Where the hell do I start this crazy Saturday night FCS recap?
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[divider]Obviously, you have to start with the three FBS wins, giving this week four total with UC Davis' effort on Thursday night.
Nicholls had never beaten a Power 5 conference team until QB Chase Fourcade scampered into the endzone in overtime tonight vs Kansas. In 2016, the Colonels made Kirby Smart's coaching debut at Georgia a nailbiter in the 4th quarter, and last year they did the same to Texas A&M and probably didn't help Kevin Sumlin's cause when it came to his job (and eventual "departure"). Tonight, Nicholls finally brought that big win home.
Power 5 teams are supposed to not only get better recruits, they're supposed to have 20+ more of them on scholarship than FCS teams. But that didn't matter this evening. Nicholls did what most FCS teams can't do against P5s, no matter how downtrodden the program is: The Colonels owned the line of scrimmage (Google: Sully Laiche) and out rushed Kansas by a mile. Usually its "up front" that differentiates these teams. Well … that fit the billing today.
TOP UPSETS: The Top FCS Wins Over P5s All Time
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(Jorge Salgado/NAU Athletics)[/credit]
Northern Arizona's Emmanuel Butler with another one of his circus catches in his team's win over FBS UTEP.
Northern Arizona came into its game with one of the lowest ranked FBS teams, UTEP, expected to be a winner. But the Lumberjacks didn't just squeak by for their first FBS win since UNLV in 2012, they almost seemed hellbent to want to erase the last memory of NAU on the gridiron — the playoff loss to non-scholarship San Diego. They dismantled the Miners 30-10. QB Case Cookus welcomed his top receiver (and NFL prospect) Emmanuel Butler back from injury by tossing 2 TDs his way. NAU only needed 25 of the 60 minutes of time of possession to get it done.
Another FCS team, Villanova, also proved it could bounce back from injuries and be its "old self" when it out defensed its local rival Temple 19-17. QB Zach Bednarczyk came back to throw for 3 TDs, DB Rob Rolle pitched in 6 tackles and in general it felt like old times with the Wildcats. Injuries decimated this program last year, as they did NAU in 2017 and 2016. That seemed to be a theme on the full opening weekend.
Central Arkansas, South Dakota, James Madison and Howard were within reach of FBS wins too, only to fall late.
So four down, FCS … and ???? FBS wins to go in September.
[divider]BIG SKY-MVFC CHALLENGE: In a contest that every single FCS conference in the USA should emulate (hint hint), there have now been three contests in this awesome challenge (with 5 to go this year). Montana State 
pulled out the tough one by 3 points on Thursday by beating a feisty Western Illinois team that apparently doesn't care that it lost some serious talent from last year. Today, North Dakota State (not surprisingly) knocked around Cal Poly — which was at the bottom of Big Sky last year.
The true rubber match, at least for this week, seemed to be on Saturday — Northern Iowa at Montana. The Griz woke up from their 9 month hibernation (I know, I know, pathetic wording … yet pertinent) after a disappointing 7-4 season last year. They jumped all over Northern Iowa early on. Then the Panthers rallied and made it interesting but the Bobcats weren't the only team in the Big Sky to put away a strong MVFC team by three points. The Griz are 1-0 after a 26-23 win against a team most of the country had ranked highly. Honestly? I'd say this is the best win for Montana since Brady Gustafson and company knocked off NDSU in the opener in 2015. Truth. Hauck's back, folks.
[divider]PIONEER WINS: Major props go out to Butler of the Pioneer League. In recent years we've been treated to first-round victories in the FCS Playoffs by San Diego, who knocked off Northern Arizona last year and Cal Poly the 
year before to earn trips to Fargo in the second round (congratulations, Toreros). Butler took on a traditional FCS powerhouse in Youngstown State and went toe to toe with the Penguins and then took them down Saturday night. We talk about FCS over FBS wins all the time at HERO Sports, but this was just as big a deal. YSU is 18 months removed from playing in the FCS National Title game and still has many players left who contributed in that playoff run in 2016.
Butler didn't seem to care. Pass target Pace Temple certainly didn't care, as he didn't see a forward pass he didn't devour — 14 receptions, 167 yards and 1 TD against a defense that has been well respected in the FCS for years.
[divider]CONFERENCE WINS: On Thursday we saw statement conference wins in the CAA, and on Saturday it happened for the SoCon and the Patriot League. Defending SoCon champ Wofford held off The Citadel at the goal line 
to notch one of those "not so easily attainable" league wins. Trust me, call us in late October and ask us how big that win over in-state stubborn Citadel was. We'll remind you at that time when it seems like everybody in the league is either 3-4 or 4-3.
Colgate — the heavy favorite to win the Patriot League in 2018 — looked like it was cruising early on against Holy Cross, which is rebuilding a bit. But the Crusaders rallied before Colgate wrapped up the conference win.
[divider]OTHER KEY POINTS: FCS neophyte North Alabama didn't seem to care that it was an FCS neophyte on Saturday night. Instead of lining up against a patsy to get things rolling, it decided to hit the Big Sky regular season champs 
from 2017 — Southern Utah. QB Christian Lopez went nuts, totalling 400+ yards as the Lions proved they belonged, 34-30. In two years, check back with this program and what it's doing in the Big South. Check that … in one year, check back with UNA and what it is doing in the Big South … I don't care how anybody spins it, James Madison looked like an ACC team today against N.C. State. The Dukes were just as big, just as talented and it was a battle clear into the fourth quarter. Many people questioned automatically putting JMU as the No. 2 team in the FCS behind NDSU in preseason polling. Now? At least for today it looked pretty legitimate.
