Weekend Recap - Sam Houston Wins, Weber State Drops Second Straight To Ranked Team At Home

September 26, 2021 by Staff

The FCS football weekend began on Thursday with a SWAC contest featuring Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-1, 0-0) as a 5.30-point favorite in the Congrove Computer Rankings at CollegeFootballPoll.com over visiting Alcorn State (1-2, 0-0). That contest kicked off a 60-game slate that included 9 FCS teams battling FBS foes that were all won by the FBS teams.

5 other FCS schools battled D2 opponents, and the rest faced competition from within the FCS.

24 FCS schools were idle, including the No. 1 team in the Congrove Computer Rankings, James Madison. Also idle were No. 2 North Dakota State, No. 13 Northern Iowa, No. 15 Delaware, No. 16 SE Louisiana, and No. 20 Kennesaw State.

No. 3 Sam Houston State, the highest -ranked school that saw action, jumped out to a 31-7 lead in the second quarter and held on for a 45-35 win at Central Arkansas. After the Bears went on a 21-0 scoring spree bridging the end of the first half and the entirety of the third quarter, the Bearkats recovered to go on a 14-0 run of their own and seal the deal.

Similarly, No. 8 Alabama A&M built an early 17-0 cushion, but D-2 Tuskegee fought back and twice cut the gap to 3 points. Ultimately, the Bulldogs were just a bit too much to handle for the Golden Tigers as A&M prevailed 45-35

Meanwhile, No. 31 Holy Cross drubbed No. 12 Monmouth 45-15 in West Long Branch, New Jersey. The Crusaders were up 28-=0 at halftime and never looked back.

No. 5 UC Davis handed No. 24 Weber State a second home loss to a ranked foe, 17-14. The Wildcats fell 37-24 at home to James Madison a week ago.

No. 4 Montana romped over Cal Poly 39-7, No. 6 South Dakota State demolished Indiana State 44-0, No. 7 Montana State tripped Portland State 30-17.

No. 14 Dartmouth thumped Sacred Heart 41-3, while No. 17 East Tennessee State needed overtime to subdue No. 22 Samford 55-48.

Two old state rivalries were renewed this week when Villanova visited Penn State and Richmond trekked to Virginia Tech. Both of those FCS schools lost, but stood strong as the "Cats fell 38-17 to the Nittany Lions and the Spiders dropped a 21-10 decision in Blacksburg. It was the first meeting between PSU and Villanova since 1951, and the first since 1986 for Richmond and Virginia Tech.

SEE: Weekly Picks/Scores

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.

With the 9 games played this week, 105 of those 117 games have already been played. The FBS was 9-0 in those games this week and is 95-10 this season. Since we began tracking this in 2003, the FBS teams are now 1,564-138 (.919).

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

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 14 straight games overall (FCS longest).
Last: won 45-35 at Central Arkansas on Saturday, Sept. 25.
Next: vs. Stephen F. Austin in Houston on Saturday, Oct. 2.

BETHUNE-COOKMAN - The conference winning streak ended at 16 games with a 38-24 loss at Alabama State. The current longest conference winning streak gets handed off to James Madison with 15.
Last: Lost 38-24 at Alabama State on Saturday, Sept. 25.
Next: Visits South Carolina State on Saturday, Oct. 2.

JAMES MADISON - Won 19 straight home games for FCS longest, 15 straight conference games (FCS longest).
Last: Won 37-24 at Weber State on Saturday, Sept. 18. Was idle this past weekend.
Next: Visits New Hampshire on Saturday, Oct. 2.

PRINCETON - Won 8 straight road games (FCS longest).
Last: Won 63-0 at home vs. Stetson on Saturday, Sept. 25.
Next: Hosts Columbia on Saturday, Oct. 2.

TEXAS SOUTHERN - Lost 19 straight overall (FCS longest), and 13 straight conference games (FCS longest).
Last: Lost 48-34 at Rice on Saturday, Sept. 25.
Next: Hosts North American (NAIA) on Saturday, Oct. 2.

MVSU - Lost 18 straight road games (FCS longest).
Last: Hosts Southern on Saturday, Sept. 25.
Next: Hosts North Carolina Central on Saturday, Oct. 2.