Welcome to our latest and greatest preview series: the FCS Roundup! Each week, we will look to highlight all of the lower-level programs in action against the Mid-American Conference in one place.
To open the MAC football season we’ll see two programs from the Patriot League and one from the SoCon make the trek to the Midwest for potential glory and a paycheck. As always, there is an outside chance the team being welcomed could ruin the occasion by game’s end; never underestimate the challenger.
We’ll
list them in order of appearance below:
Lafayette Leopards
Who are they playing? Bowling Green, on Thursday, Aug. 28 at 6:00 p.m.
The Leopards look to start their 144th season of play on the right foot, heading to Bowling Green to kick off the campaign. This will be the second-straight season Lafayette starts their season in MAC territory, as the Leopards were Buffalo’s opening opponent in 2024, losing by a final tally of 30-13.
The 2024 season for Lafayette was full of ups and downs; the Leopards were as high as #14 in the national polls to start the season and had eight all-Patriot League and two FCS All-American players rostered at year’s end. However, their high hopes were dashed, as the Leopards finished 6-6 on the season, including a 2-4 record in league play.
2025 looks to be a near-total reset, as Lafayette was selected to finish fifth in the eight-member Patriot League.
The Leopards do return starting quarterback Dean DeNobile, who has 4,414 passing yards, 33 touchdowns and 17 interceptions over his career and a 67 percent completion rate, so there will be some ready stability. Lafayette also likes to deploy backup QB Jason Penza (28 rushing attempts for 171 yards; 5-of-6, 31 yards passing) in subpackages as well, so BGSU will need to look out.
Senior receiver Elijah Steward is the position player of note. 2024 was a down season for Steward (46 passes for 635 yards and a touchdown), but he still finished as a second-team all-Patriot League receiver and is capable of carrying the load offensively, leading Lafayette in receiving the last three seasons. Running back is a complete re-vamp, with three players expected to carry the load— including two special teamers and a converted wide receiver. Two full-time starters at guard and tackle return to the offensive line, while three contributors combining for 17 starts from 2024 step in at the other spots.
Defensively, there isn’t much to write home about. Houston, Texas native Jaylon Joseph (20 tackles, seven TFLs) moves from the defensive tackle to the defensive end spot, and is the only returning starter on the line. Ahmir Crawley and Phillip Peiffer return to man spots after missing most or all of the 2024 season with injury, while two transfers— including former Falcon Joey Shimko— were brought in to steady the edge rushing spots. The secondary is also completely new, made up primarily of 2024 special teamers getting their promotion to the starting lines.
Merrimack Warriors
Who are they playing? Kent State, on Saturday, Aug. 30, at noon Eastern time
Merrimack College is in a strange place in college football; the program found itself orphaned when the university announced its departure from the Northeast Conference to join the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in all sports in 2023, along with Sacred Heart. The MAAC, notably, does not sponsor football.
As a consequence of the decision, last season saw the Warriors wander the football desert as a very rare FCS independent for the first time, finishing with a record of 5-6 overall— losing to Sacred Heart in the self-proclaimed “Yankee Conference championship game” at season’s end. Now they embark on a second season in the choppy waters of independence, taking on a Kent State team which has not won a game of note in two years.
There isn’t a lot out there about what the new Warriors will look like heading into 2025, as the program has not released game notes or a depth chart heading into the weekend; in fact, the university has not posted any football news article on the athletics website since April. There doesn’t seem to be a local beat either; The Beacon, the student newspaper, has not posted about the team since Sept. 2024, and the local newspapers of note are also sparse with information.
What we do know is how they performed last season. Merrimack’s strength was their defense, finishing an astonishing 12th in the FCS in total defense (309.8 yards per game) and 38th in scoring defense (23.27 points allowed per game) and the ability to run on the ball (192.5 yards per game; 21st in FCS) and sit on it (31 minutes per game in possession; 32nd in FCS.) The Warriors’ weakness was through the air, as they check in at a woeful 118th of 123 FCS teams in passing offense (128.9 yards per game, nine passing touchdowns.) This team will look to run the ball and choke the clock at every opportunity.
QB Ayden Periera (1,123 passing yards, eight touchdowns, two interceptions; 568 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns) does return at signalcaller, while Jalen McDonald (18 catches, 302 yards, four TDs) is back at receiver. Two of the team’s leading tacklers from 2024, DJ Frazier and Kendal Sims, also come back after combining for 104 tackles, 11.5 TFLs and 3.5 sacks.
The major question will be who carries the running load, as 1,000+ yard rusher Jermaine Corbett departed the roster in the offseason, as well as the pass-rushing load. Both of Merrimack’s best sackmasters have moved on, taking their combined 19.5 sacks in 2024 with them.
Holy Cross Crusaders
Who are they playing? Northern Illinois, on Saturday, August 30th, at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time.
Holy Cross is no newcomer to the MAC; their last victory over an FBS team was against Buffalo in 2022. They’re a no rollover against FBS opponents either, taking both ACC foe Boston College and historic power Army West Point to the final gun before falling by one possession in the 2023 campaign.
The Crusaders open up 2025 after a 2024 campaign which saw them finish with a share of the Patriot League championship and a 6-6 overall record— including an impressive 5-1 record in league action— to be up to the league for a historic sixth-straight season.
Holy Cross struggled to get going early, starting 1-4 with losses to Syracuse, Yale, New Hampshire and Rhode Island before completely flipping the narrative come October. The Crusaders scrapped for every result the second half, with every game except their season-closing win against Georgetown (34-0) decided by one score. Of note, Holy Cross lost by seven points to Yale and just two points to Harvard— two decidedly better programs with more resources.
6-6 is considered a down year in Worchester, so they’ll look to make a statement against Northern Illinois on Saturday afternoon.
There’s a lot on the line for Holy Cross here; a win in this game would be their fifth season-opening victory in the last six seasons and their first-ever win in the month of August (0-6 all-time.)
The Crusaders finished in the middle of the FCS for offensive firepower, with 357.4 yards per game (64th), 154.4 rushing yards per game (56th) and 203.9 passing yards per game (64th). Defensively, the unit was stout, finishing 49th in total defense (349.5 yards allowed per game) and 18th in rushing defense (117.3 yards allowed per game) while also tying for 34th-best in FCS with 23.08 points allowed per game. Their lone weakness was in pass defense, allowing 232.2 yards per game on average (86th in FCS of 123 teams.)
Senior captain Max Mosey is the one of the skill position players to watch offensively for Holy Cross. The all-Patriot League receiver averaged 19.8 yards per catch in 2024, finishing with 37 catches for 715 yards and six touchdowns. The other is first-team all-Patriot League running back Jayden Clerveaux, who compiled 942 yards and 11 touchdowns on 198 carries. Illinois transfer quarterback Cal Swanson won the starting job in camp after two years as a depth piece.
The offensive line returns two starters in 2024, which will prove an interesting matchup with one of the MAC’s better defensive units.
Defensive ends Joseph Townsend (team-leading five sacks in ’24) and Christian Ross (29 tackles, five TFLs, 2.5 sacks in ‘24), linebacker Cam Santee (51 tackles, six TFLs, two forced fumbles in ’24) and defensive back Cam Jones (56 tackles, two interceptions, nine pass break-ups in ’24) will be the stars defensively for the Crusaders. Jones is especially a highlight player, sitting a near-perfect five-foot-11, 190 lb. frame and earning second-team all-Patriot League honors last season.
