Last week was another wild one, as all five games in the preview delivered. More nationally ranked teams fell and every game has suddenly taken on massive importance for those powerhouses looking to make the DII football championship tournament in November.
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Now, of course, there are way more than five games to watch closely this coming weekend. However, each week, I am sharing the five I am watching intently and think could turn into five of the best all weekend. Let's see how these five pan out for Week 3.
Wayne’s 5 can’t-miss games: Week 3 (all times ET)
Lenoir-Rhyne at Carson-Newman, 1p.m.
This game has become a bigger one for Carson-Newman, which recently fell out of the top 25. A victory against the Bears will certainly put the Eagles back in the conversation.
That is going to be tough, however. Quarterback Khamoni Robinson is cooking for the Bears, having thrown for 770 yards and seven touchdowns while rushing for 157 yards and two scores. The backfield can control the game with LJ Turner and Zayvion Turner-Knox both capable of 100-yard days at the blink of an eye.
Jayden Sullins leads the rushing attack for the Eagles. Carson-Newman is a ball control team, using a stable of runners in an option attack, so this game very much feels like it will be won in the trenches and will go to whichever team gains ground control.
Matchup to watch: Eagles backfield vs. Lenoir-Rhyne defense. Lenoir-Rhyne is giving up 27.67 points per game, a full point more than the Bears score per game. If the Eagles get the ground game going, they should be able to score, so this could have the makings of a high-scoring affair.
Number to know: 2017. That's the last time Carson-Newman defeated the Bears. None of the games on Lenoir-Rhyne's current six-game winning streak against the Eagles have been particularly close — the average margin of victory over that span is 27.8 points. Maybe Carson-Newman is due... or maybe the Bears just have their number. We shall find out Saturday.
Johnson C. Smith at Virginia Union, 1 p.m.
You have to imagine that Virginia Union is raring to go this weekend; the Panthers are coming off that stunning three-point loss to unranked Edward Waters. The Golden Bulls just keep winning, and suddenly we have a nationally ranked showdown in the CIAA.
Johnson C. Smith has another strong defense in both the rushing and passing game. The Golden Bulls have one of the best rush defenses in DII — and the pass defense has allowed just three touchdowns while picking the ball off five times. Fort Valley State transfer Kelvin Durham has been a game changer at quarterback for JCSU, but so has Curtis Allen at running back for Virginia Union. The Panthers back is averaging 176 yards and two touchdowns per game.
Matchup to watch: Allen vs. the JCSU rush defense. The Panthers are averaging right around 300 yards rushing per game, as Allen has done quite the job replacing Jada Byers to lead the way. However, the Golden Bulls are one of the stingiest rush defenses in DII, allowing 90.3 yards per game. This is where the game will be won.
Number to know: 21-16. The Golden Bulls met the Panthers for the first time in three years last season and snapped a five-game losing streak, winning 21-16. So, why is that game so important? The Golden Bulls held Jada Byers to 47 yards rushing — the same Jada Byers that ran for 2,000 yards last year. If the Golden Bulls stop the run again, we will see the same outcome.
Minnesota Duluth at Sioux Falls, 2 p.m.
We have a battle of two 3-0 teams that are rolling like a freight train right now. The Cougars, although not against the toughest schedule, are pounding opponents so far in 2025, scoring nearly 42 points per game, while the Bulldogs are coming off their huge upset of Minnesota State, propelling them up the national rankings.
Don’t let all the high-scoring affairs fool you; Minnesota Duluth’s defense is for real. The Bulldogs enter the game with the ninth-best scoring defense in DII (allowing 9.3 points per game) and the 17th-best total defense, allowing just 266 yards per game. They will have their hands full because Sioux Falls quarterback Camden Dean has his offense in the proverbial midseason form, having scored 98 points over the past two weeks. He has 744 yards passing and eight touchdowns to go with 184 yards rushing and four more scores on the ground with zero turnovers this season. We will see just how good this Bulldogs offense is this weekend.
Matchup to watch: Kyle Walljasper vs. the Cougars defense. For all the firepower the Cougars’ offense has, their defense is susceptible, allowing 24.0 points per game. Kyle Walljasper has been one of the premier dual-threat quarterbacks in DII for three years running, and the two-time Harlon Hill candidate could eat up this defense through the air and on the ground.
Number to know: Five. Being in different NSIC divisions, the Cougars and Bulldogs don’t play every year. However, Sioux Falls has owned this series of late, winning five of the last seven matchups. The Cougars have not lost a single game over that span at Bob Young Field, where this game will be held on Saturday.
Fort Hays State at Pittsburg State, 5 p.m.
Anyone who follows DII football closely understands the magnitude of this game. The Gorillas find themselves in their fourth game against a nationally ranked opponent to start the season. And as a reminder, this is only their fourth game. The Gorillas dropped the first two against Ferris State and Central Oklahoma but saved their season with an upset of Grand Valley State last week. A win over Fort Hays State not only puts them back in the MIAA hunt but keeps them a playoff contender as well.
Unfortunately for Pitt State, the Tigers are both MIAA contenders and , so the road is not easy. The Tigers have had anything but an easy start to the season themselves: They lost to Angelo State on opening weekend but rebounded with a huge win against CSU Pueblo on the road. Fort Hays State is a gritty team, and that makes them dangerous for anybody.
Matchup to watch: Caleb Heavner vs. the Gorillas’ front seven. Caleb Heavner was darn near flawless in the huge upset over CSU Pueblo, throwing for a season-high 226 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions while completing 70 percent of his passes. The Gorillas’ defense is rather relentless, already with six sacks and 16.5 tackles for a loss. Heavner will have to be at his best for FHSU to have a chance.
Number to know: 50-22-9. That is the all-time record between these two, in Pittsburg State’s favor. Clearly, there is no love lost in this MIAA matchup, as the Tigers have not beaten the Gorillas since before the canceled 2020 season. Now would be an ideal time to end the Gorillas reign.
UT Permian Basin at Texas A&M-Kingsville, 8 p.m.
This is a matchup of two LSC powers that both entered the season with some sleeper appeal. Thus far, UTPB has looked like the tournament team many expected, while the Javelinas struggled in their first DII game last week.
Jack Turner, who transferred in from DI to quarterback the Javelinas, looked sharp in his 2025 debut against independent Lincoln (CA), throwing for four touchdowns. However, he struggled last week against his first DII competition, as Northwest Missouri State held him scoreless with two interceptions. The Falcons have already shown their ability to eat up big quarterbacks, holding Central Oklahoma’s Jett Huff — who finished second in DII in passing last season — to just 169 yards and two picks in a Week 0 upset of the Bronchos.
Matchup to watch: Turner vs. the Falcons defense. Turner will have to quickly forget about last weekend, as the Javelinas don’t want that to continue this week. The Falcons have been dominant against the pass thus far in 2025, allowing 90.5 passing yards per game with zero touchdowns allowed and sacking the opposing quarterback seven times with three interceptions already this year.
Number to know: 0. The Falcons, still a relatively young program having began in 2016, have never won a DII football championship game. However, the past two seasons they have shown they are on the verge of history, making their first tournament appearance in 2023 and losing a double-overtime thriller in the Heritage Bowl last season. UTPB has a long way to go, but a 3-0 start with two signature wins against Central Oklahoma and Kingsville will show to those that don't already know that this team is ready for the next step.
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