FCS action was aplenty in Week 5.
Here are some scattered thoughts and takeaways from the weekend.
Numbers next to teams are their rankings in Week 5.
-Two teams improved to 5-0 on Saturday with all five wins coming against FCS opponents. No. 10 Lehigh defeated Penn 44-30. No. 18 West Georgia beat Southern Utah 27-24 on a Tommy Holden 46-yard field goal with one second remaining. The Wolves are making a splash in their second season as an FCS and UAC member. As part of the transition from D2, they won’t be playoff-eligible until 2027.
-No. 25 Presbyterian also improved to 5-0, although two wins are against non-D1 opponents. The Blue Hose have wins over Furman and Mercer, two 3-1 squads from the SoCon. Collin Hurst has been electric, completing 67.7% of his passes for 1,323 yards, 15 touchdowns, and four interceptions.
-No. 1 North Dakota State annihilated No. 17 South Dakota 51-13. A usual question in this sort of result is, “Is NDSU that good, or is USD that bad?” It’s a bit of both, but I usually default to giving the winner more credit. There were warning signs of South Dakota having a significant dropoff this year when it lost at Lamar and barely beat Northern Colorado. But the Bison still look the part as the favorite in the FCS title race.
RELATED: Week 5 Top 25 FCS Scoreboard
–USD has no business being in this week’s national rankings, but it is No. 21 in the media poll.
-No. 2 South Dakota State and No. 4 Montana State returned to their usual dominant selves after mediocre performances in their previous games. SDSU beat Mercyhurst 51-7, and MSU beat Eastern Washington 57-3.
-You gotta love trying to cover a subdivision of 129 teams and thousands of players. Whenever you tweet about a certain player, or certain players, or a certain position group on a team, you’ll usually hear from multiple fan bases on “What about our guy?” while they miss the context of the tweet. I posted about the three new starting quarterbacks from last year’s semifinal teams — NDSU, SDSU, Montana State — and how well they’ve been playing since that was a major storyline this offseason. Some seemed to take that as if I was saying those were the three best QBs in the country or something, and I should have listed the standout QB on their favorite team. But that wasn’t the point of the tweet. New QBs were a big variable in the 2025 national title race. We assumed NDSU, SDSU, and MSU would have good quarterback play, but it was important to note just how good these three guys have been.
-MSU’s Justin Lamson: 73%, 1,005 yards, 6 TDs, 2 INT, 179 rush yards, 2 TDs (5 games, 299 snaps, No. 3 SOS)
-NDSU’s Cole Payton: 72.6%, 979 yards, 8 TDs, 0 INT, 277 rush yards, 2 TDs (4 games, 210 snaps, No. 74 SOS)
-SDSU’s Chase Mason: 71.6%, 910 yards, 8 TDs, 0 INT, 123 rush yards, 1 TD (4 games, 283 snaps, No. 30 SOS)
–Alabama State went to Bragg Memorial Stadium and beat Florida A&M 42-14. Not many teams go in there and get a win, although FAMU is down this year at 1-3. Nonetheless, it was a great win for Alabama State, who improved to 3-1.
-Despite only playing in the last two games, having to sit out the first few due to eligibility issues, Western Carolina redshirt sophomore QB Taron Dickens has already put himself in the Walter Payton Award conversation. He has played catch-up in a hurry, throwing for 1,009 yards, 10 touchdowns, and zero interceptions in two games. WCU is 2-0 with Dickens this year, and 0-3 without.
-No. 13 Tennessee Tech improves to 4-0 and looks the part of a playoff team. While there are no ranked wins on the resume, it is outscoring opponents on average of 54.3 to 9.8. The Golden Eagles returned a lot of production from last year and landed a standout group of FCS transfers with significant experience. EWU transfer QB Kekoa Visperas has thrown for 839 yards, nine touchdowns, and one interception. Theron Gaines is up to 28 tackles and 4.5 TFLs.
-Two teams that have found new life after inserting new starting quarterbacks are UIW and Mercer. UIW sat at 1-3 after Top 5 preseason rankings. The Cardinals got a much-needed win Saturday, beating No. 12 Abilene Christian 38-7. They inserted EJ Colson, a redshirt freshman transfer from UCF, in a blowout loss at FBS UTSA in Game 3. Colson flashed, throwing for 213 yards and three TDs. He started the next week in a close loss at ranked Northern Arizona, throwing for 292 yards and three TDs. On Saturday vs. ACU, Colson threw for 122 yards and a TD while rushing for 103 yards and two scores. After an embarrassing loss vs. Presbyterian, Mercer made the switch to true freshman QB Braden Atkinson. The Bears are 3-0 since, and Atkinson has thrown for 803 yards, eight touchdowns, and no interceptions.
-Mercer’s Andrew Zock has been on a tear, already up to eight TFLs and 3.5 sacks in four games.
-UIW is getting standout linebacker play from Declan Williams and Dune Smith. Williams has 42 tackles and 5.5 TFLs, while Smith has added 29 tackles and two TFLs.
-It’s too bad the Ivy League starts play a few weeks after everyone else. To set itself up better for playoff positioning, the conference has to address this. Playing 10 games while everyone else is playing 12 will set you back in the seeds. Playing better opponents will also be important for a national gauge. Harvard got some preseason buzz after going 8-2 last year and returning key players. But the Crimson fell off the radar early this season while other teams were grabbing quality wins. Now that they are playing, it’s a team to pay attention to. Harvard is 2-0 with two dominating wins over Stetson and Brown. Jaden Craig is one of the best quarterbacks in the FCS and is on the NFL radar. In two games, he is completing 77.3% of his passes for 525 yards, six TDs, and zero interceptions.
-I thought No. 21 Sac State was getting hot offensively. The Hornets won two straight after an 0-2 start, beating Mercyhurst 49-28 and Central Arkansas 45-16. But Saturday saw a 32-24 home loss to Cal Poly. Sac State was getting better QB play from Cardell Williams, but he was still iffy as a passer. Against Cal Poly, he really struggled, going 10/24 for 164 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. Shoutout to Cal Poly, though, who improved to 3-2 after finishing 3-8 last season. Michael Briscoe is one of the top receivers in the FCS. He already has 24 receptions for 492 yards and seven touchdowns.
-No. 9 UC Davis handled Weber State 34-12 to improve to 3-1 overall and 3-0 vs. the FCS. A few key injuries occurred in this one. Weber QB Jackson Gilkey suffered a bad-looking lower-leg injury. UC Davis safety Rex Connors, one of the best defenders in the FCS, suffered a knee injury while being used as a goal-line rusher. His status is unknown moving forward. And Davis QB Caden Pinnick also got dinged up and had a sore shoulder.
-Saving the best for last as we go down the timing of results. No. 5 Montana beat No. 8 Idaho 41-30 in some late-night Big Sky action on ESPN2. It was a statement performance by the Grizzlies, who led by double-digits most of the way. They held a 41-22 advantage until Idaho scored with 19 seconds left. Montana is now 4-0 with two ranked wins (UND, Idaho). It’s amazing how momentum can build. The Griz looked straight-up bad for about three quarters in their ranked matchup vs. UND. But the comeback win has vaulted Montana to another level in its last two games. Keali’i Ah Yat has been fabulous, going 22/27 for 313 yards, two TDs, and no interceptions vs. Indiana State. And on Saturday vs. Idaho, he finished 17/23 for 223 yards, one touchdown, and no picks. Add in playmakers like RB Eli Gillman and WR Michael Wortham, and this offense is humming while the defense is flying around and looking like a better unit than last year’s.
-Montana avoids ranked UC Davis and Northern Arizona. We’ll see if Sac State returns to the Top 25 in late October when the Grizzlies travel there for another ESPN2 game, but the Griz may not face a ranked opponent until the regular-season finale. And they get Montana State at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, where the home team has been the heavy favorite. Some fun FCS social media banter has been what the playoff committee would do with an undefeated Tarleton State team vs. NDSU/SDSU, where one team goes undefeated and the other has just one loss. A 12-0 Montana team should also be in this way-too-early discussion.
-FCS receiving yards leaders in Week 5 games:
1. Michael Mussari, Dayton – 169
2. Franck Pierre, Alabama A&M – 156
3. Josh Heverly, San Diego – 149
4. Marquis Buchanan, Rhode Island – 141
4. Jared Richardson, Penn – 141
4. DJ Maultsby, Saint Francis – 141
7. Bryce Bailey, UT Martin – 135
7. Isaiah Fuhrmann, Elon – 135
9. Geoffrey Jamiel, Lehigh – 132
9. Quentin Cobb-Butler, St. Thomas – 132
-FCS rushing yards leaders in Week 5 games:
1. Jacorian Sewell, Alcorn State – 225
2. Luke Yoder, Lehigh – 173
3. CJ Miller, Mercer – 172
3. Jimmyll Williams, Elon – 172
5. Jerrell Wimbley, SFA – 171
6. Dason Brooks, Idaho State – 161
7. Zach Switzer, Presbyterian – 158
8. Brady Hensley, EKU – 148
9. Trey Holly, Southern – 147
10. Eli Gillman, Montana – 142
-FCS passing yards leaders in Week 5 games:
1. Taron Dickens, Western Carolina – 427
2. Grayson Saunier, Dartmouth – 407
3. Cade McNamara, ETSU – 398
4. Eric Gibson Jr., Northern Colorado – 396
5. Nick Whitfield Jr., Saint Francis – 377
6. Austin Myers, Central Arkansas – 358
7. Ron Peace, East Texas A&M – 356
8. Eric Handley, Alabama A&M – 355
9. JaCobian Morgan, Jackson State – 337
10. Bryce Schondelmyer, Dayton – 333
