Expect change across the upcoming Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll after a wild Week 2 in which nationally ranked teams suffered upset losses and three teams beat FBS opponents.
Surely, it’s November already, right?
The emotional highs and lows have been off the chart already in FCS football, and this weekend’s second full Saturday of action was particularly stunning for so early in the 2024 college football season – from three FCS wins over FBS opponents to surprising Top 25 upsets to a sense that competitive conference races are on the way.
Yeah, whew!
FCS Football Week 2 Review
Jackrabbits Get Back on Track
Top-ranked South Dakota State honored its 2023 FCS championship team prior to the Jackrabbits’ home opener against UIW, then celebrated getting back to a higher level of play via a 45-24 win over the No. 12 Cardinals in the FCS Game of the Week. (The full Top 25 scoreboard is here.)
The stars came out for coach Jimmy Rogers’ Jackrabbits: Walter Payton Award-winning quarterback Mark Gronowski passed for 285 yards and two of his four touchdown passes to wide receiver Griffin Wilde; Amar Johnson rushed for 112 yards and two TDs; and linebacker Adam Bock had nine tackles, including three for loss.
The Jacks’ 29-game winning streak ended at Oklahoma State in their season opener, but their 22 straight home victories are the active high in the FCS.
Wofford: 2-0 Against 2023 Playoff Teams
Wofford only won its final two games while going 2-9 last season. That’s how many wins the Terriers already have over 2023 FCS playoff teams to open this season.
A week after rallying past Gardner-Webb, coach Shawn Watson’s squad won on the road again, 26-19 at No. 14 Richmond. Redshirt freshman Amari Odom passed for two touchdowns and the defense forced four turnovers.
Wofford was picked eighth out of nine teams in the Southern Conference’s preseason poll.
Campbell Posts Historic Win
Call it a split of Top 25 upsets between CAA Football and the Southern Conference.
While Wofford surprised Richmond for the SoCon, CAA second-year member Campbell gained its program’s first-ever victory over a Top 25 squad, 24-16 at No. 17 Western Carolina. Chad Mascoe Jr. passed for 306 yards and two touchdowns to VJ Wilkins and rushed for another TD, while the defense forced five turnovers, including four interceptions of Catamounts standout Cole Gonzales.
The win was the first for Campbell first-year coach Braxton Harris.
NEC Makes Them See Red (Flash)
Saint Francis didn’t exactly appear primed for an FBS upset after opening the season with a loss to non-scholarship Dayton, but the Red Flash scored the first 16 points at Kent State en route to a 23-17 triumph. It was just the second win against the upper tier of Division I in Northeast Conference history (Duquesne beat Ohio U. in 2021).
Mac Plummer kicked three field goals (50, 33 and 46) and quarterback Jeff Hoenstine had both a TD pass and TD run for coach Chris Villarrial’s Red Flash.
Vandals Take Down Wyoming
Idaho has been accustomed to playing two FBS opponents since it dropped back to the FCS level in 2018, but by the way the results are going, the upper tier may not want to continue scheduling the Vandals.
After putting a scare into then-No. 3 Oregon in its season opener, Idaho beat Wyoming 17-13, marking the second consecutive year it’s posted a win over an FBS opponent.
The offense was mostly new entering the season and season-opening quarterback Jack Layne is sidelined with an injury. But redshirt freshman Jack Wagner showed composure in his first carer start in place of Layne, and the Vandals defense was outstanding again as linebacker Jaxton Eck, the son of third-year coach Jason Eck, led the team in tackles (nine) for the second straight game and defensive end Keyshawn James-Newby racked up three sacks.
Southern Utah trips up UTEP
UTEP first-year coach Scott Walden wasn’t going to overlook Southern Utah – his Austin Peay squad barely got past the Thunderbirds last season, winning 48-45 in the United Athletic Conference – but the Miners failed to prevent an upset.
Danny King’s 33-yard field goal in overtime was the difference as SUU won 27-24 for its third all-time FBS win, and the first since 2013. Targhee Lambson was the standout, with 20 carries for 183 yards and two touchdowns.
North Dakota: Home is Where the Wins Are
North Dakota simply didn’t want to give up the nation’s longest winning streak in home openers: The No. 23 Fighting Hawks scored the final 20 points against No. 4 Montana for a 27-24 win, stretching their run to 38.
The Fighting Hawks had nearly a 14½-minute edge in time of possession. C.J. Elrichs tied the game and won it with two field goals in the fourth quarter.
Stock Up, Stock Down
Stock Up: Three teams got the jump in their conference standings. The biggest win belonged to Southeast Missouri, which topped rival UT Martin 45-42 in two overtimes in the Big South-OVC. Paxton DeLaurent passed for six touchdowns before DC Pippin provided a game-winning, 40-yard field goal. Additionally, Weber State will sit alone in first place in the Big Sky for the next three weeks after a 45-16 cruise past Portland State, and Abilene Christian stopped West Georgia 38-24 to open the UAC schedule.
Stock Down: Incredibly, seven different conferences have a defending champion off to a 0-2 start this season: Gardner-Webb and UT Martin (Big South-OVC co-champs); Richmond (CAA tri-champ); Duquesne (Northeast); Holy Cross (Patriot co-champ); Furman (Southern); Nicholls (Southland); and Austin Peay (United Athletic).
Around FCS Nation
Before most NFL teams had even played a game, Montana State became the first in Division I to improve to 3-0. The Bobcats are averaging 348.3 rushing yards per game, with sophomore Scottre Humphrey going over 100 yards each time, including 110 in a 41-24 victory over Maine. … Reigning Pioneer Football League champ Drake was hotter than the record game-time temperature (95 degrees) at Eastern Washington, posting a 35-32 overtime upset. Luke Bailey’s 14-yard TD pass to Trey Radocha provided a walk-off score. … Linebacker Ben Bogle racked 5.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks among his 12 stops in No. 10 Southern Illinois’ 31-17 win at Austin Peay. … Speaking of defensive standouts, No. 18 UC Davis topped Texas A&M-Commerce behind linebacker David Meyer (15 tackles, game-sealing interception). … What a wild ending to Howard’s 32-31 win over Mercyhurst: Kenny Gallup Jr. returned a blocked PAT in the final minute to get the defending MEAC champion within two points before Dylan West kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired. … No. 17 Lafayette rebounded from an FBS loss to slip past Monmouth 40-35. Dean DeNobile threw two touchdown passes in the final minute just 17 seconds apart with the Leopards recovering onside kick in between. … Tennessee Tech fell 48-3 at Georgia, dropping FCS teams to 0-18 all-time against FBS No. 1-ranked teams.
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