Saturday Recap: South Dakota State Falls In Rivalry Game to South Dakota

November 14, 2021 by Staff

After knocking off North Dakota State a week ago to capture the Dakota Marker, No. 6 South Dakota State traveled to No. 28 South Dakota and lost to the Coyotes for the second straight time, 23-20. Jeremiah Webb hauled in a 57-yard Hail Mary tipped pass from Carson Camp as time expired. The pass.was deflected outside the end zone by three different SDSU players, and Webb leapt up to grab it just inside the end zone.

South Dakota got one chance at heroics after the Jackrabbits lofted a 4th-down pass that appeared to have sailed out of bounds as the clock struck 0:00, but officials reviewed the play and put 1 second back on the clock.

The teams had not met since 2019 when South Dakota ended a 10-game skid in the series with a 24-21 win, also at Vermillion. They were scheduled to play this past April 5th, but Covid issues within the Coyotes' program forced the games' cancellation. The Jackrabbits were favored by 8.35.

No. 3 North Dakota State still leads the MVFC after repelling Youngstown State 49-17 to hand the Penguins their 17th straight road loss. The Bison host South Dakota next week in the de facto conference championship game.

No. 8 Eastern Washington (8-2, 5-2) traveled to 7trh-ranked UC Davis (8-2, 5-2) and grabbed a 38-20 victory. But Montana State and Sacramento State remain tied atop the Big Sky at 7-0 after the 4th-ranked Bobcats fought off Idaho 20-13 and the 16th-ranked Hornets subdued Portland State 49-20.

No. 1 Sam Houston State extended its winning streak to 20 games with a 42-28 victory over Eastern Kentucky. In doing so, the Bearkats secured an automatic bid back to the NCAA playoffs from the AQ7 schools.

Monmouth travels to Kennesaw State next week with the Big South title on the line after both schools improved to 6-0 on Saturday. The No. 22 Hawks crushed Robert Morris 44-7 while the No. 5 Owls were 28-24 victors at North Alabama.

James Madison and Villanova are tied atop the Colonial with 6-1 records, but the Wildcats own the tie-breaker with their 28-27 win in Harrisonburg on October 9. On Saturday, 9th-ranked Villanova stuffed Stony Brook 33-14, while the 2nd-ranked Dukes trumped William & Mary 32-22.

No. 10 Dartmouth and Princeton are tied atop the Ivy League with the Big Green owning the head-to-head tie-breaker. Dartmouth romped to a 41-7 home victory over Cornell while Princeton knocked off Yale 35-20 at home.

South Carolina State lost 27-17 at home to North Carolina A&T on Saturday, but the Bulldogs clinched the MEAC with Norfolk State's 28-26 loss at Delaware State and will head to the Celebration Bowl to face the SWAC champ in Orlando on December 18.

Jackson State leads the SWAC East and Prairie View sits atop the west, even after its 31-29 loss at Alcorn State on Saturday. Jackson State's 21-17 win at Southern was the first over its conference rival since 2014 and clinched the Eastern division for Deion Sanders' team. JSU will face either Prairie View or Alcorn in the conference title game with the Panthers holding a one-game edge in the Western half of the conference. Ironically, Jackson State hosts the Braves next Saturday while Prairie View plays its final conference game on November 27th at home against MVSU.

Sacred Heart (6-1) beat Wagner 27-0 in a game that was halted due to Lightning with 9:35 left to play. The Pioneers can clinch the NEC and secure an NCAA playoffs AQ bid with a victory at LIU next week, or a Bryant loss at Merrimack. Bryant secures the AQ bid with a win if Sacred Heart loses at LIU. Bryant was a 52-7 winner over LIU on Saturday.

UT-Martin (9-1) clinched its second-ever OVC title, and first since 2006, with a 42-3 rout at Tennessee Tech on Saturday.

Patriotleague.org reports that Holy Cross clinched at least a share of the 2021 Patriot League Football Championship and third-consecutive automatic bid to the NCAA DI Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs by defeating Fordham, 52-24, on Saturday afternoon at Jack Coffey Field.

The Crusaders scored 35 unanswered points, outscoring the Rams 28-0 after halftime, in a game that was delayed by more than an hour due to inclement weather, to earn a part of their ninth League title. Holy Cross became the first Patriot League team to win a share of the League crown in three consecutive seasons since Lafayette accomplished the feat from 2004-2006. Holy Cross had also pulled off a three-peat from 1989 through 1991.

Colgate kept its chances for claiming a share of the League title alive by defeating Lafayette in a dramatic 20-13 finish at Fisher Stadium. The Raiders will play the Rams, who can also earn a share of the League title in the regular-season finale on Saturday, Nov. 20.

In the Pioneer League, Davidson was a 38-29 upset loser at Dayton to prevent the Wildcats from clinching the title. But Davidson, which is now tied with a San Diego team it defeated earlier in the year, can still grab the AQ bid with a win next week versus Drake. San Diego was one of just 4 FCS schools that was idle this week. This past spring, Davidson won the school's first conference title since 1969 (Southern) and made its first-ever NCAA playoff appearance

The SoCon goes to next week's winner between East Tennessee State and Mercer in Johnson City. Both schools are 6-1 in the conference after the Bucs rallied to a 56-35 win over Western Carolina in Culowhee, and Mercer won 10-6 at home over Chattanooga.

SEE: Weekly Picks

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 3 such games this weekend with Maine winning 35-10 at UMass (as the computer predicted), Florida having to outscore Samford 70-52, and Army rolling Bucknell 63-10. Dixie State hosted D2 member Fort Lewis and won 62-21.

For UMass, it was a third straight loss to a FCS program as the Minutemen also fell 35-22 to Rhode Island the previous week and lost 45-20 to Southern Illinois in 2019.

With the 2-1 record this week, the FBS is now 100-12 vs. the FCS this season. Since we began tracking this in 2003, the FBS teams are now 1,569-140 (.918).

Last year, 30 FBS teams played a total of just 34 games against FCS schools and the FCS won just 1 game (1-33). That honor also went to Jacksonville State with its 19-10 victory over FIU.

Here are the FCS wins in 2021:

September 2: UC Davis 19, Tulsa 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
September 11: Duquesne 28, Ohio 26
September 11: Jacksonville State 20, Florida State 17.
September 18: Incarnate Word 42, Texas State 34.
September 18: Northern Arizona 21, Arizona 19
November 6: Rhode Island 35, Massachusetts 22
November 13: Maine 35, Massachusetts 10

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 20 straight games overall (FCS longest).
Last: Won 42-28 at home over Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, Nov. 13.
Next: Visits Abilene Christian on Saturday, Nov. 20.

ALCORN STATE - Won 13 straight home games (FCS longest).
Last: Won 31-29 at home over Prairie View A&M on Saturday, Nov. 13.
Next: Visits Jackson State on Saturday, Nov. 20.

MONMOUTH - Won 16 straight conference games (FCS longest).
Last: Won 44-44-7 at home over Robert Morris on Saturday, Nov. 13.
Next: Visits Kennesaw State on Saturday, Nov. 20.

DARTMOUTH - Won 10 straight road games (FCS longest).
Last: Won 41-7 at home over Cornell on Saturday, Nov. 13.
Next: Visits Brown on Saturday, Nov. 20.

TEXAS SOUTHERN - Lost 17 straight road games (tied FCS longest).
Last: Lost 52-49 at home to Alabama A&M on Saturday, Nov. 13.
Next: Visits Alabama State on Saturday, Nov. 20.

YOUNGSTOWN STATE - Lost 17 straight road games (tied FCS longest).
Last: Lost 49-17 at home to North Dakota State on Saturday, Nov. 13.
Next: Visits Southern Illinois on Saturday, Nov. 20.

BUTLER - Lost 14 straight conference games (FCS longest).
Last: Lost 47-3 at home to Valparaiso on Saturday, Nov. 13.
Next: Visits Marist on Saturday, Nov. 20.

WAGNER - Lost 19 straight overall (FCS longest).
LAST: Lost 27-0 at Scared Heart on Saturday, Nov. 13.
Next: Hosts Duquesne on Saturday, Nov. 20.