— Eddie Godina kicked a 32-yard field goal on the final play and Northwestern State won its first game of the spring season in its season finale 49-47 over Incarnate Word on Saturday night.
The Southland Conference has opted to play college football in the spring, but it did allow wiggle room for its members to play nonconference games this fall.
Breylin Smith passed for 296 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions, and Central Arkansas earned a share of the Southland Conference title with a 52-35 win over Incarnate Word on Friday night.
Josh Adkins threw two touchdown passes, Jason Huntley ran for 174 yards and New Mexico State beat Incarnate Word 41-28 on Saturday for its first win of the season.
Xavier Gipson caught four passes for 132 yards and scored the go-ahead touchdown to help Stephen F. Austin beat Incarnate Word 31-24 on Saturday night.
Julien Gums danced his way into the end zone in the final minutes and the Nicholls defense held on to give the Colonels a 27-23 victory over Incarnate Word on Saturday.
Shelton Eppler tossed a 1-yard touchdown pass to Quan Shorts in overtime and Northwestern State beat Incarnate Word 44-41 on Saturday night for its first win of the season.
Jon Copeland passed for a season-best 376 yards with four touchdown passes as Incarnate Word pushed its win streak to four games with a 35-17 defeat of Lamar on Saturday.
Lamont Johnson pulled in a 21-yard pass from Jon Copeland in the fourth quarter with the winning score as Incarnate Word defeated Southeastern Louisiana 27-21 Saturday night, downing a ranked opponent for the second week in a row.
Jon Copeland threw for 342 yards and three touchdowns and Incarnate Word never trailed and held off Houston Baptist with a 38-36 win Saturday night.
Keyondrick Philio ran for three touchdowns and Incarnate Word took an early lead and held it to beat Abilene Christian 31-24 on Saturday night.
Eric Schmid had five touchdown passes and threw for 531 yards to lead Sam Houston State to a 45-6 rout of Incarnate Word on Saturday night in a Southland Conference opener.
Jon Copeland threw for 344 yards and five touchdowns as Incarnate Word picked up its first victory of the year, rolling past Texas Southern 63-44 on Saturday night.
Frank Harris threw three touchdown passes and UTSA won the inaugural Hometown Showdown with San Antonio rival Incarnate Word, 35-7 in the season opener on Saturday.
Defending national champion and top-ranked James Madison placed three players on The Associated Press FCS All-America first team, more than any other school.
Rookie tight end Cole Wick comes from a small school and isn't a household name, but he has made a good early impression on the Detroit Lions.
Ricky Williams is set to take a job coaching running backs at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, a small Catholic school that is moving to Division I this season.
| TEAM | CONF | OVR |
|---|---|---|
| Sam Houston State | 6-0 | 9-0 |
| SE Louisiana | 4-2 | 4-3 |
| Nicholls | 3-3 | 4-3 |
| Incarnate Word | 3-3 | 3-3 |
| Lamar | 2-4 | 2-4 |
| McNeese | 2-4 | 3-4 |
| Northwestern State | 1-5 | 1-5 |
| Stephen F. Austin | 1-0 | 6-4 |
| Central Arkansas | 0-0 | 5-4 |
| Houston Baptist | 0-0 | 1-3 |
| Abilene Christian | 0-1 | 1-5 |
