southern Illinois quarterback Nic Baker seven times and ran for 167 yards against a typically stout Saluki defense in a 31-3 rout.
Tyshon King, a Northern Michigan transfer, ran for 117 yards on 20 carries with two touchdowns.
Bryce Oliver had five catches for 76 yards to lead the YSU receivers.
7. Northern Iowa: UNI ran its winning streak to three with a win over Indiana State but turned some heads by needing a last-minute interception to hold off the Sycamores 27-20.
Harrison Bey-Buie ran 20 times for 137 yards and three touchdowns.
It was a career game for Bey-Buie, a former Eastern Illinois transfer. He hadn't ran for more than 29 yards in a game all season.
8. Illinois State: Illinois State received the same treatment from South Dakota State as UND the previous week. The Jackrabbits ran right over the Redbirds, jumping out to a 20-0 lead and taking advantage of a fumbled kickoff return by ISU. SDSU won 41-20.
The Redbirds cracked the scoring with a quarterback throwback, resulting in a touchdown connection from wide receiver Daniel Sobkowicz to quarterback Zack Annexstad.
9. Missouri State: Quarterback Jordan Pachot threw for 269 yards but was picked off three times.
Missouri State's top performer was wide receiver Raylen Sharpe, who had 13 catches for 153 yards.
Sharpe, a former Houston transfer with a track and field background, already has three 100-yard games this season.
10. Murray State: Quarterback DJ Williams threw for 157 yards and ran for 42 in a 38-7 loss to South Dakota in Vermillion.
11. Indiana State: Quarterback Cade Chambers had 245 passing yards but threw two interceptions in a 27-20 loss to Northern Iowa.
Harry Van Dyne had five catches for 94 yards to lead the Sycamore receivers.
12. Western Illinois: Quarterback Matt Morrissey threw for 145 yards and the Leathernecks' longest play of the day was a 21-yard fake punt.
