Eastern Washington quarterback Eric Barriere, Sacred Heart running back Julius Chestnut and VMI receiver Jakob Herres are among the Walter Payton Award finalists highlighting The Associated Press FCS All-America team released Wednesday.
The FCS college football playoffs are here! From South Dakota State to James Madison to the incredible Cinderella story of VMI, here's everything you need to catch up on the season.
— Reece Udinski connected with Jakob Herres in overtime and then Michael Jackson for a two-point conversion, giving VMI a 38-37 victory over Samford on Saturday for its first 4-0 start since 1981.
Carter Johnson scored on a blocked kick in the second quarter and VMI used big scoring plays on offense and defense in the third quarter to defeat Chattanooga 31-24 on Saturday.
Senior quarterback Kelvin Hopkins Jr. rushed for 208 yards and a touchdown, Connor Slomka scored thrice on short runs, and Army’s triple option overwhelmed VMI 47-6 on Saturday at Michie Stadium.
Devin Wynn rushed for 102 yards and scored five touchdowns as Furman routed VMI 60-21 on Saturday.
Tyrie Adams threw for 322 yards and three touchdowns, Donnavan Spencer rushed for 137 yards and two scores, and Western Carolina held off VMI 43-35 on Saturday.
Tyray Devezin had a career-high 193 yards rushing that included a late touchdown run and Mercer held off VMI for a 34-27 victory on Saturday.
Alex Ramsey scored a school record with six rushing touchdowns; the last proving to be the overtime winner and VMI beat Samford 48-41 on Saturday.
Reece Udinski threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to Jakob Herres late in the game to help VMI snap a 12-game losing skid against The Citadel with a 34-21 victory on Saturday.
Joe Newman threw two touchdown passes and ran for a third and Blake Morgan ran for two scores as Wofford won its second straight game, knocking off VMI 51-36 in a Southern Conference battle Saturday afternoon that was delayed for two hours due to...
Caleb Lewis threw for 214 yards and a touchdown and Terence Stephens Jr. ran for two touchdowns as Robert Morris snapped its three-game losing streak to start the season by easing past VMI, 31-21 on Saturday afternoon.
Reece Udinski threw four touchdown passes and Alex Ramsey ran for two more as VMI won its first home opener since 2015 by routing Division II Mars Hill, 63-21 on Saturday.
Isaiah Green threw for a career-high four touchdowns and Talik Keaton returned a punt 67 yards for a score as Marshall opened the season with a dominating 56-17 victory over VMI on Saturday.
VMI quarterback Austin Coulling was strapped to a back brace and carted off the field following a hit when he was going into a slide.
Al Cobb completed an 80-yard TD pass to Dontae Mauck for VMI, which trails Ball State 20-10.
The Southern Conference has added East Tennessee, Mercer and VMI to the league.
| TEAM | CONF | OVR |
|---|---|---|
| East Tennessee State | 7-1 | 10-1 |
| Mercer | 6-2 | 7-3 |
| Chattanooga | 5-3 | 6-5 |
| Western Carolina | 4-4 | 4-7 |
| Furman | 4-4 | 6-5 |
| VMI | 4-4 | 6-5 |
| Samford | 3-5 | 4-7 |
| The Citadel | 3-5 | 4-7 |
| Wofford | 0-8 | 1-10 |
| YEAR | PLAYER | AWARD |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | K. Watson | Offensive Player of the Week |
