You know just when you think there may be some stabilization in the FCS landscape, you get this past Saturday's action. More upsets, more wide open races, and less certainty. There will be some really good teams sitting at home come playoff time and the growing possibility of a 6-5 team making the playoffs grows. Or an even worse possibility, a seven-win team with a sub-Division I win on the resume may slip in.
And it's over, it's all over
36 games...that's nearly five years without a conference loss, second-longest such streak in FCS history and that all ended for Jacksonville State with the 37-14 loss on the road at Southeast Missouri State. What makes this all the more strange, this wasn't some fourth quarter flood of points, SEMO was in control pretty much from the word go and got big plays from all three phases.
Long term, the Gamecocks are in a bit of haze, a matchup with conference leader Murray State is up next. And while a win will right the ship and lead to probably at least a share of the conference title, a loss put them in danger of missing the playoffs altogether. With a loss, they will have two conference losses and that opening game loss to North Carolina A&T (who hasn't set the world on fire) and looming end of season matchup with Kennesaw State, on the road no less.
Upsets
If last week was the week of the exciting finishes, this week was the week of upsets and just muddling up the playoffs outlook
Talk about in detail the SEMO upset of JSU...but that wasn't the only upset that occurred. UIW...put the Southland conference on its head with their victory versus McNeese. The Cowboys, off a bye week, allowed the most points all year. They may have been looking ahead to the Central Arkansas matchup this Saturday
South Dakota St was another victim of the upset bug as the Jackrabbits lost on the road to Northern Iowa 24-9 creating an even bigger logjam in the Valley. Maine suffered a crushing loss on the road to William & Mary as their playoff hopes took a major hit. Another ranked team on the road, another loss, this time it was Sam Houston St losing on the road to Lamar. The Cardinals, fresh off the improbable win versus UIW, picked up its biggest win in program history and did it by rushing for 435 yards
So things are more open now
With a few unexpected losses this past Saturday, the conference races are wide open. I'll go into more detail later this week (wish me luck) but the conference races for the Big Sky, Northeast, OVC, SoCon, and Southland are about as muddled and confusing as you can possibly get with teams battling for the conference title and playoff births. Some of these conference races have as many as six teams with legit chances to win at least a share of the title and even the auto bid
Now don't think that means the other conferences don't have intrigue (well except the Patriot League, that's over and the MVFC is nearly over, the Bison do have a potentially tricky road game at South Dakota) as teams are so closely bunched together that the conference race, and more importantly, the playoff bubble are just going to be so much fun down the stretch. If things continue, there is a legit possibility that we could see either a 6-5 team, a seven-win team with a sub-Division I win, or what would be nice and a change, giving multiple bids to the lower tier conferences.
Another record?
Another week, more records fall for Samford Senior QB Devlin Hodges. In the 38-25 victory on the road @Furman, Hodges set the Southland conference mark for passing yards (13,377) and also for completions (1198). Yes, playing in that wide open Bulldog offense helps a lot, but come on, those are some really impressive numbers.
Also, don't look now, Samford has now three straight SoCon games and sits at 4-4 as everyone else starts to beat themselves up. We still could see Hodges in the playoffs again if he and the rest of the Bulldogs continue to stay hot
Keep an eye out
So every year we have a team or two who come out of nowhere to surprise and leap past expectations. This year is no different with the early season success of both Rhode Island and Maine out of the CAA, but there is a trio of teams that are also bucking the trend of losing in the history of the programs. UIW, Stetson, and Georgetown all have outperformed expectation and all currently sit at or near the top of the conference race.
The University of Incarnate Word picked up its biggest win since making the climb to FCS with a 45-17 beatdown of then Southland front-runner McNeese State. Sitting now at 4-1 and with another win will match its best showing in the conference.
Stetson is having unprecedented success since starting up the program nearly a decade ago. The 5-1 (4-1) start is the best since the program restarted and with a win will be the first winning season and the most conference wins since the program got back to playing football
The Patriot League has been a bit of an embarrassment in the last two seasons (15-53 versus non-conference opponents) despite having scholarship players now for four or five years. But go figure its the one non-scholarship teams that is the last line of defense to Colgate. Georgetown currently sits at 3-0 and broke a 15 game conference losing streak with the win @Fordham.
And it's over, it's all over
36 games...that's nearly five years without a conference loss, second-longest such streak in FCS history and that all ended for Jacksonville State with the 37-14 loss on the road at Southeast Missouri State. What makes this all the more strange, this wasn't some fourth quarter flood of points, SEMO was in control pretty much from the word go and got big plays from all three phases.
Long term, the Gamecocks are in a bit of haze, a matchup with conference leader Murray State is up next. And while a win will right the ship and lead to probably at least a share of the conference title, a loss put them in danger of missing the playoffs altogether. With a loss, they will have two conference losses and that opening game loss to North Carolina A&T (who hasn't set the world on fire) and looming end of season matchup with Kennesaw State, on the road no less.
Upsets
If last week was the week of the exciting finishes, this week was the week of upsets and just muddling up the playoffs outlook
Talk about in detail the SEMO upset of JSU...but that wasn't the only upset that occurred. UIW...put the Southland conference on its head with their victory versus McNeese. The Cowboys, off a bye week, allowed the most points all year. They may have been looking ahead to the Central Arkansas matchup this Saturday
South Dakota St was another victim of the upset bug as the Jackrabbits lost on the road to Northern Iowa 24-9 creating an even bigger logjam in the Valley. Maine suffered a crushing loss on the road to William & Mary as their playoff hopes took a major hit. Another ranked team on the road, another loss, this time it was Sam Houston St losing on the road to Lamar. The Cardinals, fresh off the improbable win versus UIW, picked up its biggest win in program history and did it by rushing for 435 yards
So things are more open now
With a few unexpected losses this past Saturday, the conference races are wide open. I'll go into more detail later this week (wish me luck) but the conference races for the Big Sky, Northeast, OVC, SoCon, and Southland are about as muddled and confusing as you can possibly get with teams battling for the conference title and playoff births. Some of these conference races have as many as six teams with legit chances to win at least a share of the title and even the auto bid
Now don't think that means the other conferences don't have intrigue (well except the Patriot League, that's over and the MVFC is nearly over, the Bison do have a potentially tricky road game at South Dakota) as teams are so closely bunched together that the conference race, and more importantly, the playoff bubble are just going to be so much fun down the stretch. If things continue, there is a legit possibility that we could see either a 6-5 team, a seven-win team with a sub-Division I win, or what would be nice and a change, giving multiple bids to the lower tier conferences.
Another record?
Another week, more records fall for Samford Senior QB Devlin Hodges. In the 38-25 victory on the road @Furman, Hodges set the Southland conference mark for passing yards (13,377) and also for completions (1198). Yes, playing in that wide open Bulldog offense helps a lot, but come on, those are some really impressive numbers.
Also, don't look now, Samford has now three straight SoCon games and sits at 4-4 as everyone else starts to beat themselves up. We still could see Hodges in the playoffs again if he and the rest of the Bulldogs continue to stay hot
Keep an eye out
So every year we have a team or two who come out of nowhere to surprise and leap past expectations. This year is no different with the early season success of both Rhode Island and Maine out of the CAA, but there is a trio of teams that are also bucking the trend of losing in the history of the programs. UIW, Stetson, and Georgetown all have outperformed expectation and all currently sit at or near the top of the conference race.
The University of Incarnate Word picked up its biggest win since making the climb to FCS with a 45-17 beatdown of then Southland front-runner McNeese State. Sitting now at 4-1 and with another win will match its best showing in the conference.
Stetson is having unprecedented success since starting up the program nearly a decade ago. The 5-1 (4-1) start is the best since the program restarted and with a win will be the first winning season and the most conference wins since the program got back to playing football
The Patriot League has been a bit of an embarrassment in the last two seasons (15-53 versus non-conference opponents) despite having scholarship players now for four or five years. But go figure its the one non-scholarship teams that is the last line of defense to Colgate. Georgetown currently sits at 3-0 and broke a 15 game conference losing streak with the win @Fordham.
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