2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season

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2018 NCAA Division I FCS season
Regular season
Number of teams	125
Duration	August 25 – November 17
Payton Award	Devlin Hodges, QB, Samford
Buchanan Award	Zach Hall, LB, Southeast Missouri State
Playoff
Duration	November 24 – December 15
Championship date	January 5, 2019
Championship site	Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
Champion	North Dakota State
NCAA Division I FCS football seasons
«2017 2019»

The 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The FCS Championship Game was played on January 5, 2019, in Frisco, Texas. North Dakota State claimed its second consecutive FCS title, and seventh in eight years.

Conference changes and new programs[]

Membership changes[]

School	Former conference	New conference
Campbell	Pioneer	Big South
Hampton	MEAC	FCS Independent
Idaho	Sun Belt (FBS)	Big Sky
Liberty	Big South	FBS Independent
North Alabama	Gulf South (D–II)	FCS Independent
North Dakota	Big Sky	FCS Independent [a]

In addition to the schools changing conferences, the 2018 season was the last for Savannah State in D-I with its decision to reclassify all of its sports to D-II.^[1]

• Source:^[2]

Other headlines[]

Offseason[]

• June 13 – Major changes to redshirt rules in Division I football (both FBS and FCS) took effect from this season forward after having been approved by the NCAA Division I Council. Players can now participate in as many as four games in a given season while still retaining redshirt status. The only exception to this new rule is that players who enroll at a school in midyear and participate in postseason competition that takes place during or before their first academic term at that school will lose a full year of athletic eligibility.^[3]

Season[]

• September 10 – The Northeast Conference (NEC) announced that Merrimack College would start a transition from the NCAA Division II Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) and join the NEC effective July 1, 2019. Merrimack's football team is expected to immediately start playing a full NEC schedule, but will not be eligible for the FCS playoffs until becoming a full D-I member in 2023.^[4]
• October 3 – Long Island University announced that it would merge its two current athletic programs—the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds, full but non-football members of the NEC, and LIU Post Pioneers, a Division II program that is a full member of the non-football East Coast Conference and an NE-10 football member—effective with the 2019–20 school year. The new program will compete under the LIU name with a new nickname. The Post football team will become the LIU football team, playing in the NEC. There has been no definitive report as to when the new LIU football team will be eligible for the FCS playoffs.^[5]
• October 27 – Central Connecticut's Aaron Dawson ran for 308 yards in the second half, a record for a half throughout Division I, and 361 overall to lead the Blue Devils to a 49–24 win over Wagner.^[6]
• November 17 – In the final game of his college career, Samford quarterback Devlin Hodges set a new FCS record for career passing yardage, surpassing late Alcorn State and NFL great Steve McNair in the Bulldogs' 38–27 win over East Tennessee State. Hodges finished his career with 14,584 yards.^[7]
• January 4 – The NCAA and the Southland Conference (SLC) announced that the FCS championship game, which is currently co-hosted by the SLC, would remain at its current home of Toyota Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas through at least the 2024 season, with an option for the 2025 season.^[8]

Pre-season international exhibitions[]

Date	Name	Location	NCAA team	Hosting Team	Score
May 26, 2018	Drake-China Ambassadors Bowl	UIBE, Beijing, China	Drake	China All-Stars (AFLC, CAFL, & CBL)	77–0

Kickoff games[]

One kickoff game was played during "Week Zero" on August 25:

• FCS Kickoff (Cramton Bowl, Montgomery): North Carolina A&T defeated Jacksonville State, 20–17

FCS team wins over FBS teams[]

(FCS rankings from the STATS poll, FBS rankings from the AP poll.)

• August 30:
  • UC Davis 44, San Jose State 38
• September 1:
  • No. 18 Nicholls 26, Kansas 23 ^OT
  • Northern Arizona 30, UTEP 10
  • No. 19 Villanova 19, Temple 17
• September 2:
  • No. 14 North Carolina A&T 28, East Carolina 23
• September 8:
  • No. 22 Maine 31, Western Kentucky 28
• September 22:
  • No. 16 Illinois State 35, Colorado State 19

Hurricane Florence[]

All times Eastern

Several games on the east coast were rescheduled, canceled, or moved due to Hurricane Florence:

• Coastal Carolina at Campbell moved up to Wednesday, September 12 at 2:00 p.m.
• Richmond at Saint Francis moved up to Thursday, September 13 at 5:00 p.m.
• Robert Morris at No. 2 James Madison moved up to Thursday, September 13 at 7:00 p.m.
• Guilford at Davidson has been moved up to Thursday, September 13 at 7:00 p.m.
• East Tennessee State at VMI moved up to Friday, September 14 at 2:30 p.m.
• Western Carolina at Gardner–Webb moved up to Friday, September 14 at 6:00 p.m.
• North Carolina Central at South Carolina State has been moved to Saturday, November 24
• Charleston Southern at The Citadel has been moved to Thursday, November 29
• Norfolk State at Liberty has been moved to Saturday, December 1
• Elon at William & Mary has been canceled
• Savannah State at Howard has been canceled
• Tennessee State at Hampton has been canceled
• Presbyterian at Stetson has been canceled
• Walsh at Jacksonville has been canceled
• Colgate at Furman has been canceled

Sources:^[9][10][11]

Conference standings[]

2018 Big Sky Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 6 Weber State +^   7 – 1     10 – 3   No. 2 Eastern Washington +^   7 – 1     12 – 3   No. 7 UC Davis +^   7 – 1     10 – 3   No. 17 Montana State ^   5 – 3     8 – 5   Idaho State   5 – 3     6 – 5   Montana   4 – 4     6 – 5   Cal Poly   4 – 4     5 – 6   Northern Arizona   3 – 4     4 – 6   Portland State   3 – 5     4 – 7   Idaho   3 – 5     4 – 7   Northern Colorado   2 – 6     2 – 9   Southern Utah   1 – 7     1 – 10   Sacramento State   0 – 7     2 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Although North Dakota was classified as an independent, games against them still counted as Big Sky Conference games. Rankings from STATS Poll	2018 Big South Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 5 Kennesaw State $^   5 – 0     11 – 2   Monmouth   4 – 1     8 – 3   Charleston Southern   3 – 2     5 – 6   Gardner–Webb   2 – 3     3 – 8   Campbell   1 – 4     6 – 5   Presbyterian   0 – 5     2 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll	2018 CAA football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 4 Maine $^   7 – 1     10 – 4   No. 9 James Madison ^   6 – 2     9 – 4   No. 16 Stony Brook ^   5 – 3     7 – 5   No. 20 Towson ^   5 – 3     7 – 5   No. 24 Delaware ^   5 – 3     7 – 5   No. 19 Elon ^   4 – 3     6 – 5   Rhode Island   4 – 4     6 – 5   William & Mary   3 – 4     4 – 6   New Hampshire   3 – 5     4 – 7   Villanova   2 – 6     5 – 6   Richmond   2 – 6     4 – 7   Albany   1 – 7     3 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll
2018 Ivy League football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 11 Princeton $   7 – 0     10 – 0   No. 18 Dartmouth   6 – 1     9 – 1   Harvard   4 – 3     6 – 4   Yale   3 – 4     5 – 5   Penn   3 – 4     6 – 4   Columbia   3 – 4     6 – 4   Cornell   2 – 5     3 – 7   Brown   0 – 7     1 – 9   $ – Conference champion Rankings from STATS Poll	2018 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 12 North Carolina A&T $   6 – 1     9 – 2   Bethune–Cookman   5 – 2     7 – 5   Florida A&M   5 – 2     6 – 5   South Carolina State   4 – 3     5 – 6   Howard   4 – 3     4 – 6   North Carolina Central   3 – 4     5 – 6   Morgan State   3 – 4     4 – 7   Norfolk State   2 – 5     4 – 7   Delaware State   2 – 5     3 – 8   Savannah State   1 – 6     2 – 8   $ – Conference champion Rankings from STATS Poll	2018 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 1 North Dakota State $^   8 – 0     15 – 0   No. 3 South Dakota State ^   6 – 2     10 – 3   No. 23 Northern Iowa ^   5 – 3     7 – 6   Indiana State   5 – 3     7 – 4   Western Illinois   4 – 4     5 – 6   Illinois State   3 – 5     6 – 5   Youngstown State   3 – 5     4 – 7   South Dakota   3 – 5     4 – 7   Missouri State   2 – 6     4 – 7   Southern Illinois   1 – 7     2 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll
2018 Northeast Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 21 Duquesne +^   5 – 1     8 – 3   Sacred Heart +   5 – 1     7 – 4   Central Connecticut   4 – 2     6 – 5   Wagner   3 – 3     4 – 7   Saint Francis (PA)   2 – 4     4 – 7   Bryant   2 – 4     6 – 5   Robert Morris   0 – 6     2 – 9   + – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll	2018 Ohio Valley Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 10 Jacksonville State $^   7 – 1     8 – 3   No. 15 Southeast Missouri State ^   6 – 2     8 – 3   Eastern Kentucky   5 – 2     7 – 4   Murray State   5 – 3     5 – 6   Tennessee State   3 – 4     4 – 5   Eastern Illinois   3 – 5     3 – 8   Austin Peay   3 – 5     5 – 6   UT Martin   2 – 6     2 – 9   Tennessee Tech   1 – 7     1 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll	2018 Patriot League football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 8 Colgate $^   6 – 0     10 – 2   Holy Cross   4 – 2     5 – 6   Georgetown   4 – 2     5 – 6   Lehigh   2 – 4     3 – 8   Lafayette   2 – 4     3 – 8   Fordham   2 – 4     2 – 9   Bucknell   1 – 5     1 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll
2018 Pioneer Football League standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 25 San Diego $^   8 – 0     9 – 3   Stetson   6 – 2     8 – 2   Drake   6 – 2     7 – 4   Marist   5 – 3     5 – 6   Dayton   5 – 3     6 – 5   Davidson   3 – 5     6 – 5   Butler   2 – 6     4 – 7   Morehead State   2 – 6     3 – 8   Valparaiso   2 – 6     2 – 9   Jacksonville   1 – 7     2 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll	2018 Southern Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 13 Wofford +^   6 – 2     9 – 4   No. 22 East Tennessee State +^   6 – 2     8 – 4   Furman +   6 – 2     6 – 4   Samford   5 – 3     6 – 5   Chattanooga   4 – 4     6 – 5   The Citadel   4 – 4     5 – 6   Mercer   4 – 4     5 – 6   Western Carolina   1 – 7     3 – 8   VMI   0 – 8     1 – 10   + – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS FCS Poll	2018 Southland Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 14 Nicholls +^   7 – 2     9 – 4   Incarnate Word +^   6 – 2     6 – 5   Lamar ^   6 – 3     7 – 5   Abilene Christian   5 – 4     6 – 5   Central Arkansas   5 – 4     6 – 5   McNeese State   5 – 4     6 – 5   Sam Houston State   5 – 4     6 – 5   Northwestern State   4 – 5     5 – 6   Southeastern Louisiana   4 – 5     4 – 7   Stephen F. Austin   2 – 7     2 – 8   Houston Baptist   0 – 9     1 – 10   + – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS poll
2018 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   East Division Alcorn State x$   6 – 1     9 – 3   Alabama A&M   5 – 2     6 – 5   Jackson State   4 – 3     5 – 5   Alabama State   3 – 4     4 – 7   Mississippi Valley State   1 – 6     1 – 10   West Division Southern xy   6 – 1     7 – 4   Grambling State   4 – 3     6 – 5   Prairie View A&M   4 – 3     5 – 6   Texas Southern   1 – 6     2 – 9   Arkansas–Pine Bluff   1 – 6     2 – 9   Championship: Alcorn State 37, Southern 28 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from STATS FCS Poll	2018 NCAA Division I FCS independents football standings v t Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   North Alabama   –     7 – 3   Hampton   –     7 – 3   North Dakota   –     6 – 5

Conference summaries[]

Championship games[]

Conference	Champion	Runner-up	Score	Offensive Player of the Year	Defensive Player of the Year	Coach of the Year
SWAC	Alcorn State 9–3 (6–1)	Southern 7–4 (6–1)	37–28	Noah Johnson (Alcorn State)	De’Arius Christmas (Grambling State)	Fred McNair (Alcorn State)

Other conference winners[]

Note: Records are regular-season only, and do not include playoff games.

Conference	Champion	Record	Offensive Player of the Year	Defensive Player of the Year	Coach of the Year
Big Sky	Eastern Washington UC Davis Weber State	9–2 (7–1) 9–2 (7–1) 9–2 (7–1)	Jake Maier (UC Davis)	Jay-Tee Tiuli (Eastern Washington)	Aaron Best (Eastern Washington) Dan Hawkins (UC Davis)
Big South	Kennesaw State	10–1 (5–0)	Chandler Burks (Kennesaw State)	Anthony Gore, Jr. (Kennesaw State)	Brian Bohanon (Kennesaw State)
CAA	Maine	8–3 (7–1)	Tom Flacco (Towson)	Jimmy Moreland (James Madison)	Joe Harasymiak (Maine)
Ivy	Princeton	10–0 (7–0)	John Lovett (Princeton)	Isiah Swann (Dartmouth)	Bob Surace (Princeton)
MEAC	North Carolina A&T	9–2 (6–1)	Caylin Newton (Howard)	Darryl Johnson Jr. (North Carolina A&T)	Sam Washington (North Carolina A&T)
MVFC	North Dakota State	11–0 (8–0)	Easton Stick (North Dakota State)	Jabril Cox (North Dakota State)	Curt Mallory (Indiana State)
NEC	Duquesne Sacred Heart	8–3 (5–1) 7–4 (5–1)	A. J. Hines (Duquesne)	Cam Gill (Wagner)	Mark Nofri (Sacred Heart) Jerry Schmitt (Duquesne)
OVC	Jacksonville State	8–3 (7–1)	Marquis Terry (Southeast Missouri State)	Zach Hall (Southeast Missouri State)	Tom Matukewicz (Southeast Missouri State)
Patriot	Colgate	9–1 (6–0)	James Holland, Jr. (Colgate)	T. J. Hill (Colgate)	Dan Hunt (Colgate)
Pioneer	San Diego	9–2 (8–0)	Anthony Lawrence (San Diego)	Nathan Clayberg (Drake)	Roger Hughes (Stetson)
Southern	East Tennessee State Furman Wofford	8–3 (6–2) 6–4 (6–2) 8–3 (6–2)	Devlin Hodges (Samford)	Isaiah Mack (Chattanooga)	Randy Sanders (East Tennessee State)
Southland	Incarnate Word Nicholls	6–4 (6–2) 8–3 (7–2)	Jazz Ferguson (Northwestern State)	B. J. Blunt (McNeese State)	Eric Morris (Incarnate Word)

Playoff qualifiers[]

Automatic berths for conference champions[]

Conference	Team	Appearance	Last bid	Result
Big Sky Conference	Weber State	7th	2017	Quarterfinals (L – James Madison)
Big South Conference	Kennesaw State	2nd	2017	Quarterfinals (L – Sam Houston State)
Colonial Athletic Association	Maine	8th	2013	Second Round (L – New Hampshire)
Missouri Valley Football Conference	North Dakota State	9th	2017	National Champions (W – James Madison)
Northeast Conference	Duquesne	2nd	2015	First Round (L – William & Mary)
Ohio Valley Conference	Jacksonville State	9th	2017	Second Round (L – Kennesaw State)
Patriot League	Colgate	11th	2015	Quarterfinals (L – Sam Houston State)
Pioneer Football League	San Diego	4th	2017	Second Round (L – North Dakota State)
Southern Conference	Wofford	9th	2017	Quarterfinals (L – North Dakota State)
Southland Conference	Nicholls	5th	2017	First Round (L – South Dakota)

At large qualifiers[]

Conference	Team	Appearance	Last bid	Result
Big Sky Conference	Eastern Washington	13th	2016	Semifinals (L – Youngstown State)
	UC Davis	1st	–
	Montana State	9th	2014	First Round (L – South Dakota State)
Colonial Athletic Association	Delaware	16th	2010	Championship Game (L – Eastern Washington)
	Elon	3rd	2017	First Round (L – Furman)
	James Madison	15th	2017	Championship Game (L – North Dakota State)
	Stony Brook	4th	2017	Second Round (L – James Madison)
	Towson	3rd	2013	Championship Game (L – North Dakota State)
Missouri Valley Football Conference	Northern Iowa	20th	2017	Second Round (L – South Dakota State)
	South Dakota State	8th	2017	Semifinals (L – James Madison)
Ohio Valley Conference	Southeast Missouri State	2nd	2010	Second Round (L – Eastern Washington)
Southern Conference	East Tennessee State	2nd	1996	Quarterfinals (L – Montana)
Southland Conference	Incarnate Word	1st	–
	Lamar	1st	–

Abstentions[]

• Ivy League – Princeton
• Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – North Carolina A&T
• Southwestern Athletic Conference – Alcorn State

Postseason[]

NCAA Division I playoff bracket[]

	First Round November 24 Campus sites ESPN3					Second Round December 1 Campus sites ESPN3					Quarterfinals December 7/8 Campus sites ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3					Semifinals December 14/15 Campus sites ESPN2					National Championship January 5 12:00 pm Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas ESPN2
						1	North Dakota State	52
	Montana State		35				Montana State	10
	Incarnate Word		14								1	North Dakota State	35
											8	Colgate	0
						8	Colgate	23
	James Madison		20				James Madison	20
	Delaware		6													1	North Dakota State	44
																5	South Dakota State	21
						4	Kennesaw State	13
	Wofford		19				Wofford	10
	Elon		7								4	Kennesaw State	17
											5	South Dakota State	27
						5	South Dakota State	51
	Towson		10				Duquesne	6
	Duquesne		31																		1	North Dakota State	38
																					3	Eastern Washington	24
						2	Weber State	48
	SE Missouri State		28				SE Missouri State	23
	Stony Brook		14								2	Weber State	18
											7	Maine	23
						7	Maine	55
	Jacksonville State		34				Jacksonville State	27
	ETSU		27													7	Maine	19
																3	Eastern Washington	50
						3	Eastern Washington	42
	Nicholls		49				Nicholls	21
	San Diego		30								3	Eastern Washington	34
											6	UC Davis	29
						6	UC Davis	23
	Northern Iowa		16				Northern Iowa	16
	Lamar		13

Bowl games[]

Date	Game	Site	Television	Participants	Affiliations	Results
December 15	Celebration Bowl	Mercedes-Benz Stadium Atlanta, Georgia 12:00 pm	ABC	North Carolina A&T Aggies (9–2) Alcorn State Braves (9–3)	MEAC SWAC	North Carolina A&T 24 Alcorn State 22

Awards and honors[]

Walter Payton Award[]

• The Walter Payton Award is given to the year's most outstanding offensive player. Finalists:
  • Chandler Burks (QB), Kennesaw State
  • Devlin Hodges (QB), Samford
  • Easton Stick (QB), North Dakota State

Buck Buchanan Award[]

• The Buck Buchanan Award is given to the year's most outstanding defensive player. Finalists:
  • Zach Hall (LB), Southeast Missouri State
  • Dante Olson (LB), Montana
  • Derick Roberson (DE), Sam Houston State

Jerry Rice Award[]

• The Jerry Rice Award is given to the year's most outstanding freshman.
  • Winner: Josh Davis (RB), Weber State

Coaches[]

• AFCA Coach of the Year: Joe Harasymiak, Maine
• Eddie Robinson Award: Dan Hawkins, UC Davis

Coaching changes[]

Preseason and in-season[]

This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2018. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2018, see 2017 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes.

School	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason	Replacement
Stephen F. Austin	Clint Conque	August 6	Resigned	(interim)
Jackson State	Tony Hughes	October 28	Fired	John Hendrick [a]

End of season[]

School	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason	Replacement
Eastern Illinois	Kim Dameron	November 18	Contract not renewed	Adam Cushing
William & Mary	Jimmye Laycock	November 18	Retired	Mike London[12]
Howard	Mike London	November 19	Hired as head coach by William & Mary	Ron Prince
Northern Arizona	Jerome Souers	November 19	Retired	Chris Ball
Brown	Phil Estes	November 19	Resigned	James Perry
McNeese State	Lance Guidry	November 20	Contract not renewed	Sterlin Gilbert
Sacramento State	Jody Sears	November 26	Fired	Troy Taylor
Texas Southern	Michael Haywood	November 27	Resigned	Clarence McKinney
Stephen F. Austin	(interim)	December 1	Permanent replacement	Colby Carthel
James Madison	Mike Houston	December 3	Hired as head coach by East Carolina	Curt Cignetti
Bryant	James Perry	December 3	Hired as head coach by Brown	Chris Merritt
Austin Peay	Will Healy	December 4	Hired as head coach by Charlotte	Mark Hudspeth
Charleston Southern	Mark Tucker	December 7	Resigned	Autry Denson
Savannah State	Erik Raeburn	December 7	Fired	Shawn Quinn (interim)
Lehigh	Andy Coen	December 7	Retired	Tom Gilmore
North Dakota State	Chris Klieman	December 10	Hired as head coach by Kansas State	Matt Entz[13]
Drake	Rick Fox	December 10	Resigned	Todd Stepsis
North Carolina Central	Granville Eastman (interim)	December 12	Permanent replacement	Trei Oliver
Chattanooga	Tom Arth	December 14	Hired as head coach by Akron	Rusty Wright
Elon	Curt Cignetti	December 14	Hired as head coach by James Madison	Tony Trisciani
Maine	Joe Harasymiak	December 21	Hired as defensive assistant by Minnesota	Nick Charlton
Bucknell	Joe Susan	January 14	Resigned	Dave Cecchini
Central Connecticut	Peter Rossomando	January 23	Hired as offensive line coach by Rutgers	Ryan McCarthy
Valparaiso	Dave Cecchini	February 6	Hired as head coach by Bucknell	Landon Fox
Morgan State	Ernest T. Jones (interim)	February 7	Permanent replacement	Tyrone Wheatley

See also[]

• 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings
• 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season
• 2018 NCAA Division II football season

References[]