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The winning streak is over.
Stephen F. Austin’s school record 9-0 start came to a halt on Saturday in Beaumont, Texas.
Four turnovers by the Lumberjacks (two fumbles and two interceptions) proved quite costly in a 45-28 loss to Southland Conference foe Lamar University. The Cardinals improved to 8-2 for the season.
Lamar seized the momentum early and held a 17-7 halftime lead over the high-scoring Lumberjacks. SFA pulled within three points at 17-14 early in the third quarter. The Cardinals quickly answered with a touchdown of their own. Lamar never trailed in this game.
Both teams are now 6-1 in Southland Conference play.
Lamar now holds the head-to-head tiebreaker to determine the conference champion.
The Cardinals will host 3-7 East Texas A&M on Saturday and close the regular season with a tough road game at 5-5 McNeese in Lake Charles.
SFA travels to 4-5 UT-Rio Grande to play the Vaqueros this Saturday. The Lumberjacks will host winless Northwestern State (0-10) on Thursday, November 19 to end the regular season.
Both Lamar and SFA are likely to earn a spot in the upcoming 24-team FCS playoffs with two more wins.
Tarleton State reaches 10-0 with a most unusual victory
The term “stats are for losers” was absolutely right when describing Saturday’s game between visiting Abilene Christian and unbeaten Tarleton State.
The 10-0 Texans (the only unbeaten team remaining in the FCS) raced to a 14-0 first quarter lead and never trailed in this game. It’s a good thing they got off to a fast start.
Abilene Christian kept the football for the vast majority of this rather odd United Athletic Conference game.
The visiting Wildcats controlled the ball for an astounding 43 ½ minutes of this game compared to only 16 ½ minutes for the victorious Texans. ACU rolled-up 25 first downs compared to just 14 for Tarleton State.
Final score? Tarleton State 40, Abilene Christian 27.
Texans quarterback Kaden Anderson passed just nine times during this game. However, he completed seven of those passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns.
It was the seventh game of the season in which top-ranked Tarleton State tallied 40 or more points.
It’s a So-Con Showdown this Saturday in Tennessee!
There’s a new kid in town trying to make-off with the So-Con football title in their first year in the conference.
The Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles flew the coop from its long-time roost in the Ohio Valley Conference beginning this season. Southern Conference football teams are now finding out that 9-1 Tennessee Tech is a force to be reckoned with.
Enter Mercer.
The 8-2 Bears have been a frequent representative of the So-Con in the FCS playoffs. They must travel to Cookeville, Tennessee (east of Nashville) on Saturday to play the surging Golden Eagles.
Kickoff is at 1:30PM CST on ESPN+.
Tennessee Tech averages 36 points per game this year. Mercer’s defense is #6 in the FCS and has allowed only 16 points per outing. Something’s gotta give.
Both of these teams qualified for the FCS playoffs in 2025. This should be a terrific match-up!
It’s a trap (game)! Campbell’s Fighting Camels travel into uncharted waters
Campbell University’s football team has been one of the best feel-good stories of the 2026 FCS season. The Fighting Camels improved to 8-2 on Saturday after taking a 45-38 home victory over Stony Brook (now 5-5).
Campbell has been playing in the FCS since 2008 and has never won more than six football games in the regular season – before this year.
The 2026 Fighting Camels are now involved in the school’s first football title chase in the Coastal Athletic Association. Campbell is one game behind CAA leader Monmouth (also 8-2) with two games left to play.
A regular season home finale showdown against the Monmouth Hawks is less than two weeks away. A first-ever conference title and berth in the FCS playoffs may be on the line.
But don’t lose sight of this week’s important game, Campbell fans!
Elon University (located near Greensboro, NC) and Campbell are about 90 miles apart. The 5-5 Phoenix have won six or more games every year for the past five seasons.
Elon’s freshman running back Kamerin McDowell-Moore is having one heck of a rookie season. He is #3 in the entire FCS with 1,353 rushing yards in just ten games this year.
On the other side of the ball, Campbell quarterback Kamden Sixkiller is leading the FCS in passing with 3,016 yards through ten games.
Something’s gotta give on Saturday in North Carolina!
Elon will be trying to wreck Campbell University’s dream of winning its first conference title and making its initial FCS playoff appearance with an upset win this week.
Did someone just mention the word “Fighting”?
Grambling State University has a long history of successful football teams.
Legendary coach and strict disciplinarian Eddie Robinson may be turning over in his grave if he knew how his former school’s football team has been conducted itself over the past two years.
In November, 2025, a halftime brawl broke out at Grambling’s Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium in a game against Bethune-Cookman.
When the dust cleared, 18 Grambling players were suspended and nine from Bethune-Cookman.
GSU was fined $40,000. Bethune-Cookman was hit with a $25,000 fine for participating in last November’s amateurish slugfest.
History repeated itself in north Louisiana last Saturday. This time it was a different opponent.
The 4-5 G-men lost at home to 6-3 University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions in a close 35-32 game.
Numerous Grambling and UAPB football players then got into a large post-game brawl on the field for several minutes.
This year’s pugilistic carnage scorecard totaled 14 two-game suspensions for Grambling players plus nine similar suspensions for UAPB’s faux boxers.
Both schools were slapped with a $25,000 fine for failure to control their football players.
And where is Grambling is traveling to play this Saturday?
Yes, the Fighting Tigers from Grambling will face-off with 2025 sparring partner Bethune-Cookman (now 5-5) at Daytona Stadium in Florida.
The opening bell is slated for 12 Noon CST.
Let’s swing through the SwampSwamiSports.com FCS Top 25 for the week ending Saturday, November 7, 2026:
