FCS Playoffs 2021: Round 3 Schedule, Bracket After Round 2 Results

The chalk nearly held all the way in the Division I FCS tournament, with seven of the eight seeded teams advancing to the quarterfinals on Saturday.

South Dakota State spoiled that party with a 24-19 win over No. 4 Sacramento State on Saturday evening.

Some teams enjoyed dominant wins, like No. 3 James Madison crushing Southeastern Louisiana 59-20 behind six total touchdowns from Cole Johnson.

Others did not, as No. 1 Sam Houston State, No. 5 Villanova and No. 7 Eastern Tennessee State all won one-possession nail-biters.

Here's a look at all the results, the latest bracket and recaps of every game Saturday.

        

Second-Round Results

No. 1 Sam Houston St. 49, University of Incarnate Word 42

No. 2 North Dakota St. 38, Southern Illinois 7

No. 3 James Madison 59, Southeastern Louisiana 20

South Dakota St. 24, No. 4 Sacramento St. 19

No. 5 Villanova 21, Holy Cross 16

No. 6 Montana 57, Eastern Washington 41

No. 7 Eastern Tennessee St. University 32, Kennesaw St. 31

No. 8 Montana St. 26, University of Tennessee-Martin 7

       

Quarterfinal Matchups (All Times ET)

Friday, Dec. 10 (7 p.m.): No. 3 James Madison vs. No. 6 Montana

Sat., Dec 11 (12 p.m.): No. 2 North Dakota St. vs. No. 7 East Tennessee State University

Sat., Dec 11 (2 p.m.): No. 5 Villanova vs. South Dakota St.

Sat., Dec 11 (7:30 p.m.): No. 1 Sam Houston St. vs. No. 8 Montana St.

       

Second-Round Recaps

No. 1 Sam Houston St. 49, University of Incarnate Word 42

Sam Houston St. rushed for 346 yards and five touchdowns as the Bearkats held off a valiant upset attempt from the University of Incarnate Word in a 49-42 win.

Ramon Jefferson led SHSU for 166 yards and two scores. Eric Schmid ran in for three yards with 2:07 left for the game-winning touchdown. 

UIW quarterback Cameron Ward threw for 481 yards and five touchdowns. Darion Chafin was his top target with 11 receptions, 172 yards and two scores.

UIW overcame a 31-14 deficit to tie the game at 42 with 7:50 left after Ward found Trevor Begue for a 62-yard score.

SHSU responded with the Schmid touchdown, but UIW drove down the field and found itself with a 1st-and-goal at the 10-yard line.

Three plays later, UIW faced a 4th-and-goal from the 4-yard line. Ward tried to run it in himself, but he was tackled at the one.

      

No. 2 North Dakota St. 38, Southern Illinois 7

North Dakota State ran for 389 yards and five touchdowns as the Bison crushed Southern Illinois 38-7.

TaMerick Williams led the Bison with 17 carries for 112 yards and two touchdowns, both of which occurred from one yard out.

Southern Illinois wide receiver Landon Lenoir caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Nic Baker on the first play of the second quarter, and the point-after attempt cut the Bison lead to 10-7.

NDSU then scored 28 unanswered points to end the game.

     

No. 3 James Madison 59, Southeastern Louisiana 20

Antwane Wells Jr. caught six passes for 123 yards and three touchdowns as James Madison crushed Southeastern Louisiana 59-20.

Johnson's aforementioned 321-yard day through the air included touchdown passes of 22, 63, 57, 21 and 31 yards. The Dukes' explosive offense helped JMU outscore Southeastern Louisiana 52-3 from late in the first quarter to the end of the third. They led 59-13 after three quarters.

Cole Kelley threw for 397 yards and two touchdowns (three interceptions) for the Lions, while Austin Mitchell caught nine passes for 129 yards and one score..

    

South Dakota St. 24, Sacramento St.  19

South Dakota St. jumped out to a 24-0 second-quarter lead before hanging on for dear life en route to a 24-19 win.

SDSU relied on a solid running game to win this one. Isaiah Davis rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, while Pierre Strong Jr. added 74 rushing yards and another score.

Their combined efforts led to the 24-3 halftime lead before Sacramento State began to chip away at the lead.

Sacramento State quarterback Jake Dunniway found Pierre Williams for a three-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. Kyle Sentkowski added a 48-yard field goal in the fourth before Sacramento State went on a 13-play, 89-yard touchdown drive capped by an Asher O'Hara one-yard pass to Isaiah Gable, making the score 24-19.

Sacramento State then went for the onside kick, but it was unsuccessful, thus ending any shot at completing the comeback.

Dunniway threw for 331 yards and one touchdown (two interceptions). Williams led the team with seven catches for 100 yards.

    

No. 5 Villanova 21, Holy Cross 16

Justin Covington rushed for 62 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Wildcats to a 21-16 win.

Jalen Jackson added another rushing touchdown for a Villanova team that rushed for 148 yards on Friday evening.

Crusaders quarterback Matthew Sluka did it all for Holy Cross, throwing for 169 yards and adding 106 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground. Running back Jordan Fuller also threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Sean Morris.

Holy Cross trailed 14-0 at halftime, but Sluka's three-yard touchdown run with 6:22 remaining cut the deficit to 21-16. The Crusaders forced the Wildcats to punt and got the ball back with 3:43 left with a chance to take the lead, but their drive stalled on the Villanova 39-yard line.

  

No. 6 Montana 57, Eastern Washington 41

Eastern Washington quarterback Eric Barriere's 530-yard, five-touchdown passing day wasn't enough for the Eagles to beat Montana, which took this second-round game by a 57-41 score.

Montana rushed for 208 yards and three touchdowns. Samuel Akem led the Grizzlies with five catches for 104 yards and two scores.

Talolo Lumu-Jones and Andrew Boston both had 14 catches for the Eagles. Limu-Jones recorded 215 yards and two touchdowns, while Boston added 141 yards and another score.

Montana scored 20 unanswered points over the second and third quarters to turn a 21-10 deficit into a 31-20 lead. Limu-Jones scored his first touchdown in response, but the Grizzlies then scored another 20 unanswered points for a 50-28 lead. Akem scored two touchdowns in that stretch.

Limu-Jones scored his second TD in response to keep EWU's hopes alive, and the Eagles defense then stopped Montana. However, a Justin Ford pick-six of Barriere with two minutes left all but ended the game.

    

No. 7 Eastern Tennessee St. University 32, Kennesaw St. 31

Eastern Tennessee State staged one of the season's best comebacks after scoring 15 unanswered points in the final 1:28 to beat Kennesaw State 32-31.

ETSU trailed 31-17 after a Nathan Robertson 45-yard field goal gave Kennesaw State a 14-point edge. The Buccaneers then went on a 13-play, 78-yard drive capped by Will Huzzie's 12-yard touchdown catch from Tyler Riddell. The quarterback previously found Quay Holmes for a 12-yard pass on a 4th-and-5 to keep the drive alive.

ETSU needed to recover an onside kick to keep its season going, and it did just that. The Buccaneers then started their game-winning drive on the KSU 48-yard line.

Two Riddell pass completions to Nate Adkins went for 39 combined yards and gave the Buccaneers a 1st-and-goal on the KSU nine-yard line. Three plays later, Riddell found Holmes for a four-yard touchdown with 35 seconds left.

Instead of settling for a tie with the extra point, ETSU decided to go for two and took the lead when Adkins caught a Riddell pass. KSU turned the ball over on downs in response, securing an improbable victory for the Bucs.

Holmes had 182 total yards and three scores to lead ETSU. Jonathan Murphy led KSU with 164 rushing yards and two touchdowns. 

    

No. 8 Montana St. 26, University of Tennessee-Martin 7

Montana State ran away from the University of Tennessee-Martin in the second half on the way to a 26-7 win.

MSU led just 10-7 at halftime after Tennessee-Martin's Jay Woods recovered a fumble and returned it 68 yards for a touchdown with 16 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

However, MSU's defense came to play, shutting out the Tennessee-Martin offense while holding the unit to just 178 total yards. Meanwhile, the Bobcats gained 438 total yards, with the rushing attack contributing 387 of them in addition to all three MSU touchdowns.

Quarterback Tommy Mellott had 180 rushing yards and two scores, and Isaiah Ifanse added 176 more on the ground plus the remaining TD. The biggest play was a 73-yard Mellott run to give Montana State a 19-7 fourth-quarter lead.