The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Week 3)

[u/Seadragon1983]

Another week, another episode of your daddy's favorite FCS recap.

The Good

• We have another Super FCS Medal of Valor to give out. Southeastern Louisiana defeated UL-Monroe and while the Warhawks are booty cheeks, it's still a win. So come get your medal Lions. To think, it was a few weeks ago where people were wanting to bury you after losing to Houston Christian.

• It's Brunch Ball Week! The Ivy League kicked off their season and it's fair to say that Harvard and Yale are the class of the league once again. The Crimson went to New Hampshire and blasted the Wildcats while Yale had a big time game from Dante Reno (911) in their win over Holy Cross. Fair to say that the Harvard-Yale game might be must watch television again.

• The Pioneer League had a massive day as they notched five non-conference wins, with the headliners being St. Thomas and San Diego winning their games against Big Sky schools Southern Utah and Cal Poly respectively. Add in a win for Davidson against VMI and Butler taking down Chicago State and it's a strong day for the little guys.

In other 'Good' News: Abilene Christian wins, avoids 0-4; North Alabama opens their new home with a win; South Dakota State beating Youngstown State, claims early lead in the Valley; South Carolina State hangs on, gets their biggest scalp of the season.

The Bad

• We need to talk, Rhode Island. You were the favorites to win everyone's favorite cluster fuck of a conference that is the Coastal. You are NOT supposed to be blasted to kingdom come by Stony Brook! The fuck happened here, Rams? You're not giving me anything good to work with here.

• I also need to talk to you, Northern Colorado. I know, I know... Northeastern State is a Top 15 team in Division II. You should not be struggling to defeat them, let alone have it go into overtime and win by the skin of your teeth. Now if Stephen F. Austin can beat them easily next week, I know you guys are big fat phonies.

• Welcome to Earth, West Florida. The Argos were 2-0 before getting slapped by Austin Peay. To be fair, reality had to come at some point for them... but like this? Damn, guys. Save some humble pie for the rest of us.

• Time for the Chuck Norris Award for Biggest Ass Kicking and it goes to Charleston Southern. The Buccaneers haven't had much to cheer for this season, but they do get a 65-0 smackdown of Point to point at (ba dum tish). Runner ups this week include Bethune-Cookman (59 point win over everyone's favorite homecoming opponent in Virginia-Lynchburg) and Western Illinois (59-2 rout of Morehead State).

In other 'Bad' News: Idaho falls to 0-4, potatoes start rioting around Moscow; MVSU loses to Delta State, earns label of 'FCS Lolcow of the Week'; Cornell suffers first 'Brunch Ball Biff of the Week'.

The Montana State

• Okay, this deserves its own section - What. In. The Flying FUCK was that, Montana State? You were a 38.5 point favorite against CCSU. You only won by 5 points. Those goons at the Montana Drywall Association are drooling over the amount of drywall they'll have to fix in Bozeman. You don't get to celebrate this, Bobcat fans... in fact, you're getting the Mushu Treatment: Dishonor on your team, dishonor on your school, dishonor on your city and dishonor to the fact that Montana Drywall went up by 77% yesterday because of you fuckernaughts.

• Oh, William and Mary. They started red hot with wins over Villanova and Delaware State. Then Lehigh exposed them last week and for an encore? Getting pantsed by Fordham... FORDHAM! The Rams just got done getting back-to-back roastings at the hands of North Dakota State and Coastal Carolina. The fuck you mean you gave up 52 points to them?!?

In other 'Ugly' News: So. Many. Goose Eggs; Morehead State only getting a mercy safety against Western Illinois; FloSports: When Streaming Services Go Wrong.

And now... the floor is open.

[u/s2424]

MSU game was bad, first half was a complete disaster, same with the start of the second half.

I would like to cope and blame the weather and freak turnovers (like the bobbled int in the end zone, to a lesser extent the fumble for TD) and say they could have run in 7 more in the last 30 sec but decided to down it instead.

But even that doesn't have me 100% convinced because we got like 10 false starts to help us out.

Hopefully this is motivation to improve

[u/SkittlesMacGee → u/s2424]

The only cope I'm allowing myself is that the officiating was horrid. Even so, we looked terrible for 75% of that game.

If they don't treat this like the kick in the teeth it was, then they are absolutely going to lose in Pocatello

[u/Infinitedeveloper → u/SkittlesMacGee]

This has been a rancid start to the season for ref teams so far in the games ive seen both in cfb and pros

[u/coincidental_boner → u/s2424]

It really wasn’t that bad. You guys are being histrionic. Classic spot for a let down game against a team that was better than expected, especially in the trenches. The Cats got unlucky with a couple of turnovers and there were some learning experiences for the young secondary. The 38.5 line and whatever the line was against Butler were stupid.

[u/MTUKNMMT → u/coincidental_boner]

I’m happy we had a game like this. Every week for years now the Griz are losing, I turn it on and they somehow miracle a win. They should feel at least 5% of that pain one time.

[u/Sojournermt → u/MTUKNMMT]

While your not wrong a lot of those wins over the years where the other team falling apart. The Cats just started playing well and took the game over instead of being bailed out by hometown refs like the Gris usually get

[u/MontanaDrywall → u/coincidental_boner]

I mean this was a team that lost by 39 and 53 in its first two games. I know Week 3 is normally a profitable MDA week but this was not a 17-0 win over a bad team that was never in doubt. Like CCSU is good by NEC standards but this is a game a national championship contender should win comfortably.

[u/coincidental_boner → u/MontanaDrywall]

Pure box score watching. You have to know you’re being disingenuous with the lost by 53 comment. You and I both know that Toledo is an FBS team. Obviously the Cats should have won by more, and would have if not for an unlucky tipped interception and Jones going down to end the game. Deeply stupid to imply that somehow the Cats aren’t a national championship contender because of a weird game to close out the non-conference slate.

[u/MontanaDrywall → u/coincidental_boner]

Sorry should’ve just mentioned they lost by 39 to South Dakota who going into yesterday was viewed as worse than you. Toledo I probably also would’ve said is worse than you but you know I guess we have to throw “but it was an FBS school” around even when said school comes from a conference that honestly should’ve been relegated to this subdivision long ago. Having an NEC school play you close for 4 quarters is not a secret sign they’re good, it’s a sign you’re not very good. Just tired of the Bobcats fans on here trying to say the former. Bad day for the Bobcats, possible. Signs of potential problems this season, possible. Failure to handily win against a team you were a 40 point favorite against, definitely happened.

[u/slothbron → u/MontanaDrywall]

SD is looking really good, especially after that BSU performance. The only hope I have is that all the pre-game rain equalized the field conditions, allowing CCSU's line to hold their own. But no matter what, coming in 40-point favorites and winning by 5 means there is some work to be done. Whether it's just sleeping on a team coming offana FBS win or real flaw,s IDK. It will be interesting to hear what Vigen says at QB club tomorrow.

[u/coincidental_boner → u/MontanaDrywall]

Do you seriously think the Cats “aren’t very good”? That’s astoundingly stupid. But that’s what you get when you’re just watching box scores and ridiculous betting lines on non-con FCS games.

[u/MontanaDrywall → u/coincidental_boner]

Or I’m sitting here telling you that you guys didn’t play a secretly good team lol and to quit coping. You guys played like shit and deserve any and all criticism. Including being told you’re not a good team. Whether that’s right now or a permanent answer, I don’t know. I specifically stated that. That’s why teams play 10-12 games but if you’re expecting me and others to sit here and say the team who got taken 4 quarters by an NEC team is a clear title favorite, I think you’re delusional man. You didn’t play a secretly good team. You played a team that’s good by the standards of a conference that has never won a playoff game.

[u/coincidental_boner → u/MontanaDrywall]

I thought CCSU played a good game. In particular I thought their play in the trenches was nice and that their QB benefited from the coach not trying to play two guys. They executed their game plan well and got a couple lucky breaks that allowed them to keep the game close. I know that because I watched the game and used my brain to evaluate what I saw. If you think that the Cats deserve any and all criticism, for a game that they won by the way, and you don’t think the Cats are still title contenders, you’re a moron. And hedging by saying “right now” is even worse because it demonstrates that you’re purely a reactionary prisoner of the moment, with zero ability to evaluate teams outside of the spread. But I know it’s better for your weird niche Reddit schtick to overreact like this.

[u/MontanaDrywall → u/coincidental_boner]

Here’s the problem when you watch one team play every week: is that you in fact have no frame of reference. South Dakota’s Offensive Line/Defensive Line bullied them for 4 straight quarters. I was at that game with my wife. I watched the game yesterday as well. Hell I’ve watched all 3 CCSU because I worked on the TV broadcast when they were at Toledo lol. I’m practically a fan following them around week to week. So having seen all 3 CCSU I find your opinion of them irrelevant, the reality is if this happened to Montana you guys would agree with everything I’m saying 😂😂

[u/coincidental_boner → u/MontanaDrywall]

For someone who allegedly watched the game, you sure have nothing to say about the game itself beyond the spread. Just a bloodless, lame, and backwards looking way to care about football. It’s not even real analytics, just looking at the Vegas line and saying good or bad based on that. Lame ass discourse, zero original ideas, just dumb memes and gambling BS.

[u/Parrr8 → u/coincidental_boner]

Scored 28 in the second half and would have been 35 if Jones hadn’t laid down in the open field. The sky isn’t falling.

[u/coincidental_boner → u/Parrr8]

And to handwave even a little more, the pick in the endzone was pure bad luck and they were more than likely going to score there otherwise.

[u/Aquatic-assassin → u/coincidental_boner]

It was a bad decision by Lamson. It was not bad luck. He was late to throw the ball and it bit him in the ass that time.

[u/coincidental_boner → u/Aquatic-assassin]

It hit the receiver in the shoulder pads in the endzone lol

[u/SkittlesMacGee → u/Parrr8]

I know, at least for me it's mostly just reactionary while it's still fresh. I still absolutely have faith that the things that need to be addressed will.

I dunno, if anything I'm just getting my bitching out of the way early so I can start looking forward to this weekend

[u/thetopace103]

Towson deserves to be in the Ugly tier. How do you get Belt to Assed by Morgan State of all teams at home? Heads need to roll for that alone. 

Special Shout out to Monmouth who had a 28-7 lead in the third quarter against UAlbany and almost blew it. Credit to them for winning but it should not have been as close as it was. 

[u/Seadragon1983 → u/thetopace103]

Not only that, but Towson is 0-4 with each loss getting progressively worse then before.

Something is wrong there and if they get the BTA treatment from Delaware State next week, heads NEED to roll.

[u/ThatguyfromBaltimore → u/Seadragon1983]

I have no clue what happened to this team.

[u/Tufoguy → u/Seadragon1983]

We are losing to Del State. I'm already prepared for it

[u/Trojann2]

Northern Colorado is bad, which means Wyoming is even worse.

Also the parallels between both South Dakota programs vs FBS this year: keep with them the entire game, come close but then have one back breaking play that makes the game look much more lopsided than it was.

[u/Headwallrepeat]

Individual shoutout to Josiah Johnson. 238 yards.

[u/damnyoutuesday]

I do want to shout out Central Connecticut. They had great offensive and defensive scheme, and only the crowd really affected them in the first half. If they 3-peat the NEC, they will cause whatever regional opponent they get paired with fits. If they get a favorable matchup, they might even upset a team.

But yeah, we deserve to have the ugly tier named for us this week. Yeesh

[u/so2017 → u/damnyoutuesday]

Thanks for actually shouting out CCSU. They’ve played two top ten FCS teams and Toledo to open their season. They weren’t scared of Montana State and they are without a doubt the best 0-3 team in FCS.

I can see this CCSU team being among the last 8 standing when all is said and done. I think Montana State may have taken them lightly but there is no shame in this being a close game. CCSU is not a great team but they are a very good team and on any given Saturday…

[u/Mysterious_Radio_]

Love these recaps! What a day for the PFL

[u/MontanaDrywall]

Montana State doesn’t truly realize how embarrassing that almost was. Based on point spread with the number you gave that would’ve been the 2nd or 3rd biggest upset in CFB History FBS or FCS (Saw 41.5 and 38.5 depending on the book)

Top 5 for those curious

1. Howard vs UNLV (2017) - 45.5
2. Stanford vs USC (2007) - 40.5
3. Syracuse vs Louisville (2007) - 37
4. Temple vs Virginia Tech (1998) - 35.5
5. Texas State vs Houston (2012) - 35

Honorable mention at 9 was App State vs Michigan at +33

[u/jmy74 → u/MontanaDrywall]

It would have been number 2. Closed at 41.5

[u/ST_Lawson]

We felt so bad for Morehead State, we took the ball to their own end zone for them (our punt returner thought he was Devin Hester...spoiler...he is not).

[u/Stoehrst]

I can't.... I looked at the box score since I couldn't watch the game. You will never, ever win a game giving up 321 fucking yards on the ground. 7 rushing touchdowns for Stony Brook. We were supposed to be the best defense in the CAA and, really, our weakness was pass rush with AJ Peña being (unjustly, IMO) prevented from coming back (IF YOU NEVER SIGN A CONTRACT YOU SHOULD NOT LOSE ELIGIBILITY). Apparently fucking not! Chase Mankins is supposed to be one of the best D-lineman in the nation and, to be clear, I think he's phenomenal, but you CANNOT allow that kind of rushing dominance. Stony Brook near us in Time of Possession by nearly 8 fucking minutes. Our interior linebackers are fucking all-world. What the hell was this?!

Tyler Budge is not it, that much is clear. Marquise Buchanan is still very much it, 6th consecutive game with a receiving TD and far and away the best Ram on the field. But if this is the defense we really have, and Stony Brook isn't some kind of dark horse rushing powerhouse, even Devin Farrell coming back isn't going to guarantee us enough winning shootouts to claim a third straight conference title, and even if we do, CCSU is finally gonna get their revenge on us at the third time of asking in the playoff.

Also, holy SHIT we cannot run the football. Our o-line was basically FBS-level for the last two seasons so I expected a drop-off, but my word. We were able to get push on both sides of the line against a very, very large Elon set of linemen so I thought we would be able to cope, but Brendan Barrow and Terrence Campbell combined for 102 yards and one TD. If you have that plus Budge heaving a line of 18/28 for 209 1 TD and 1 INT, you can't win games.

I don't want to totally overreact, but this was very bad. Props to Stony Brook for laying down an absolute ass-kicking, old school. URI getting good again for the first time since my dad played in the '80s has been a lot of fucking fun and a great way for my father and I to connect and deepen our relationship (not that it was bad before, but always great to have more cool stuff to bond over), but I worry about the ability for the program to truly recruit. Guess I'm gonna have to go back to the "win the lottery, become über-rich booster" strategy to get even a sniff at a national title....

[u/Ace_of_Aces_00]

SFA deserves recognition for going into Prairie View A&M and dominating them at home, after doing the same the week before at ACU. They are a legit teama and deserve imo to be top 8, if not top 5.

[u/topatoman_lite → u/Ace_of_Aces_00]

I think SFA is what people think Tarleton is

[u/Themusicman04]

WE LOST TO A FUCKING NON-SCHOLARSHIP FOOTBALL TEAM ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME

[u/turtwig1123 → u/Themusicman04]

You guys aren't the only ones

[u/SeA1nternaL]

I feel like South Dakota should be in “good” or “neutral”, if im allowed to be biased. Boise State is a fantastic team, and yet not only was the score only a 2 touchdown win, that was among the only times (if not the only time) we were behind by 2 touchdowns.

we lost, but it was a close lost against a team just ranked outside of the top 25! im optimistic going into the rest of the season after that :D

[u/Seadragon1983 → u/SeA1nternaL]

You're always allowed to be biased here.

[u/JoeSchulte605 → u/SeA1nternaL]

Even as a Jacks fan I’m surprised they aren’t higher in the polls this week. I’m pretty sure there are a few teams ranked higher they would beat.

[u/LeopardOk3845 → u/SeA1nternaL]

The coyotes are scary. Good this year

[u/Finn_Ajerkit]

Good (or Ugly, however you see it): The MEAC is 5-0 against the CAA

[u/Stoehrst → u/Finn_Ajerkit]

Oof

[u/Tufoguy → u/Finn_Ajerkit]

It's about to be 6-0

[u/Electromotivation → u/Finn_Ajerkit]

Good lord. Remember the good times.

UMASS, JMU, Delaware, Richmond, Villanova, WM….you could make a conference out of old CAA or A-10 (for people who remember) teams

[u/so2017 → u/Electromotivation]

For those of us still stuck there, maybe you could give us a ride?

[u/Top_Judge_1943]

MSU’s game was so bad that even UM getting blown out didn’t cheer me up that much. 

[u/LeopardOk3845 → u/Top_Judge_1943]

I wouldn't wouldn't go as far as saying blown out but LOL. There's a little bit of positive in there

[u/Top_Judge_1943 → u/LeopardOk3845]

My dude, OSU could have put 70+ up if they wanted to. It was absolutely a blowout. The game was never in doubt. 

[u/LeopardOk3845 → u/Top_Judge_1943]

And to be honest might be more worried about your team's performance

[u/Top_Judge_1943 → u/LeopardOk3845]

Yeah, we played bad against CCU. So far through 4 games I think I can see that MSU is really good. I wouldn’t say that for UM. 

[u/LeopardOk3845 → u/Top_Judge_1943]

I didn't say we ever had a chance I just started it wasn't a blow out. And we didn't look to terribly bad. They are a really good fbs team.

[u/Top_Judge_1943 → u/LeopardOk3845]

It was without a doubt a blowout man. If your starters don’t play the majority of the 3rd quarter, it’s a blowout. 

And they’re not a really good FBS team. They’ll probably finish with 6 or less wins. 

[u/WestSlope1124 → u/Top_Judge_1943]

Can confirm. It was a blowout.

[u/Aquatic-assassin → u/Top_Judge_1943]

At the very least, OSU is twice the football team Nevada is. OSU is a good FBS team this year. Offense is top 25 but their defense sucks. If Ah Yat didn't have the yips it could've been tied at Half. Our receivers, especially Davis, were routing up their man all day.

[u/Top_Judge_1943 → u/Aquatic-assassin]

If you actually think that game had a reasonable chance of being tied at halftime, then it ain’t worth the discussion lol. See ya in a couple months, we’ll get reacquainted with what a blowout is again. 

[u/Birddogtx]

Wait, you still need more evidence that we're fraudulent?

[u/Seadragon1983 → u/Birddogtx]

Not really...

[u/Riddler83843]

Idaho is absolutely terrible.

Fire Ford!

[u/BeetBandit0 → u/Riddler83843]

Total disgrace of a coach

[u/join_the_creed]

MSU played like shit against a shit team, that much is true. But to act like MSU still isn't a title contender is asinine, the only thing that yesterday changed was the title landscape being "MSU vs the field" IMO. MSU, ISU, SDSU, USD, TSU (surely next week we'll know if they're good or not /s), Lehigh, UND, and UM all seem to be on or around the same level. NDSU still won a title after playing like shit against ETSU and scoring the go ahead TD with 50 seconds left in '24. Shit games happen and we'll know more this after this week if that's a outlier or a trend.

[u/Friendly_Loss1961 → u/join_the_creed]

My biggest hope this season is that the Cats drop a really bad game to like NAU or Idaho the week after so the line for the Natty will go from the +160 it is on the Cats right now. I honestly don't think when we get to December there will be a team out there that can compete. If it goes over +200 this week based on this game i'm gonna hammer it.

[u/Low_Distance_7195 → u/join_the_creed]

I’ve been thinking about that NDSU - ETSU game for the last day. ETSU was up to 99% chance of winning until the last minute.

[u/No_Bite_7238]

Montana State is allowed to have a goofy game. Lets not get all uptight about it.

[u/Seadragon1983 → u/No_Bite_7238]

True... They had one last season, right?

[u/slothbron → u/Seadragon1983]

Mercyhurst was bad last year, 17-0. The boys have done an impeccable job of playing down when it's a team they rarely play from NEC the last two years. I still think we have a good team but boy do we lack discipline some weeks on lower teams.

[u/UnfurledRelic]

A lot of folks thought W&M were gonna be great in the Patriot but man that was a rough loss this week. Lehigh was kind of expected but not a good sign that we got smoked by an 0-3 team

[u/Lucky-Hunter-Dude]

A win is a win! Ugly win is the new quality "L". As I said earlier this week this was my fault for booking Nashville tickets.

[u/Low_Distance_7195 → u/Lucky-Hunter-Dude]

Like I said before, if that’s a jinx, it is a group effort. Hundreds of people bought game tickets when they went on sale from the NCAA a few weeks back.

[u/Lucky-Hunter-Dude → u/Low_Distance_7195]

Last week we handedly took care of Nevada. I buy tickets this week and we struggle with C.C. coincidence? I think not.

[u/Tufoguy]

Ugly: Towson. They lost to Morgan state. Important rule at Towson. We don't lose to Morgan in anything. And they found a way to not only lose but get dragged up and down the field for 4 quarters

0-4 with no light at the end of the tunnel. Time to fire everyone and start over

[u/Rontheworm]

The bad: UIW not kicking the FG at the end of regulation to win the the game. Instead running a play and losing a fumble to send the game to OT.
The good: Credit where credit is due; CCSU playing a solid game against the defending national champs.

[u/misterfistyersister]

I love the fact that we get to brush off a loss while MSU has to make excuses for a win.

[u/the_racing_goat]

YEEEAAAAAHHHH BABY WE'RE BACK

[u/HoboHillsCoffeeCo]

Good thing there isn’t a tier below ugly.

[u/sernameistakentry → u/HoboHillsCoffeeCo]

Only thing ugly was Oregon being classless

[u/Seadragon1983 → u/HoboHillsCoffeeCo]

I tend to avoid the complete destruction that some FBS teams give to FCS teams.

What Oregon did doesn't eliminate the stink of Stillwater last weekend.

[u/Equivalent_Drag471]

I know Dayton has always been one of the better PFL teams but did not expect them to roll into EKU and get a win.

[u/JKS41399]

Ugly for WCU fans, myself included: The strength and conditioning issues. Making contact at or behind the line of scrimmage and being dragged forward 8-10 yards at a time is unacceptable. Our whole defensive strategy would work if our players were much stronger. I’m still of the opinion that our field house should have been upgraded first, as that would have been likely to produce more immediate results for recruiting and strengthening our players instead of a new press box. Also, our O Line still lacks discipline. Whee should not be committing that many false starts at home in a stadium that has a thin crowd. Also, those lightning delays were killer and caused what was a near sellout crowd to thin out (WHY DOES THIS SHIT ALWAYS HAPPEN ON FAMILY WEEKEND!?).

[u/LeCowboySolitaire]

Yale didn't have a good game tbh. On the other hand I'm very happy with what Penn showed.

Harvard @ Brown on Friday night gonna be good.

[u/919Firefighter]

Are anyone but boomers celebrating our win? lol. That was downright USDA certified Angus dog shit

[u/GovernorSanity → u/919Firefighter]

A wins a win

[u/Redditor_exe]

Glad to see we finally got some offense going. Playing a pretty tough OOC schedule was always going to be a risk, but if we can finish out with a win against Mercer, 2-2 against the FCS isn’t the worst thing in the world, definitely would still have a chance at an at-large with a strong conference record.