College Football Teams with Most True Road Games in 2014

By Amy Daughters -

Earlier in the week we highlighted the 15 FBS teams with the fewest road games in 2014. The other side of the home vs. away equation is programs which will spend the most time traveling this season.

Each of the 10 teams mentioned below will play seven true-road games in 2014, meaning they’ll spend 58 percent of the season away from home.

Though there won’t be asterisks in the win/loss column, reminding us of the disproportionate number of road games these programs played, it serves as a reminder that all schedules aren’t created equally.

It’s no surprise that there aren’t any representatives from the power-five conferences on this list. Scheduling is yet another way to draw the line between the haves and have-nots in the FBS.

Florida Atlantic

Road record since 2011: 4-17 (19%)

Florida Atlantic will play in front of its home crowd in Boca Raton, Fla. just five times in 2014.

The Owls’ road schedule is a doozy: at Nebraska, at Alabama, at Wyoming, at FIU, at Marshall, at North Texas and at Middle Tennessee.

Though FAU improved to 3-4 on the road last season, it was a dismal 1-13 away from home from 2011 to 2012.

Louisiana Tech

Road record since 2011: 12-7 (63%)

The second of three Conference USA teams with seven road trips in 2014, Louisiana Tech will hit the road to face Oklahoma, UL Lafayette, North Texas, Auburn, Southern Miss, UAB and Old Dominion.

The Bulldogs posted an amazing 10-3 road record from 2011 to 2012 under Sonny Dykes, but dropped to 2-4 last year in Skip Holtz’s first season at the helm.

Rice

Road record since 2011: 7-12 (37%)

In 2014, Rice has one of the most difficult opening three weeks in the FBS: a trip to Notre Dame for the opener, a bye in Week 2 and a short trip northwest of Houston to play Texas A&M in College Station in Week 3.

The balance of the Owls’ road slate this season is at Southern Miss, at Army, at FIU, at Marshall and at Louisiana Tech.

After going 0-7 on the road in 2011, Rice improved to 3-3 in 2012 and 4-2 in 2013.

Eastern Michigan

Road record since 2011: 2-17 (11%)

The first of two MAC teams with seven road trips, this season Eastern Michigan will travel to square off with Florida, Old Dominion, Michigan State, Akron, UMass, Western Michigan and Ball State.

The Eagles lost all seven of their road games last season and haven’t won an away game since nipping Western Michigan 29-23 in Kalamazoo on Nov. 17, 2012.

Northern Illinois

Road record since 2011: 15-2 (88%)

Northern Illinois is 12-0 on the road since 2012 and hasn’t dropped a true road game since losing 48-41 to Central Michigan in Mount Pleasant on Oct. 15, 2011.

The Huskies’ road line-up for 2014 consists of games at Northwestern, at UNLV, at Arkansas, at Eastern Michigan, at Ball State, at Ohio and at Western Michigan.

San Jose State

Road record since 2011: 10-9 (53%)

San Jose State is another program that has managed to improve its performance on the road. After going 0-13 in road play from 2009 to 2010, the Spartans improved to 2-5 in 2011, peaked at 5-1 in 2012 and posted a 3-3 road record in 2013.

This season SJSU will have its work cut out for it with road trips to face Auburn, Minnesota, Wyoming, Navy, Fresno State, Utah State and San Diego State.

Utah State

Road record since 2011: 11-7 (61%)

The first of two teams hailing from the Mountain West, in 2014 Utah State travels to face Tennessee, Arkansas State, BYU, Colorado State, Hawaii, Wyoming and Boise State.

After winning a mere three road games from 2008 to 2010, the Aggies are 8-4 away from home since 2012.

Georgia Southern

Road record since 2011: 7-7 (50%)

Even though 2014 is Georgia Southern’s first-ever year in the FBS ranks—it joins as a Sun Belt member—it will play seven road games.

On tap for the Eagles this season are games at NC State, at Georgia Tech, at South Alabama, at New Mexico State, at Georgia State, at Texas State and at Navy.

Worth noting is that each of the last three years Georgia Southern has closed out its regular season with a road game against an SEC opponent: 2011 at Alabama (45-21 loss), 2012 at Georgia (45-14 loss) and 2013 at Florida (26-20 win).

Georgia Southern’s 2014 campaign will be considered a transitional season. They can compete for the Sun Belt title in 2014, but will have to wait until 2015 to be eligible for their first-ever bowl appearance.

Idaho

Road record since 2011: 1-19 (5%)

After the WAC disbanded its football operations in 2012, Idaho spent 2013 as an independent and joins the Sun Belt in 2014 where it will hit the road seven times.

The Vandals will travel to face Florida, ULM, Ohio, Texas State, Georgia Southern, San Diego State and Appalachian State.

Idaho hasn’t won a road game since Nov. 5, 2011 when it bested San Jose State 32-29 in Spartan Stadium.

ULM

Road record since 2011: 10-10 (50%)

ULM has managed to post winning records in road play each of the last two seasons, going 4-2 in 2012 and 4-3 in 2013.

The Warhawks’ 2014 road slate is no picnic: at LSU, at Arkansas State, at Kentucky, at Texas A&M, at Appalachian State, at New Mexico State and at Georgia Southern.

ULM’s most recent road win over an SEC team came in 2012 when it shocked No. 8 Arkansas 34-31 in Little Rock.

Comments (6)

Utah State’s % isn;t so bad as they’ll use the Hawaii exemption to get a sixth home game.

Tough road for all these teams.

Also you gotta like their odds on the road this year. They could be favored in every game, with maybe an exception at Boise State. I look for the Aggies to improve on last year, especially with a healthy QB.

SJSU has a rugged road indeed….this is where depth really has to come into play. The Spartans are breaking in new offensive starters pretty much everywhere but tailback. Playing NC runner up Auburn for your first road game,not a easy task….

I wish the NCAA would crack down on the “Power” 5 conferences and rule that they can’t play more than 6 true home games. It is just another way these little guys get screwed.

To Greg—On the contrary it is the way most small FBS programs balance their athletic budgets.