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There are still plenty of opportunities for FCS football teams to knock off FBS opposition this week, but the Week 2 schedule makes a considerable shift toward excellent matchups between Division I subdivision programs.
Of course, none is bigger than No. 2 South Dakota State’s visit to No. 3 Montana State, but there are also telling, bounce-back and prove-it kinds of matchups to keep a close eye on.
Overall, FCS teams are involved in 81 games, with 33 against FBS programs – down from last week’s 87 and 47, respectively.
Let’s span FCS nation ahead of the action.
FCS Football Week 2 Preview
FCS Game of the Week
No. 2 South Dakota State (1-0) at No. 3 Montana State (0-1)
Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET Saturday at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana (ESPN+)
Series: Montana State leads 11-7 (last meeting: Sept. 9, 2023: SDSU 20, MSU 16)
Notable: This game will be felt well beyond Saturday, all the way into Selection Sunday and the FCS playoff seedings. It’s the return game from South Dakota State holding off Montana State on the final play of their regular-season victory in 2023. Each team also won at home in the FCS semifinals in 2021 (MSU) and 2022 (SDSU). No FCS team had a better time of possession in its opening game than SDSU (41 minutes, 6 seconds against then-No. 15 Sacramento State). Quarterback Chase Mason is efficient (no interceptions in 75 career pass attempts), but he was sacked seven times in his first career start, so he may want another heavy dose of running back Julius Loughridge (159 yards) to keep MSU’s offense on the sideline. The Bobcats’ vaunted running attack, directed by transfer QB Justin Lamson, didn’t solve Oregon in a blowout loss, and it doesn’t get much easier against the Jackrabbits defense (24 net yards allowed on 24 carries). The Dowler twins starred in the loss, with Taco posting career highs in receptions (12) and receiving yards (107), and Caden totaling a career-high 10 tackles. The Bobcats went 9-0 at home last season and have won 35 of their last 36 games in Bozeman.
The Pick: South Dakota State
Second-and-10
1. The week’s other matchup between two Stats Perform FCS Top 25 teams is No. 25 Stephen F. Austin at No. 16 Abilene Christian. Their offenses are expected to be high-powered, but they were stymied in season-opening FBS losses. The Texas schools have developed a competitive rivalry that’s somewhat overlooked nationally. As Division I programs, they’ve met in every season since 2014, including a home-and-home series in 2022, and eight of the 12 games have decided by one score, with no result higher than 14 points. Last year, SFA handed ACU a 32-19 loss just one week after the Wildcats clinched the United Athletic Conference title, and the Lumberjacks did so without standout quarterback Sam Vidlak.
2. Top-ranked North Dakota State will remain on the road to face Tennessee State at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. Of course, the defending FCS champion Bison hope to be back in town come Jan. 5 when Vanderbilt’s FirstBank Stadium hosts the 2025 season title game. NDSU handled TSU 52-3 in their first-ever meeting last September, when wide receiver Bryce Lance had his breakout (seven receptions, 106 yards, two touchdowns) on the way to becoming the FCS’ leading 2026 NFL Draft prospect. Representatives from the championship co-hosts Ohio Valley Conference and Nashville Sports Council figure to be interested observers of the team and traveling fan base.
The United Athletic Conference's selection of North Alabama director of athletics Josh Looney has rounded out the 2025 FCS playoff selection committee. pic.twitter.com/GcgQpgx21U
— Opta FCS Football (@OptaAnalystFCS) September 3, 20253. Considering how South Dakota State dominated in its 20-3 win, Sacramento State has an easier matchup with its FBS trip to Nevada, which lost to FBS opponents in 2022 and ’23. The jury is still out on No. 18 Sac State, given it’s nationally ranked off a 3-9 season. The Hornets had minimal offensive efficiency in their first game under first-year coach Brennan Marion, with a time of possession under 19 minutes and a combined 2 of 17 on third- and fourth-down attempts. Transfer QB Jaden Rashada was just 11 of 27 passing, and four transfer running backs gained only 37 yards on 16 carries.
(For more: A Blueprint for How an FCS Team Can Beat the Larger-School FBS)
Graphic by Graham Bell.4. Can a team that’s replacing all of last year’s defensive starters – yup, all 11 – be a national title contender, or even a conference threat? That’s what No. 6 Montana seeks to answer this season, beginning with a later start to the schedule when it hosts Division II Central Washington. Coach Bobby Hauck’s Big Sky squad has 29 transfers, with a bunch of the key imports on defense, including linebackers Peyton Wing (Portland State), Elijawah Tolbert (Eastern Illinois) and Solomon Tuliaupupu (USC), and strong safety Micah Harper (BYU). It helps to have eight home games in the regular season: the Griz are 236-37 (.864) all-time inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium as they begin their 40th season there.
5. At 14 teams, CAA Football is deep in title contenders, so there isn’t much room for early slips. Even openers such as No. 9 Rhode Island at Stony Brook and Maine at William & Mary carry importance with the direction of the race. As the conference seeks a bounce back, this week’s non-conference schedule is tasty as well, including No. 13 Villanova in a late opener against Colgate, New Hampshire (off an impressive win at North Carolina Central) hosting Patriot League power Holy Cross (off a near miss at Northern Illinois), and road tests for Towson at Morgan State and Monmouth at Fordham.
6. No FCS team that lost by at least 53 points to another team in one season had come back to beat it in the following season since 2015 until last week – and it happened twice. St. Thomas reversed a 64-0 loss to Lindenwood a year ago with a 35-13 victory, while Presbyterian overcame last year’s 63-10 defeat to Mercer with a 15-10 stunner over the then-No. 11 Bears. St. Thomas unveiled College of Idaho transfer quarterback Andy Peters (two TD passes) in the win, and the Boise native is now set to lead the Tommies against No. 10 Idaho. Presbyterian’s strong start was set up by last year’s season-ending, four-game winning streak (make it five now). Quarterback Collin Hurst, the 2024 PFL offensive freshman of the year, next leads the Blue Hose into action at Furman, where they hope to add the 2023 Southern Conference champ to their win over the 2024 champ.
7. After nearly 40 years, is this finally the week? Will the SWAC gain its first win over an FBS program since coach Eddie Robinson led Grambling State past Oregon State 23-6 on Sept. 28, 1985 in Shreveport, Louisiana. The two most-recent conference champions have to be given a serious chance as Jackson State visits Southern Miss and Florida A&M heads downstate to Florida Atlantic – although neither was overly impressive in Week 1. Also notable is Grambling State’s visit to Ohio State, which means an FCS program will be playing the defending FBS champion in 14 of the last 17 seasons.
8. Chattanooga has won three of its last four on the road against FCS ranked opponents, making the Mocs’ in-state visit to No. 19 Tennessee Tech even more intriguing. Chattanooga struggled against Memphis and TTU beat up on Cumberland last week, so this matchup is more indicative of the two teams. It’s an important week for the conferences as well – the Southern Conference had poor results in Week 1 after having only one playoff qualifier last year, while the OVC-Big South had three teams in the postseason. But the Golden Eagles, the OVC-Big South preseason favorites, are moving into the SoCon next year.
FCS Longest Active Winning StreaksOverall11 – Jackson State6 – Tennessee Tech5 – North Dakota State, Presbyterian4 – Southern Utah, TowsonHome30 – South Dakota State16 – Villanova13 – North Dakota State10 – Rhode IslandRoad4 – Austin Peay Jackson State3 – Harvard,…
— Opta FCS Football (@OptaAnalystFCS) September 2, 20259. The Northeast Conference is guaranteed of something on Saturday that didn’t occur last week – a win. Including six games against FBS opponents, the NEC went 0-9, which hasn’t happened to any FCS conference of at least nine programs in any week for at least the last 30 seasons. Other wins will occur this week – defending co-champs Central Connecticut and Duquesne face sub-FCS opponents – but last year’s new program, Mercyhurst, will host this year’s new program, New Haven. UNH QB AJ Duffy is coming off a strong performance (31-for-55, 377 yards, two TDs, one interception) against Marist, while Mercyhurst 5-foot-9 left-hander Adam Urena always seems to come up big with over 3,000 passing yards and 33 TD passes since the Lakers’ move up last year.
10. The FCS’ other new program this year, the start-up UTRGV Vaqueros, seeks to build on a 66-0 shutout of Sul Ross State against their first FCS opponent, Prairie View A&M, which is coming off being Stats Perform HBCU Team of the Week. UTRGV scored 28 points in its first quarter (the most for any FCS team), with Eddie Lee Marburger and two other passes going a combined 26 of 27 for 438 yards and five touchdowns. Their inaugural game didn’t just draw 12,726 fans inside Robert & Janet Vackar Stadium, but the Southland school also estimated about 20,000 fans around the stadium, including those who watched the game on screens in the tailgating areas.
FCS Football Top 25 Schedule – Week 2
All times ET on Saturday; Predicted winner in boldface
Last week’s record: 17-4 (.810); Season record: 20-5 (.800)
No. 1 North Dakota State (1-0): at Tennessee State (1-0), 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
No. 2 South Dakota State (1-0): at No. 3 Montana State (1-0), 8 p.m. (ESPN+)
No. 3 Montana State (0-1): No. 2 South Dakota State (1-0), 8 p.m. (ESPN+)
No. 4 South Dakota (0-1): at Lamar (0-1), 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
No. 5 Tarleton State (2-0): Mississippi Valley State (0-1), 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
No. 6 Montana (0-0): Central Washington (1-0), 8 p.m. (Scripps/ESPN+)
No. 7 Illinois State (0-1): Morehead State (1-0), 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
No. 8 UC Davis (1-0): at Washington (1-0), 11 p.m. (Big Ten Network)
No. 9 Rhode Island (1-0, 1-0 CAA): at Stony Brook (0-1), 6 p.m. (FloCollege)
No. 10 Idaho (0-1): St. Thomas (1-0), 4 p.m. (SWX/ESPN+)
No. 11 Lehigh (1-0, 1-0 Patriot): Sacred Heart (1-0), noon (ESPN+)
No. 12 UIW (1-1, 0-1 Southland): No game
No. 13 Villanova (0-0): Colgate (0-1), 6 p.m. (FloCollege)
No. 14 Southern Illinois (1-0): at Purdue (1-0), 7:30 p.m. (Big Ten Network)
No. 15 Jackson State (1-0): at Southern Miss (0-1), 5 p.m. (ESPN+)
No. 16 Abilene Christian (0-1): No. 25 Stephen F. Austin (0-1), 8 p.m. (ESPN+)
No. 17 Tennessee Tech (1-0): Chattanooga (0-1), 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
No. 18 Sacramento State (0-1): at Nevada (0-1), 5 p.m. (Mountain West Network)
No. 19 Northern Arizona (0-1): Utah Tech (0-1), 5 p.m. (ESPN+)
No. 20 North Dakota (0-1): Portland State (0-2), 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
No. 21 Monmouth (1-0): at Fordham (0-1), 6 p.m. (ESPN+)
No. 22 Nicholls (1-1, 1-0 Southland): West Georgia (1-0), (7 p.m., ESPN+)
No. 23 Mercer (0-1): No game
No. 24 Southern Utah (1-0): at San Diego (0-1), 9 p.m. (ESPN+)
No. 25 Stephen F. Austin (0-1): at No. 25 Abilene Christian (0-1), 8 p.m. (ESPN+)
Top Photo, from left, from Rhode Island, Stephen F. Austin and Montana State Athletics, and Dave Eggen/Inertia.
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FCS Football Week 2 Preview: Mega Showdown Highlights the Tough Matchups Opta Analyst.
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