In truth, the number of terrific story lines in Week 0 are endless. But we’re focusing on perhaps the five biggest to open the new FCS football season.
If you had been looking forward to one of those wild and wacky Saturdays of FCS football action, the 2026 season was at that point in Week 0 even before then.
There was Thursday night upsets …
There was Friday night drama …
There were Saturday superlatives …
Yes, Week 0 left you wondering what surprise could be next … and hoping for more as the season progresses.
OK, disclaimer: Montana State played in the final game of the weekend and its 54-0 victory at Utah Tech suggested the season also could be headed to expected form with potential back-to-back national championships.
As the 69-game week wound down, following were five of the bigger story lines. (Here’s the Top 25 Scoreboard for even more coverage.)
William & Mary Stuns Villanova, McQuaide
No FCS game drew as much attention as William & Mary’s 35-32 rally past No. 8 Villanova in both teams’ first game as Patriot League members. It first revolved around the off-again, on-again (and more than once both ways) playing status of Villanova quarterback Pat McQuaide, who received an injunction in court on Friday to play this season. The attention then turned to William & Mary’s miracle final minute to reverse a 32-22 deficit: a Max Lipinski field goal, a recovered on-side kick by Brendan Robinson, Kai Austin’s 37-yard touchdown catch from Winston Watkins and a Lipinski-tying PAT, McQuaide’s third interception, and Lipinski’s 45-yard, walk-off game-winner. Yeah, whew!
Reigning Walter Payton Award winner Beau Brungard impressed in Youngstown State’s season-opening win. He is seeking to become the third two-time recipient of FCS National Offensive Player of the Year.Big Sky Thrillers Abound
The Big Sky is seeking to surpass the Missouri Valley as the top conference in the FCS, and at the least, it presented an opening case to be the most exciting league. The average margin of win in the first five conference games was 5.2. Cal Poly defeated Idaho 38-34 on Anthony Grigsby Jr.’s 34-yard TD pass to Tayvion McCoy with 9 seconds remaining; Weber State held off Northern Colorado 30-29 when Zach Smith blocked a potential game-tying extra points with 3 seconds to play; and No. 6 UC Davis overcame a 21-point halftime deficit to beat Portland State 31-24 on Treynor Cleeland’s 22-yard scoring pass to Laviel Pickett with 22 seconds left. In addition, Ty Pennington’s two TD passes in the fourth quarter capped No. 25 Northern Arizona’s rally from 21 points down to a 34-27 win over Eastern Washington, and No. 2 Montana held off Southern Utah 28-21 in the Thunderbirds’ return to the conference.
FCS Longest Active Winning Streaks15 – Montana State9 – South Carolina State7 – Alabama State5 – Idaho State, San Diego, Wofford4 – UTRGV
— Opta FCS Football (@OptaAnalystFCS) August 30, 2026Lamar, Tennessee Tech Win Top 25 Showdowns
The home teams flexed their muscle in Week 0’s two Top 25 matchups. Aiden McCown threw for three touchdowns as No. 20 Lamar topped No. 15 Abilene Christian 21-14 in the Stats Perform FCS Game of the Week. Tennessee Tech quarterback Jax Leatherwood went one better with four TD passes in the No. 14 Golden Eagles’ 38-14 win over No. 22 Monmouth. They enjoyed a 17-minute, 50-second advantage in time of possession.
HBCU Programs Command the Spotlight
The HBCU season had a memorable start, including Howard topping Alabama A&M 31-24 in the MEAC-SWAC Challenge. Quarterback Ja’Shawn Scroggins accounted for 364 yards of total offense and had three TD passes as the Bison extended the MEAC’s lead in the series to 13-7. The SWAC, though, gained a (non-Challenge) win over the MEAC when Texas Southern tripped North Carolina Central 42-30. Also, Jackson State avoided a major upset against Tennessee State as Andrew Ivaniciuc’s fourth field goal with 2:31 left was the difference in a 26-24 escape. HBCUs also had three of Week 0’s six shutout wins, led by South Carolina State pasting Savannah State 87-0 for the fifth-largest shutout by an FCS team in the last 30 years.
FCS Shutout Wins in Week 0No. 24 South Carolina State 87, Savannah State 0No. 4 Illinois State 76, St. Francis (IL) 0Norfolk State 56, Winston-Salem 0No. 1 Montana State 54, Utah Tech 0Hampton 45, Virginia Lynchburg 0UTRGV 44, UT Permian Basin 0
— Opta FCS Football (@OptaAnalystFCS) August 30, 2026Argonauts Make an Introduction
The United Athletic Conference has been adding the right Division II programs. Two years ago, West Georgia won its first game in the FCS by upsetting Samford. This year, West Florida went further with a Top 25 win, taking down No. 16 Southern Illinois 34-31 before a Pen Air Field record-crowd of 6,124 in Pensacola. Coach Kable Nobles’ Argonauts never trailed after quarterback Ty’Ray Davis’ 45-yard TD run made it 7-3, and he later had a pair of scoring passes. The defense had three interceptions off SIU’s Jake Curry, who replaced an injured DJ Williams in the second quarter, including A’Khoury Lyde on a 44-yard pick-six.
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