FCS Preview For Sept. 10-11

September 8, 2021 by Staff

 82 games are on the slate involving 114 of the 128 FCS programs, and 8 of the 14 idle schools are in the Ivy league which commences play next week. The other teams taking the week off are Alabama A&M, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Marist, MVSU, Southern Utah and Wofford.

Virtually all of this week's games will take place on Saturday. The exceptions are a pair of FBS-FCS games on Friday night that send North Carolina A&T to Duke and North Dakota to Utah.

Here's a list of games involving some of the ranked teams:

#1 James Madison (CCR, #3 Stats Perform) hosts Maine as a 20.44 point computer pick.

#2 Sam Houston State (CCR, #1 SP) hosts SEMO as a 15.97 computer favorite,

#3 Montana (CCR, #4 SP) hosts Western Illinois as a 24.07 point pick.

#4 North Dakota State (CCR, #5 SP) is a 17.97-point home choice over a Valparaiso team that lost 28-10 at NAIA member Indiana Wesleyan.  This one could get ugly in a hurry.

#5 Alabama A&M -idle

#6 Delaware (CCR, #6 SP) hosts St. Francis as a 15.72-point computer pick.

#7 South Dakota State (CCR, #2 SP) hosts D2 school Lindenwood as a 21.25-point favorite. In its first game since 2019, Lindenwood lost 40-20 at home to Angelo State in its opener.

#8 Kennesaw State plays another nearby school. After downing NAIA Reinhardt 35-25 in the opener at home 9 days ago, the Owls 'travel' to 24 miles to Georgia Tech. Reinhardt is in Waleska which is just 27 miles away. The Jackets are a 22.32-point computer favorite.

#9 Monmouth (CCR, #22 SP) visits Fordham. Both schools played FBS opponents last week with the Hawks falling 50-15 at MTSU, and Fordham bowing 52-7 at Nebraska. The computer likes by Monmouth by 7.93.

#10 Montana State (CCR, #11 SP) hosts Drake after a close 19-16 loss at Wyoming (FBS) in the opener. The Bobcats are an 18.35-point computer pick.

Some other games of note:

Eastern Washington (#23 CRR, #7 SP) hosts D2 Central Washington.

Southern Illinois (#13 CCR, #8 SP) visits Kansas State (FBS)

Weber State (#17 CCR, #10 SP) visits Dixie State after losing 40-17 at Utah (FBS) in the opener.

Western Carolina (0-1) which is #120 in the FCS CCR Rankings visits FBS #4 Oklahoma . The Catamounts lost 31-28 at home to Eastern Kentucky on Saturday. The compuiter has the Sooners by 58.09.

Mercer (1-0) which is ranked 49th in the FCS visits Alabama. The Bears won 69-0 over NAIA member Point in their opener, and could get beat 69-0 this week. The computer favors the Tide by 47.20.

Jackson State and Tennessee State will battle in Memphis as Deion Sanders takes on Eddie George. Oddsmakers have listed TSU as a 7.5-point favorite, but the computer has JSU by 6.54.

FCS vs. FBS

2 teams will play 2 FCS teams this fall (UConn and UMass), and 115 teams will play 1 FCS school for a total of 117 such matchups.

There were a whopping 38 FBS-FCS games over the Labor Day weekend and FBS schools went 32-6. Since we began tracking this in 2003, the FBS teams are now 1,501-134 (.918) through Labor Day weekend.

The are 37 FBS-FCS games this week.

Last year, 30 FBS teams played a total of just 34 games against FCS schools and the FCS won just 1 game (1-33).

Here are the FCS wins in 2021:
September 2: UC Davis 19, Tusa 17
September 2: Eastern Washington 35, UNLV 33 (2 OT)
September 3: South Dakota State 42, Colorado State 23
September 4: Holy Cross 38, UConn 28
September 4: Montana 13, Washington 7
September 4: ETSU 23, Vanderbilt 3

This was the only FCS win vs. the FBS in 2020:
October 23: Jacksonville State 19, FIU 10

In 2019, FBS teams were 111-3 (.974) in such games. These were the only FCS wins that season:
August 29: Central Arkansas 35, Western Kentucky 28
September 7: Southern Illinois 45, Massachusetts 20
September 14: The Citadel 27, Georgia Tech 24 (OT)

Streaks

SAM HOUSTON STATE - Won 12 straight games overall (FCS longest).
Last: Won 42-16 at Northern Arizona on Thursday, Sept. 2.
Next: Hosts SEMO on Saturday, Sept. 11.

BETHUNE-COOKMAN - Won 16 straight conference games (FCS longest).
Last: Lost 38-28 at UTEP (FBS) on Saturday, Sept. 4.
Next: Vists UCF (FBS) on Saturday, Sept. 11.

JAMES MADISON - Won 18 straight home games for FCS longest. (Eastern Washington has won 17 in-a-row at home).
Last: Won 68-10 vs. Morehead State on Saturday, Sept.. 4
Next: Hosts Maine on Saturday, Sept. 11.

PRINCETON - Won 8 straight road games (FCS longest).
Last: Won 28-7 at Penn on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019.
Next: Visits Lehigh on Saturday, Sept. 18.

TEXAS SOUTHERN - Lost 17 straight overall (FCS longest), and 13 straight conference games (FCS longest).
Last: Lost 40-17 at home vs. Prairie View A&M on Saturday, Sept. 4.
Next: Visits Baylor (FBS) on Saturday, Sept. 11.

MVSU - Lost 17 straight road games (FCS longest).
Last: Lost 35-0 at Murray State on Thursday, Sept. 2.
NEXT: Visits Stephen F. Austin on Saturday, Sept. 18.