Welcome back to what I can’t believe is MVFC By The Numbers Season 3. As life continues to change, in the form of a new job in the last couple weeks this year I will still try to continue to make this a priority, mostly because I do enjoy it and look forward to the discussion every week. This year Brendan and I had the chance to partake in MVFC Media Day and if you have some time I’d encourage you to go back and look at some of that content. This year for the previews. I did enlist some help, and I will introduce each of these individuals before there portions. Some of them will be familiar for having contributed before. The number next to the team is the projected number of conference wins. Now enough yapping let’s get into the previews.
First off for Murray State and Indiana State we have Brookes Noem. Brookes Noem is a 1993 SDSU graduate and former Collegian Sports Editor. He was gracious enough to volunteer when I asked!
Murray St (0.916)
Wins will continue to be hard to come by for second year head coach Jody Wright, but the Racers are leaning into a renewed commitment to long term player development. Wright’s first full recruiting class brings 56 freshmen among a total of 70 new players to the roster for the 2025 season, highlighted by highly touted three star quarterback prospect Kaleb Bailey from Houston, Texas. This team will take time to develop but the Racers feel the time is right to focus on the growth of recent high school graduates more than transfer players. Leading the way into their third MVFC season are 2024 leading receiver J’Kaylon Carter, leading rusher Jawaun Northington and quarterback Jim Ogle, who saw action in 4 games as a freshman.
Indiana State (1.352)
Head coach Curt Mallory targets a move from competitive to contender in 2025, his 9th season at the helm in Terre Haute. The Sycamores finished 4-8 in 2024 and endured 4 losses by 7 points or fewer. Mallory highlights last season’s back-to-back home wins as an indicator of the progress and potential for his team. The first was a come from behind win over Southern Illinois, where the Sycamores erased a 17 point first half deficit, followed by an early October win over North Dakota in which his squad earned a first-half lead and held it to the final whistle. Sophomore playmaker Elijah Owens returns to lead the offense, stepping into a leadership role in his second season behind center. His weapons include 5th year tight end Lance Rees, running back Plez Lawrence and receiver Rashad Rochelle, who flashed down the stretch last season highlighted with 10 catches for 105 yards versus Illinois State in November. The defense will be led by an improved front 7 led by linebackers Dallas Westoff, Lucas McAllister, and defensive back Jorge Valdes.
Northern Iowa (2.826)
Gone is long time coach Mark Farely, a man who is almost synonymous with Northern Iowa football. To replace the living legend the Panthers have brought in from one of their Olympic sports rivals long time Drake Coach Todd Stepsis. “Coach Step” as he has become known was at Drake from 2014-2024 and the head man since 2019. He’ll hope to use his experience in turning Drake into the premier Pioneer League brand (quite the oxymoron there) to resurrect a floundering UNI program. Two of the few familiar faces he’ll look to have in doing so are Derek Anderson and Tucker Langenberg. Anderson is TE on the roster but took snaps at both TE and DE last year and produced at both, 6 catches for 70 yards and 2.5 tkls and 1.0 sack. It’ll be interesting to see how Stepsis choses to use him. For Langenberg’s part he is a returning all-conference LB and led the team in tkls last year. I am sure he will be leaned on heavily to lead the defense again this year.
RV Youngstown State (3.378)
For Youngstown we bring in Gino Leone as we have in the past. Gino can be found writing over on Redshirt Sports, the “Penguin Nation Fans Podcast”, and @ytown_nation on X.
YSU returns a tremendous amount of talent offensively, including three of five starters on the offensive line, dynamic quarterback Beau Brungard, running back Ethan Wright, and a plethora of weapons on the perimeter.
New offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich will be tasked with revitalizing an attack that often lacked creativity and explosiveness in 2024. He boasts an impressive resume, spending time at Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Texas, and Penn State.
The area of concern heading into 2025 is the defense, particularly the front line. Cameron Cunningham (6-3, 305), Thomas Jolly (6-0, 305), and Collin Vaughn (6-2, 285) are three portal additions expected to make an immediate impact, but questions at edge rusher remain unanswered.
Overall, I’m optimistic about this upcoming season and think that the coaching staff did an excellent job of upgrading the talent on this roster. Road tilts at Towson, North Dakota, Illinois State, and Northern Iowa will likely determine the outcome of the campaign.
#6 Illinois State (3.779)
As you can see the model is quite mid on the Redbirds, but as anyone who has seen my top 25 ballot has seen I feel quite the opposite. I think this is a team with a veteran coach in Brock Spack that brings back a ton of pieces. On offense former MVFC newcomer of the year and freshman all American Mason King returns after missing all of last year after getting hurt on the first series of the season last year. Also on the offense they will be lead by Senior WR Daniel Sobkowicz, and Senior QB Tommy Rittenhouse who was voted by other MVFC QBs as the best in the conference. Defensively a revitalized front lead by preseason all conference DL Jake Anderson will look to be back up to the standard we have come to know and expect form a Brock Spack team. I really like the experience this team brings back and think they will produce some fireworks this year.
RV North Dakota (4.081)
For North Dakota we once again bring back in UND360’s Kelly Howe.
Stop me if you heard this before: UND has alot of question marks heading into fall camp! This past winter saw a change in the direction of the UND Football program as HC Bubba Schweigert stepped down after 11 seasons. Bubba went 66-57 with four FCS playoff appearances.
Enter Eric Schmidt. The former UND All-American OLB / former UND DC comes back home after gaining valuable experience on Kalen Deboer’s staff at Fresno State & Washington. Schmidt then left to become the San Diego State DC in 2024.
The one thing UND can rely on in 2025 is the offensive line. Four starters are back, anchored by senior guard Caleb Olson. 6’7″ Trace Thaden played extensively so the experience is there.
The biggest question mark, besides the defense which switched to a 4-2-5, is at QB. Starter Simon Romfo returns but is in a three-way battle royal with sophomore Jerry Kaminski and SDSU Aztec transfer Javance Tupou’ata-Johnson (JTJ). JTJ has the size (6’4″-220) to be a specialty running package guy if he doesn’t win the job.
A bunch of question marks, mostly on the defensive side of the ball, but the enthusiasm and energy in Grand Forks hasn’t been this juiced for a quite a long time. Schmidt has invigorated the program with new-era philosophies and the brand new facilities have raised expectations.
Kelly Howe – UND Football 360 (undfootball360.com and @undfootball360 on X)
#20 Southern Illinois (4.394)
To say 2024 did not go how most envisioned for the Salukis would probably be an understatement. Copious amounts of injuries to put it mildly eneded SIU’s season before it even began. One such injury was QB DJ Williams. In the first few games of the year Willaims showed just how absolutely electric he can be, and when talking to him at media day he seemed to think he could be significantly better too. Under experienced coach Nick Hill I look for this to be a sound and disciplined team returning and ready to stay healthy and compete this year.
#4 South Dakota (5.435)
For USD we will hear from Mark Wendt. You can find him on The Howling Podcast as well as @wdiamond605 on X.
For the second consecutive year the Yotes are coming off their best season in the D1 era. A playoff run that ended in the semi’s and an 11-3 mark overall. Expectations remain high in Vermtown, and as the Yotes entered the offseason, things looked to be in place for another legit shot at a great run. This was bolstered when QB Aidan Bouman announced he was returning for his final season. Then as has become normal at the FCS level the portal eventually got to Vermillion. Of note, the OL was perhaps hardest hit. What would have been an obvious strength became a question mark. Coach Johansen and staff reloaded. Signing a transfer class of 25 players. By almost all accounts the talent level has not dropped off. Growing up watching football you often heard how one of the things that made offensive lines good was chemistry and time playing together. As mentioned, the portal at the FCS level will somewhat make the time playing together tougher to come by so the question for me with that unit is how fast can they form that chemistry needed to take the Yotes where they want to go? To me that is what will be the key factor in how far the Yotes can go.
As a guy who once swore Ryan Leaf would be way better than Peyton Manning, I am not qualified to break down who might be a player to watch at this position or that, but it feels safe to say that along with Bouman, Charles Pierre Jr, Wade Abrams and Tim White will be among the stars of this years sqaud.
Hopes are high in Vermillion. It should be fun season to follow along with. Can’t wait to kick it off in Ames.
#1 North Dakota State (6.708)
Head coach Tim Polasek returned NDSU to the promised land in his first season and he will look to do it again in 2025. The Bison will bring back 14 players with starting experience. Gone is long time QB Cam Miller and in steps long time back up Cole Payton who will finally get a chance to lead the team in his last season. Payton is known for his abilities on the ground, however in the past his arm has been a bit maligned. However, this year to finally put it together he will be able to rely on WR Bryce Lance who had a huge breakout season last year. On the defensive side of the ball key returners will be LB Logan Kopp, S Jaylin Crumby, and CB Jailen Duffie. A young unit defensively last year for the Bison looks to continue to grow as they did late in the year last year and really be a dominant force to be reconned with in their first title defense since 2022.
#3 South Dakota State (7.133)
I’ll keep this brief as we have all the deep a varied Jacks content you could want elsewhere here on JI. I’ll just say from a personal antecedent, I am extremely happy to have Coach Jackson back and looking to where this group of guys will go. I know they are hungry and motivated.
Go Jacks!
Alex
