AGS Game Of The Week, 2024 Week 3

[Chalupa Batman]

With 8 matchups between teams ranked in the top 40 this week, there is no shortage of GOTW candidates:


#39 Charleston Southern @ #28 Richmond Two teams off to surprising starts: Buccaneers trying to keep a good surprise going, Spiders trying to stop a bad surprise from continuing

#18 UAlbany @ #4 Idaho Rematch of last years quarterfinal game that went down to the final few minutes. This is the Great Danes’ best (and possibly only) chance at a ranked win, the Vandals try to continue their impressive start while starting their 3rd QB in 3 games

#30 Western Carolina @ # 23 Elon With a trip to Montana looming next week followed by an always tough SoCon schedule, this is looking like a must-win for the Catamounts. The Phoenix look for a solid win to build some momentum going into their conference schedule

#14 William & Mary @ #29 Wofford In the 2nd game of this weeks CAA/SoCon challenge, the Terriers try to keep their good start going, while the Tribe are look to show they are back to their 2022 form

#16 Mercer @ #12 Chattanooga Huge SoCon opener showdown between the two highest rated teams from the league

#15 Incarnate Word @ #8 Southern Illinois The Cardinals’ 2nd straight road game against a top-10 MVFC team, and their best remaining chance to impress the selection committee for seeding purposes. With the a game against SEMO next week and the MVFC always a grind, this is a pivotal game for the Salukis as well

#13 UC Davis @ #34 Southern Utah The Thunderbirds look to build off their FBS scalp last week. With 4 conference games looming against teams currently ranked in the top 11, this could be a must win game for the Aggies.

#20 Nicholls @ #11 Sac State First FCS game for both teams, each having played 2 FBS teams and showing some good flashes in all the games despite losing them all.

[MSUBobcat]

Mercer @ Chatty for me. Big implications for the SoCon autobid may already be on tap. Honorable mention to the Albany-Idaho rematch storyline and UIW-SIU since UIW played SDSU tighter than I expected for 2+ quarters before running out of steam. Interesting to see how they do against a ranked team that isn't the Jackrabbit Juggernaut.

[Outsider1]

I may be the oddball out, but I pick UC Davis vs Southern Utah for a couple of reasons: 1) There really isn't a huge stand-out game for me, several of them will be interesting to watch. A big SoCon opener is bigger to SoCon fans. I want to see how Idaho does because we have them the following week, but still not GOTW material. 2) I want to see how our UAC foe, SUU, does against a ranked FCS opponent. They are a dark horse and I know they are quite good.

[FUBeAR]

FUBeAR is attending Mercer @ Chatt with Mrs. FUBeAR; Chattanooga resident, Little Miss FUBeAR; and 2 of Little Miss FUBeAR’s Chattanooga-residing friends. So, he voted for that one.

Weather forecast presently looking VERY wet. Not sure which Team that might favor, but FUBeAR favors remaining dry. Will do a no-rain dance on Saturday morning and hope for the best.

GO BEARS! MAUL ‘EM!!

[RahRahRabbits]

I definitely understand most of you picking Mercer @ Chatty, should be a fun game to keep an eye on. I went with Albany's return trip to Idaho though. It will be interesting to see what a pretty different Albany team from last year does against the Fightin' Ecks who will be in their first non-FBS game of the year. Will Idaho take care of business and continue their upward climb? Or will they fall back down to Earth and chock the FBS games up to a whoops by Oregon and a mediocre to bad Wyoming team playing a mediocre game with a second half almost as abysmal offensively as the Griz?

[ElCid]

Had to go with Chatty/Mercer. It will determine who is in the driver's seat. At least for a bit. While the SOCON was more stratified last year that it has been in a long time, I got a feeling we are moving back to a free for all.

[FU_Paladin08]

Anxious to finally see Chatt against FCS competition.

[Preferred Walk-On]

William & Mary @ Wofford. CAA @ SoCon. Two teams where we (hopefully) get a glimpse of contender or pretender.

SoCon v. SoCon matchup doesn't matter (joking, of course), since there will end up being a three-way tie for the conference title where each Team 1 will have beaten Team 2 will have beaten Team 3 will have beaten Team 1. ;)

Incarnate Word @ Southern Illinois would have been my second choice. First, because I am MVFC-biased ;), and second, because SDSU and SIU do not play until Nov 16, but perhaps this game offers a glimpse into how deep (or not) the MVFC is.

[wcugrad95]

I’d say Western @ Elon is just as telling as Bill & Mary @ Wofford. WCU was thought of as a top-15 or so type team a week ago. Elon and the Tribe were top-25 type squads. Woffford has kind of burst on the scene after an unexpected start. So I think both games tell us about all 4 teams and both conferences. Was Western way overrated or did they just have “one of those” Saturdays? Is Wofford back? Or is the CAA simply a better conference?

I think those are two big games, but I’d still vote for Mercer and UTC because of the conference-related stakes.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

I went with Mercer/Chatty by a slim margin over IWU/SIU. I found significant equity in IWU's performance against #1 SDSU so getting a chance against another highly regarded MVFC opponent a week later is a great opportunity for IWU to make a statement nationally.

One game that wasn't list that I find interesting is Weber State at Lamar. Is Lamar the team that nearly beat a good Texas State squad or the one that slept walked past anemic Mississippi Valley State? I haven't bought into Weber State in a couple years so this is a chance to get a good road win imo. Lamar is an intriguing program/school. There's potential there...

Nicholls @ Sac State is also spicy. I think the Colonels put a modest upset....

[MR. CHICKEN]

I went with Mercer/Chatty by a slim margin over IWU/SIU. I found significant equity in IWU's performance against #1 SDSU so getting a chance against another highly regarded MVFC opponent a week later is a great opportunity for IWU to make a statement nationally.

One game that wasn't list that I find interesting is Weber State at Lamar. Is Lamar the team that nearly beat a good Texas State squad or the one that slept walked past anemic Mississippi Valley State? I haven't bought into Weber State in a couple years so this is a chance to get a good road win imo. Lamar is an intriguing program/school. There's potential there...

Nicholls @ Sac State is also spicy. I think the Colonels put a modest upset....

.....AH...LIKE THE DESCRIPTION........AWK!

[Reign of Terrier]

Wofford is back when I proclaim them to be back (please note: proclaiming isn’t the same as saying. I’ve been saying wofford is back 9 of the last 5 times they’ve been back). A win this week doesn’t ensure it, but it puts us on the trajectory, as I don’t see a 3-0 Wofford dropping half of our socon games.

As for game of the week, i voted mercer vs chattanooga and it’s pretty simple why. It’s very possible that Wofford, UTC and mercer are the top 3 socon teams. The latest game of the bunch is october 19th or so. If that’s the case, we could have settled the conference championship in the first half of the season and if they are truly top 3, they could each climb the rankings through the final month and be top 12.

Am I probably throwing most of the socon under the bus? Yeah. But I feel safe at this point saying all of the other teams, sans ETSU have some big flaws that have revealed themself at this point. I’m not convinced Hatcher has a playoff or championship defense, and vmi/furman/citadel are all rebuilding. Western is struggling way too much for comfort.

[Milktruck74]

Well one day out and it appears the AGS faithful have spoken loudly that the GOTW is Mercy @ Chattanooga. I picked this game because it is the one I was most looking forward to seeing, but that is only because my Mocs are playing in it.

So, do we pick the game that we feel will be the most entertaining, closest matchup, the game with the biggest implications? How do you select GOTW?

[MR. CHICKEN]

W. CAROLINA @ ELON

REASON?............SPICY!

[Chalupa Batman]

Well one day out and it appears the AGS faithful have spoken loudly that the GOTW is Mercy @ Chattanooga. I picked this game because it is the one I was most looking forward to seeing, but that is only because my Mocs are playing in it.

So, do we pick the game that we feel will be the most entertaining, closest matchup, the game with the biggest implications? How do you select GOTW?

I think it varies by poster to poster, and honestly even for me it can vary week to week. Sometimes it's the two highest ranked teams, sometimes it's the one that could have the biggest playoff implications, sometimes it's between 2 teams that are both facing their first challenging opponent and I'm interested in seeing if either of them are for real, sometimes it's the game I'm most interested in seeing other than my own teams game. This week I went with the last one as Chatty/Mercer is the one I'm looking forward to the most.


7 out of 8 games received votes, with 6 of those getting multiple votes. Should be an exciting weekend in the FCS!

[ElCid]

I think it varies by poster to poster, and honestly even for me it can vary week to week. Sometimes it's the two highest ranked teams, sometimes it's the one that could have the biggest playoff implications, sometimes it's between 2 teams that are both facing their first challenging opponent and I'm interested in seeing if either of them are for real, sometimes it's the game I'm most interested in seeing other than my own teams game. This week I went with the last one as Chatty/Mercer is the one I'm looking forward to the most.


7 out of 8 games received votes, with 6 of those getting multiple votes. Should be an exciting weekend in the FCS!

I really like all your rational. Pretty much how I view it. In other words, it depends.

[MSUBobcat]

Well one day out and it appears the AGS faithful have spoken loudly that the GOTW is Mercy @ Chattanooga. I picked this game because it is the one I was most looking forward to seeing, but that is only because my Mocs are playing in it.

So, do we pick the game that we feel will be the most entertaining, closest matchup, the game with the biggest implications? How do you select GOTW?

Yes.

[JALMOND]

I went with Mercer/Chattanooga. Similar to my off the board choice last week of Portland State/Weber State (albeit with better teams), a September must win conference game for both. Should be entertaining.

[BlueGoldAg]

I picked UC Davis @ Southern Utah not just because I'm an Aggie fan but also because I don't think we really know just how good UC Davis might be or might not be and Southern Utah will be a good road test for them. The Aggies dominated Cal in the first half but fell apart in the 3rd quarter and failed to take advantage of their red zone opportunities. Then, at home against TAMC, they had a chance to take a big lead in the first half and again in the 3rd quarter but, once again, they failed to get TD's in the red zone. Our defense is pretty banged up at the moment and we'll be missing two of our top defensive players, safety Rex Connors and his twin brother LB Porter Connors, so we'll get to see what kind of depth we have also.