Hurricane Matthew caused a little drama this week but turned out to have only minor significance.
(2-3) Liberty BYE
Liberty had the weekend off which saved the Flames from playing in the steady rain that fell over most of Virginia and the southeast US last weekend. It’s just as well. Fire and water don’t mix. Badum-bum.
(3-2) Charleston Southern v. Albany State CANCELLED
Due to Hurricane Matthew, CSU and Albany State had initially agreed to move this game up from Saturday to Thursday evening. However, that became impossible when South Carolina’s governor began issuing evacuation orders for all coastal localities on Tuesday. Despite CSU being 25 miles inland and not in real danger of a storm surge, cancelling the game was obviously. Most of the Lowcountry was left with localized flooding, especially on roadways, and without power. Obviously, not the best environment for a football game.
The cancellation of a game against a D2 opponent doesn’t especially hurt CSU’s strength of schedule bu what is a little bit interesting here is that Albany State was the game that CSU head coach Jamey Chadwell was supposed to sit out as part of the penalties for CSU’s bookstore scandal which is still in need of a catchy name (Kindle Kerfuffle? Nope. We’ll get there). CSU has five games remaining on the schedule and, at this point, the two most likely candidates for Chadwell to miss are the Bucs’ upcoming home dates with Presbyterian or Bucknell. The argument for Bucknell is that it’s the only non-conference game left on the slate and, therefore, the least meaningful. The argument for Presbyterian is that, while PC is a Big South game, they are also the next game coming up and, for right now at least, PC is one of the weaker teams in the country.
(4-2) Monmouth 59, (1-5) Howard 27
Monmouth got off to a slow start offensively against Howard. After the Bison scored a touchdown on their first possession, Monmouth was already down a score before their offense took the field. Their first drive went 3-and-out and their second drive took five and a half minutes off the clock but only went 31 yards and netted the Hawks a field goal. Fortunately, Monmouth’s offensive style of running the ball mixed with a short passing game suited the wet, windy conditions well as did the fact that Howard features one of the worst defenses in America. RB Lavon Chaney returned, wearing what looked like a flak jacket under his jersey to protect his rib injury, and looked as nimble as ever. Chaney was crucial in the early going for Monmouth and, at the end of the first quarter, he was the guy carrying the ball into the end zone for MU’s first touchdown and a lead they would never relinquish.
And that’s the last we saw of him. Chaney didn’t appear to be re-injured but he didn’t return to the game either. In fairness, it was obvious the Hawks weren’t going to need his services to be successful on the day so the decision not to play Chaney after the first quarter was likely simple discretion on the part of the coaching staff. In his absence, the Monmouth backfield just went off:
- Every Monmouth running back that touched the ball scored at least one touchdown
- Every Monmouth running back not named Chaney had at least 65 yards rushing
- Backup RB’s Ed Royds and Michael Jolly had 4 touchdowns and 247 yards rushing between them…on 13 carries. That’s 19 yds/carry
Through the air, QB Cody Williams had 188 yards passing on 22 completions without playing in the second half. It’s worth noting that most of Williams’ passes were completed within just a few yards of the line of scrimmage but the Hawks receivers picked up a huge amount of yards after catch. Credit goes to the Monmouth players playing to the whistle but these offensive numbers also reflect just how astonishingly terrible is the Howard defense. Exactly how bad is it? One play should illustrate it:
Deep in MU territory late in the third quarter, Jolly took a handoff going around the left side of the line and 5’8” 185 slot WR Darren Ambush tried to get out in front to block for him. Ambush ran up next to the Howard safety who simply fell down when Ambush got close, taking out the middle linebacker as well. Ambush kept running and caught up to the Howard spur who also promptly fell down. Ambush kept going, trying to get in front of a Howard corner who had the last shot at stopping Jolly. Ambush couldn’t quite get there but he was apparently close enough because that guy fell down, too. On one 78-yard play, the smallest person on the field “took out” four Howard defenders without ever actually touching a single one of them.
Defensively, things weren’t so rosy for Monmouth. Howard’s offense is significantly more stacked with playmakers than their defense isn’t. HU RB Anthony Philyaw is an outstanding talent out of the backfield and he rolled up 234 yards rushing and three touchdowns by himself. Monmouth simply had no answer for him other than to hold the ball and score themselves. A ten-minute TOP advantage aided by weather and Howard’s sob story of a defense did the trick.
What does this win mean for Monmouth? – The stats from this game are eye-popping but a bit misleading based on the opponent. The important thing, however, is that the win keeps the Hawks’ positive momentum going into a short week and Big South conference play.
(4-1) Kennesaw State 49, (3-3) Missouri S&T 16
After hammering Furman, KSU returned home to face their second D2 school of the year with the visiting Miners of Missouri S&T. (For the record, it’s a ten to twelve-hour bus ride from Rolla, Missouri to Kennesaw, Georgia. You’ve got to love football to be able to deal with that.) Despite giving up a long touchdown pass on the third play of the game, it was all KSU in the early going. The Owls scored on their first possession to tie the game and then got another INT from DB Dante Blackmon – his fifth of the year – and KSU got the ball into the end zone again to take a 14-7 lead. Just inside the beginning of the second quarter, KSU QB Chandler Burks punched the ball into the end zone from a yard out to give Kennesaw their third straight scoring drive and a commanding 21-7 lead. Unfortunately, Burks seemed to spend the rest of that quarter trying to keep the Miners in the game. On KSU’s next play, Burks pitched the ball directly to a defender who took it the other way to get the visitors back within eight points and, on the series after that, Kennesaw put together a lengthy drive that ended when Burks made another errant pitch on 3rd down followed by taking a sack on 4th down. That allowed Missouri S&T to kick a field goal and close the gap to 21-16 just before halftime.
The third quarter, however, was a different story. Burks hit WR Xavier Harper for a deep touchdown pass on the second play of the second half and the KSU defense held the Miners to 20 total yards in the quarter and ended their fourth quarter threats by blocking a field goal, recovering a fumble and getting a 4th-down sack. In the meantime, Burks and the offense put together several late clock-eating drives for touchdowns that put 21 more points on the board and, essentially, buried the visitors in the fourth quarter.
What does this win mean for Kennesaw? – It’s a positive but it wasn’t impressive. KSU was easily the dominant team but their first-half focus was not at that level.
(3-3) Gardner-Webb 24 (1-4) Presbyterian 3
This game turned out to be significantly less affected by Hurricane Matthew than anticipated which probably worked in Gardner-Webb’s favor.
G-W QB Tyrell Maxwell had a banner night with 222 yards passing to go along another 155 yards on the ground. More impressively, all those yards came on just 18 plays (7 completions, 11 rushing attempts) for an average of nearly 21 yards per play from the arm or legs of Maxwell. He wasn’t the only one by any means. RB Khalil Lewis added another 100+ yards rushing and a touchdown while WR Kyle Horton had 131 yards receiving and a touchdown on just three catches. All in all, it was a quick-strike big-play night for the G-W offense.
Meanwhile, the Presbyterian defense just could not avoid giving up the big play. Maxwell heaved a 74-yard touchdown on his first play and hit TE Mike Estes for another 64 yards on his next pass. After Maxwell’s first two passes went for 138 yards combined and it looked like Gardner-Webb was going to simply walk over PC, the Blue Hose defense firmed up. Instead of being in a two-touchdown hole after just three plays, it was 10-0. PC made the ten-spot stand until halftime and got a field goal right before the break to head to the locker room only down 10-3 in a situation that could have been a lot worse. If not for DB Kevin Green curling into the fetal position around Mike Estes’ right ankle and DB Robert Baker slapping the ball out of Lewis’ hand at the goal line, PC would have found themselves in a three-touchdown hole at the break.
As it was, however, the damage was done for PC. After their field goal drive late in the second quarter, Presby got no farther than the G-W 28-yard line the rest of the game. Maxwell broke loose for an 87-yard touchdown run late in the third and Lewis added his score in the fourth to get the gaudy stats and the final score but the Blue Hose offense never really mounted a credible threat. QB Ben Cheek started his first game for Presbyterian since September 17th at Chattanooga and threw for 124 yards on 29 attempts while RB Darrell Bridges got 67 yards on 19 carries. That amounted to a lot of short gains that kept the clock moving but not a lot of actual movement down the field. Despite holding the ball for more than 32 minutes, not turning the ball over and not taking sacks, PC only earned ten first downs for the entire game.
What does this win mean for Gardner-Webb? – They’re 1-0 in conference but, also, Gardner-Webb is hitting their stride at a really good time.
What does this loss mean for Presbyterian? – PC has long hung their hat on defense when/because the offense was struggling. That defense just isn’t there this year due to a combination of youth and injuries and the offense is less dynamic than ever. The Blue Hose need to figure something out fast.