FCSNATION

  The First play of the game East Texas A&M took the opening Kickoff 100 yards for the Touchdown. Allijah Harrison took it from end zone to end zone. The Cowboys would respond with a drive 5 plays for 60 yards, as Jake Strong would find Kameran Senegal for a 39 yard Touchdown. McNeese would later take the lead later in the first quarter as Coleby Hamm would score on a 2yard run. East Texas A&M would make it 10-14 after a 29 yard Field Goal by Ozlo Rigby. The play that changed the game was Phillip Bradford intercepting East Texas A&M 12 yards for a McNeese State touchdown. After that play the momentum would change. In the 3rd quarter Jake Strong would add on to the cowboys lead by scoring on a 48 yard Touchdown run.  East Texas A&M would Continue To fight Jaden Proctor would score on a 22 yard pass from Eric Rodriguez with 6:43 left in the 4th quarter. However McNeese State would seal the deal on the following drive as Coleby Hamm would score on a 29 yard T...

 The Penn Quakers improved to 3-1 after a win vs Marist on Friday night. The Quakers only loss of the season comes against top 10 ranked Lehigh. Marist came straight down the field on the first drive and scored 3 points, after that UPenn would go on a roll and score 28 points. Liam O'Brien threw for 335 yards and 2 touchdowns and also scored a rushing touchdown. Julien Stokes lead all rushers with 61 yards and a touchdown. Jared Richardson continues to set school records! On Friday he had 15 receptions for 190 yards and 2 touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball Kadari Machen and John Lista lead the Quakers with 6 tackles each, Lista also finished with 1 TFL.  U Penn will head to NYC next week to face Columbia in an important conference match up. Every game in the IVY League this year means a potential playoff spot as the Ivy League Champion will now get an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs.

Lamar got a much needed upset victory over ranked  South Dakota this past weekend. NDSU 59 Tennessee State 3 South Dakota State 30 Montana State 24 St Thomas 30 Idaho 37 South Dakota 13 Lamar 20 UC Davis 10 Washington 70 MS Valley 3  Tarleton State 59 Rhode Island 31 Stony Brook 17 West Georgia 34  Nicholls 10 CWU 7 Montana 42

 The IVY league is always fun and competitive - and in 2025 the winner will be eligible for the FCS playoffs.  A three-way tie between Dartmouth, Harvard and Columbia occurred in 2024. All three teams finished 5-2 in the conference. My only question is how will they decide the tie breaker if the same thing happens in 2025? Yale was the lone second place team at 4-3. Cornell finished 3-4 in conference, while Penn Brown and Princeton all finished 2-5. Late in September this party gets started...how will this season end now that a playoff berth is at stake?

  The Pioneer League officially has a playoff bid to the FCS playoffs. In 2024 Drake took first place and lost in the Playoffs at Tarleton State, 29-43. I think each year the conference is getting more competitive. It would be interesting to see the IVY League and the Pioneer League play each other more in the regular season. The question in 2025 is can Drake pull off a "three-peat" !? Every season each team is getting better with the transfer portal and great academics. In 2023 it was St Thomas knocking on the door, and in 2024 it was San Diego. Best of luck to every team in the Pioneer League in 2025. 

  T.C. Taylor lead Jackson State to a Celebration bowl victory last season. This came only two years after the departure of Coach Prime from the University.  The Tigers finished 12-2 on the season, hopefully they can continue their success in 2025. The SWAC is also the biggest HBCU conference in Division 1 football.  Week 1 opponents listed below.  Alabama State @ UAB Jackson State vs Hampton Southern vs NCCentral Alcorn State vs Northwestern State