We’re previewing key games and storylines each week throughout the college football season. Our FCS coverage is home for the Top 25 media poll, FCS National Awards and much more.
Let the (other) kids play.
The big bullies on the FCS block – the last four national champions in No. 1 North Dakota State and No. 2 South Dakota State – are on byes this week.
That puts the spotlight on a lot of other deserving teams as the national picture continues to take September shape. For many teams, the nonconference schedule is winding down.
If it feels like the season just started – no, we don’t mean the Ivy League here – consider Tarleton State, ranked third in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll, can improve to 5-0 this week. In Week 4, that is – the Texans got the early jump in Week 0.
Let’s preview FCS nation heading into the Week 4 games.
FCS Football Week 4 Preview & Predictions
FCS Game of the Week
No. 11 Villanova (1-1, 0-0 CAA Football) at No. 21 Monmouth (2-1, 0-0)
Kickoff: 1 p.m. ET Saturday at Kessler Field in West Long Branch, N.J. (FloCollege)
Series: Monmouth leads 3-0 (last meeting: Monmouth won 40-33 on Nov. 16, 2024)
Notable: Both teams have Colgate as a common opponent (Monmouth won 42-39 on the road; Villanova won 24-17 at home). Villanova, now in its final CAA season, is coming off a 52-6 loss at Penn State that was played in front of 109,516 fans, while Monmouth was tied in the final two minutes at Charlotte before falling 42-35. Monmouth quarterback Derek Robertson completed 22 of 23 (95.7%) pass attempts in their win over Villanova last November. Even with just one 2-yard sack, the Hawks limited Villanova to 93 net rushing yards on 32 carries. This season, Robertson leads all of Division I in passing yards per game (421.7), completions (100) and touchdown passes (14), while running back Rodney Nelson is No. 4 in the FCS in scrimmage yards per game (142.7). Sophomore safety Jaeden Jones is off to a flying start with his 27 tackles already surpassing last season’s total. The visiting Wildcats’ last 11 losses since 2022 have occurred on the road. They seek ball control with lefty QB Pat McQuaide and RB David Avit (1,025 rushing yards in 16 career games) working behind an offensive line whose five starters average nearly 6-foot-5, 310 pounds. All-American linebacker Shane Hartzell enters with 309 career tackles.
The Pick: Villanova
Second-and-10
1. The late-starting Ivy League kicks off its 10-game schedule with intrigue, from having an automatic FCS playoff bid for the first time to a 2026 NFL Draft quarterback prospect leading the preseason favorite (Harvard’s Jaden Craig) to having two straight three-way shares of the title determined on the final day of the regular season. Their teams are at home for perhaps the biggest openers: Dartmouth against No. 25 New Hampshire in the Granite (State) Bowl, Princeton against Pioneer Football League preseason favorite San Diego, and Yale versus a snake-bitten Holy Cross team (0-3) that’s has won a share of six consecutive Patriot League titles.
2. Top-ranked North Dakota State (3-0) and No. 12 Tennessee Tech (3-0) are the only non-Ivy League FCS teams yet to trail in a game. Non-Ivy teams yet to enjoy a lead in a game: Alcorn State (0-3), Davidson (0-3), Eastern Washington (0-3), East Texas A&M (0-2), Murray State (0-3), Portland State (0-4), Saint Francis (0-3) and UT Martin (0-3).
3. The United Athletic Conference’s seven-game schedule is perhaps the best of FCS Week 4. In conference openers: No. 18 Austin Peay (FBS win) at No. 14 Abilene Christian (defending champ) matches nationally teams, and No. 22 West Georgia (3-0) – one of the season’s bigger surprise teams – hosts an Eastern Kentucky squad that last year made its 23rd all-time FCS playoff appearance. Out of conference, three teams seek an upset at a nationally ranked opponent: North Alabama (No. 6 Illinois State), Southern Utah (No. 9 UC Davis) and Central Arkansas (No. 24 Sacramento State). In addition, No. 3 Tarleton State seeks to become Division I’s first five-win team as it hosts Chattanooga, while Utah Tech hosts Northern Iowa, which is No. 3 to Montana and EKU in all-time playoff appearances with 22.
4. In another matchup of nationally ranked teams, No. 17 Northern Arizona (2-1) hosts No. 19 UIW (1-2) in the second of a four-year home-and-home stretch (UIW won the first-ever meeting 38-14 last year). The visiting Cardinals may have found something at quarterback when redshirt freshman EJ Colson came off the bench in the second half to pass for 213 yards and three touchdowns against UTSA last Saturday. NAU QB Ty Pennington is coming off 366 passing yards and three TD passes – both career highs – in a 52-49 win at Southern Utah. Since the start of last season, no active FCS QB has a lower interception rate than the 2024 Big Sky newcomer of the year (0.7%; three picks in 381 attempts).
5. Nine of Rhode Island’s 11 wins last season occurred after it trailed the opponent (that was tied for the FCS high). Apparently for coach Jim Fleming’s program, it wasn’t enough playing from behind. This season, the No. 7 Rams are the only team to have won three times after trailing – by 10 points in each of their first two games, then for over 33 minutes last Saturday until Garth White kicked a late field goal for a 9-7 win over Holy Cross. The Rams host LIU this week.
6. Since arriving at Bucknell in 2023, Ralph Rucker IV has the fifth-most passing yards (6,130) in the FCS, and the third-most among active players. Lehigh held him to 150 yards last season, but, go figure, Bucknell won 38-35 in two overtimes to hand the Mountain Hawks their only Patriot League loss. The No. 10 Mountain Hawks – the PL preseason favorites – seek a reversal on Saturday, hoping to extend the series’ five-game road winning streak. They had five sacks in last year’s game – something that’s a shortcoming of the Bison. Rucker is the most-sacked FCS QB (81) since his arrival in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, with Bucknell ranking second to Fordham for the most allowed overall since 2023.
7. Fordham fifth-year linebacker James Conway, who leads the FCS in tackles per game (17.3), enters a trip to Colgate with 488 career tackles, the Patriot League record. Since NCAA record-keeping began for career defensive statistics in 2000, there’s been four FCS players to reach the 500-tackle milestone, most recently Stetson’s Donald Payne in 2016 (the late Garrett Dolan of Houston Christian was a fifth player over 500 when adding in the start-up program’s 2012 practice season).
8. Let’s hear it for the nonconference rivalries that endure. They’re alive and well this week with Hampton and Howard meeting for the 100th time in the “Battle of the Real HU”; fellow HBCUs North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central squaring off for the 97th time in the Aggie-Eagle Classic; and Southeast Missouri hosting No. 13 Southern Illinois in the 93rd meeting of a series now dubbed the “War for the Wheel.” N.C. A&T Athletics says it well and keeps it fun by noting, “Forget the Hatfields and the McCoys or anything you see with the Kardashians or any Hollywood divorce; the rivalry between North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central University is the ultimate family dispute.”
9. Davidson must be happy to welcome in Greensboro College, a Division III program, this week. The Wildcats led the FCS in rushing yards per game in all but one of coach Scott Abell’s seven seasons from 2018-24 (they also finished second the other time in 2019). In an 0-3 start under Saj Thakker, the Pioneer Football League squad isn’t even ranked in the top 100 of the FCS – tied for 101st at 92.7 rushing yards per game (with 3.0 yards per carry). This has occurred even with the Wildcats returning Mari Adams (1,019 and 1,231 yards the last two seasons) and Mason Sheron (949 and 923) to their backfield.
10. Jackson State’s seven-year hold on leading the FCS in attendance average might end this season. The SWAC power’s two-game average is 16,109, which ranks ninth nationally and is over 10,000 on average below No. 1 Montana (26,401), according to NCAA Records. UM was the most-recent FCS leader before JSU in 2017.
FCS Longest Active Winning StreaksOverall8 – Tennessee Tech7 – NDSU, Presbyterian4 – Tarleton St, West GeorgiaHome31 – SDSU17 – Villanova14 – NDSU10 – Rhode IslandRoad4 – Presbyterian3 – Harvard, Tarleton St, West Georgia
— Opta FCS Football (@OptaAnalystFCS) September 14, 2025FCS Football Top 25 Schedule – Week 4
All times ET on Saturday, Sept. 20; Predicted winner in boldface
Last Week’s Record: 17-6 (.739); Season Record: 52-17 (.754)
1. North Dakota State (3-0): No game
2. South Dakota State (3-0): No game
3. Tarleton State (4-0, 1-0 UAC): Chattanooga (1-2), 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
4. Montana State (1-2): Mercyhurst (1-2), 3 p.m. (ESPN+)
5. Montana (2-0): Indiana State (2-1), 3 p.m. (Scripps/ESPN+)
6. Illinois State (2-1): North Alabama (1-2), 1 p.m. (ESPN+)
7. Rhode Island (3-0, 2-0 CAA): LIU (1-2), 6 p.m. (FloCollege)
8. Idaho (2-1): at San Jose State (0-2), 5 p.m. (NBC Sports Bay/MWN)
9. UC Davis (1-1): Southern Utah (1-2), 10 p.m. (ESPN+)
10. Lehigh (3-0, 1-0 Patriot): at Bucknell (2-1), 6 p.m. (ESPN+)
11. Villanova (1-1): at No. 21 Monmouth (2-1), 1 p.m. (FloCollege)
12. Tennessee Tech (3-0): No game
13. Southern Illinois (2-1): at Southeast Missouri (1-2), 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
14. Abilene Christian (1-2): No. 18 Austin Peay (2-1), 8 p.m. (ESPN+)
15. South Dakota (1-2): Drake (1-1), 2 p.m. (ESPN+)
16. North Dakota (1-2): Valparaiso (1-2), 4 p.m. (ESPN+)
17. Northern Arizona (2-1): No. 19 UIW (1-2), 5 p.m. (ESPN+)
18. Austin Peay (2-1):at No. 14 Abilene Christian (1-2), 8 p.m. (ESPN+)
19. UIW (1-2, 0-1 Southland): at No. 17 Northern Arizona (2-1), 5 p.m. (ESPN+)
20. Jackson State (2-1): No game
21. Monmouth (2-1): No. 11 Villanova (1-1), 1 p.m. (FloCollege)
22. West Georgia (3-0): Eastern Kentucky (1-2), 6 p.m. (ESPN+)
23. Lamar (2-1): No game
24. Sacramento State (1-2): Central Arkansas (1-2), 9 p.m. (KMAX31/ESPN+)
25. New Hampshire (2-1): at Dartmouth (0-0), 1 p.m. (NESN/ESPN+)
Top photo, from left, from UIW, Monmouth, Villanova and Dartmouth Athletics. For more FCS football coverage, follow on social media at X, Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky.
FCS Football Week 4 Preview & Predictions: Villanova Seeks to Slow Monmouth, Robertson; Ivy League Joins the Fun Opta Analyst.
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