FCS Football Week 6 Review: Chaos is the Winner

Our FCS coverage is the home for the Top 25 media poll, FCS National Awards, predictive TRACR model and much more. Here’s a review of a chaotic Week 6 of the season.

The perils of the conference schedule reflected in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll this weekend.

Four nationally teams were guaranteed losses during Week 6 of the regular season because of Top 25 head-to-head matchups.

That was hardly enough, however, as nine Top 25 teams suffered defeats: Central Arkansas (No. 5), North Dakota (7), Montana (8), William & Mary (12), Southern Illinois (19), New Hampshire (21), McNeese (22), ETSU (23) and Northern Arizona (25). All but UNH fell to a conference opponent.

Top 25 voters were last seen waving white flags.

FCS Football Week 6 Review

No. 1 Jackrabbits, No. 2 Bison Cruise to Wins

Top-ranked South Dakota State and No. 2 North Dakota State took big steps in the buildup to their showdown on Oct. 19 in Fargo.

SDSU (4-1), the two-time defending FCS champion, came out of an open week to hammer old rival Northern Iowa 41-3 in both teams’ Missouri Valley Football Conference opener. Mark Gronowski passed for three touchdowns in the Jackrabbits’ 18th straight league win, which is one shy of the record.

NDSU (5-1, 2-0) beat No. 7 North Dakota 41-17 in the Stats Perform FCS Game of the Week. Cam Miller accounted for 207 yards of total offense and three TDs (his 42nd career rushing TD set the conference record for a quarterback), but he was knocked out of the game with an apparent ankle injury.

SDSU hosts Youngstown State and NDSU plays at Southern Illinois next Saturday. Should they both win, it would likely set up the ninth No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in FCS history (it includes SDSU’s 23-21 win at NDSU in 2022).

FCS Football Week 6: Top 10 Upsets

In addition to North Dakota dropping the first Top 10 match of the season, No. 5 Central Arkansas and No. 8 Montana suffered upset losses.

UCA (4-2, 1-1) never led and trailed by as many as 17 points in falling at No. 16 Abilene Christian 41-34 in the United Athletic Conference. Quarterback Maverick McIvor (350 passing yards, five TDs) and wide receiver Nehemiah Martinez (seven receptions, 202 yards, three TDs) fueled the first-place Wildcats (4-2, 3-0).

Weber State stunned No. 8 Montana 55-48 in overtime as a sellout crowd of 25,888 watched at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula. Kyle Thompson kicked a 43-yard field goal to end regulation and force overtime, where Richie Munoz threw his sixth touchdown – a 7-yarder to running back Damon Bankston – for the lone TD in OT.

(Here’s the full FCS Top 25 Scoreboard for Week 6)

Moving Day in the Big South-OVC

Statements were made on an important Saturday in the Big South-OVC.

Southeast Missouri (5-1, 2-0) handled Eastern Illinois with a 38-27 road win and moved into a first-place tie with Tennessee Tech. Wide receivers Tristan Smith (eight receptions, 124 yards, TD) and Dorian Anderson (7-109-1) formed a dynamic duo for quarterback Paxton DeLaurent.

In a meeting of last year’s co-champs, UT Martin (3-3, 1-1) built a 32-point lead en route to a 35-17 win over Gardner-Webb. Patrick Smith rushed for 128 yards and three touchdowns.  

Tennessee State (4-2, 2-1) won at Lindenwood 24-20, overcoming a 20-7 halftime deficit. Tevin Carter had only three carries, but two went for TDs.

Stock Up, Stock Down

Stock Up: Perhaps defending Patriot League co-champs Holy Cross and Lafayette are on a collision course again after all. A bit sluggish to begin the season, they flexed their muscle in league openers as Dean DeNobile’s three TD passes fueled Lafayette (3-2) past Fordham 28-23. Holy Cross’ Joe Pesansky was even better, going 25 of 28 for 289 yards and connecting with Justin Shorter for four TDs as the Crusaders (2-4) won 38-7 at Colgate. While Holy Cross claimed a share of a record fifth straight PL title last year, Lafayette earned the automatic bid to the FCS playoffs by winning the head-to-head meeting.  

Stock Down: Southern Illinois’ season is unraveling against what’s been too tough of a schedule. The Salukis (2-4, 0-2 MVFC) lost at BYU in an FBS opener, then beat defending UAC champ Austin Peay and nationally ranked UIW. They’ve since lost three straight games to nationally ranked opponents – Southeast Missouri, South Dakota and Illinois State. Up next is – gulp – No. 2 North Dakota State.

Around FCS Nation

Western Carolina’s 21-17 victory over Wofford in the Southern Conference had a similar look to the pandemic-delayed 2020 season, which was played the following spring: Saturday’s game in Cullowhee, North Carolina, didn’t have spectators. It was done so to keep area roads clear for emergency and disaster relief vehicles during Hurricane Helene cleanup. Jalynn Williams turned two of his three carries into short touchdown runs. … No. 3 Montana State (6-0, 2-0) is halfway home to a perfect regular season after blasting Northern Colorado 55-17. Quarterback Tommy Mellott passed for four touchdowns and ran for another score. Also 2-0 in the Big Sky are UC Davis and Weber State.

One day after renaming its stadium for the late Buddy Teevens, Dartmouth continued to honor the legendary coach with a 20-17 win over Penn in its Ivy League opener, while also pushing its overall record 3-0. The Big Green controlled game clock (37 minutes, 27 seconds) and Jackson Proctor passed for two touchdowns. … William & Mary doesn’t have a daunting CAA Football schedule – missing preseason favorite Villanova, Delaware, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, among others – but the No. 12 Tribe stumbled at Towson 34-27, hurting their conference title bid and what had the look of a huge regular-season record. They committed three turnovers, including a fumble off a sack of Darius Wilson that Towson linebacker Branson Peters returned 70 yards for a touchdown.

Freshman David Avit carried the ball 13 times for 183 yards and four touchdowns in No. 6 Villanova’s 42-24 win at Stony Brook. Included were 59- and 72-yard TDs while the Wildcats (5-1, 2-0 CAA) reversed a 24-14 second-half deficit with the final 28 points. … Richmond running back Zach Palmer-Smith, a junior transfer from Wagner, has become a workhorse while the Spiders (4-2, 2-0 CAA) have won four straight games over Charleston Southern (21 carries, 80 yards, two TDs), Delaware State (32-207-3 with a 59-yard TD reception), Elon (24-167-1) and North Carolina A&T (25-200-1). … Duquesne opened defense of its 2023 Northeast Conference title with a 47-21 win over LIU. Darius Perrantes passed for five TDs.