Missouri Valley football CONFERENCE \ Saturday’s other games

South Dakota State 24, Missouri State 17

SPRINGFIELD, MO. — Redshirt freshman quarterback Thomas O’Brien, starting in his first game, threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns to lead South Dakota State. South Dakota State (4-1, 3-0 Missouri Valley Conference) led Missouri State (3-3, 1-2) 17-10 at halftime and took a third-quarter Missouri State turnover 80 yards, ending with a touchdown pass to Glen Fox. The Bears’ attempt to tie with 38 seconds left ended in an interception. Missouri State opened the game with a 49-yard field goal by Matt Hottelman but South Dakota State scored twice over a span of 2:18 to go ahead 14-3. Kyle Minett scored on a 3-yard run and OBrien connected on a 23-yard pass to Saunders Montague. Missouri State scored on a 6-yard run by Miguel Warren before South Dakota State closed the half with an 18-yard field goal by Peter Reifenrath.

Northern Iowa 42, North Dakota State 27

FARGO, N.D. — Pat Grace shook off an injury and threw three touchdown passes, leading Northern Iowa. Grace left the game briefly late in the third quarter after losing a fumble while being sacked. He returned to throw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, a 39-yard strike to Maurice Turner and a 16-yarder to Schuyler Oordt. Grace finished 14 of 21 for 229 yards for the Panthers (5-1, 3-0 Missouri Valley). D.J. Hord had six catches for 105 yards and a touchdown for the Panthers. Derrick Law ran for 121 yards on eight carries. Pat Paschall rushed for 115 yards for NDSU (1-5, 0-3). It was his sixth straight 100-yard game. North Dakota State rolled up 514 total yards against a UNI defense that entered the game ranked second in the nation in yards allowed.

Southern Illinois 43, Illinois State 23

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Deji Karim ran for 273 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead Southern Illinois. Karim’s 93-yard run opened the scoring midway through the first quarter for the Salukis (4-1, 3-0 Missouri Valley). He also scored on a 31-yard run with 27 seconds remaining in the quarter. Illinois State (2-4, 1-2) stayed in it behind Matt Brown’s pair of touchdown passes, including an 81-yarder to Tyrone Walker. The Redbirds tied the game at 23-23 on Zach Kutch’s third field goal of the game, but Kyle Dougherty booted a 45-yarder to put Southern Illinois ahead to stay. Karim scored on a 21-yard run early in the fourth quarter and Chris Dieker tossed the second of his TD passes, a 42-yarder to Ryan Kernes. Brown finished with 321 yards passing for Illinois State, with Eyad Salem catching 14 for 114 yards and a TD.

Associated Press