With a number of teams in the Football Championship Subdivision Top 25 either staying put or improving their ranking with convincing wins, close games and upsets were hard to come by. The exceptions to that were New Hampshire and Delaware, which fell out of the top 10, while others continued to make their case with victories.
Then-No. 17 Towson had to go out on the road to take on a hot Old Dominion team, which had gone from unranked to No. 18 in a matter of two weeks. But the Monarchs fell to No. 21 as the Tigers outscored them 15-0 in the fourth quarter, coming away with a 39-35 win to move up two spots to No. 15 in the polls.
Trailing ODU 35-24 with just over three minutes left in the game, Towson’s offense finally got on the board for the first time in the fourth quarter as quarterback Grant Enders took it upon himself with an 8-yard touchdown run. With the Tigers completing the two-point conversion try, the Monarchs lead was shriveled down to three.
After retaining possession, Enders capped it off for Towson with a 63-yard bomb to Tom Ryan with 1:07 to go in the game. That put the Tigers on top for good as they improved their record to 5-1 on the season.
Then-No. 16 William & Mary also had a statement game at hand when it played host to then-No. 6 New Hampshire on Saturday, upsetting the Wildcats, 24-10.
Momentum appeared to be swaying in the favor of UNH at the end of the first half when Kevin Decker connected with R.J. Harris for a 15-yard score with a mere eight seconds remaining in the half, putting the Wildcats up 10-7 at the break. But the Tribe would put that lead to a halt when Brent Caprio found Jonathan Grimes for a 50-yard touchdown pass, giving the lead back to W&M.
From there, the Tribe defense did its job, keeping UNH scoreless in the second half, while the offense kept on rolling with a 50-yard scamper into the end zone by Keith McBride in the fourth quarter to seal the victory for W&M. With the win, the Tribe moves up to No. 14, while the Wildcats slip all the way to No. 13.
Claiming its place at the top for yet another week is undefeated Georgia Southern, with Northern Iowa continuing to stay right behind at No. 2 after a dominating 31-14 win over South Dakota State on Saturday.
Despite both teams coming away with lopsided victories this weekend, North Dakota State and Montana State swap places in the FCS rankings as the Bison rise to No. 3, while MSU falls to No. 4. NDSU just edged out the Bobcats, thanks in large part to its perfect 6-0 record on the season as opposed to MSU, who sits at 6-1.
Rounding out the top 10 in the polls is No. 5 Wofford, followed by Appalachian State, undefeated Sam Houston State, Lehigh, Maine and Jacksonville State.
Following No. 11 James Madison is Montana, who relied on 20 second-half points to upend Portland State, 30-24.
After falling behind 21-10 at halftime, the Grizzlies were able to put together a scoring drive in the middle of the third quarter that was capped off by a 5-yard touchdown run by Jordan Canada. Those five yards were only a sample size of what Canada brought to the table in the contest, totaling a whopping 159 yards, including 75 on one run.
After a late third-quarter touchdown by Dan Moore knotted the game at 24, Montana pulled away in the fourth with two field goals by Brody McKnight, who went 3-for-3 on the day. The win improved the Grizzlies’ record to 5-2, while the Vikings fell to 3-3.
With New Hampshire, William & Mary and Towson occupying the 13-15 spots, No. 16 Delaware drops out of the top ten after a tough loss to previously unranked Massachusetts.
Making a sizable jump to No. 17 in the polls is Indiana State, which was previously ranked No. 21. The Sycamores make the four-spot leap after a convincing 46-24 win over Western Illinois that saw wide receiver Alex Jones catch two touchdowns for 119 yards on two receptions.
At No. 18 sits Richmond, followed by Alabama State and North Dakota, which wraps up the top 20.
After Old Dominion sits UMass at No. 22, working its way back into the FCS polls with Jackson State trailing right behind at No. 23.
After being unranked in the previous polls, No. 24 Norfolk State cracked the Top 25 following a 34-24 victory over Hampton. Concluding the Top 25 behind the Spartans is South Dakota, which dropped a whopping 10 spots in the rankings after a 28-3 meltdown against Illinois State.
Nick Canelas can be reached at [email protected].
