FCS Roundup Week 9

The FCS playoff picture at the top is continuing to take shape, but there’s still a lot up for grabs. Let’s dive in.

The biggest game of the day was South Dakota State vs South Dakota. It wasn’t the prettiest game by either team but the drama absolutely delivered. The ending stretch of the game was particularly crazy. South Dakota was in the RedZone looking to tie the game but fumbled. The Coyotes defense was ready to make amends for it with a spectacular play, perfect hit on the ball situation forced it to pop back and the Coyotes returned it for the tying TD. South Dakota had a FG to win it at the end but couldn’t make it. In OT the Coyotes couldn’t finish the drive with a TD, which proved to be it left the door open for South Dakota State to win it, as you would expect, the Jackrabbits finished the job to win it. Both teams have many plays they wish they could have back. South Dakota State did well to avoid a 2 game losing streak, while South Dakota showed they aren’t just merely better than the rest, they have a team that can beat anyone in FCS on any given Saturday.

This was far from the only wild action in the Missouri Valley. The biggest upset of the day was North Dakota falling in an upset to Youngstown State. It was a back and forth battle all game. North Dakota grabbed the lead in the 4th quarter but the Penguins responded with a late drive and FG to bring it to OT. Both teams scored a TD in OT but North Dakota went for 2 to win it there rather than extend it to another period and need a TD/2pt conversion, but the Penguins stopped them to win. It’s going to be costly for the Fighting Hawks in terms of seeding, for Youngstown State they’ve had a rough season including a lot of close losses so this game definitely felt good for them.

Missouri State got in an offensive shootout with Northern Iowa but behind a great game from Jacob Clark and 300 yards rushing the Bears were able to outscore the Panthers. Missouri State is still undefeated in Missouri Valley play and the Bears are now on a 6 game win streak for the first time in 34 years. The Bears aren’t eligible for the FCS playoffs with their upcoming FBS move but they’re definitely going out with a bang.

One of the biggest comebacks in the Missouri Valley was Indiana State’s comeback win over Southern Illinois. Indiana State trailed 17-0 but stormed back to win 20-17. This was a huge win for the Sycamores who now have as many wins this season as they did the last 2 years combined. Slowly but surely the program is making progress. On the other side it represents rock bottom for Southern Illinois, a season with such promise has faded to a 2-6 record.

The biggest showdown in the Ivy League was Dartmouth visiting Columbia. Columbia was hoping to position themselves for their first Ivy League title in a long time, while Dartmouth hoped to keep their unbeaten record alive. Dartmouth was unfazed by the challenge they rolled to a 24-7 lead and held off a late Columbia rally to win. Dartmouth is completely in control of the conference now.

There’s been a lot of transition, a new head coach, a lot of changes to the roster but the Patriot League might still belong to Holy Cross. The Crusaders took down Lafayette on the road to move to 3-0 in conference play. It didn’t seem like they had it in them when they struggled in non-conference play but they’ve come alive against their conference foes.

It seemed like the NEC might be wide open but maybe it isn’t? We’re starting to see some separation at the top with Robert Morris and Duquesne seemingly getting some separation from the rest of the league. Both still could face a test against Central Connecticut State in the last 2 weeks of the year but circle your calendar for 11/9 when Robert Morris faces Duquesne in peak NECtion.

Rhode Island faced Maine in a battle of two of the hottest teams in the CAA. The Rams defense dominated to help lead them to victory. I covered last week how long it’s been since they’ve made the FCS playoffs so it’s great to see this run continue.

The other team that’s unbeaten in CAA play is Richmond. The Spiders blew out Bryant on their way to yet another win. It seemed like it could be a challenging year for them after an 0-2 start but Richmond is getting better each week and looks to be a clear threat to win the conference.

Perhaps the biggest CAA showdown was Stony Brook hosting William & Mary. The SeaWolves got a statement win last week but could they keep it going? The answer was an emphatic “yes” as they rolled to a 35-13 win.

The biggest game in the SOCON was Mercer vs Western Carolina. This was yet another occasion where Western Carolina looked great in the first half but couldn’t maintain it all the way through the game. Mercer grabbed the lead in the 2nd half and never let go from there. It was a good effort to get the win despite the Bears defense once again struggling. It seems conference foes are finding ways to expose the flaws in their defense.

Samford meanwhile seemed to be gaining momentum after their big win over Mercer last week but they got caught napping heading into this one. You can’t do that against The Citadel who controlled this game from start to finish in a 28-11 win. This was a huge win for The Citadel to move them to 4-5, they have made major progress this year.

Incarnate Word at Southeastern was a critical game to decide who would potentially win the Southland and it was a thrilling battle throughout. Southeastern showed they could compete toward the top of the conference but unfortunately for the Lions they came up short due to a couple critical mistakes. A fumble return TD in the 2nd quarter hurt but right when they were gaining momentum late they threw a pick 6 to put Incarnate Word back up double digits. This was a huge effort from UIW’s side to survive the Lions challenge. While Lamar and SFA will pose challenges, the Cardinals have passed their biggest conference tests at this point.

SE Missouri State continues to roll but they received a tough test with Gardner-Webb. Gardner-Webb jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead but eventually SE Missouri State was able to come back to take the lead and they answered every time Gardner-Webb got the game within a score. It was a huge win for SEMO to remain in the top 10. Gardner-Webb meanwhile is a very odd team. They’re 2-6 now but they now have one score losses to Wofford, James Madison, Charlotte and SEMO.

It was a quiet week for the Big Sky because a lot of teams shared the same bye week. There were only 3 games and one of them featured Montana shutting out Northern Colorado, one of the rare times this year where the Griz had a rather drama free win. Idaho also handled Eastern Washington and the Vandals will finally get a much needed bye next week.

That being said, the Big Sky always delivers on entertaining football so all the action was packed into the Idaho State/Sacramento State game. The first half had it all with back and forth scores, Idaho State had a wild fumble return TD and then both teams scored a TD each in the last minute of the half. The second half had less scoring but all the tension as Idaho State held off a late Sacramento State drive to a FG for the game to go to OT. In OT the Bengals once again held the Hornets to a FG and then with a fantastic TD catch the Bengals managed to grab the victory to go to 4-5. While this season hasn’t been what was expected for Sacramento State this is still a very talented team Idaho State took down. It’s been great to see the progress the Bengals are showing in Cody Hawkins’ second year. They have a bye week this week to prep for a final critical stretch against Weber State, Eastern Washington and Idaho. The Bengals haven’t won in Ogden since 1984, they were only a few years removed from a national title back then.

The MEAC finally had some more conference games and the most exciting was Norfolk State edging the defending champs Howard 21-20. It was a huge win for the Spartans who seemed primed to take a step forward this year but struggled in non-conference play.

South Carolina State is turning into a wagon it feels like. The Bulldogs were incredibly impressive in blowing out Delaware State 69-35. It was the highest point total for SC State since 2011. They’re now 5-2 and put in the work in non-conference play by beating The Citadel, and Tennessee Tech among others. Meanwhile NC Central faced a stiff test from Morgan State’s defense, but prevailed 16-7. Thursday night 7pm Eastern on ESPN2 is when SC State and NC Central face off. That’s a huge stage for these programs and a must watch game as it will most likely decide who will win the MEAC.

The SWAC East appears to be much tougher than the West. Southern looks to be the best in the West so far but Florida A&M rebounded from their loss to Jackson State and crushed Southern. Meanwhile Jackson State didn’t suffer any sort of letdown in beating Bethune-Cookman.

Prairie View was off to a 2-5 start but suffered a lot of close losses during that stretch. The Panthers finally brought a one score game home with a win. They jumped all over East Texas A&M/Texas A&M Commerce/whatever else they want to call themselves early on and held on for a 34-27 win. Winning a non-conference game was huge, we’ll see if they can carry the momentum down the stretch.

The headline game in the SWAC this weekend was the Magic City Classic between Alabama State or Alabama A&M. Entering the game it seemed like a lot of people expected Alabama A&M to win, and the Alabama State Hornets took that personally. They rolled to a 17-3 halftime lead that eventually ballooned to a 27-3 lead before they held off a late rally. Alabama State has a loss to Florida A&M but they will host Jackson State later in the year so the schedule still sets up well for Alabama State to remain in contention for the East.