National Notes Week 4
Kevin Marshall, National Contributor | September 24, 2015
The Review
Last week in the FCS had it all! We saw a great rivalry renewed, a good win over an FBS, and a top 5 team upset by the Lamar Cardinals. North Dakota State dominated North Dakota from the first whistle and won the game that some said would never take place. The Furman Paladins defense and special teams led them to an impressive win over FBS Central Florida. Much to the surprise of the blog writers in the Orlando newspaper. The Lamar team jumped all over the Sam Houston State Bearkats and held on for a three point victory. Record crowds at Jacksonville State, Liberty, and Coastal Carolina helped the home teams win against tough competition. Northern Iowa really helped themselves with a dominant performance on defense to throttle Cal Poly. Villanova won perhaps the most Pyrrhic victory in recent memory over Delaware. 2014
Walter Payton Award winner John Robertson was injured and has perhaps played his last down in a Wildcat uniform. Eastern Washington rolled up 667 yards of total offense in their win while Stony Brook and Chattanooga used defense to win Conference games. Game balls to all of those victorious squads.
The Interviews
We are stoked to be joined by Gary Rima, Voice of the Northern Iowa Panthers, in the Voices of the FCS Segment. Bruce Barnum, Head Coach of the undefeated Portland State Vikings, is our Coach interview this week. Many thanks to both of those gentlemen for giving of their time.
The Preview
Liberty @ Southern Illinois
The Flames raised their standing nationally last week with their win against Montana. The question is can they stand prosperity or will there be a letdown on the road against the Salukis? Liberty 27-21.
Stony Brook @ William and Mary
Stony Brook used its fine defense to hold New Hampshire to six points last week. That defense will have to play just as well this week to beat the Tribe in Williamsburg. Tribe 20-17.
Cal Poly @ Montana State
Both of these squads are coming off disappointing performances last week. The Bobcat offense scored 50 points and they LOST. The Mustangs were never really in the game against UNI. Bobcats 35-31.
Charleston Southern @ The Citadel
The Battle of Charleston will be tough and a hard hitting affair. These two teams have developed a real dislike of one another. Both want to run the ball and impose their will on their opponents. I think The Citadel has a few more athletes this year. Bulldogs 31-24.
Lehigh @ Princeton
The Tiger secondary should be the difference in this matchup. Lehigh needs to be a little more imaginative when they have the ball and use some misdirection to get the Princeton defense out of position. The Mountain Hawks will confuse them some but not nearly enough. Princeton 34-17.
Robert Morris @ South Dakota State
The Jackrabbits keep rolling and Robert Morris has no answer. SDSU 38-10.
Presbyterian @ Chattanooga
The Blue Hose are rebuilding and should not prove too tough for the Mocs. Chatty 38-17.
Northern Arizona @ Montana
Montana will be without its starting quarterback for quite some time. The Lumberjack defense will be sharpening their blades and are going to come after Chad Chalich and attempt to make him beat them. I think he can. Griz 28-17.
