The 2019 Missouri Valley Football Conference season was the 34th season of

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

play for the

Missouri Valley Football Conference The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivis ...

and part of the

2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season The 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The FCS Champions ...

. This was the MVFC's 8th consecutive season with 10 teams, and would be their last for now as they added

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

in the following offseason.

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as th ...

won the conference title and achieved the number 1 overall seed again in the 2019 FCS Playoffs. The Bison would go on to win their 8th

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

in 9 years.

South Dakota State South Dakota State University is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually ...

Illinois State Illinois State University (ISU) is a Public university, public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is reco ...

, and

Northern Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

all made the playoffs, with the Jacks being the number 7 overall seed. Illinois State and Northern Iowa both played in the first round. Illinois State beat

Southeast Missouri State Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing the Holland Col ...

and Northern Iowa beat

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

to advance to the second round. In the second round, Illinois State beat 8th overall seed Central Arkansas and Northern Iowa upset South Dakota State to both advance to the quarterfinals. North Dakota State beat Nicholls to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, NDSU beat Illinois State to advance to the semifinals, and Northern Iowa lost to 2nd seeded James Madison. North Dakota State would beat Montana State in the semifinals, and James Madison in the championship.

Previous season

In 2018,

won the conference and received the automatic bid to the 2018 playoffs. The Bison won their seventh

NCAA Division I Football Championship The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was kn ...

title in eight years.

and

also made the playoffs. NDSU and SDSU were both national seeds, with the Bison being the number 1 overall seed and the Jacks being the number 5 overall seed and received a bye to the second round. Northern Iowa played in the first round, and beat Lamar to advance to the second round. Northern Iowa lost to

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

in the second round. North Dakota State beat Montana State in the second round and Colgate in the quarterfinals, before meeting South Dakota State in the semifinals and winning to advance to the title game. South Dakota State beat Duquesne in the second round, and Kennesaw State in the quarterfinals before losing to NDSU in the semifinals. NDSU beat Eastern Washington in the title game.

Coaching changes

North Dakota State

On December 13, 2018,

Matt Entz Matthew John Entz (born October 9, 1972) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at North Dakota State University. Entz took over from the departing Chris Klieman after Klieman led the 2018 North Dakota State Bison football ...

was named the new head coach at North Dakota State. Entz takes over for Chris Klieman, who left the program for a head coaching job at Kansas State. The Wildcats allowed Klieman to finish out the 2018 playoffs at NDSU before heading to Manhattan.

Preseason

MVFC Media Day

Preseason Poll

The annual preseason poll; voted on by conference coaches, athletic directors, and media members.

Preseason awards

Individual awards

Rankings

Schedule

All times Central time. † denotes Homecoming game
^ denotes

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

ranking for FBS teams

Regular season schedule

Week 0

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

In Week 9, the 2019 edition of the

Dakota Marker The Dakota Marker is the trophy awarded to the winner of the annual football game played between the rival Division I Championship Subdivision North Dakota State University Bison and the South Dakota State University Jackrabbits. Both schools ar ...

was preceded by ESPN's College Gameday on the campus of

South Dakota State University South Dakota State University is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually-operating university in South Dakota. The ...

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Postseason

In 2019, four MVFC teams made the FCS playoffs. North Dakota State (No. 1) and South Dakota State (No. 7) both received a first round bye. Illinois State and Northern Iowa both were unseeded and played in the first round. All times Central time. Tournament seedings in parentheses

First round

Second round

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

National Championship

MVFC records vs other conferences

2019-20 records against non-conference foes (through January 11, 2020): Post Season

Awards and honors

Player of the week honors

Players of the Year

On November 27, 2021, the Missouri Valley Football Conference released their Players of the Year and All-Conference Honors.

Offensive Player of the Year

* Trey Lance, QB (Fr,

)

Defensive Player of the Year

Derrek Tuszka Derrek Tuszka (born July 11, 1996) is an American football outside linebacker for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at North Dakota State. Early life Tuszka attended Warner High School in ...

, DE (Sr, North Dakota State)

Newcomer of the Year

* Trey Lance, QB (Fr, North Dakota State)

Freshman of the Year

* Trey Lance, QB (North Dakota State)

Coach of the Year

(North Dakota State)

All-Conference Teams

All-Newcomer Team

Source:

National awards

On November 25, 2019, STATS Perform released their list of finalists for the Walter Payton Award, Buck Buchanan Award, and the Jerry Rice Award, respectively.

Walter Payton Award

The Walter Payton Award is given to the best FCS offensive player. Trey Lance (QB) of

won the award. Lance was also the first freshman to win the Walter Payton Award in its 33-year history. Here were the other MVFC finalists: * Cade Johnson (WR -

) * James Robinson (RB -

)

Buck Buchanan Award

The Buck Buchanan Award is given to the best FCS defensive player. Here were the MVFC finalists: * Jeremy Chinn (S -

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...

) * Christian Rozeboom (LB -

) * Elerson Smith (DL -

) *

(DL -

)

Jerry Rice Award

The Jerry Rice Award is given to the best FCS freshman. Trey Lance (QB) of

won the award. Here were the other MVFC finalists: * Omar Brown (DB -

) * Javon Williams Jr. (RB -

)

FCS Coach of the Year

was the only finalist for FCS Coach of the Year. Finalists source:
Winners source:

All-Americans

Home attendance

Bold - Exceed capacity
†Season high

2020 NFL Draft

The following list includes all MVFC players who were drafted in the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

Undrafted free agents

Source:

Head coaches

''Through January 11, 2020''

References

{{Missouri Valley Football Conference navbox 2019 Missouri Valley Football Conference season