FCS Football Week 8 Preview: It’s No. 1 SDSU vs. No. 2 NDSU

We’re previewing the key games and storylines each week throughout the 2024 college football season. Our FCS coverage is the home for the Top 25 media poll, FCS National Awards, predictive TRACR model and much more. Week 8 is a highlight on the schedule.

A half-dozen teams in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll don’t have games this week.

Surely, they took off to watch the big game Saturday night, right?

Top-ranked South Dakota State, the two-time defending FCS national champion, and second-ranked North Dakota State, a nine-time winner from 2011-21, will resume their heated rivalry inside the Fargodome Saturday night. It will mark the ninth all-time meeting of FCS No. 1 vs. No. 2, and just the third in the regular season.

The impact extends beyond the national rankings and the Missouri Valley Football Conference title race, and to the FCS playoffs. The top two seeds in the playoffs are guaranteed home field advantage through the semifinal round, making this one of the biggest steps for the two powers.

Of course, there are numerous pivotal games each week in the 129-team FCS, and no rivalry in the regular season this decade has been as impactful on the road to the Celebration Bowl than Florida A&M vs. Jackson State in the SWAC. They meet on Saturday as well.

FCS Football Week 8 Preview

FCS Game of the Week

No. 1 South Dakota State (5-1, 2-0 MVFC) at No. 2 North Dakota State (6-1, 3-0)

Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET Saturday at Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota (ESPN2)

Notable: NDSU holds a 63-47-5 series lead heading into the 116th meeting, but SDSU has won the last five times, and the Dakota Marker (regular season) trophy series is tied 10-10 since its inception in 2004. The team with the higher time of possession won 20 straight times until SDSU had a slight deficit in its 33-16 victory last year in Brookings. Both teams are built the same way – especially with their NFL-producing offensive lines – and are similar statistically. Clear differences: SDSU is averaging an FCS-leading 7.3 yards per carry compared to NDSU’s 4.7, while the host Bison rank No. 2 nationally in third-down conversion percentage (58.3) and average time of possession (36 minutes, 2 seconds) compared to the Jackrabbits’ 46.8% and 29:02, respectively. The quarterback matchup is superb: SDSU’s Mark Gronowski, the 2023 Walter Payton Award recipient, has a 42-4 career record in his starts, and NDSU’s Cam Miller is 37-10, although 0-5 against SDSU. The Jackrabbits want a big dose of running back Amar Johnson (480 yards, five touchdowns) and WR Griffin Wilde (32 receptions, four TDs), while Miller (18 total TDs with just one turnover on a fumble) will go to RB CharMar Brown (544 yards, seven TDs) and WR Bryce Lance (35 receptions, five TDs). Each team features a veteran defense, with linebacker Adam Bock anchoring SDSU’s unit and defensive tackle Eli Mostaert a difference-maker in NDSU’s front.

The Pick: North Dakota State

Second-and-10 

1. With big crowds expected, the SWAC also is the place to be on Saturday, with the four unbeaten teams in conference play meeting for first place in their respective division. Jackson State (4-2, 2-0) hosts co-No. 25 Florida A&M (3-2, 1-0) in a matchup that basically has meant everything in the East Division the last three seasons because its winner has gone on to perfection in the conference and reach the Celebration Bowl. The West Division sees Alcorn State (4-3, 3-0) and quarterback Xzavier Vaughn – the only signal caller to lead an FCS conference in rushing yards – traveling to Southern (3-3, 2-0). Notably, Jackson State coach T.C. Taylor is in his second season at the helm, while FAMU’s James Colzie III, Alcorn’s Cedric Thomas and Southern’s Terrence Graves are in their first seasons.

(HBCU NFL Draft-eligible prospects to know in the FCS)

2. CAA Football has a schedule similar to the SWAC’s with Delaware (6-0, 3-0) traveling to No. 18 Richmond (4-2, 2-0) and No. 16 Rhode Island (5-1, 2-0) at No. 24 New Hampshire (4-2, 2-0), and No. 5 Villanova (5-1, 2-0) seeing how it plays out while trying to avoid a stumble at Maine. While FBS-bound Delaware is ineligible for the title due to being above the FCS scholarship limit, it’s not mailing in the season, like some other recent transitioning programs. The Blue Hens have outscored opponents by 146 points, more than two times higher than any other CAA team (William & Mary is second at plus-67).

3. Third-ranked Montana State (6-0) and No. 4 South Dakota (5-1) seek to rise in the Top 25 poll given one of the top-two teams has to lose on Saturday. MSU, which travels to Portland State, not only ranks No. 2 in the FCS in rushing yards per game (311.4), but its quarterback, Tommy Mellott, is No. 1 in pass efficiency (182.5) and has thrown the most touchdown passes (14) without an interception. USD’s +30 scoring margin per game is the national high, lifted by running backs Charles Pierre Jr. and Travis Theis scoring 11 and 10 TDs, respectively. The Coyotes head to Youngstown State, leading into a finishing stretch that includes South Dakota State, North Dakota State and No. 10 North Dakota.

4. The Citadel or VMI, the two U.S. military colleges in the FCS, will square off in the “Military Classic of the South.” In the last two years, each Southern Conference team has claimed the Silver Shako trophy with a four-point win on the road. After finishing 5-6 in coach Danny Rocco’s first season last year, VMI (0-6, 0-2) has held a lead only twice, and for under nine minutes, this season. The Citadel (2-5, 0-4), which seeks its first conference win, has been much-more competitive in coach Maurice Drayton’s second season, including a rally past another rival, Charleston Southern.

5. Last year, VMI running back Hunter Rice accounted for over 50% of his team’s points, 84 of 167. This season, Stony Brook running back Roland Dempster is ahead of that pace, scoring 72 of the Seawolves’ 137 points, or 52.6%. In the last 25 FCS seasons, only Sacred Heart running back Julius Chestnut finished a season (2020, played in spring 2021) with a higher percentage of his team’s points – 74 of 132, or 56.1%. Stony Brook next visits Towson on Saturday.

6. SoCon leader Mercer (6-0) has played more games than the number of touchdowns it has allowed – five (only four by opposing offenses). First-year coach Mike Jacobs has a squad that ranks No. 1 nationally in fewest rushing yards allowed per game (38.8, which would be an FCS seasonal record), points allowed per game (7.7), team passing efficiency defense (82.02) and turnover gained (a three-team tie at +19), and is No. 2 in total yards allowed per game (219.3) and first downs allowed per game (10.3). With a defense of stars, including linebackers Isaac Dowling and Ken Standley, it’s cornerback TJ Moore who has twice earned SoCon defensive player of the week.

7. Through the years, Eastern Washington hasn’t exactly rolled out the red carpet for UC Davis with hospitality – will it be different for the No. 6 Aggies (6-1) on Saturday? They’re 0-11 all-time against EWU, which includes nine defeats since they joined the Big Sky in football in 2012 (with three losses by three points each and a 2018 playoff defeat by five). UCD’s Lar Larison is ready for something similar to his 255 rushing yards against the Eagles last year. Just not with another loss, of course.

8. Northwestern State linebacker Blake Gotcher figures to become the first FCS player to reach 100 tackles, as he has 94 through seven games heading into the winless Demons’ matchup at rival Nicholls. He has more tackles this season than he did in three campaigns at fellow Southland program Lamar, and that included finishing second on the Cardinals team last year. Boosted by an FCS season-high 23 tackles against Prairie View A&M, the 6-foot-1, 225-pound Gotcher – maybe it could be Gotch-ya! – is averaging nearly two tackles per game more than FCS No. 2 Garret Ollendieck of Indiana State. 

9. The Ivy and Patriot leagues conclude their annual matchups against each other with a trio of games. The Ivy League has a 6-3 record, so it needs to win only one of the games to finish on top again. Perhaps the FCS week’s best nonconference matchup is the PL’s Holy Cross (3-4) at Ivy power Harvard (3-1), which each earned a share of its respective league title last year. Holy Cross was one of the few programs to hold an advantage over the Crimson during the 30-year tenure of former coach Tim Murphy, who retired in January. Also on Saturday, PL member Lehigh will try to shake the rust off from a three-week break when it travels to Yale, while Bucknell (PL) hosts Cornell (IL).

10. Which Top 25 teams could be primed for a jump during conference play? The net efficiency metric TRACR (Team Rating Adjusted for Competition and Roster) has No. 14 UIW (4-2, 1-0 Southland), No. 15 William & Mary (4-2, 1-1 CAA), No. 19 Chattanooga (3-3, 2-1 SoCon) and No. 20 North Carolina Central (5-2, 1-0 MEAC) at least six spots higher than their spots in the national media poll. TRACR is based on how good a team is offensively and defensively against an average team per 10 drives in a game.

FCS Football Week 8 Top 25 Schedule

All Times ET Saturday

1. South Dakota State (5-1, 2–0 MVFC): at No. 2 North Dakota State (8 p.m., ESPN2)

2. North Dakota State (6-1, 3-0 MVFC): No. 1 South Dakota State (8 p.m., ESPN2)

3. Montana State (7-0, 3-0 Big Sky): at Portland State(4 p.m., Scripps/ESPN+)

4. South Dakota (5-1, 3-0 MVFC): at Youngstown State (6 p.m., ESPN+)

5. Villanova (5-1, 2-0 CAA): at Maine (1 p.m., FloFootball)

6. UC Davis (6-1, 3-0 Big Sky): at Eastern Washington (7 p.m., SWX/ESPN+)

7. Mercer (6-0, 3-0 SoCon): at Samford (3 p.m., ESPN+)

8. Southeast Missouri (6-1, 3-0 Big South-OVC): at Charleston Southern (4 p.m., ESPN+)

9. North Dakota (4-2, 1-1 MVFC): Northern Iowa (2 p.m., Midco Sports/ESPN+)

10. Tarleton State (6-1, 3-0 UAC): No game

11. Montana (5-2, 2-1 Big Sky): No game

12. Central Arkansas (5-2, 2-1 UAC): No game

13. Idaho (4-3, 1-2 Big Sky): Cal Poly(4 p.m., ESPN+)

14. UIW (4-2, 1-0 Southland): McNeese (5 p.m., ESPN+)

15. William & Mary (4-2, 1-1 CAA): Campbell (3:30 p.m., FloFootball)

16. Rhode Island (5-1, 2-0 CAA): at No. 24 New Hampshire(1 p.m., FloFootball)

17. Abilene Christian (4-3, 3-1 UAC): Eastern Kentucky(4 p.m., ESPN+)

18. Richmond (4-2, 2-0 CAA): Delaware (3:30 p.m., FloFootball)

19. Chattanooga (3-3, 2-1 SoCon): Wofford (1:30 p.m., ESPN+)

20. North Carolina Central (5-2, 2-0 MEAC): No game

21. Illinois State (4-3, 1-2 MVFC): at Murray State (3 p.m., ESPN+)

22. Dartmouth (4-0, 2-0 Ivy): Central Connecticut State (1 p.m., ESPN+)

23. ETSU (4-3, 2-1 SoCon): No game

24. New Hampshire (4-2, 2-0 CAA): No. 16 Rhode Island (1 p.m., FloFootball)

T25. Florida A&M (3-2, 1-0 SWAC): at Jackson State (3:30 p.m., ESPN+)

T25. UT Martin (4-3, 2-1 Big South-OVC): No game

Top Photo of 2023 North Dakota State vs. South Dakota State. (NDSU Athletics)

Like the FCS Football Week 8 Preview? Follow all of our FCS coverage, including on X, Facebook and Instagram.