FCS Football Week 7 Review: SDSU, NDSU Set Up Showdown

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 Week 7 of the 2024 college football season, featuring a number of key conference matchups.

If your seat belt needed more tightening during the wild ride that was the first half of the FCS regular season, don’t delay any longer.

Top-ranked South Dakota State is hosting No. 2 North Dakota State next Saturday, and it’s full go the rest of the season.

Key conference games abounded across the FCS in Week 7, including the late-night matchup of No. 3 Montana State hosting Idaho and No. 15 UIW dismantling defending Southland Conference champion Nicholls.

Yeah, hold on tight.

FCS Football Week 7 Review

Jackrabbits, Bison Roll Again

South Dakota State and North Dakota State continue to be machines.

The No. 1 Jackrabbits (5-1, 2-0) routed Youngstown State 63-13 to match the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s consecutive wins record at 19 games. Starting quarterback Mark Gronowski and backup Chase Mason both accounted for three touchdowns each, with Mason needing only five carries to rush for 161 yards.

NDSU (6-1, 3-0) won at Southern Illinois 24-3. The defense collected five sacks, while quarterback Cam Miller, playing on an ankle that’s not 100 percent healthy, passed for 193 yards and a touchdown.

SDSU, the two-time defending national champion, was No. 2-ranked when it won 23-21 at No. 1 NDSU on Oct. 15, 2022. As long as the two powers hold the top spots in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll on Monday, it would be the ninth all-time FCS meeting of No. 1 vs. No. 2, but just the third in the regular season.

UIW Soars Past Nicholls

The UIW Cardinals surely viewed the Stats Perform FCS Game of the Week against Nicholls as a revenge matchup, considering the Colonels’ win at Benson Stadium last year marks the Cardinals’ only home defeat since 2021.

The No. 15 Cards (4-2, 1-0) got revenge, and then some, with Zach Calzada passing for five touchdowns in a 55-10 rout. They also scored two defensive touchdowns and held Nicholls’ standout rushing attack to just 83 yards in the first three quarters.

In the competitive Southland, though, there are few breaks in the schedule. Southeastern Louisiana is the early leader at 2-0.

PFL Title Race Takes More Shape

There was some sorting in the crowded Pioneer Football League standings.

Drake (4-1, 3-0) defeated previously unbeaten Butler (5-1, 1-1) 27-17 to extend its PFL winning streak to 14 since 2022. Taj Hughes caught seven passes for 127 yards, including a 38-yard TD from Luke Bailey.

Incredibly, Dayton (4-1, 2-0) blocked three field-goal attempts and a punt in a 16-14 win over Davidson. Mason Hackett rushed for a career-high 218 yards, Drew VanVleet passed for two touchdowns and Danny Baker provided the difference with a 25-yard field goal with 10:03 remaining.

Drake and Dayton don’t meet in the PFL’s unbalanced schedule, but they both play at St. Thomas next month. The Tommies (3-3, 2-0) posted a 39-32 win at Marist as quarterback Tak Tateoka accounted for four touchdowns.

Stock Up, Stock Down

Stock Up: Southeast Missouri quarterback Paxton DeLaurent passed for a career-high 418 yards and four touchdowns in the No. 11 Redhawks’ 34-3 win over Tennessee Tech in the Big South-OVC. In doing so, he became the school leader in passing yards (6,563), TD passes (50) and completions (554).

Stock Down: Northern Iowa is accustomed to facing difficult schedules, and that is part of the reason the Panthers have suffered their first four-game losing streak in the same season since 2013. But they’ve even struggled to be competitive the last month, losing in succession to Nebraska 34-3, Hawaii 36-7, South Dakota State 41-3 and No. 4 South Dakota 42-17.

Around FCS Nation

Dartmouth (4-0, 2-0) posted the largest comeback win of the FCS season, reversing a 30-7 third-quarter deficit to beat Yale 44-43 in overtime in the Ivy League. Quarterback Grayson Saunier accounted for 360 yards of total offense and five touchdowns in the Big Green’s seventh straight win since last season. Yale’s Grant Jordan (427 total yards, five total TDs) misfired on a 2-point attempt in OT. … New Hampshire flexed defensive muscle in a 17-10 win at Elon in CAA Football. The Wildcats had 11 tackles for loss and nine sacks, with defensive end Josiah Silver contributing 4.5 and 3.5, respectively. … … Safety Zeraun Daniel had two of Georgetown’s four interceptions as the Hoyas (4-2, 1-0) toppled Patriot League preseason favorite Lafayette 17-0. The upset means Holy Cross (3-4, 2-0) has sole possession of first place following a 19-16 win over Fordham. Joe Pesansky passed for two touchdowns in the second half.  

Speaking of defense, Mercer cornerback TJ Moore intercepted three passes and the No. 8 Bears (6-0) forced six turnovers in a 34-7 win over Princeton, extending the best start in program history. … Like Mercer, Western Carolina is seeking to win its first SoCon title. The Catamounts (3-3, 2-0) welcomed fans back to E.J. Whitmore Stadium in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and defeated The Citadel 30-16. The stands had been empty for an Oct. 5 game against Wofford to keep area roads clear for emergency and disaster relief vehicles. … Chattanooga forced five turnovers and Javin Whatley caught 10 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown as the No. 23 Mocs turned back defending SoCon champ Furman 41-10. It snapped the Mocs’ three-game losing streak in the series.

The Missouri Valley Football Conference has yet to announce whether FBS-bound Missouri State is eligible for its title, but the Bears (4-2) are 2-0 against league foes after hammering No. 16 Illinois State 41-7. Jacob Clark (24 of 31, 343 yards, three TDs, interception) has 300+ passing yards in each outing of a four-game winning streak. The Bears are not eligible for the FCS playoffs. … Noah Kiani’s 27-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining lifted Alcorn State (4-3, 3-0) past Grambling State 17-15 and kept the Braves atop the SWAC West Division standings. They play at Southern (3-3, 2-0) next Saturday … West Georgia went for a 2-point attempt and the win after pulling within 34-33 of No. 12 Central Arkansas with 27 seconds left, but the Bears denied a pass to hold on in the UAC. Thirteenth-ranked Tarleton State (6-1, 3-0) leads the crowded standing after North Alabama (3-5, 3-1) knocked No. 10 Abilene Christian (4-3, 3-1) out of first place with a 47-34 upset.

Portland State quarterback Dante Chachere was unstoppable in the Vikings’ 42-38 win at Idaho State in the Big Sky. He passed for 216 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 202 yards and three touchdowns – the first 200/200 double in program history. … UC Davis’ Miles Hasting was 27-for-30 for 458 yards and four TDs as No. 6 UC Davis (6-1, 3-0) beat Cal Poly 56-10. … Montana rallied past Northern Arizona 31-20, marking the second time the No. 14 Grizzlies (5-2, 2-1) have overcome a double-digit deficit in a victory. Quarterback Logan Fife rushed for three short touchdowns and passed for one more score – all in the second half. … LIU quarterback Ethan Greenwood carried the ball 26 times for 184 yards and a touchdown as the Sharks (1-6, 1-2) earned their first win, 31-7 over Stonehill in the Northeast Conference. The sophomore also had a TD pass. … Defending NEC champ Duquesne defeated Saint Francis 38-7 in their 50th all-time meeting. The Dukes (4-2, 2-0) didn’t look back after Ty Howard’s 40-yard pick-six opened the scoring in the first quarter.

Top photo by Dave Eggen/Inertia, UIW Athletics and NDSU Athletics.

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