FCS Roundtable: Forcier Rides High; CAA & SoCon Take Center Stage

The Championship Subdivision closed September emphatically with three victories over the FBS. North Dakota State’s defeat of Minnesota was the second FCS victory over a Bowl Championship Series program this season (Richmond beat Duke in Week 1). FCS Roundtable panelist Kyle Roth called the Bison’s shot on Twitter, and blew out the coverage on his sites (be sure to visit Kyle’s, and all the panelists’ sites linked below).

Not only was the NDSU victory the marquee FCS-over-FBS victory thus far this season, it produced one of the best tweets of the college football season:

Portland State fell in its FBS vs. FCS encounter vs. TCU, but the Vikings are a team to follow. PSU’s potent rushing attack should factor into the Big Sky title race, and the Vikes’ season is being chronicled on YouTube in one of the coolest behind-the-scenes features any football program has going at any level. One episode is below, and the series is on the web at http://www.youtube.com/user/PortlandStateViks.

There aren’t any real marquee FCS vs. FBS match-ups in Week 5, but this Saturday provides the best inter-FCS showdowns thus far in the season. The panel breaks it down, after the jump.

Ben Moore, PantherTalk.com and SBNation Atlanta

Past week’s best:

• Old Dominion – Yes they were beaten on the road in their first CAA game but at the end of 3 quarters they were down 13-10 to the #6 team in FCS. Very impressive effort for Coach Bobby Wilder and ODU.
• Sam Houston State defeating New Mexico – Another week, another FCS team defeating an FBS team. New Mexico promptly fired Mike Loxley after the game for not only the Lobos 0-4 start but lending his car to a recruit. Good for the Bearkats for scoring one for the Southland.
• Southern Utah drilling UNLV – Any time an FBS teams falls to an FCS team by more than 3 TDs I give them a shout. Impressive effort for the Thunderbirds of the Great West.

This week’s best:

• Georgia Southern at Elon – The FCS’ #1 team struggled mightily in thier lone road game this season fumbling 4 times. Elon has won back to back close games. This will be a great litmus test for both schools and an interesting game to watch as both teams have such contrasting styles offensively.
• Jacksonville State at Murray State – A battle of the OVC favorites. Murray was soundly beaten on the road at Tennessee-Martin last week and JSU is riding a two game winning streak after running the ball 50+ times vs. Georgia State and Eastern Kentucky. Should be fun to see who elbows their way through at the Racetrack.
• UMASS at Old Dominion – The Monarch head home after impressing me battling #6 Delaware tooth and nail before falling in their first ever CAA conference game. This would be their second but UMASS doesn’t count toward the CAA standings.

Russell Varner, SouthernPigskin.com

Has it seriously already been a month? Good lord that went by quickly. Seems like just last week we couldn’t wait to get the season started. Ok anyway, onto the topic at hand.

This past week’s best has to go to Furman quarterback Chris Forcier. In case you missed it or didn’t hear about it, the UCLA transfer (and yes, brother of former Michigan great Tate Forcier) had the game of his life last week against Presbyterian. He just finished the game 12 of 16 for 226 yards. And seven passing touchdowns. And a rushing touchdown. Yes, that is eight total touchdowns, seven of which came in the first half. Forcier set numerous school and conference records, including completing 20 straight passes, dating back to the season opener against Coastal Carolina. Try to find someone in the FCS who had a better day. Seriously. Try. It’s not going to happen. I’ll wait.

Any luck? Didn’t think so.

For next week’s best, look no further than Spartanburg, SC, where the No. 8 Wofford Terriers will host No. 3 Appalachian State in a crucial SoCon conference battle. Wait no, crucial doesn’t do this game justice. And just imagine what it’ll be like when Georgia Southern faces App and Wofford later this season. Titanic battles there. Anyway, get ready. SoCon conference play is going from 0 to 60 in no time flat this week.

And now for the early season awards:

• Most surprising: Georgia Southern’s explosive offense. The Eagles have been known for their solid defense and time control offense. Don’t look now, but they are averaging more than 527 yards and 48 points per game.
• Most interesting: The offensive explosive in the SoCon. The Eagles are one of five teams in the conference that are averaging more than 30 points per game, and Samford is .7 points away from making that number six.
• Most disappointing: Derek Heyden’s neck injury. In last weekend’s victory over Western Carolina, the Eagles lost safety and defensive leader Derek Heyden, who left the game with a non-life threatening neck injury. The good news is he is walking and is doing ok, but I have heard it’ll be at least three months before doctors will know if he will ever play football again. This coming from someone who NFL scouts said would be playing on Sundays next year. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
• Best game: Appalachian 14, Chattanooga 12. These two seem to make a habit of playing great games. After last year’s amazing game, the teams one-upped themselves this year. The Mocs shut down the Mountaineer O, but it was App’s D that scored all the points, returning an interception and a fumble off a poor snap for touchdowns that reportedly had Kidd Brewer Stadium literally shaking.
• Best players: Offensively, I say it’s been Elon wide receiver Aaron Mellette. Through three games, he is averaging 14 catches for 147.8 yards and has four touchdowns. He’s on pace for a 154 catch, 1625 yard, 14 TD season. Defensively, Wofford linebacker Alvin Scionbeaux may be the best player you haven’t heard of. 27 tackles (tied for 5th in conference), five sacks (first in conference), seven tackles for loss (first in conference) and four fumbles forced (first in conference). Good lord.

As for the Tops 25 poll, the biggest complain I have is that Chattanooga is ranked behind a Jacksonville State team they decimated a few weeks ago. Huh? How did that happen?

Kyle Roth, Bison Illustrated and Bison Sports Blog

Week 4 was highlighted by a few big-name games, including three FCS-over-FBS wins that gave some respect to an otherwise floundering division that didn’t have nearly the success it did last season when North Dakota State, Sam Houston State, and Southern Utah all went into FBS venues and walked out with a win. The fact that NDSU and SUU were able to win their games in pretty convincing fashion (and despite the numbers of the NDSU-Minnesota game, the Bison were firmly in control after the first quarter) says a lot about some of the new-risers in the FCS world as schools like Eastern Washington and Villanova are struggling in this first third of the season.

Speaking of Eastern Washington, they have to go down as my biggest surprise this season. That’s a team loaded with talent with what were two of the most heralded offensive players in the subdivision in QB Bo Levi Mitchell and WR Brandon Kaufman, but that one-dimensional attack has garnered the Eagles an 0-4 record. If their playoff hopes as defending national champions aren’t dead already, they’re certainly on life support, and another loss will certainly spell an early end to the Eagles’ repeat aspirations as conference-leading Weber State comes to Roos Field on Saturday.

Equally surprising is the depth coming out of the SoCon, and that conference is certainly making a bid to claim the spot of the season’s strongest conference over the CAA with Georgia Southern, Appalachian State, and Wofford all squarely in the top 10 nationally, and with Chattanooga and Furman certainly looking like playoff contenders. Great West schools like aforementioned Southern Utah, who has wins over UT-San Antonio and Sacramento State to go along with their drubbing of UNLV, have to be worried about the depth emerging from the CAA, SoCon and MVFC swallowing up at-large bids and narrowing the chance for even a strong resume precluding any playoff hopes for the Thunderbirds. Add in a fringe team like South Dakota in that scheduling alliance and the board is already looking awfully thin for some talented teams.

As for the Top 25, NDSU Head Coach Craig Bohl had some choice words at his Monday morning press conference, going on a bit of a tear as to a perceived lack of credibility the national coaches’ poll now wields after NDSU dropped six spots in the polls during a bye week, then ascended to their old spot of 6th after a win at Big Ten Minnesota. Add to that a lack of love for schools like Indiana State (who I’ve been high on since December) and one can start to see why plenty of coaches don’t bother themselves with polls and national rankings until the GPI becomes a factor later in the season. That said, the Massey ratings currently have North Dakota State as the number-one team in the FCS, so at least you won’t hear too much antagonism coming out of Fargo.

Some big games on the docket for Week 5, including Georgia Southern @ Elon, App. State @ Wofford (my game of the week), Richmond @ James Madison, and Jacksonville State @ Murray State, all of which could have huge ramifications on their conferences’ standings in a week or two. Keep your eyes peeled, because early conference season is upon us and already we’re starting to separate the contenders from the pretenders.