There is No Power Shift at the Top
If Week 10 taught us anything its that the more the FCS changes, the more it truly stays the same. This year has seen a lot of new faces rise the ranks and appear to be
new challengers but on Saturday a lot of those same teams suffered surprising losses. #2 Tarleton State was previously unbeaten before dropping it to Abilene Christian right at the end. #6 UC Davis could not stave off visiting Idaho State as it went down to an FCS opponent for the first time and #8 North Dakota stumbled against South Dakota for its first non-FBS loss of the year as well. Even #4 South Dakota State is proving that it needs starting QB Chase Mason because, without him again, the Jacks fell in their own building to Indiana State. For all those losses, the usual suspects did what they were supposed. #1 NDSU held off Youngstown State, #3 Montana rolled at Weber State and #4 Montana State beat the brakes off Northern Colorado. The teams that are expected to be standing at the end probably will be.
The Big Sky is a Three-Bid League
If there was one thing the Big Sky didn’t want to happen if it wanted to get four teams into the postseason this year, it was exactly what did happen in Flagstaff on Friday night. Idaho rolled in an upset Northern Arizona, likely eliminating the Lumberjacks from playoff contention. Outside of Montana, Montana State and UC Davis, NAU was realistically the only other team that was really in that race and now they have four losses on the year. If it does indeed come to pass that the Big Sky only gets three in this year, it would be a very uncommon sight. The last time the conference had fewer than four representatives in the FCS playoffs (excluding the shortened Spring season) was back in 2017.
The Southland is SFA’s to Lose
Stephen F. Austin had itself a perfect weekend between its 41-17 victory over UTRGV and Lamar’s upset loss to Incarnate Word. The Lumberjacks are in firm control of their own destiny now at 5-0 in conference play with three weeks to go. Assuming they handle business like they should against Houston Christian next weekend and Northwestern State in the finale, the de facto Southland championship will be between them and Lamar on November 15 in Nacogdoches. If SFA can play like it did against the Vaqueros, there is no reason to believe it won’t take home the hardware and get the auto bid into the playoffs.
DeSean Jackson is the MEAC Coach of the Year
On Thursday night the Delaware State Hornets entered territory they haven’t been in in a long, long time; they are in the MEAC’s driver seat. First-year head coach and former NFL star DeSean Jackson is a huge reason why the Hornets have experienced one of the best single-season turnarounds in the FCS after going just 1-11 last year. Jackson has brought in some big names that have helped propel his team to a 6-3 overall record and, after beating Michael Vick and his Norfolk State team on Thursday, 2-0 in conference play. There is legitimate reason for Delaware State fans to start hoping for a Celebration Bowl berth (a would-be first for the program) and Jackson himself is the clear frontrunner to take up home the conference’s Coach of the Year accolades.
