Ball State at No. 1 Georgia
New Hampshipre at Central Michigan
Texas Southern at Toledo
Southern Illinois at Northern Illinois
Western Michigan at Syracuse
Eastern Michigan at Minnesota
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Ball State at No. 1 Georgia
Saturday, Sept. 9 - 12:00 p.m. ET
Sanford Stadium - Athens, GA.
SECN
Suffice it to say, the odds are against Ball State this week when they face the nation's top-ranked team.
Georgia is defending national champion and cruised for the most part in Week One. The Bulldogs scored 17 first half points and went on to roll up 559 yards in a 48-7 victory over Tennessee-Martin.
Junior Carson Beck handled most of the QB duties, connecting on 211-of-31 for 294 yards and a TD. Two other quarterbacks added another 106 yards and a score.
Kendall Milton and Roderick Robinson II combined for 17 carries and 103 of the Bulldogs 153 yards rushing (with 3 TDs). Brock Bowers and Mekhi Mews combined for eight catches and 152 yards (1 TD) to lead UGA receivers.
Ball State, meanwhile, is coming off a 44-14 loss at Kentucky. The Cardinals led 7-3 after one quarter, but UK scored the game's next 27 points (and 41 of the game's final 48 points).
Among the Kentucky points were two non-offensive touchdowns: a fumble recovery and a 99-yard kickoff return.
Kadin Semonza was one of three BSU quarterbacks. He completed 14-of-21 attempts for a total of 165 yards with one TD. As at team, BSU recorded 223 yards passing but just 72 on the ground. The Cardinals averaged. 1.8 ypc while rushing the ball 41 times.
Ty Robinson and Tanner Koziol led receivers with a total of 13 catches for 156 yards and a TD.
Tyler Potts had an interception for the Cardinals defense.
New Hampshire at Central Michigan
Saturday, Sept. 9 - 1: p.m. ET
Kelly Shorts Stadium - Mount Pleasant, MI
ESPN+
After dropping their opener at Michigan State 31-7 last week, Central Michigan will try to pick up its first win of 2023 when it hosts a New Hampshire team that cruised past Stonehill 51-17 last week.
The Wildcats, an NCAA Division I Football Subdivision (FCS) program, were co-champs of the Coastal Athletic Association. Conference coaches picked UNH for second in a 2023 preseason poll. They reached the second round of the FCS playoffs last year.
Dylan Laube, a 5-10, 207-pound senior running back was stellar in the 2023 opener, running for one score, catching a pass for another score and returning a punt for yet another TD -- all in the first quarter.
Quarterback Max Brosmer, meanwhile, completed 19-of-25 passes totaling 284 yards with five touchdowns. Nick Mazzie booted a 47-yard field goal with his only attempt and Sean Lehane averaged 44.6 yards over five punts.
Central Michigan will look to improve over last week's offensive total of 219 yards and 3-for-16 performance on third down against Michigan State.
Bert Emanuel Jr. completed 11-of-17 for 87 yards with one TD and one interception. Jase Bauer was 2-of-8 for nine yards. The former led CMU runners with 17 carries for a total of 41 yards. Bauer had two carries totaling 27 yards.
Kyle Moretti (14) and Donte Kent (10) led CMU tacklers.
Texas Southern at Toledo
Saturday, Sept. 9 - 3:30 p.m. ET
Glass Bowl -- Toledo, OH
ESPN+
Toledo looks to bounce back this week at home after coming tantalizingly close to knocking off Illinois last week in Champaign. A second half Illini rally put the hosts in front 27-19 before UT tallied nine straight points to lead 28-27 with 2:59 remaining. Illinois, however, came drobe back down the field, covering 64 yards in 12 plays. Caleb Griffin finished the drive with a 29-yard, game winning field goal.
Texas Southern, an FCS team and Southern Athletic Conference member, also came up short in a dramatic contest. The Tigers fell to Prairie View A&M 37-34 in overtime.
The Tigers outgained Prairie View 486-455. However, TSU committed four turnovers. That helped the Panthers hold a 35:51 time of possession advantage and 27-20 edge in first downs.
Texas Southern senior QB Andrew Body completed 18-of-38 attempts for 286 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Quay Davis topped receivers with seven catches totaling 120 yards with a TD. A.J. Bennett notched two TDs among three receptions for 72 yards, while Jyrin Johnson's six catches yielded 64 yards.
LaDarius Owens, a 5-9, 186-pound senior, averaged 13 ypc while logging eight carries for 104 yards. That included the Tigers final score -- a 77-yard third quarter TD scamper.
Toledo outgained Illinois 416-374, picking up 230 yards through the air and 186 on the ground.
Dequan Finn completed 20-of-36 passes, good for 230 yards with two TDs and one interception. He also fan 20 times for a total of 75 yards and another score. Jacquez Steward led UT rushers with 82 yards on 12 carries. Junior Vandeross II and Jerguan Newton paced receivers with a combined 11 catches for 131 yards with one touchdown.
Luke Pawtak hit all three field goal attempts and Maxen Hook picked off one pass for the Rocket defense.
Southern Illinois at Northern Illinois
Saturday, Sept. 9 -- 3:30 p.m. ET
Huskie Stadium - DeKalb, IL
ESPN+
It's north vs south Saturday at Northern Illinois host Southern Illinois at Huskie Stadium.
SIU is a a Division I FCS school and member of the Missouri Valley Conference. A preseason poll by league coaches, media and sports information directors predicted the Sulukis would finish fifth out of 12 teams this season.
Coming off a 49-23 win over Austin Peay last week, Southern Illinois is ranked No. 23 in the FCS Coaches poll and No. 24 in the Stats Perform FCS poll. The Salukis have been ranked for 32 weeks since the 2020 season.
The last time SIU and NIU met was in 2007, when Southern Illinois beat the Huskies, 34-31, under the direction of senior quarterback Nick Hill. SIU scored 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to pull off a stunning comeback, as Hill completed 21-of-33 passes, including three TDs.
SIU gained 432 yards in last week's win over Austin Peay and helped itself by forcing three turnovers by the Governors. Dune Smith and D.J. Johnson each picked off a pass, with the former returning his 26 yards for a touchdown.
Senior Nick Baker Threw for 219 yards of SIU's 263 yards in the air. The Salukis recorded three passing scores and three more on the ground. None of the nine ball carriers had more than 39 yards.
Defensively, SIU limited Austin Peay to 39 yards rushing on 23 carries. Most of the Governors' offense came through the air (214 yards passing. Twenty of APU's points came in the final quarter.
Northern Illinois, meanwhile, is flying the MAC Jolly Roger flag this week after knocking off Boston College. The Huskies led 7-0 at intermission and were up 21-7 midway through the final stanza. Two BC touchdowns pushed the game into overtime. After the Eagles were forced to settle for a 39-yard field goal, NIU scored the game winner on Rocky Lombardy's --yard sneak.
Lombardi completed 13-of-28 passes, good for 165 yards. Gavin Williams (61 yards) and Antario Brown 53 led NIU's 166-yard ground attack. The latter recorded one rushing and one receiving TD.
Javaughn Byrd picked off one Boston College pass to support the Huskies defensive effort.
Western Michigan at Syracuse
Saturday, Sept. 9 - 3:30 p.m. ET
JMA Wireless Dome - Syracuse, NY
ESPN+
A pair of potent offenses will meet Saturday when Western Michigan visits Syracuse. - Saturday will be the third game between the two programs and Western Michigan’s second trip to the JMA Wireless Dome. Syracuse leads the all-time series at 2-0 with a win both at home and in Kalamazoo. Both previous games have been very high scoring. In the first match up, the Orange won 55-42 in Kalamazoo. The second meeting saw Syracuse win 52-33.
The Orange are coming off a 65-0 shellacking of Colgate. Syracuse, which was ranked eighth of 14 teams in a preseason media poll, outgained the visitors 677-106 and registered 34 first downs to just seven for Colegate. SU scored 23 points in the first quarter, adding 14 and 28 in the following two stanzas before going scoreless in the final period.
Orange quarterbacks completed 28-of-37 passes overall, providing 406 yards and seven TDs with one interception.
LeQuint Allen and Ike Daniels combined for 27 carries, 170 yards and one touchdown to pace the ground game. Umari Hatcher, a 6-3, 183-pound receiver topped receivers with four catches for 105 yards and a score. Isaiah Jones counted two touchdowns among his three catches for 71 yards.
Jeremiah Wilson and Gregory DeLaine recorded interceptions for SU, with the former bringing his pick back 66 yards for a TD.
Western Michigan piled up 509 yards of offense with 29 first downs while defeating St. Francis (PA). That helped the Broncos hold the ball for 38:05.
Freshman Jalen Buckley shined with 30 carries, 194 yards and one touchdown as WMU ran for a total of 339 yards and four scores. Zhir Abdus-Salaam added another 73 yards and one TD among his 20 carries.
Carson Voss punted three times, averaging 33.3 yards per boot with a long of 50.
Sophomore Jack Salopek completed 18-of-26 passes totaling 170 yards with one TD and one interception.
Eastern Michigan at Minnesota
Saturday, Sept. 9 - 7:30 p.m. ET
Huntington Bank Stadium - Minneapolis, MN
BTN
The Eagles may have totaled a pedestrian 285 yards in offense last week, but the special teams were clicking like a race car. A little more of the same could be helpful when Eastern Michigan visits Minnesota Saturday.
While the Gophers' offense managed just 251 yards in a 13-10 victory over Nebraska, UM's defense forced four turnovers and limited the the Huskers to 295 yards.
It was a defensive struggle, with Minnesota's Dragan Kesich accounting for the only first half points with a 34-yard field goal. Nebraska took the lead with 10 straight points before UM tied the game on a 13-yard pass from Athan Kaliakmanis pass to Daniel Jackson with just 2:52 remaining. After an interception near midfield, the Gophers drove to Nebraska's 29, where Kesich kicked a 47-yard game winner as time expired. Defensively, Tyler Nubin picked off two passes, while Tre'Von Jones owned one interception.
Minnesota managed just 55 yards rushing (2.2 ypc) in the win, but Kaliakmanis completed 24-of-44 pass attempts totaling 196 yards with one TD and one interception.
In Eastern Michigan's 33-23 victory over Howard, the Eagles scored 30 of their total points before halftime. Their only other score was a fourth quarter field goal.
EMU put 16 points on the board in the first stanza, including an 84-yard kick return ofter recording a safety. The Eagles got another big play following Howard's first touchdown on a 69-yard pass play. El-Zayat returned the kickoff 96 yards for a TD. Seventeen straight Bison points pulled Howard to within one score with 3:00 left in the third period, but EMU's defense kept the visitors scoreless in the final period. Kenyon Boyer added a field goal for Eastern Michigan.
Junior Austin Smith completed 19-of-28 pass attempts totaling 175 yards with one TD and one interception.
Joe Sparacio led the EMU defense with 10 tackles.