Our FCS coverage is the home for the Top 25 media poll, FCS National Awards, predictive TRACR model and much more. Here’s a review of an exciting Week 4 of the season.
It’s turned out the unofficial challenge series between CAA Football and the Southern Conference was much better than this year’s official version involving the top-two FCS conferences – the MVFC and Big Sky.
While SoCon has closed the gap on CAA Football for the No. 3 spot, the largest conference in FCS history – the CAA has 16 teams for this season only – wound up winning four of their seven matchups after a two-game split in Week 4 of the college football season.
William & Mary provided the decisive result for the CAA, beating defending SoCon champ Furman 34-24. Earlier, ETSU, in building off last weekend’s near-miss against North Dakota State, defeated Elon 34-14.
The MVFC had seven ranked teams in last week’s Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll and split with the Big Sky as the two conferences combined on 10 of the top 13 spots. But their regular-season challenge series, which began in 2017 and has included as many as 10 games, was only three games this season (the MVFC won 2-1).
FCS Football Week 4 Review
CAA Football Impressing Again
The CAA had three ranked teams last week, but that number is sure to start rising as the once-No. 1 FCS conference flexes its muscles.
Along with No. 12 William & Mary, which racked up 384 rushing yards against Furman – the most surrendered by the Paladins since 2016 – No. 5 Villanova (FBS loss at Maryland) and No. 20 UAlbany (bye) figure to remain in the Top 25 on Monday. Richmond and Rhode Island were two of the first five teams outside the rankings last week and each posted a win. Plus, New Hampshire also has been vastly underrated, having beaten Bryant 38-17 to make it three straight wins behind quarterback Seth Morgan (12 touchdowns passes in that time).
(Here’s the full FCS Top 25 Scoreboard in Week 4)
Monmouth Collects FBS Win
Monmouth surely had the best week of all in the CAA, winning at FIU 45-42 for its first-ever victory over an FBS opponent. The Hawks had six previous attempts.
Michael Calton Jr. kicked a 43-yard field goal with 1:52 left to break a 42-42 tie, while Sone Ntoh rushed for three TDs.
Kevin Callahan is in his 32nd season as the only head coach in Monmouth history. He’s also the longest-tenured FCS coach.
Ranked vs. Ranked Games
Western Carolina also represented the SoCon well in an exciting first-time matchup at No. 9 Montana, but fell 46-35. The No. 24 Catamounts jumped to a 17-0 lead before the Grizzlies rallied behind quarterback Keali’I Ah Yat’s four touchdown runs. Catamounts coach Kerwin Bell said afterward his team’s standout signal caller, Cole Gonzales, may have suffered an injury to his non-throwing shoulder.
In the Stats Perform FCS Game of the Week, No. 21 Southeast Missouri scored the final 22 points of a 38-21 triumph at No. 7 Southern Illinois, claiming the “War for the Wheel.” Paxton DeLaurent passed for 301 yards and four touchdowns to fuel the rivalry win.
Fourth-ranked Idaho (3-1) jumped ahead on Jack Wagner’s two TD passes in the first quarter and held on to win at No. 19 Abilene Christian 27-24.
Ivy League Makes Opening Statement
Ivy League teams went a combined 5-3 to begin their season, including wins over last year’s Patriot League co-champs.
Columbia upset No. 18 Lafayette 31-20 in coach Jon Poppe’s debut as Chase Goodwin passed for a pair of touchdowns in the first half and Cole Freeman did the same in the second half. Yale then won at Holy Cross 38-31 when Nathan Denney capped a 10-play, 64-yard drive with a game-winning, 3-yard touchdown run with 12 seconds left.
Harvard coach Andrew Aurich also won his first game as the Crimson shut out Stetson 35-0. Jaden Craig passed for three TDs and linebacker Mitchell Gonser returned an interception 37 yards for a score.
Stock Up, Stock Down
Stock Up: South Dakota State redshirt freshman Kirby Vorhees appears to be much more than a backup after he scored on his first three runs and finished with an otherworldly line of five carries for 179 yards in the No. 1 Jackrabbits’ 41-0 win at Southeastern Louisiana. He scored on 20-, 22- and 80-yard runs, then “settled” for 39 and 18 yards without a touchdown on his final two carries. In their last 10 games, the Jacks (3-1) have posted four shutouts and allowed only three points two other times.
Stock Down: With a brutal stretch of Big Sky games upcoming, Eastern Washington (1-3) will find is difficult to avoid a third straight losing season for the first time since it had five in a row from 1987-91. Having dropped winnable games against Drake and Southeastern Louisiana by a combined seven points, coach Aaron Best’s was overmatched by Nevada 49-16. The Eagles went 15 straight seasons with a winning record from 2007-21, but they’re 7-19 since 2022.
Around FCS Nation
It didn’t count toward the SWAC standings, but Grambling State surely wishes its 41-20 win over Jackson State did. A banner crowd of 19,085 watched as the G-Men (3-1) never trailed in the rousing win, scoring two defensive touchdowns. … Ja’Quan Snipes entered with one career touchdown, but scored twice as Hampton beat Howard 27-20 to make it eight straight wins in the “Battle of the Real HU.” … North Carolina Central demolished North Carolina A&T 66-24 in the Aggie/Eagle Classic. J’Mari Taylor had 177 yards from scrimmage and rushed for two TDs.
Duquesne coach Jerry Schmitt earned his 150th career win, 35-0 over West Virginia Wesleyan. As the Dukes (2-2) posted a shutout in a fifth straight season, Jermaine Johnson caught two touchdowns from quarterback Jordan Heisey, who started in place of Darius Perrantes. … Malik Grant, the active rushing yardage leader on the FCS level, had 20 carries for 141 yards and three touchdowns in Rhode Island’s 28-21 win at LIU. Up to 3,551 career yards, Grant had two previous 100-yard games against LIU when he played at Sacred Heart. … In a matchup of programs going through the Division I reclassification process, Lindenwood hammered St. Thomas 64-0 for the largest shutout in program history. Nate Glanz passed for two touchdowns and rushed for two more. … Nicholls posted an even bigger shutout, 66-0 over Mississippi Valley State. Miequle Brock (eight carries, 132 yards, two TDs) and Correy Warren Jr. (12-124-2) led a 455-yard ground assault.
Tarleton State’s Kayvon Britten had an FCS season-high 273 rushing yards and scored all four Texans’ touchdowns as the No. 16 squad beat North Alabama 28-14. Included in his 21 carries was a 96-yard score – the longest run in the program’s five-season Division I history. … Stony Brook not only ended a 13-game losing streak earlier this month, it’s gone on to win three consecutive games under first-year coach Billy Cosh, the latest a 24-17 victory at Campbell as Roland Dempster continued a breakout season with 179 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
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