Welcome to the FCS Football Talk podcast.
On this episode, Sam Herder and Zach McKinnell discuss playoff scenarios in each conference.
Which teams are in contention for a Top 8 seed, and who are bubble teams to pay attention to?
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3 Game Balls and a Flag
Each week of the 2024 FCS football season, the FCS Football Talk podcast will award three game balls and a flag from the previous weekend’s action.
The game balls are awarded to three standout teams or individual players, while the flag is thrown after a disappointing performance or questionable coaching decision.
Below are the three game balls and a flag from Week 12.
Zach’s 3 Game Balls And A Flag
- Game Ball: Abilene Christian
- No. 14 Abilene Christian defeated No. 13 Tarleton State, securing an auto-bid for the FCS Playoffs
- The Wildcats will make their first appearance in the FCS Playoffs and it will be their first postseason appearance since 2011 at the Division II level
- Quarterback Maverick McIvor led a 12-play, 75-yard game-winning touchdown drive
- McIvor finished the game with 391 passing yards and three passing touchdowns, completing 35-of-55 passing attempts
- Running back Sam Hicks led the Wildcats with 137 rushing yards and posted the game-winning touchdown with 19 seconds remaining
- Game Ball: Monmouth
- Monmouth stunned No. 9 Villanova in a 40-33 upset victory, the fourth win over a Top 10 opponent in program history
- Quarterback Derek Robertson was nearly perfect, completing 22-of-23 attempts for 358 passing yards and three passing touchdowns
- Rodney Nelson and Sone Ntoh combined for 113 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns
- Monmouth’s offense was dominant, recording 502 total yards and averaging 9.7 yards per play
- This was Monmouth’s first win over a ranked opponent since 2022
- Game Ball: Tennessee Tech
- Tennessee Tech utilized a dominant defensive performance to pull off the 10-9 upset over No. 18 UT Martin
- The Lions suffocated the UT Martin offense, holding the Skyhawks to 185 yards of total offense and 2.9 yards per play
- UT Martin’s rushing attack was held to -1 rushing yard, while quarterback Kinkead Dent threw two costly interceptions
- Defensive lineman Daniel Rickert: 9 total tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, and one forced fumble
- Jalen Mitchell and Jordan Yates combined for 110 rushing yards and one touchdown, leading the Golden Eagles’ rushing attack
- Flag: Chattanooga
- No. 19 Chattanooga fell to Samford 36-13 in a shocking blowout loss, putting the Mocs’ playoff hopes in jeopardy
- The Mocs have lost two of their past three games, falling to 6-5 (5-3 SoCon) and will need help to earn an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs
- Chattanooga’s offense struggled, recording 177 total yards and 2.9 yards per play
- The Mocs struggled to run the football, finishing the game with 29 rushing yards and 1.1 yards per carry
- Samford recorded 12 tackles for loss, led by Jaden Mosely with 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack
- Samford quarterback Quincy Crittendon completed 34-of-50 passes for 340 passing yards and two total touchdowns
Sam’s 3 Game Balls And A Flag
- Game Ball: New Hampshire
- New Hampshire defeated No. 16 Stony Brook 31-30
- UNH improves to 7-4 to put itself in a position to reach the playoffs
- Seth Morgan went 27/40 passing for 263 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan Toscano racked up 17 tackles, while Flex Ruiz had three sacks
- Stony Brook falls to 8-3 overall
- Game Ball: Montana State
- No. 2 Montana State went to No. 4 UC Davis and earned a 30-28 win
- MSU improves to 11-0 with two ranked wins and an FBS win. UC Davis is now 9-2 overall and 9-1 vs. the FCS with two ranked wins
- MSU led 30-8 midway through the fourth quarter until UC Davis scored three touchdowns in the final 6:21, including with 34 seconds left to make it 30-28. UC Davis’ 2-point conversion attempt was intercepted by McCade O’Reilly
- Tommy Mellott went 18/25 for 174 yards and two touchdowns, while Miles Hastings went 22/33 for 320 yards and three scores
- Game Ball: North Dakota State
- No. 1 NDSU beat Missouri State 59-21. Mo State was ranked No. 14 in the Coaches Poll
- It marked NDSU’s fourth win over a currently-ranked team as the Bison improved to 10-1 overall and 10-0 vs. the FCS
- Cam Miller finished 17/24 for 155 yards and four touchdowns
- Barika Kpeenu rushed for 169 yards and two scores while CharMar Brown added 113 yards on the ground
- Flag: ETSU
- No. 21 ETSU lost to Furman, 24-21
- ETSU falls to 6-5 overall with only five D1 wins, which most likely eliminates them from playoff contention
- Furman is now 3-7 overall
