These FBS Teams May Wish They Weren't Facing Their FCS Opponent This Week

September 6, 2019 by Dave Congrove

40 FBS teams scheduled an FCS opponent for their first game out of the gate and only one went down to defeat as Central Arkansas handed Western Kentucky a second consecutive loss to an FCS school. WKU fell to Maine last year. This week sees an additional 28 such games, and several FBS schools are ripe for the upset loss.

Georgia State hosts 11th-ranked Furman. Wouldn't it be interesting if the Panthers wound up on the other side of the stick, just a week after pulling off the shocking 38-30 win at Tennessee last Saturday.

Georgia Southern was beat up, both on the scoreboard and with injuries, in the opening 55-3 loss at LSU. QB Shai Wertz is questionable with a shoulder injury and DE Justin Ellis was lost for the season with a knee injury. The Eagles host a Maine Black Bears program that is ranked 6th in the FCS and was one of just 7 FCS teams to beat a FBS program a year ago (Western Kentucky).

Kent State hosts a Kennesaw State program that is playing just its fifth season of football but are the two-time defending champions of the Big South. The Owls are 38-12 in their short history and are currently No. 7 in the FCS rankings.

Duke hosts a North Carolina A&T program that has 3 wins over FBS schools in the last 3 seasons. The Greensboro-based Aggies won at East Carolina last year, Charlotte in 2017 and Kent State in 2016. NC A&T is ranked 14th in the FCS coaches' poll.

Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield knows exactly what it's like to be David and slay Goliath. Satterfield was the quarterbacks coach at Appalachian State when the Mountaineers (a FCS school at that time) went to the Big House and pulled off the biggest upset in history, a 34-32 win over Mighty Michigan. The Cardinals this week welcome a solid Eastern Kentucky team to town.