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It’s the most wonderful time of the year …
You did know, Andy Williams was singing about the FCS conference schedule, right?
It’s basically here starting this week, and that can be when the FCS season really turns wacky.
The Week 5 schedule is led by two standout matchups: No. 1 North Dakota State hosting No. 17 South Dakota in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and No. 5 Montana hosting No. 8 Idaho in the Big Sky Conference.
Let’s preview FCS nation heading into the Week 5 games.
FCS Football Week 5 Preview & Predictions
FCS Game of the Week
No. 17 South Dakota (2-2, 0-0 MVFC) at No. 1 North Dakota State (3-0, 0-0)
Kickoff: 2 p.m. ET at the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota (ABC North Dakota/ESPN+)
Series: North Dakota State leads 59-28-2 (last meeting: South Dakota won 29-28 in Vermillion on Nov. 23, 2024)
Notable: NDSU and USD joined South Dakota State in a three-way share of the Missouri Valley Football Conference title last season. USD has won the last two regular-season meetings with NDSU, including a 2023 matchup at the Fargodome, although the Bison won a playoff quarterfinal later that year. The defending national champion Bison enter their Homecoming off a bye. They’ve mauled three nonconference opponents 138-17, ranking first in the FCS fewest yards allowed per game (158.0). Lefty quarterback Cole Payton ranks seventh in total offensive yards per game (293.7) and is turnover-free. NFL prospect Bryce Lance had a career-high 159 receiving yards in NDSU’s most-recent game, a 41-14 win over Southeast Missouri that raised it to 200-29 all-time inside the Fargodome. The visiting Coyotes reached the FCS semifinals for the first time last December, but they’ve had a slow start this season after entering it with a No. 4 national ranking in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll. All-America running back Charles Pierre Jr. suffered a season-ending injury in a loss to Lamar, but redshirt sophomore L.J. Phillips Jr. has been a revelation in back-to-back wins (54 carries, 444 yards, six TDs). The Coyotes have allowed only one sack of Aidan Bouman, who is 24-12 as a starter in his career. Will Leyland is perfect on 111 extra point attempts in his career.
The Pick: North Dakota State
Second-and-10
1. The 1A FCS Game of the Week comes out of the FCS Top 10 as No. 5 Montana (3-0) hosts No. 8 Idaho (2-2) late Saturday on ESPN2 (just as the Big Sky rivals also did in their most-recent meeting in 2023). The road team has claimed the Little Brown Stein traveling trophy in the last three meetings. It includes Idaho winning in Missoula in 2022 behind former QB Gevani McCoy, who was on his way to earning the Jerry Rice Award. McCoy’s successor for the top FCS freshman honor, Montana RB Eli Gillman, has begun his junior campaign with the best three-game span of his career for rushing yards (400) and TD runs (six). The Vandals may have the offense to keep the ball away from Gillman and the Griz – they rank third nationally in average time of possession (35:04) even with having played two FBS opponents.
2. Last year’s four OVC-Big South champions are basically set to open a get-to-know-you round robin because they look decidedly different from last season. Tennessee Tech was the one from the foursome not to earn a 2024 FCS playoff bid, but it takes a 3-0 record, a No. 13 national ranking and an FCS-leading scoring offense (60.7 points per game) to Tennessee State, which is 1-2 and struggling after winning nine times last season. Southeast Missouri and UT Martin did the same a year ago, but they’re a combined 1-7 against brutally tough schedules heading into their matchup in Martin. Last season, SEMO won 45-42 in two overtimes despite UTM posting a 16-minute, 26-second advantage in time of possession.
3. While most FCS teams have yet to play a conference game, three are off to 2-0 starts as their conference’s preseason favorite. Lehigh (Patriot League) and Rhode Island (CAA) are out of conference this week, while Mercer (2-1) – playing better behind freshman QB Braden Atkinson and the first team outside the Top 25 rankings – will try to make it 3-0 with a difficult Southern Conference trip to ETSU (2-2), which is playing its first conference game but is 2-0 at Greene Stadium this season.
4. In matchups against FCS nonconference opponents, it’s not surprising the MVFC (21-6 record, .778) has the highest winning percentage and the Big Sky (18-9, .667) is tied for second. What’s surprising is the MEAC is the other team tied at .667 with an 8-4 record, including 3-0 against the rival SWAC, following an 11-18 mark last season. Defending MEAC champion South Carolina State (2-2) has wins over Wofford and Bethune-Cookman. This week, the Bulldogs (two FBS losses) make the 75-mile trip southeast to Charleston Southern for their first meeting since 1999 (they’re 8-0 all-time in the series). CSU, which has announced the matchup as a sellout, seeks to end a 14-game losing streak that is the longest in the FCS.
5. EJ Colson took over as UIW’s quarterback in the second half of the UTSA loss on Sept. 13, and in six quarters of action he’s rocketed to No. 1 in the FCS in completion percentage (75.4, 46-for-61) with five touchdowns and zero interceptions. Of course, the preseason No. 5 team is reeling at 1-3, so the next step for the redshirt freshman transfer from UCF would be to get the Cardinals back in the win column. They host No. 12 Abilene Christian (2-2) in a matchup of two defending outright conference champions. ACU QB Stone Earle has thrown to six different players with 100+ receiving yards (tied with North Carolina Central for the FCS high).
(Is the United Athletic Conference the third-strongest FCS conference?)
6. After a quiet weekend of action, the SWAC is back in the spotlight with its schedule of games. Jackson State visits Southern in a rematch of last year’s conference championship game (the visiting Tigers have won all six meetings since 2021 after Southern had won eight in a row prior to that). Florida A&M hosts Alabama State and QB Andrew Body (FCS pass efficiency leader at 223.0) in a pivotal matchup of the two teams picked behind JSU in the SWAC East. Over in the West Division, Grambling State and Prairie View A&M are back at it at the State Fair Classic inside the Cotton Bowl. Last year, PVAMU won 36-34 in five overtimes.
7. Presbyterian was picked seventh in the Pioneer Football League’s preseason poll, but the Blue Hose’s emergence to its first-ever FCS national ranking suggests the title race will be among the best. PFL teams have eight wins over FCS non-league opponents – their highest total since 2009. The league schedule gets underway this week, featuring St. Thomas, the 2022 champ that is playoff-eligible for the first time, at preseason favorite San Diego, which last shared the PFL title in 2021 but hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2019. The Tommies are 3-1 against the Toreros since moving up from Division III in 2021, including an overtime win in their most-recent trip to San Diego two years ago.
8. FCS start-up program UTRGV is off to a 4-0 start, even better than the successful launches of Old Dominion (2009) and Kennesaw State (2015), which both won their first three games. Granted, the Vaqueros have only one FCS win (Prairie View A&M) as they get set to embark on an eight-game Southland Conference schedule with a visit to Southeastern Louisiana, but while averaging 604.0 yards (No. 1 in the FCS) and 58.5 points (No. 3) per game, they have six different players with 100 rushing yards (two more than any other FCS team) and 14 players with a touchdown from scrimmage (also the FCS high).
9. Dartmouth at Central Connecticut State matches teams that earned a share of their conference titles last season. CCSU cornerback Chris Jean was just named NEC defensive player of week after sharing the award a week earlier. The super soph had two takeaways in both games, and it gives him an incredible 10 (seven interceptions, three fumble recoveries) in the Blue Devils’ last seven games since mid-November.
10. Princeton linebacker Marco Scarano had 18 tackles against San Diego in the Tigers’ season opener. The FCS leaders in tackles per game for non-Ivy League players (three or more games) are Murray State safety Dylan Rowsey (14.3), Fordham linebacker James Conway (14.0), who is eight tackles shy of 500 in his career; and William & Mary linebacker Luke Banbury (12.5).
FCS Football Top 25 Schedule – Week 5
All times ET on Saturday; Predicted winner in boldface
Last Week’s Record: 13-4 (.765); Season Record: 65-21 (.756)
1. North Dakota State (3-0): No. 17 South Dakota (2-2), 2 p.m. (ABC ND/ESPN+)
2. South Dakota State (3-0): Mercyhurst (1-3), 3 p.m. (ESPN+)
3. Tarleton State (5-0, 1-0 UAC): No game
4. Montana State (2-2): Eastern Washington (1-3), 4 p.m. (Scripps/SWX/ESPN+)
5. Montana (3-0): No. 8 Idaho (2-2), 10:15 p.m. (ESPN2)
6. Rhode Island (4-0, 2-0 CAA): at Western Michigan (1-3), 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
7. Illinois State (3-1): No game
8. Idaho (2-2): at No. 5 Montana (3-0), 10:15 p.m. (ESPN2)
9. UC Davis (2-1): Weber State (2-2), 10 p.m. (ESPN+/CW Sac)
10. Lehigh (4-0, 2-0 Patriot): Penn (1-0), noon (ESPN+)
11. Southern Illinois (3-1): No game
12. Abilene Christian (2-2, 1-0 UAC): at UIW (1-3), 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
13. Tennessee Tech (3-0): at Tennessee State (1-2), 4:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
14. North Dakota (2-2): No game
15. Northern Arizona (3-1): at Portland State (0-4), 5 p.m. (ESPN+)
16. Monmouth (3-1, 1-0 CAA): No game
17. South Dakota (2-2): at No. 1 North Dakota State (3-0), 2 p.m. (ABC ND/ESPN+)
18. West Georgia (4-0, 1-0 UAC): at Southern Utah (1-3, 0-1), 8:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
19. Jackson State (2-1): at Southern (1-3), 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
20. Villanova (1-2, 0-1 CAA): William & Mary (2-2, 1-0), 3:30 p.m. (FloCollege)
21. Sacramento State (2-2): Cal Poly (2-2), 9 p.m. (KMAX31/ESPN+)
22. Lamar (2-1): Central Arkansas (1-3), 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
23. Austin Peay (2-2, 0-1 UAC): Utah Tech (1-3, 0-1), 2 p.m. (ESPN+)
24. Youngstown State (3-1): No game
25. Presbyterian (4-0): Morehead State (2-2), 1 p.m. (ESPN+)
Top photos, from left, via Idaho, Montana, South Dakota and NDSU Athletics. For more FCS football coverage, follow on social media at X, Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky.
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