As the season hits its midpoint, the postseason picture is as crowded and unclear as its ever been. It was another week of upsets, unexpected results and all around craziness in the FCS. A lot of the top dogs didn’t play in Week 6 but for the ones that did it didn’t necessarily go well. It has all resulted in conference title races that are packed and tight. Here’s what went down in the subdivision this past weekend:
SWAC Continues to Descend into Uncertainty
The SWAC picture is more muddled after
this weekend than it was before. It all started on Friday when Florida A&M stunned Alabama State by blocking a last-second field goal to hang on for their second win of the season. The Rattlers got a big day from freshman signal caller Armond Parker who threw two fourth quarter touchdowns. Parker showed great resolve having tossed two picks earlier in the game. That was only the beginning of the conference’s wild weekend, though. On Saturday Jackson State suffered their first loss of the year, a 45-38 defeat against Grambling. Jacobe Robinson threw four touchdowns and JSU lost its quarterback Jared Lockhart with an injury. Li’Darius Pryor ran for 166 yards on 22 touches but it was not enough. Grambling is is now 2-1 in SWAC play while Jackson State slips to the same record.
To cap it all off, Mississippi Valley State pulled off its second big win in as many weeks this time over a reeling Texas Southern squad. The Delta Devils iced it with a 16-yard touchdown run from Josh Brown with under a minute to play. As he was last week, Brown was a scoring machine logging five TDs and racking up 366 total yards. The defense recovered two fumbles as well and suddenly MVSU is 2-1 in SWAC action as well. Their three wins this year are more than the program has seen in a single season since 2021. They will face Bethune-Cookman next week.
Two More Top 5 Teams Go Down
The upper tier of the FCS will again see a shakeup this week after two more Top 5 teams got upset. It started with #2 Montana’s shootout loss to #13 Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. NAU quarterback Ty Pennington put on a show, rushing for four touchdowns and throwing for another in the 49-44 win. Pennington accounted for 374 yards of offense and diced UM to the tune of 8.5 yards per throw. The Grizzlies injury-depleted secondary struggled all afternoon despite their own offense doing a fine job keeping pace. Montana quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat completed 29 passes for 347 yards and Eli Gillman found the end zone twice. Untimely penalties ended up costing the Griz in the end, though. Montana was flagged six times for 80 yards. Northern Arizona has now won two straight over ranked opponents and has blown the Big Sky race wide open. Everyone in the conference has at least one loss now. This is Montana’s first defeat at the hands of an FCS opponent this year.
The second big upset of the day was #4 North Dakota’s slip up against unranked Northern Iowa on the road. UND struggled with turnovers all game long, coughing the ball up three times and losing two interceptions off the arm of quarterback Jerry Kaminski. Kaminski would end up being benched in favor of Javance Tupou’ata-Johnson. UNI, in spite of a sluggish offensive day in their own right, held for the 24-17 win thanks to their stifling defense. Senior safety Calvin Jaworski led the way with 11 tackles. The Hawks were able to convert just five of their 15 third down tries and were turned away on fourth down three times. Northern Iowa thwarted North Dakota’s last attempt to tie the game with a fourth down stop near midfield. It is the second week in a row that the Panthers have beaten a top Missouri Valley team having defeated Illinois State last week. Northern Iowa is now 3-2 and is unbeaten in league play. They will head to Youngstown State next weekend.
Harvard Keeps Rolling
The Crimson continue to make their case as the best Ivy League squad in 2026 as they remained unbeaten with a convincing 41-29 triumph over Cornell on Saturday. Although they surrendered 10 points right out of the gates to the Big Red, Harvard would open up an 11-point lead by halftime. The defense buckled down and picked off Garrett Bass-Sulpizio twice and Charlie Smith threw three scores on the other side. Now at 4-0, #18 Harvard has taken a commanding lead in the conference race. They will have one last non-conference matchup next weekend against Holy Cross before getting into the rest of their Ivy League slate.
Morgan State Does it Again, Beats RMU in Final Seconds
Morgan State might be the best team in not only the MEAC but in HBCU football as a whole right now. The Bears’ thrilling 28-27 win over Robert Morris was the latest in a long line of exciting victories this season. Running back Keith Jenkins Jr. pushed his way into the end zone with just 24 seconds left to seal MSU’s fourth straight victory and vault their record to 5-1. They withstood a tremendous passing day from Colonials quarterback Carson Haggard who threw for 376 yards and three touchdowns. Cameron Edge kept playing mistake-free ball for Morgan State, again posting no interceptions for the fourth time this fall. The Bears now turn their attention to Tennessee State as they look for their second six-win season in three years.
Tarleton State Moves to 6-0 with Big Win over Austin Peay
When the new rankings come out on Monday, Tarleton State should be the new #2 team in the land. The Texans kept their undefeated record intact on Saturday night against what might have been their toughest test left on the schedule. TSU outlasted Austin Peay 40-32 despite allowing Governors quarterback Chris Parson to run for over 100 yards and log three touchdowns. Kaden Anderson executed at a high level and receiver Tanner Schmidt was a big reason why, catching eight passes for 121 yards and a score. The defense sacked the elusive Parson three times. It was Tarleton State’s first UAC win of the year. They will host Central Arkansas next weekend.
