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Week 2 of the 2026 season features eight matchups, including four against FBS opponents. In other action, Eastern Illinois opens its home season by hosting Indiana State, Southeast Missouri challenges rival Southern Illinois in the "War for the Wheel," Charleston Southern is at The Citadel in the Lowcountry Boil Bowl and Tennessee State and Alabama A&M battle in The Legacy Series.
Saturday, September 12
UT Martin at West Virginia, 12:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Gardner-Webb at Liberty, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Charleston Southern at The Citadel, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Lindenwood at Missouri State, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Indiana State
at Eastern Illinois, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Southeast Missouri at Southern Illinois, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Tennessee State at Alabama A&M, 6:00 p.m. (SWAC TV)
Western Illinois at Wisconsin, 6:15 p.m. (BTN)
UT Martin Skyhawks (1-1) at West Virginia Mountaineers (1-0)
Saturday, September 12 • 12:00 p.m. CT
Milan Puskar Stadium (60,000) • Morgantown, W.Va.
Video (ESPN+): https://bit.ly/4xab6Fh
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/4x2CjJR
Series Record: First meeting
Noteworthy: UT Martin plays the first of two-straight FBS opponents (and four-straight road games) in traveling to West Virginia for the first matchup between the teams. The Skyhawks have two all-time FBS wins, the last coming in 2024 (Kennesaw State) ... UTM rushed for six touchdowns in its win over Chicago State last week, the most for the program since 2022. Tommy Ansley found the end zone three times and was named OVC Offensive Player of the Week; he has five rushing scores on the season ... The Skyhawks defense limited CSU to just 191 yards of offense and held the Cougars to 4-of-17 on third down ... West Virginia opened its 2026 season with a 31-24 win over Coastal Carolina last week. WVU rushed for 281 yards, including 142 yards and two scores by Cam Cook.
Gardner-Webb Bulldogs (0-2) at Liberty Flames (0-1)
Saturday, September 12 • 5:00 p.m. CT
Williams Stadium (25,000) • Lynchburg, Va.
Video (ESPN+): https://bit.ly/4ydu7HI
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/4gAcfRu
Series Record: Liberty leads 15-9-1
Last Meeting: Liberty won 21-20 (10/15/22)
Noteworthy: Former Big South Conference foes square off on Saturday in Lynchburg. The teams are playing for the 26th all-time, but only the second time since Liberty moved to the FBS in 2018. GWU has one all-time win over an FBS opponent (Akron in 2010) ... After falling behind 14-3 at halftime, Gardner-Webb battled back to pull with four points, before a penalty negated the potential game-winning touchdown and an interception ended the game ... Cole Pennington finished the game with a career-high 378 passing yards and ranks third nationally, averaging 345.0 yards/game this season ... The GWU defense forced three turnovers against Wofford ... Liberty dropped its first season-opener since 2019, falling 20-13 at James Madison last week. Despite the loss, Liberty held an advantage in total yards (321-to-291) and time of possession (37:17-to-22:38).
Charleston Southern Buccaneers (0-2) at The Citadel Bulldogs (1-1)
Saturday, September 12 • 5:00 p.m. CT
Johnson Hagood Stadium (11,427) • Charleston, S.C.
Video (ESPN+): https://bit.ly/4yF5xQv
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/4yfaJdj
Series Record: The Citadel leads 8-6
Last Meeting: The Citadel won 22-21 (8/31/24)
Noteworthy: The annual "Lowcountry Boil Bowl" takes place on Saturday evening, pitting two programs that are located just 20 minutes from each other. It marks the 15th all-time matchup between the schools ... The Buccaneers are coming off a shutout loss at FBS foe Georgia Southern last week ... Freshman punter Baxter Pearce was named OVC Rookie of the Week after averaging 41.8 yards on 10 punts with a long of 55 ... Through two games, Steve Zayachkowsky leads the team with 15 tackles, including 3.0 for loss and 2.0 sacks ... The Citadel won its 10th all-time game over a FBS opponent (and first since 2019) last week, knocking off Charlotte 43-41 in three overtimes. RB Gavin Garcia rushed for 137 yards and three touchdowns in the victory.
Lindenwood Lions (1-1) at Missouri State Bears (0-1)
Saturday, September 12 • 6:00 p.m. CT
Robert W. Plaster Stadium (17,500) • Springfield, Mo.
Video (ESPN+): https://bit.ly/4qWyHb0
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/4csPXi8
Series Record: Missouri State leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Missouri State won 28-14 (9/14/24)
Noteworthy: For the second time in three seasons. Lindenwood and Missouri State are meeting on the gridiron. This marks the first time they have played since MSU moved to the FBS level ... Lindenwood led Stony Brook 22-7 at halftime and 32-23 early in the fourth quarter before ultimately falling 36-32 on the road last Thursday ... QB Pops Battle passed for 209 yards while rushing for 53 and a pair of touchdowns. Through two games he ranks second in the OVC and 38th nationally in total offense (232.0 yards/game) and has three total rushing touchdowns ... Will Graham was named OVC Special Teams Player of the Week after scoring 12 points (3 FGs, 2 PATs). He is fourth nationally in field goals made/game (2.5) ... This year marks the second at the FBS level for Missouri State. The Bears started the season with a 50-0 loss at nationally-ranked Texas A&M. MSU was limited to just 67 yards of total offense against the No. 8 ranked Aggies.
Indiana State Sycamores (0-2) at Eastern Illinois Panthers (1-1)
Saturday, September 12 • 6:00 p.m. CT
O'Brien Field (10,000) • Charleston, Ill.
Video (ESPN+): https://bit.ly/4i7JM6N
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/2oWwWzR
Series Record: Eastern Illinois leads 45-41-4
Last Meeting: Indiana State won 38-14 (9/6/25)
Noteworthy: The 91st all-time meeting between Eastern Illinois and Indiana State takes place on Saturday. The schools are separated by just 45 miles and the series dates back to 1901 ... It marks the home opener for the Panthers. EIU has won its last three home openers (including beating ISU in 2024). EIU is 6-2 all-time against the Sycamores in home openers ... Eastern Illinois suffered its first loss of the season last Thursday night, falling at Minnesota ... The Panthers are currently one of 15 FCS teams who have not committed a turnover this season ... After a loss to SEMO to start the 2026 season, ISU fell to 0-2 with a 44-19 defeat at FBS opponent Purdue. QB Elijah Owens has passed for 389 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for a team-best 71 yards this season. He moved into ISU's career Top 10 for total offense this season.
Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (1-1) at Southern Illinois Salukis (1-1)
Saturday, September 12 • 6:00 p.m. CT
Saluki Stadium (15,000) • Carbondale, Ill.
Video (ESPN+): https://bit.ly/46FaE72
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/4zTRVCf
Series Record: Southeast Missouri leads 44-41-8
Last Meeting: Southern Illinois won 59-31 (9/20/25)
Noteworthy: In a rivalry that dates back to 1909, it will be the "War for the Wheel" on Saturday in Carbondale. It marks the 94th all-time meeting between the regional rivals ... The teams have split the last four games in the series. SEMO holds a winning record all-time in Carbondale (25-19-4) ... After a season-opening win over Indiana State, SEMO lost last week at FBS foe Iowa State. Khyair Spain ran for a game-high 72 yards against the Cyclones ... The Salukis suffered a three-point loss against upstart FCS program West Florida to open the season before bouncing back last week to best Samford by four points. Saturday marks its first home game of the season. The team has been without All-American QB DJ Williams since early in the season-opener.
Tennessee State Tigers (1-1) at Alabama A&M Bulldogs (1-1)
Saturday, September 12 • 6:00 p.m. CT
Louis Crews Stadium (21,000) • Huntsville, Ala.
Video (SWAC TV): https://bit.ly/3Uq9dqq
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/4gwhHVu
Series Record: Tennessee State leads 21-9
Last Meeting: Alabama A&M won 23-21 (9/13/25)
Noteworthy: This season marks the second in a four-year agreement for The Legacy Series between Tennessee State and Alabama A&M. The two rivals first played in 1930 ... Alabama A&M won last year's matchup, the first between the two teams since 2010 ... Tennessee State lost to No. 3 ranked FBS foe Georgia last Saturday. Despite the defeat, the team did not commit a turnover and was penalized just once ... Preston Hurless accounted for the Tigers lone points, converting a 37-yard field goal in the second quarter ... Alabama A&M bounced back from a season-opening loss to Howard by knocking off Miles College this past week. A&M rushed for 279 yards, including 145 yards and a pair of scores by Troy Bruce.
Western Illinois Leathernecks (1-1) at Wisconsin Badgers (0-1)
Saturday, September 12 • 6:15 p.m. CT
Camp Randall Stadium (80,321) • Madison, Wis.
Video (BTN): https://bit.ly/4xNqqJ1
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/4hgPAZJ
Series Record: Wisconsin leads 3-0
Last Meeting: Wisconsin leads 37-3 (9/6/14)
Noteworthy: Following two home games, Western Illinois takes to the road for the first time this season, taking on FBS opponent Wisconsin ... It marks the third all-time meeting between the schools. WIU has 10 all-time wins against FBS teams, but not since joining the OVC ... Two quarterbacks saw action for WIU against nationally-ranked Illinois State last week, with Cason Carswell completing 9-of-18 passes for 140 yards while Kennedy McGill was 14-of-22 for 123 yards ... Through two games, LeBron Morgan and Nick Reinicke share the team lead with 12 tackles. Reinicke had nine tackles against the Redbirds and has 2.0 sacks on the season ... Wisconsin opened the season playing No. 4 Notre Dame at Lambeau Field. The game was tied at 10 early in the second quarter before the Fighthing Irish outscored the Badgers 31-3 the rest of the way.