By MONTE DUTTON

Presbyterian College is ranked.

Not in Greek life, ancient languages or team cheer. Not in foreign study, or artificial intelligence or analytical algorithms.

Presbyterian is ranked 25^th by Stats Perform … in FCS football. It’s been a minute. In fact, it’s been forever, or at least since the Blue Hose joined Division I in 2007-08. PC played in the 1959 Tangerine Bowl. In 1979, those Hose reached the No. 1 ranking in the NAIA.

It’s not April Fool’s Day. So far, Presbyterian has done all it can possibly do. Damn the scholarships. Full speed ahead. No Southern Conference or Big South team is ranked. Thirteenth-ranked Tennessee Tech joins the SoCon next year.

Presbyterian (4-0) defeated Bluefield, a Baptist school in Virginia, by a score of 76-3 on Saturday. So obscure is Bluefield that it has been frequently referred to as Bluefield State, which is in West Virginia.

But Presbyterian head coach Steve Englehart thought his team played well against the Rams, which wasn’t his view of the 42-14 victory at week earlier against Erskine.

“We really came out right from the get-go and executed at a really high level,” he said. “I thought we had a nearly perfect first half of football (PC led 57-3).”

Only 10 of the 25 ranked teams are located east of the Mississippi River. Nine are undefeated. Only one doesn’t award football scholarships.

Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll

1. North Dakota State (3-0…1,395 points…51 first-place votes)

2. South Dakota State (3-0…1,341 points…4 first-place votes)

3. Tarleton State (5-0…1,285 points…1 first-place vote)

4. Montana State (2-2…1,190 points)

5. Montana (3-0…1,189 points)

6. Rhode Island (4-0…1,025 points)

7. Illinois State (3-1…966 points)

8. Idaho (2-2…935 points)

9. UC Davis (2-1…909 points)

10. Lehigh (4-0…853 points)

11. Southern Illinois (3-1…789 points)

12. Abilene Christian (2-2…749 points)

13. Tennessee Tech (3-0…737 points)

14. North Dakota (2-2…614 points)

15. Northern Arizona (3-1…612 points)

16. Monmouth (2-1…608 points)

17. South Dakota (2-2…520 points)

18. West Georgia (4-0…406 points)

19. Jackson State (2-1…369 points)

20. Villanova (1-2…288 points)

21. Sacramento State (2-2…242 points)

22. Lamar (2-1…233 points)

23. Austin Peay (2-2…217 points)

24. Youngstown State (3-1…124 points)

25. Presbyterian (4-0…123 points)

Tennessee Tech and Memphis, both in FBS, have also won eight straight games over two seasons. The 76-3 victory over Bluefield marked the third highest point total in PC’s 113-year history.

Presbyterian is just outside the other primary FCS poll, the AFCA Coaches. A home victory over Morehead State on Saturday is likely to put the Blue Hose in that Top 25.

Four games in, quarterback Collin Hurst has already thrown for 14 touchdowns and 1,186 yards.

Everything changes now. The first two games were stunning upsets of Mercer and Furman. The next two were mismatches. The rest of the season is what is normal and competitive. None of the teams in the Pioneer Football League award football scholarships. They’re all familiar with the nuances of overcoming their lack of funding.

Further 76-3 triumphs are unlikely.

The first three PFL games – Morehead State at home, Butler in Indianapolis and Stetson at home – are all at 1 p.m.

Morehead State (2-2) has thus far defeated Allen (38-31) and Kentucky Christian (45-28) while losing to Illinois State (41-13) and Austin Peay (56-7). Isaac Stopke (239 yards, 5.9 per carry) and Craig Cunningham (228/6.0) lead the runners. Quarterback Carter Cravens (50/74, 681 yards, 6 TD, 1 int.) has a favorite receiver in Ryan Upp, who has 24 catches for 321 yards.

Last season PC lost its first four PFL games and won its last four, which is why the Blue Hose have currently won eight in a row. Morehead State defeated PC, 14-7, in the third of those opening losses. The last four games between the Blue Hose and Eagles have all been decided by eight points or less.

Eight of the PFL’s 11 teams open league play on Saturday: Morehead State at Presbyterian, Stetson at Dayton, Marist at Butler and Saint Thomas at San Diego. PC is the only unbeaten at 4-0. Dayton, Marist and Saint Thomas are all 2-1.

 “There’s so much excitement around this program right now,” Englehart said. “It’s just getting started.

“There’s more buzz around this program than there’s been in a long time. Winning solves a lot of problems.”

It is difficult for one to keep doing what one is doing when what one is doing has never been done before.

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