FCS action was aplenty in Week 3.
Here are some scattered thoughts and takeaways from the weekend.
Numbers next to teams are their rankings in Week 3.
-No. 15 Tennessee Tech was a popular preseason-ranked team after falling short of the playoffs last year. It had a strong returning cast coupled with an impressive transfer class. The Golden Eagles have looked good to start in three dominating wins — Cumberland 65-0, Chattanooga 45-17, and Davidson 72-14. Granted, those aren’t three strong opponents, but several ranked FCS teams have had closer games against inferior opponents. EWU transfer Kekoa Visperas has thrown for 736 yards, eight touchdowns, and one interception.
-There have been 10 one-score FCS vs. FBS losses this season. Two occurred in Week 3 when Ball State beat No. 23 New Hampshire 34-29, and Charlotte beat No. 20 Monmouth 42-35. Preseason All-American Derek Robertson has been lighting up the stat sheet for Monmouth. In three games, he’s thrown for 1,265 yards, 14 TDs, and five interceptions.
-No. 12 South Dakota avoided another disastrous loss, beating Northern Colorado 24-17 in overtime. Northern Colorado, a week after controversially losing to FBS Colorado State, had a chance to win it on the goal line in regulation in the final seconds before having to settle for a Jacob Willig 18-yard field goal. Running back L.J. Phillips Jr. came up huge for USD after it was announced that All-American Charles Pierre Jr. would miss the season with a knee injury. Phillips ran for 301 yards and two TDs. It’s a bigger rebuilding project than even anticipated for USD.
–Rhode Island improved to 3-0, overcoming another early deficit for a win. Holy Cross is now 0-3 with three one-score losses. It’ll be interesting to see how high Rhody can rise in a schedule that lacks ranked opponents. The Rams avoid ranked Villanova and Monmouth, while they get ranked New Hampshire at home.
-After being preseason ranked, Western Carolina is now 0-3. It lost 37-31 to Elon on Saturday. Elon is now 2-1. WCU standout QB Taron Dickens continues to sit out due to being ineligible. His timetable is unknown, although there’s a chance he’s back on the field sooner than later.
RELATED: Week 3 Top 25 FCS Scoreboard
-In the FCS game of the week, No. 5 Montana completed a gutsy comeback to beat No. 16 North Dakota 24-23. It’s amazing what can happen when you ride with a young quarterback with potential and let him grow. Keali’i Ah Yat had his ups and downs, including underthrowing an open receiver on the game-winning drive. But he responded with two big-time throws, one to extend the drive and the next one a 28-yard dot to Brooks Davis to take the lead with 1:35 to play. The Griz avoided an early-season loss that has set them back in previous seasons. With a schedule that includes its toughest opponents at home, Montana has the potential to be in the conversation for a high playoff seed.
-For UND, it’s the second disappointing finish this season, also losing late at FBS Kansas State, which was ranked at the time. The Fighting Hawks will have a lot of regrets from the first half, as they were in prime scoring position three times and only came away with three total points on those trips. Say what you will about good losses, but not all Ls are created equal. And you can gauge some things in losses. UND looks like a playoff outfit under first-year head coach Eric Schmidt.
-No. 4 Montana State got into the win column for the first time this season, defeating San Diego 41-7. Justin Lamson finished 23/26 for 293 yards, three TDs, and an interception. Lamson is tough, can run it, and is a more polished passer than Tommy Mellott. Is he a better player? No. But MSU can win a lot of games with Lamson, a Stanford transfer, running the offense. As a reshuffled MSU o-line gets healthier with Burke Mastel returning soon, expect the unit to get closer to its high-level play.
-One of the more fun QB duels was No. 7 Illinois State winning 42-30 at Eastern Illinois. ISU’s Tommy Rittenhouse threw for 299 yards and three TDs. EIU’s Connor Wolf passed for 411 yards and four scores. Tye Niekamp had 14 tackles in the win.
–Youngstown State (2-1) had a respectable showing at Michigan State (3-0) in a 41-24 loss. YSU trailed by only seven points at halftime and by 10 points in the fourth quarter.
-After preseason Top 5 hype, No. 14 UIW is 1-2 after a 48-20 loss at UTSA. While it’s an FBS opponent, many expected this to be one of the more competitive FCS-FBS games this year. UIW is making a starting QB switch this week, going with UCF transfer EJ Colson, who came in Saturday and provided a spark, going 17/24 for 213 yards and three touchdowns. The Cardinals have back-to-back ranked opponents coming up — at Northern Arizona and vs. Abilene Christian. They need to snag at least one win to get some momentum.
-No. 1 NDSU continues to steamroll a softer non-conference slate, beating SEMO 41-14. While the strength of opponents is not strong, the Bison have absolutely hammered them like a good team should. Some other top teams can’t say the same. The true gauge will come against MVFC opponents. But so far, NDSU looks the part. Through three weeks, NDSU’s Cole Payton is PFF’s highest-graded quarterback in all of FCS and FBS, featuring the No. 1 overall grade and the No. 1 passing grade. His stats: 39/55 for 706 yards, 6 TDs, 0 INT; 214.7 pass efficiency; 27 rush attempts, 175 yards, 1 TD.
-No. 8 Idaho can be a dangerous team if/when it puts it all together. Its last two wins — 37-30 over St. Thomas and 20-6 over Utah Tech (although Utah Tech has been very competitive vs. ranked Big Sky teams this non-conference) — may not jump off the page. But both the offense and defense have shown flashes of being really good. Keep an eye on this weekend when they visit FBS San Jose State (0-2).
-No. 25 West Georgia keeps on winning. The Wolves are 3-0 in their second season in the FCS, grabbing wins over Samford (34-3), No. 22 Nicholls (34-10), and ETSU (35-31). In Saturday’s win over ETSU, who looks like the top SoCon squad and is receiving votes nationally, UWG scored twice in the final seven minutes to overcome a 31-20 deficit.
-No. 17 Southern Illinois impressed with a 37-10 win at UT Martin. The Salukis look like a Top 10 ball club, led by their standout QB DJ Williams. On Saturday, he threw for 217 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 128 yards and three more scores.
-No. 3 Tarleton State is a wagon. The Texans went on the road and beat Central Arkansas 56-10, scoring 42 points in the first half. The Texans are 4-0, featuring an FBS win over Army and three dominant wins over FCS opponents. The UAC has earned respect in its non-conference performances. It’s a super-competitive league top to bottom. And if Tarleton can get through it with one or no losses, how high would the playoff committee seed them? This is a conversation that may pick up steam as we get into October.
-No. 2 South Dakota State had a sleepy win over Drake, winning 37-21. The Jackrabbits have national title expectations, so they’re going to be judged on a national title scale. It’s fair to say SDSU has looked really good at times and has the best resume in the FCS at 3-0 with two ranked wins. It’s also fair to say SDSU has plenty to nitpick at and has left some meat on the bone in all three performances. Drake is a gritty opponent, and its QB run game kept this somewhat interesting. But SDSU looked lackadaisical. The Jacks were firmly in control on Saturday, but never quite stepped on the throat. It doesn’t change my mind about SDSU and it being the top contender to NDSU’s throne. I’m sure if they played next week, SDSU would beat Drake 42-10. Drake was a good opponent to have an emotional lapse and a ho-hum performance against. Plenty more improvements are needed for SDSU to hit its ceiling. And the ceiling is as high as anyone’s in the FCS. That’s the standard SDSU will be analyzed on.
–New Haven, a new FCS and NEC member this year, beat UAlbany 24-17 for its first win as a D1 member. UAlbany’s fall has been startling after its 2023 semifinal run. It got good fast with help from the transfer portal. It also got gutted fast due to the transfer portal.
-No. 18 Northern Arizona at Southern Utah was one of the most entertaining games of the weekend. NAU won 52-49, scoring a touchdown and converting a two-point conversion to take a 50-49 lead with 29 seconds left. The Lumberjacks then got a safety to make it 52-49. NAU’s Ty Pennington threw for 366 yards and three TDs, while Seth Cromwell rushed for 87 yards and two touchdowns. For SUU, Bronson Barron threw for 269 yards and a score, and Joshua Dye continues his strong season with 171 rushing yards and four TDs.
-No. 21 Sacramento State got its first win of the season, beating Mercyhurst 49-28. It was a decently competitive game as Mercyhurst led 18-7 in the second quarter. Sac State led just 35-28 over one of the FCS’ newest members before pulling away and scoring TDs with 2:48 and 1:32 remaining. The Hornets rushed for 349 yards, but their QB play still needs some work. Cardell Williams went 8/17 for 176 yards and two TDs.
-FCS receiving yards leaders in Week 3 games, per ESPN Stats
- CJ Nelson, EIU – 194
- Sam Milligan, Bucknell – 192
- Noah Grevious, VMI – 186
- Xayvion Noland, UTRGV – 171
- Bryce Lance, NDSU – 159
- Joey Isabella, Duquesne – 153
- Michael Briscoe, Cal Poly – 148
- Maleek Huggins, Bethune-Cookman – 148
- Tysen Kershaw, UNI – 143
- B.J. Fleming, UND – 138
-FCS rushing yards leaders in Week 3 games, per ESPN Stats
- L.J. Phillips Jr., South Dakota – 301
- Kente Edwards, Lafayette – 255
- Jaylen Jennings, Arkansas-Pine Bluff – 226
- Joshua Dye, SUU – 171
- Art Williams, Idaho – 144
- Brennan Carroll, UTRGV – 134
- Ethan Shine, RMU – 133
- Isaiah Freeman, Hampton – 129
- DJ Williams, SIU – 128
- Quintell Quinn, TN Tech – 122
-FCS passing yards leaders in Week 3 games, per ESPN Stats
- Connor Wolf, EIU – 411
- Derek Robertson, Monmouth – 410
- Jack Shields, UAlbany – 409
- Ralph Rucker IV, Bucknell – 405
- Walker Harris, NC Central – 387
- Ty Pennington, NAU – 366
- Collin Shannon, VMI – 362
- Matthew Schecklman, UNI – 359
- Collin Hurst, Presbyterian – 350
- Cole Payton, NDSU – 348
