You needed a lineup card for the start of the FCS football season, but some of the seemingly countless transfers quickly established themselves. Others still need to do more.
Transfers are here, there, everywhere across FCS college football.
The Division I transfer portal has become an integral part of building a roster. Players from FCS and FBS programs have found new homes and their impact can be felt around the country –often relied upon to elevate or sustain programs.
Let’s take a look at some new players on leading FCS programs who are paying immediate dividends, and some transfers who are still looking to show their true value.
Deuce Hogan, QB, Nicholls (Transfer From New Mexico State)
Nicholls has had a very promising start to the 2025 season. The Colonels were picked to finish fifth in the Southland’s preseason poll yet opened with a 20-6 dismantling of conference favorite UIW 20-6 before playing well for the first three quarters of a 38-20 loss at FBS member Troy.
Hogan is a big reason for Nicholls’ early success. The New Mexico State transfer (previously Iowa and Kentucky) completed 21 of 36 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown in the win over UIW. Against Troy, he was 21-for-27 for 184 yards, a TD and an interception.
Last year, Nicholls struggled for consistent passing against the better opponents, finishing the season with 32 sacks allowed and just 16 TDs against 11 interceptions while going 4-8. Hogan’s steady play could serve as the catalyst to flip the close losses in 2024 (three by eight-or-fewer points) into victories in 2025.
Brad Larson, PK, Tarleton State (From Angelo State)
Tarleton State’s 10-4 record and FCS playoff appearance last season established the Texans as one of the best programs in the FCS. The United Athletic Conference team stormed out of the gate this season, trouncing Portland State 42-0 and serving up a 30-27, two-overtime upset of Army, the reigning American Athletic Conference champion.
Special teams played a major role in the upset and Larson, the Angelo State transfer, was at the heart of the special teams’ performance. Returning kicker Corbin Poston missed his two field-goal attempts against Portland State, so Larson, who served as the kickoff specialist in Week 0, had his role expanded against Army.
He kicked a field goal to start the scoring, made all three of his extra point attempts over the next three quarters, and in the overtimes connected on a 28-yard field goal, then a 37-yard walk-off winner.
Tarleton State went on to be named Stats Perform FCS National Team of the Week.
PURE PANDEMONIUM Enjoy the full celebration immediately after one of the best wins in Tarleton State Football history! pic.twitter.com/laPnbQc3R6
— Tarleton State Football (@TarletonFB) August 30, 2025Nate Rutchena, LB, UC Davis (From Cal)
UC Davis senior safety Rex Connors earned Big Sky defensive player of the week honors for his 15-tackle performance against Utah Tech, but the newcomer Rutchena also helped save the Aggies from suffering an upset.
He spent the previous four seasons at Cal as a special teamer and backup linebacker. He even experimented at tight end.
Trailing 31-24, Utah Tech got the ball at its 14-yard line with 1:54 remaining. Three plays later, the Trailblazers were on the UC Davis 39. But Rutchena was ready to step in – literally – intercepting a pass at the Aggies’ 28 to thwart Utah Tech’s comeback bid and seal the victory.
Strong linebacker play will be paramount for the eighth-ranked Aggies as they navigate the competitive Big Sky Conference. Rutchena could fill the box score regularly, as he did in Week 1 with three solo tackles, three assists, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble in addition to the big interception.
Jalen Johnson, WR, South Carolina State (From Grambling State)
South Carolina State lost last year’s top four receivers in the offseason, including in the transfer portal with leading receiver Caden High going to Stanford and Justin Smith-Brown to West Virginia. Second-year coach Chennis Berry needed to find a new threat on the perimeter to help rebuild the passing attack of the defending MEAC champion.
In stepped Johnson, who had just 29 receptions in three seasons at McNeese and 13 at Grambling last year.
In SCSU’s first game against Southern Conference member Wofford, the 5-foot-9, 175-pound graduate transfer set career highs with seven catches and 98 receiving yards. It included a 35-yarder that was the game’s longest play from scrimmage.
Jamar Curtis, Rodney Hammond Jr., Savion Red, RBs, Sacramento State (From Lafayette, Pitt and Nevada)
While everybody celebrated new Sacramento State coach Brennan Marion landing former prized quarterback recruit Jaden Rashada from the transfer portal, his Go-Go offense has long been made popular by the running backs. Adding three of the better running backs in the transfer portal was how the new coach hoped he could return the Hornets to prominence quickly (they were 3-9 last year after making the FCS playoffs in their four previous seasons).
Marion landed: Curtis, a home run hitting back, who totaled 3,569 scrimmage yards and 35 touchdowns in his three seasons at Lafayette; Hammond, a 5-9, 175-pound scat back who had three 100-plus carry seasons while averaging over 500 rushing yards across the 2021-23 seasons at Pitt; and Red, a 5-10, 230-pound bruiser who ran for 687 yards and eight touchdowns at Nevada in 2024.
The Big Sky program met a difficult task in its season opener at South Dakota State, and the Go-Go offense was unable to … go! The trio combined for just 30 yards on 14 carries in a 20-3 loss.
There’s another tough test this week, but it’s basically a do-over, as Sacramento State travels to FBS Nevada. If the Hornets establish the rushing attack, it will help Rashada and the passing game get rolling as well.
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