There were six FCS victories over FBS teams as the 2021 college football season opened in earnest. One thing seems to stand out: Offensive execution.
It seems that the FCS hoard may have closed the gap somewhat on their upper division brethren. One reason could be that most played their seasons in the spring of 2021.
Has this increased continuity resulted in better execution, tackling, and overall play, among other things, because they are already at game speed? Are they more used to contact and playing hard? Is there better team cohesion? Have they already gelled?
As usual there were some regional bragging rights games that came through for the FCS crews. I like to keep an Evil Eye on these regional games because they are so painful for the FBS losers.
UC Davis 19 at Tulsa 17
UC Davis won this game in methodical fashion by driving the ball into chip-shot range for the four field goals that were their last four scores, including the come from behind game winner. Tulsa was very tough last year, going 6-3. Those three losses were at Oklahoma State by nine, at Cincinnati in the AAC Championship Game by three, and in the Armed Forces Bowl to Mississippi State by two. Apparently, that, and a really good coupon, will get you a free senior coffee this season. Davis was 3-2 in the spring of 2021. Note that Davis is in the Big Sky.
Eastern Washington 35 at UNLV 33 2OT
UNLV came from 14 points down in the fourth quarter to tie the game and send it to overtime. However, Eastern Washington prevailed on a two-point conversion in double overtime. Vegas was 0-6 last year. Eastern Washington was an at-large selection in the 2021 spring FCS playoffs. This game has the tincture of regional pain for Vegas and, if not, a certain regional pleasure for EWU. Do you see a Big Sky theme?
South Dakota State 42 at Colorado State 23
After a lengthy weather delay, South Dakota State manhandled the Rams. The game was not as close as the score indicated. South Dakota State was in control the whole way and was never threatened. SDSU was 8-2 and played for the FBS National Championship last spring. Colorado State was 1-3 in a late start in the fall of 2020. This diabolical brew of one team playing excellent football with a head of steam built-up, meeting another struggling to get on track from a truncated season months ago, boiled over on the Rams.
Montana 13 at Washington 7
The biggest shocker of the day, Washington was ranked 20th. Montana gets huge regional bragging rights. Washington would have been in the Pac-12 Championship Game last year, but for the ‘Rona. See that hot senior coffee above. Montana head man, Bobby Hauck, has the Griz pointed in the right direction with this massive nitro boost. Montana was already on the right track with two blowout wins in spring, 2021, and going 10-4 in 2019. Hauck has been there, done that, in the FCS before, having three previous national championship appearances at the helm of the Griz. Big Sky for the trifecta.
Holy Cross 38 at Connecticut 28
UConn was one of two FBS teams that did not play a single game in 2020 fall or spring, 2021. On Sunday, after the game, Head Coach Randy Edsall announced he would be retiring after the 2021 season. By Monday, the Randy Edsall era part II was over. Unfortunately, this seems to fall into a series of events regarding UConn football which amount to throwing the football program under the bus. Holy Cross has made the FCS playoffs two times in a row.
East Tennessee State 23 at Vanderbilt 3
It was all smiles for new head man Clark Lea before the game for Vanderbilt. However, when the Commodores dropped anchor, the whole ship went down. This is a huge win for ETSU who can lord it over their in-state cohorts for the foreseeable future. ETSU was 4-1 in the spring of 2021. Vanderbilt was 0-9 last year and head man Derek Mason was shown the door right after starting a coed kicker who showed tremendous lateral movement. Anchor Down.
Did you note that the six losers above only scored 111 points between them? This includes a double-overtime game. That is an average of 18.5 points per game for the losing teams. In the era of high-powered offenses, this is not enough scoring to consistently win at the FBS level. Here, it proved true against FCS teams. Additionally, the stone-cold Power 5 losers above managed a meager touchdown, extra point, and field goal, between them. And these games were not Georgia v. Clemson. Something is amiss in the offensive execution of at least some of the above losers.
The virus-world scheduling of 2020 saw only one FCS v. FBS victory. 2019 saw three FCS victories over FBS teams. In 2018, the number was seven. This year is off to a fast start. It looks like things are getting back to normal. Additionally, there were a number of other FCS v. FBS games that were very close.
Special Note:
Tarleton State 43 v. New Mexico State 17
While not playing in the fall of 2020, New Mexico State did lose to an FCS squad in the winter of 2021. Tarleton State is in its FCS football program infancy. This was just their second FCS game. Congratulations are in order for the Texans for a tremendous and unexpected win. The game was played at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. Both New Mexico State and New Mexico were horribly jerked-around by onerous Covid restrictions during the fall, 2020, and winter-spring-whatever, 2021, seasons. Then again, where have the Washington Generals practiced (do they practice?) and do they ever get a home game against the Harlem Globetrotters? Inquiring minds want to know.
While the Evil Eye is bleary as a result of these six plus games, the Evil Eye will retain a sharp focus on upcoming FCS v. FBS games as due diligence requires. The open question remains: Who will fail on their due diligence?
Additionally, while the Evil Eye may even shed a rueful, but empathetic, tear for some of the above losers, one eyebrow remains firmly arched in the general direction of Seattle.