Coach Hawkins boasts a 112-61-1 record as a collegiate head coach and it comes as no surprise that UC-Davis was able to defeat San Jose State in the season opener. UC-Davis has suffered only one loss this season to the hands of our fifth ranked FBS Stanford Cardinals and have had exceptional play out of QB Jake Maier. 

Temple Football either got off to a very slow start, or Villanova and FCS football are to really be feared on the national landscape. Why? Temple lost 19-17 to 'Nova and then proceeded to lose to Buffalo who is undefeated. Maryland upset now nationally ranked Texas, but Temple was able to dismantle the Terrapins 35-14 a few weeks after their triumph over the heavily favored Longhorns. Maryland has since gone on to beat Minnesota by a score of 42-13 and hosts Michigan on 10/6. To further exhibit the strength of FCS-1AA football in 2018, Towson beat 'Nova on 9/15 45-35 which begs the question, "how is this possible in college football today. 

The UTEP Miners are not very good in 2018 as they have started the season 0-4 and have struggled offensively. With that being said, their defense only allowed 24 points against an SEC opponent in the Tennessee Volunteers and Northern Arizona was able to light up the scoreboard in their 30-10 upset. Northern Arizona has since gone on to lose to nationally ranked Eastern Washington and get obliterated by Missouri State 40-8. Makes you start to wonder about the recruiting strategies of FBS programs as a whole. 

North Carolina A & T is no joke and obviously ECU failed to acknowledge this fact after they re-scheduled and lost the game against the Aggies 28-23 at home. NC A&T has since gone on to beat Gardner-Webb handily, but slipped up recently in a 16-13 loss against the bears of Morgan State. The Pirates of East Carolina were then able to pull off a shocker against in-state rival UNC and you started to wonder if the Tar Heels were the worst football team in the state of NC. ECU was able to win handily over the Heels in a 41-19 decisive victory. However, they recently lost a heart breaker on the road against a very well coached and undefeated South Florida team by a score of 20-13. 

Western Kentucky nearly pulled off the upset against in-state rival the Louisville Cardinals, as they lost the contest 20-17. The week prior, The Hilltoppers then hosted Maine and learned more about Black Bear football, as they were upset 31-28. Maine was so excited they called out UCF on Twitter and asked them to add them to their schedule. It was a bold move that proved to backfire, as their offense sputtered out at Central Michigan in a 17-5 loss. Still exhibiting more of the power the lies in FCS Football. 

Illinois State, who we regard as a Top 5 team nationally in our College Football Today FCS Rankings, was able to upset the Rams 35-19 in Fort Collins, CO. We had no question that this would be a contest, but we did not see the Redbirds running away with this game so easily. With over 50 "3-Star" recruits boasted by the Rams and not one on the Illinois State roster, I believe this further proves the severe lack of scouting on a national scale in College Football Today. 

By William Cruz III

​Last week Coach Eric Dooley had an impressive win over North Carolina Central. His Offensive Coordinator called an excellent game performed precisely by QB Jalen Morten. With just over 600 yards produced, Dawonya Tucker carrying 224 of those with a fairly even favoring the run game. They were able to produce 32 first downs and were perfect in all 6 red zone visits.

​Being from Houston and going to school in Iowa, I drove north and south past Huntsville on I-45 several times a year. In between Huntsville had a very unique way of showing you that you had arrived. There on the East side of the highway nestled in between several tall pine trees stood a 66 foot tall stone figurine of Sam Houston himself. Seeing this statue had a lot of significance to me, on my way North I had reached the point of no return I was officially on my way to college and would only turn back if completely necessary. Heading south I knew I was getting within a couple hours of being home.

​This Saturday, the Panthers will pass that statue of Sam Houston twice on their way to and from the Elliot T. Bower Stadium to meet the Bearkats football team for their Third time in school history. Coach KC Keeler is leading his team into his 5th season with home opener with a home win streak of 20 on the line. Coach Keeler had the pleasure of replacing a record setting QB. He has commented that either of the three QBs on his roster could take the starting job and produce at satisfactory levels. He has yet to announce a starter but I think he might go with Jr Transfer Mike Dare. He produced a ton of offense while at his Junior college and most of Coach’s commentary on the three QBs was about him so.. What I do know is that with a great team Coach Keeler can be quite successful. He is returning most of his O-line and has the momentum of opening your 2018 season at home. It is unlikely he will allow his team to take a home loss to PVAMU, but Coach doesn’t have anything in the bag yet.

Coach Dooley and the PVAMU needs to maintain focus and run a very disciplined game that they can persevere through that initial 1st half and keep chipping away capitalizing on any mistakes SHSU might make. PVAMU has some offensive weapons that have 2 games this season under their belt and know their way to the endzone. Defensively they have been effective, but they spent more time on the field than off last week. There is some uncertainty of the mesh of SHSU’s QB situation making it possible that on any given saturday an underdog can walk off the field victorious.

​QB Jalen Morten has been setting the tone for this offense. When he is productive, the Panthers are successful. He started and finished a game last week but PVAMU needs him all four quarters this week. He will have an opportunity at the beginning of the game to take advantage of the bearkats finding their groove with their new QB. Whether he is handing the rock, throwing the rock or running the rock; he can’t let go of that will to win and play mistake free football, especially late in the game to pull it off. They were only 3 of 14 converting 3rd downs last week, they cannot have that this week. Every touch is vital to their win.