FCS lifeblood is as much smaller conferences as national powers

By Craig Haley STATS Perform

Let’s face it, the national champion in FCS college football is not coming out of a conference such as the Big South, Patriot or Pioneer.

We also know an Ivy League school won’t be fighting for No. 1 in Frisco, Texas, come early January.

But the lifeblood of the FCS is as much the smaller conferences as it is national powers North Dakota State, South Dakota State and the Montana frenemies, where a conference championship can mean everything to the schools battling their brethren from week to week.

As title races take shape, the outcomes in October set up a November to remember.

Here are some of the leading Week 6 games across FCS college football:

MVFC: South Dakota (1-3, 0-1) at No. 2 South Dakota State (4-1, 2-0)

Kickoff: 2 p.m. (Midco SN/ ESPN+)

Notable: Will it be a red or blue state? Three of the last four meetings have been decided by three points, including USD’s 23-20 win last season on a gameending, Carson Camp “Hail Mary” TD pass. This season, with Camp one of the more sacked FCS QBs (15), the Coyotes need production out of RB Travis Theis, who has team highs with 297 rushing yards, 12 receptions and three TDs (one in each of the last three games). SDSU RB Isaiah Davis is coming off a career-high 27 carries against Western Illinois, which led to a season-high 199 yards and the first two TDs of his junior campaign. The Jackrabbits are plus-six in turnover margin.

The Pick: South Dakota State

MVFC: No. 17 Southern Illinois (3-2, 2-0) at No. 20 Missouri State (2-3, 0-2)

Kickoff: 2 p.m. (ESPN+)

Notable: The early season fortunes have been in reverse with SIU on a three-game winning streak and Missouri State on a three-game losing streak. Both defenses have already been hurt by the pass, and it’s one of the better QB duels in the MVFC, if not nation with SIU’s Nic Baker (4,327 passing yards, 36 TD passes in the last 18 games) vs. MSU’s Jason Shelley (average of 307.8 yards of total offense with 45 total TDs in last 17 games). The all-time series is tied 22-22.

The Pick: Southern Illinois

Big Sky: No. 24 Eastern Washington (1-3, 0-1) at No. 7 Weber State (4-0, 1-0)

Kickoff: 7 p.m. (ESPN+)

Notable: EWU has a short week after a Sunday game at Florida and now a trip to Weber State, where the Eagles seek to avoid a fourth straight loss to the Wildcats since 2017 and their first four-game losing streak since 2011. QB Gunner Talkington seeks to build on an 11-to-3 TD pass-to-interception ratio against WSU’s pass defense (50 completion percentage, 10 interceptions). The Wildcats, who have the longest active FCS winning streak at six, is 13-0 when sixth-year senior Josh Davis reaches 100 or more rushing yards.

The Pick: Weber State

Pioneer: Davidson (4-1, 1-0) at St. Thomas (3-1, 1-0)

Kickoff: 1 p.m. (TommieSpots.com)

Notable: Davidson, the two-time defending PFL champion, once again leads the FCS in rushing yards per game (389.4), spreading the touches well with RBs Dylan Sparks (63 carries, 369 yards, 5 TDs) and Coy Williams

(62, 346, 5) and QB Jayden Waddell (51, 337, 3). St. Thomas is 6-0 at home as an FCS program, but the winning streak at O’Shaughnessy Stadium is 23 straight since 2017. In the four career games RB Hope Adebayo has been given 15 or more carries, he’s had 100 or more yards, including at Marist last Saturday.

The Pick: St. Thomas

SWAC: No. 8 Jackson State (4-0, 2-0) at Alabama State (3-2, 1-1)

Kickoff: 2 p.m. (ESPN3)

Notable: JSU is allowing 185.5 yards per game, which would rank in the FCS alltime top 10 if averaged over a full season. QB Shedeur Sanders ranks second nationally in completion percentage (75.5) and third in passing yards per game (345.3), and is tied for fourth in TD passes (14). ASU committed 14 turnovers in its first four games, but didn’t have any in a 16-13 win at Texas Southern last Saturday. The Hornets handed JSU coach Deion Sanders his first career loss at ASU Stadium in

March 2021, but the Tigers won at home 28-7 last October.

The Pick: Jackson State

CAA: No. 6 Delaware (5-0, 3-0) at No. 16 William & Mary (4-1, 1-1)

Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. (Cox Yurview/FloSports)

Notable: UD’s Nolan Henderson (15-2 career as starter) ranks 10th among FCS QBs in passing yards per game (291.4) and third in touchdown passes (16), while W&M’s offense rolls with the No. 6 rushing offense (241 ypg), led by RBs Bronson Yoder (416 yards, 4 TDs) and Malachi Imoh (306, 7). In defending third downs, UD is third-best in the FCS, allowing just 23.6 percent of conversions, and W&M is seventh-best at 26.2. The Blue Hens have allowed only one first-half TD, and LB Johnny Buchanan is tied for the FCS high with 11.8 tackles per game. OLB John Pius racked up seven sacks in W&M’s first three games, but only has a half-sack in the last two.

The Pick: William & Mary

Florida A&M (3-2) at South Carolina State (1-3)

Kickoff: 1 p.m. (ESPN+)

Notable: FAMU has won three consecutive games after a tumultuous start to the season. Transfer QB Jeremy Mousa wisely targets WR Xavier Smith, who has 29 receptions and six TD catches and gone over 3,000 career receiving yards during the winning streak. SCSU needs to rev up an offense that is averaging only 254.3 yards per game. With 40 tackles, LB BJ Davis is well on his way to leading the Bulldogs defense in stops for a third straight season.

The Pick: Florida A&M

Patriot: Fordham (4-1, 1-0) at Lehigh (1-4, 1-0)

Kickoff: 11 a.m. (SEN/ESPN+)

Notable: Overshadowed by the dominance of QB Tim DeMorat (430.6 passing ypg, 26 TDs) and WR Fotis Kokosioulis (49 receptions, 728 yards, eight TDs) is the way RBs Trey Sneed and Julius Loughridge have fueled the Rams to 199.4 rushing yards per game. Lehigh will seek to play keep-away, having rushed for 268 yards in a 35-28 loss to the Rams last season, and a winner of four straight league games since last November.

The Pick: Fordham

Ivy: Dartmouth (1-2, 0-1) at Yale (2-1, 1-0)

Kickoff: 11 a.m. (ESPN+)

Notable: Dartmouth has dropped back-to-back overtime games and faces a must-win to remain a realistic contender for a third straight Ivy title (the Big Green haven’t lost three straight games since 2011). Yale will don throwback uniforms to commemorate its 150 years of football, and the team-high carries and rushing totals of Bulldogs QB Nolan Grooms and Dartmouth counterpart Nick Howard feel like yesteryear. The Pick: Yale