- Copyright 2024 © CollegeFootballPoll.com
- About CFP / Contact
- Legal Statements
The top two teams in the FCS Coaches' Poll had completely different outcomes on Saturday.
No. 1 South Dakota State cruised to a 37-3 win at 9th-ranked South Dakota, placing the Jackrabbits all alone in first place in the MVFC. Their rival had been the only other remaining unbeaten team in the conference. SDSU raised its record in the series to 57-54-7, and 23-5 since 1990.
South Dakota State is the only team in the FCS with an undefeated over-all record.
Up next for the Jackrabbits? Just this little battle at home with North Dakota State to defend their three-time Dakota Marker trophy wins. South Dakota State owns 4 straight over-all wins versus the Bison. The last one wasn't played for the marker, but rather for the national championship. SDSU won that game 45-21 in Frisco, Texas. Over-all, the schools have played 114 times with NDSU owing a 63-46-5 lead.
No. 2 Montana State entered its game at Idaho as the only remaining team in the Big Sky with a perfect conference record. The Vandals lost 23-21 to Montana just two weeks ago. But this time, the Vandals sent the home crowd home happy with a 24-21 win after the Bobcats missed on a 43-yard field goal with 18 seconds left. Idaho's win, combined with Montana's 40-0 romp at home over Northern Colorado, creates a three-way tie of 4-1 teams in conference play with the Vandals, Bobcats and Griz.
(SEE: Weekly Picks/Scores)
The weekend's 60-game slate was reduced to 59 when Northwestern State announced it was canceling the rest of its season after the shooting death of Ronnie Caldwell earlier in October. The school had previously canceled its game with Nicholls scheduled that same week, then returned too the field to host Southeastern Louisiana. The Demons are 0-6 over-all, and 0-2 in the Southland.
Among other highly-ranked teams in the Coaches' Poll...
- No 3. Furman, which also ranked 3rd in the Congrove Computer Rankings, had to rely on its defense to eke-out a 16-8 home win over East Tennessee State. This should not have been a battle between one of the worst teams in the conference and the SoCon leader, but the Paladins intercepted three passes. one of which came in the red zone right before halftime and two that resulted in 10 Furman Points.
- No.4 Incarnate Word got out of Beaumont with a 17-7 win at Lamar. Up next for the Cardinals is a visit from Nicholls State which is only 3-4 overall, but 3-0 in the conference. Last year, UIW was led to the semifinals of the FCS playoffs by one-and-done head coach G.J. Kinne who left for Texas State in the FBS. Clint Killough, Kinne's assistant head coach from last year, has the Cards poised to make another run.
- No. 6 Delaware breezed to a 51-13 win on the road against Towson at Johnny Unitas Stadium. The Blue Hens scored on the very first play of the game with on a screen pass that became a 75-yard play. Zach Marker completed his first 16 throws, while running back Marcus Yarns scored 5 TD's (4 rushing, 1 receiving). Alas, a 13-quarter streak of not allowing an opponent TD came to an end in the 4th quarter of this contest against a Tiger's team that is now 0-4 at home, but has taken down William & Mary and New Hampshire on the road.
- No. 10 North Carolina Central was an easy 62-28 winner in Durham over South Carolina State. These two schools, along with NC A&T, have dominated the MEAC for years. But it's the Howard Bison, which were co-champs a year ago with NC Central, that join the Eagles as the only teams not to lose a conference game, thus far. NC Central will have to travel to Howard on November 11.
- No. 13 UT-Martin was a 38-34 upset loser at Gardner-Webb. The Skyhawks entered the game as 6.5-point favorite at the sportsbooks, but the Congrove Computer Rankings projected a slim win by the homestanding Runnin' Bulldogs. UT-Martin was 6-1 entering the game and Gardner-Webb was just 3-4. The Big South and Ohio Valley Conferences, combined, get one automatic bid to the FCS playoffs.
- Right now, the over-all leader of the Big South/OVC is Southeast Missouri which improved to 3-0 in the conference, but is just 4-4 over-all against a schedule that featured non-conference foes just as Kansas State, Southern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky and Central Arkansas. The wins have come against Lindenwood, Eastern Illinois, and most recently at Tennessee Tech.
Other Top 25 winners were...
(7) Sacramento State 51-16 vs. Idaho State
(11) North Dakota State 38-6 vs. Murray State
(12) Southern Illinois 63-0 at Western Illinois
(14) Florida A&M 45-7 vs. Prairie View
(15) Chattanooga (barely) 24-23 at VMI
(17) North Dakota (barely) 36-33 in OT vs. Indiana State
(19) Lafayette 35-25 at Georgetown
(20-Tie) Austin Peay 49-39 vs. North Alabama
(22) Holy Cross 49-47 at Fordham
(23) Harvard 17-9 vs. Dartmouth
(24) William & Mary 31-28 vs. Monmouth
Other Top 25 losers were...
(16) Western Carolina 38-45 at home to Mercer
(18) Central Arkansas 23-25 at home to Tarleton State
(20-Tie) New Hampshire 28-34 at Rhode Island
(25) UC-Davis 21-38 at Northern Arizona
While we were laser-focused on college football throughout the day, we later learned that Saturday was also a day when Matthew Perry, one of the ensemble stars of the beloved TV series, 'Friends', passed away from an apparent hot tub drowning with no foul play involved. Perry's character Chandler Bing is the one that would later marry Monica, played by Courteney Cox. He had just turned 54 in August.
It may seem strange to included this in a football recap column, but we literally do not know anyone who isn't familiar with the show and doff our cap with sadness and respect to Perry.
This season has 117 of the 133 FBS schools facing one FCS opponent, and Army playing two such games for a total of 118 FBS-FCS matchups.
Of the 16 FBS schools that do NOT play a FCS program, 7 are in the B1G (Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue, Wisconsin). 6 more are evenly split between the Big 12 (Houston, Oklahoma, Texas) and Pac-12 (Colorado, USC, Washington). The other three are Liberty (CUSA) , UTSA (American), and Virginia Tech (ACC).
There were no such matchups this past weekend, but three are scheduled for this Saturday (November 4). There will is 1 slated for November 11, and the remaining 4 are scheduled for November 18.
The FBS programs are 106-4 this year against the FCS schools. Over-all, the FBS is a collective 1,792-152 (.922) since we began tracking this in 2003.
Here are the FCS wins in 2023, so far:
September 9: Idaho 33, Nevada 6
September 9: Southern Illinois 14, Northern Illinois 12
September 9: Fordham 40, Buffalo 37
September 16: Sacramento State 30, Stanford 23
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE - Won 22 straight over-all, 15 straight conference games, 7 straight road games.
Last: 37-3 win at South Dakota on Saturday, October 28.
Next: Hosts North Dakota State on Saturday, November 4.
MONTANA STATE - Won 24 straight home games.
Last: Lost 24-21 at Idaho on Saturday, October 28.
Next: Hosts Northern Arizona on Saturday, November 4.
WESTERN ILLINOIS - Lost 21 straight over-all, 15 straight conference games, and 10 straight home games.
Last: 63-0 loss at home to Southern Illinois on Saturday, October 28.
Next: Visits Northern Iowa on Saturday, November 4.
ROBERT MORRIS - Lost 19 straight road games.
Last: 38-13 win at home over Tennessee Tech on Saturday, October 28.
Next: Visits Southeast Missouri on Saturday, November 4.