BY RALPH VENTRE
The order in which they started is the order in which they finished.
As the top of our NCAA Division I FCS Top 25 preseason ballot prognosticated, South Dakota State (14-1) proved to be the No. 1 team in the nation by defeating No. 2 North Dakota State (12-3) in the FCS Championship Game on January 8 in Frisco, Texas.
The 45-21 win completed South Dakota State’s perfect season against FCS opponents. The lone blemish on the Jackrabbits’ 14-1 overall record came at the hand of Music City Bowl champion Iowa. SDSU limited the Hawkeyes’ Big Ten offense to only three points, but finished on the short end of a 7-3 decision.
SDSU quarterback Mark Gronowski, who excelled as a rookie during the 2021 spring season before suffering a leg injury, was a highly-efficient field general over the course of the 2022 campaign. The 6-foot-3 Gronowski averaged 8.3 yards per pass while completing 65.2 percent of his attempts. He accounted for 38 touchdowns (26 pass, 12 rush) and was intercepted only five times in 15 games.
“Coming back to where I could win a national championship was my goal since the injury,” said Gronowski in a post-championship game interview with NCAA Digital. “There’s no better feeling in the world.”
No. 2 North Dakota State finished with a 12-0 record against FCS teams not named the Jackrabbits. South Dakota State posted a 23-21 regular season victory over the Bison in the annual Dakota Market game on October 15 before winning again in the postseason rematch. The NDSU Bison’s only other loss was a 31-28 decision at Pac 12 member Arizona on September 17.
Incarnate Word shot up the rankings throughout the season, finishing at No. 3 overall following a 35-32 semifinal round loss to North Dakota State.
UIW owned the No. 18 position on our preseason list. The UIW Cardinals’ offense, which excelled in 2021, was somewhat of an unknown after quarterback Cameron Ward left through the transfer portal, but Lindsey Scott quickly emerged as an ultra-competent successor en-route to capturing the Stats Perform Walter Payton Award.
Holy Cross surged from the No. 21 preseason ranking to No. 6 overall on the final ballot. Critics pointed to a “weak” conference strength of a schedule, but the Crusaders emphatically acquitted themselves in the FCS Playoffs. After a first round bye, Holy Cross posted 35-19 triumph over New Hampshire before making South Dakota State sweat in the quarterfinal round.
Crusaders’ dual threat quarterback Matthew Sluka produced 3,723 yards of total offense and 37 touchdowns (26 pass, 11 rush) in 13 games. He led all NCAA FCS quarterbacks in rushing with a 94.9 yards per game average.
Weber State and Fordham narrowly missed the cut for the preseason Top 25 ballot, but played their way onto the list early and remained there for the duration.
Weber State, which boasted a stingy pass defense that limited opponents to 5.16 yards per attempt, occupied the No. 8 slot on Talking Pigskin‘s final ballot. The Wildcats’ 10-3 record includes an early-season victory over FBS member Utah State and a FCS playoffs win over North Dakota.
Featuring the nation’s top-ranked offense (608.9 ypg), Fordham landed in the No. 14 spot on the final Top 25 listing.
The Rams and quarterback Tim DeMorat, who finished second overall in the Stats Perform Walter Payton Award voting, scored no fewer than 40 points in each of their 12 games. Fordham’s lone two regular season losses came against Arizona Bowl champion Ohio and No. 6 Holy Cross by a combined eight points.
Furman did not appear on Talking Pigskin’s preseason ballot, but finished at No. 9 overall. After posting a 7-1 record during SoCon regular season play despite being tabbed fourth in the coaches’ poll, the Paladins handled CAA member Elon, 31-6, in the FCS First Round. Furman nearly knocked off UIW the following week, but fell, 41-38.
Talking Pigskin’s Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Ballot
(submitted by Ralph Ventre)
- South Dakota State (14-1)
- North Dakota State (12-3)
- Incarnate Word (12-2)
- Montana State (12-2)
- Sacramento State (12-1)
- Holy Cross (12-1)
- Samford (11-2)
- Weber State (10-3)
- Furman (10-3)
- William & Mary (11-2)
- Richmond (9-4)
- Jackson State (12-1)
- New Hampshire (9-4)
- Fordham (9-3)
- Southeast Missouri State (9-3)
- Southeastern Louisiana
- North Dakota (7-5)
- Montana (8-5)
- Chattanooga (7-4)
- Elon (8-4)
- Mercer (7-4)
- Delaware (8-5)
- UC Davis (6-5)
- Idaho (7-5)
- Saint Francis (9-3)
TALKING PIGSKIN 
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