We’re previewing the key games and storylines each week throughout the 2024 college football season. Our FCS coverage is the home for the Top 25 media poll, FCS National Awards, predictive TRACR model and much more.
If the weather is starting to change, so, too, is the FCS college football schedule.
In Week 5 on Saturday, 50 of the 56 matchups are FCS vs. FCS, and 33 of them are – drum roll, please – conference games.
That’s about 60% more of the most-important regular season games than in Weeks 0 through 4 combined.
Sorry, FBS, it’s been grand. And it was fun blowing you out, Division II.
Yup, the conference season is here to thrill.
FCS Football Week 5 Preview
FCS Game of the Week
No. 4 Idaho (3-1) at No. 14 UC Davis (3-1)
Kickoff: 10 p.m. ET Saturday at UC Davis Health Stadium in Davis, California (ESPN+/My58)
Notable: Heading into the Big Sky opener for both teams, UC Davis has won all four matchups since Idaho’s return to the conference in 2018 (Idaho won the only other meeting in 1997). The visiting Vandals are one of five FCS teams to beat an FBS opponent (Wyoming) this season, and they’re the only one to beat multiple FCS Top 25 teams (UAlbany and Abilene Christian). Coach Jason Eck’s squad has done so with a strong rush defense (104 yards per game, 3.0 yards per carry), with the defense forcing six turnovers. That’s a key scenario with the Aggies boasting Lan Larison, who’s had 100+ rushing yards in eight of his 12 games the last two seasons. Add in Larison catching passes from Miles Hastings, and he’s averaged 157.3 yards from scrimmage with 20 touchdowns in the 12 games. Idaho defensive end Keyshawn James-Newby (seven sacks) will seek pressure on Hastings, who’s thrown five interceptions this season and 30 in his career. UCD linebacker David Meyer has a Big Sky-high 41 tackles, although the defense has been without All-America safety Rex Connors since the opener. Jack Wagner has two TD passes in each of Idaho’s last two games, but the rushing of Elisha Cummings and Nate Thomas is an offensive focal point. The Aggies, under first-year coach Tim Plough, set a stadium attendance record (14,832) against Utah Tech last Saturday. Their home crowd will be full of energy for this top-15 matchup.
The Pick: UC Davis
Second-and-10
1. It’s been just over 14 years since Eastern Washington debuted its famed red turf with a 36-27 victory over Montana (the Eagles went ahead 30-27 on a field goal with four seconds left, then scored again off a fumble on the ensuing kickoff). The No. 8 Grizzlies (3-1) return to The Inferno on Saturday, and, guess what, they’re still seeing red with an 0-6 record on the turf. It’s also the 50th meeting of the rival programs (UM has a 30-18-1 series lead).
2. We see the red turf and raise you Stripes. Central Arkansas’ alternating purple-and-gray (school colors) field, that is. The No. 7 Bears boast not just the FCS leader in touchdowns, points and per-game average in ShunDerrick Powell (10, 60 and 15.0, respectively), but also the player who ranks No. 2 nationally in all three categories – fellow running back Darius Hale with nine TDs, 54 points and 13.5 points per game. Their potent offense will be tested by No. 19 Lamar, which since opening with an FBS loss has allowed just 15.3 points per game, and under 300 yards on average, while beating three straight FCS foes.
3. The most-exciting FCS championship game since its move to Frisco, Texas (in the 2010 season) surely starts with North Dakota State’s 29-27 slip past Illinois State to cap the 2014 campaign. But it also belies what’s been a one-sided series, with the No. 2 Bison (3-1) set to take a 12-game winning streak to No. 18 Illinois State (3-1). Actually, the two-closest games during the run are in the postseason (also 9-3 in a 2019 quarterfinal). Illinois State’s injury woes this season have included All-MVFC running back Mason King, but Wenkers Wright has enjoyed a bounce-back, and the Redbirds are averaging more rushing yards (205.8) than the vaunted NDSU rushing attack (200.5)
4. It’s possible the two longest losing streaks could end on Saturday. Western Illinois has dropped 27 straight games – tied for the seventh-longest run in FCS history – but first-year coach Joe Davis’ 0-3 squad is hosting Division II McKendree after resting up with a bye in the schedule. Northern Colorado, which has lost 16 straight games, also has a first-year coach in Ed Lamb. The Bears (0-4) have faced a strong schedule as they get set to host Cal Poly, which beat them 24-17 last year, but has only three wins over FCS-level scholarship programs during the 2020s.
5. Speaking of breakthroughs, it’s been happening across the FCS. McNeese and Stony Brook were winless last season, but each has three wins already. The Citadel also was winless a year ago, but it has two victories. Lehigh is a fourth FCS team to surpass last season’s win total already – up one to three.
6. The real oddity among the winless is Northwestern State and Bethune-Cookman are averaging the most yards among FCS teams on touchdowns despite being 0-4 each. NSU is averaging 45.4 yards on nine touchdowns, including four over 70 yards, and one a 75-yard blocked return of a field goal by Antonio Hall. Bethune-Cookman has a 44.8-yard average on eight touchdowns, bumped up by Darnell Deas scoring on 95- and 98-yard kickoff returns.
7. The Southern Conference saw Chattanooga, defending champion Furman and Western Carolina as its representatives in the Stats Perform FCS Preseason Top 25, but there’s been a flip-flop in September, and this week’s nationally ranked teams, No. 12 Mercer (4-0) and No. 23 Wofford (2-1), are set to meet in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Mercer, under first-year coach Mike Jacobs, is off to its best start since 2013. Wofford isn’t the triple option team of the past – sorry, Mike Ayers – utilizing more passing plays than run (98 to 93), with the passing yards per game more than doubling the rushing (241.0 to 104.7).
(This week’s Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll)
8. First-year coach Mickey Joseph has Grambling State (3-1) off to its best start since 2017. Of course, it’s good for the FCS when such a historic program is doing well in big games, and the Tigers go right from beating Jackson State 41-20 in a SWAC nonconference matchup to facing rival Prairie View A&M (1-3) at the State Fair Classic in Dallas. Last year, the rivalry drew a crowd of 52,389 to Cotton Bowl Stadium (it wound up being the fourth-largest of the 2023 FCS season).
9. The grass can be greener, especially in the age of NIL. Five of the seven FCS quarterbacks who have 1,000+ passing yards and 10 of the top 14 overall have made transfers during their careers. Leading the way are Monmouth’s Derek Robertson (1,496 yards, formerly Maine), Abilene Christian’s Maverick McIvor (1,320, Iowa), Missouri State’s Jacob Clark (1,205, Minnesota) and UIW’s Zach Calzada (1,102, formerly Texas A&M and Auburn).
10. With all 129 FCS teams finally in action – the Ivy League opened to a 5-3 combined record last Saturday – offenses are averaging roughly 197.1 passing yards per game and 145.8 rushing yards per game. Twenty-two teams, or 17.1%, are above both national averages, with four of them ranking in the national top 10 of offensive yards per game: Central Arkansas (third, 494.8 yards per game); Stephen F. Austin (fourth, 461.3); ETSU (eighth, 447.8); and Columbia (ninth, 447.0).
FCS Football Week 5 Top 25 Schedule
All Times ET Saturday
1. South Dakota State (3-1, 0–0 MVFC): No game
2. North Dakota State (3-1, 0-0 MVFC): at No. 18 Illinois State (3 p.m., ABC North Dakota/ESPN+)
3. Montana State (4-0, 0-0 Big Sky): at Idaho State (6 p.m., Scripps/ESPN+)
4. Idaho (3-1, 0-0 Big Sky): at No. 14 UC Davis (10 p.m., ESPN+/My58)
5. South Dakota (2-1, 0-0 MVFC): No. 17 Southern Illinois (2 p.m., ESPN+)
6. Villanova (3-1, 1-0 CAA): LIU (6 p.m., FloFootball)
7. Central Arkansas (3-1, 1-0 UAC): No. 19 Lamar (7 p.m., ESPN+)
8. Montana (3-1, 0-0 Big Sky): at Eastern Washington (8 p.m., MTN/SWX/ESPN+)
9. North Dakota (3-1, 0-0 MVFC): Murray State (2 p.m., Midco Sports/ESPN+)
10. Sacramento State (2-2, 0-0 Big Sky): at Northern Arizona (4 p.m., ESPN+)
11. William & Mary (3-1, 0-0 CAA): Hampton (6 p.m., FloFootball)
12. Mercer (4-0, 2-0 SoCon): at No. 23 Wofford (1:30 p.m., ESPN+)
13. Southeast Missouri (3-1, 1-0 Big South-OVC): Northwestern State (4 p.m., ESPN+)
14. UC Davis (3-1, 0-0 Big Sky): No. 4 Idaho (10 p.m., ESPN+/My58)
15. UIW (2-2, 0-0 Southland): No game
16. Tarleton State (3-1, 1-0 UAC): Southeastern Louisiana (7 p.m., ESPN+)
17. Southern Illinois (2-2, 0-0 MVFC): at No. 5 South Dakota (2 p.m., ESPN+)
18. Illinois State (3-1, 0-0 MVFC): No. 2 North Dakota State (3 p.m., ABC North Dakota/ESPN+)
19. Lamar (3-1, 0-0 Southland): at No. 7 Central Arkansas (7 p.m., ESPN+)
20. Abilene Christian (2-2, 1-0 UAC): at Utah Tech (9 p.m., ESPN+)
21. UAlbany (1-2, 0-0 CAA): Maine (3:30 p.m., FloFootball)
22. Rhode Island (3-1, 1-0 CAA): No game
23. Wofford (2-1, 0-0 SoCon): No. 12 Mercer (1:30 p.m., ESPN+)
24. New Hampshire (3-1, 1-0 CAA): No game
25. Weber State (2-2, 1-0 Big Sky): McNeese (8 p.m., ESPN+)
Main photo credit: Central Arkansas Athletics (left) and Eastern Washington Athletics (right)
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