The HERO Sports FCS Pick-Em Challenge is back for the 2020 fall/2021 spring season.
Brian McLaughlin and Sam Herder will predict scores of FCS vs. FCS games this fall and the top games in the spring with the FCS Pick Em Championship Belt on the line.
Sam won the belt last season with a 100-42 overall record while B-Mac finished with a 96-46 record.
Let’s get to some picks…
2020-21 Overall Records:
Brian: 0-1
Sam: 1-0
Eastern Kentucky at The Citadel (ESPN3)
Brian: The Citadel 28-14
The Citadel had two tough FBS matchups to start the season, but make no mistake, this is a good FCS program this year. Brandon Rainey’s a beast at quarterback, and Willie Eubanks has had two good games versus South Florida and Clemson to kick things off this year. I like what I’m seeing with the Bulldogs in Charleston.
Sam: The Citadel 31-10
This game can serve as a big confidence booster for the victor. EKU has lost by a combined score of 115-10 to Marshall and West Virginia. And The Citadel has lost by a combined score of 96-6 to South Florida and Clemson. It’s pretty tough to judge both teams off of those performances, so I’ll go back to our summer preseason rankings where we have The Citadel No. 21. The Bulldogs have an experienced team that looks to contend for a SoCon title in the spring. EKU had a tough run defense last year, ranking No. 15 in the FCS with 119.1 yards allowed per game. The Colonels have allowed 305.5 rushing yards per game this year against those two FBS opponents. We’ll see how they handle The Citadel’s option offense.
Missouri State at Central Arkansas (ESPN3)
Brian: UCA 35-7
I still feel that UCA is the best team in the Southland Conference and clearly the top team playing multiple games this fall. The Bears already picked up an FCS win over a strong Austin Peay team (2019 OVC co-champs) and they have the offensive weapons to challenge just about anybody in this level.
Sam: UCA 31-17
Missouri State has quite a rebuilding project under first-year head coach Bobby Petrino. Competing with UCA, a top team out of the Southland and a Top 10-15 team in the FCS, will tell us a lot more than a 48-0 loss to No. 5 Oklahoma. But the Bears of UCA are too experienced and too explosive on offense, which I think will help them pull away in the fourth quarter. UCA has had three weeks to prepare after putting up 35 points in a loss to FBS UAB on Sept. 3.
