FCS Football Preview: Week 2 Games of the Week

South Dakota (0-1) at No. 3 Montana (1-0)

Kick off: 3:00 p.m. (ABC/Fox Montana and ESPN+)

Unable: In the season opener, Montana thrashed Northwestern State 47-0 and Kansas State defeated South Dakota 34-0. UM cornerback Justin Ford’s fumble recovery gave him a lead in 11 of the team’s last 13 games. Transfer QB Lucas Johnson (four TD passes) looks to take advantage of his big debut. USD has lost its last six meetings against Griz (most recently 31-17 in 2019). Quarterback Carson Camp will face a fierce pass rush, and left tackle Alex Jensen is questionable with a leg injury. However, Carp is excellent at distributing the ball between different offensive players.

The selection: Mountain

North Carolina A&T (0-1) at No. 1 State of North Dakota (1-0)

Kick off: 3:30 p.m. (ABC North Dakota/ESPN+)

Unable: Originally set on the ill-fated fall 2020 schedule, this matchup would have been better in an earlier season: NC AT&T has won four HBCU national titles since 2015, and NDSU captured FCS national championships in the same seasons as part of nine dating back to 2011. However, NC A&T is just 5-7 since the start of the 2021 season. The 48 pass attempts by first-year QB Zachary Yeager of the Aggies in last week’s 28-13 loss to North Carolina Central were one short of the school’s single-game record. Their strong rushing defense (NC Central was limited to 69 rushing yards) will be challenged by the Bison’s offensive line and a running back unit that could have five players with 1,000+ career yards (Kobe Johnson and Hunter Luepke are already there). ). The NC A&T marching band will not be at the game and will instead perform Sunday at the Detroit Lions’ home opener.

The selection: State of North Dakota

MVFC: No. 24 Northern Iowa (0-1, 0-0) at North Dakota (0-1, 0-0)

Kick off: 4 p.m. (ESPN+)

Unable: UNI has not played in Grand Forks since 1976, and coach Mark Farley lost his only game against UND in 2006 (35-31). The lowest rushing averages of Farley’s 22 seasons have come since 2017, so the Panthers get the ball downfield with the pass. Quarterback Theo Day led the FCS in completion yards (14.9) last season, going 14.3 with 286 passing yards in last week’s 48-31 loss to the Air Force. UND, which was tied at Nebraska midway through the third quarter before falling 38-17, has won 35 straight home openers as well as 15 of its last 16 games overall at the Alerus Center. In 22 career games, QB Tommy Schuster completed nearly 65% ​​of 630 pass attempts and was sacked just 13 times.

The selection: North Dakota

Alabama State (2-0) at UCLA (1-0)

Kick off: 5:00 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Unable: UCLA’s first game against an HBCU will also remove the list of FBS programs yet to play an FCS opponent for Notre Dame (which faces Tennessee State in 2023) and USC (it canceled a 2021 game against UC Davis). . The state of Alabama does not have a win over an FBS show in its FCS era. However, the Hornets are off to a 2-0 start to the Eddie Robinson Jr. coaching era, though season-opening QB Dematrius Davis left the win over Miles due to a shoulder problem, relieved , appropriately, by Myles Crawley.

The selection: University of California at Los Angeles

No. 22 Rhode Island (1-0) at Bryant (0-1)

Kick off: 6:00 p.m. (ESPN +)

Unable: URI has won the only two previous meetings, with QB Kasim Hill accounting for three TDs in last year’s 45-21 win. The Rams’ defense allowed just one touchdown and limited 2021 CAA rushing leader Ty Son Lawton to 46 yards on 20 carries in a 35-14 season-opening win at Stony Brook. Bryant fell to FIU 38-37 in overtime, but quarterback Zevi Eckhaus (279 total yards of offense, two total TDs) was named Big South Offensive Player of the Week and Gage Moloney passed for 106 yards and a TD from The bench. Linebackers Ryan Saddler (13) and Joe Andreessen (10) reached double figures in tackles.

The selection: Rhode Island

Campbell (1-0) at No. 20 William & Mary (1-0)

Kick off: 18:00 (Flo Sports)

Unable: Both teams enjoyed a strong start to the season before this first meeting: Campbell overcame The Citadel’s triple option in a 29-10 victory and W&M beat Charlotte 41-24 for their first FBS victory since 2009, with neither of the winning teams committed turnovers. Campbell’s dual-threat QB Hajj-Malik Williams has posted 43 TDs in 20 career games, while his counterpart Darius Wilson (304 yards of total offense, two TD passes) is coming off Offensive Player of the Week honors. CAA. W&M LB John Pius racked up 4.5 tackles for 26 yard losses as part of his career-high nine stops. The Tribe has won 37 of its last 39 regular season games against non-conference FCS opponents.