Week 5 Coaches Inc. Highlights

Getting a win in the NFL is hard. Getting a win after losing two starting offensive linemen in the same week is even harder, but that’s exactly what the Atlanta Falcons did on Sunday afternoon. Hats off to Falcons Assistant OL Coach Nick Jones on overcoming the injuries to help get a key division win.

Starting Center Drew Dalman and starting Right Tackle Kaleb McGary both suffered injuries in last week’s Sunday night loss to the Chiefs. The overall numbers for the Falcons offense didn’t stand out, 315 total yards, but they played well enough to win. The makeshift line only gave up 1 sack and helped the offense average 6.2 yards per play, 6.3 passing/5.9 rushing. Younghoe Koo kicked 4 FGs, including his career-best 58-yarder with 2 seconds remaining, and Atlanta added a defensive TD and a special teams TD to get the Falcons to .500 in a crucial head-to-head victory over divisional rival New Orleans. The Falcons will play in another prime time showdown against Tampa this Thursday night for 1st place in the NFC South.

Most good teams endure a game or two in which they don’t play their best but still find a way to win. That was the case for the Boston College Eagles who came back to beat Western Kentucky 21-20 on Saturday. BC was without their starting QB and erased a 13-point 4th quarter deficit, which was the largest comeback in BC history.

Eagles’ DL Coach Jeff Comissiong got a huge performance out of DE Donovan Ezeiruaku who had 14 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 QB hits and forced a fumble at the WKU 20 yard line to set up the game winning TD pass to secure the victory. Ezeiruaku is now 4th all-time in sacks for BC and the Eagles are 4-1 (1-0 ACC) as they head into conference play.

The Colorado Buffaloes traveled to Orlando to play UCF, who entered the game leading the country averaging 375.5 yards per game, in a Big 12 conference matchup. Colorado’s Travis Hunter continued his Heisman-worthy season with a TD and an INT, but it was a team effort that led to a convincing 48-21 road win.

The Buffaloes held UCF to 177 yards on the ground and although they gave up 461 total yards, they forced 4 turnovers. Safeties Coach Gabe Lynn saw his guys step up to the challenge as Carter Stoutmire had 6 tackles and Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig added 5. Silmon-Craig also had a 95-yard fumble return for a TD in the 4th quarter that cemented the win for the visitors who are now 4-1 (2-0 Big 12) and have won their last 3 games.

Eastern Michigan opened MAC play with a win over Kent State to move to 4-1 (1-0 MAC). Joining our previously-mentioned coaches in the 4-1 Club is especially noteworthy for EMU because it’s the Eagles first 4-1 start, and 1-0 start in the MAC, since their 2016 season.

Corners Coach Munir Prince and the Eagles defense complemented a dominant rushing attack led by RB Delbert Mimms III who had a career high 145 yards and 2 TDs. EMU’s defense forced 4 turnovers, 3 fumbles and an INT, and after being tied at 21 in the 3rd quarter, the Eagles went on a 23-0 run to put the game out of reach.

In one of the oldest rivalries in Texas, Saturday’s matchup at NRG Stadium was the first between the two schools as members of the FBS. Texas State looked to be in control after going up 15-0 before 6 minutes had elapsed in the game but the Sam Houston Bearkats never gave up and hit a FG to take their 1st and final lead of the game with 6 seconds remaining to win 40-39.

Passing Game Coordinator/WRs Coach Chris Buckner is in his second stint at Sam Houston after spending the 2022 season at Texas State. He endured last year’s Bearkat transition to the FBS in which the team was in many close games but couldn’t seem to figure out how to win. Something is different this year, as the Bearkats are now 4-1 (1-0 C-USA), eclipsing their 2023 win total of 3 with 7 games remaining.

Houston Christian took a 17-0 lead into the 2nd quarter and never looked back as they maintained a lead the entire game to beat Indiana State 27-24 on the road. It marked the first time the two FCS programs had played each other. Special Teams Coordinator/RBs Coach Chris Grimes and the Huskies had 12 rushing first downs and 215 yards on the ground. HCU had 5 punts and 2 of them pinned the Sycamores inside their own 20. Grimes is in his second season at HCU and was a part of HCU’s first ever winning season in 2023.

HC Brian Wright enjoyed great success as the Head Coach of Pitt State (D2) and took the job at Northern Arizona last offseason knowing there would be some challenges. So far, his team has outperformed expectations and beat #10 Sacramento State on Saturday to go 1-0 in conference play, 3-2 overall.

NAU easily handled lesser opponents, Lincoln (CA) and Utah Tech, by a combined score of 111-23, but came up short versus #20(FBS) Arizona and #15 UIW. The Lumberjacks led Arizona going into halftime but couldn’t convert a short 4th down conversion in the 3rd quarter that ended up shifting the momentum the other way. On the road at UIW, NAU dropped a TD pass on a 4th and goal from the 3 that would have cut the UIW lead to 3 in the 3rd quarter, and UIW responded with a 97-yard rushing TD as the game got away from NAU.

Saturday’s second half was a different story as NAU took over in the 3rd quarter with 17 straight points to put the game out of reach for Sac State. NAU’s dominant defense forced 4 turnovers and held Sacramento State to 231 yards of total offense with only 51 on the ground. NAU QB Ty Pennington, who followed Brian from Pitt State, completed 22 of 27 attempts for 275 yards and 2 TDs. It was also his 5th consecutive game without throwing an INT. With the win, NAU moved into the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 rankings for the first time this season.

In a weekend where adverse weather conditions affected many games, the Fort Valley vs Savannah State game was rescheduled from Saturday to Sunday and moved inland from Savannah to Fort Valley due to power outages in Savannah. HC Shawn Gibbs and the FVSU Wildcats weathered the storm and put together a dominant second half to post their second shutout of the season to move to 2-2 (2-1 SIAC). FVSU held Savannah State to just 9 1st downs, 163 total yards of offense and negative 7 rushing yards in addition to recovering 2 fumbles and forcing an INT. After kicking a FG to end the 2nd quarter, the Wildcats turned their 3-0 halftime lead into a 30-0 rout by the end of the day amassing 436 yards of total offense.

Shepherd had its second shutout of the season and added two big special teams plays that contributed to a 38-0 win over Shippensburg to open conference play. Special Teams Coordinator/DBs Coach Luke Wright’s kickoff team recovered a fumble at the Shippensburg 28 yard line to set up a Rams’ TD, increasing the lead to 21-0 midway through the 2nd quarter. Then, with less than a minute remaining in the half, Shepherd returned a punt 61 yards for a TD to make the score 28-0 going into halftime and the Rams never looked back.

A stout effort, led by Illinois Wesleyan Defensive Coordinator, Matt Williamson, propelled the Titans to a 35-0 shutout of Carthage College in their conference home opener. The dominating defensive showing was fueled by relentless effort in the Firebird backfield as the Titans totaled 7 tackles for loss, 6 sacks, and 6 QB hurries earning their first shut out since 2022. Illinois Wesleyan is now 2-1 and has won its last two games by a combined score of 90-7.