Top 10 Tuesday: The Best FCS-Over-FBS Upsets of All-Time

FCS wins against FBS opponents provide some of the most exciting moments of any college football season's early slate. The Press Break highlights the 10 best since 2006.

No one could call Montana State’s 35-31 defeat of New Mexico in Week 0 an upset — not by the technical definition. The Bobcats were two-touchdown favorites, in fact.

But rallying from 17-point deficits in both halves, culminating in a wild and exciting fourth quarter with 21 unanswered Montana State points and a game-winning touchdown with 10 seconds remaining, the first FCS-over-FBS win of 2024 wasn’t lacking for thrills.

In recognition of a personal favorite tradition of the college football season’s early weeks, this edition of Top 10 Tuesday presents the best¹ FCS-FBS upsets of this era. Div. I officially split into I-A and I-AA subdivisions in 1978, but going back that far to spotlight dozens of game I have never seen or was not familiar with in real-time would have muddled this compilation.

Thus, we begin with 2006 when the two subdivisions were reclassified as the Bowl Subdivision and Championship Subdivision. Richmond’s 13-0 blanking of Duke to kick off the 2006 campaign and was the first of 135 (and counting) FCS wins over the FBS since.

10. Howard 43, UNLV 40 - Sept. 2, 2017

Neither the 2017 Howard Bison nor the UNLV Rebels were especially remarkable. UNLV finished a respectable 4-4 in the Mountain West, but at 5-7 overall, missed a bowl game. Howard was a solid 7-4 under coach Mike London, who has a long track record of leading FCS teams in upsets of FBS opponents — most recently, William & Mary’s 41-24 romp against Charlotte in 2022.

When the two teams met in Week 1, however, history was made. Howard arrived in Sin City a staggering 45-point underdog per the handful of area sportsbook taking action on the game. Behind Caylin Newton — the younger brother of 2010 Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton — the Bison built a two-touchdown lead in the first half; fell behind by two touchdowns in the second, and rallied to a 43-40 win.

Newton showed out, rushing for 190 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner. He even punted, booting a 50-yarder with seconds remaining to force UNLV to try, unsuccessfully, to go 80 yards.

9. Eastern Kentucky 59, Bowling Green 57 (7 OT) - Sept. 10, 2022
   
   There are more consequential outcomes in the history of FCS teams beating FBS counterparts, but none that can match the seven overtimes Eastern Kentucky and Bowling Green produced two seasons ago.

   
   The Colonels were on the opposite side of a sizable blown lead one week after they mounted a furious, fourth-quarter rally at Eastern Michigan. EKU trailed the Eagles by 18 with less than nine minutes to go at The Factory, but ripped off 17 straight points in seven minutes to have a chance on a late onside kick.
   
   At Bowling Green, however, Eastern Kentucky saw a two-touchdown lead in the late third quarter turn into a one-score deficit with just seconds to go in regulation. But Parker McKinney’s Jayden Higgins touchdown pass as time expired sent the teams into an overtime marathon that included a walk-off BGSU score negated with a penalty; an EKU “two-point conversion” scored from almost 20 yards out; an attempt at the Varsity Blues hook-and-ladder; and an eventual walk-off score at the culmination of the season’s longest game.

8. Sacramento State 30, Stanford 23 - Sept. 16, 2023
   
   In the 25 years from moving up to Div. I-AA until the hire of Troy Taylor as head coach in 2019, Sacramento State never appeared in the I-AA/FCS Playoffs. That changed in Taylor’s first year with the first of four consecutive postseason appearances for the Hornets through 2023. Taylor oversaw three of them before making the short move to Stanford, replacing David Shaw.

   
   For all its success in the Shaw years, the Stanford rebuilding project was and still is a big one. Sacramento State, meanwhile, was left on a solid foundation. The contrast became apparent when the Cardinal hosted the Hornets in Taylor’s third game on The Farm.

   
   Stanford actually jumped to a two-score lead in the early second quarter when Ashton Daniels threw a 51-yard touchdown to Elic Ayomanor. That was also the last time the Cardinal reached the end zone, as a Sac State team that was known for its prolific offense in Taylor’s tenure buckled down defensively. Jett Stanley’s three sacks and six quarterback hurries from Hornets defenders helped force Daniels into a pair of interceptions — both made in the red zone.
   
   The Hornets defense opened the door for Kaiden Bennett’s game-winning, 49-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Fulcher, putting a cap on the quarterback’s 279-yard passing, 100-yard rushing performance.

7. Jacksonville State 49, Ole Miss 48 (2 OT) - Sept. 4, 2010
   
   A common thread through this top 10 is that while certainly not all of the FBS teams beaten were especially good — last year’s Stanford squad being the chief example — most were. Ole Miss went into 2010 with lofty expectations, having added quarterback Jeremiah Masoli late in the offseason after he captained Oregon’s 2009 run to the Rose Bowl.
   
   However, the Rebels endured a disastrous 4-8 campaign that included going 1-7 in the SEC. To make matters worse, the NCAA sanctioned Ole Miss for violations under then-coach Houston Nutt.
   
   Still, Jacksonville State rolling into Oxford and knocking off the Rebels in Week 1 is no less exciting 14 years later. Although Masoli had not yet been cleared to join the team, Nathan Stanley led four first-half touchdown drives, throwing three of his own, as Ole Miss built a 31-10 halftime lead.
   
   Down three touchdowns, Jacksonville State chipped away throughout the second half. The Gamecocks did not fully bridge the gap until there were 18 seconds remaining in regulation, when Marques Ivory’s touchdowns pass to Alan Bonner led to a successful two-point conversion forcing overtime.
   
   The two-point conversion again came into play during the second overtime.

6. Delaware 59, Navy 52 - Oct. 27, 2007
   
   Paul Johnson left Navy after the 2007 season having restored the once-powerhouse program to national respectability, winning eight-plus games in five consecutive years. His final campaign in Annapolis included Navy scoring its first win over rival Notre Dame since 1963, an achievement reached one week after the Mids lost a 59-52 shootout to Delaware.
   
   This marked Delaware’s peak as a Div. I program, including the 2003 national championship and Joe Flacco’s selection at No. 18 overall in the 2008 NFL draft. Flacco’s signature performance as a Fightin’ Blue Hen may well have been this one. He passed for 434 yards on 30-of-41 completions with four touchdowns and no interceptions.

5. Eastern Washington 49, Oregon State 46 - Aug. 31, 2013
   
   On the topic of standout performances from quarterbacks and future NFL stars, look no further than Eastern Washington’s season-opening defeat of Oregon State in 2013.
   
   The Beavers were coming off a surprise 2012 that positioned them as dark-horse contenders for the Pac-12 title in 2013. Ranked in the Top 25 to open the campaign, Oregon State featured one of the best quarterback-receiver tandems in the nation with Sean Mannion and Brandin Cooks.
   
   Eastern Washington, meanwhile, countered with Vernon Adams and Cooper Kupp.
   
   The future Walter Payton Award winner, All-Pro and Super Bowl champion Kupp was awesome this day, catching five passes for 119 yards with two touchdowns. However, it was Adams’ 411 yards passing with four scores and 107 yards rushing and another two touchdowns that stole the show.

4. Portland State 24, Washington State 17 - Sept. 5, 2015
   
   Bruce Barnum debuted as Portland State head coach and immediately put his “Barney Ball” stamp on the program in a season-opening win over Washington State. The Vikings shut out the potent Cougars offense in the first half and ran the ball down the throat of the Washington State defense, piling up 258 yards and three touchdowns, including Steven Long’s game-winner at the end of a 6:46 drive.

   The win actually gained magnitude over the course of the 2015 season, with both Portland State and Washington State reaching nine wins. The Cougars actually had Stanford on the ropes on Halloween night in a game that, if Washington State won, would have placed it on the inside track to the Pac-12 Championship Game.
   
   Portland State, meanwhile, ended a 15-year playoff drought and Barnum won the Eddie Robinson Award as FCS Coach of the Year.

3. North Dakota State 23, Iowa 21 - Sept. 17, 2016
   North Dakota State’s dynastic run of the 2010s is rife with wins over FBS and power-conference competition. Since moving up from Div. II in 2004, the Bison have wins over:
   

   Ball State, 2006
   Central Michigan, 2007
   Minnesota, 2007 and 2011
   Kansas, 2010
   Colorado State, 2012
   Kansas State, 2013
   Iowa State, 2014
   

   NDSU could appear on this top 10 multiple times, frankly. There’s an especially strong case for the 2013 win at K-State, which was on a Friday night and the Bison had the national stage mostly to themselves. The Wildcats were coming off of a Big 12 championship and BCS title game contention, but North Dakota State went into Manhattan and punched them square in the mouth.

   I give the edge to NDSU’s 2016 win over Iowa, however. The Hawkeyes were coming off a similar season, having come within a score of advancing to the College Football Playoff in 2015 and playing in the Rose Bowl.
   
   And while K-State was rebuilding somewhat in 2013, the 2016 Iowa team was ranked No. 13 ahead of the season and forecast as a potential Playoff crasher. The Hawkeyes returned All-American defensive back Desmond King, quarterback CJ Beathard and tight end George Kittle.
   
   What’s more, Iowa thrived playing a style comparable to that of North Dakota State’s, with more highly recruited talent — Big Ten talent — much of whom were pulled from the same geographic footprint.

   North Dakota State also found itself in the unusual position of having to rally, trailing Iowa for the entire fourth quarter. And when I write “entire,” I mean quite literally the entire fourth quarter.
   
   After a scoreless stalemate that lasted until there were fewer than four minutes to go in regulation, preserving a 21-14 Iowa lead, Easton Stick hit Chase Morlock on a touchdown strike with 3:41 to go. Chris Klieman opted to go for two and the lead, and in a rarity for Bison football over the 2010s, it was unsuccessful.
   
   What ensued was North Dakota State football at its finest, with the Bison front seven getting into the backfield for a tackle for loss and sack to force a punt, then Easton Stick methodically leading the offense into field-goal range for a Cam Pedersen kick with zeroes on the clock.

2. James Madison 21, Virginia Tech 16 - Sept. 11, 2010
   
   With there being a not-insignificant amount of crossover between the James Madison and Virginia Tech coaching staffs — most notably, assistant Curt Newsome, who guided lines alongside both Mickey Matthews and Frank Beamer — the Dukes and Hokies played similar styles of football in this era.
   
   That’s an important element explaining the significant of JMU’s 21-16 win in Blacksburg. Sometimes, major upsets are the result of the underdog employing a style that the favorite isn’t accustomed to — something we’ll examine in greater detail with No. 1 on this Top 10. James Madison, though, simply went into Lane Stadium and beat Virginia Tech at its own game.

   The Dukes fell behind early in the third quarter, 16-7, with their lone touchdown coming on a 77-yard pass. It appeared out of the question for JMU to move the ball effectively against a Hokies defense that consistently ranked near the top of the FBS in this era, including finishing a respectable No. 26 nationally in 2010 for points allowed per game (20.6).
   
   So, the Dukes defense ratcheted up its intensity to hold Virginia Tech scoreless for the game’s final 26 minutes and created offensive opportunities through field position. That’s right: JMU out-Beamer Ball’d a Frank Beamer-coached team.
   
   Jordan Anderson’s 22-yard of a kickoff that traveled to only the JMU 12 set the Dukes up at their own 34-yard yard line. Their next touchdown drive started at their own 38, the result of a Jonathan Williams interception.

1. Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32 - Sept. 1, 2007
   Was there ever any doubt?
   
   The perfect tone-setter for what is the wildest season in modern college football history, two-time defending national champion Appalachian State went into the Big House and stunned a fifth-ranked Michigan team that some tabbed for BCS title contention.
   
   Countless words have been dedicated to this game and its implications beyond Sept. 1, 2007. The best is John Bacon’s book Three and Out on Michigan’s self-sabotaged move to bring aboard Rich Rodriguez as head coach after the 2007 season, a decision made to give the Wolverines a more modern offense in the vein of Appalachian State’s.
   

   Now, that might be overemphasizing the importance of this one outcome. Purdue flourished in the first half of the 2000s after hiring Joe Tiller and his high-powered passing attack away from Wyoming. The Appalachian State loss also wasn’t Michigan’s first high-profile loss in the Lloyd Carr era against an opponent running a new-fangled offense.

   And, this era of Northwestern football inspired then-Oregon coach Mike Bellotti to introduce a hurry-up spread offense in Eugene. Looking for a counter to USC’s might out West in the 2000s, Bellotti cites watching game film of NU prompting him to seek a new offensive coordinator and landing on Chip Kelly of FCS program New Hampshire.
   
   That’s all to say the Big Ten was already moving to a modernized offensive style before Appalachian State shocking the nation, and Michigan would have gotten there eventually. But Armanti Edwards and Co. appropriately just hurried up the process.

1. Your weekly reminder that Top 10 Tuesday is subjective. Have a game you think deserves to be included? Leave it in the comments — but please be prepared to note which inclusion you’d replace!