2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season

American college football season

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

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

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

* Host institution

SWAC Championship Game

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.

Final poll standings

References

1. "Armanti Edwards wins 2009 Walter Payton Award". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on April 4, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2008.
2. "Arthur Moats captures 2009 Buck Buchanan Award". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on April 4, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
3. "2009: 32nd Annual Division I Championship". NCAA. Retrieved February 28, 2009.^{[permanent dead link]}
4. 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.
5. Mitchell, Fred (November 30, 2009). "Eastern Illinois assistant football coach dies in car crash". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
6. 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.