2009 NCAA Division I FCS season

Regular season
Number of teams	125
Duration	August – November
Payton Award	Armanti Edwards^[1]
Buchanan Award	Arthur Moats^[2]
Playoff
Duration	November 28 – December 18
Championship date	December 18, 2009
Championship site	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee
Champion	Villanova
NCAA Division I FCS football seasons
«2008 2010»

The 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season, the 2009 season of college football for teams in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), began in August 2009 and concluded with the 2009 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game on December 18, 2009, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, won by Villanova 23–21 over Montana.^[3]

Rule changes for 2009

The NCAA football rules committee proposed several rule changes for 2009.^[4] Before these rules were officially adopted, the proposals had to be approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel. The rule changes include the following:

If the home team wears colored jerseys, the visiting team may also wear colored jerseys; so long as the two teams have agreed to do so.
If the punter carries the ball outside of the tackle box, he is no longer protected under the roughing the kicker penalty.
Deliberately grabbing the chin strap is now included as part of the face mask penalty.
The edge of the tackle box is defined as being 5 yards to the left and right of the snapper, rather than 2 parallel lines from the position of the offensive tackles.

FCS team wins over FBS teams

September 3 – Villanova 27, Temple 24
September 5 – Richmond 24, Duke 16
September 5 – William & Mary 26, Virginia 14
September 12 – New Hampshire 23, Ball State 16
September 19 – Central Arkansas 28, Western Kentucky 7

Notable upsets

August 27 – Quincy 26, Indiana State 20 ^OT (Division II over Division I FCS)
September 5 – Arkansas-Monticello 27, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 3 (Division II over Division I FCS)
September 5 – Shaw 20, Bethune-Cookman 6 (Division II over Division I FCS)
September 5 – Saint Joseph's (IN) 31, Valparaiso 6 (Division II over Division I FCS non-scholarship)
September 5 – Stonehill 45, Wagner 42 (Division II over Division I FCS)
September 12 – Birmingham–Southern 35, Campbell 28 ^OT (Division III over Division I FCS non-scholarship)
September 12 – Lenoir-Rhyne 42, Davidson 0 (Division II over Division I FCS non-scholarship)
September 12 – Urbana 13, Dayton 10 (Division II over Division I FCS non-scholarship)
September 26 – Carthage 34, Valparaiso 24 (Division III over Division I FCS non-scholarship)
September 26 – Concordia (AL) 23, Savannah State 21 (USCAA over Division I FCS)
September 26 – Central Washington 33, Idaho State 22 (Division II over Division I FCS)
October 17 – Sioux Falls 28, North Dakota 13 (NAIA over Division I FCS)
November 14 – Webber International 35, Savannah State 20 (NAIA over Division I FCS)
November 26 – Tuskegee 21, Alabama State 0 (Division II over Division I FCS)

Conference changes and new programs

School	2008 Conference	2009 Conference
Bryant	FCS Independent	NEC
Iona	FCS Independent	Dropped Program
Marist	FCS Independent	Pioneer
Old Dominion	New Program	FCS Independent

Eastern Illinois coach's death

On Saturday, November 28, just hours after Eastern Illinois lost to Southern Illinois 48–7 in the first round of the FCS playoffs, Eastern Illinois' offensive coordinator Jeffrey O. Hoover, age 41, was killed in a car accident.^[5] The single-vehicle accident occurred south of Effingham when Hoover, his family and EIU strength coach Eric Cash struck a deer while driving home from Carbondale, the home of SIU.^[6]

Hoover's death was the second Eastern Illinois coaching death within a month. On November 4, women's basketball assistant coach Jackie Moore, 28, died after collapsing during a workout on campus.^[5]

Conference standings

2009 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 2 Montana $^	8	–	0	14	–	1
No. 13 Eastern Washington ^	6	–	2	8	–	4
No. 17 Weber State ^	6	–	2	7	–	5
Montana State	5	–	3	7	–	4
Northern Arizona	4	–	4	5	–	6
Sacramento State	4	–	4	5	–	6
Northern Colorado	1	–	7	3	–	8
Portland State	1	–	7	2	–	9
Idaho State	1	–	7	1	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2009 Big South Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 22 Liberty +	5	–	1	8	–	3
Stony Brook +	5	–	1	6	–	5
Charleston Southern	4	–	2	6	–	5
Gardner–Webb	3	–	3	6	–	5
Coastal Carolina	3	–	3	5	–	6
VMI	1	–	5	2	–	9
Presbyterian	0	–	6	0	–	11

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2009 Colonial Athletic Association football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
North Division
No. 7 New Hampshire x^	6	–	2	10	–	3
Maine	4	–	4	5	–	6
Hofstra	3	–	5	5	–	6
UMass	3	–	5	5	–	6
Northeastern	3	–	5	3	–	8
Rhode Island	0	–	8	1	–	10
South Division
No. 1 Villanova x+^	7	–	1	14	–	1
No. 5 Richmond x+^	7	–	1	11	–	2
No. 4 William & Mary ^	6	–	2	11	–	3
Delaware	4	–	4	6	–	5
James Madison	4	–	4	6	–	5
Towson	1	–	7	2	–	9

+ – Conference co-champions x – Division champion/co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2009 Great West Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
UC Davis $	3	–	1	6	–	5
North Dakota	2	–	2	6	–	5
South Dakota	2	–	2	5	–	5
Southern Utah	2	–	2	5	–	6
Cal Poly	1	–	3	4	–	7

$ – Conference champion

2009 Ivy League football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 20 Penn $	7	–	0	8	–	2
Harvard	6	–	1	7	–	3
Brown	4	–	3	6	–	4
Columbia	3	–	4	4	–	6
Princeton	3	–	4	4	–	6
Yale	2	–	5	4	–	6
Dartmouth	2	–	5	2	–	8
Cornell	1	–	6	2	–	8

$ – Conference champion Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2009 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 8 South Carolina State $^	7	–	1	10	–	2
No. 23 Florida A&M	6	–	2	8	–	3
Norfolk State	5	–	3	7	–	4
Morgan State	4	–	4	6	–	5
Bethune–Cookman	4	–	4	5	–	6
Delaware State	4	–	4	4	–	7
Hampton	3	–	5	5	–	6
North Carolina A&T	2	–	5	4	–	6
Howard	0	–	8	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2009 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 6 Southern Illinois $^	8	–	0	11	–	2
No. 11 South Dakota State ^	7	–	1	8	–	3
No. 18 Northern Iowa	5	–	3	7	–	4
Illinois State	5	–	3	6	–	5
Missouri State	4	–	4	6	–	5
Youngstown State	4	–	4	6	–	5
North Dakota State	2	–	6	3	–	8
Indiana State	1	–	7	1	–	10
Western Illinois	0	–	8	1	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2009 Northeast Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Central Connecticut State $	7	–	1	9	–	3
Albany	6	–	2	7	–	4
Wagner	5	–	3	6	–	5
Robert Morris	5	–	3	5	–	6
Monmouth	4	–	4	5	–	6
Bryant	4	–	4	5	–	6
Duquesne	2	–	6	3	–	8
Sacred Heart	2	–	6	2	–	8
Saint Francis (PA)	1	–	7	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion

2009 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 16 Jacksonville State	6	–	1	8	–	3
No. 19 Eastern Illinois $^	6	–	2	8	–	4
Tennessee Tech	5	–	3	6	–	5
Eastern Kentucky	5	–	3	5	–	6
UT Martin	4	–	4	5	–	6
Tennessee State	3	–	4	4	–	7
Austin Peay	3	–	5	4	–	7
Murray State	2	–	6	3	–	8
Southeast Missouri State	1	–	7	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Jacksonville State had the best record in conference play, but was not eligible for the FCS playoffs because of APR violations. Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2009 Patriot League football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 14 Holy Cross $^	5	–	1	9	–	3
No. 21 Colgate	4	–	2	9	–	2
No. 24 Lafayette	4	–	2	8	–	3
Lehigh	4	–	2	4	–	7
Fordham	2	–	4	5	–	6
Bucknell	2	–	4	4	–	7
Georgetown	0	–	6	0	–	11

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2009 Pioneer Football League standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Butler +	7	–	1	11	–	1
Dayton +	7	–	1	9	–	2
Drake	6	–	2	8	–	3
Jacksonville	6	–	2	7	–	4
Marist	5	–	3	7	–	4
San Diego	3	–	5	4	–	7
Davidson	3	–	5	3	–	7
Campbell	2	–	6	3	–	8
Morehead State	1	–	7	3	–	8
Valparaiso	0	–	8	1	–	10

+ – Conference co-champions

2009 Southern Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 3 Appalachian State $^	8	–	0	11	–	3
No. 9 Elon ^	7	–	1	9	–	3
Furman	5	–	3	6	–	5
Chattanooga	4	–	4	6	–	5
Georgia Southern	4	–	4	5	–	6
Samford	3	–	5	5	–	6
Wofford	2	–	6	3	–	8
The Citadel	2	–	6	4	–	7
Western Carolina	1	–	7	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2009 Southland Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 10 Stephen F. Austin +^	6	–	1	10	–	3
No. 12 McNeese State +^	6	–	1	9	–	2
No. 25 Texas State	5	–	2	7	–	4
Southeastern Louisiana	4	–	3	6	–	5
Sam Houston State	3	–	4	5	–	6
Central Arkansas	2	–	5	5	–	6
Nicholls State	2	–	5	3	–	9
Northwestern State	0	–	7	0	–	11

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

2009 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
Alabama A&M xy	4	–	3	7	–	5
Alcorn State	3	–	4	3	–	6
Jackson State	3	–	4	3	–	7
Alabama State	1	–	6	4	–	7
Mississippi Valley State	1	–	6	3	–	8
West Division
No. 15 Prairie View A&M xy$	7	–	0	9	–	1
Grambling State	5	–	2	7	–	4
Texas Southern	5	–	2	6	–	5
Southern	3	–	4	6	–	6
Arkansas–Pine Bluff	3	–	4	5	–	5
Championship: Prairie View A&M 30, Alabama A&M 24
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from The Sports Network Poll

2009 NCAA Division I FCS independents football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Old Dominion		–		9	–	2
North Carolina Central		–		4	–	7
Savannah State		–		2	–	8
Winston–Salem State		–		1	–	10

Conference champions

Automatic berths

Big Sky Conference – Montana
Colonial Athletic Association – Villanova
Missouri Valley Football Conference – Southern Illinois
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – South Carolina State
Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Illinois (Jacksonville State had the best record in conference play, but was not eligible for the FCS playoffs because of APR violations.)
Patriot League – Holy Cross
Southern Conference – Appalachian State
Southland Conference – Stephen F. Austin

Invitation

Great West Conference – UC Davis
Big South Conference – Liberty and Stony Brook, co-champions
Northeast Conference – Central Connecticut State
Pioneer Football League – Butler and Dayton, co-champions; Butler received the conference's berth in the Gridiron Classic.

In order to be eligible for the playoffs, these teams must have a minimum of eight Division I wins, with at least two against teams in automatic bid conferences. They also must be ranked an average of 16 or better in the national rankings, made up of the following components:

The Sports Network media poll
The FCS Coaches poll
A variation of the Gridiron Power Index, using only five of the computer rankings used in that system

No team in the invitational conferences qualified. Starting in 2010, the Big South and NEC will become automatic bid conferences with the expansion of the playoff field to 20 teams.

Abstains

Ivy League – Penn (8–2, 7–0)
Southwestern Athletic Conference – Prairie View A&M (9–1, 7–0)

(Overall Record, Conference Record)

Postseason

NCAA Division I playoff bracket

First Round November 28 Campus sites			Quarterfinals December 5 Campus sites			Semifinals December 11 and December 12 Campus sites			National Championship Game December 18 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee

	South Dakota State (8–3)	48

1	Montana* (11–0)	61
			1	Montana*	51

				Stephen F. Austin	0
Eastern Washington (8–3)		33

Stephen F. Austin* (9–2)		44
						1	Montana*	24

							Appalachian State	17
	Elon (9–2)	13

4	Richmond* (10–1)	16
			4	Richmond*	31

				Appalachian State	35
South Carolina State (10–1)		13

Appalachian State* (9–2)		20
									1	Montana	21

									2	Villanova	23
	Holy Cross (9–2)	28

2	Villanova* (10–1)	38
			2	Villanova*	46

				New Hampshire	7
New Hampshire (9–2)		49

McNeese State* (9–2)		13
						2	Villanova*	14

							William & Mary	13
	Eastern Illinois (8–3)	7

3	Southern Illinois* (10–1)	48
			3	Southern Illinois*	3

				William & Mary	24
Weber State (7–4)		0

William & Mary* (9–2)		38

* Host institution

SWAC Championship Game

Date	Location	Venue	West Div. Champion	East Div. Champion	Result
December 12	Birmingham, Alabama	Legion Field	Prairie View A&M	Alabama A&M	Prairie View A&M 30–24

Gridiron Classic

The Gridiron Classic is an annual game between the champions of the Northeast Conference and the Pioneer Football League that has been held since December 2006.

Date	Location	Venue	NEC Champion	PFL Champion	Result
December 5	Indianapolis	Butler Bowl	Central Connecticut State	Butler	Butler 28–23

Final poll standings

Standings are from The Sports Network final poll.

Rank	Team	Record
1	Villanova Wildcats	14–1
2	Montana Grizzlies	14–1
3	Appalachian State Mountaineers	11–3
4	William & Mary Tribe	11–3
5	Richmond Spiders	11–2
6	Southern Illinois Salukis	11–2
7	New Hampshire Wildcats	10–3
8	South Carolina State Bulldogs	10–2
9	Elon Phoenix	9–3
10	Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks	10–3
11	South Dakota State Jackrabbits	8–4
12	McNeese State Cowboys	9–3
13	Eastern Washington Eagles	8–4
14	Holy Cross Crusaders	9–3
15	Prairie View A&M Panthers	9–1
16	Jacksonville State Gamecocks	8–3
17	Weber State Wildcats	7–5
18	Northern Iowa Panthers	7–4
19	Eastern Illinois Panthers	8–4
20	Penn Quakers	8–2
21	Colgate Raiders	9–2
22	Liberty Flames	8–3
23	Florida A&M Rattlers	8–3
24	Lafayette Leopards	8–3
25	Texas State Bobcats	7–4

Standings are from the FCS Coaches final poll.

Rank	Team	Record
1	Villanova Wildcats	14–1
2	Montana Grizzlies	14–1
T-3	Appalachian State Mountaineers	11–3
T-3	William & Mary Tribe	11–3
5	Richmond Spiders	11–2
6	Southern Illinois Salukis	11–2
7	New Hampshire Wildcats	10–3
8	South Carolina State Bulldogs	10–2
9	Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks	10–3
10	Elon Phoenix	9–3
11	South Dakota State Jackrabbits	8–4
12	McNeese State Cowboys	9–3
13	Eastern Washington Eagles	8–4
14	Holy Cross Crusaders	9–3
15	Eastern Illinois Panthers	8–4
16	Jacksonville State Gamecocks	8–3
17	Weber State Wildcats	7–5
18	Northern Iowa Panthers	7–4
19	Prairie View A&M Panthers	9–1
20	Colgate Raiders	9–2
21	Liberty Flames	8–3
22	Florida A&M Rattlers	8–3
23	Penn Quakers	8–2
24	Texas State Bobcats	7–4
25	Lafayette Leopards	8–3

References

^ "Armanti Edwards wins 2009 Walter Payton Award". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on April 4, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2008.
^ "Arthur Moats captures 2009 Buck Buchanan Award". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on April 4, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
^ "2009: 32nd Annual Division I Championship". NCAA. Retrieved February 28, 2009.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Kristin L. Musall. "NCAA Football Rules Committee proposed changes (PDF)" (PDF). NCAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 19, 2009. Retrieved May 13, 2009.
^ ^a ^b Mitchell, Fred (November 30, 2009). "Eastern Illinois assistant football coach dies in car crash". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
^ Huffman, Tony (30 November 2009). "EIU football coach killed in I-57 accident". Effingham Daily News. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2009.

v t e NCAA football seasons
Pre-NCAA	1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905
NCAA pre-divisional	1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
NCAA University Division	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
NCAA Division I	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977
NCAA Division I-A/FBS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
NCAA Division I-AA/FCS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
NCAA College Division	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
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