Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Football beat reporter
FCS schools have been considered a bottom tier enterprise since being founded in 1978. Fans of FBS teams look down upon them the same way Regina George scoffs at Sears in “Mean Girls.”
Perhaps the condescension-tinted lenses fans have looked at FCS schools through could be no more.
“None of y’all believed me, I told y’all,” said a chuckling SJSU head coach Brent Brennan after being asked if he expected FCS opponent Portland State to challenge the Spartans as much as they did.
“I mentioned the other day, the FCS FBS conversation, like the line [between them] is not that big. It’s not what it used to be.”
That was tacitly true Thursday night at CEFCU Stadium.
The Vikings outplayed the Spartans in multiple facets; out gaining the Spartans 395-288, possessing the ball for 20 more minutes, and tallying seven sacks while holding SJSU to none.
An FBS school upsetting an FCS opponent roughly happens about 10 times each year. Depending on the program, it can become a historic embarrassment that rival fanbases will remind you of for all of eternity.
Just ask fans of the maize and blue …
And if SJSU’s defense didn’t pick off Portland State’s Dante Chachere twice-both deep into Spartan territory-and stuff the Vikings on the one-yard-line, they would’ve become a repeat offender in the Brennan era.
Brennan’s statement about the thinning gap between FCS and FBS is accredited to a novice concept that continues to permeate every corner and back alley of college football:
The transfer portal and players being granted immediate eligibility.
While the Vikings biggest performers of the day; quarterback Dante Chachere, wide receiver Beau Kelly and defensive back Tyreese Shakir don’t fall into this category, running back Andrew Van Buren (Boise State), wide receiver Maclaine Griffin (Boise State), linebacker Jaymason Willingham (Utah State) do.
Van Buren had the most notable performance, although he wasn’t particularly game-changing, rushing for 29 yards on 13 carries.
The point Brennan made in his press conference could very well be true in the future. If a highly touted recruit can’t make it work at an FBS program, taking a detour to an FCS school could prove prosperous. The logic behind it is sound, but there’s not enough evidence to decipher whether he’s right or wrong.
At the moment, the rocky 21-17 win could feel unsettling for fans. They’d much prefer a showing that was strikingly similar to last year’s 45-14 spanking against Southern Utah of the FCS. However, the great showing didn’t align with the rest of the season as the Spartans went 5-7 without a bowl appearance.
A first game can only show so much. Even if that opponent is from the FCS and averaged a .412 winning percentage in its last three seasons.
For those running around like a chicken with its head cut off, screaming ‘We’re doomed! The season is over!’ Take a chill pill. With that said, the performance still is notable if the Spartans do struggle further on.
