Monday links, New FCS top 25

OK, a couple of explanations of where I have a few of the teams.

* Villanova. Last week, I made mention that it was silly to rank Delaware above Furman after the Paladins beat the Blue Hens at home. So why not put the Wildcats ahead of Richmond this week? Well, I feel Richmond has something on its resume (the win at Elon) that Delaware did not. Strip away the Furman game, and Delaware had a win over a DII and a close loss at an FBS school. So I adjusted accordingly. I’m not convinced Villanova is a Top 5 team, and I would have to put the Wildcats there to get them ahead of Richmond. I wasn’t going to drop UR out of the Top 10 for a loss on the road against a ranked opponent.

* New Hampshire/McNeese State. I pushed UNH ahead of McNeese simply because I think the Wildcats have accomplished more this season. The fact that Ike washed out the McNeese State-Cal Poly game stinks for both schools, but I’m not going to punish UNH, which is playing great football right now.

* Northern Iowa/Southern Illinois. Kind of the same thing with Villanova-Richmond. Good home win for the Salukis, but to jump SIU 10 spots for a three-point home win is a little too much, just like it would be too much to drop UNI 10 spots for losing by three on the road to a ranked team.

Anyway, on the rankings:

1. JAMES MADISON (4-1)
Last week: beat Maine, 24-10
The scoop: Dukes roll up 319 rush yards at Maine, including two fourth-quarter touchdown runs by Griff Yancey that accounted for the winning margin.
Next up: Oct. 4 vs. Hofstra (2-2).

2. MONTANA (4-0)
Last week: beat Central Washington, 38-35
The scoop: Griz needed last-second field goal to beat CWU, which is ranked in Division II.
Next up: Oct. 4 at Weber State (3-2).

3. APPALACHIAN STATE (2-2)
Last week: beat Presbyterian, 48-14
The scoop: App State’s toughest SoCon games are all at home—The Citadel, Wofford, Furman, Elon.
Next up: Oct. 4 vs. No. 20 The Citadel (3-1).

4. CAL POLY (2-1)
Last week: Idle
The scoop: Receiver Ramses Barden is averaging 20.3 yards per catch. Plus, Ramses is a really cool name.
Next up: Oct. 4 vs. South Dakota (2-3).

5. NEW HAMPSHIRE (4-0)
Last week: beat Dartmouth, 42-6
The scoop: QB R.J. Toman efficient against Dartmouth (17 of 23, 208 yards, TD, 9 rushes, 46 yards, TD).
Next up: Oct. 11 vs. William & Mary (2-1).

6. MCNEESE STATE (2-1)
Last week: beat Southern Virginia, 63-7
The scoop: McNeese limited Knights to 96 yards.
Next up: Oct. 4 at No. 17 South Dakota State (3-2).

7. RICHMOND (3-2)
Last week: lost to No. 18 Villanova, 26-20.
The scoop: On second thought, that loss at Virginia is starting to look really bad.
Next up: Oct. 4 at VMI (2-2).

8. NORTHERN IOWA (2-2)
Last week: lost to No. 16 Southern Illinois, 27-24.
The scoop: Hurricane season was not kind to Nicholls State, which has only played one game and had two washed out.
Next up: Oct. 2 vs. Nicholls State (0-1).

9. VILLANOVA (3-1)
Last week: beat No. 1 Richmond, 26-20
The scoop: RB Aaron Ball (18 carries, 123 yards, 2 TDs) led way against Spiders.
Next up: Oct. 4 at William & Mary (2-1).

10. ELON (4-1)
Last week: beat Samford, 23-17
The scoop: The Samford game was tied until late in the third quarter.
Next up: Oct. 4 vs. No. 13 Furman (4-1).

11. WOFFORD (3-1)
Last week: beat Georgia Southern, 38-37 (OT)
The scoop: Terriers stuff GSU 2-point conversion attempt to escape with win.
Next up: Oct. 11 vs. Chattanooga (1-4).

12. EASTERN WASHINGTON (2-2)
Last week: beat Idaho State, 45-31.
The scoop: For the second straight week, entered the fourth quarter tied with an inferior opponent at home.
Next up: Oct. 4 at Portland State (1-3).

13. FURMAN (4-1)
Last week: beat Chattanooga, 35-10
The scoop: No letdown against Chattanooga after big win over Delaware.
Next up: Oct. 4 at No. 10 Elon (4-1)

14. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (2-1)
Last week: beat No. 5 Northern Iowa, 27-24
The scoop: Led big early against UNI, survived a Panther rally and won on a 40-yard field goal at the buzzer.
Next up: Oct. 4 at No. 15 North Dakota State (2-2)

15. NORTH DAKOTA STATE (2-2)
Last week: Idle
The scoop: Starting to wonder if the Missouri Valley champ will have three losses. Tough league.
Next up: Oct. 4 vs. No. 14 Southern Illinois (2-1).

16. DELAWARE (2-2)
Last week: beat Albany, 38-7
The scoop: Defense dominant against Great Danes. Delaware allowed just 150 yards.
Next up: Oct. 4 at No. 19 Massachusetts (2-2).

17. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (3-2)
Last week: beat Stephen F. Austin, 50-48
The scoop: Down 34-6 with 9:01 left in third quarter, Jackrabbits respond with six touchdowns and a field goal and win on Kyle Minett’s 1-yard TD run on the game’s final play.
Next up: Oct. 4 vs. No. 6 McNeese State (2-1).

18. LIBERTY (4-0)
Last week: beat Youngstown State, 31-28
The scoop: Two fourth-quarter turnovers allowed the Penguins back in the game.
Next up: Oct. 4 at Coastal Carolina (3-2).

19. MASSACHUSETTS (2-2)
Last week: Idle
The scoop: Heritage High graduate Korrey Davis had 51 yards on 15 carries and scored his first college touchdown in the loss at Texas Tech two weeks ago.
Next up: Oct. 4 vs. No. 16 Delaware (2-2).

20. THE CITADEL (3-1)
Last week: beat Western Carolina, 34-14
The scoop: QB Bart Blanchard accounted for 350 yards, three TDs against Western Carolina, which only managed 207 yards as a team.
Next week: Oct. 4 at No. 3 Appalachian State (2-2).

21. CENTRAL ARKANSAS (4-1)
Last week: lost to Tulsa, 62-34
The scoop: QB Nathan Brown was fine (24 of 33, 342 yards, 3 TDs). Defense was not (allowed 641 yards).
Next up: Oct. 11 vs. No. 24 Sam Houston State (2-1).

22. WESTERN ILLINOIS (2-2)
Last week: Idle
The scoop: WIU 0-2 on the road, 2-0 at home.
Next week: Oct. 4 at Missouri State (1-2).

23. NORTHERN ARIZONA (3-1)
Last week: beat Northern Colorado, 25-22
The scoop: Jacks have allowed 36 rushing yards … this season. Last three opponents have been held to negative rush yards.
Next up: Oct. 4 vs. Sacramento State (3-2).

24. SAM HOUSTON STATE (2-1)
Last week: beat Gardner-Webb, 49-33
The scoop: QB Rhett Bomar threw five first-half TDs at Gardner-Webb.
Next up: Oct. 11 at No. 21 Central Arkansas (2-1).

25. JACKSONVILLE STATE (3-1)
Last week: beat No. 18 Eastern Illinois, 23-10.
The scoop: Gamecocks led 21-0 at half on the road against one of the conference’s preseason favorites.
Next week: Oct. 4 vs. SE Missouri State (2-3).

DROPPED OUT: No. 18 Eastern Illinois, No. 23 Harvard, No. 24 Tennessee State.

ON THE RADAR (in no particular order): Prairie View A&M, Hampton, South Carolina State, Weber State, Florida A&M, William & Mary, Tenn.-Martin, Lafayette, Brown, Cornell.

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Now for the links.

Coastal Carolina rode its defense to win at North Carolina A&T, Travis Sawchik reports. The Chants needed the effort. QB Zach MacDowall, RB Eric O’Neal and WR Trent Usher all missed the game with ankle injuries. Coastal’s depth was a key to bringing home a road win. There’s word in this notebook that QB Jamie Childers finally took some snaps.

Presbyterian lost 48-14 at Appalachian State, but the win wasn’t easy, the Raleigh News & Observer reports.

Charleston Southern finally played at home, and blanked North Greenville 27-0.

VMI surprised Ohio with its offense Saturday, The Post paper reports.

Sam Houston State quarterback Rhett Bomar was too much for Gardner-Webb to handle, the Shelby Star reports. Bomar avoided GWU’s pass rush and found open spots in the secondary, the Huntsville Item reports.

Stony Brook’s 43-3 loss to Hofstra hearkened back to the ugly days of the Long Island rivalry, Newsday reports. The Seawolves’ offense has suddenly gone in the tank. SBU has gone 11 quarters without a touchdown.

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Two quick additional notes:

* Liberty moved from No. 25 to No. 20 in the Sports Network poll and joined the rankings at No. 21 in the Coaches poll.

* Liberty’s Rashad Jennings (offensive player), Nick Hursky (defensive player) and Matt Bevins (freshman) earned Big South player of the week honors.