SoCon Football 2025: NATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT!

Mercer DB Myles Weston intercepts a PC pass in Saturday's 15-10 loss to the Blue Hose (photo courtesy of Mercer athletics)

Night Terrors

Much was made in the preseason about improving the national profile of Southern Conference football and the system of playoff selection was chastised with various slides on a power point by SoCon Commissioner Michael Cross, describing the FCS playoff selection as an archaic and outdated process. 

However, though those slides might have screamed truth, the reality is that no matter the visuals provided by such material at media day, if embarrassing results happen on the field, the argument becomes null and void.

During the daylight, the SoCon results went in a somewhat predictable fashion, with The Citadel getting blanked by No. 1 North Dakota State, 38-0, while Navy, which returned Davey O'Brien Award candidate quarterback Blake Horvath among a veteran offense, which returned eight starters from a team that won 12 games last season, as the Midshipmen made easy work of visiting VMI, downing the Keydets, 52-7 in Anapolis.

Furman's solid 23-21 win over perennial CAA power William & Mary, who will be playing its final campaign as a member of that league this fall, was the standalone solid result from the daytime games.

Chattanooga, which had a new quarterback and was picked second in the preseason by the league's head coaches, started the season off in Memphis against a program that hasn't had a losing season since 2014 and were coming off an 11-win season a year ago, and it would be the Tigers that would out-gain the Mocs by 200 yards (432-232) and ended up posting a 45-10 win. It was pretty much what most expected, as the Mocs had trouble maintaining any offensive consistency. 

NDSU would slowly but surely grind down The Citadel on a day locals prayed for 98 degrees with 99% humidity, and yet, they got cloudy in the high 80s, as the Bison defense did a number on The Citadel's offense en route to a 38-0 win at Johnson-Hagood Stadium.

Then came the night terrors. It started on Thursday night, as Samford faced off against West Georgia to open the season for the second-straight campaign. 

For Chris Hatcher's team, it was supposed to be the return of the "Hatch Attack" and a renewed enthusiasm had been the theme throughout the preseason, and a return to what had been the norm for the better part of 11 seasons under the veteran head coach and former Harlon Hill Trophy winning quarterback at Valdosta State never happened, and in fact, the 2025 version looked worse than last season's offense, which was easily the worst statistically since Hatcher took over as the head coach in Homewood. 

Not only did Samford fail to find the end zone in it home and season opener, but it also fell short of the 300-yard mark for total offensive output, as the Bulldogs finished the night with just 271.  

Veteran quarterback Quincy Crittendon, who was the lone returning starter on the offensive side of the ball for the Bulldogs, could never find a rhythm. He finished his night 22-of-29 passing for 154 yards and was sacked three times. As a result of being sacked three times, Crittendon finished the night with just -1 yard on the ground. 

As the weekend unfolded, an unfortunate reality became apparent, which was that Samford's Thursday night loss to West Georgia was just the beginning of sorrows for the SoCon on the gridiron in week one. 

On Saturday evening, the lone playoff participant from 2024, Mercer, who garnered the automatic bid last fall by winning the SoCon, lost its home opener, 15-10, to non-scholarship Presbyterian. 

The loss to the Blue Hose by Mercer highlighted a weekend of embarrassment for Southern Conference football, which actually began with the opener on Thursday night, as Samford lost its home and season-opener against West Georgia, 34-3.

It wasn't so bad that Wofford dropped a 16-15 contest at South Carolina State to open the season, however, both No. 11 Mercer and No. 18 Western Carolina would do much to damage the league's 2025 reputation as one returning to the top of FCS Football. 

What's truly costly for Mercer is the no-contest game against UC Davis is now followed by a loss to a non-scholarship team from the Pioneer Football League, which is the same team the Bears opened the 2024 season with a 63-10 win against at Five Star Stadium.

The loss is devastating to Mercer's playoff hopes just two games into the season, as they still have a game at SEC foe Auburn at the end of the season, and now with the no-contest game to the Aggies, the Bears have to basically win eight of their next nine games to have any hopes of the playoffs. Of course, should they be able to accomplish that, Mercer would likely be Southern Conference champions. 

With the struggles encountered against PC, however, it would be hard to imagine the Bears running the table in the league, however. 

As for PC, which heads to Furman next week, the Blue Hose have a chance to start the season 2-0 on the road against Southern Conference opposition. It was back in the 2023 season when the Blue Hose first were able to break through and down a Southern Conference foe, as the Blue Hose dispatched Wofford, 23-20, during that particular season. 

Presbyterian's last win over a ranked foe came back in 2014, as the Blue Hose knocked off No. 12 Furman, 10-7, at Bailey Memorial Stadium (photo courtesy of Presbyterian athletics)

The win by the Blue Hose snapped a 35-game losing streak by PFL teams against ranked opposition. The last PFL team to beat a ranked FCS team was Butler back in 2018, as the Bulldogs knocked off Youngstown State. It was just the fourth win by a PFL team 

Since 2010, the Blue Hose have two wins against FCS Top 25 opposition, and the win over the Bears snapped a streak of eight-straight losses against ranked opposition on the gridiron, with the last win over a ranked foe coming in 2014, when the Blue Hose took down another defending Southern Conference champion and 12th-ranked Furman, 10-7, on a foggy evening in Clinton in a game, which featured a lightning delay prior to kickoff, which only added to the "bizarreness" of the evening. 

The road win by the Blue Hose also snapped the nation's fourth-longest home winning streak, as the Bears had won 10-straight home games--a streak that dated back to Oct. 20, 2023 and a 22-10 home setback to No. 20 Chattanooga.

Now, some 11 years later the defending SoCon champion once again goes down to PC. Strange part is that it's almost like things came full circle for the Blue Hose, as the 2014 season was Mercer's first as a SoCon member, and the Bears had just played their first SoCon game a week earlier at home against Furman, which saw the Paladins claim a 25-20 win the week prior to their loss in Clinton. 

After Mercer dominance of the SoCon last season, rumors even swirled about a move up to the FBS Group of Five to a league like the Sun Belt. Those rumors can now safely be filed away for a long while in the wake of the defeat to the Blue Hose. 

Mercer has quite a way to go as a program before it should entertain visions of such grandeur again, and I would say that for all nine programs, it's best to be happy where you are. Especially after what we witnessed in week one of 2025. 

 Mercer's loss was not only a bad look for the program fresh off a title last season, but it's a collective hit to the league as a whole. The loss to the Blue Hose by the Bears is similar to the one suffered by Furman in its home opener to Charleston Southern last season, or the home loss suffered by Western Carolina against visiting Campbell, however, this is worse. 

The loss saw the Bears fall 12 places in the latest STATS Perform FCS poll all the way to No. 23. Western Carolina, which ranked No. 18 coming into the season, fell completely out of the STATS Perform FCS poll after its season-opening loss to Gardner-Webb, as Mercer remains the only SoCon team ranked. 

What could be interesting to watch is whether or not the quarterback battle is re-opened during that off-week. Mercer could muster only 241 yards of total offense in the loss Saturday night. Quarterback DJ Smith finished the evening 22-of-36 passing for 154 yards with one TD and one INT. 

The Bears could only muster 87 yards on the ground playing without leading transfer portal acquisition Autavius Ison, who joined the Bears from Charleston Southern, however, got injured late in the third quarter  after a promising start against UC Davis last week in the game that didn't count. In his absence, Micah Bell led the way by rushing for 32 yards on four attempts, while CJ Miller posted 31 yards on 10 attempts.

Collin Hurst was solid for the Blue Hose, as he led a veteran Blue Hose offense, which welcomed the return of eight starters for the 2025 season. He finished the evening connecting on 25-of-38 passes for 303 yards with a TD and an INT. 

With Mercer up 10-9 late in the fourth quarter, the Blue Hose scored the game-winning points with only 56 seconds remaining, as running back and former Memphis Tiger Zach Switzer raced 16 yards off left tackle to the end zone, giving the Blue Hose their first lead of the night. 

Mercer's lone trip to the end zone of the evening came when junior wideout and Lenoir Rhyne transfer Adonis McDaniel hauled in his first-career scoring catch as a Mercer Bear, hauling in an 11-yard strike from DJ Smith to put the Bears on top 7-0 with just four seconds remaining in the first quarter. 

Western Carolina running back Branson Adams (photo courtesy of WCU athletics)

While Mercer's loss was the most embarrassing in terms of who they lost to, it was No. 18 Western Carolina's setback to Gardner-Webb, and just how on earth it was accomplished that was a definite "hold my beer" moment for the league.

With the Catamounts up 35-7 midway through the second quarter, all seemed to be going according to plan for Kerwin Bell's team, which was playing without Taron Dickens under center, as he was suspended and sat out the game due to undisclosed reasons.

With that said, both Bennett Judy and Isaac Lee were doing a nice job, and at least early on in the game, the Catamounts seemed to be holding their own defensively as well. 

However, when Gardner-Webb wide receiver Anthony Lowe hauled in a 36-yard scoring strike from Liberty transfer quarterback Nate Hampton a little over two-and-a-half minutes into the second half, the Bulldogs had cut the deficit to just seven, at 35-28, capping a flurry of 21-unanswered points that stretched back to the final five-and-a-half minutes of the opening half of play.

After Lowe's touchdown, it was clear that any first-game jitters the visiting Bulldogs might have had with a new quarterback leading the offense were quickly squelched. 

Camury Reid's 1-yard scoring run with just over a minute remaining in the third would briefly put the Catamounts back ahead by two scores, at 42-28, however, that respite that Reid's score seemingly offered the nationally ranked Catamounts in their 2025 home opener proved only to be a brief one. 

In fact, the fourth quarter belonged to the visitors from Boiling Springs, as a pair of touchdowns from Hampton that covered 16 and seven yards, respectively, quickly tied the game, 42-42, less than five minutes into the final quarter. 

A rare time-consuming drive saw the Bulldogs poised to take their first lead in the game since taking a 7-0 lead just 58 seconds into the 2025 season following a 65-yard run by Quasean Holmes, however, after having to settle for a Charles Viorel 41-yard field goal attempt, the score remained tied, as Viorel's kick sailed wide left, which left the score tied, 42-42.

On WCU's next possession, however, the Bulldog defense would come up big and forced a fumble on the Catamounts' third play on the ensuing possession with another golden opportunity to regain the lead in great field position. 

After the Catamount defense was flagged for roughing the passer, which got the ball even deeper into Catamount territory, the purple and gold defensive unit stiffened, and once again Viorel had to be called on to attempt a much shorter field goal in distance, and he easily knocked through the 22-yard chip shot to give the Bulldogs a 45-42 lead with 2:36 remaining.

Then the Bulldogs would seal the win with an interception by Josiah Harris at the WCU 26, giving the Gardner-Webb offense outstanding field position with just under two minutes left. On the first play from scrimmage, Hampton raced 26 yards for his sixth touchdown responsibility of the evening to give the Bulldogs a two-score lead, at 52-42, with 1:48 remaining.

On its next possession, the Catamounts would convert a 29-yard field goal courtesy of Christian Lowery, however, despite recovering the ensuing onsides kick, the Catamounts failed to led the ball travel the full 10 yards, thus giving the ball back to Gardner-Webb, which rank out the clock for the win.  

The game in general didn't see much defense played on either side, but it was an opportunistic Bulldogs defense that forced turnovers on two out WCU's final three possessions and escaped with a seven-point win. It was the third-straight win in the series by the Bulldogs. 

This loss and the way it happened was once again an embarrassment for a league that has often in the past made its share of jokes about the Big South being its little brother. The Catamounts scored enough points to win the game, and that's with or without star quarterback Taron Dickens. 

The same issue is for Western Carolina is the same one that has plagued it for the past two decades, which is that it has once again failed to put a unit on the field that is able to stop anyone. The Catamounts have a pretty offense that puts up a lot of points, but it also ended up surrendering 627 on Saturday night, while gaining 454 and scoring 45 points without Dickens. 

The Catamounts continue to hire coaches with offense in mind, and that is once again the issue. If you look around the league at places like Chattanooga, Furman and Mercer, who have all been good in recent seasons, all three have placed a premium on being good defensively. For WCU, it has struggled to be consistently good on the defensive side of the football. In many of those "almost" seasons that we can point to throughout the years for the Catamounts, Western has more often than not been defensively challenged. 

Since joining the SoCon in 1976, the Catamounts have only led the league in total defense twice (1998 and 2005), and it’s been two decades since the last time the Catamounts were a statistical champion there. 

The Catamounts have only led the SoCon in scoring defense once at the end of a season (1984) and haven’t led the SoCon in rushing defense at a season’s end since 2003, while the last time the Purple and Gold topped the league defending the pass was 2008. There is good news and a glimmer of hope moving forward, however, as WCU topped the league in red zone defense for the first time ever in 2024.

WCU's failure to address the defensive side of the ball is once again evident. Jerry Odom's defense hasn't produced in now his second season at the helm of the unit. WCU's unit ranked 105^th (427.6 YPG) in total defense last season, as well as one that ranked 83^rd nationally in scoring defense (29.2 PPG).

One of the alarming themes for the Catamounts in two seasons under Odom is the inability to hold a lead once they have attained it. The Catamounts blew some costly two-score leads on the road at both Montana and Mercer late last season, and winning just one of those games probably puts the Catamounts in the postseason. 

The Catamounts blew a 17-point second lead in the loss at Montana last season, while also blowing a similar 17-point lead in a road loss at Mercer last fall.  WCU surrendered 335 yards on the ground in Saturday night's loss to the Bulldogs. 

Wofford's 16-15 loss at South Carolina State, while disappointing, was a little more understandable than the debacles suffered in Macon and Cullowhee. For one thing, the Bulldogs came into this season off a 9-3 season a year ago, and there were once  

Like PC did in its win over Mercer, the Bulldogs left it late to pull out the win over their Southern Conference competition, utlizing a Ryan Stubblefield-to-Shamontae Burgess 12-yard scoring toss with just 1:29 remaining to help the Bulldogs re-take the lead. 

The Terriers offense was anemic, mustering just 135 yards in the game, as South Carolina State held a commanding 408-135. Wofford's points in the game came via an 89-yard kickoff return and a blocked punt recovered for a touchdown, as Wofford could never gain any traction the entire evening with Jayden Whitaker at the controls of the offense.

In fact, Whitaker finished just 6-for-21 passing for 56 yards and was sacked three times. SC State's Stubblefield, meanwhile, finished the night splitting time with Willaim Atkins IV under center for the Bulldogs. Atkins IV completed the contest connecting on 19-of-34 passes for 181 yards, while Stubblefield went 10-for-17 for 128 yards and one score, as the Bulldogs completed the season opener with 309 yards through the air.

By ground, things weren't much better, as Wofford finished the night with just 79 rushing yards on 30 attempts, averaging 2.6 yard-per-rush. Ihson Jackson-Anderson and Gerald Modest Jr. both finished with seven rushes for 27 yards to lead the Terrier ground game. 

SC State didn't fare all that much better on the ground, completing the contest with 99 yards on 40 rush attempts, averaging 2.5 yards-per-attempt. KZ Adams led the Bulldogs' ground-gaining efforts by finishing the game with 39 yards on 14 attempts.

As woeful as Wofford was on offense, the kicking game was much worse. In fact, three missed field goals most assuredly cost the Terriers the football game. By contrast, South Carolina State went 3-for-4 on its field goal attempts in the game, converting from 33, 41 and 25 yards out, with the lone miss in the game coming from 48 yards. 

Wofford freshman Conner Deviney missed all three attempts in excess of 40 yards in distance. Deviney missed from 48, 44 and 49 yards, respectively. 

Under Shawn Watson, Wofford's defense has been solid, however, it's the offense that has yet to find its tracking entering his third full season as the head coach. 

Some of that is due to quarterback stability, with Amari Odom's saga playing out as it did. When he was injured last season, the numbers for the Terriers really took a nose-dive statistically, and now this season, since leaving Wofford, Odom transferred to Kennesaw State and now is not even playing. Odom was beaten out for the starting job with the Owls by Dexter Williams II and currently is the third-string quarterback for the Owls. 

As bad as Western Carolina was offensively, Wofford matched those Catamount defensive woes with an offense that might be the worst unit to take the field yet under Watson. In fact, the Terriers finished their evening in Orangeburg going just 4-for-15 on third down. 

The 143 yards of total offense in the 2025 season opener against the Bulldogs was the lowest total output by Wofford in terms of total offense since the 2023 season opener against Pittsburgh, as the Terriers posted just 126 total yards on only 36 plays in the 45-7 setback to their ACC opposition. 

Defensive lineman Brandon Maiana was a definite bright spot for Wofford on an otherwise dismal season-opener, posting seven tackles and two sacks, with one of those sacks resulting in Wofford points, as he sacked SC State quarterback Ryan Stubblefield in the end zone for a safety to give the Terriers a 15-9 lead with just over nine minutes remaining.

Wofford returns to action when it opens the home slate against CAA member Richmond, who fell out of the STATS Perform rankings following a 21-14 loss in the opener to No.14 Lehigh. The Terriers claimed a big 26-19 win over the 14th-ranked Spiders last season at UR Stadium. Kickoff for the contest between the Terriers and Spiders is set for 6 p.m. EST. 

Furman defensive back Taylen Blaylock (photo courtesy of Furman athletics)

Daydreams:

Believe it or not, there were some positives Saturday for the league. Both East Tennessee State and Furman looked solid in their 2025 season openers, with Furman holding off a solid William & Mary squad to get a 23-21 home win to start out the 2025 season. 

Neither of those SoCon teams were ranked, however, and the Paladins were coming off a 3-8 season in 2024 to follow up their first outright SoCon title in 34 years. With that said, the Paladins posted a solid win over a William & Mary team that defeated the Paladins 34-24 in Williamsburg last season, and went 3-0 against SoCon foes in 2024.

The Paladins got the season off to a strong start with a 43-yard INT return for a score by transfer portal addition  and defensive back Taylen Blaylock, who transferred into Furman during the offseason from Lindenwood. 

He was part of five players brought in from the portal to help account some losses to the portal by the Paladins, as well as help bolster a unit that surrendered a league record 626 passing yards to Western Carolina last season. Needless to say, Furman's defensive backfield yielded historically bad totals in 2024, and was one of the worst statistically since stats started being kept in 1973.

Notably, however, it was more of a youth and attrition issue rather than a lack of talent on the last line of defense for the Paladins in 2024. So when Blalock returned an errant Tyler Hughes throw for a score just four plays into the 2025 season, it was like a breath of fresh air for the program. 

Furman's defensive backfield, which lost Charles Ingram IV (Eastern Kentucky), Hyson Dalton (Idaho), and Jaylen Moson (Utah) to the transfer portal, needed to fill some holes depth-wise at corner in the off-season. Injury issues at safety allowed guys like Tre McCloud and Billy Lewis to flourish at safety in 2024, as both gained some vital experience. With five veterans brought into the secondary from the transfer portal, it was a unit that looked completely transformed in the season-opening win over the Tribe. 

Blaylock's performance in Saturday's win over the Tribe was evident of a staff that addressed a need and filled it accordingly. In addition to his 43-yard INT return for a score--Furman's first pick-six since 2023--he also added six tackles and a pair of tackles-for-loss, which helped him garner SoCon Defensive Player of the Week accolades.

While his INT return for a score to provide Furman's first points of the 2025 season was big, Blaylock's safety blitz on a 3rd-and-1 play that saw him meet Tribe running back and VMI transfer Rashad Raymond almost simultaneously to him taking the handoff from Hughes, resulting in a four-yard loss might have been bigger.

It forced the Tribe into a 4th-and-5 play, and with time winding down towards one minute remaining, the Tribe had to go for it from their own 30, and it was Blaylock's pass breakup on the next play on a throw by Hughes intended for another former VMI Keydet--Isaiah Lemmond--that would ultimately get the ball back to the Furman offense, which allowed it to run the remaining time off the clock.

For his efforts Saturday, Blalock was named the SoCon's Defensive Player of the Week. The Paladin defense held a solid Tribe offense to 352 yards on 67 plays, and while the Tribe didn't have any of the rushing threats that really torched the Paladins for 384 yards on the ground in that 10-point win a year ago at Zable Stadium, what the Tribe did have were four starters along the offensive front back from that unit. The Paladins did manage three sacks in the game and held the Tribe to 240 yards less on the ground this time around, as Furman's defense limited the Green and Gold to just 144 yards on Saturday. 

Not to be overlooked was the performance of the Furman special teams, which factored heavily in Furman's two-point win to open the 2025 season. Preseason All-America selection Ian Williams showed why he might be the best kicker in all of FCS Football, as he connected on field goals of 50, 42 and 32 yards, which accounted for all the points scored by the Paladins in the second half, were enough to garner the graduate STATS Perform National Player of the Week laurels. 

Williams is now 45-of-59 in his career with the Paladins on field goal attempts, while his 50-yard field goal in the third quarter was the fourth field goal of his Paladin career of 50 or more yards. He connected on a school-record 57-yard field goal against Stetson in Furman's only home win of the 2024 season, and then in the '24 season finale loss at Mercer, duplicated the feat by connecting on another from 57 yards out. 

Not to be overlooked was a 75-yard return by Devin Hester Jr. in the win, which came immediately following the Tribe's score in the second quarter, which had tied the game briefly, 7-7. Hester Jr.'s return helped set the stage for freshman wideout Evan James' 4-yard scoring catch, and Furman's lone offensive touchdown of the day.

All told, the Tribe held a 352-237 advantage in total offense, including a commanding 144-58 edge in ground yards. There are a lot of improvements to be made offensively, but Furman's win was evidence that the Paladins are much improved in 2025 and could potentially exceed those sixth-place preseason projections by the league's head coaches. 

ETSU RB Devontae Houston (photo courtesy of ETSU athletics)

Other than Western Carolina, most of the league had struggled to reach 300 yards of total offense in any game, however, offense wasn't a problem for East Tennessee State in its 45-17 win over Murray State to get the Will Healy era started off in grand fashion, as the Bucs amassed 572 yards of total offensive output in the 28-point win.  

ETSU's 45 points scored in a season opener were the most since a 49-point outburst since 1987. In that a season-opening, 49-25, win over William & Mary at the Memorial Center (aka mini-dome) some 37 years ago, the Bucs were under the leadership of third-year head coach Mike Ayers (future SoCon Hall of Fame Coach at Wofford), who later that season would lead the Bucs to an FBS power conference win at North Carolina State, as the Bucs stunned the Dick Sheridan (Furman head coach 1978-85) -led Wolfpack, 29-14, at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh. 

While Furman's Blaylock was the SoCon's Defensive Player of the Week, it was running back Devontae Houston that garnered the SoCon's Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for a team-high 128 yards on 14 carries (9.1 YPC) in the Bucs' lopsided win at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium in the season opener.  He also contributed a pair of rushing touchdowns in the game, covering seven and one yards, respectively. 

Houston's 100+-yard effort on the ground marked the fourth of his ETSU career, and his explosiveness has been evident throughout his time as a Bucs ground-gainer, posting an 80-yard run in the 2024 season-opening, 38-10 loss at Appalachian State, as well as posting a 64-yard scoring run in ETSU's late-season, 24-21, home loss to Furman. 

In Saturday's home win over the Racers, Houston had a 51-yard run, which was part of one of the Bucs scoring drives. Houston's 128-yard outburst was part of a 392-yard effort on the ground for the Bucs, which was the largest rushing output since 2021, as the Bucs set a school-record with 461 yards on the ground against Western Carolina. 

The Bucs led the SoCon in rushing a year ago, averaging 193.6 YPG on the ground in 2024. All told, ETSU's 392 yards on the ground came on 58 rush attempts, as the Bucs averaged an impressive 6.8 yards-per-rush attempt in Saturday's win. Five of ETSU's six touchdowns also came via the ground in what was the Bucs' first season-opening win since defeating Mars Hill in 2022.

Houston and the Bucs ground performance overshadowed all the buzz around which of ETSU's power five transfers would start and just how big would the passing totals be for both and the Bucs collectively in the 2025 opener. 

The offense was no doubt good, while both Cade McNamara and Jacolby Criswell were solid, and didn't need to do anything extravagant, nor did they need to put too much on film for others to see, especially going into Saturday's contest against Tennessee. The Bucs will need every advantage they can possibly have when facing off against the Volunteers--an FBS power four team that made the 12-team college football playoff in 2024.

McNamara finished his ETSU debut going 12-of-17 for 146 yards with a touchdown and an INT, while Criswell finished his Bucs debut going 5-for-8 passing for 34 yards, while rushing for 46 yards on eight attempts. McNamara got the start for the Bucs, but it would be Criswell that would lead ETSU to its first points of the 2025 season, as on the third drive of the contest,the North Carolina transfer helped engineer a six-play, 60-yard drive, culminating in a Khalil Eichelberger 2-yard scoring plunge to put the Bucs on top 7-0 with just over five minutes remaining in the opening quarter.

The Bucs would never trail in the game, however, the Racers would get within 24-17 in the third quarter, as Brooks Kleinpeter scored on a 15-yard scoring reception from quarterback Jim Ogle, making it seven-point deficit for the Racers with just under nine minutes left in the quarter. 

However, ETSU would close the game strong, scoring 21 unanswered points to close out an impressive home-opening win, as the Bucs got touchdown runs of 7, 1 and 2 yards by Houston, Eichelberger, and D'Marius Rucker, respectively, to close out the game. 

Final Week 1 Thoughts:

I am not optimistic about this being the return of the SoCon as a power conference in FCS football this season.

I hate to say this, but there appears to be serious issues at nearly every program in the league at quarterback, with the lone to exceptions being Furman and East Tennessee State at this point. 

That being said, I think VMI and The Citadel will have situations that will eventually work themselves out. Quentin Hayes saw his first action under center for The Citadel, while Cobey Thompkins also saw some time under center. however, as with almost every other team in the league not named East Tennessee State or Western Carolina, the offensive struggle was real, as the Bulldogs mustered just 126 yards of total offense, including a mere 26 on the ground. 

VMI 's guy appears to be Collin Shannon, who all things considered, was solid Saturday against Navy, connecting on 16-of-25 throws for 197 yards and a score and didn't throw an INT. 

Other than ETSU, Furman, VMI and potentially The Citadel, issues exist at every other program in the league, and that pains me to say. WCU likely will get Dickens back very soon, but it might not matter if the defense is once again a sieve.

In my experience watching football, being that bad in the opening game as WCU was hard to fix in-season. 

You can get better, but giving up over 600 yards to a Big South-OVC team to start with should be concerning, especially given WCU's perennially bad defenses over the past two decades. As for the offense, it will be fine. Bell's system works and it will win the Catamounts a game or two along the way, but you can't live by outscoring teams in the FCS or at any level.

Historically, it shows above just how alarmingly bad the Catamounts have been defensively through the years, and more often than not, offensively, have been pretty good to elite. It will be interesting to see what changes are made schematically--if any--as the Catamounts move forward in 2025.

Opposite of WCU, Mercer and Wofford have their own set of struggles on offense and can be tossed into the more than half the league's teams that have been inconsistent under center, as well as rushing the ball week one. Outside of ETSU and to an extent Western Carolina, every team in the league struggled to effectively establish the ground attack. Some of that had to do with facing some really good defenses, while some of it was due to bad offensive line play.

Hopefully things will improve, however, I'm not exactly optimistic about it after what I saw in week one. Beyond the top three in the power rankings, it's anyone's guess. I gave UTC the third spot below because Memphis is a very good Group of 5 progam, and the Mocs didn't necessarily play horribly. As for the other six, I am not sure how to separate the degrees of bad I saw. 

All I know is that a programs like Mercer and Western Carolina shouldn't lose home openers to Presbyterian and Gardner-Webb if they are the type of programs they claim to be. The same could have been said of Furman last year, which was the only win for Charleston Southern.

Power Rankings:

1. East Tennessee State 1-0, 0-0

2. Furman 1-0, 0-0

3.  Chattanooga 0-1,  0-0

4. Western Carolina 0-1, 0-0

5. Mercer 0-1, 0-0

6. The Citadel 0-1, 0-0

7. VMI 0-1, 0-0

8. Wofford 0-1, 0-0

9. Samford 0-1, 0-0

Schedule for Sept. 6, 2025

Chattanooga (0-1) at No. 17 Tennessee Tech (1-0), 1 p.m. EST

Ferrum (0-1) at VMI (0-1), 1:30 p.m. EST

Presbyterian (1-0) at Furman (1-0), 2 p.m. EST

Western Carolina (0-1) at Wake Forest (1-0), 2 p.m. EST

*The Citadel (0-1) at Samford (0-1), 3:30 p.m. EST

East Tennessee State (1-0) at No. 24 Tennessee (1-0), 3:30 p.m. EST

Richmond (0-1) at Wofford (0-1), 6 p.m. EST

No. 23 Mercer is Idle

*-denotes Southern Conference game