Sewanee, TN – WEEK TWO starts with Brevard at Sewanee, you ask? Who? What? Why? I reach back into my Division-3 roots as a graduate of Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA. Like the previous week, made a decision to keep costs down early for more enticing trips to big games later in the season. No game tickets on sale for this one. However, a $20 parking fee provides a tailgate spot and a seat at Hardee-McGee Field. Also, works well for a good opportunity to consolidate two local games into one Saturday.
In addition, my Guest Game Analyst (GGA) this week actually played for Sewanee in the late 60’s. David Oakley, I refer to call him “our social director” at my gym, convinced me to join his fantasy football league called GymFriends+. Because of my inability to focus much on pro games, I reciprocated to invite him to see his struggling alma mater play for his first time in years. He returns back on campus this Saturday to join me. Hopefully, the atmosphere that day will conjure up some of his football memories. Maybe his mind will clear during our WEEK Two. Playing halfback at Sewanee, he doesn’t remember wearing a face mask!
A brief Sewanee football History
From 1934-1939, Sewanee played as a charter member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). During those seasons, they won only 16 games. None came against any SEC programs of today. The University of the South left the conference to later bounce around among several conference. Today, even at the D-3 level, they still clamor for success. The Tigers enjoyed their last winning season in 2000 with a record of 6-4. For more about Sewanee football history, click here. In 1899, they defeated Alabama, Georgia and Texas among others and within about a week.
Sewanee: Committed to turn football around
Fed up with losing, to get back on track in 2022, The University of the South hired Andy McCollum as its new HC. McCollum coached Middle Tennesse in nearby Murfreesboro from 1999-2005 leading the Blue Raiders into Division 1A football (now the FBS). We happened to add MTSU as our 64th major football program in 2000 when they visited the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT. McCollum’s team blasted the Huskies, our 65th team added that day, 66-10.
McCollum took over a Sewanee Tiger program that won two games during the previous four seasons before his arrival. He now holds a record of 5-15 after his first two. So, progress has been made. Last season, the offense averaged 20.7 ppg while the defense allowed 30 ppg. They finished 2-8 overall and 1-6 in the Southern Athletic Association. Good news indicates that his passing and rushing leader, QB Alcorin Thomas returns for his junior season. Second leading rusher, Dawson White, returns as a sophomore. Also, his leading wide receiver, Dyer Barnes and his leading TE Cooper Alford both come back to SU as juniors. The Tigers stated out on the right foot last week defeating Bethany of West Virginia, 41-6.
Meet the Brevard College Tornados
HC Bill Khayat took over the Brevard program in 2017 that had only one winning season ever prior to his hire. Since then, the Tornados have mounted a record of 42-32. In his third season, his team finished 8-2 including a Bowl win over Carnegie-Mellon. Since then, his teams have challenged for first place in the USA South Atlantic Conference annually. Amazingly for a school of 713 students in Brevard about 35 miles south of Ashville, NC, at least 113 players make up the football roster (15% of all Brevard students). Reportedly, more make up a JV roster. Last season, the Tornados finished 6-3 and 5-2 in conference play.
Brevard looks to rebound
On offense, QB Ethan Beamish returns with 2,093 passing yards and 25 TDs for an offense that averaged 36 ppg. Leading rushers and receivers have moved on. USA Southern Division recognized Beamish as their second team QB last season. At LB, Baylee Ramey returns after earning Honorable Mention and leading the Tornados in tackles. Seniors and graduate students led many stats on both sides of the football for Brevard last season. Many starters from last year need to be replaced. Coach Khayat will invite a lot of competition for open spots in this year’s starting lineup. In their opener last Saturday at Kentucky Christian, the result indicated changes remain ahead. The Tornados fell, 41-20.
WEEK Two: Family Day at Sewanee’s Hardee-McGee Field
Throw out last year’s records. Seems like this could be a fun and competitive football game to watch between these D-3 programs in a non-conference battle for both. Development of new players and strategies by both coaching staffs will weigh heavily in this game. McCollum and Khayat both look to get their teams on a winning track early in 2025. And hopefully, bringing our GGA back to his alma mater on Family Day will stir some memories with some stories about Dave’s “glory days” at Sewanee.
Collegefootballfan.com looks forward to attending this game without TV time-outs and instant replay delays – just flat-out football. We figure this game gets over in time to put us on the road to an FCS game a couple of hours away. Morehead State visits Ausin Peay in Clarksville, TN. The Eagles and Governors kickoff at 6 pm. Even if a little late, we hope to see some good FCS football.
WEEK Two: Austin Peay Rises
Former HC Scotty Walden brought intensity. spirit and energy to the APSU program before taking over as Head Coach at UTEP in 2024. Under Walden, we saw the Governors go 3-2. New HC Jeff Faris comes into his second year with the Governors following a 4-8 season, 3-5 in the new United Athletic Conference (UAC). Walden took a lot of Austin Peay talent with him to El Paso. Faris gleaned much of his coaching experience at Duke under David Cutcliffe as OC and QB coach.
Austin Peay opened against FBS programs at Middle Tennessee and followed at No. 4 Georgia. On WEEK One, they handed the MTSU Blue Raiders a 34-14 loss in Murfreesboro. In WEEK Two, they made the mighty No. 4 SEC Bulldogs struggle to a 28-6 win. This Weeks’ FCS Coaches poll vaulted them to NO. 23 in the Top 25. A preseason UAC Coaches Poll predicted they will finish sixth in conference play this season. Things are looking up for the Governors.
Ready to soar over Eagles?
We’ll look for three Governors who earned placement on the UAC Coaches Preseason All-Conference Team. DB Ellis Ellis, Jr. (that’s not a typo) made 11tackles (8 solo) and recovered a fumble against the Bulldogs. OL Chandler Kirton has logged three solid seasons to be noticed at APSU. PK Carson Smith impressed on 13 of 20 FGs including his longest from 56 yards in 2024. Last week, he booted field goals of 42 and 43 yards in front of 93,000 at Sanford Stadium.
Building around his quarterback
Coach Faris developed QBs at Duke. He continues a work-in-progress here. QB Austin Smith led all Governor rushers last season in addition to stellar performances in the passing game. However, Chris Smith, a redshirt Soph, took over in WEEK Zero of this season. He’s completed 27 0f 43 tosses for 293 yards, two TDs and an INT. Thus far in two games, the Governors average only 97.5 yards per game. WR Jaden Barnes returns as a favorite target snagging 58 passes for 1,083 yards and nine TDs. Defensively, DB Jarden Lyles led the team in 96 tackles and an INT. Austin Peay will be looking for more aggressive play from its defensive front.
Morehead moving ahead
The Morehead State Eagles play in the Pioneer League. In 2024 under first-year HC Jason Woodman, they finished 7-5,5-3. Woodman cut his coaching teeth at LSU under Nick Saban and Les Miles. He coached successfully for ten seasons at Fairmount State (WV), a D-2 program in the Mountain East Conference. Morehead appears on our schedule here for the first time. Like the Governors, the Morehead offense will be built around their returning QB, Carter Cravens.
Cravens career thus far totals 4,013 passing yards and 24 TDs. The Pioneer League Coaches selected him as preseason All-Conference QB. Among other All-Conference selections, they named WR Ryan Upp with his 42 grabs for 573 yards and five TDs. On defense, LB Luke Bauer garnered 50 tackles in 2024 including 12 for losses and 4.5 sacks. Among other returnees, Issac Stopke leads RBs with his 290 yards and three TDs. Defensively, Matthew McClelland recorded 109 stops, four INTs, and four pass break-ups.
Eagles downed against FCS Cardinals
Against Illinois State last Saturday, the Eagles (1-1) got stomped, 41-13. They started with the first score, but trailed at the half, 17-6. Cravens completed 14 of 28 passes for 134 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Stopke gained 86 yards on 13 carries. ISU added ten points in the third. After Cravens connected with Montez Green for a 14-yard TD pass, ISU scored two more TDs to finalize the score.
Austin Peay vs. Morehead State looks entertaining
Rebuilding at the FCS level, both squads look to develop their rosters before their respective conference slates begin. Both teams seek improvement from returning players and seek to find talent to move up to step in where needed. With Austin Peay’s performance at Georgia last week, the Governors may have gain some confidence and will be looking to demonstrate that this Saturday. We hope we found this opportunity to find a much more competitive game than we initially planned (Stetson U. at UT Chattanooga).
Looking ahead to Big Ten Coaching concerns
In upcoming games after WEEK Three, we step up into two weekends of critical Big Ten Battles. On September 20, we see No. 9 Illinois visit No. 22 Indiana for our first trip ever to Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, IN. Aside from Duke last week against the Illini to some extent, neither B1G program has been challenged. Respectively, they face Indiana State and Western Michigan this week. On September 27, a big one in State College, PA. No. 4 Oregon (2-0) has won games on a combined score of 128-16. Maybe they will find a challenge at Northwestern (1-1) this week or in state rival Oregon State (0-2) the following week. We tend to doubt it.
Seen this Act before
No. 2 Penn State (2-0) on the other hand dominated two foes easily, 76-11. No doubt, FCS Villanova presents no roadblock this weekend before the Nittany Lions have bye week leading up to Oregon. Last week, we questioned the readiness of players teams prepped to meet superior teams after month of early season dominance. Today, we pose the question: are the coaches ready to meet the challenge of coaching games that will be tight? Dan Lanning’s squad defeated James Franklin’s in the Big Ten championship last season, 45-37. With Franklin’s rep for not displaying any profound coaching prowess in any big game, we have a pretty good idea which way will go – White-out or no White-out!
Collegefootballfan.com 42 Week Two Records and Rankings
Power Five
| 2025 – The Collegefootallfan.com 42 | ||||||
| Power 5 | Record | Rank | Our Game | Date | Result | Next |
| Arkansas | 2-0 | Mississippi State | Nov. 1 | |||
| Auburn | 2-0 | 24 | Missouri | Oct. 18 | ||
| California | 2-0 | at Oregon State | Aug. 30 | W 34-15 | ||
| Illinois | 2-0 | 9 | at Indiana | Sept. 20 | ||
| Indiana | 2-0 | 22 | Illinios | Sept. 20 | ||
| Kentucky | 1-1 | at Vanderbilt | Nov. 22 | |||
| Mississippi State | 2-0 | at Arkansas | Nov. 1 | |||
| Missouri | 2-0 | 25 | at Auburn | Oct. 18 | ||
| North Carolina | 1-1 | at Wake Forest | Nov. 15 | |||
| Notre Dame | 0-1 | 8 | Navy | Nov. 8 | ||
| Oregon | 2-0 | 4 | Montana State | Aug. 30 | W 59-13 | Penn State |
| Oregon State | 0-2 | California | Aug. 30 | L 34-15 | ||
| Penn State | 2-0 | 2 | Oregon | Sept. 27 | ||
| Vanderbilt | 2-0 | Kentucky | Nov. 22 | |||
| Wake Forest | 2-1 | North Carolina | Nov. 15 | |||
Group of Five (or Six)
| Group of 5 | Record | Rank | Our Game | Date | Result | Next |
| Air Force | 1-0 | at Navy | Oct. 4 | |||
| Arkansas State | 1-1 | at South Alabama | Oct. 14 | |||
| Army | 1-1 | Navy (Balt) | Dec. 13 | |||
| Delaware | 1-1 | at Jack St. | Oct. 15 | |||
| Georgia State | 0-2 | South Alabama | Oct. 23 | |||
| Jacksonville State | 1-1 | Delaware | Oct. 15 | |||
| Missouri State | 1-1 | at MTSU | Oct. 8 | |||
| MTSU | 0-2 | Missouri State | Oct. 8 | |||
| Navy | 2-0 | Air Force | Oct. 4 | at ND | ||
| Rice | 1-1 | at South Florida | Nov. 29 | |||
| Sam Houston | 0-2 | at Western Kentucky | Aug. 23 | L 41-24 | ||
| South Alabama | 1-1 | Arkansas State | Oct. 14 | at GA State | ||
| South Florida | 2-0 | 18 | Rice | Nov. 29 | ||
| Western Kentucky | 2-1 | Sam Houston | Aug. 23 | W 41-24 |
Football Championship Subdivision (FCS)
| FCS | Record | Rank | Our Game | Date | Result | Next |
| Austin Peay | 1-1 | 23 | Morehead State | Sept. 13 | ||
| Montana State | 0-1 | 6 | at Oregon | Aug. 30 | L 59-13 | |
| Morehead State | 1-1 | at Austin Peay | Sept. 13 | |||
| North Dakota State | 2-0 | 1 | at Tennessee State | Sept. 6 | W 59-3 | |
| SE Missouri State | at Tennessee Tech | Oct. 25 | ||||
| Tennessee State | 1-1 | North Dakota State | Sept. 6 | L 59-3 | ||
| Tennessee Tech | 1-0 | 16 | SE Missouri State | Oct. 25 |
Division III
| D-III | Record | Rank | Our Game | Date | Result | Next |
| Bates | at Tufts | Oct. 11 | ||||
| Brevard | 0-1 | at Sewanee | Sept. 13 | |||
| Christopher Newport | 1-0 | at Castleton State | Oct. 11 | |||
| Sewanee | 1-0 | Brevard | Sept. 13 | |||
| Tufts | Bates | Oct. 11 | ||||
| VT State – Castleton | 1-0 | Christopher Newport | Oct. 11 |
And our tales keep rolling along, but catch our 45 previous seasons of games!
Click on the title of my book about this life-long adventure: Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun, and the Ugly on Amazon.com. Read the reviews on the book page and get your copy today! If you’re trying to follow NILs and transfer portals, read what we predicted in 2023 and more. You’ll see we know what we’re talking about. In addition, we offered solutions to issues occurring that we anticipated when we wrote this book. Based on our game story above, this fun, unique life-long Journey continues. Catch up on the last 45 years, and then please submit a review. We hope you will get a kick out of our great adventure having seen every (well 134) FBS team play over the years! Two newest to be added later this season.
Edited by and photos taken by Steve Koreivo – Member of Football Writers Association of America and Author of Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun and the Ugly.
