PORTST 41-42 EWU UCD 34-7 SAC NAU 20-10 SUU
IDST 7-32 WEB UMT 28-14 MTST CP 42-14 NOCO
NConf Record: 0-0 Overall: 19-23
vs. FCS: 0-0 Overall: 6-7
Best Performance: (#10) Northern Arizona 20, (#20) Southern Utah 10 - In a battle of the Big Sky's best defenses, the Lumberjacks hold SUU under 200 yards and get a game-clinching pick-six from Blair Wishom with 10 seconds left.
Worst Performance: Idaho St. 7, Weber St. 32 - 50-mph wind gusts ruin the pass-heavy Bengals' day as they fall to 2-27 against their rivals since 1985.
Most Surprising Result: Sacramento St. 7, UC Davis 34 - I did pick this upset, but I certainly didn't expect the Hornets to be so lackluster against the hated Aggies.
Southland
MCNSE 42-38 LAM
SHSU 31-49 UCA
NICH 27-52 SELU
SFA 27-40 NWST
NConf Record: 0-0 Overall: 25-15
vs. FCS: 0-0 Overall: 14-5
Best Performance: Central Arkansas 49, (#9) Sam Houston St. 31 - The Bears build a 42-10 halftime lead and hold off a fierce SHSU comeback by recovering a fumbled punt midway through the fourth quarter.
Worst Performance: Stephen F. Austin 27, Northwestern St. 40 - Sadly enough, 40 points is the fewest the Lumberjacks have allowed since September.
Most Surprising Result: (#9) Sam Houston St. 31, Central Arkansas 49 - A hobbled Brian Bell throws the ball an uncharacteristic 63 times in a puzzling performance for the playoff-bound Bearkats.
Best Performance: (#16) South Dakota St. 42, (#15) Youngstown St. 13 - The Jackrabbits outrush the fading Penguins 312-75 in what was pretty much a playoff game.
Worst Performance: Indiana St. 9, Southern Illinois 31 - Travis Starks returned an interception 98 yards for a touchdown, which was 43 more yards than entire Sycamore offense gained over the course of the game.
Most Surprising Result: (#15) Youngstown St. 13, (#16) South Dakota St. 42 - The Penguins piss away a playoff berth for the 2nd. straight year.
Best Performance: (#2) Eastern Illinois 70, Tennessee-Martin 22 - The Panthers win yardage 704-295 in an impressive postseason tuneup.
Worst Performance: Austin Peay 0, Tennessee Tech 34 - Governors gain just 186 yards against a 1-6 conference opponent.
Most Surprising Result: Eastern Kentucky 27, Murray St. 34 (OT) - Following a 44-0 upset of Tennessee State, the Colonels only score 44 points combined in their final 3 games.
Pioneer League
CAMP 47-14 DVDSN
STET 14-41 MER CHAR 61-17 MHEAD
NConf Record: 1-0 Overall: 15-25
vs. FCS: 1-0 Overall: 4-16
Best Performance: Mercer 41, Stetson 14 - The Bears easily display their superiority in this battle of first-year programs.
Worst Performance: Davidson 14, Campbell 47 - The Wildcats mercifully finish the worst season in FCS at 0-10 with a -26.5 ppg scoring margin.
LAF 50-28 LEH BUCK 35-23 VMI FORD 56-19 COLG GTOWN 28-21 HC
NConf Record: 1-0 Overall: 18-20
vs. FCS: 1-0 Overall: 17-19
Best Performance: Lafayette 50, (#17) Lehigh 28 - Drew Reed throws for 378 yards and 3 touchdowns on just 27 attempts to make the Leopards the first-ever playoff team with a losing record.
Worst Performance: Holy Cross 21, Georgetown 28 - This is actually the most points the Crusaders have allowed to Georgetown in 9 years.
Most Surprising Result: (#17) Lehigh 28, Lafayette 50 - Did the Mountain Hawks think they had a playoff spot in the bag or something? This was an extremely embarrassing performance against a hated rival that was 4-6 coming in.
NEC
RMU 3-23 SFPA DUQ 33-23 MONM BRY 29-16 CCSU
NConf Record: 1-0 Overall: 18-20
vs. FCS: 1-0 Overall: 12-17
Best Performance: St. Francis (PA) 23, Robert Morris 3 - In a major change from prior seasons, the Red Flash finish at or near the top in the NEC in most defensive statistics.
Worst Performance: Robert Morris 3, St. Francis (PA) 23 - The Colonials can't mount any offense whatsoever in Joe Walton's farewell.
Most Surprising Result: Robert Morris 3, St. Francis (PA) 23 - Joe Walton still finished his RMU career with a winning record (114-92-1), but also ended with losing seasons in 6 of his last 7 years.
CAA
UD 34-35 NOVA
ALB 3-24 SBU
MAINE 3-24 UNH
JMU 17-28 TOW
W&M 20-31 RICH
NConf Record: 0-0 Overall: 24-17
vs. FCS: 0-0 Overall: 22-7
Best Performance: (#21) New Hampshire 24, (#4) Maine 3 - The Wildcats hold Maine to 20% on third down & just 3 points in 3 redzone trips in a must-win upset.
Worst Performance: Albany 3, Stony Brook 24 - Bob Ford's swan song goes even worse than Joe Walton's as the Danes finish their first CAA season 1-10.
Most Surprising Result: (#4) Maine 3, (#21) New Hampshire 24 - If the Black Bears overlooked this one, they were apparently right to do so because it seemingly had no effect on their playoff seeding.
Best Performance: Liberty 56, (#18) Charleston Southern 14 - The Flames pumpkin-ize CSU by holding them to 59 passing yards & forcing 4 interceptions.
Worst Performance: (#18) Charleston Southern 14, Liberty 56 - Even a competitive loss might've put the Bucs in the playoffs given how the day went across the country, but not showing up at all in a crucial game had to be a giant red flag for the committee.
Most Surprising Result: (#18) Charleston Southern 14, Liberty 56 - 2013 was still—by any statistical measure—the best season in CSU history, but will any Buccaneer fans really remember it that way?
Best Performance: North Carolina A&T 28, NC Central 0 - In a battle between the MEAC's biggest disappointments, the Aggies score twice defensively & hold Central to 148 yards.
Worst Performance: NC Central 0, North Carolina A&T 28 - Eagle quarterbacks combine to go 7/24 for 35 yards and 2 picks, a 24.8 efficiency rating.
Most Surprising Result: Morgan St. 31, Delaware St. 26 - A 5-3 conference record wasn't enough to change head coach Donald Hill-Eley's apparently lame-duck status.
SoCon
WCU 27-48 APP
WOFF 14-27 FUR
CIT 6-52 CLEM
ELON 32-33 SAM
UTC 0-49 BAMA
NConf Record*: 0-3 Overall: 15-25
vs. FCS*: 0-0 Overall: 5-8
Best Performance: Furman 27, Wofford 14 - Six defenders register double-digit tackles for the Paladins as they sneak away with the SoCon auto-bid.
Worst Performance: Western Carolina 27, (FBS) Appalachian St. 48 - The Catamounts have lost 27 of the last 29 against App and, with ASU moving up, one wonders if they'll ever beat their rivals again.
Most Surprising Result: Samford 33, Elon 32 - It must've been awkward for the Bulldogs knowing that a win here could give someone else the auto-bid, but a game-winning touchdown pass with 7 seconds left was just enough for the playoff committee to give Samford an at-large.
* - I know App State & Georgia Southern are still technically in the SoCon this year, but I'm counting them as FBS and as a non-conference opponent for SoCon teams (same idea as Georgia State last season & UMass the year before).
COR 42-41 PENN BROWN 48-7 COLUM
PRINCE 24-28 DART HARV 34-7 YALE
NConf Record: 0-0 Overall: 13-11
vs. FCS: 0-0 Overall: 13-11
Best Performance: Dartmouth 28, (#22) Princeton 24 - Despite horrible passing stats, the Big Green build a 21-0 nothing lead & just hold on against the Ivy League co-champs.
Worst Performance: Columbia 7, Brown 48 - In the entire 144-year history of Lion football, no season was worse than this one: they lost all 10 games for the first time since 1987 and were outscored by a school-record 329 total points.
Most Surprising Result: (#22) Princeton 24, Dartmouth 28 - The Tigers are denied their first outright Ivy title in 18 years.
SWAC
UAPB 23-43 PVAMU
AAMU 7-66 GT
NConf Record: 0-1 Overall: 4-21
vs. FCS: 0-0 Overall: 1-10
Best Performance: Prairie View A&M 43, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 23 - Johnta' Hebert ran for 250 of his team's 463 rushing yards, yet was the only Panther ball carrier to not score a touchdown.
Worst Performance: Arkansas-Pine Bluff 23, Prairie View A&M 43 - The Golden Lions finish with fewer than 3 wins for the first time since going winless in 1990.
Most Surprising Result: (none)
Independents
DUQ 33-23 MONM CHAR 61-17 MHEAD
Non-Ind. Record*: 1-1 Overall: 21-20
vs. FCS*: 1-1 Overall: 11-14
Best Performance: Charlotte 61, Morehead St. 17 - The 49ers finish their inaugural (and only full FCS) season 18th. in the nation in total offense.
Worst Performance: Monmouth 23, Duquesne 33 - The Hawks outgain the Dukes & win turnovers 2-0, yet somehow end up with 5 fewer redzone trips.
Most Surprising Result: Monmouth 23, Duquesne 33 - Monmouth played a full NEC schedule this year despite not being a member anymore; they went 4-3 against NEC opponents.
* - Old Dominion is a first-year transitional, so I'm counting them as FBS and not counting them as an FCS Independent.
