5 Iowa college football storylines: Coe travels to Central for game with playoff implications

Coe and Upper Iowa still entertain postseason possibilities in regular-season finale. Cornell attempts to end Curt Ritchie’s first season on a good note. Wartburg tries to close regular-season unbeaten and more. Here are five small college storylines.

CENTRAL HOSTS COE WITH POSSIBLE POSTSEASON BERTHS AT STAKE

The season comes down to a single game at Pella. Coe and Central are tied for second in the American Rivers Conference. Both are 6-1 in the conference. Central is 8-1 overall and Coe is 7-2. The Dutch are ranked 19th nationally by both the American Football Coaches Association and d3football.com. Coe received nine votes in the AFCA poll and two from d3football.com. Wartburg has wins over both and has a lock on the conference title. Both teams could use a win to bolster at-large postseason berth. Central has a little more margin for error and still make the playoffs. Coe is in a likely win-to-get-in scenario, but Kohawks Coach Tyler Staker said that might not be enough, despite their only losses have been competitive to No. 5 University of Wisconsin-River Falls (8-1) and the Knights (9-0, 7-0).

“Playing our brand of football and playing confident,” Staker said. “Our guys will be ready to go. It’s the last (regular-season) game of the year. There are no surprises right now. You continue to work hard and work to get better.”

The key matchup pits Coe’s offense against Central’s defense. The Kohawks’ offense leads the A-R-C with 4,669 yards (518.8 per game) and 49 touchdowns. Central is second in the league, allowing 294.9 yards a contest. Coe quarterback Brady Kelly continued his monster season with 318 yards and four TDs Saturday in a 63-7 win over Loras, giving him 2,429 yards and 28 scores. He set Coe’s single-season record for passing TDs, surpassing Gavin Glenn’s mark of 27 in 2016. Kelly is 543 yards shy of Brad Boyle’s single-season record of 2,972 in 2010. Kelly would likely need two games to have a chance at the yardage record. He also has a chance to set school records for QB rating and completion percentage. Kelly owns a 207.39 rating with a 70.33 completion percentage, connecting on 147 of 209 attempts. Former Lisbon prep Cole Clark leads Central in tackles with 78 total tackles, ranking fourth in the A-R-C. The Dutch linebacker is tied with Evan Schroeder (Elkader Central) for a team-high 7.5 tackles for loss. Coe has won the last three meetings against Central, including a 16-13 victory in double overtime last year. The Kohawks have also won two straight at Pella.

UPPER IOWA HEADS TO INDIANAPOLIS WITH GLVC TITLE ON THE LINE

The Peacocks have an opportunity for their first Great Lakes Valley Conference football title in their third season with the league. They will have a tough test with No. 10 University of Indianapolis, which is 9-1 overall and 7-0 in the GLVC. The Greyhounds have a one-game lead on Upper Iowa (8-2, 6-1) and Truman State (7-3, 6-1). Indianapolis has a win over Truman, which beat Upper Iowa. A victory for Upper Iowa will force a share for the conference title. The Peacocks are coming off a 31-8 win over Quincy (Ill.) University on Saturday, setting a record in wins and posting a perfect home record for the first time since moving to NCAA Division II in 2004. Upper Iowa earned its eighth win, tying a school record for single-season records set in 1964. The Peacocks climbed to No. 7 in the D-II Super Region 3 rankings. The final rankings will be released Sunday and the top eight will qualify for the playoffs. Upper Iowa has had a potent pass game behind quarterback Darryl Overstreet Jr. (STATS) and receiver Mante Morrow (STATS) but the ground game thrived against Quincy. The Peacocks rushed for 407 yards, including 198 yards and two TDs by Jayden Gordon. Upper Iowa surpassed 300 rushing yards in a game for the first time since 2017. Upper Iowa’s defense has been stingy, allowing just 59 rushing yards to Quincy holding an opponent under 100 yards rushing for the fifth time this season. The Peacocks will try to stop Greyhounds’ QB Gavin Sukup, who earned d2football.com National Offensive Player of the Week honors after a 66-21 win over Southwest Baptist. He passed for 419 yards and six TDs, adding another score on the ground.

WARTBURG VIES FOR PERFECT REGULAR SEASON

The sixth-ranked Knights will attempt to post a perfect regular season, facing Buena Vista Saturday at home. Wartburg has won the last three games against the Beavers, who handed the Knights their last A-R-C loss on Oct. 30, 2021. BVU won that game 24-20 in Storm Lake. Wartburg has rattled off a record 33 straight conference wins. With a win, Wartburg will become the first program since Central (1964-67) to win four straight league titles.

CORNELL LOOKS TO END WITH WIN AT GRINNELL

The Rams will conclude their first season under head coach Curt Ritchie on Saturday at Grinnell. Cornell is 3-6 overall and 3-5 in the Midwest Conference, while Grinnell is 2-7 and 2-6. If the Rams win, Ritchie will become just the ninth Cornell head coach to win at least four wins in his first season, according to coaching records that date back to 1902. Cornell has won 12 straight in the series. Grinnell’s last victory over Cornell was 26-25 in 2008.

MCSHANE LEADS SDSU DEFENSE

Former MFL MarMac standout and junior linebacker Cullen McShane leads South Dakota State in tackles. McShane has a team-best 73 total tackles, 41 solo and 7.5 tackles for loss. He ranks eighth in the Missouri Valley Football Conference in total tackles, averaging 7.3 per game. McShane also has two pass breakups, a sack, one QB hurry and a forced fumble. SDSU is ranked 15th nationally with a 7-3 record. The Jackrabbits (3-3 MVFC) host No. 13 Illinois State (7-3, 4-2) Saturday in Brookings, S.D.

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