Oct. 15, 2010

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Around NAIA Football

• The NAIA and Victory Sports Network Game of the Week has the only undefeated teams left in the Great Plains Athletic Conference, No. 4 Morningside (Iowa) visiting No. 1 Sioux Falls (S.D.). The broadcast team of Jason Dannelly and John Thayer will call all the action live on the internet. The games will be streamed live and free through the Victory Sports Network website at www.victorysportsnetwork.com. Next week features Eastern Oregon at No. 2 Carroll (Mont.) on Oct. 23.

• Ten schools test their undefeated record in Week 7 of NAIA football. No. 3 Saint Xavier (Ill.) holds the most wins in the country with a 7-0 record. Five programs are 6-0, while four others boast a 5-0 mark. Conversely, 12 teams are searching for their first win in 2010.

• There are two Top-25 games this week: the previously-mentioned game between Morningside and Sioux Falls and No. 14 Kansas Wesleyan against No. 7 McPherson (Kan..

• No. 1 Sioux Falls (S.D.) takes its 35-game winning streak into the NAIA/VSN Game of the Week. That streak is college football’s (any level of NCAA or NAIA) longest active winning streak. The NAIA all-time winning streak stands at 42 straight accomplished by Texas A&I (no longer an NAIA institution) in the mid-70s.

• Last week (Oct. 9), Top 25-teams went 16-8 (.667), which included two ranked teams losing to another ranked school. The top-10 teams went 8-1 with No. 9 Saint Francis (Ind.) defeating No. 8 Walsh (Ohio) 20-14. The current top-five is a combined 30-0 on the season.

• After a head-to-head win in the series on Oct. 9, Missouri Valley pulled into a tie with William Jewell (Mo.) for the all-time wins lead in NAIA history. Both clubs sit with 560 all-time victories. Dickinson State (N.D.) recently captured its 400th program win after a 26-16 victory against Jamestown (N.D.) on Sept. 25 and Northwestern Oklahoma State reached the 400-milestone after a 43-14 win over Missouri Science & Technology on Oct. 2.

• Missouri Valley head coach Paul Troth became the newest member of the 100-win club after his Vikings defeated Culver-Stockton (Mo.) 70-0 on Sept. 11. In his 14th season overall, Troth is 103-48 (.682). Overall, there are 11 active NAIA head coaches with at least 100 wins. Three other coaches have a shot at hitting the 100-win mark this year. Coach Mike Feminis at Saint Xavier (Ill.), who is in his 12th year with a 96-39 (.711) mark. His club has averaged 10 wins in each of the last four seasons. The other two on the radar for 100 wins are Dan Kratzer at South Dakota Mines (17th year; 94-89, .514) and Keith Barefield at Northwestern Oklahoma State (15th year; 91-46-2, .662). Refer to page seven for more details.

• One coach is close to hitting the 200-win milestone, coach Carl Poelker of McKendree (Ill.). In his 29th season, he is 195-84-1 (.698). There are seven all-time NAIA coaches to reach 200 wins with three of them on the active list.
• Holding a dubious record is Culver-Stockton (Mo.). The Wildcats hold the longest active losing streak in all levels of college football (NCAA, NAIA) with 30 straight losses. The last victory for Culver-Stockton came on Oct. 20, 2007. The Wildcats face No. 6 Lindenwood (Mo.) on Saturday

NAIA Game of the Week*

No. 4 Morningside (Iowa) (6-0) at No. 1 Sioux Falls (S.D.) (6-0), Victory Sports Network Game of the Week

Saturday, Oct. 16, Sioux Falls, S.D., 6 p.m. CDT, Bob Young Field at the USF Sanford Complex

• In the battle for first-place and bragging rights in the Great Plains Athletic Conference, No. 4 Morningside (Iowa) heads to No. 1 Sioux Falls (S.D.). There are several winning streaks on the line for Sioux Falls -- an overall 35-game winning streak dating back to the end of the 2007 season; 49 straight games against Great Plains Athletic Conference competition; and a 45-game home winning streak. Ironically, the last league loss came against Morningside on Oct. 15, 2005. Overall, USF has won 89 of its last 90 conference games.

• With both teams ranked in the Top 25, this marks the eighth straight meeting with the pair ranked nationally. This is the second time that Sioux Falls is No. 1 and Morningside is No. 4 -- on Nov. 14, 2009, Sioux Falls won 49-21 in the regular season finale.

• This meeting is the 12th all-time, dating back to 1937. Sioux Falls leads 8-3 overall, including a 49-21 win last year in the 2009 Football Championship Series Quarterfinals. Since 2002 (10 meetings), Sioux Falls holds a 35-5-16-4 scoring advantage.

• Morningside boasts one of the nation’s toughest defenses. The Mustangs rank No. 1 in three major categories, rushing defense (61.8 yapg), total defense (192.8 yapg) and scoring defense (9.2 papg). Part of the success has come from forcing 17 turnovers (12 interceptions, five fumbles) in six games.

• The Sioux Falls offense has piled up at least 400 yards of offense in four straight games. Conversely, the defense has limited five of six opponents under 350 yards of yards, including the last three opponents to fewer than 315 yards.
• Morningside coach Steve Ryan is in his ninth season with a 72-26 (.735) record. His winning percentage ranks fifth on the active NAIA list. Sioux Falls coach Jed Stugard is in his first season with 6-0 record. Overall, he is 32-7 with three previous seasons at MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) (2007-09).

• Sioux Falls senior wide receiver Jon Ryan has racked up consecutive GPAC Offensive Player of the Week awards. On the year, he has 34 receptions for 663 yards and is second in the NAIA with 12 touchdown receptions.

* Special thanks to Sioux Falls Sports Information for assistance with game notes

This Week Around the Top 25

• In the second Top-25 matchup this week, No. 14 Kansas Wesleyan heads to No. 7 McPherson (Kan.). Both teams are undefeated and hold first-place in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. Kansas Wesleyan is fresh off a 59-7 thrashing of Haskell Indiana Nations (Kan.) on Oct. 9 and McPherson took a 73-24 game against Saint Mary (Kan.).

• No. 9 Dickinson State (N.D.) hosts (RV) Black Hills State (S.D.) on Saturday in a battle for first-place in the Dakota Athletic Conference -- two other schools are tied in the top-spot. After this weekend, Dickinson wraps up the regular season against those two other teams undefeated in conference play (South Dakota Mines and Minot State (N.D.)). Dickinson State is 6-0 at this point with Black Hills State at 5-1.

• Another key game in the Dakota Athletic Conference is No. 15 South Dakota Mines (5-1) heading to (RV) Minot State (N.D.) (4-2). Both teams are 4-0 in the league. After two losses against NCAA Division II competition, Minot State has won four straight. South Dakota Mines is 5-0 against the NAIA, including a 13-6 win over nationally-ranked Montana Tech in the season opener.

• In the Mid-States Football Association Midwest, Saint Ambrose (Iowa) (3-3) heads to No. 12 William Penn (Iowa) (6-0). A team once ranked as high as No. 17 this season, St. Ambrose lost three straight games before rebounding with a 49-6 win over Waldorf (Iowa) last Saturday. William Penn has been one of the surprises as the Statesmen have earned their first ranking this decade.

Top 25 in Review (Oct. 9)

• Last week was filled with four unranked teams defeating Top-25 opponents. On Oct. 7, Georgetown (Ky.) took down No. 25 (tie) Campbellsville (Ky.), 52-21. On Oct. 9, St. Francis (Ill.) triumphed over No. 12 McKendree (Ill.), 28-24, Midland (Neb.) won 35-23 against No. 25 (tie) Hastings (Neb.) and Nebraska Wesleyan upset No. 25 (tie) Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.), 27-20.

• In the Victory Sports Network Game of the Week, No. 9 Saint Francis (Ind.) came back to defeat No. 8 Walsh (Ohio), 20-14. The Cougars tied the game up as the third quarter came to an end and scored again in the fourth quarter to take the lead. With Walsh driving to potentially take a lead, St. Francis forced a punt and held on to the ball for the final 7:30 of the game. With the win, Saint Francis has now dominated the series taking the last 13 meetings.

• Union (Ky.) and visiting Bethel (Tenn.) put up a pile of video-game statistics as Armond Smith and Mike Brinkley rewrote the record book in leading the Bulldogs to an 84-55 Mid-South Conference West victory. All Smith did was set the single-game records for most rushing yards and rushing touchdowns as he galloped for 312 yards and five touchdowns on only 16 carries, averaging 19.5 yards a carry.

• For the second week in a row, St. Francis (Ill.) scored the game-winning touchdown in the final 15 seconds. This time, freshman wide receiver Deonta Stevens won a battle for the ball in the deep left corner of the endzone and made a spectacular game-winning touchdown catch with :13 to play to stun 12th-ranked McKendree (Ill.), 28-24. It was the first USF victory over the Bearcats in 12 meetings

We’re Going Streaking

• Sioux Falls (S.D.) has won its last 49 straight games against Great Plains Athletic Conference competition as the Cougars sport a 6-0 record this year. The last league loss came against Morningside (Iowa) on Oct. 15, 2005. Overall, USF has won 89 of its last 90 conference games. The Cougars are also riding a 45-game home winning streak -- their next home game is against Morningside on Oct. 16.

• Carroll (Mont.) has won 38 straight conference contests heading into a game against Rocky Mountain (Mont.) on Oct. 16 The last league opponent to defeat the Fighting Saints was Montana State-Northern back on Oct. 28, 2006, in a 10-3 win. Late last year, Carroll had its 24-game home winning streak at Nelson Stadium snapped after a 42-35 loss at the hands of Lindenwood (Mo.) on Dec. 5, 2009, in the national semifinals.

• St. Francis (Ind.) had one of the nation’s longest home winning streaks snapped late in the 2009 season. Saint Xavier (Ill.) ended the 56-game home winning streak with a 36-24 defeat of St. Francis on  Nov. 7, 2009.

Cream of the Crop

• Through games played on Oct. 9, there have been numerous noteworthy individual performances. Overall, there have been 161 100-yard rushing games; 147 100-yard receiving games; and 52 300-yard passing games.

• The best performance on the ground came from Armond Smith of Union (Ky.). Against Bethel (Tenn.) on Oct. 9, he rushed 16 times for 312 yards and five touchdowns. There have been 12 games of 200-plus yards.

• In the passing game, Joey Erickson of Tabor (Kan.) threw for 511 yards on 36-of-53 passing with four touchdowns and three interceptions against Peru State (Neb.) on Oct. 2. There have been 13 games of 400-plus yards.

• For the receiving corps, Andy Skinner of McPherson (Kan.) finished with eight catches for 268 yards (33.5 ypc) and three scores. That came against Friends (Kan.) on Sept. 11. There have been seven games of 200-plus yards.