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A week after going to College Station and upending Texas A&M 23-13 to the delight of Notre Dame fans, the Irish returned home and found Touchdown Jesus lacking in blessings as they fell 16-14 to Northern Illinois on a 35-yard field goal with 31 seconds to play.
Kanon Woodill, who hit the kick, also converted from 42 and 21 yards. Notre Dame's 62-yard attempt to walk off with the win was blocked by Cade Haberman who also blocked the 48-yard try just before half and Santana Barber returned it 47 yards to the Notre Dame 26 as time expired and the Huskies held on to a 13-7 lead.
Notre Dame went into the game ranked 5th in the Sportswriters Poll (AP), making this the first-ever win for any MAC team over an AP Top 5 foe (1-51). It was NIU's first win over a team that was ranked at all in the AP since taking down Alabama in 2003 by a 19-16 score. 'Bama was barely ranked at No. 21 at the time after a 2-1 start and would wind up winning just two more games the rest of that season to finish with a 4-9 record. NIU went 10-2 that season, didn't make it to the MAC Championship game and wasn't invited to a bowl game.
Reportedly, Northern Illinois was paid $1.4 million to defeat the Irish and knock them down to 18th in the AP Poll while entering the poll themselves at No. 25.
It was the first-ever meeting between the two schools who are 156 miles apart, but world's apart in college football history and tradition.
The big winner over the weekend was Texas. The Longhorns stampeded to a 31-12 win at Michigan and have proven, so far, to be worthy of all the hype about being one of the top national champion contenders and likely top four seed when the 12-team playoff field is announced on December 8.
The college football weekend started with BYU scoring an 18-15 upset win at 10.5-point favorite SMU to improve to 5-0 al-time the Mustangs. A 26-yard field goal off the foot of Will Ferrin put the visitors ahead by what became the game-winning score with 1:58 to play. The kick was set up by a 37-yard run by Miles Davis on 4th-and-1 from BYU's own 48. Rumors that Miles Davis recorded an album while he was running have not been confirmed to be true. SMU was riding a 9-game home winning streak after opening with a 59-7 thrashing of FCS member Houston Christian.
Also on Friday, Duke and Northwestern took their battle in to double-overtime as the Blue Devils rallied on the road for the 26-20 win at the Wildcats' makeshift stadium. Northwestern expanded and improved the stadium where the lacrosse and soccer teams play but it still only holds 12,023 fans. Home games will also be held there against Eastern Illinois (9/14), Indiana (10/5) and Wisconsin (10/19). However, the games versus Ohio State (11/16) and Illinois (11/30) will take place at historic Wrigley Field. Ryan Field, where Northwestern had been playing since 1926, was demolished earlier this year and the new state-of-the-art Ryan Field is scheduled to open in 2026. For the record, Duke has won 6 straight over Northwestern but were favored by 2 in this game, and by more than 17 points by the computer. Duke is in its first season under Manny Diaz after Mike Elko left for Texas A&M. Northwestern is in its second season under David Braun who was 5-5 as interim HC last year, and was 4-0 since the removal on the interim tag.
UConn lost its opener by 43 points, 50-7, at Maryland. On Saturday, the Huskies won their second game by 46 as they took advantage of FCS independent Merrimack. Still, that size of a loss was unexpected as the Warriors were underdogs by just 15.5 points, and the ultra-reliable Congrove Computer Rankings had the margin under the spread at 12.73 points. Merrimack opened last week with a 21-6 loss at Air Force as the Warriors scored on the game's final play to avoid the shutout.
Clemson, in what was expected to be much closer game and a potential upset loss, looked like Clemson of old in a 66-20 breeze past Appalachian State.
Oklahoma State rallied from a 21-7 deficit with the help of three Arkansas turnovers and won 39-31 in double overtime in Stillwater.
Turnovers helped Boise State grab a 34-27 lead in the fourth quarter at Oregon, but the Ducks returned the kickoff to paydirt to tie the game and then won it on a 25-yard walk-off field goal. Oregon only beat Idaho 24-14 in he opener, but that Idaho team also just defeated Wyoming 17-13 on the road on Saturday.
In other games, Pittsburgh scored 22 unanswered points in the second half for a stunning 28-27 win at Cincinnati, while Nebraska showed Colorado that it still isn't ready for prime time with a 28-10 herding of Coach Prime's Colorado Buffaloes.
Iowa State rallied to a 20-19 win in the Cy-Hawk rivalry game, hosted by Iowa. The visiting team has now won the last five meetings. This one was decided on a 54-yard field goal by Kyle Konrardy with 6 seconds left to complete a comeback from deficits of 13-0 at the half and 19-7 after Kaleb Johnson's TD run with 4:47 to go in the 3rd. Iowa's attempted two-point conversion, however, failed and Iowa was forced to punt on its next five possessions.
The Hawkeyes have scored a paltry total of 458 points in their last 27 FBS games for an average of just 16.96 points per game, but have managed to go 17-10 in those games.
When Old Dominion lost 20-14 at home to East Carolina, it marked the 13th time in the last 15 games that a contest involving the Monarchs has been decided by a single score.
In its opening game, Houston lost 27-7 at home to UNLV. The computer picked that upset, but on Saturday, the Cougars visited Norman as 27.5-point favorites and had the backing of the computer by 38.04 points. Houston only lost by four, 16-12. The Cougs are in their first season under Willie Fritz who replaced the fired Dana Holgorsen. Fritz led Tulane to heights it hadn't seen in years, including a 12-2 campaign in 2022 that was capped with a Cotton Bowl New Year's Six Bowl win over USC, followed by an 11-2 record last season before losing to Virginia Tech in the Military Bowl after he left.
Tulane on Saturday had a chance for another hallmark victory after building a 20-10 halftime lead on Kansas State. But as Yahoo Sports Nick Bromberg writes, "Avery Johnson threw two touchdown passes and Jack Fabris' 60-yard fumble return produced the winning touchdown as Kansas State rallied for a 34-27 win. Tulane drove to the Kansas State 1 in the final minute, but a (controversial) offensive pass interference penalty nullified Mensah's touchdown pass, and VJ Payne intercepted a Mensah pass with 12 seconds remaining."
James Madison lost head coach Curt Cignetti to Indiana around Thanksgiving time last year and the Hoosiers on Friday night improved to 2-0 with a 77-3 romp over Western Illinois to set school records for points and yards (701). Their opening game was a 31-7 win over FIU. James Madison looked pretty solid in its opener, a 30-7 win at Charlotte which UNC only defeated by 18 (38-20) on Saturday at home. But JMU on Saturday struggled to put away FCS member Gardner-Webb while managing to secure a 13-6 victory as a 36.5-point favorite. The computer had the Dukes under the spread, but still at a rather large 29.80. Bob Chesney, the head coach at Holy Cross since 2018, is the new boss in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Louisiana-Monroe knocked off UAB 32-6 at home as an 11-point underdog. ULM was 2-10 a year ago and had a combined record of 10-36 over the last four seasons, but the Warhawks are off to a 2-0 start in 2024 after also defeating FCS member Jackson State on opening weekend. They are doing so under the new direction of UAB's interim head coach in 2022, Bryant Vincent, after Terry Bowden was fired. At UAB, Bryant was passed over in favor of Trent Dilfer for the permanent position, despite leading the Blazers to a 7-6 mark with a bowl victory in 2022. However, ULM faithful shouldn't get their hopes up that this is going to be some remarkable winning season as the program also kicked off the 2023 campaign with two wins before losing ten straight. The program also still has to break free from a 10-game Sun Belt Conference losing streak.
Kennesaw State, which opened with a 28-16 loss at UTSA two weeks ago, played its first home game as a FBS school on Saturday. The Owls fell 34-10 to Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns in front of a record crowd of 11,040 at Fifth Third Stadium. The facility opened in 2010 as a soccer-specific stadium and hosts Atlanta United 2 soccer games, as well as women's soccer and lacrosse for the university. The school has more than four times the number of students as it has seats at the stadium, boasting an enrollment of over 45,000. However, it is still largely a commuter school that jumped right into the FCS when it started playing football in 2015.
If anyone thought NC State was ready to move up to the next level of competitiveness, Tennessee squelched that idea with a resounding 51-10 rebuke of the Wolfpack in Charlotte on Saturday in the Duke's Mayo Kickoff game.
The I-35 rivalry was won convincing by Texas State, 49-10, at home over UTSA. It was the first win in the young series for the Bobcats which the Roadrunners lead 5-1.
St. Francis (Pa.) led by as much as 17-0 at Kent State and held on for a 23-17 win to secure its first-ever victory over a FBS opponent.
That was one of 29 games that pitted FBS schools against FCS programs this past weekend and the FBS schools were 26-3.
In the other FCS wins, Idaho prevailed 17-13 at Wyoming, and Southern Utah scored a 27-24 overtime victory at UTEP. It was Southern Utah's fourth win over a FBS program, having also taken down Arkansas State in 1997, UNLV in 2011, and South Alabama in 2013. Idaho has been on both sides of the fence since the Vandals have spent time as a FBS program and a FCS school.
For the season, FBS programs are 86-4 against the FCS schools. They were 114-4 last year. Over-all, the FBS is a collective 1,886-156 (.924) since we began tracking this in 2003.
These were the FCS wins in 2023:
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
In 2024, there are 121 scheduled scheduled matchups between FBS and FCS schools with 119 schools playing one such game, while Hawaii and UMass each play two.
This year, 15 schools do not play a FCS opponent and 5 are in the B1G (Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, USC and UCLA). Texas is the only school in the SEC that will not play a FCS program. The same is true for Virginia Tech in the ACC. In fact, Texas and Virginia Tech, along with Michigan and Houston, are repeats from last year's list of schools that played all FBS programs.
2024 FCS wins vs. FBS:
August 24: Montana State 35, New Mexico 31
September 7: St. Francis (PA) 23, Kent State 17
September 7: Idaho 17, Wyoming 13
September 7: Southern Utah 27, UTEP 24
GEORGIA - Won 41 straight regular season games, 26 straight at home, and 15 straight true road wins.
Last: Won 48-3 vs. Tennessee Tech (FCS) on Saturday, September 7
Next: Visits Kentucky on Saturday, September 14.
MICHIGAN - Had won 16 straight over-all. Still owns a 26-game conference winning streak.
Last: Lost 31-12 at home to Texas on Saturday, September 7
Next: Hosts Arkansas State on Saturday, September 14.
ARIZONA - Won 9 straight over-all.
Last: Won 22-10 at home over FCS member Northern Arizona.
Next: at Big 12 opponent Kansas State on Saturday, September 14 (designated as a non-conference game).
KENT STATE - Lost 11 straight over-all
Last: Lost 23-17 at home to FCS member St. Francis (PA) on Saturday, September 7
Next: Visits Tennessee on Saturday, September 14.
ULM - Had lost 10 straight over-all. Has still lost 10 straight conference games.
Last: Won 32-6 at home over UAB on Saturday, September 7
Next: Visits Texas on Saturday, September 21 after a bye week.
STANFORD - Had lost 10 straight home games.
Last: Won 41-7 at home over FCS member Cal Poly on Saturday, September 7
Next: Visits Syracuse on Friday, September 20.
CHARLOTTE - Lost 6 straight home games.
Last: Lost 38-20 at North Carolina on Saturday, September 7.
Next: Hosts FCS member Gardner-Webb on Saturday, September 14.
UTEP - Lost 6 straight home games.
Last: Lost 27-24 in overtime to FCS member Southern Utah on Saturday, September 7.
Next: Visits Liberty on Saturday, September 14.
TEMPLE - Lost 16 straight true road games.
Last: Lost 38-11 at Navy on Saturday, September 7
Next: Hosts Coastal Carolina on Saturday, September 14.