The FCS Wedge

TSOTN Week 3

National Notes Week 3

Kevin Marshall, National Contributor | September 17, 2015

The Review

We learned quite a few things in FCS World last week. In my mind the top 2 teams put a little distance between themselves and the rest of the field that is chasing them. Jacksonville State is a very legit #1 team. The Gamecocks fought all the way in a 27-20 overtime loss to the #6 FBS Auburn Tigers. The fact that a top 10 team from the Southeastern Conference couldn’t put away Jacksonville State in regulation says a great deal about the talent level, preparation, and guts of the Gamecocks.

The #2 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers dominated a pretty good South Carolina State team and won going away in Conway, SC. These two teams are the best of the FCS right now. The North Dakota State Bison really needed and took advantage of the bye week to get healthy and work out some kinks in their defense. Carson Wentz did his best Willis Reed impersonation and despite the high ankle sprain he suffered in week 0 against Montana led his team in a real crossroads moment for them.

Illinois State proved that they are a good offensive team despite the disappointing showing in week 1 against Iowa. 67 points against a playoff team from last season, Morgan State, has to have the Redbirds and Coach Brock Spack feeling a little better about themselves.

Northern Iowa looked like a different team as they were able to outlast Eastern Washington in the UNIDome. Villanova won a tough game in a monsoon against Fordham and their defense looked dominant throughout. The Citadel Bulldogs upset preseason #2 in the Southern Conference besting Western Carolina 28-10 in Charleston. Game balls go to each of those squads.

The Preview

Montana @ Liberty
At Montana Coach Bob Stitt’s press conference on Tuesday he was asked how much more he enjoys facing a more traditional offense this week than what the Griz saw against Cal Poly in their last outing when the Griz were defeated by the Mustangs. Sometimes at these press events the words don’t match what you see in a man’s eyes. Coach Stitt looked as if he really didn’t care whom or where his Griz played this week or what system the opponent runs. He looked like a man who had confidence in his team and who was ready to line up and get to hitting. Liberty will be the third tough opponent in a row for the Griz and I look for them to really show they belong in the top 10 with a signal victory. Griz 34-21

Montana State @ Eastern Washington
To say that the 2015 campaign is off to an inauspicious start for the Eastern Washington Eagles would be a severe understatement. They are staring an 0-3 start right in the face as the Montana State Bobcats roll into Cheney, Washington this week. The Eagles are bumped and bruised after two games against excellent competition and this really is a make or break moment for them. Wide Receiver Cooper Kupp was hurt and did not play in the second half one week ago against Northern Iowa. At press time his availability for this week was unknown. If Kupp plays the Eagles just may slip by the Bobcats. If not I don’t see how they can stretch the field and the Bobcats should be able to keep everything in front of them when Eastern has the ball. Bobcat QB Dakota Prukop will use his arms and his legs to make the Bobcat offense go and I don’t think the Eagles defense will have an answer for him. Bobcats 38-31

North Dakota @ North Dakota State
As someone who respects the rights of the States to handle their own affairs I will not wade into the politics of this game. I will allow the citizens of North Dakota to work out their internal affairs without any interference from someone ‘from off’. In a purely football sense this game should be a pretty good one. UND shocked everyone, including their own fans, by defeating FBS Wyoming in week 1 and last week jumped out to a lead against Drake but couldn’t put them away. The Bison, as mentioned above, got their stuff in a pile and played like they are capable of against Weber State in the Fargo Dome last Saturday. I look for this one to be close early but the Bison are the better team and unless some bounces go UND’s way the Bison should win this one pretty handily. Bison 38-17

Chattanooga @ Samford
The Mocs are a team that is highly rated but hasn’t shown the country exactly why just yet. Samford is much improved over last year especially on the defensive side of the ball. Are these the two best teams in the Southern Conference? Perhaps we will know the answer to that question after this one. In a matchup of two excellent field generals, Jacob Huesman of the Mocs, and Michael Eubanks of Samford will be the key players for both of their teams. Both defensive lines are stout and can get pressure without blitzing. Huesman is a bit more mobile and that will be an advantage for Chattanooga. Eubanks can really spin it and if Samford can keep him upright they should win at home. Samford 28-17

Delaware @ Villanova
The Villanova Wildcats survived a tough test against Fordham last week and the Delaware Blue Hens defeated Lafayette. Both come in feeling pretty good about themselves although the Wildcat offense has not been particularly sharp so far in 2015. Qb John Robertson has an uncanny ability to escape contain and make something happen when the blocking breaks down that makes him a very special player. The Blue Hens must limit his explosive plays to have a chance to come away with the victory in this one. I don’t think they can contain him enough to get the win Wildcats 28-10

Bonus
The Georgia Southern Eagles, late of the SoCon and now an FBS Sun Belt Member, will host The Citadel Bulldogs in Statesboro, GA Saturday evening. The Eagles’ exit from the SoCon was ugly and left a bad taste in the mouth of those whom they left behind. The Citadel, who has always given the Eagles and their faithful fits, will march down US-17 and attempt to ‘whip their fannies’ once again. FCS fans will remember Eagle Coach Willie Fritz from his days at Sam Houston State. Fritz will be facing The Citadel for the first time in his career. He is too good of a coach to allow his boys to look past the Cadets and think they can win just by showing up. This one will resemble all of the great games between these two schools from the past and will be decided in the 4th quarter. Cadets 27-24

The Interviews

The FCS Wedge unveils a new segment this week entitled “Voices of the FCS”. We will be interviewing a play by play announcer each week and when Executive Producer Troy Berndt and I discussed adding this feature the first guy that came to mind was Kooter Roberson. Kooter is the Voice of the Sam Houston State Bearkats and is gracious enough to join us this week. As usual Kooter is GREAT radio.

Doug Fullerton, Commissioner of the Big Sky Conference, will also be joining us on the air this week. Be sure to tune in to catch what the Commish has to say about the State of the Big Sky. Thanks to Kooter and Doug for graciously giving of their time to The FCS Wedge.

MVFC Preview 2015.3

MVFC Week 3 Preview

Chad Lenz & JT Nutt, MVFC Contributors | September 16, 2015

JT Says-

Missouri State @ Arkansas State
Missouri State takes on Arkansas State in Jonesboro, Ark, The Arkansas State rock one of the best jersey / helmet combinations in the FCS. Breck Ruddick the redshirt freshman hails from Marion, Arkansas which is an hour southeast of the Centennial Bank Stadium in Jonesboro. Ruddick will have to lead the way by air and ground this season as the leading passer 33-58 for 229 yards 2 tds and 2nd leading rusher 22 attempts for 74 yards and a game winning score last week. Arkansas State nearly upset Missouri last week losing 27-20. They will be too much for Missouri State this week.

St. Francis (PA) @ Youngstown State
The Penquins of Youngstown State look to bounce back against the Red Flash of St Francis in Pennsylvania. Both teams are 1-1, St Francis beat Georgetown week 1 jumping out to a 21-0 lead and never looking back. Youngstown SHOULD have beat Pittsburgh but barely beat Robert Morris. The hangover could be expected last week but this week they get their focus back and take out St Francis for Bo Pelini’s second home win.

Southeast Missouri State @ Indiana State
Southeast Missouri State looks to upset another Missouri Valley school in Indiana State. Dual threat quarterback Matt Adam leads the Sycamores so far with 126 yards rushing with 1 TD to go with 27-53 passing for 358 yards and 4 TD’s. LeMonte Booker doing his best Shakir Bell impression looks to continue his 9.2 yards per run average against an over matched defense. The balanced attack from Indiana State will help them to improve to 2-1.

Drake @ South Dakota
South Dakota returns home to take on the Bulldogs of Drake. Drake’s second half comeback against North Dakota came up just short and they lost 21-18. Keaton Strudsrud led Drake with 19-30 passing for 260 yards and 3 tds. South Dakota’s defense has allowed 381 passing yards but don’t look for Drake to increase that too much. Drake will be no match for South Dakota who will be happy to be back to Vermillion.

Northern Iowa @ Cal Poly
Northern Iowa travels to Cal Poly in a pivotal FCS matchup. UNI will be deploying dual threat QB Aaron Bailey and traditional passer Sawyer Kollmorgen to keep Cal-poly off guard. Darrian Miller and a stable of running backs will also look build off of an impressive win over Eastern Washington. Cal Poly has already knocked of Montana before falling to Arizona State. Cal Poly’s passing attack has only yielded 102 yards in 2 games but 614 yards on the ground. UNI kept Eastern Washington to 26 yards and will try to force Cal Poly to the air. UNI’s defense will be disciplined enough to keep Cal Poly in check and they will escape a close one and improve to 6-1 all time against Cal Poly.

Chad says-

Southeast Missouri State @ #24 Indiana State
Indiana State has had the two extremes of their schedule the first two weeks of the season – a Pioneer League team that has relied on sub-D1 programs for a large portion of their wins and an Big Ten program. In my eyes they performed mostly as they should have in both of those games. Sadly that hasn’t gotten me a better grasp on who the Sycamores are this season. Against Butler in week one it was a group effort that punished Bulter on the ground, but last week there was nearly no production from anyone other than quarterback Matt Adams. Adams will need to up his completion percent from the 50% it’s currently at if Indiana State wants to win this game. It feels weird saying that SEMO has a legitimate shot at a MVFC program, but they did just that last weekend as they beat SIU. They key for Indiana State coming into this game is to weather the early Redhwark storm. The Redhawks have scored 57% of their season points in the first quarter, and have actually scored more points in the two first quarters than the other 6 quarters combined. If Indiana State can keep the fast start to a minimum for SEMO they should have no issue with grabbing the win. If we learned nothing else from the SIU game for the Redhawks it’s that you can’t let them hang around. Indiana State needs to throw the knockout punch early.

#26 North Dakota @ #3 North Dakota State
I don’t know if there is enough bandwidth on the internet to hold the talk of this game. This rivalry is the most played game in Division 2 history as they two have met 110 times. This, however, is the first meeting of the two since 2003; a 28-21 North Dakota win. As-a-matter-of-fact UND has actually won 10 of the last 13 meetings, though I think the two programs are in very different states than they were 12 years ago. It seems like both sides fans want to downplay the game, but I can’t imagine there is going to be a more tense atmosphere in the FargoDome this year. The Bison enter this game as massive favorites (~30 points according to betting guides….not that we advocated gambling), and I can’t argue that line. We all know who NDSU is, and with Carson Wentz healthy they are a scary team. UND has an FBS win, which looks a little less impressive as the Wyoming team they beat just got blasted by Eastern Michigan, and non-scholarship Drake nearly knocked UND off last weekend. I see this game going one of two ways, and only one of those ways. The first is what most expect and that’s NDSU coming out and rolling UND. The other is UND riding a wave of emotion and making this a game real late into the 4th (think Indiana State in 2012 Bison fans). While I expect NDSU to roll, I’m secretly pulling for a tight game.

#29 Western Illinois @ #2 Coastal Carolina
Before the season I mentioned that Western Illinois has a chance to be a very good team this year IF the secondary could find themselves. In week one, against an Eastern Illinois program with some preseason hype (that has fallen completely on it’s face three times over) it looked like the secondary would be better than expected. Then Illinois happened last week. I expected Illinois to win, I didn’t expect Illinois to dominate like they did, and it created an abundance of questions about the Leathernecks in my head. The secondary was torched for 353 yards passing. Potentially more concerning for the Leathernecks was how bad the offense was. They managed just 4 offensive first downs and 141 total yards. The offense has the talent, in my opinion, to recover. The defense has me very concerned heading into a game like this. This Coastal Carolina offense is lead by, potentially, the best quarterback/running back combo in the FCS. Quarterback Alex Ross is on just about every single watch list an FCS quarterback can be on. He completes 72% of his passes and averages just under 300 yards per game. On his own Ross is a threat, but he has AGS All American De’Angelo Henderson behind him at running back. Hunderson is averaging 5.9 yards per carry this season and well over 100 yards per game. The Leathernecks better hope the defense plays the game of the season this week or we might see a repeat of last week, unfortunately. Trenton Norvell and Lance Lenoir Jr. can’t put up enough points, or production, to matter unless the defense gets better.

#5 Illinois State at Eastern Illinois
The 104th Mid-America classic looked like a good game when scanning schedules preseason. The Panthers entered the season in the AGS Top 25 but after two games look like they belong in the bottom 25. A revitalized Redbird team has to be chomping at the bit to enter this game. Eastern Illinois has scored just 5 points all season while giving up over 200 yards rushing per game. Once again look for the Redbirds to put this game in the hands of AGS All American Marshaun Coprich early and often to punish the Panthers. After struggling against Iowa, Coprich found his groove last week against Morgan State with one of his ho-hum 130+ yard games on just 20 carries. After watching two games of this Panther defense I see no way they manage to do anything except become a minor annoyance for Coprich, Roberson, and company. I don’t know that this game gets as ugly as last week’s blowout of Morgan State, but I see no reason to expect the Redbird starters to see the field much in the second half.

2:00 PM	Southeast Missouri State @ Indiana State	NO TV
2:00 PM	Drake @ South Dakota	Midco and ESPN3
2:30 PM	North Dakota @ North Dakota State	NBC North Dakota and EPN3
3:00 PM	St. Francis (PA) @ Youngstown State	ESPN3
5:00 PM	Western Illinois @ Coastal Carolina	Big South Network (online)
6:00 PM	Missouri State @ Arkansas State	ESPN3
7:00 PM	Illinois State @ Eastern Illinois	WCIA (Central Illinois station
9:30 PM	Northern Iowa @ Cal Poly	KGAN (Iowa), Comcast Sports Chicago, American Sports Network, and ESPN3

Big Sky Review 2015.2

BSC Week 2 Review

Lance Berndt & Kris Kallem, BSC Contributors | September 15, 2015

Kris Says-
Northern Iowa 38 Eastern Washington 35
The Panthers put together a great rushing performance gaining 266 yards. Eastern Washington kept the game close with quarterbacks Jordan West and Reilly Hennessey combining for a school record 526 yards on 37 of 47 passing. Jordan West’s pick six late in the game and 159 yards worth of penalties on the Eagles were the difference makers.

North Dakota State 44 Weber State 14
The Bison got back to their winning ways with a 305 yard performance on the ground and Carson Wentz adding an efficient 281 yards and three passing touchdowns.

Portland State 34 Idaho State 14
A week after grounding Washington State’s Air Raid, the Viking defense shut down the high powered Bengal offense giving up just 242 yards and holding Idaho State scoreless in the 2nd half. The Vikings were rather pedestrian on offense themselves, but made enough plays including a kick return for a touchdown by Kahlil Dawson to win it going away.

Northern Arizona 41 New Mexico Highlands 5
The Lumberjacks put away the Division II Cowboys quickly, taking a 31-0 lead at half. It seems like we’re seeing less Big Sky programs schedule down, but the advantage of spreading around some playing time and working on depth can pay dividends down the road.

South Dakota 27 UC Davis 17
Davis quarterback Ben Scott struggled, throwing 3 interceptions. The Aggies rushing attack appears to be missing Gabe Manzaneres as the Yotes hold Davis to just 60 yards on the ground. Nice road win for South Dakota.

Lance says-

FBS Washington 49 Sacramento State 0
This is sometimes what happens when a dark horse FBS team plays a rebuilding FCS team. Washington dominated Sac State shutting them out, while putting up 544 yards of offense. The only thing the Hornets can feel good about this game is the paycheck they took home.

North Dakota 21 Drake 18
Probably the most shocking part about this surprisingly close game is that UND only rushed for 25 yards on the ground after a dominating performance against Wyoming. North Dakota was extremely ineffective on offense in the second half and although Drake didn’t get a possession where they had a chance to win at the end, this was not a good win for Bubba Schweigert’s team.

South Dakota State 55 Southern Utah 10
After one quarter, this game looked like it had the makings to be a classic. The Jackrabbits weren’t about to do that, though, running away with the game lighting up the T-birds vaunted defense for 579 yards, led by Brady Mengarelli rushing for 143 yards and 3 TDs on just 17 carries and Jake Wieneke hauling in 11 receptions for 205 yards and 2 TDs.

Northern Colorado 34 Houston Baptist 10
With this game being much closer in the stats column than the score, Northern Colorado’s win came down to turnovers. They forced 4 Houston Baptist turnovers and didn’t give up any. Taylor Risner led the Bears defensive corps with 16 total tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

FBS Arizona State 35 Cal Poly 21
If I told you beforehand that ASU would completely shut down Chris Brown, I would have assumed they would have won by at least 40. Instead, Cal Poly showed their depth on offense and sneaky defense to hang with a very good FBS team. Freshman Joe Protheroe ran for 130 tough yards on 28 carries and 1 TD.

MVFC Review 2015.2

MVFC Week 2 Review

Chad Lenz & JT Nutt, MVFC Contributors | September 15, 2015

JT Says-

Northern Iowa – 38
Eastern Washington – 35

Eastern Washington has 1100 yards in 2 games, has scored at LEAST a td in every quarter and is 0-2. Cooper Kupp had 179 yards, 9 receptions, 2 TDs and an awesome one handed Gronk-like grab that got oooh’s from the UNI crowd. UNI’s offense sputtered in the first and third quarters but caught fire in the 2nd and did enough in the 4th. Special teams much improved with Kuhter as the punter. Farley has still only lost one home opener as the head coach of UNI. That’s still true after the 38-35 win.

Missouri State – 21
Chadron State (D2) – 13

Missouri State let Chadron State hang around. It was a 1 point game in the final 5 minutes of the 3rd quarter. But the Bears had a 6 play 75 yard 1:29 minute drive ending with a 55 yard rushing TD by Breck Ruddick to put the Bears up for good. Ruddick also passed for oneTD and 28 yards on 19-34 passing in addition running 12 times for 69 yards. Mo State survives 21-13.

Youngstown State – 21 OT
Robert Morris – 14

Bo Pelini must still have some Nebraska left in him when his Youngstown State team needed overtime to beat Robert Morris. They trailed twice but tied it up with 7 minutes left in regulation. Uglier than the win was Robert Morris only having 9 first downs only 168 yards of offense including 16 yards passing but 336 yards of punting. 21 – 14 the Penguins march on.

Southern Illinois – 24
Southeast Missouri State – 27

5 turnovers doomed Sourthern Illinois against Southeast Missouri State. After trailing for most of the first half, SIU’s Daquan Isom caught a Mark Iannotti pass to go up 21-17 with less than a minute left before half time. SEMO forced 2 fumbles, one or a score to go with 3 interceptions, 1 for a touchdwon in their upset effort. Too many mistakes cost SIU what should have been an easy victory, they fall 27-24 on a 42 yard field goal with 5 seconds left.

South Dakota – 27
UC Davis – 17

South Dakota used 243 rushing yards to beat UC Davis 27-17. Trevor Bouma led all 5 rushers with 18 attempts for 187 yards and 2 TD’s. UC Davis QB Ben Scott had 234 yards passing but only 1 TD to go with 3 interceptions while getting sacked 4 times. A nice road win for South Dakota who move on to face Drake this weekend.

Chad says-

Western Illinois – 0
Illinois (FBS) – 44

I thought Western Illinois had a chance, I really did, I also said that Illinois wasn’t the dumpster fire they appeared to be from the outside. I’m not sure if Illinois is considerably better than I thought they were, if Western Illinois isn’t even close to living up to the preseason potential, or it was just one of those days. The Leathernecks managed just 141 total yards of offense and 4 first downs when penalty first downs are taken out. Trenton Norvell, widely considered to be a top 3 QB in the MVFC, managed to complete just 8 of his 18 passes for a meager 22 yards. He also threw two interceptions. I thought the key would be Lance Lenoir Jr. getting his yards with support coming from elsewhere. Lenoir had just 2 catches for zero total yards, while only managing to gain 31 total yards on 4 returns. Due to the fact the offense was so anemic I have a tough time being too hard on the yards WIU’s defense gave up – 353 passing and 147 rushing. I’m not ready to push the panic button on Western Illinois just yet, but I am lifting the protective cover off of it.

Indiana State – 14
Purdue (FBS) – 38

This is the second of the MVFC/Big Ten games I thought was ripe for the picking (along with WIU/Illinois). Sycamore quaterback, Matt Adams, did what he could to get the Sycamore’s going, but couldn’t get help from anywhere else on the field. Adams was 18-37 passing for 194 yards with 2 touchdowns, but he also threw two costly interceptions. He also lead the team in rushing with 19 carries for 80 yards. After the Sycamore run game looking completely dominate the opening week of the season, Adams got no help from the trio of running backs behind him as they managed just 80 yards on 22 carries. The real surprise for me from this game was the lack of fight from the defense, which is normally solid. Purdue managed to pick up 540 yards of total offense, at nearly 7 yards per play. We knew there were going to be growing pains for the Sycamore offense this year after the loss of Mike Perrish. Those growing pains are there, but managing 354 yards of offense shows the potential the offense has, though Matt Adams is going to need the running back production to come back up. I have no reason to believe the Sycamore defense will continue to give up 500+ yards per game. I’m willing to give this game a pass for Indiana State.

North Dakota State – 41
Weber State – 14

Carson Wentz shocked pretty much everyone in the FCS, outside of those in Fargo (maybe), when he trotted onto the field for the opening series for the Bison offense. He showed zero side effects of the high ankle sprain he suffered 2 weeks ago in the loss at Montana. Wentz threw for 281 yards and three touchdowns, and added 45 yards on 7 carries and two touchdowns on the ground. I thought this game might have been closer than it was, but Mr. Wentz wasn’t going to let Weber State do anything to ruin the celebration from raising another championship banner. The Bison came out and looked like the Bison of the last 4 years as nine different Bison combined for 305 yards and two touchdowns on 52 carries. It might be the most cliché thing to say but this was the most Bison ground and pound win you could imagine. The defense dominated the line of scrimmage every bit the same the offense did. Weber State averaged just 2.4 yards per carry on the ground, and outside of one 68 yard completion to Cam Livingston, managed just 85 yards through the air. Whatever bit of concern existed after the Montana game has to be gone after this performance, does it not? Even if it was against a Weber State team that is 6-29 the last three seasons.

South Dakota State – 55
Southern Utah – 10

The Jackrabbits have been known as the team that manages to find a running back to put up massive yards every single year, no matter who it is. Look at the linneage of running backs in Brookings and it’s something almost every school would be jealous of – Zenner (6,548 yards ‘11-’14), Kyle Minett (4,261 yards ‘07-10’), Cory Koening (2,990 yards ‘04-’07). Brady Mengarelli may be next in line as he has 27 carries for 212 yards (7.9 yards per carry…..I’ll say it again, 7.9 yards per carry) and 4 touchdowns through the first two weeks. What makes those number truly scary is Zach Lujan looks immensely more comfortable in the pocket this season. Lujan is 36-60 (60%) for 607 yards (303.5 yards per game) and 6 touchdowns. Southern Utah saw the entirety of that offensive attack first hand last week, and the part to really make me want to shake my head at how good the offense was last week is they did it in 2.5 quarters as the Jackrabbits didn’t score their first touchdown until halfway through the second quarter. This is a type of offense that the MVFC hasn’t seen in years. If SDSU keeps this type of production up they have to become the favorites going forward.

Illinois State 67
Morgan State 14

This game went exactly as I thought it would for Illinois State’s offense. Marshaun Coprich ran for 130 yards and 3 touchdowns on just 20 carries. Roberson threw for 259 yards and 4 touchdowns and needed just 13 passes to do it. I never lost faith in the Redbird offense, even after the disaster at the line of scrimmage against Iowa. What does give me some pause is the fact that Morgan State managed to gain 185 yards rushing on 41 carries (4.5 yards per carry) when Illinois State’s one sack and a 27 yard “team rush”, for a snap over the punter’s head, are taken out of the rushing numbers. Maybe Morgan State has a much better ground game than I realize. Maybe I’m starting to see the beginning of a trend for the Redbird defense. I would expect more than one sack and more tackles for loss for Illinois State against a MEAC program like Morgan State.

CONFERENCE POW
POW dominated by USD and UNI this week

OFFENSE
RB Trevor Bouma (BOW-muh) – South Dakota
Bouma (BOW-muh) averaged better than 10 yards per carry while piling up a career best 186 yards and 2 touchdowns.

DEFENSE
CB Deiondre’ (Dee-andre) Hall – Northern Iowa
Hall broke his right hand in the first half, got it casted, and still finished the game with 6 tackles, a pass break-up and a game securing pick six late in the 4th quarter.

NEWCOMER
QB – Aaron Bailey – Northern Iowa
Bailey totaled 225 total yards – 91 yards passing on 7-13 passing and 134 yards rushing on just 19 carries. He also had two passing touchdowns.

Special Teams
P/PK Miles Bergner (Burg-ner) – South Dakota
Miles nailed field goals of 30 and 45 yards and netted 41.1 yards per punt, including pinning 3 inside the 20.

The FCSTV Guide For Week 3

Once again our friends FargoBison & RootinFerDukes at AnyGivenSaturday.com bring us a list of televised FCS games.

AGS Top 25 Match-ups – Week 3

Tennessee State at (1) Jacksonville State (ESPN3) 2pm
JSU almost beat Auburn and the tigers had to rally to beat an FCS team in OT. That performance is good enough to keep Jax State at #1 and to beat TN State comfortably.

(ORV- 28) Western Illinois at (2) Coastal Carolina (No TV) 6pm
Western Ill. is creeping on the outside of the Top 25 and beating Coastal would be a huge win. I think the Chanticleers win this one, however.

(25) North Dakota at (3) North Dakota State (ESPN3/NBC ND) 3:30pm
This could be a great game and filled with passion between top in-state rivals. I don’t see UND winning against the Bison though.

Lamar at (4) Sam Houston State (MASN/ALT2/ASN) 7pm

Lamar hung around with a sluggish Baylor team for a bit, but SHSU will win here easily.

(5) Illinois State at Eastern Illinois (OVC Video/WCIA/WMBD/WTWO) 7pm

An in-state meeting that heavily favors ISU.

Delaware at (7) Villanova (CSNE/SNY/CSCA/CSN/CAA Video) 12pm

John Robertson and the Wildcats should dispatch a reeling UD squad with ease.

(8) Montana at (17) Liberty (ESPN3/Cowles Media/(ABC/FOX) MT) 7pm

A potential AGS GOTW. This is really a toss-up and the Flames are a tough opponent, especially on the road. Either team can take this one but I think the home squad has the razor thin edge.

(10) Northern Iowa at (9) Cal Poly (CSCA/ASN/KSBY) 10:30pm

This may well be the GOTW and UNI is feeling high after a big win over EWU last week. Cal Poly kept it respectable against AZ State. Another tough OOC opponent for the second straight week for the panthers. Phew.

Albany at (11) James Madison (CSMA/CSN/CAA Video) 3pm

The Dukes dispatched Lehigh in a far more convincing manner than I could’ve imagined. They should have another convincing, if not lopsided performance against Albany this week. Is our defense improving, or are our opponents not very strong?

(12) Montana State at (14) Eastern Washington (RSNW/RSRM/DTV: 101) 4pm

Another GOTW mention. EWU looks to rebound after last week’s set back to UNI, while MSU comes off of a bye week. Wow there are a number of great games in FCS this week.

(13) New Hampshire at Stony Brook (SNY/ASN) 7pm

UNH looks to beat a middle of the pack, but good defensive CAA team in Stony Brook. I see the wildcats winning this by 2 or 3 TDs.

(16) Chattanooga at (21) Samford (ESPN3/ALT2/ASN) 3:30pm

Another top matchup as UTC looks for an impressive win and Samford wants to gain ground in the Top 25 with a statement win.

(18) Southeastern Louisiana at Ohio (ESPN3) 2pm

SELA will face their first tough opponent of the season in FBS Ohio. A top 25 FCS team should give all but the top 1 or 2 MAC teams quite a fight. A small chance of an upset.
Columbia at (19) Fordham (No TV) 1pmFordham will rebound easily after the loss to VU last week. Columbia shouldn’t pose a challenge.

Saint Francis at (20) Youngstown State (ESPN3) 4pm
Youngstown had an underwhelming performance last week and should win easily here against SFU.

(22) William & Mary at Virginia (ESPN3) 3:30pm
This is a trap game if I ever saw one. UVA will overlook this after the heartbreak to Notre Dame last week. Make the Boohoos cry all over Charlottesville, Tribe. Make them “Boohoo Boo”. W&M should keep it respectable, at minimum.

Southeast Missouri State at (23) Indiana State (No TV) 3pm
Indiana State needs a win badly to stay within the Top 25.

(24) Northern Arizona at Arizona (Pac-12 Network) 11pm
NAU barely knew the Top 25 as they face in-state power, Arizona, this week.

Bye Week:
(6) South Dakota State
(15) Portland State

Others Receiving Votes (26-30):
(26) Harvard at Rhode Island (No TV) 1pm
(27) McNeese State at Stephen F. Austin (ESPN3) 7pm
Virginia Military at (29) Richmond (CSNMA+) 6pm
(30) The Citadel at Georgia Southern (ESPN3) 6pm

More details:

Lots of FCS action on TV once again this week. As always check back for updates or if you see a game not listed please mention it. All times are in Central Time…

TV Guide
9/17: Florida A&M at SC State 6:30 p.m. ESPNU
9/18: Howard at Hampton 6:30 p.m. ESPNU
Idaho State at Boise State 8:00 p.m. CBS Sports Network
9/19: Delaware at Villanova 11:00 a.m. Comcast Sports NE/MidAtlatnic/CA
Albany at James Madison 2:00 p.m. Comcast Sports MA
Chattanooga at Samford 2:30 p.m. Altitude 2/ASN
Montana State at Eastern Washington 3:00 p.m. Root Sports NW/RM/Direct TV 101
Austin Peay at Vandy 3:00 p.m. SECN/SECN+
Northwestern State at Mississippi State 3:00 p.m. SECN/SECN+
Lamar at Sam Houston State 6:00 p.m. Altitude 2/MASN/ASN
UNH at Stony Brook 6:00 p.m. SNY/ASN
WCU at Tennessee 6:00 p.m. ESPNU
Northern Iowa at Cal Poly 9:30 p.m. Comcast Sports CA/ASN
NAU at Arizona 10:00 p.m. Pac 12 Network

FCS on ESPN3
9/19: Savannah State at Akron 11:00 a.m.
Southeastern LA at Ohio 1:00 p.m.
College of Faith at Valpo 1:00 p.m.
Tenn State at Jax State 1:00 p.m.
Drake at South Dakota 2:00 p.m.
Chattanooga at Samford 2:30 p.m.
UND at NDSU 2:30 p.m.
William and Mary at UVA 2:30 p.m.
St Francis at YSU 3:00 p.m.
Wofford at Idaho 4:00 p.m.
Jackson State at Southern 5:00 p.m.
The Citadel at GSU 5:00 p.m.
Furman at UCF 5:00 p.m.
Murray State at Western Michigan 6:00 p.m.
Missouri State at Arkansas State 6:00 p.m.
McNeese State at SFA 6:00 p.m.
Montana at Liberty 6:00 p.m.
Maine at Tulane 7:00 p.m.

FCS on ESPN College Extra
UND at NDSU 2:30 p.m.
Other games TBA

Where to find other FCS games(FREE) online….
http://lsufootball.net/tvschedule.htm (Guide to all games on TV or online webcasts)
OVC Conference…http://www.ovcdigitalnetwork.com/watch/
Big Sky Conference…http://eversport.tv/big-sky
Big South Conference…http://www.bigsouthsports.com/live/8589
Northeast Conference…http://www.necfrontrow.com/
Patriot League…http://www.campusinsiders.com/networ…ot_league/live
SoCon Digital Network…http://www.socondigitalnetwork.com

SLC Review 2015.2

SLC Week 2 Review:

UCABEAR (AnyGivenSaturday.com), SLC Contributor | September 15, 2015
Southland RECAP 9-13-15

Saturday was day of extremes for the Southland Conference.It was a week dubbed “bloodbath and paycheck week” when SLC teams collect their annual paychecks from FBS schools or pay lower division schools for the “W”. Let’s take a look at the results for each game.

TCU 70, SFA 7

Stephen F. Austin took on their paycheck FBS opponent Texas Christian and it didn’t take long to see why TCU is ranked third in the nation in the FBS. One of the telling stats of the game was the offense by both teams. S.F.A was outgunned and outrun 627 to 167 yards. Heralded starting QB for SFA Zach Conque was held to just 9 passing yards on 11 of 18passes. Things don’t get easier for the Lumberjacks as they take on the Cowboys of McNeese next week at home.

Speaking of Cowboys….

McNeese 43, UIW 6

McNeese showed the SLC what a good QB and defense can do for a football team’s pride. The Cowboys defense led the way with four sacks, three fumble recoveries, and only allowed 12 yards rushing. On offense the Cowboys were led by transfer Daniel Sams who threw for nearly 200yards. UIW struggled all night with ball possession and in the fourth quarter coughed it to the tune of giving up 14 points to the Cowboys. McNeese travels to S.F.A next week to take on the Lumberjacks. UIW hosts Nicholls State next Saturday at2.p.m.

Yet more Cowboys…

Oklahoma State 32, UCA 8

UCA traveled to Stillwater Oklahoma for their paycheck game to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Again UCA had problems establishing their offense and the pass defense fell victim again to a barrage of passes that mercifully ended in the fourth quarter. UCA gave up over 400yards in the air and nearly 200 on the ground. But despite the huge yardage gained by Oklahoma State the score was actually closer than cowboy fans wanted.Halftime rolled around and the bears were only down 10-0. To the surprise of Bear fans the UCA’s defensive line was able to push back the much larger O.S.U.Offensive line all night. On several 2nd and 3rd and shorts UCA was unable to convert to first downs and had to punt. Overall Bear fans are happy with the effort and can’t wait for a home game in early October.UCA has a bye next week.

Southeastern Louisiana 28, (D2) Florida Tech 17

The lions of Southeastern Louisiana struggled to put away their “W” game but were able to do so by forcing 9 turnovers and scoring 3 defensive touchdowns. The offense struggled all night only scoring once. Starting QB D’Shaie Landon left the game early with an injury forcing the Lions to play their backup QB. The Lions play their FBS opponent Ohio next Saturday.

Baylor 66, Lamar 31

In a game where FCS fans were cheering for an upset, the Lamar Cardinals made the SLC proud as they hung close to the #3 team in the FBS the Baylor Bears for nearly a half. But it was the second half that proved too difficult for the Cardinals as the Baylor Bears pulled away to the tune of 785 yards of total offense and 66 points. Things don’t get easier for Lamar as they travel to Sam Houston State to take on the Bearkats at 6 p.m.on Saturday.

University of Louisiana – Lafayette 44, Northwestern State – 17

The Demons of Northwestern State traveled to Cajun field to take on the Rajun Cajuns in yet another FBS matchup for the Southland. The running game proved too much for the Demons as Elijah McGuire of the Rajun Cajuns scored 5 rushing touchdowns and the team amassed 360 yards on the ground. Life doesn’t get any easier for the Demons as they travel for another paycheck to Mississippi State next Saturday.

Northern Colorado 34, Houston Baptist 10

With even yardage the whole game this one turned into who turned the ball over less. Three critical turnovers allowed the UNC Bears to defeat the Huskies. The Huskies ran for 182 yards and passed for120 yards but it wasn’t enough. The Huskies go to Abilene Christian to take on the Wildcats next Saturday.

University of Louisiana- Monroe 37, Nicholls State 0

A second quarter 30 points offensive onslaught by the Warhawks of ULM put that game out of reach early. Nicholls State gave up nearly 600 yards of offense however they were able to amass 260 yards of offense. This one appeared to be over early. Nicholls travels to UIW next Saturday to open SLC play.

The good: Paychecks went to the Southland schools to fund their football budgets. Lamar showed it is tougher than last year. UCA showed it has improved in a game where they were heavy underdogs. McNeese showed swag on defense that had been missing to Cowboy fans.

The Bad: Injuries to starting QBs right before conference play may change how this conference will be perceived and how it will be determined. Many defenses are also exposed for conference foes.

SWAC Review 2015.2

SWAC Week 2 Review:

Charles Wells, SWAC Contributor | September 15, 2015

Thursday, September 10

Southern 50, Mississippi Valley State 13

Southern wasted no time putting the Louisiana Tech loss behind them by blowing past Mississippi Valley State 50-13 in the conference opener for both teams Thursday night in Rice-Totten Stadium. MVSU’s struggles from the previous week continued as they found themselves trailing 33-0 after a quarter and a half of action. The Delta Devils went backwards more than they did forward, even changing QBs to no success.

Lenard Tillery ran for touchdowns of 10 and 14 yards on the Jaguars’ first two possessions on his way to gaining 91 yards on 15 carries. Willie Quinn followed his 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Louisiana Tech with a 39-yard punt return for a touchdown. Austin Howard threw his first touchdown pass of the season, lofting a perfect 28-yard toss to Nico Talbert, then Quinn topped him with an 89-yarder to Randall Menard.

SU’s defense came up with three interceptions as two newcomers — junior safety Nicholas McDonald and freshman cornerback Demerio Houston — had one each and wide receiver Justin Morgan, who just started practicing at cornerback this week, had one. MVSU’s offense showed some life after Dontrinell Scott replaced Quantavius Peterson at quarterback in the second quarter to cut the lead to 33-7 at halftime and he teamed with Barron for a 34-yard touchdown on the first possession of the third quarter. But the Devils sent the ensuing kickoff in Quinn’s direction and he ran 90 yards for a doubt-removing touchdown.

Friday, September 11

Texas Southern 63, Bacone 0

Coming off of a bad loss to open the season, Texas Southern got exactly what they needed, an easy go of it against Bacone College. Texas Southern gained 447 yards of total offense, forced three turnovers and produced its highest point total in four years with a 63-0 victory of Bacone Friday night at BBVA Compass Stadium.

TSU quarterback Johnathan Bowen completed 8 of his 11 passing attempts for 163 yards and three touchdowns. The first year starter also carried the ball 12 times for 103 yards. Derrick Griffin, who scored the team’s second touchdown of the evening led the receiving corps with a pair of catches along with 99 yards and a touchdown.

The Tigers broken the game open in the second quarter when Bowen connected with Tracy Johnson on a 24 yards pass making the score 21-0. On its next possession, Bowen scored again on an eight yard scamper and would later find Marc Edwards on a nine yard touchdown toss increasing the lead to 35-0 just before halftime.

Saturday, September 12

Alcorn State 31, Alabama State 14

The game I thought would be the game that would possibly vault Alabama State into contention was not so. Alcorn State earned its first win of the season defeating Alabama State for the second straight year 31-14. For the second consecutive week, the Hornets (0-2, 0-1 SWAC) had a lead that they were unable to sustain. The Hornets took the lead twice on touchdown drives in the opening half, but the Braves had an answer each time.

Alcorn took a 17-14 lead into halftime on a 29-yard field goal by Haiden McCraney and Braves senior quarterback John Gibbs Jr. completed 26-of-33 passes for 306 yards, threw for a touchdown and ran for another.

ASU outscored the Braves 14-7 in the first quarter. ASU marched right down the field on their first possession, capping a six-play drive for 70 yards in 2:12 on a 37-yard touchdown scramble by redshirt sophomore Ellis Richardson, who was making his first career start. Richardson completed 9-of-18 passes for 59 yards and he also added 46 yards on the ground with a score. On the Hornets’ next series, the offense was at it again, as ASU went on a 12-play drive for 76 yards.

Junior Khalid Thomas had a nice touchdown run of seven yards to put the Hornets back on top 14-7 late in the first quarter. Alcorn State came directly back with a 14-play drive for 90 yards in 6:12 on a Gibbs Jr. three-run touchdown run to lock up the score are 14-14.

The biggest play of the night came when Gibbs Jr. connected with Tollette George, who streaked down the near sidelines for a 62-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 17 after the PAT. The Hornets threatened again when Thomas returned the kickoff to the ASU 48-yard line, but they were unable to convert the field position into points.

Texas State 63, Prairie View 24

Texas State rode a 35-point first quarter to a 63-24 win over Prairie View A&M. It only took the Bobcats five plays to score on its opening drive as a 49-yard strike to Jafus Gaines on the third play set up a 1-yard run by Robert Lowe two plays later. Down 7-0, the Panthers were moving on its opening drive but a fumble at the Texas State 35 killed the drive and set up Texas State’s second score of the night five plays later after Chris Nutall’s touchdown run. Later, Texas State needed only one play to move ahead 20-0 as Tyler Smith connected with Brandon Smith for a 65-yard strike.

The Panthers cashed in on their scoring opportunity on its third drive of the game as they drove down to the Texas State 13 but had to settle for a 30-yard field goal from Owen Hoolihan. However, the momentum was short-lived as Nutall capped off a 10-play, 75-yard drive with a 7-yard rush up the middle for a 27-3 lead after the PAT.
PVAMU failed to capitalize off a 51-yard kickoff return by Johnta’ Hebert and committed a huge special teams mistake on the punt as they allowed Brandon McDowell to return a 95-yard punt for a touchdown en route to a 35-7 first quarter lead after the PAT.

After falling behind 35-7 the Panthers regrouped on their next drive and had an 11-play, 75-yard drive which was capped off by De’Auntre Smiley’s 4-yard touchdown run. Texas State added two more touchdowns over the next few minutes and jumped ahead 56-10 until a 10-yard strike from Trey Green to Keylon LaSalle with 18 seconds left in the first half. PVAMU finished with 402 (323 Passing, 79 Rushing) yards, Green threw for 289 yards on 25-of-37 passing with two touchdowns. Hebert caught a team-high six passes for 63 yards while LaStrappe led all receivers with 87 yards on five receptions.

Arkansas Pine Bluff 29, Morehouse 27

Arkansas – Pine Bluff Football claimed its first victory of the season in dramatic fashion with a 29-27 overtime win over Morehouse College. Both teams were unable to get anything going in the first three quarters, then the Golden Lions scored on a 15-yard Touchdown run by KeShawn Williams early in the 4th Quarter.

On the ensuing drive, Morehouse drove the ball 74 yards on 12 plays as the Tigers scored on a Monqavious Johnson three-yard pass to Amyr Smith with 1:34 left in the game and tying the contest 7-7 forcing overtime. Things would pick up in overtime.

In the first overtime, MHC scored first a Johnson 25-yard pass to Justin Browning, giving the Tigers a 14-7 lead. UAPB would respond with Willie Young scoring on a nine yard pass from Marcus Terrell, making the game at 14-14. The Golden Lions opened the second overtime with a five-yard TD run to take a 21-14 lead. MHC would convert a fourth and 15 to tie the contest at 21-21 as Johnson found Smith in the back of the end zone for a 30-yard TD strike. UAPB retook the lead in the third overtime on two-yard score by Nicholas Woodfork, followed by a Terrell two-point conversion, giving the Golden Lions a 29-21 lead. Smith scored his third touchdown of the game on a 13- yard pass from Johnson to cut UAPB’s lead to 29-27, but the Tigers two-point conversion would come up short allowing the Golden Lions to survive the upset bid.

Bethune Cookman 56, Grambling State 53

I thought the running game would decide this one but it was the passing game of BCU that sealed the deal. Larry Brihm, Jr. and Quentin Williams combined to throw for 463 yards and six touchdowns as Bethune-Cookman scored late and held on for a 56-53 victory over Grambling State on Saturday night. After a tight 1st half the game exploded in the second.

Trailing 46-41 with 3:37 remaining in the game, Williams hit Jawill Davis, who finished with 199 yards, on a 29-yard scoring strike to retake the lead 49-46. Bethune-Cookman added another score with 1:48 left when Anthony Jordan ran in from 41 yards out. Grambling quickly marched down the field and Johna Williams hit Chester Rogers with a 12-yard scoring strike to close to 56-53 with 54 seconds left. Johnathon Williams threw for 326 yards on 30-of-47 passing.

Tennessee State 35, Jackson State 25

Jackson State continues to be vexed by Tennessee State dropping the Southern Heritage Classic to Tennessee State in Memphis 35-25. This was JSU’s 4th straight loss to TSU. O’Shay Ackerman-Carter was 15 of 26 for 250 yards. Telvin Hooks ran for 68 yards on 14 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns for the Tigers (2-0).

Ackerman-Carter threw a TD to Patrick Smith early in the first quarter followed by a 7-yard TD run by Hooks and the Tigers up 14-6.

After a Jackson State field goal late in the first quarter and another scoring pass from Ackerman-Carter in the final seconds of the first half, Tennessee State went into the half leading 21-9. LaMontiez Ivy was 24 of 39 for 322 yards for Jackson State (0-2). Early in the third quarter, Hooks scored his second TD from 2 yards and Ackerman-Carter found Chris Sanders-McCollum for a 64-yard touchdown play and a 35-18 Tennessee State lead. JSU got a 4th Quarter TD for the final margin. Neither team ran the ball very well, combining for about 225 yards.

Football Players of the Week: September 14

Alcorn State quarterback John Gibbs , Southern linebacker Kentarious Preston and wide receiver Willie Quinn, and Prairie View A&M linebacker Jalan Coleman have been recognized by the Southwestern Athletic Conference as football players of the week for their outstanding performance in competition during Sept. 10-12.

Offensive Player of the Week – Gibbs
Alcorn State’s senior signal-caller accounted for more than 350 total yards of offense in a 31-14 win over conference foe Alabama State. Gibbs went 23-of-33 for 306 yards and a score and chipped in 46 yards and another touchdowns on the ground.

Defensive Player of the Week – Preston
Preston led the Jaguar defense in Southern’s 50-13 win over Mississippi Valley State, notching 11 stops (2.5 tackles for loss) and getting a sack along the way. With the effort, Preston is more than halfway to his 2014 tackles total (20).

Special Teams Player of the Week – Quinn
Quinn earned his second-straight SWAC Special Teams Player of the Week award after making a dazzling 39-yard punt return touchdown and later adding a 90-yard kickoff return for a score during the Jaguars’ 50-13 win over Mississippi Valley State. Quinn amassed 187 total yards from scrimmage (152 return) and also threw for a 89-yard touchdown during the game.

Newcomer of the Week – Coleman
The sophomore linebacker was a bright spot for the Panthers during their 63-24 loss to Texas State. Coleman was in on 10 stops (one for loss) during the game, and the sophomore’s tackle totals were tops among all Panthers’ defenders during the contest.

AGS Poll Results – WEEK 2 – 2015

With the loss to Auburn JSU cemented their grip on the #1 ranking in the AGS Top 25 Poll this week. When a top 1o can not put and FCS team away in regulation it says something about the strength of that FCS team. There may not be any good losses but this is surely what it would like if there were any.

SDSU moves up a couple of spots to #6 with a drubbing of Southern Utah last weekend.

Eastern Washington drops 5 spots to #14 after a trip to Cedar Falls and a good game with the UNI Panthers…so close to getting that first win against the Panthers but still came up a bit short.

Portland State continues its climb up the AGS Poll this week jumping another 8 spots up to #15 this week after defeating the Idaho State Bengals last Saturday.

Southern Illinois & Western Carolina both dropped out of the ORV this week after their respective losses over the past weekend. Good things are expected from both of these squads this season so they need to get it going in the right direction quickly and start moving up the ranks to meet expectations this season.

Previous Wk.	Rank	Team:	Total Points	First Place Votes
1	1	Jacksonville State Gamecocks	1902	47
2	2	Coastal Carolina Chanticleers	1749	14
4	3	North Dakota State Bison	1727	3
3	4	Sam Houston State Bearkats	1640	6
5	5	Illinois State Redbirds	1584	5
8	6	South Dakota State Jackrabbits	1566	3
6	7	Villanova Wildcats	1521
7	8	Montana Grizzlies	1437
10	9	Cal Poly Mustangs	1241	1
19	10	Northern Iowa Panthers	1172
12	11	James Madison Dukes	1157
11	12	Montana State Bobcats	1056
15	13	New Hampshire Wildcats	889
9	14	Eastern Washington Eagles	879
23	15	Portland State Vikings	837	1
14	16	Chattanooga Mocs	828
13	17	Liberty Flames	746
18	18	Southeastern Louisiana Lions	577
17	19	Fordham Rams	575
16	20	Youngstown State Penguins	511
25	21	Samford Bulldogs	499
24	22	William & Mary Tribe	324
20	23	Eastern Kentucky Colonels	251
21	24	Indiana State Sycamores	251
30	25	Northern Arizona Lumberjacks	231


		ORV:
27	26	North Dakota	212
28	27	Harvard Crimson	114
32	28	McNeese State Cowboys	100
26	29	Western Illinois Leathernecks	71
29	30	Richmond Spiders	60
NR	31	The Citadel Bulldogs	50
35	32	Towson Tigers	29
22	33	Idaho State Bengals	25
37	34	Wofford Terriers	24
36	35	Jacksonville Dolphins	23
NR	36	Holy Cross Crusaders	18
NR	37	Sacred Heart Pioneers	15
39	38	Tennessee State Tigers	15
NR	39	Duquesne Dukes	14
NR	40	Stony Brook Seawolves	13


		Dropped out this week:

31		Southern Illinois Salukis
33		Western Carolina Catamounts

ICYMI: Week 2

The FCSTV Guide For Week 2 – 9/10-9/12/2015

Once again our friends FargoBison & RootinFerDukes at AGS brings us a list of televised FCS games, thanks again FB.

Must See Matchups – Week 2

Saturday, September 12
(1) Jacksonville State at Auburn (SEC Network) 12pm
The newly #1 Gamecocks will not likely stay atop the top perch for long after their visit to Auburn.

(21) Indiana State at Purdue (ESPNEWS) 12pm
Purdue is likely the worst Big 10 team this season, recently losing to Marshall. Indiana State could pull the upset.

Mars Hill (D2) at (14) Chattanooga (SoCon Video) 1pm
Chattanooga should cruise easily in this D2 tune-up game.

(9) Eastern Washington at (19) Northern Iowa (ESPN Extra/(CSNC/ESPN3)/(SWX/PSN) (cable)) 2pm
The AGS GOTW that should prove to be a game that will go down to the wire. Will UNI’s home crowd give them the advantage as the MVFC tries to flex its muscles?

(13) Liberty at West Virginia (RSPI) 3pm
Liberty may find themselves in over their heads as they head up to Morgantown.

Florida A&M at (25) Samford (ESPN3) 3pm
Samford should win easily against the MEAC’s Florida A&M.

Weber State at (4) North Dakota State (ESPN Extra/ESPN3/NBC ND (cable)) 3:30pm
NDSU doesn’t like losing and has had to think about the disappointment in Missoula for two weeks now. I feel bad for Weber State.

Lehigh at (12) James Madison (Madizone Streaming, http://portal.stretchinternet.com/jmu/) 4pm
As thunderstorms loom in Harrisonburg, hopefully the Dukes can effectively run the ball or it can be a long, wet game.

(2) Coastal Carolina at South Carolina State (No TV) 6pm
An in-state match-up that CCU should win convincingly, but SCSU may be the best HBCU in the land.

(6) Villanova at (17) Fordham (PLN Video) 6pm
Runner-up for the AGS GOTW. Fordham could spring the upset, but I think and hope that VU prevails.

(15) New Hampshire at Colgate (PLN Video) 6pm
UNH wants to rebound after the disappointing performance in San Jose. They should win comfortably.

(20) Eastern Kentucky at North Carolina State (ESPN3) 6pm
EKU has a tall task in Raleigh against the Wolf Pack.

(23) Portland State at (22) Idaho State (Big Sky Video) 6pm
PSU’s upset of Washington State last week made this match-up more intriguing than it looked a week ago. This could go either way, but I’ll give the home team the edge.

Southern Utah at (8) South Dakota State (No TV) 7pm
SDSU smacked the Jayhawks and will do the same to SUU.

Robert Morris at (16) Youngstown State (ESPN Extra/ESPN3) 7pm
An easy early season game for Bo Pelini and company.

Morgan State at (5) Illinois State (ESPN Extra/CSNC/ESPN3) 7:30pm
Illinois State will roll with ease.

Florida Tech (D2) at (18) Southeastern Louisiana (No TV) 8pm
SELA should easily dispatch a D2 team here.

(10) Cal Poly at Arizona State (Pac-12 Network) 11pm
Cal Poly barely knew the AGS Top 10. Maybe later this season.

Bye Week:
(3) Sam Houston State
(7) Montana
(11) Montana State
(24) William & Mary

Others Receiving Votes (26-30):
(26) Western Illinois at Illinois (Big Ten Network) 12pm
(29) Richmond at Hampton (No TV) 12pm
Drake at (27) North Dakota (FCSP/Midco (cable)/Video (FS Go/Big Sky) 6pm
New Mexico Highlands (D2) at Northern Arizona (FSAZ+/FCSP/NAU-TV Video/Big Sky Video) 7pm

Here is a detailed listing of the games available and as usual FCS-FBS games dominate the slate of early season games, but a few great FCS-FCS battles can be found. UNI-EWU…perhaps the headline game of the week is on CSN Chicago and ESPN3…All times are in Central Time….

TV Guide
9/10: Southern at Mississippi Valley State 6:30 p.m. ESPNU
9/12: JSU at Auburn 11:00 a.m. SEC Network
WIU at Illinois 11:00 a.m. Big 10 Network
Indiana State at Purdue 11:00 a.m. ESPN News
Sac State at Washington 1:00 p.m. Pac 12 Network
EWU at UNI 1:00 p.m CSN Chicago/EPSN3
Liberty at WVU 2:00 p.m. Root Sports Pittsburgh
Rhode Island at Albany 2:30 p.m. Altitude/SNY/Comcast California
SFA at TCU 2:30 p.m. Fox Sports 1
Weber State at NDSU 2:30 p.m. NBC ND/ESPN3
Austin Peay at Southern Miss 2:30 p.m. CSN Bay Area/ASN
EIU at Northwestern 3:00 p.m. ESPN News
Drake at North Dakota 6:00 p.m. Fox Sports Pacific/Midco
SUU at SDSU 6:00 p.m. Midco Sports Network
Norfolk State at Old Dominion 6:00 p.m. ASN(Affiliates TBA)
Incarnate Word at McNeese State 6:00 p.m. MASN/ASN
Lamar at Baylor 6:30 p.m. Fox Sports Affiliates
Central Arkansas at Oklahoma State 6:30 Fox Sports Network Affiliates
Morgan State Illinois State 6:30 p.m CSN Chicago Sports+/ESPN3
Bacone College at Texas Southern 7:00 p.m. Root Sports SW+
Cal Poly at Arizona State 10:00 p.m. Pac 12 Network

FCS on ESPN3
9/12: Presbyterian at Charlotte 11:00 a.m.
Howard at BC noon
Morehead State at VMI 12:30 p.m.
EWU at UNI 1:00 p.m.
Monmouth at CMU 2:00 p.m.
Florida A&M at Samford 2:00 p.m.
Chadron State Missouri State 2:00 p.m.
Murray State at Northern Illinois 2:30 p.m.
Furman at Va Tech 2:30 p.m.
Weber State at NDSU 2:30 p.m.
WCU at The Citadel 5:00 p.m.
Stetson at Mercer 5:00 p.m.
Delaware State at Kent Sate 5:00 p.m.
NCCU at Duke 5:00 p.m.
NC A&T at North Carolina 5:00 p.m.
EKU at NC State 5:00 p.m.
RMU at YSU 6:00 p.m.
Northwestern State at UL-Lafayette 6:00 p.m.
Nicholls State at UL-Monroe 6:00 p.m.
Prairie View A&M at Texas State 6:00 p.m.
Charleston Southern at Troy 6:00 p.m.
Morgan State at Illinois State 6:30 p.m.

FCS on ESPN College Extra
EWU at UNI 1:00 p.m.
Weber State at NDSU 2:30 p.m.
Lafayette at Delaware 5:00 p.m.
RMU at YSU 6:00 p.m.
Morgan State at Illinois State 6:30 p.m.

Where to find other FCS games (FREE) online….
http://lsufootball.net/tvschedule.htm (Guide to all games on TV or online webcasts)
OVC Conference…http://www.ovcdigitalnetwork.com/watch/
Big Sky Conference…http://www.americaonesports.com/bigsky.asp
Big South Conference…http://www.bigsouthsports.com/live/8589
Northeast Conference…http://www.necfrontrow.com/
Patriot League…http://www.campusinsiders.com/networ…ot_league/live
SoCon Digital Network…http://www.socondigitalnetwork.com