The 2014 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The season began on August 23, 2014, and concluded with the 2015 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game played on January 10, 2015, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. North Dakota State won its fourth consecutive title, defeating Illinois State, 29–27.

Conference changes and new programs

School 2013 Conference 2014 Conference Abilene Christian FCS Independent Southland Appalachian State SoCon Sun Belt (FBS) Elon CAA Georgia Southern Sun Belt (FBS) Houston Baptist FCS Independent Southland Incarnate Word Mercer Pioneer SoCon Monmouth FCS Independent Big South Old Dominion C-USA (FBS) VMI Big South SoCon

Other notable changes Under a standard provision of NCAA rules, all FCS programs were allowed to play 12 regular-season games (not counting conference title games) in 2014. In years when the period starting with the Thursday before Labor Day and ending with the final Saturday in November contains 14 Saturdays, FCS programs may play 12 games instead of the regular 11. After this season, the next season in which 12-game seasons are allowed was 2019.

On May 14, 2014, the NCAA announced its Academic Progress Rate (APR) sanctions for the 2014–15 school year. The acceptable minimum score was raised significantly for the first time since the APR was introduced, in 2004. A total of 36 programs in 11 sports were declared ineligible for postseason play after failing to meet the required APR benchmark, including the following seven FCS teams: Alabama State, Arkansas–Pine Bluff, Florida A&M, Mississippi Valley State, Prairie View A&M, Saint Francis (PA), and Savannah State.In addition these, the entire athletic program at Southern University, including the football team, was declared ineligible for postseason play for failing to supply usable academic data to the NCAA.

FCS team wins over FBS teams (FCS rankings from the Sports Network poll; FBS rankings from the AP Poll)

August 30: No. 22 Bethune-Cookman 14, Florida International 12 August 30: No. 2 North Dakota State 34, Iowa State 14 September 6: Eastern Kentucky 17, Miami (OH) 10 September 13: Abilene Christian 38, Troy 35 September 13: Indiana State 27, Ball State 20—The Victory Bell Game September 20: Northwestern State 30, Louisiana Tech 27 September 27: Yale 49, Army 43 OT October 11: Liberty 55, Appalachian State 48 OT

Conference standings

Conference summaries

Championship games Conference Champion Runner-upScoreOffensive Player of the YearDefensive Player of the YearCoach of the Year SWAC Alcorn State Southern 38–24 Malcolm Cyrus (RB, Alabama State)John Gibbs, Jr. (QB, Alcorn State) Jerome Howard (LB, Prairie View A&M) Broderick Fobbs (Grambling State)

Other conference winners

Note: Records are regular-season only, and do not include playoff games. ConferenceChampionRecordOffensive Player of the YearDefensive Player of the YearCoach of the Year Big Sky Eastern Washington 10–2 (7–1) Vernon Adams (QB, Eastern Washington) Zack Wagenmann (DE, Montana) Mike Kramer (Idaho State) Big South Coastal CarolinaLiberty 11–1 (4–1)8–4 (4–1) Alex Ross (QB, Coastal Carolina) Quinn Backus (LB, Coastal Carolina) Joe Moglia (Coastal Carolina)Harold Nichols (Presbyterian) CAA New Hampshire 10–1 (8–0) John Robertson (QB, Villanova) Mike Reilly (DL, William & Mary) Sean McDonnell (New Hampshire) Ivy Harvard 10–0 (7–0) Tyler Varga (RB, Yale) Zack Hodges (DE, Harvard)Mike Zeuli (LB, Princeton) Tim Murphy (Harvard) MEAC Bethune-CookmanMorgan StateNorth Carolina A&TNorth Carolina CentralSouth Carolina State 9–3 (6–2)7–5 (6–2)9–3 (6–2)7–5 (6–2)8–4 (6–2) Tarik Cohen (RB, North Carolina A&T)Greg McGhee (QB, Howard) Javon Hargrave (DT, South Carolina State) Lee Hull (Morgan State) MVFC Illinois StateNorth Dakota State 10–1 (7–1)11–1 (7–1) Marshaun Coprich (RB, Illinois State) Kyle Emanuel (DE, North Dakota State) Brock Spack (Illinois State) NEC Sacred HeartWagner 9–2 (5–1)7–4 (5–1) Khairi Dickson (RB, Saint Francis (PA)) Jeff Covitz (DE, Bryant) Mark Nofri (Sacred Heart) OVC Jacksonville State 10–1 (8–0) Dy'Shawn Mobley (RB, Eastern Kentucky) Devaunte Sigler (DT, Jacksonville State) John Grass (Jacksonville State) Patriot Fordham 10–2 (6–0) Mike Nebrich (QB, Fordham) Evan Byers (LB, Bucknell) Joe Susan (Bucknell) Pioneer San Diego 9–1 (7–1) Connor Kacsor (RB, Dayton) Donald Payne (S, Stetson) Dale Lindsey (San Diego) Southern Chattanooga 9–3 (7–0) Jacob Huesman (QB, Chattanooga) Davis Tull (DL, Chattanooga) Russ Huesman (Chattanooga) Southland Sam Houston StateSoutheastern Louisiana 8–4 (7–1)9–3 (7–1) Bryan Bennett (QB, Southeastern Louisiana)Gus Johnson (RB, Stephen F. Austin) Jonathan Woodard (DE, Central Arkansas) Clint Conque (Stephen F. Austin)

FCS results by conference against FBS opponents FCS Conference GP Record Win % PF PA PD Ivy League 1 1–0 49 43 +6 MVFC 12 2–10 212 384 –172 Southland 13 2–11 235 656 –421 Big South 8 1–7 123 348 –225 OVC 11 1–10 159 495 –336 MEAC 14 1–13 146 673 –527 Pioneer 1 0–1 0 66 –66 Patriot 2 0–2 41 72 –31 NEC 2 0–2 31 72 –41 SWAC 5 0–5 40 224 –184 Southern 11 0–11 154 443 –289 CAA 11 0–11 121 487 –366 Big Sky 17 0–17 266 696 –430 FCS Independents 0 0–0 0 0 0 TOTAL 108 8–100 1577 4659 –3082 FBS Conference GP Record Win % PF PA PD SEC 14 14–0 685 131 +554 ACC 14 14–0 636 173 +463 Big Ten 11 11–0 391 156 +235 MWC 10 10–0 354 157 +197 American 8 8–0 352 81 +271 Pac-12 8 8–0 410 142 +268 Big 12 8 7–1 357 156 +201 MAC 13 11–2 462 196 +266 Sun Belt 9 7–2 445 165 +280 C-USA 9 7–2 367 126 +241 FBS Independents 4 3–1 200 94 +106 TOTAL 108 100–8 4659 1577 +3082

Playoff qualifiers

Automatic berths for conference champions ConferenceTeamAppearanceLast bidResultBig Sky Conference Eastern Washington 11th 2013 Semifinals (L – Towson)Big South Conference Liberty 1st – –Colonial Athletic Association New Hampshire 13th 2013 Semifinals (L – North Dakota State)Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Morgan State 1st – –Missouri Valley Football Conference North Dakota State 5th 2013 National Champions (W – Towson)Northeast Conference Sacred Heart 2nd 2013 First Round (L – Fordham)Ohio Valley Conference Jacksonville State 5th 2013 Quarterfinals (L – Eastern Washington)Patriot League Fordham 4th 2013 Second Round (L – Towson)Pioneer Football League San Diego 1st – –Southern Conference Chattanooga 2nd 1984 First Round (L – Arkansas State)Southland Conference Sam Houston State 8th 2013 Second Round (L – Southeastern Louisiana)

At large qualifiers ConferenceTeamAppearanceLast bidResult Big Sky Conference Montana 23rd 2013 Second Round (L – Coastal Carolina) Montana State 8th 2012 Quarterfinals (L – Sam Houston State) Big South Conference Coastal Carolina 5th 2013 Quarterfinals (L – North Dakota State) Colonial Athletic Association James Madison 10th 2011 Second Round (L – North Dakota State) Richmond 9th 2009 Quarterfinals (L – Appalachian State) Villanova 11th 2012 First Round (L – Stony Brook) Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference None Missouri Valley Football Conference Illinois State 5th 2012 Quarterfinals (L – Eastern Washington) Indiana State 3rd 1984 Quarterfinals (L – Middle Tennessee State) Northern Iowa 17th 2011 Quarterfinals (L – Montana) South Dakota State 4th 2013 Second Round (L – Eastern Washington) Northeast Conference None Ohio Valley Conference Eastern Kentucky 21st 2011 First Round (L – James Madison) Patriot League None Pioneer Football League Southern Conference Southland Conference Southeastern Louisiana 2nd 2013 Quarterfinals (L – New Hampshire) Stephen F. Austin 6th 2010 Second Round (L – Villanova)

Abstentions Ivy League – Harvard Southwestern Athletic Conference – Alcorn State

Postseason NCAA Division I playoff bracket

* Home team    WinnerAll times in Eastern Standard Time (UTC−05:00)

Preseason bowl game GameDate/TVLocationWinning TeamLosing TeamScoreMVPLegacy BowlMarch 21, 2015KINCHO StadiumOsaka, JapanPrinceton5–5 (4–3)Kwansei Gakuin (JAFA)9–1 (7–0)36–7Chad Kanoff(QB, Princeton)

Coaching changes

Preseason and in-season This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2014. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2014, see 2013 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes.

SchoolOutgoing coachDateReasonReplacement Nicholls State Charlie Stubbs September 14 Resigned Steve Axman (interim) Florida A&M Earl Holmes October 29 Fired Corey Fuller (interim)

End of season SchoolOutgoing coachDate announcedReasonReplacement Nicholls State Steve Axman November 20 Resigned Tim Rebowe VMI Sparky Woods November 24 Fired Scott Wachenheim Bethune-Cookman Brian Jenkins December 16 Hired by Alabama State Terry Sims Florida A&M Corey Fuller December 23 Permanent Replacement Alex Wood

See also 2014 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season 2014 NCAA Division II football season 2014 NCAA Division III football season

References