Sersiouly, you can get by in this league running the ball...

Okay, if you've ever read one of my columns, you know I preach passing games, but there was two pretty impressive wins Saturday night that didn't include much of a passing game.

Zac Dickey and Pittsburg State ran their option to another victory, this time over Emporia State to the tune of 38-14. Dickey only completed half of his 14 passes, but did have a nice 40-yarder to Andrew Casteneda.

Then there's Missouri Western, who Pitt ran all over a week ago but completely turned the table in a dominating performance against Central Missouri. The Griffons outgained the Mules on the ground 238-20, while the MoWest D got to UCM QB Tommy Corwin seven times, four of them by superhuman David Bass.

Little P, as I dubbed Travis Partridge after his disappointing performance last week, completed a respectable 14 of his 26 passes, but only had 109 yards through the air. His biggest play was a 68-yard scamper for a tocuhdown in the second quarter.

I don't know that I'm ready to retire the Little P nickname just yet though; I wanna see what happens in the next few weeks.

Sticking with Missouri Western, WHAT A TURNAROUND. I totally flubbed this prediction, but you know what, I saw it coming.

Seriously, remember last week when I was singing praises for Missouri Western and saying how iffy Central Missouri was going to be? Look past the fact I flip-flop my stances quicker than the Big 12 loses members and realize that sometimes I"m a week early, but I do know what I'm talking about...

Okay, so this week wasn't entirely without big passing games. Truman State is another team that really showed that 'Game 1-to-Game 2' improvement you always hear people talk about. Losers by a count of 66-3 last week against Northwest, the Bulldogs came back from behind to knock off Fort Hays, who had a heck of a game from running back Andre Smith (21 rushes for 204 yards, 1 TD). Funny thing for the Tigers, plagued last year by special teams, it was a fumble on a punt return by Smith that sealed the victory for Truman.

Gotta mention JB Clark real quick. The Lehigh transfer came back from that laugher against the Bearcats to complete 28 of 48 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns while running in another.

On Thursday, Washburn might have proved when you play a team that plays as bad as Lincoln did, there's no need to pass. The Ichabods scored touchdowns on their first eight possessions, holding the Black and Blue Tigers to 15 plays and just 10 yards on their first six times with the ball. Four of those eight early scores came on one-play drives, all running plays.

Dane Simoneau did end up putting up eight passes, with another 13 coming from backups, but clearly, Washburn could have ran the ball every single play and been just fine.

So seriously, I don't ever want to hear "All he talks about is Northwest" EVER again. They once again dominated on Mel Tjeerdsma Day and I've waited this long to even mention them.

Maybe that's because their quarterback, Blake Christopher, was the only MIAA guy to go over 300 yards this week and kind of went against the point of this blog.

All I can say is be careful fellow MIAA teams, because Northwest is coming, and they're as good as ever.

Here's my picks for MIAA players of the week:

Offense: Blake Christopher QB Northwest Missouri: 17 for 26 308 yards, 3 TDs, 2 rushes, 13 yards, 1 TD
Defense: David Bass DE Missouri Western: 7 tackles, 4 sacks, 1 pass break-up (stats say one, but I could have sworn it was at least 2)
Special Teams: Derek Koon K Truman State - 3 for 3 on FGs of 42, 37 and 20 yards

Agree with what I have to say? Disagree? Good, now tell me why. Leave a comment below, e-mail me at [email protected], @ me on twitter @miAARONd2 or message me at Facebook.com/apheintz.

Box scores for this week's action
Washburn 66 Lincoln 26
Truman State 36 Fort Hays 31
Missouri Western 23 Central Missouri 6
Northwest Missouri 52 Sioux Falls 17
Pittsburg State 38 Emporia State 14