Three league teams posted wins against ranked teams on the road, and each has a representative among this week’s Missouri Valley Football Conference Players of the Week:
QB Ryan Saeger and P/PK Miles Bergner of South Dakota; LB Brett Taylor of Western Illinois; and QB Taryn Christion of South Dakota State.
Offense QB Ryan Saeger, South Dakota, Jr., 6-4, 220, Hartland (Wis.) Arrowhead High Saeger accounted for all three touchdowns in South Dakota’s 24-21 upset of second-ranked North Dakota State Saturday in Fargo. He passed for 202 yards and ran for 92 more. He led the Coyotes on a 15-play, 72-yard touchdown drive that tied the game at 21-21 with 4:47 remaining. He converted two third downs with his feet on a 55-yard drive that set up the game-winning field goal. Saeger threw two 8-yard touchdown passes and snuck in from a yard away for a third score. His 202 yards passing were three shy of his career high. The victory marked USD’s first win in Fargo since 1978 and snapped USD’s 14-game conference losing streak and NDSU’s MVFC-record 26-game home win streak.
Defense LB Brett Taylor, Western Illinois, So., 6-2, 230, Macomb (Ill.) High Taylor recorded a game-high 12 tackles, including 11 solo stops, as Western ended a four-game losing streak to the Panthers. Taylor made a key stop inside the 10-yard line, keeping UNI out of the endzone and forcing a field goal instead. Taylor, who added a tackle for loss, registered his fifth 10-plus tackle game this year and third consecutive. The victory also marked the first win at the UNI-Dome since 2006, and in the process ended a four-game losing streak to the Panthers. Western’s victory was the second in as many years over a ‘Top 15’ ranked opponent on the road.
Special Teams P/PK Miles Bergner, South Dakota, Jr., 6-0, 225, Longmont (Colo.) High Bergner made a game-winning 33-yard field goal as time expired to give South Dakota a 24-21 upset of second-ranked North Dakota State Saturday in Fargo. It marked USD’s first win in Fargo since 1978 and snapped USD’s 14-game conference losing streak and NDSU’s MVFC-record 26-game home win streak. Bergner also averaged a career-best 49 yards on four punts and had a season-long of 61 yards. He also had two touchbacks on four kickoffs.
Newcomer QB Taryn Christion, South Dakota State, Fr., 6-2, 205, Sioux Falls (S.D.) Roosevelt High Christion improved to 2-0 as South Dakota State’s starting quarterback, helping lead the Jackrabbits to their second consecutive win over a ranked opponent with a 38-8 win at Youngstown State on Oct. 17. Christion completed 8-of-14 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown, and also gained 75 yards on the ground. He scored on a 70-yard run early in the fourth quarter for the middle of three second-half touchdowns for the Jackrabbits.
