FCS Week 5 Recap: Changing Tides

The top of the FCS will see a lot of shuffling this week after another wild weekend of action. Between top-ranked Montana State going down in a stunner and a handful of other surprising outcomes around the country, the polls will surely look different when they come out on Monday. What all happened to make it a tumultuous first weekend of October?

Idaho’s Last-Second Miracle SnapsMontana State’s win Streak

The defining game of the weekend for the FCS came before the Saturday slate even started. On Friday night previously-winless Idaho sent the top of the subdivision into turmoil when it upset defending national champion and top-ranked Montana State. The Vandals got it done, despite trailing by two scores in the fourth quarter, thanks to a flurry of big plays with under a minute to play. Quarterback Joshua Wood completed a touchdown pass to Ryan Jezioro at the buzzer and then ran in a two-point conversation immediately after to stamp the 35-34 stunner. It was MSU head coach Brent Vigen’s untimely timeout with one second on the clock, though, that will be talked about for a long time. The stoppage allowed Idaho the final play in which they scored the winner. Wood threw for 315 yards and found the end zone twice in a strong offensive effort. The loss is Montana State’s first since September of last season and will surely drop MSU from its #1 spot in this week’s rankings. The Bobcats now have a bye while the Vandals will face Weber State on Saturday.

Yale Bounces Back on Reno’s Emotional Day

No player in college football played under the amount of emotional duress that Yale signal caller Dante Reno did on Saturday afternoon against Merrimack. It was announced last week that Reno’s father and former Bulldogs head coach Tony Reno passed away at 52 in the wake of an illness he had been battling. Dante returned to the lineup after missing last week with an injury and played a terrific game, throwing for 298 yards and four touchdowns all on 22 completed passes as Yale trounced the Warriors 41-24. Both Jaxton Santiago and Lucius Anderson had over 100 receiving yards and running back Hugo Djeumeni Kemeni ran for 132 on the ground. It was a much-needed victory as the Bulldogs improve to 2-1 after losing to Cornell last weekend. Yale will face Dartmouth next.

Morgan State Wins Third Straight over Reeling Wildcats

The MEAC conversation got really interesting over the weekend after Morgan State won at Villanova. The 38-35 victory was the Bears’ third in a row and, paired with SC State’s loss against The Citadel, the talk of who is truly the best in the conference is starting to heat up. Quarterback Cameron Edge turned in a big day through the air, passing for 444 yards and three touchdowns. It was Edge’s rushing touchdown with under a minute to go, though, that secured the win. The Bears are now 4-1 overall. The Wildcats, meanwhile, continue to spiral. Despite five rushing touchdowns from Ja’Briel Mace and Isaiah Ragland combined, ‘Nova had no answers for Morgan State’s offense. Villanova is 2-4 on the year and now likely needs to win out to have any hope of reaching the playoffs. This comes after they went all the way to the semifinals last season.

YSU, SDSU Get Key Missouri Valley Wins

Combined with Montana State’s upset loss on Friday, South Dakota State all but sealed itself as the new #1 team in the country with a decisive 31-14 victory over Illinois State on the road on Saturday evening. The Jackrabbits, who are still playing without quarterback Chase Mason, stifled the Redbirds offense to get their fifth win of the year. SDSU’s defense held ISU’s rushing attack to just 92 yards and that was with Victor Dawson back in the lineup. Dontay Johnson and Cullen McShane finished with double-digit tackles for South Dakota State and Myles Green had a 31-yard interception return for a score. The loss is now Illinois State’s second in as many weeks and their Missouri Valley title hopes are slipping away in a hurry. They will see Southern Illinois after a week off while SDSU prepares to take on North Dakota after their bye.

The other team keeping pace in the MVFC is Youngstown State who got another big win on Saturday over Southern Illinois. Beau Brunguard was held relatively in check with just 69 rushing yards and only one passing touchdown but the Penguins got by nonetheless. The YSU defense stepped up and got five sacks on SIU quarterback D.J. Williams and picked him off once as well. Kyle Thomas had a big day receiving for the Salukis (155 yards on eight catches) but it was not enough as Youngstown State came out on top 28-16. The Penguins are now 2-1 in conference play as they get ready for another road trip to Indiana State. SIU heads to South Dakota next.

Catamounts Hand Tennessee Tech First Loss

Western Carolina toppled the SoCon favorite on Saturday thanks to a tremendous rushing performance. Josh Perry rumbled for 157 yards on 25 carries and led the way with two touchdowns as the Catamounts defeated Tennessee Tech 44-20 at home. Lex Thomas completed 19 passes for 236 yards and a score. As a team WCU piled up 298 total rushing yards and withstood a big day from the Golden Eagles offense. Jax Leatherwood and Gabe Nunez teamed up for 13 completions, 225 yards and a score on the other side but the Western Carolina offense was too much to keep up with. The Catamounts are now 3-3 with their first conference win in hand while Tennessee Tech drops to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in SoCon play.

MVSU Shocks Prairie View A&M with Two Fourth-Quarter TDs

One of the biggest upsets of the weekend happened when Mississippi Valley State took down last year’s SWAC champion Prairie View A&M. In one of the biggest wins for the Delta Devils in several years, Josh Brown completed his only touchdown pass of the day to Caleb Brownlow in the closing minutes before the defense stuffed Tevin Carter on fourth down to preserve the 28-27 win. Brown rushed for 101 yards and three scores and the defense logged six tackles behind the line of scrimmage against a Panthers offense that is full of playmakers. Carter had a dismal day passing for PVAM, going for just 62 yards on 15 completed passes. He had a touchdown and an interception. MVSU has now won two games this season, tying their mark from 2025. Prairie View A&M is 2-4 overall.

NAU Takes Pivotal Big Sky Matchup over Idaho State

Idaho State dropped its first game of the season on Saturday night and it may prove to be a costly one as it came against another Big Sky playoff-hopeful in Northern Arizona. Jordan Cooke had an up-and-down day passing for the Bengals, throwing for 385 yards and three touchdowns but also two interceptions as well. On the other side, Ty Pennington was sharp for the Lumberjacks, completing 21 of 27 passes for 252 yards and two scores. NAU strung together two lengthy fourth quarter scoring drives that ate over 12 minutes off the clock. The ISU defense struggled to get off the field all night, allowing Pennington and the offense to rack up over 500 yards and convert four of their nine third down tries. Idaho State is 5-1 (1-1 Big Sky) while Northern Arizona improves to 4-2 (2-1 Big Sky).