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 Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020 ...

, won by Villanova 23–21 over

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

Rule changes for 2009

The NCAA football rules committee proposed several rule changes for 2009. 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

In the 2009 season, FCS teams played a total of 91 games against FBS opponents. Notably, four of the five victorious FCS teams—all except Central Arkansas—were members of the Colonial Athletic Association. All four made that season's playoffs and advanced to the quarterfinals. Richmond lost in that round to Appalachian State, while Villanova defeated both New Hampshire (quarterfinals) and William & Mary (semifinals) on its way to the national title. * September 3 – Villanova 27,

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

24 * September 5 – Richmond 24,

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

16 * September 5 – William & Mary 26,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

14 * September 12 –

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

23, Ball State 16 * September 19 – 28,

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

Notable upsets

*August 27 – 26, 20 ^OT (Division II over Division I FCS) *September 5 – 27, 3 (Division II over Division I FCS) *September 5 – 20, 6 (Division II over Division I FCS) *September 5 – 31, 6 (Division II over Division I FCS non-scholarship) *September 5 – 45,

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

42 (Division II over Division I FCS) *September 12 – 35,

Campbell Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...

28 ^OT (Division III over Division I FCS non-scholarship) *September 12 – Lenoir-Rhyne 42, 0 (Division II over Division I FCS non-scholarship) *September 12 – 13, 10 (Division II over Division I FCS non-scholarship) *September 26 – 34, 24 (Division III over Division I FCS non-scholarship) *September 26 – 23,

Savannah State ) , established = , closed = , type = Public historically black university , parent = University System of Georgia , academic_affiliation = Space-grant , endowment ...

21 (

USCAA The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) is a national organization for the intercollegiate athletic programs of 72 mostly small colleges, including community/ junior colleges, across the United States. The USCAA holds 15 nationa ...

over Division I FCS) *September 26 – 33, 22 (Division II over Division I FCS) *October 17 – Sioux Falls 28, 13 (NAIA over Division I FCS) *November 14 – 35,

Savannah State ) , established = , closed = , type = Public historically black university , parent = University System of Georgia , academic_affiliation = Space-grant , endowment ...

20 (NAIA over Division I FCS) *November 26 – 21, 0 (Division II over Division I FCS)

Conference and program changes

Dropped programs

After Northeastern's final game of the season, a 33–27 win over

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

on November 21, the school announced that it was dropping the football program. The Huskies ended their 74th season with a 3–8 record, but school officials cited that losing seasons were not the determining factor. On December 3,

Hofstra Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of New ...

also announced that it was dropping their football program in favor of academic funding. The football team, which finished the season 5–6 after a 52–38 win over

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, ended their program after 73 years. The Colonial Athletic Association, where both teams played, decided to replace the two teams with new programs at Old Dominion and Georgia State in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Old Dominion started its program during the 2009 season; Georgia State started theirs in 2010.

Conference changes

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. 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. 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.

Conference standings

Conference champions

Automatic berths

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eig ...

–

* Colonial Athletic Association – Villanova *

Missouri Valley Football Conference The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivi ...

– Southern Illinois *

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

– South Carolina State *

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in the Football Cham ...

– 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 The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly k ...

– Appalachian State *

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it ...

–

Stephen F. Austin Stephen Fuller Austin (November 3, 1793 – December 27, 1836) was an American-born empresario. Known as the "Father of Texas" and the founder of Anglo Texas,Hatch (1999), p. 43. he led the second and, ultimately, the successful colonization ...

Invitation

Great West Conference The Great West Conference (GWC) was an NCAA college athletic conference in the continental United States. Originally a football-only league, it became an all-sports entity during the 2008–09 season. The GWC stopped sponsoring football followin ...

– UC Davis * Big South Conference –

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

and Stony Brook, co-champions *

Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...

– Central Connecticut State *

Pioneer Football League The Pioneer Football League (PFL) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a football-only conference. It has member ...

– 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 The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

– 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 The SWAC Championship Game, officially the Cricket Wireless SWAC Championship Game, is an American college football game that is held annually on the first Saturday in December by the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) to determine its foot ...

Gridiron Classic

The Gridiron Classic is an annual game between the champions of the

and the

that has been held since December 2006.

Final poll standings

Standings are from

The Sports Network The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language sports specialty channel established by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1984 as part of the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels. Since 2001, it has been majority-owned by comm ...

final poll. Standings are from the FCS Coaches final poll.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2009 NCAA Division I Fcs Football Season