FCS Football Week 10 Preview

Kickoff: 6 p.m. ET Saturday at Nissan Stadium in Nashville (ESPN+)

Notable: Tied for second place in the Big South-OVC standings, both teams enter on four-game winning streaks, with Tennessee State the first team inside the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll and UT Martin the first team outside it. UTM has won each of the last three meetings by 10+ points and averaged nearly 13 more minutes of game clock. Since UTM’s season-opening loss at Kansas State, the Skyhawks have averaged 411.6 yards and 37.9 points per game. Running back Patrick Smith leads the conference in rushing yards (836) and touchdowns (12). Linebacker Jaylan Sharpe is coming off Big South-OVC defensive player of the week honors, while All-American Oshae Baker and JaMichael McGoy Jr. (15 passes defended) anchor an active secondary. The Skyhawks have won 19 of their last 22 conference games under 19th-year coach Jason Simpson. TSU is enjoying its best season of coach Eddie George’s four-year tenure, led by a swarming defense, which includes defensive end Eriq George and linebackers Keandre Booker and Sanders Ellis with 10 tackles for loss each and nickelback Boogie Trotter totaling six takeaways and an FCS-high 151 interception return yards. Quarterback Draylen Ellis (221.5 passing yards per game, 13 TD passes) directs a balanced offense.

The Pick: UT Martin

Second-and-10 

1. Week 10 starts off in a perfect way Thursday night: No. 19 North Carolina Central (6-2, 2-0) traveling to South Carolina State (5-2, 1-0) in a Halloween showdown for first place in the MEAC. It’s a rare matchup of left-handed starting quarterbacks with NCCU’s Walker Harris (15 TD passes to four interceptions) and SCSU’s Eric Phoenix (1,791 passing yards, 14 TDs, 159.8 pass efficiency) filling the conference leaderboard and particularly strong in their team’s victories this season.

2. No conference has a better pair of games than the SoCon, where the top four teams are keeping it among themselves: No. 12 Mercer (7-1, 4-1) hosts No. 23 ETSU (5-3, 3-1) and No. 18 Chattanooga (5-3, 4-1) visits Western Carolina (4-4, 3-1) – the latter a rematch of the Catamounts’ 52-50 shootout win last season. Besides being bonded by the SoCon wins, each has a top-four rusher in the conference: Mercer’s Dwayne McGee (742 yards, 92.8 per game); Chattanooga’s Reggie Davis (660, 82.5); ETSU’s Bryson Irby (582, 83.1); and Western Carolina’s Branson Adams (534, 66.8).

3. Big Sky co-leader Montana State has a rushing attack that should trouble Eastern Washington, but the No. 2 Bobcats (8-0, 4-0) don’t always find the red carpet so inviting. They’ve won their last two trips to Cheney by only three points each and lost in their three previous visits. Coach Brent Vigen’s team is due to add back Julius Davis from injury to a running backs unit that features Scottre Humphrey and Adam Jones in an offense whose 307.4 rushing yards per game rank second out of 129 FCS teams. EWU’s rush defense is improved in allowing 203.1 yards per game, but it’s still ranked only 112th.  

4. The NCAA began keeping individual defensive statistics in 2000. New Hampshire defensive end Josiah Silver is on the verge of joining the top 10 in career tackles for loss, just a half TFL away with 62.5 in 44 career games. Not too far behind is Central Arkansas’ David Walker, who has 55.5 in 30 career games.

5. The Big Sky, CAA and Missouri Valley usually claim the most bids to the FCS playoffs (last year, they had a combined 11 of the 14 at-large bids in addition to their automatic qualifier). It would hard for the selection committee to ignore any 8-4 team from those conferences. Here are two 4-4 teams that understandably are under the radar for at-large discussion, but have a chance to get there with a 4-0 November: Big Sky member Northern Arizona (four sub-.500 opponents that are a combined 8-23, starting Saturday at home against Weber State) and CAA member Towson (its toughest remaining game is at No. 16 Richmond on Saturday).

6. Improvement goes a long way. Duquesne quarterback Darius Perrantes threw the most interceptions in the FCS last season with 18, but he’s dropped the rate significantly while helping the defending Northeast Conference champ to a share of first place with Robert Morris. He’s gone from 18 INTs in 262 attempts last season to five in 157 attempts this season, or a 6.8% rate to 3.2%. Perrantes is not alone, though, as Hampton’s Chris Zellous, who was third in interceptions thrown last season, has dropped his rate from 6.0% to 2.7%, while Tarleton State’s Victor Gabalis and Monmouth’s Derek Robertson (playing at Maine last season), who were among the top eight in INTs, have lowered their rate by over 1 percent. It’s no coincidence Tarleton State also is a conference leader, and Hampton and Monmouth have matched their 2023 win totals already. Idaho State’s Jordan Cooke, the other returnee from the top eight, was lost to injury in the Bengals’ season opener.

7. Ten years ago, North Dakota State vs. Northern Iowa was basically the matchup in the FCS, including UNI’s 23-3 win over the Bison and quarterback Carson Wentz in 2014 to end what at the time was the longest winning streak in subdivision history (33 games). That was actually the Panthers’ last win in the series, with NDSU taking nine in a row and outscoring them by 128 points in that time. On Saturday, the result figures to remain the same for the No. 1 Bison (8-1) as UNI (2-6) is in the midst of its first six-game losing streak since six straight over the 1978 and ’79 seasons (that streak was started by NDSU).

8. With some potentially tight matchups, the Ivy League race could be a lot more jumbled after Saturday’s schedule, but that’s only if Harvard (5-1, 2-1) hands No. 22 Dartmouth (6-0, 3-0) its first loss. Crimson sophomore quarterback Jaden Craig is having a banner season, ranking second in the FCS in pass efficiency rating (185.1) while throwing 17 touchdowns (eight to Ivy TDs leader Cooper Barkate) and just two interceptions. The Crimson have won seven of the last 10 meetings, but eight were decided by eight or fewer points, and the other two were one-possession games until the final nine minutes.

9. Let’s hear it for the kickers. Elon punter Jeff Yurk is averaging 48.9 yards on 45 punts, which is higher than the FCS single-season record for at least 50 punts held by Idaho State’s David Harrington (48.7 in 2011). Southeast Missouri’s DC Pippen is 20-for-28 on field goals, nearing the single-season mark for attempts – William & Mary’s Brian Pate with 35 in 2009 – and nine shy of the mark for made field goals – North Dakota State’s Adam Keller (2014) and James Madison’s Ethan Ratke (2021) with 29 each.

10. This week’s “FCS National Awards on Campus” visit was to St. Thomas to honor running back Hope Adebayo. The Tommies (5-3) are tied for first place in the Pioneer Football League with Drake, followed in the 11-team standings by Dayton and Morehead State at 3-1 each. Coach Glenn Caruso’s team plays all three of those teams as well as Butler (6-2, 2-2) in November, so they would be a deserving champion if they navigate the month and capture a second PFL title in the last three seasons.