Weekend Recap: Sacramento State Upends Griz, "Prime Time" Has Jackson State Rolling

October 16, 2021 by Staff

Sacramento State on Saturday handed Montana a second loss in its last three games, 28-21, in Missoula. The Griz entered the game still ranked 7th in the Congrove Computer Rankings, even after a 34-28 loss at Eastern Washington two weeks ago. The Hornets came into the game ranked 29th and were 15.5-point underdogs in most sportsbooks. The computer had Montana slightly under that number at 13.71.

Meanwhile, top-ranked North Dakota State blanked Illinois State 20-0 as the Bison have allowed a total of 43 points through 6 games.

Second-ranked Sam Houston State was among the 16 idle FCS programs that also included 16th-ranked Duquesne.

No. 3 James Madison got back on track with a 19-3 win at Richmond, a week after falling from the No. 1 spot after a 28-27 home loss to Villanova.

4th-ranked Eastern Washington hung 71 on Idaho to clear the 19.5-point spread by 31.5 points.

No. 5 Montana State was a 13-7 winner at No. 26 Weber State on Friday night. It was the 3rd home loss for the Wildcats to a team in the top 10 of the Congrove Computer Rankings. The previous two visitors were James Madison and UC Davis. JMU was No. 1 at the time of its visit and the Aggies were No. 5.

Also on Friday night, Cornell downed Colgate 34-20 in the 102nd meeting to snap a 3-game losing streak to the Raiders. It's only the 7th win for Cornell in the last 36 meetings.

6th-ranked South Dakota State rekindled its winning ways with a 41-17 rout at Western Illinois. The Jackrabbits lost 42-41 at home to Southern Illinois a week ago.

Speaking of Southern Illinois, the 10th-ranked Salukis edged North Dakota 31-28 at home.

8th-ranked Dartmouth was a 38-21 winner at New Hampshire, and 9th-ranked Princeton outscored the Bears 56-42 at Brown.

19th-ranked Northern Iowa, however, was a 34-21 loser at home to South Dakota. The Coyotes were 9.5-point underdogs in the sportsbooks and an 11.08-point computer dog.

Towson handed 17th-ranked Rhode Island its first loss of the season, downing the visitors 2807.

Stony Brook was a 34-17 upset winner as a 5.5-point underdog at home to 24th-ranked Delaware.

Head coach Deion "Prime Time" Sanders has Jackson State on a roll. The Tigers improved to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the SWAC East with a 28-7 home win over Alabama State (3-3, 2-2). Together win its opening day win over second-place Florida A&M, JSU is two clear of its closer competitor in the division. Jakcson State last won the division in 2013 and hasn't won the conference crown since 2007.

Yale visited UConn as a rare computer favorite for a game featuring a FCS school over a FBS squad. Congrove's rankings had the Bulldogs by a mere 0.09 points, but had to fight back late to make the score look more respectable in a 21-15 loss.

Aaron Baum's 35-yard field goal as time expired lifted Murray State to a 32-31 win at SEMO to improve to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the OVC. The Redhawks fall to 2-5 overall and 2-2 in the OVC.

VMI ran for 306 yards and forced 3 Mercer turnovers in a 45-7 blowout win. Mercer was a 12.5-point home favorite in the sportsbooks as the Keydets flipped the spread by 50.5 points. The Bears were a 6.84-point pick by the computer

SEE: Weekly Picks and 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.

There was one such game this week as Yale visits UConn as a 0.09-point computer favorite, but fell 21-15.

The FBS is 96-10 vs. the FCS this season. Since we began tracking this in 2003, the FBS teams are now 1,565-138 (.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 15 straight games overall (FCS longest).
Last: Won 41-7 at home vs. Lamar on Saturday, Oct. 9.
Next: Hosts Jacksonville State on Saturday, Oct. 23.

EASTERN WASHINGTON - Owns 19-game home winning streak (FCS longest).
Last: Won 71-21 at home over Idaho on Saturday, Oct. 16.
Next: Hosts Weber State on Saturday, Oct. 23.

MONMOUTH - Owns a 13-game conference streak (FCS longest).
Last: Won 34-17 at Campbell on Saturday, Oct. 16.
Next: Visits North Carolina A&T on Saturday, Oct. 30.

PRINCETON - Won 10 straight road games (FCS longest).
Last: Won 56-42 at Brown on Saturday, Oct. 16.
Next: Hosts Harvard on Saturday, Oct. 23.

TEXAS SOUTHERN - Owns a 16-game road losing streak (FCS longest).
Last: Lost 34-20 at Grambling State on Saturday, Oct. 16.
Next: Hosts Alcorn State on Saturday, Oct. 23.

BUTLER - Has 11-game conference losing streak (FCS longest).
Last: Lost 31-8 at Morehead State on Saturday, Oct. 16.
Next: Hosts Davidson on Saturday, Oct. 23.

WAGNER - Has lost 15 straight overall (FCS longest).
LAST: Lost 56-7 at Fordham on Saturday, Oct. 9.
NEXT: Hosts Bryant on Saturday, Oct. 23.