Covering All College Sports Since 2012
Towson found a quarterback to start the 2018 season and that made all the difference. QB Tom Flacco, brother of the NFLs’ Joe Flacco, took the reins and led the Tigers to a 7-5 season and an FCS playoff appearance. After a strong start, Towson fell off, losing 4 of their last 5 games including an inexplicable playoff loss at home to Duquesne.
After an 4-3 start, interim head coach Matt Canada was not offered the full time position at Maryland, and Mike Locksley, who worked under Nick Saban at Alabama, took over a program who went 1-4 in their last five games to crash out of bowl eligibility.
When your only losses are to a bowl-bound Army team and the eventual FCS National Champions in Fargo, that’s the very definition of a great year. Add to that a defense that only allowed touchdowns in 6 of the 12 games they played – that’s the definition of an amazing year.
Kennesaw State again rolled through the Big South unbeaten and finished the season 11-2. The Owls nearly beat FBS Georgia State on opening weekend and then won every game on their schedule until they met South Dakota State in a game on a sloppy field in the quarterfinals.
Southeast Missouri State had an excellent 2018, going 9-4 overall and making the second round of the FCS playoffs. The Redhawks took down perennial OVC goliath Jacksonville State and had the inside track on the OVC title before falling on a returned squib kick against Murray State.
A yearly competitor for an FCS playoff berth, Furman barely missed out in 2018 after a 6-4 season. The Paladins went 6-2 in conference play, but lost both of their non-conference games: one at Clemson and one at Elon.
In Coach Dykes first season for the Mustangs, SMU finished just 5–7 overall (4–4 (AAC) after losing its last two games of the season to finish in fourth place in the West Division. The Mustangs missed out on a bowl bid after Dykes coached the team during their bowl game in 2017.
The Panthers finished tied for third in the MVFC and earned its 10th FCS playoff appearance under Coach Farley, but lost in the second round to UC Davis to finish 7-6 overall (5-3 MVFC).
The Huskies won the MAC West and defeated Buffalo to win the program’s fourth MAC title game in its history but lost the Boca Raton Bowl to C-USA champion UAB to finish 8-6 overall (6-2 MAC) and also lost Coach Rod Carey, who took the head job at Temple following the bowl game.
In just its second season since its revival as program, the Blazers won eleven games (11-3, 7-1 C-USA) and a C-USA Championship over Middle Tennessee State in 2018, as well as the Baca Raton Bowl over Northern Illinois.
Kennesaw State has dominated the Big South Conference for the last couple of years. After losing 17 OGs to graduation, 2019 will be interesting to see if any of the other teams below them have closed the gap.
A wild 5-5 year saw Yale beat both Mercer of the SoCon and an FCS Playoff semifinalist in Maine, but lose a wild game in overtime to Holy Cross and an inexplicable 17-10 defeat to Columbia. A loss to Harvard in “The Game” to close the year left Eli fans wondering what could have been.
Buffalo went from 10 losses in 2016 to 10 wins in 2018–finishing 10-2 in the regular season (7-1 MAC) and winning the MAC East before falling to Northern Illinois in the MAC title game. The Bulls also lost to Troy in the Dollar General Bowl to finish on a two game losing streak.
The final season for legendary Yellow Jacket head coach Paul Johnson was a good one – a 7-5 season and a bowl invite. The offseason brought the hiring of former Temple head coach Geoff Collins and the introduction of a brand-new offense.
After many years of success for the Bearkats, 2018 brought a down year. Two time defending Walter Payton Award winner Jeremiah Briscoe graduated after the 2017 season and the Bearkats had to find a way to fill his big shoes.
The Aggies had impressive wins against Jacksonville State and FBS foe East Carolina, along with a couple of head scratching losses to Morgan State and Florida A&M. They won the Celebration Bowl, but I feel like most fans feel like they could have gone undefeated.
Central Arkansas started the 2018 campaign 5-2 and looked to be on their way to defending their Southland title. Then the wheels fell off, and the Bears lost three straight games to seal their fate as a team that would miss the playoffs.
The Ragin’ Cajuns averaged 32 points and 424 yards per game in Coach Billy Napier’s first season in Lafayette and finished 7-5 in the regular season with a bid to the first ever Sun Belt Conference title game (loss to Appalachian State) and a Cure Bowl bid (loss to Tulane).
A case could be made that under Lovie Smith there was some improvement in Champaign thanks to the Fighting Illini’s 4-8 record. A closer look however reveals some wins against subpar opponents (FCS Western Illinois, hapless Rutgers, awful Kent State, and bad Minnesota) and some humbling losses (63-0 to Iowa).
Nevada played a very hot and cold 2018. When playing the lower tier conference opponents the games were stunted offensively. On the flip side, it was a slug fest of offensive will powers when playing the mid tier conference opponents.
Jacksonville State has long had a strangle hold on the Ohio Valley Conference, winning the conference every year since 2014. Despite losing to SEMO last year, the Gamecocks still prevailed.
UNT finished the season 9–4 (5–3 C-USA) play to finish in a three-way tie for second place in the West Division and were invited to the New Mexico Bowl where they lost to Utah State.
Since reinstating the football program in 2015, East Tennessee State has been slowly improving, culminating in an 8-4 season and FCS playoff berth under first year head coach Randy Sanders. The Buccaneers picked up big conference wins over Chattanooga and Furman on the way to the playoffs where they lost in the first round to Jacksonville State by a touchdown.
Last season, Alcorn State was oh-so-close to knocking off North Carolina A&T in the Celebration bowl. This season, who is likely to be competing for a Celebration Bowl bid, and who’s likely to be sitting at home?
The Griz still missed the playoffs, but made improvements on both sides of the ball. QB Dalton Sneed and the offense did well at moving the ball, but the turnovers were costly for them. Dante Olson made a huge splash in the Big Sky and the FCS as a defensive nightmare for opposing teams.
The Blue Raiders won their first division title and came within a late score of the C-USA championship to UAB but were blown out by Appalachian State in the New Orleans Bowal to finish 8-6 overall, 7-1 C-USA.
The Northeast Conference welcomes two new members in 2019 in LIU and Merrimack, two teams that should bring some juice to the league in future years. That newness extends to many of the existing teams of the NEC, many of whom are headed by first or second year head coaches. In such an environment, Duquesne’s returning talent and longtime head football coach really stand out.
The Sycamores were winless (0-11) in Curt Mallory’s first season as head coach in 2017 but improved to 7-4 (5-3 MVFC) in 2018. The turnaround was not quite enough to get Indiana State in the FCS playoffs, however – they were one of the last teams on the outside looking in.
After a 2-6 start against a brutal schedule, the Cowboys made a quarterback change and found its identity, rallying for four straight wins to finish bowl eligle at 6-6 (though they were one of four elgible teams to not get a bid).
Things looked grim after an early-season defeat to Bryant left the Dukes at 3-3. But Jerry Schmitt’s team would win their next five games to win the NEC title, earning a road game against Towson in the FCS playoffs and pulling off a stunning upset, 31-10, in a rainstorm.
Delaware used a strong defense to start the 2018 season 7-2 to put themselves in contention for the CAA title and potential playoff seed. However, the Blue Hens lost their final two regular season games before falling in the first round of the playoffs against fellow CAA member James Madison.
The Eagles went 7-6 overall (5-3 MAC), good enough for a tie for second in the West Division and a berth in the Camelia Bowl where EMU ended up losing to Georgia Southern 23-21.
Chattanooga got off to a promising start in 2018 before losing their last three games to end the season.
The Golden Hurricane finished its season with its second straight losing record with a 3-9 mark (2-6 AAC) and the three wins were against lower teams (FCS Central Arkansas, UConn, and SMU).
These teams are high caliber teams who will be in contention for PFL crown and the league’s automatic playoff bid.
The Toreros finished 2018 with a 9-3 overall record and a 8-0 mark in the Pioneer Football League to win their third straight PFL title outright and fifth straight including ties but USD did bow out a round earlier than the prior two seasons in the playoffs (a 49-30 first round loss at Nicholls).
It was another disappointing year for the Midshipmen with a 3-10 record and their third consecutive loss to archrival Navy. It’s their worst record since 2002, and one of their wins came against an FCS team (Lehigh) that went 3-8.
New Hampshire had high expectations for 2018 that came crashing down to Earth with an awful 1-6 start to the season. The Wildcats bounced back with a couple of nice wins over Villanova and James Madison, but the damage was done early.
The Redhawks were again inconsistent–much like the full Coach Martin tenure. Miami finished 6-6 overall (6-2 MAC) but just missed out on a bowl game bid as one of the four teams that were bowl eligible but failed to get the call.
If you are an FCS fan and you long to see excellent quarterback play, then have we got a deal for you! The Southland conference is full of excellent returning quarterbacks that should keep the scoreboard operators busy all season long.
Youth. Questions. Fifth.
Those are three words that haven’t normally been associated with Lehigh at the start of preseason training camp in August.
2018 started with a bang for Villanova with a win over FBS Temple. The Wildcats looked like contenders in not only the CAA, but the entire FCS with a 3-1 start, but then the wheels fell off. Nova lost five of their next six games before winning the annual Battle of the Blue game against Delaware.
After a 6-7 2017 season, WKU dropped to 3-9 in 2018, losing nine of its first 10 games of the season but closed out the year with two consecutive wins but those were not enough to save Coach Mike Sanford’s job. Sanford finished his two year tenure with a 9-16 overall mark and just 6-10 in C-USA play.
The bowl year of 2017 seemed like a distant memory as the Rams crashed to a 3-9 season. Losses to FCS Illinois State, Hawai’i and a 43-19 loss to in-state rival Colorado were some of the lowlights.
The Golden Flashes are one of four programs to have existed in the FBS prior to the 2010s and has not won a bowl game and last year Kent State finished just 2-10 (1-7 MAC) in Coach Sean Lewis’ first year at the helm.
Bethune Cookman ended the season on a strong note, wrapping up their season at 8-4. Winning almost all the games they were supposed to, they’ll look back at an early season loss to Howard at home and wonder what might have been.
After an off-season suspension on allegations that he physically assaulted players last year, Coach Bob Davie remained on the job but finished with his second straight 3-9 season (1-7 MWC).
The Cardinals finished 4-8 overall (3-5 MAC) which doubled the win total over Coach Neu’s team in 2017.
A season that seemed like it was going off the rails in October was righted in November, with a three game winning streak and a sweet 45-27 win over their hated Rival Yale at Fenway Park clinching a winning campaign. It was the 135th meeting between the two bitter rivals.
Most of the Beavers’ 2018 season was downright ugly, with a plethora of double digit blowout losses in a dismal 2-10 campaign. Their lone bright spot was a surprising 41-34 overtime win over Colorado in Boulder.
