2025 Week 10 Coaches Inc. Highlights

Auburn fired Head Coach Hugh Freeze to keep the weekly streak of head coaches being fired in-season alive. Illinois DBs Coach Corey Parker and the Illini picked up their sixth win to secure bowl-eligibility and at the FCS level our guys at Lehigh and Tennessee Tech remained unbeaten with both teams moving into the Top 5 of the FCS polls. In D2 news, Albany State won again and will host the SIAC Championship game in two weeks.

Now for a special shoutout to William & Mary Special Teams Coordinator/OLBs Coach Darryl Blackstock whose special teams unit had a monumental day. The Tribe scored a TD on a fake FG on the first drive of the game to take a 7-0 lead, which would have been enough for a successful special teams day. However, the unit was not finished as they proceeded to block three punts to score three safeties. Stephon Hicks had two of the blocked punts, giving him three for the year for the best in the nation. Punter Carter Boyd had three of his four punts pin the opponent inside its own 20-yard line with one on the 10 and one on the 1. What a day!

NC State Director of Recruiting Alex Faulk and the Wolfpack gave the Homecoming crowd something to cheer about as they upset #8, and previously undefeated, Georgia Tech on Saturday. When constructing a roster, building depth is imperative and it was redshirt freshman RB Duke Scott who stole the show in his first career start. Filling in for the ACC’s leading rusher, Hollywood Smothers, Scott rushed for 196 yards on 24 carries and a TD. He also added 11 yards receiving to bring his total yards for the night to 207. Sophomore QB CJ Bailey, who got his starting job thanks to an injury to NC State’s starting QB last year, played one of his best games, completing 24 of 32 attempts for two TDs and added a rushing TD as well. The Pack is now 5-4 and needs to win just one of the last three games to reach bowl eligibility for the sixth straight season.

Mississippi State Head Coach Jeff Lebby had gone a season and a half without winning a conference game but that streak ended on Saturday thanks to some late game heroics. Down 14 in the fourth quarter, the Mississippi State offense rallied for 17-unasnwered to get the win. The Bulldogs got the ball back with just over 3 minutes left and the entire side, including the big guys up front guided by Assistant OL Coach Alex Jackson, showed determination to win. They converted two fourth down conversion attempts including the 18-yard TD catch and run to take the lead for good at 38-35. The Bulldogs are now 5-4, already showing a marked improvement over last year’s two-win season.

The Baylor Bears had lost two in a row heading into last weekend’s Homecoming game against UCF, who was coming off a bye week after a convincing 45-13 win over West Virginia. Not known for fast starts, the Baylor offense turned it on early as they scored on the first five drives of the game. Assistant WRs Coach Weston Glaser, who has previously coordinated defenses at the FCS level, helped get the passing game going as QB Sawyer Robertson passed for 267 yards and three TDs against UCF. Freshman RB Caden Knighten added a career-best 104 yards on the ground and the Bears easily won 30-3 to get to a 5-4 overall record and 3-3 conference record.  

The Jayhawks’ football program has raised expectations under Head Coach Lance Leipold and the back-to-back bowl games of 2022 and 2023 was the first such accomplishment in program history. Jayhawks’ Offensive Analyst Kelton Copeland joined the team in 2024 after winning a ton of games as the WRs Coach at Iowa, and with Saturday’s win, KU is just one win away from returning to a bowl. The Homecoming win was also the fourth straight, tying a school record. After going down 7-0 to Oklahoma State early, KU battled back to take a 10-7 lead and eventually established a 24-point lead in the fourth quarter in the dominant win. The Jayhawks had 232 yards rushing with three TDs and QB Jalon Daniels added two TDs through the air.

Assistant HC/Run Game Coordinator/OL Coach Darrell Funk joined the Sycamores’ staff after last season to help them face one of the toughest FCS schedules this year. Going into Saturday’s game at #4 South Dakota State, Indiana State had lost to five straight ranked FCS opponents and to AP #2 Indiana. The Sycamores finally got over the hump against SDSU, beating them 24-12 by posting two passing TDs, scoring on a 95-yard kickoff return, and winning the takeaway battle. The schedule doesn’t let up for Indiana State, as two of their final three games are also against ranked opponents, but a win like Saturday’s can turn a season around quickly.

The Towson Tigers scored 55 unanswered points in a 62-9 conference win on Saturday. The offense came on strong from the beginning and helped build a 42-3 halftime lead on the road. RBs Coach Harry Richards’ guy Al Wooten II started the Tigers’ scoring with a nine-yard TD reception and the RBs also accounted for three rushing TDs on the day. The Towson offense tallied 527 total yards and the special teams scored on a blocked punt in the end zone. After losing five of the last six games, Towson will try to use the momentum from this win to finish the season strong.

AIC Head Coach Dan Chipka was promoted to the full-time HC role after serving as the interim HC for the 2024 season. He started his tenure at AIC as a position coach in 2022 and was promoted to Offensive Coordinator in 2023. Clearly, he has earned this head coaching job. The longtime Toledo, OH area high school coach has his work cut out for him as last year’s four wins were the most by an AIC team since 2014. On Saturday, AIC scored a TD on its first possession and never trailed during the game. The Yellow Jackets outgained Post by close to 100 yards and racked up over 37 minutes of TOP. With two games left, the Yellow Jackets are not going to match last year’s win total, but Saturday’s 19-10 victory over Post ensured this season is not lost and they can build momentum for 2026.