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 Week 9 of the 2024 college football season, featuring a number of key conference matchups.
The FCS football season shifts into the conference title stretch drive with the arrival of November next weekend.
A number of races took increased shape in Week 9 this weekend, and 12 of the 13 conferences – all but the SoCon – have at least one unbeaten team remaining. Six still have two.
With almost everybody anticipating the red-hot action of November, it’s fitting the one remaining game in October is pivotal to the MEAC title race – South Carolina State hosting North Carolia Central on Halloween night.
FCS Football Week 9 Review
Jackrabbits Win OT Thriller
Third-ranked South Dakota State’s 20-17 overtime win over No. 4 South Dakota didn’t just impact the first three spots in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll on Monday, it surely affirmed 1, 2 and 3 in the FCS playoff selection committee’s in-season top-10 ranking to be revealed during ESPN2’s broadcast of “College Football Live” at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday.
Top-ranked North Dakota State, No. 2 Montana State and SDSU figure to hold their same spots in the Top 25 poll, but only after the Jackrabbits (6-2, 3-1 MVFC) survived a scare from USD (6-2, 4-1), which tied up the game 14-14 on Mi’Quise Grace’s scoop-and-score with 4:41 remaining, had a chance to win on a late field-goal attempt and went ahead 17-14 on Will Leyland’s 40-yard field goal to open the scoring in OT.
But the Jacks converted a fourth down during their possession and won on Amar Johnson’s 3-yard run – his second score. It was the first OT game in the series.
The FCS committee rankings provide a pre-November look toward the playoffs. The 24-team pairings will be announced Nov. 24.
McGee Powers Mercer to SoCon Co-Lead
Mercer wins with offense, too.
Having often won behind a smothering defense this season, the No. 14 Bears surely knew they needed lots of offense to beat No. 24 Western Conference and quarterback Cole Gonzales, and they came up with plenty to win 44-34 in the Stats Perform FCS Game of the Week.
Dwayne McGee carried the ball 18 times for 223 yards and two touchdowns to spark a 548-yard attack. True freshman quarterback Whitt Newbauer made his first start, throwing for a TD.
Coach Mike Jacobs’ squad helped set up quite the title race by handing WCU its first Southern Conference loss. The Bears and No. 19 Chattanooga are both 4-1, while WCU and No. 23 ETSU are 3-1 each.
(Here’s the full FCS Top 25 Scoreboard)
Making Them Big Green With Envy
Another week, another tight win for Dartmouth.
In a first-place showdown in the Ivy League, the No. 22 Big Green held on to win 24-21 at Columbia – their ninth straight victory since last November for the FCS’ longest active win streak.
Q Jones rushed for a career-high 182 yards and a touchdown for coach Sammy Corkle’s squad, which after routing Fordham to open the season has won its last five games by a combined 13 points.
CAA Title Race Remains Crowded
Monmouth, New Hampshire and No. 16 William & Mary suffering their second CAA Football losses may be enough to keep them out of serious contention in the second half of the conference schedule;
With No. 15 Rhode Island and No. 18 Richmond at 4-0 each, Delaware 4-1, and No. 13 Villanova and Stony Brook 3-1 each, there are a bunch of teams standing in the way.
That’s all part of having the largest FCS conference (16 teams) in history.
Stony Brook posted the eye-turning result on Saturday, 35-13 over William & Mary as quarterback Tyler Knoop (240 passing yards, two TDs) and running back Roland Dempster (27 carries, 144 yards, two TDs) again fueled the offense. Linebacker A.J. Roberts had 11 tackles and an interception for one of the Seawolves’ five takeaways.
Stock Up, Stock Down
Stock Up: The Citadel was winless in coach Maurice Drayton’s first season last year, but the Bulldogs improved to 4-5 with a 28-11 victory over a Samford squad that one week earlier handed Mercer its first loss. Liberty transfer quarterback Johnathan Bennett continued to be a difference maker with a rushing touchdown, and the Southern Conference squad forced three turnovers,
Stock Down: Northern Colorado has been outscored 99-0 in three games against Montana this decade. The Bears fell to the No. 9 Grizzlies 24-0, adding to a 35-0 loss in 2021 and a 40-0 defeat last year.
Around FCS Nation
Top-ranked North Dakota State (8-1, 5-0 MVFC) spread around the playing time in cruising past Murray State 59-6. Quarterback Nathan Hayes, now No. 2 with Cole Payton out with a season-ending injury, was 9 of 15 for 141 yards and two touchdowns off the bench. Among starters, Cam Miller passed for two TDs, while running back CharMar Brown and wide receiver Bryce Lance scored three each. … No. 7 North Dakota (5-3, 2-2) stumbled in the MVFC, failing on a 2-point attempt to end a 41-40 overtime loss at Youngstown State. Penguins quarterback Beau Brungard rushed for 176 yards and accounted for four TDs. He has 777 yards and 11 TDs on the ground this season – both highs for an FCS signal caller. … Idaho quarterback Jack Layne made his first start since being injured in the season opener as the No. 11 Vandals (6-3, 3-2) defeated Eastern Washington 38-28 in the Big Sky. Layne had two TD passes, while safety Tommy McCormick racked up 18 tackles in the win.
With Drake (5-1, 4-0) on a bye, St. Thomas (5-3, 4-0) forged a tie for first place in the Pioneer Football League with a 34-14 victory over San Diego. Hope Adebayo carried the ball 18 times for career-high 277 yards and three touchdowns. Additionally, Dayton (5-2, 3-1) suffered its first loss as wide receiver Nate Garnett (nine receptions, 212 yards, TD) led Morehead State (5-3, 3-1) to a 14-6 road loss. … Holy Cross took a big step toward adding to its record five straight Patriot League titles by defeating fellow 2023 co-champ Lafayette 34-28. Joe Pesansky passed for two touchdowns while the Crusaders (4-5, 3-0) built a 21-0 lead, and they held off Lafayette in their red zone in the final two minutes. … FCS independent Merrimack beat Colgate 51-17 to post a third straight win against a different league and even its record (4-4) under first-year coach Mike Gennetti. Quarterback Ayden Pereira passed for 292 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 103 yards and a TD.
Sure, there’s a winner and a loser on the field, but Birmingham, Alabama, the Magic City Classic and the SWAC came out on top again as Alabama State’s 27-19 win over archrival Alabama A&M drew an FCS season-high crowd of 69,125 to Legion Field. Kareem Keye passed for two touchdowns and Daquan Kincey rushed for 156 yards in the win. … Also in the SWAC, Florida A&M (4-3, 2-1) handed Southern (4-4, 3-1) its first conference loss 24-6 behind Daniel Richardson (25 of 32, 274 yards, two TDs). … South Carolina State scored its most points since 2011 in routing Delaware State 69-35. That set up Thursday night’s MEAC matchup with No. 20 North Carolina Central, which beat Morgan State 16-7.
While No. 6 Southeast Missouri and No. 25 Tennessee State have grabbed much of the attention in the Big South-OVC, UT Martin has rebounded quite nicely from a 1-3 overall start, winning four in a row, including three straight in conference, before heading to Tennessee State next weekend. The Skyhawks’ 52-17 win over Eastern Illinois – Kinkead Dent had three TD passes – was their 13th straight at home against conference opponents. … Robert Morris beat Saint Francis 17-0 for its second shutout of the season to maintain first place in the Northeast Conference. The Colonials (5-3, 4-0) have a half-game lead over Duquesne (5-2, 3-0), which overpowered Stonehill 48-34 behind Darius Perrantes’ career-best 412 passing yards and five TDs. … No. 10 UIW (6-2, 3-0) grabbed first place in the Southland away from Southeastern Louisiana with a 34-31 triumph. The Cardinals, on a five-game winning streak, had to survive SLU kicker Riley Callaghan’s game-tying, 58-yard field goal attempt narrowly missing left.
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