5 Iowa college football storylines: Clash of unbeatens at Coe among non-FBS highlights this week

Battles of conference leaders, streaks and hot starts. Here are five Iowa things To watch In non-FBS college football this weekend.

Clash of unbeatens at Coe

Coe will celebrate Homecoming at Clark Field, facing Nebraska Wesleyan Saturday. Both teams are unbeaten and share a spot with Wartburg atop the American Rivers Conference standings at 3-0 overall, 1-0 in the conference.

Coe topped Central, 19-11, in a defensive battle on the road. The Prairie Wolves defeated Simpson, 21-13, at home. The Kohawks have outscored foes by an average of 29.4 points per game, ranking second in the conference with six interceptions and tied for second with six sacks. NWU leads with seven sacks and is third with one fewer interception. Coe linebacker Jay Oostendorp is tied for second in the American Rivers Conference with two sacks, while Ben Ridenour was named A-R-C Defensive Player of the Week, tallying eight tackles, four solo, 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack and interception against the Dutch.

Upper Iowa’s winning streak

Don’t look now but Upper Iowa has won consecutive games for the first time since October 2019 and produced its best start since going 3-1 to open 2017. The Peacocks will attempt to match that mark against Michigan Tech Saturday at Harms-Eischeid Stadium in Fayette.

The Peacocks throttled Saint Ambrose, 45-26, two weeks ago, benefiting from three Willy Camacho scores, including two rushing, and 310 passing yards and three TDs from quarterback Darryl Overstreet Jr. Upper Iowa beat Missouri S&T, 38-26, last week, with former Linn-Mar QB Marcus Orr earning Great Lakes Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors. Orr passed for 234 yards and five TDs (four in the second quarter), completing 21 of 31 passes. He hit former Montezuma standout Eddie Burgess three times for 41 yards and two TDs. Burgess also had a TD catch against the Bees. Watch how Upper Iowa will handle the QB situation with both posting big games.

Cam Miller’s scorching hot start

North Dakota State QB Cam Miller has carved up his first three opponents. He has led the FCS No. 2 Bison to a 3-0 mark, entering Saturday’s Homecoming game against South Dakota in the Fargo Dome.

Keep an eye on the Solon alum’s production against tougher teams but his performances so far have been exceptional. Miller is fresh off a 49-31 victory over Central Arkansas where he was 18-of-19 passing for 200 yards and two TDs, adding two rushing touchdowns. He passed for 152 and rushed for 68 and two scores in Week 2 against Maine. Miller opened the season with 257 yards and three TDs, including 174 and two passing. Overall, Miller has completed an astounding 80.6 percent of his passes (50 of 62) for 526 yards and four TDs. He also has 158 yards and five scores on the ground. The Coyotes (2-1) have allowed just six points total the last two games.

Hunting down Hunter Clasen

Wartburg’s Hunter Clasen has been an offensive dynamo in the opening three games of the season. He ranks first in NCAA Division III with nine touchdowns, rushing TDs (9) and 54 total points scored. The former Bellevue prep is tied for the nation’s lead with 18 points per game.

Clasen has 434 rushing yards, which is second in the country. He is 24th in the country with 6.89 yards per carry and 150 all-purpose yards average. The Knights (3-0) face Simpson (1-2), which allows more than 38 points and 142 rushing yards per game.

Mount Vernon Mustangs on college rosters

According to Mount Vernon Coach Lance Pedersen, 15 former Mustangs are on current college football rosters at various levels. Many will be in action this weekend.

Lineman Keean Kamerling and Brad Vislisel play for Northern Iowa. QB Brady Ketchum, receivers Owen Brase and Collin Swantz and defensive lineman Aidan Nosek are at Central. Henry Ryan and Dietrick Vondracek play for Coe. Sam Adams opted to stay in town to play at Cornell, which has a bye this week.

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Others are at out-of-state programs. Linebacker Garett Hormann competes for Central Missouri State, while Zatyk Holub is with Merchant Marine.

Jack Drahos (Wartburg), Aydan Holub-Schultz (Luther), Ben Crock (Buena Vista) and Cael Crawford (William Penn) round out the list of college players following in the footsteps of former Mustangs and current pros Tristan Wirfs (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and Jack Cochrane (Kansas City Chiefs).

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com