(2-0) Chattanooga 34, (0-2) Presbyterian 0
By this point, Big South watchers have somewhat gotten used to the constant that the Presbyterian defense will be strong and the Presbyterian offense will be, in the kindest terms, less so. On Saturday, however, it’s not entirely evident that either unit was even present for the game against Chattanooga.
While the PC defense did hold the opponent to 0-9 on third down conversions, the truth was that Chattanooga didn’t always get to third down. All five of their touchdowns came on drives that were at least 64 yards long without the Mocs offense ever facing a third down. Two of those touchdowns came on breakdowns in the Blue Hose secondary so bad that the Chattanooga receiver had no one within ten yards of him when he caught the ball. Presbyterian was outgained by exactly 300 yards on the day by the Mocs, 496-196. This is all the more alarming in that Chattanooga only ran 52 plays, averaging 9.5 yards per play.
On the other side of the ball, Chattanooga essentially duplicated Central Michigan’s game plan from a week ago: keep PC’s RB Darrell Bridges corralled and force QB Ben Cheek to beat them with his arm and legs. It worked. Presbyterian came out in spread formations in an effort to create space. There’s an old football adage – that I possibly just made up – that says it does no good to spread the field horizontally if you can’t also spread it vertically. While Bridges got good yardage this time around (18 carries, 89 yards), Cheek couldn’t get anything going. His longest completion of the day was an 18-yard screen pass and the other nine passes he completed totaled a whopping 34 yards combined giving him a stat line of 10-17-0 for 52 yards. Presbyterian’s only drive into scoring position on the day came in the 4th quarter when Cheek was finally subbed out and his replacement, Will Brock, drove the Blue Hose the length of the field against Chattanooga’s second team – accumulating more passing yardage on that drive alone than Cheek had the entire game – before fumbling the ball away at the goal line.
What does this loss mean for PC? – The biggest thing that is evident from this game is the gap between Presbyterian and the upper echelon of FCS. Chattanooga is unquestionably one of the better teams in the nation at the championship level but Presby seemed completely out of their depth. They looked indecisive on offense and panicky on defense which is a checklist for catastrophe against a team of this caliber.
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(2-0) Florida State 52, (1-2) Charleston Southern 8
Ouch.
As most of the college football world knows, CSU went down to Tallahassee for this game minus 14 players, most notably the entire starting offensive line, due to NCAA improprieties. Regardless of anyone’s feelings on the nature and severity of the infraction or the penalty, it was probably for the best that CSU got some of the sanctions out of the way this week because they were not going to win this one anyway. Florida State outmanned CSU at every position and then some.
One significant positive for CSU is that they got another quarterback into the game without an injury being directly responsible. Robert Mitchell finally got on the field for the Bucs after starter London Johnson lost fumbles on back-to-back plays in the first quarter. Mitchell would go on to lose the handle on three balls himself but completed the game for CSU.
That said, this was a disjointed team from the start and, in light of the roster situation, it’s easy to understand why. The result was that both Mitchell and Johnson took a beating all game long from the Seminoles defense – at one point, Mitchell was even dumped on his head – and their passing accuracy (7 of 20) reflected it. Their one touchdown came on a breakdown in the FSU defensive secondary that led to WR Kameron Brown running all by himself down the sideline waiting for the ball to land. Other than that instance, CSU never threatened. On defense, the Seminoles scored touchdowns on five of their first six possessions, building a 28-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
What does this loss mean for CSU? – In the larger view of the season, this game was never going to mean much. With or without 14 starters, CSU was unlikely to mount a serious challenge to Florida State without the Seminoles giving them some help. What hurts here is the same thing that hurt after losing against NDSU three weeks ago, the fact that CSU only has seven games against D1 competition remaining on the schedule. With a bye week this week, the Bucs will head into a road conference game at Monmouth in the fourth week of September with zero D1 wins to their name.
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(1-1) Liberty 55, (0-1) Jacksonville 7
Liberty did exactly what they needed to do this week and that was dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Jacksonville has been a quality program over the last several years but came into this game with underclassmen and true freshmen all over the field and Liberty pushed them around pretty much at will.
Liberty had 300+ yards rushing with two running backs – Todd Macon and Frankie Hickson – topping the century mark and one more – Carrington Mosely – just a few yards shy. The Flames’ quarterbacks were a combined 20-29 passing for 250 yards with the only blemish on the night being an interception that went through the hands of the intended receiver directly into the lap of the defender behind him.
On defense, Liberty responded extremely well. Without any game film to study on the new JU coaching staff, all indications had been that Jacksonville was going to run a traditional triple-option offense with the quarterback under center, a fullback four yards behind and two A-backs on the wings. Yeah, that was in there at some point along with a lot of other stuff. The Dolphins offense started out running the triple but they also went spread, pro-style, old-school veer and a couple of other things that I’m pretty sure haven’t seen a live football field since the Carter administration. Still, at the end of the first quarter, the Flames defense had held the visitors to two yards on nine plays while the offense had built a 14-point lead. JU had marginally better success later on but the tone had already been set. When Liberty forced two fumbles in the final 90 seconds of the first half and the offense turned that into another 10 points to set a 31-0 halftime lead, the game was essentially over. After recording only 12 turnovers in all of 2015, the LU defense now has eight in just the first two games of 2016.
What does this win mean for Liberty? – Liberty hasn’t dominated a game like this in some time, especially the ones in which they were supposed to. The fact that they did so while having to make dramatic defensive adjustments is significant. It’s also the first win for Stephon Masha as Liberty’s permanent starter at quarterback and it’s still a D1 win which, given the Flames’ schedule with games against SMU and Jacksonville State coming up, are a precious commodity.
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(2-0) Monmouth 34, (0-2) Delaware State 20
For the second week in a row, Monmouth jumped out to an early lead, let their opponent back into the game at the end of the third quarter, and then came up with a defensive stand and put-away score in the late fourth quarter.
Against Delaware State, Monmouth looked rather lackadaisical. Early on, the Hawk offensive line provided little space for the running game and starting quarterback looked, at times, like he wasn’t sure where his receivers were. Williams was pulled late in the first and Kenji Bahar played the rest of the first half. Whether that substitution was by design or by necessity, it provided enough spark to build a 17-0 halftime advantage. Fortunately, while the offense was struggling, the Monmouth defense was up to the challenge as Delaware State only drove past the 50-yard line only once in their first 7 possessions.
The second half, however, was a different story. As anticipated, Delaware State sustaining drives proved difficult but big plays did not. After Monmouth had pushed the lead out to 27-0 late in the 3rd quarter, DSU scored on explosive plays on back-to-back drives and then returned a blocked Monmouth punt for touchdown to start the 4th quarter, cutting MU’s lead to 27-20. But, just as they did a week ago against Lehigh, Monmouth intercepted the Hornets on their next possession and Williams led a 17-play drive the length of the field punctuated by a 4-yard run from running back Ed Royds for the final score.
What does this win mean for Monmouth? – A win is a win, so that’s good. Still, there seemed to be a lack of intensity early on that should be concerning. Also, the kicking game is still shaky for the Hawks. Matt White was 2-for-3 on FG’s on the day but had a punt blocked for touchdown and a bad snap doomed another field goal attempt early in the first quarter. Of special concern, however, is the health of Monmouth running back Lavon Chaney. Cheney went down under a pile of DSU players early in the second quarter and did not return to the game. Ed Royds did an admirable job filling in, but Chaney has been the engine that makes that offense go.
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(1-1) Western Carolina 44, (1-1) Gardner-Webb 14
For a minute there – or thirty – it looked like Gardner-Webb had a chance to knock off Western Carolina in Cullowhee. Each team scored touchdowns on their first possessions of the game and both offenses were in full effect for the first half. GWU’s combo of RB Khalil Lewis and QB Tyrell Maxwell had 150 yards rushing between them on top of Maxwell’s 57 passing yards. On the other side of the ball, however, the Runnin’ Bulldog defense had done nothing to slow down WCU and quarterback Tyrie Adams. It was just a 3-point game at halftime, at 17-14 in Western’s advantage, but the truth is that the Catamounts had already put up 300+ yards of offense in the first half alone and outgained G-W by more than a hundred yards. What the Gardner-Webb defense had managed to do was take the ball away twice and watch Western’s kicker badly shank his first field goal attempt.
After halftime, however, was a different story. The Catamount defense adjusted in the second half and began forcing the Bulldogs into 3rd-and-long situations and daring Maxwell to beat them downfield in single coverage. But, the deep throw is not Maxwell’s strength and his final passing stats were a mere 11 completions on 25 attempts for a paltry 86 total yards as Gardner-Webb’s offense only crossed the 50-yard line twice in the second half and totaled 108 second half yards. On the other side of the ball, the GWU defense made no adjustments at all at halftime, allowing WCU and Tyrie Adams to pick up right where they left off before the break. The Catamounts rolled up another 300+ yards of offense in the second half and never looked back. On the night, Adams enjoyed a career game, throwing touchdowns to five different receivers, passing for over 400+ yards, rushing for another 83 and, otherwise, cheering as WCU did whatever they wanted on offense. In the end, Gardner-Webb gave up a Division I school-record 690 yards of total offense.
What does this loss mean for Gardner-Webb? – As big as the win over Elon was for G-W is as big a loss as this is. Defense has been the standard of this team under head coach Carroll McCray and Western Carolina just shredded that standard on Saturday. Despite the Gardner-Webb running game having actually improved this week, their offense still struggles in passing situations which is exactly what Western forced them into in the second half. If the Bulldogs can’t force defenders out of the box to defend the pass, it’s going to be a long year in Boiling Springs.
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(1-1) Kennesaw State 49, (0-3) Point (NAIA) 3
There’s not much to say about this game. Kennesaw took on a really poor NAIA program Saturday night and destroyed them. When WR Justin Sumpter hauled in his first touchdown catch of the night with just over five minutes gone in the 1st quarter, the game was effectively over. This, of course, is exactly what they needed to do coming off the loss to ETSU.
Starting QB Trey White didn’t play due to injury. Chandler Burks started at the spot instead and led the team to 555 yards of offense on 65 plays so, you know, not a bad first start for that guy. On defense, Point only mounted one sustained drive and, otherwise, wasted everyone’s time.
That’s pretty much it.
What does this win mean for Kennesaw State? – It’s the first win of the season for KSU. That’s important because, if you never get that first win, you always end up with a really bad year. Which, I suppose, is obvious. Aside from that, it was live game experience for Burks and everyone else who wouldn’t play under more competitive circumstances but not much else.
Biggest surprise of the week: That’s still Charleston Southern’s off-the-field issues. When national outlets are picking up video feeds from local reporters who show up to talk to the head coach as the team boards the bus to the airport, it’s a big story.
Biggest disappointment of the week: Gardner-Webb’s complete defensive collapse at Western Carolina