September wears on in the FCS and, as it always does, the picture has started to get ever so slightly clearer on who teams are (and who they aren’t) going to be this year. Another big slate of games went
down on Saturday and told us a lot about things in the subdivision. Here’s the big takeaways from what went down in Week 4 and what it all could mean moving forward.
Harvard Will Win the Ivy League
Ivy League play got underway on Saturday and the preseason favorite Harvard wasted no time in showing why it is the sexy pick to represent the conference in the playoffs for the first time ever this year. The Crimson dismantled Stetson to the tune of 59-7 in the opener. Seven different players scored touchdowns and there seems to be no doubt about who the top dog in the Ancient Eight is this year. Harvard looked every bit the part as QB Jaden Craig threw for 208 yards and a pair of scores. The defense was smothering, blanking the Hatters through the first half and only allowing points once the reserves came in. Pair that with the fact that other Ivies like Princeton and Cornell underperformed drastically in their non-conference games and it’s hard to pick anyone other than Harvard for the conference title this year.
Delaware State Can Compete in the MEAC
One of the more under-the-radar stories this season has been the early success of Delaware State under first-year head coach DeSean Jackson. The Hornets are off to a 3-1 start (their best since 2007) and picked up another nice win over the weekend against St. Francis. MEAC play does not begin for a few more weeks but so far Jackson’s team has shown that it at least will have the ability to give some of its conference mates trouble. Quarterback Kaiden Bennett has accounted for 10 touchdowns while the offense as a whole is averaging 282.3 rushing yards per contest. Do they have enough to actually win the league and represent in the Celebration Bowl come December? Probably not with teams like NC Central out there. It isn’t a stretch to say DSU won’t finish at the bottom of the conference, though, like they have as of late.
NAU Will Upset a Big Sky Power
If anyone didn’t know it before this weekend, they should now; Northern Arizona is going to be a problem this year. The Lumberjacks, now 3-1 with no FCS losses, collected a huge win over Incarnate Word at home on Saturday and it’s got them thinking big. Ty Pennington continues to show why he’s arguably the best signal caller in the Big Sky Conference right now and once again the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff has proven to be a house of horrors for visitors. NAU will have some major opponents coming through their gates over the next two months as conference play begins including the likes of Montana State and Idaho while also seeing UC Davis on the road/ All of those teams are going through their own various growing pains at the moment so don’t be surprised if the ‘Jacks are able to take at least one of them down.
Youngstown State Is a Playoff Team
Getting out of the Missouri Valley and into the playoffs as an at-large bid is not an easy feat and it especially won’t be this year. Youngstown State, however, has what it takes to do just that and they haven’t been talked about nearly enough. The Penguins have quietly ran out to a 3-1 start and keep finding ways to win ball games. Their most recent victory was a gutsy 31-28 triumph over a Towson team that itself has been turning some heads. The real tests will begin in October with a tough three-game stretch against South Dakota State, North Dakota and Illinois State but YSU could be able to hang in there for a couple of those contests and, if they are somehow able to pull an upset, this team suddenly will start getting seen in a whole different light.
Abilene Christian Is as Good (If Not Better) Than Last Year
The United Athletic Conference has stolen the spotlight this year as one of the best conferences in the FCS but, not truly until this weekend, has Abilene Christian firmly stamped itself as one of the big players in it. The Wildcats just thumped an Austin Peay squad that was looking like a real force in its own right and now it’s clear that ACU has not regressed from last season. Tarleton State is still the cream of the crop in the UAC right now but Abilene Christian will be nipping at their heels all season long if they can duplicate their dominant performance they had against the Governors on Saturday.
