Ohio Valley: Week 1 Recap and Power Rankings

While the majority of the OVC opened their seasons with either cupcakes or money games there were still several great games this past week.  Including a few better than expected performances from Austin Peay and Tennessee State.  The Tigers were the first FCS team of the year to get themselves an FBS scalp when they opened up Georgia State’s new stadium by handing them a loss, Jacksonville State showed they have the defensive firepower to make a return trip deep into the playoffs, and Eastern Illinois had a thrilling win as they won their game over Indiana State with no time left on the clock.

 

#5 JSU 27 

#15 UTC 13

Jacksonville State kicked off the FCS season last weekend on ESPN in dominating fashion as they rolled to a 27-13 win over the Chattanooga Mocs.  This marks the fifth consecutive win in the series for JSU and the largest margin of victory during the Gamecocks’ winning streak.

Offensively the headline was Roc Thomas’ 190 yards of offense.  The senior running back went for 122 rushing yards on 19 carries, 68 receiving yards, and a TD against the Mocs defense. Bryant Horn also showed a lot of promise after a rough first half.  He finished the game completing 14 of his 20 attempts for 182 yards, a TD, and two picks.  After settling down in the second half Horn was 6 for 6 for 85 yards and a TD.  If JSU can get steady and quality play out of their offensive line this offense could see a lot of improvement from last year despite not having #7 and #12 on the field.

Defense is where the Gamecocks really shine.  Darius Jackson spent most of his evening in the UTC backfield terrorizing everyone.  Jonathan Hagler had himself a big game topped off by a 52 yard pick six. The defense overall only allowed UTC to muster 6 points, 13 rushing yards, and 153 yards of total offense before the starters were pulled early in the fourth quarter.  The Mocs finished the night with 13 points and 294 yards of total offense.

The Gamecocks travel to Atlanta this Saturday to take on the Ramblin’ Wreck of Georgia Tech.

 

 

#28 TSU 17

Georgia State 10

The Tennessee State Tigers opened the season with an impressive win over FBS Georgia State.  The game was the first to be played in the Panthers’ new home stadium formerly Turner Field.

Offensively the headliner was Florida transfer quarterback Treon Harris as he accounted for 236 of TSU’s 383 total yards.  In addition to his 145 passing yards, Harris was also the Tigers’ leading rusher with 91 yards on 11 carries.  However, what impressed me the most about the Tigers’ offensive performance wasn’t Harris, it was the amount of help he was getting.  Patrick Smith showed why he was the Preseason OVC Offensive Player of the Year as he hauled in 6 catches for 70 yards and the offensive line paved the way for a rushing attack that put up 238 yards and averaged 5.7 YPC.  The only complaint I have is the Tigers HAVE to start finishing drives.  Missing two field goals is a good way to get yourself beat. Just ask Georgia Tech.

The defensive side of the ball is where I was REALLY impressed.  Despite Ogundeko being fairly bottled up most of the night the Tiger defense had a fantastic showing in their debut.  The star of the night was senior linebacker Chris Collins who racked up 12 total tackles (9 solo), 3 TFLs, a sack, AND the forced fumble that allowed TSU to get their first points of the night.  Collins also picked up FCS Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance.  I thought the defensive line as a whole played a great game as they held the Panthers to just 1.7 yards per rush on 29 carries.  Those are JSU type numbers and if this team can continue to improve they may be taking home some hardware on November 16th.

 

https://twitter.com/HEROSportsFCS/status/903441482543095810

 

Congratulations to the Tennessee State Tigers on their first ever win over an FBS program. You guys played well and earned it.

 

 

 

UT-Martin 36

Clarion 0

Tennessee-Martin opened their season with the creamiest of creampuffs as they took on DII Clarion.  This game marks the first time UTM has shut out an opponent since 2011 when the Skyhawks dropped 63 on NAIA team Union (KY).

Normally games against lesser opponents don’t really tell us much but there were a couple red flags when examining UTM’s offense.  First off, Troy Cook only completed 13/28 of his passes which was likely because of the downpour that the game was played in, so that’s not something to worry about yet.  Second, it seems like the only consistent thing on the offense is Jr RB Ladarius Galloway and his 9.2 YPC, once again probably because of the monsoon.  Third, the Skyhawks racked up TWELVE penalties for 110 yards and three turnovers.  More often than not that’s a death sentence for teams playing tough competition but thankfully for the Skyhawks Clarion doesn’t fit that description.  As I said at first though, these games often don’t give us much useful info and rain doesn’t help either so I’m really hoping that’s the case here.

Defensive performance was as you would expect against a lower division opponent.  The UTM defense held Clarion to 147 total yards, 0 points, and 2.6 yards per rush.  One stat line that did surprise me was that Clarion’s QB only completed 4 of his 22 pass attempts, unfortunately 2 of those competitions were to guys in Skyhawks jerseys. As said before, maybe it was the rain, or maybe UTMs secondary is good.  We will find out this Saturday as the Skyhawks travel to Oxford, MS to take on the Ole Miss Rebels.  Hopefully it won’t rain.

 

Did I mention the rain?

 

 

Austin Peay 14

Cincinnati 26

Bold Prediction: Austin Peay is going to win some games this year.

Bolder Prediction: The Govs finish .500 or above in OVC play.

Yup. I said it.  Fight me.

 

The Govs were another team that impressed me in their season opener.  On offense, they ran. A lot. Austin Peay’s 60 rushing attempts garnered them 224 rushing yards and 37:41 of the play clock.  Unfortunately for the Govs two turnovers thwarted what could have been a MASSIVE upset.

The Govs offense racked up 313 total yards against Cincy but there were still issues that were apparent. For one, the third down conversion rate needs to be addressed.  3 of 16 on third down isn’t going to win you any games. Second, sophomore quarterback JaVaughn Craig looked unimpressive throwing the football as he completed just half of his 14 attempts for just 63 yards, a TD, and a pick.

The Govs defense was the surprising thing to me.  The Govs only allowed Cincy to get 248 yards of total offense, limited them to 3.3 yards per rush on 29 carries, and held the Bearcats to 3-11 on third down.  That stat line should be very encouraging considering the program has lost 28 games straight.  Healy’s hard work is starting to pay off and we will likely start seeing the fruits of his labor around week 3.

 

https://twitter.com/AustinPeayFB/status/903480945885364228

 

Tennessee Tech 14

#18 Western Illinois 41

I’m not sugar coating it… that was a mess.  I thought coming into the season losing Birdsong would be the biggest issue for Tennessee Tech, turns out it’s just one of several issues.

The Tennessee Tech offense was held to ZERO rushing yards. Zip. Nada. None. On 21 attempts! I get that WIU is a great team but if Austin Peay can put up 224 rushing yards against an FBS team then TTU should have gotten at least a yard.  The passing game, however, did get more than a yard.  252 of them in fact.  Which doesn’t sound bad until you consider only half of the attempts were completions and they matched their 2 TDs with 2 picks.  I’m going to reserve further judgment of the offense until Kennesaw State because I think Tech is better than what we saw this past weekend.

Defensively, it went about as I expected it to go.  They defense wore down in the second half gave up 298 rushing yards but that’s a fairly regular occurrence against Missouri Valley teams.  However, one nugget that can be improved going forward is working to not give up explosive plays.  WIU had multiple runs longer than 20 yards and those were the plays that allowed WIU to pretty much blow the doors off in the second half.  If TTU can have performance like they did in the first half they will be fine, but they have to cut down and limit the big plays.

 

 

Murray State 67

Kentucky Wesleyan 7

Murray State was one screwed up punt attempt away from their first shutout since 2011.  Murray opened their season by playing local Jr. High Kentucky Wesleyan (They aren’t actually a junior high, they were just 3-8 last year in DII).  This game won’t tell us exactly where Murray stands but it tells us a little.

First off, Brently looked solid while filling in KD’s shoes, even in the rain.  He completed 18 of 26 passes for 162 yards, 4 TDs, and 1 pick.  They also ran 40 times for 243 yards, three more TDs, and averaged 6.1 yards a carry.  Murray doesn’t normally run that much but they don’t normally blow teams out either.

Defensively, the Racers seemed solid as they limited KWU to zero first downs, 159 total yards of offense, and 30 rushing yards on 31 carries.  They also got 4 picks.

We will learn a lot more about where this team stands on Saturday when they take on #16 Central Arkansas.

 

 

Eastern Kentucky 17

Western Kentucky 31

And

SEMO 16

Kansas 38

I’m lumping these two together because these were two more money games that went about as you’d expect but I’ll go ahead and highlight some of the standout things from each game.

First off for SEMO, they were able to limit the Jayhawks to just 73 rushing yards on 25 carries and were able to force three turnovers.  If they can continue to stop the run they may see some success in the OVC this year.  I’m sure we will see their offensive numbers pick back up once they start playing FCS competition. They finished with just 253 yards of offense and had 83 rushing yards on 34 carries.

For EKU, playing old time rival WKU was good to see.  However, the Hilltoppers were able to stuff EKUs rushing attack and only allowed 25 yards on 22 carries.  Fortunately for EKU, that didn’t bother senior quarterback Tim Boyle.  Boyle completed 29 of his 46 passes for 320 yards and 2 TDs.  Also, while WKU was able to take away EKUs run game, the Colonels were able to return the favor as they only allowed the Hilltoppers to gain an average 2.5 yards per rush.  Unfortunately, the Colonels had trouble getting off the field on third and fourth down and that allowed the Hilltoppers to wear them down.

 

https://twitter.com/EKUFootball/status/905822306848481280

#32 Eastern Illinois 22

Indiana State 20

Eastern Illinois started their season off in thrilling fashion as Mitch Kimble threw the game winning touchdown pass with no time left on the clock. The Panthers were also able to capitalize on a pick six in the first quarter to jump out to lead they would keep until late in the fourth quarter when a 32 yard return by ISU’s Dimitri Taylor set the Sycamores up on the EIU 14 yard line, which the Sycamores turned into a TD.

Offensively, the Panthers were able to run the ball against the Indiana State front, but 5 sacks for a loss of 35 yards made the final rushing stat line 76 yards and a TD on 33 carries. Mitch Kimble looked solid and should be in for a great senior campaign.  If I had one quibble with the offense it would be I wish they ran more. 15 carriers for Johnson wasn’t enough for me but we will see what happens this weekend with NIU before I make a big deal out of it.

Defensively, holding Indiana State to less than 300 yards of offense and 2 of 11 on third down is impressive. The secondary limited Indiana State to just 7 completions on 19 attempts and 133 yards between ISU’s two quarterbacks and if EIU can continue to work on stopping the run and keep forcing turnovers this could be a stout ballclub in the OVC this season.

 

https://twitter.com/EIUPantherFB/status/903443887250919424

 

Power Rankings

  1. JSU
  2. TSU
  3. UTM
  4. EIU
  5. EKU
  6. APSU  (Deal with it)
  7. TTU
  8. SEMO
  9. Murray State

MVFC – Week 2 Preview

MVFC LogoWe are now fully into football season, heading straight towards our Week 2 matchups. Last week, we learned a little bit about a few teams, but for the most part, everyone took care of business and did what they were expected to do. This week, however, we’re getting a lot more matchups with somewhat more “comparable” teams and finding out how everything really stacks up. It’s still pretty early, but we can start figuring out a few things about each team.

We have five games that are part of the conference’s Big Sky “series”, two that feature FBS matchups (one that will likely be close and one that likely…will not…at all), and two against teams that, while technically FCS, are ranked pretty low overall in the division and will likely not be close either:

Here’s the full conference schedule for the Week #2 (all times listed in Central)

1:00 PM – Robert Morris (1-0) at #8 Youngstown State (0-1) – ESPN3
3:00 PM – Indiana State (0-1) at AP #25 Tennessee (1-0) – SECN
3:05 PM – #2 North Dakota State (1-0) at #7 Eastern Washington (0-1) – ESPN3
4:00 PM – Cal Poly (0-2) at #21 Northern Iowa (0-1) – ESPN3
4:00 PM – Missouri State (0-1) at #11 North Dakota (0-1) – Big Sky Network/Pluto TV
5:00 PM – South Dakota (1-0) at Bowling Green (0-1) – ESPN3
6:00 PM – #22 Western Illinois (1-0) at Northern Arizona (0-1) – Big Sky Network/Pluto TV
6:00 PM – Mississippi Valley State (0-1) at Southern Illinois (0-0) – ESPN3
7:00 PM – #4 South Dakota State (1-0) at Montana State (0-1) – MSU Bobcat All-Access

#18 Illinois State is taking this weekend off before their rivalry game with Eastern IL the following weekend.

Robert Morris (1-0) at #8 Youngstown State (0-1)

Youngstown State Logo

@ Stambaugh Stadium (“The Ice Castle”), Youngstown, Ohio – Capacity: 20,630

Last Week:
Robert Morris defeated Dayton, 13-10
Youngstown State lost to Pitt, 28-21 in OT

Youngstown State’s performance last week showed that despite the loss of a large part of their dominating defense from 2016, they are still a force to be reckoned with, narrowly losing to Pitt in overtime. The story this year though (still early, but seems like it at this point) is a more balanced team that can do fairly well on both sides of the ball. We’ll have to see if both sides are good enough for a repeat appearance in the FCS championship game though.

Robert Morris nearly swept the NEC “Players of the Week” awards, with LB Gerald Ferguson winning Defensive POW (8 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery, 1 QB hurry), PK Nick Bisceglia receiving the Special Teams POW (1 for 1 on PAT’s, 2 for 3 on FGs including the game winner in the final seconds), and WR Tavin Allison nabbing the Rookie of the Week (76 yards, 1 TD on 2 receptions). Biscegila is a true freshman and Allison is a redshirt freshman, so they’ve got some young talent on their hands that could develop down the road.

I think that Robert Morris is probably trending up at this point, but considering they were 2-9 last season and picked 7th (last) in the NEC preseason poll, they still have a long way to go until they can compete with a defending NC runner-up (did they get t-shirts for that or was that just that one team?).This is the third year in a row that YSU has played RMU (both were YSU wins), and I think that this year’s result will likely be similar to last year’s (a 38-6 Penguin victory). Probably right about the same margin too. I say Youngstown wins this one by 32 points.

Indiana State (0-1) at AP #25 Tennessee (1-0)

Indiana State Logo@ Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee – Capacity: 102,455

Last Week:
Indiana State lost to Eastern Illinois, 22-20
Tennessee defeated Georgia Tech, 42-41 in OT

My one “whiff” last week was thinking that Indiana State would be able to edge out Eastern Illinois. They weren’t able to hold on to their lead and lost to EIU on a TD in the final seconds of the game. ISU has a pretty good placekicker in Jerry Nunez, who hit ⅔ of his FGs (long of 43) and both XPs in last week’s game, and they’ve got a guy who rushed for over 150 yards against Eastern (SR Lamonte Booker). Unfortunately for the Sycamores, they’re not playing EIU again, they’ve got a run-in with…

The Tennessee Volunteers are a member of the top echelon of FBS football teams, having been a member of the SEC since it’s founding in 1932, winning two national championships (they claim 6, NCAA says 2), an overall .680 winning record (second only to Alabama in the SEC) with 13 conference championships and play in the 6th largest stadium in the world. Over the last two years, they have a record of 18-8 with two bowl wins and they are currently ranked #25 in the AP poll after defeating Georgia Tech in 2 overtimes on Monday evening.

So, to say that the Sycamores are likely to be overmatched on all sides of the ball is a pretty big understatement. While reading up a bit on Tennessee, apparently their defense does seem to have trouble with running quarterbacks. This might bode somewhat well for a team like South Dakota (Streveler) or North Dakota State (Stick), but Indiana State’s Isaak Harker is pretty much the definition of a traditional “pocket-passer” QB…throwing for 2,559 yards last season and rushing for -154. I don’t know if this game will get quite as ugly as a couple of the 70+ point dismantlings we saw last week, but it sure isn’t going to be pretty for the Trees. The only good news is, for Indiana State, it only gets “easier” from here (as easy as the MVFC ever is, I guess). Indiana State has never played Tennessee in their history, and after this weekend, they may not ever want to again. Vols by 35 points.

NDSU Logo#2 North Dakota State (1-0) at #7 Eastern Washington (0-1)

@ Roos Field (“The Inferno”), Cheney, Washington – Capacity: 8,600

Last Week:
North Dakota State beat Mississippi Valley State, 72-7
Eastern Washington lost to Texas Tech, 56-10

North Dakota State took care of business last week against Mississippi Valley State but will face a much stiffer test this week at Eastern Washington in the day’s first MVFC/BSC matchup. NDSU is currently the #2 ranked team in the FCS, behind only last year’s national champion, James Madison. They had 5 players named to the STATS Preseason All-America Team and 7 named to the All-Conference Preseason Team, so they loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. As most of you reading this probably know, one of the strengths of NDSU is their defense. Last year…a “down year” by recent Bison standards, they gave up a “whopping” 16.6 points per game, 5th best in the FCS…however, the most points they gave up last season was 44 points (in OT) in their second game, at the Fargodome, against the then #8 ranked team Eastern Washington.

Eastern Washington spent last week getting embarrassed by a Texas Tech team that most people thought they would probably beat or at least stay close with…they lost by 46 points. Gone is 2015 Walter Payton Award winning (and current LA Ram) WR Cooper Kupp, but that doesn’t mean the 7th ranked (by STATS) FCS team in the country is without offensive weapons. They still have the Preseason Conference Offensive Player of the Year, QB Gage Gubrud, who last year finished 3rd in Payton Award voting, as well as the WR who actually caught the most yardage-wise in their game against the Bison last year, Stu Stiles (169 yards and 1 TD). On the other side of the ball, they have preseason All-American D-Lineman Jay-Tee Tiuli, as well as preseason All-Big Sky D-Lineman Albert Havali, and Safety Mitch Fettig.

This is going to be a tough test for the Bison…probably their toughest regular-season game this year outside of South Dakota State and maybe Youngstown State. I like the matchup between the strong Bison defense and the Eagles offense. I think we’ll probably see fewer points this year as opposed to last year, but no less of an intense, hard-fought battle. I think that the biggest “gains” will be found when NDSU has the ball, since I feel that EWU’s defense, while good, especially by Big Sky standards, isn’t quite up to the task of stopping their Preseason All-Conference RB Lance Dunn and pair of All-Conference Honorable Mention WRs Darrius Shepherd and RJ Urzendowski. It’ll be close, it’ll be exciting, it’ll be  bright freakin’ red, but I think the Bison will come away with the win..by 3 points.

Cal Poly (0-2) at #21 Northern Iowa (0-1)

Northern Iowa Logo@ The UNI-Dome, Cedar Falls, Iowa – Capacity: 16,324

Last Week:
Cal Poly lost to San Jose State, 34-13
Northern Iowa lost to Iowa State, 37-20

Cal Poly is one of only a few FCS teams to have two games already under their belts, having played a “Week 0” game against Colgate (and losing 20-14). They then took on FBS San Jose State and padded their “loss total” again. In their game against SJSU, Cal Poly had trouble holding onto the ball, fumbling it away 3 times. With their triple-option offense, they tend to have possession longer than their opponents, although it doesn’t seem to be doing so well for them this year, putting up only 264 yards (most of it on the ground) and 13.5 points per game. They’ve got two preseason All-Big Sky players, with Joey Kuperman at Center and Joe Protheroe at Fullback, and their top tackler is LB Mason Montgomery, who has 23 tackles in their first two games.

Northern Iowa only has their one loss against Iowa State to go off of. Even though this was an FCS vs P5 FBS matchup, UNI had won 3 of the previous 6 meetings, so a win wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. Despite the loss, UNI competed well, being very close to ISU statistically in many areas. As usual, their defense appears to be pretty solid led by preseason All-Conference SR LB Jared Farley, who picked up 14 tackles in their game with ISU. The UNI offense has struggled so far this season as well as through much of last season, so we’ll see if they’re able to get some things going this game.

The 2nd MVFC vs BSC game will be the 6th time that the Panthers have faced the Cal Poly Mustangs (all in the last 20 years), with UNI winning the last 5 meetings. When done well, a triple-option offense can be very difficult to plan for and to defend against. This year though, it doesn’t really look like Cal Poly has the players to make it work well, and UNI has the defense to be able to stop it. I think we’re likely to see a fairly low-scoring game, with Cal Poly making it barely into double-digits and UNI maybe having a mistake or two, but overall being able to move the ball fairly well. I think we’re likely to see something in the neighborhood of a 14 point Panther win.

Missouri State (0-1) at #11 North Dakota (0-1)

Missouri State Logo@ The Alerus Center, Grand Forks, North Dakota – Capacity: 12,283

Last Week:
Missouri State lost to Missouri, 72-43
North Dakota lost to Utah, 37-16

North Dakota is a team that most MVFC members are going to get much more familiar with starting in 2020, when they join the other three DI schools in the Dakotas in the MVFC. UND kicked off their season at FBS Utah, staying close through most of the first half, but ultimately being outmatched. Despite the results, UND does have a very strong team this year. When you (or maybe it’s just me) think about Big Sky teams in general, you often think of high-powered passing offenses and kinda soft defenses…and when you think about MVFC teams in general, you often think of strong running games, strong defenses, and grinding it out in the trenches. In this case though, North Dakota is a Big Sky team that looks a lot more like a MVFC team. They have a strong ground defense, led by Preseason Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year, Safety Cole Reyes. They also have Preseason All-Big Sky CB Deion Harris roaming the backfield as well. Offensively, they have a Preseason All-Conference Offensive Guard (with a great name)…Demon Taylor, and two Preseason All-Conference RBs with John Santiago (who was also a preseason all-conference return specialist) and Brady Oliveira, who combined for 1,949 rushing yards and 17 TDs last season. Interestingly, even though their “star” players on defense are DBs, last year they were 6th in the FCS against the run, but 107th in passing yards allowed.

Facing off against the Hawks will be Missouri State, who, while losing to the Mizzou Tigers, were still able to put up 43 points against them. So, it sounds like the Bears might just have an offense. They did, however, give up 72 points…which means they don’t really have much of a defense. MSU got most of their yards through the air, which should give them an advantage against a UND defense that hasn’t excelled at that aspect. Despite the loss of their stud LB from last year, this might be, at least offensively, the best Bears team we’ve seen in quite a while.

Despite how lopsided this game might have looked initially…MSU was 4-7 last year (after a 1-10 year), while UND went 9-3 and played in the first round of the playoffs…this game feels like it could end up closer, especially if the MSU offense that showed up last weekend arrives in Grand Forks. I think that MSU will get a lot of yardage through the air against UND, while the Hawks will essentially run the ball “at will” against a Bears defense that only has 2 seniors out of all 11 starters. This could be a high-scoring game, but I think that UND will be able to pull out a few more stops and get the job done. North Dakota will win Big Sky vs Missouri Valley Game #3 by a TD.

South Dakota (1-0) at Bowling Green (0-1)

South Dakota Logo@ Doyt Perry Stadium, Bowling Green, Ohio – Capacity: 24,000

Last Week:
South Dakota defeated Drake, 77-7
Bowling Green lost to Michigan State, 35-10

Last week, Bowling Green took their team north to Lansing, MI and came away with a defeat at the hands of the Michigan State Spartans. The Falcons weren’t able to generate much of any kind of offensive production against MSU, putting up a grand total of 212 yards and 9 first downs, and only 3 points from the offense. Unfortunately for BGSU fans (at least, last year) they are worse on defense, coming in nearly last in the overall turnover margin (mostly from throwing intercepted passes), scoring defense, and passing yards allowed.

South Dakota on the other hand, spent the weekend doing their best old-school Michael Vick impression by beating some (Drake) bulldogs within an inch of their lives in a 70-point victory on Drake’s home field. QB Chris Streveler had a field day, throwing for 248 yards and 5 TDs and running for 53 yards and a TD. In general, though, the Coyotes’ offense is more run-based than “air attack”, at least over the last year or so.

Generally when you match up an FCS team that hasn’t had a winning season in the last 5 years with an FBS team, but when the FCS team appears to be trending upwards and the FBS team plays in a conference that is barely, if at all, better than the conference that the FCS team plays in, then you end up with a fairly even FCS vs FBS matchup. I think that USD QB Streveler will do well throwing against the Falcons defense, but BGSU will have more luck moving the ball against the Coyote’s defense than they did against Michigan State’s. This could be a very close game, and while I’m not going to predict it, it would not at all surprise me to see South Dakota win a close game in Ohio. Still, my gut tells me that they’ll come up just short…Bowling Green by 3 points.

#22 Western Illinois (1-0) at Northern Arizona (0-1)

Western Illinois Logo@ Walkup Skydome, Flagstaff, Arizona – Capacity: 11,230, Altitude: 6,880 ft

Last Week:
Western Illinois beat Tennessee Tech, 41-14
Northern Arizona lost to Arizona, 62-24

Hey, it’s “my” team (for those that aren’t aware, I am a Western Illinois fan, although I do try my best to be as unbiased as I can when doing my reviews and comments about my own team), and we’re playing at Northern Arizona in Big Sky vs Missouri Valley #4.

NAU finished last season a disappointing (considering their preseason expectations) 5-6 overall, 4-4 in the Big Sky conference, including a loss to Western in Macomb as their second game, by a score of 34-20. Part of their struggles later in the season were due to the season-ending injury to their star QB, FCS STATS National Freshman of the Year/Jerry Rice Award Winner Case Cookus in game 4 of their 2016 season. They also have WR threat Emmanuel Butler, OG Tyler Strank, and PK Griffin Roehler who were all named to the preseason All-Conference team this year. Overall, in the Big Sky preseason poll, NAU is expected to finish 3rd (out of 13 teams). In the loss to Arizona last week, Cookus threw for 306 passing yards and 2 INT. They had two players go over 100 rushing yards, JR transfer from Boise State, Cory Young (115 yards, 2 TDs), and SO Joe Logan (101 yards, 1 TD). SR WR Elijah Marks was their top receiver with 147 yards.

Western did well last week against Tennessee Tech, holding them to 0 net rushing yards and winning 41-14 in a game where TTU didn’t score at all until the 4th quarter (with WIU up 34-0 at the time). Other than a couple of big passes late in the game against the second string DBs, the Leatherneck defense did much better than they did most of the last year. Preseason All-Conference RB Steve McShane came out of the game early due to an injury, but the stable of other backs was able to pick up the slack. McShane is listed as week-to-week with an ankle sprain, but my guess is that he’ll be back by the time the conference games start, possibly a little sooner.

Despite Cookus being out for much of the season, he did play in the game last year against WIU, and the Leathernecks held the NAU offense to 30 points. This year, from what I saw in last week’s game, the Leatherneck defense appears to be improved…however, the game is out in Flagstaff…at nearly 7,000 ft above sea level…the second highest altitude for a DI stadium in the country (just a few hundred feet below Wyoming’s stadium)…so, that could present some issues later on in the game, although if the team gets out there a day or two early, they shouldn’t have too much trouble. I think that it’ll be a much closer game than last year, but WIU should come away with a close win. Leathernecks by 6.

Mississippi Valley State (0-1) at Southern Illinois (0-0)

Southern Illinois Logo@ Saluki Stadium, Carbondale, Illinois – Capacity: 15,000

Last Week:
Mississippi Valley State lost to North Dakota State, 72-7
Southern Illinois did not play

After an utter obliteration at the hands of NDSU, MVSU is once again heading into MVFC territory, this time to face off against SIU in the Egyptian dogs’ first game of the season. Mississippi Valley State is currently ranked third-to-last out of all 254 DI football teams (by both Massey and Sagarin), and have the lowest ranked defense. The offense is slightly better, but really, this is going to be a really tough game for the Delta Devils. Southern Illinois had the 4th best passing offense in the entire FCS last season. The Saluki run game wasn’t much to write home about and their defense had a lot of problems, but in terms of offensive production…at least last year…the Saluki offense was better than the Bison offense that just put 72 points up against MVSU last weekend. If the SIU defense hasn’t gotten much better, then MVSU might get up into the double-digits in terms of points, but this is another one of those games that’s just going to get ugly. I think probably around a 50-point Saluki win is likely.

#4 South Dakota State (1-0) at Montana State (0-1)

South Dakota State Logo@ Bobcat Stadium, Bozeman, Montana – Capacity: 17,777

Last Week:
South Dakota State beat Duquesne, 51-13
Montana State lost to Washington State, 31-0

The fifth game pitting a Missouri Valley team against a Big Sky team features Bobcats vs Bunnies…lynx vs lepus…kitty cats vs the jack attack…ok, I’ll stop. MSU kicked off their season last weekend with a matchup with current FBS AP #24 Washington State…and a loss where they only were able to accumulate 143 total yards of offense and 7 first downs, mostly on the ground. They do have a Preseason All-Big Sky Linebacker, Mac Bignell, who had 9 tackles in the game, and Senior DB Bryson McCabe leading the team with 13 total tackles. Montana State is a much better team than the game indicates (remember…borderline Top 25 FBS team), and they do have a halfway decent run game, led by their running QB Chris Murray who averaged 78.2 yards per game last season, and a pretty good defense with the defensive guys mentioned above. In 2016, they were rather weak against the pass…which is not a weak spot you want to have when going against one of the best offenses in the FCS.

South Dakota State rolled to a win over 2016 playoff team Duquesne last weekend to open their season. QB Taryn Christion and WR Jake Wieneke did their usual pitch-and-catch for a bunch of TDs, etc…etc. All-in-all, they have 9 players on the preseason All-MVFC team, with 7 of those on offense. Christian Rozeboom “headlines” the defense with a preseason All-Conference award, and they’re currently the 10th ranked defense (by Massey) so although offense is their greatest asset, the defense rarely lets them down either.

I think that Montana State might do well against a team who’s weak spot is their defense against the run or a team who doesn’t have a great passing offense…pretty much the opposite of the Jackrabbits. South Dakota State should come away with a pretty convincing win in this game, my guess…by about 17 points.

CAA: Week 1 Recap and Power Rankings

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I’d like to start off my very first post in honor of the Legendary Satchmo:

Hello CAA fans everywhere, and College Football Fans across America and around the world.  Zac here with Dukes Gang, excited to be joining this prestigious team at The FCS Wedge.  I’m a little late to the game with no Preseason Preview but let’s face it: I probably would have just written about the Dukes for 4 pages anyways.  Regardless, let’s recap Week 1 of CAA action.

James Madison 34 – East Carolina 14

The National Champions showed they haven’t lost much at all on offense despite graduating tons of talent, rushing all over the FBS Pirates and dominating on the defensive side of the ball.   Cardon Johnson led the way with 265 yards including TD runs of 85 and 80 yards.  Georgia Tech transfer Marcus Marshall also broke off a TD run for 70 yards.  The Dukes looked significantly more poised than host ECU from the very first snap, shutting out ECU in the first half for the first time since 2007.  JMU’s defensive backs had 3 INTs including 2 from Rashad Robinson coming back from injury last season.  His first pick was particularly incredible, stealing a touchdown out of an ECU wideout’s hands in the endzone.  The Dukes look to keep their 13 game win streak (longest current active Division 1 win streak) alive next week, hosting ETSU.

Richmond 34 – Sam Houston State 48

Scheduled to be played a week earlier in Week 0, Hurricane Harvey pushed this contest back to Week 1.  Richmond’s new head coach Russ Huesman faced the same Sam Houston State team that defeated his previous Chattanooga team in the playoffs last season and was unable to come away with a victory.  In a battle of offense with very little defense on either side, the Bearkats prevailed on the strength of 2016 Payton Award Winner Jeremiah Briscoe’s arm.  Briscoe threw 20 completions for 411 yards and 4 touchdowns, with one INT.  Possibly even more impressive was Kyle Lauletta’s 36 completions for 546 and 5 TDs, despite his 2 INTs in the Redzone that could have been the difference in this game.   The Bearkats also added 272 on the ground, with Remus Bulmer accounting for 89 of those yards on 10 carries.  The Spiders had less success on the ground, with Gordon Collins being the leading rusher with 6 carries for 54 yards and starter Deontez Thompson being held to 20 yards on 6 carries as well.  Sam Houston State jumped all over the Spiders in the 2nd quarter, posting 35 points and never really looking back.  Richmond did its best to mount a comeback but fell short with the 2nd Lauletta INT in the endzone.  Richmond will face to another strong out of conference battle next week at Colgate.

https://twitter.com/SpiderFootball/status/903807026903568385

Villanova 38 – Lehigh 35

The Wildcats scored three times in the 2nd quarter to jump out to a 28-14 halftime lead and withstood a Lehigh run late in the game, giving Coach Mark Ferrante his first win after the retirement of Legendary Nova Coach Andy Talley.   Zach Bednarczyk went 17 for 23 with 2 TDs and 72 yards on the ground, adding to RB Matt Guzak’s 142 rushing yards and two TDs.  The Mountain Hawks’ Brad Mayes impressed, with 33 completions on 49 attempts for 406 yards and 4 TDs.  Lehigh fell behind early but used Mayes’ performance to come back to within 3 with 4:38 left on the clock.  Unfortunately for the Mountain Hawks, they did not have another chance as Nova used a 9 play drive to grind out the game clock.

Maine 23 – New Hampshire 24

This year’s Battle for the Brice-Cowell Musket did not disappoint. Maine posted their most solid attempt to win the Musket since they did in 2010, with a missed extra point being the difference.  Maine RB Josh Mack ran for 103 yards off of 23 carries, and transfer QB Chris Ferguson impressed, completing 23 out of 44 attempts and 3 TDs.  He also posted 2 INTs, the latter of which sealed the deal for New Hampshire. UNH QB Trevor Knight went 18 for 29 for 149 yards and two TDs, while also running for 79 yards on 21 carries.   Maine hopes to bounce back next week hosting Bryant and New Hampshire will continue their quest for 14 straight playoff appearances at FBS Georgia Southern.

Rhode Island 27 – Central Michigan 30 – 3OT

The Rams proved more than up for the test against MAC foe Central Michigan, but fell just short in a heroic effort that took three overtimes to settle.  Down 21-7 after just 1:01 into the fourth, Rhode Island scored 14 unanswered to push the game into overtime.   After matching field goals in the First OT, CMU fumbled on the first possession of 2nd OT.  Rhode Island drove for 9 yards to the 16, and attempted to win the game with a 33 yard field goal. Unfortunately, C.J. Carrick’s kick was tipped at the line and went just wide right.  The Rams mustered another field goal in the 3rd OT but yielded the game winning touchdown to the Chippewas on a 4 yard TD run.   Rhode Island QB Tyler Harris went 21 for 40 for 284 with three TDs, but the story of the game was CMU’s failure to capitalize on his 6 INTs.  A lot of that had to do to the Rams’ bend but not break defense, which seemed to tighten up when the Chips got to the red zone.  Rhode Island will try to take the momentum from almost upsetting their first FBS team into Week 2 when they face Stony Brook in CAA league play.

William and Mary 10 – Virginia 28

The Tribe fell in what was honestly a closer game than the score shows, despite being down 14-0 at the half.  W&M was robbed on a non-reviewed on-field fumble call that would have given them the ball back late in the 2nd quarter and only down 7-0.  They also had a couple of close calls on interceptions before UVA’s QB Kurt Benkert found Andre Levrone in the endzone with 1:31 left in the first half.  The Fighting Ebirts got it to within 21-10 on QB Tommy McKee’s 2 yard run with 6:55 left in the 4th, but the Wahoos held them off.  McKee looked promising for the Tribe, especially on the ground, rushing 15 times for 89 yards and several first downs.  Running back Noah Giles also averaged 4.9 ypc on 11 carries for 54 yards. William and Mary will try to turn their season around next week at Norfolk State.

Delaware State 3 – Delaware 22

This year’s Route 1 Rivalry belonged to Delaware who retained possession of the Route 1 Cup for the 8th consecutive time.  Under new head coach Danny Rocco, who transferred from in-conference rival Richmond this offseason, the Blue Hens stayed true to form, having never lost this “rivalry” game.  With a balance attack through the air and on the ground, Delaware dominated statistically on offense as well as defense.  QB Joe Walker threw for 192 yards with a TD and INT, and RB Thomas Jefferson averaged 5.4 yards per carry on 19 attempts for 102 yards.  Overall, Delaware had 206 passing yards and 226 rushing yards.  But even more impressive was their defense, holding the Hornets to just 224 total yards and only a field goal.  Delaware looks to follow in James Madison’s historic footsteps and become the 2nd CAA team to upset a ranked Virginia Tech team next week in Blacksburg.

 

Elon 13 – Toledo – 47

The Phoenix hung in there tight for a half versus MAC Toledo, only being down 16-7 with a minute left in the 2nd quarter.  But a 27 yard field goal by the Rockets’ Jameson Vest put Toledo up 19-7 at the half.   The Rockets’ then returned the 2nd half kickoff for a TD and never looked back.  The Phoenix struggled to gain yards by the pass or the run, totally only 175 yards for the game, with only 47 of those through the air on just 3 completions.  Elon has another tough test next week against SOCON foe Furman.

 Morgan State 0 – Towson 10

The Tigers shut out the Bears in the 2017 edition of the Battle for Greater Baltimore, holding them to only 49 yards on the ground and 185 in the air.  However, Towson had issues of their own on offense only putting up 85 yards through the air and a measley 17 net yards rushing.  The Tigers’ D looked promising, with a fumble recovery and 3 INTs including one that set up the games sole touchdown.  The Tigers will have to find some stripes on offense and continue to lean on their grrrrreat defense in a Week 2 matchup against Maryland.

Stony Brook 17 – South Florida – 31

Despite a fast start and a halftime lead of 10-7, Stony Brook was stifled in the second half and fell to FBS South Florida by two TDs.  There were a lot of positives for the Seawolves, however, including great play from their special teams with Andrew Trent blocking USF’s Jonathan Hernandez’s punt and Augie Contressa recovering it in the endzone for a 7-0 lead.  RB Stacey Bedell also impressed, with a 54 yard TD run and averaging 7.1 yards per carry for a total of 71 yards.  In the end, however, the Bulls pulled away on the strength of QB Quinton Flowers, who threw 2 TDs in the second half that proved to be the difference in the ballgame.  Stony Brook faces another almost FBS victor in Rhode Island in Week 2.

Albany 17 – Old Dominion 31

The Great Danes put together a great Fourth Quarter, coming back from down 24-3 to within a TD at 17-24, but a 55 yard Blake LaRussa pass to Gemonta Jackson put the game out of reach in favor of ODU.  Albany’s Karl Mofor came one yard shy of breaking the century mark, putting up 99 yards on 21 carries and one TD.  Will Brunson also played well, going 13 for 29 for 160 yard through the air with an INT.  Albany will face Morgan State in Week 2 and look to move the CAA’s record against the Bears to 2-0.

Week 1 CAA Power Rankings

1. James Madison
2. Villanova
3. New Hampshire
4. Maine
5. Richmond
6. Rhode Island
7. Delaware
8. W&M
9. Stony Brook
10. Albany
11. Towson
12. Elon

The FCS Wedge – 2017-0906 – WEEK 1 REVIEW

We’re breaking the show up into two segments going forward and Lance & Kris review the Week 1 games, upsets, and also go over the AGS Poll and discuss which teams they think might be deserving that were not included. Tune in tomorrow for the preview of Week 2 games.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Patriot League: Week 1 Recap and Power Rankings

All things considered, the opening week went quite well for the Patriot League. It started August 26th when Colgate traveled to California to take on the 21st ranked Cal Poly Mustangs. The Raiders withstood a furious Cal Poly comeback attempt to notch a quality win for their program and the Patriot League. Bucknell was also impressive in their season opener. The Bison stampeded Marist to start 2017 in fine fashion. Holy Cross and Lehigh both put forth very good efforts but ultimately came up just short against favored opponents. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the John Garrett era got off to a rough start as Lafayette took one on the chin against Monmouth. The only head turning outcome of opening week came Friday night when Fordham was run out of West Point by Army to the tune of 64-6.

Colgate 20 #21 Cal Poly 14

The Raiders needed a 4th down stop with 37 seconds left to thwart Cal Poly’s comeback attempt and escape back to Hamilton with a win. The Mustangs made it to the Raider 22 yard line as time was ticking away when Colgate came up with the huge defensive stand. The Raiders defense did an excellent job containing the Cal Poly option attack until the 4th quarter. That’s when the Mustangs were able to start enforcing their will on the ‘Gate front 7. Payton Award candidate Joe Protheroe finished with 139 yards and 1 TD on 39 carries for the Mustangs. As a team, Cal Poly was held 100 yards below their 2016 rushing average by the Colgate defense.

Cal Poly was playing from behind the entire game. After receiving the opening kickoff Colgate went on an 11 play 75 yard drive that resulted in a Chris Puzzi 27 yard field goal. The Raiders tacked onto their lead with under a minute left in the opening quarter when James Holland (25 carries 91 yards 1 TD) raced into the end zone from 17 yards out. The touchdown gave the Raiders a 10-0 lead. On Colgate’s first possession of the second quarter Alex Mathews (7 carries 78 yards 1 TD) broke free for a 57 yard TD to extend the Raider league to 17-0. Chris Puzzi closed out the Colgate scoring with 4:48 left in the 3rd quarter when he split the uprights from 38 yards out.

With the win Colgate starts the season 1-0 for the first time since 2011.

Up Next: After enjoying an early season bye following the trip to Cal Poly,  Colgate welcomes Top 15 Richmond to Andy Kerr Stadium for another key out of conference game. The Spiders defeated Colgate 38-31 last season in Virginia.

UConn 27 Holy Cross 20

Holy Cross put forth an excellent performance in defeat against FBS UConn last Thursday night. This was the Crusaders first opponent (Army) from college football’s highest level in 15 years. That day Holy Cross was able to escape West Point with a thrilling 30-21 win. This time around Holy Cross couldn’t withstand a second half surge by the Huskies in Randy Edsall’s return debut as head coach of UConn. The best decision Edsall made in his return was to insert former starting QB Bryan Shirreffs late in the 3rd quarter. Once that happened, the Huskies offense took off. Prior to Shirreffs entering the game the Huskie offense was struggling mightily with David Pindell under center.

The Crusaders scored 17 unanswered points in the 2nd quarter to take a 20-7 lead into the locker room. Holy Cross QB Peter Pujals (33-56 358 yards 1 TD) looked in midseason form in his return as Crusader quarterback. The 5th year senior consistently made plays for the Holy Cross offense despite facing heavy pressure from the UConn defense. Ironically, his first TD pass back was a 19 yarder to former QB Blaise Bell. Bell had an excellent performance in his debut at WR (10 rec 129 yards 1 TD). Unfortunately for Pujals and Co. the Holy Cross defense could not come up with key stops once Shirreffs and RB Nate Hopkins (20 carries 130 yards 3 TDs) found their rhythm. Hopkins 3rd and final touchdown midway through the 4th quarter proved to be the winning points.

Up Next: Holy Cross jumps right into league play as they travel to Pennsylvania to take on Bucknell. The Crusaders lost to the Bison 21-20 last season.

Army 64 #23 Fordham 6

Fordham could not duplicate their Michie Magic of two years ago as Army exacted some serious revenge on the Rams Friday night. The Black Knights ran for 513 yards and did not complete a single pass on their way to a 58 point stomping of the Rams. Fordham entered the season with questions along the defensive line and left the banks of the Hudson with none of those answered. It’s highly unlikely Fordham sees another rushing attack that comes close to Army’s but such a poor performance in the season opener can’t be sitting well with Coach Breiner and his staff.

Army scored touchdowns on their first two possessions and only a fumble deep in Ram territory prevented the Black Knights from making it three straight. As it was, Army scored points on 10 of their 11 possessions during the course of the game while holding Fordham to a single TD. Chase Edmonds (15 carries 42 yards 1 TD) got Fordham on the scoreboard late in the second quarter to prevent the Maroon and White from being shutout. 5th year senior QB Kevin Anderson (26-38 233 yards 1 INT) never got comfortable in the pocket due to being under constant duress. The Fordham offensive line really struggled to match the physicality that Army brought. The unit will need to improve considerably if the Rams offense wants to live up its preseason billing.

Up Next: Fordham travels to New Britain, CT to square off with NEC member Central Connecticut State Saturday afternoon.

#9 Villanova 38 #19 Lehigh 35

The Mountain Hawk defense could not get a key stop late in the 4th quarter to give their potent offense one last chance to complete the comeback against 9th ranked Villanova. Playing catchup the entire game, Lehigh had a chance to get the ball back one last time but the Wildcat offense was able to churn out two key first downs on their final possession of the game to seal the victory. With the win, Villanova continues their mastery of Lehigh now having won the last 6 meetings in the series. The loss also extended Lehigh’s winless draught against teams froms the CAA to 6 games.

Villanova briskly went 67 yards in 4 plays on their opening possession to take a quick 7-0 lead. Lehigh was able to tie it up on a short Bragalone (25 carries 82 yards 1 TD) plunge before the Wildcats scored two early second quarter touchdowns to extend their lead to 21-7. The two teams would trade touchdowns before half. The key sequence during that time was a Bragalone fumble deep in Villanova territory that was picked up by a Wildcat defender and returned for a TD. A block in the back penalty negated the touchdown. However, on the very first play on offense following the fumble Gudzak scampered around the end for a 33 yard TD. The score gave Villanova a 28-14 halftime lead. Lehigh would outscore the Wildcats 21-10 in the second half but the fumble at the end of the 2nd quarter proved too much to overcome. Brad Mayes (33-49 406 yards 4 TDs), Luke Christiano (8 rec 143 yards 1 TD) and Troy Pelletier (11 rec 141 yards 1 TD) had big games for Lehigh in the loss.

Up Next: Lehigh will make the 90 minute trek to Monmouth University to take on the Hawks. Monmouth won 23-21 last year in Bethlehem.

Monmouth 31 Lafayette 12

The Leopards needed more offense in John Garrett’s debut in order to give their new head coach his first career collegiate win. The Leopards put forth a strong defensive performance, especially in the 1st half, but were unable to get the offense going with any consistency. The biggest issue was a rushing attack that racked up -1 yard. The inability to move the ball on the ground was a serious problem for Lafayette last year and if the first game is any indication, it will be a major cause for concern in 2017. Despite having no running game to fall back on, true freshman Sean O’Malley (27-42 262 yards 2 TD 2 INT) showed some real potential in is his first start. O’Malley made the wise decision to connect with with talented WR Matt Mzarek (9 rec 80 yards 1 TD) early and often.

The game was scoreless until Monmouth RB Pete Gurriero found paydirt from 16 yards out 34 seconds before half time. Prior to that Hawk scoring drive the Leopard defense had 2 interceptions, forced 2 punts and stopped Monmouth on downs on a 4th and 1. Monmouth was able to carry the momentum generated from Gurriero’s TD over to the second half. The Hawks went on a 10 play 75 yard touchdown drive the first time they touched the ball in the 3rd quarter to extend the lead to 13-0. Lafayette closed the gap to 13-6 when O’Malley connected with Mzarek for a 17 yard TD with 6:10 left in the 3rd quarter. The Leopards would get no closer as Monmouth would score the game’s next 17 points to win going away.

Up Next: Lafayette welcome the Sacred Heart to Fisher Stadium Saturday evening. The two last met in 2014 when the Pioneers spoiled the Leopard’s season opener 27-14.

Bucknell 45 Marist 6

Bucknell opened the 2017 season with their most dominating performance since 2001 when they beat former Patriot League member Towson 51-10.  The Bison got points from all three phases in the 39 point win over Marist Saturday night. The Bucknell defense played exceptionally well in the win. They scored two touchdowns in the first quarter and limited the Red Foxes to 8 first downs and 154 total yards. The only really negative that Bucknell should take away from the game is the fact the offense will continue to be a work in progress given the inexperience along the offensive line. As a result of the suspect O-line play, the two headed monster (DeFloria and Freshnock) never got traction (54 yards combined).

The Bison put the game away early with four 1st quarter touchdowns. Bucknell QB Matt Muh (16-24 205 yards 2 TD 1 INT) tossed two TD passes while the defense tacked on two scores of their own during the first 15 minutes of the season. Muh completed passes to seven different receivers during the game and generally played well despite having almost no ground game to lean on. Freshnock did manage to muscle his way for two short yardage touchdowns but was otherwise held in check. If Bucknell wants to make noise in the league race they must get the offensive line shored up so the ground game can get rolling. The Bison need to be a physical team.

Up Next: Bucknell hosts Holy Cross in an important early season league game. The Bison snuck past the Crusaders by 1 point, 21-20, last year.

Power Rankings

  1. Lehigh – The Mountain Hawks went toe-2-toe with a Top 10 team. Defense is still a big question mark but the offense is every bit as good as advertised.
  2. Fordham – That was an ugly performance against Army but it’s only 1 game against a FBS team coming off an 8-5 season. Need to make a statement against CCSU
  3. Colgate – The Raiders started 2017 with quality win 3,000 miles from home. Now they get an opportunity to notch another big “W” in their own backyard.
  4. Holy Cross – The Crusaders outplayed UConn for 45 minutes but couldn’t seal the deal against the Huskies. The offensive line needs to protect Pujals against the Bison.
  5. Bucknell – The Bison couldn’t have scripted a better start to the season. Now the competition level increases significantly as Holy Cross pays a visit to Lewisburg.
  6. Georgetown – Opening the season with a bye gives the Hoyas an extra week to prepare for a very winnable slate of September games.
  7. Lafayette – The defense showed why it might be one of the top 2 or 3 units in the league. Unfortunately, the offense is headed nowhere without an offensive line and running game.

MVFC – Week 1 In Review

MVFC LogoCollege football is finally back. Here’s how the first full weekend of football played out across the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

8/31 – Western Illinois at Tennessee Tech

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
WIU 3 7 24 7 41
TTU 0 0 0 14 14

Quick Hits:

  • WIU – Defense holds TTU to 0 net rushing yards with 10 tackle performances from LBs Brett Taylor and Quentin Moon. Moon also had a career-high 3.5 tackles for loss, earning him the conference “Defensive Player of the Week” award.
  • WIU – After injury to preseason All-MVFC RB Steve McShane, Sophomore RB Max Norris steps up for 135 rushing yards.
  • WIU – WR Jaelon Acklin attempting to fill the shoes of (current Dallas Cowboys WR) Lance Lenoir, catches for 79 yards and 1 TD and rushes for 37 yards and 1 TD.
  • WIU – D-Lineman Khalen Saunders has 4 tackles (1 sack) and a lot of behind-the-line pressure…also gets put in as a fullback….really FULL-back (he’s 310 lbs) and gets a rushing TD….apparently we got ourselves a “Mini-Fridge”.
  • WIU – Cookeville, TN native Vic Johnson gets a rushing TD in front of his “home crowd” and in his first collegiate game, and Sophomore DB Mike Viti has a 45-yard “pick-6”.
  • TTU – QB Andre Sale throws for 223 yards and 2 TDs.
  • TTU – WRs Darri Stafford and Dontez Byrd have long TD receptions of 61 yards and 52 yards respectively.

WIU starts the season strong and is now 1-0. They’ll head 1,400 miles west and over a mile up (in altitude) to take on the strong passing attack of Northern Arizona next weekend.
TTU gets off to a 0-1 start and will head about 3 hours down the highway to play the Kennesaw State Owls next Saturday.

My Pick in Review:

I said: 10-point Leatherneck win
It was: 27-point Leatherneck win
I know that the margin was way more than I expected, but considering this is the first week and we didn’t really have any idea how the two teams would do or play (and since I’m the one doing the grading here)…I’ll count this as a win.

8/31 – Eastern Illinois at Indiana State

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
EIU 13 3 0 6 22
INSU 7 0 3 10 20

Quick Hits:

  • INSU – SR RB LeMonte Booker provides over half of the Sycamores offensive yards with 154 rushing yards, 8 receiving yards, and 2 TDs (one each by land and by air).
  • INSU – JR LB Katrell Moss and SO LB Jonas Griffith each finish with 13 total tackles
  • INSU – Question marks at the QB position as JR Isaac Harker throws 38 yards, 1 TD & 1 INT before being replaced about halfway through the 2nd quarter by RS-FR Cade Sparks who gets 95 yards, but 0 TDs (and 0 INTs).
    INSU – Preseason All-MVFC SO PK Jerry Nunez hits FGs from 43 and 19, but misses from 48 with less than 2 minutes left in the game
  • EIU – Wins the game on a last-second (technically 3rd-to-last second) TD pass.
  • EIU – No huge offensive standouts, as the top rusher (JR RB Isaiah Johnson) only gets 65 yards and 1 TD, and the top receiver (JR WR Alexander Hollins) gets 46 yards.
  • EIU – SR S Tray Mitchell picks up 11 tackles (3 for loss including 1 sack), 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery

Nothing real spectacular on either side of the ball, but EIU does just enough to win the game, taking back the lead after INSU went ahead with less than 5 minutes to go (their first lead since the 1st quarter).

Indiana State falls to 0-1 and will face the daunting task of taking on SEC member Tennessee next weekend.

Eastern Illinois picks up their first win, are 1-0, and will have a slightly easier job next weekend, as they head up to DeKalb to take on Northern Illinois and see if they can recreate what Western Illinois did last season against the Huskies.

My Pick in Review:

I said: 3-point Sycamores win
It was: 2-point Panther win
Man…I knew it’d be a close game. Take away the last 3 seconds of it and I was only 1 point off on my pick…but, a football game is 60 minutes long, not 59:57. A narrow “whiff” on my part for this one.

8/31 – Duquesne at South Dakota State

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
DUQ 0 7 6 0 13
SDSU 20 14 14 3 51

Quick Hits:

  • SDSU – Wieneke…..just….¯\_(ツ)_/¯
    The (thank god he’s finally a) Senior WR wasn’t even the top receiver for SDSU in yardage with 75 yards (Adam Anderson had 81 yards), but had 4 TD catches, tying the school record for TDs in a game.
  • SDSU – JR QB Taryn Christion was the top passer and top rusher in the game, throwing for 254 yards and 5 TDs (w/ 1 INT) and running for 96 yards (mostly on a 90-yard run in the first quarter to set up an Isaac Wallace TD run.
  • SDSU – 609 total offensive yards is the second-most put up by SDSU since the 2007 season (most was 630 yards against USD last season).
  • DUQ – SO RB A.J. Hines, last year’s Jerry Rice Award Winner, held to only 34 yards.
  • DUQ – JR WRs Kareem Coles and Nehari Crawford each had a receiving TD
  • DUQ – SO P Mitch Maczura doubled his previous number of punts from all of last season with 8 against the Jackrabbits.

Pretty much business as usual for the Jackrabbits, Wieneke setting records…him, Christion, and Goedert gradually working their way towards the top of many of the SDSU and MVFC record books. Duquesne was held scoreless until less than 2 minutes were left in the first half, and then didn’t get another score until late in the 3rd, when SDSU was already at 48 points. I only watched part of the game, but I’d bet that it was mostly second-string Jackrabbits in the second half.

South Dakota State starts the season 1-0 and will head west next weekend to take on Montana State in one of many MVFC vs Big Sky matchups we’ll see over the next few years. Duquesne stays on the road (like Western, they start the season with 3 road games and a bye week, not playing their first home game until the last weekend of September) but will have a much better chance of a win against Valparaiso next weekend.

My Pick in Review:

I said: 20 point win for South Dakota State
It was: 38 point win for South Dakota State
A bit larger margin than I thought, I knew SDSU would put up points, but I know that Duquesne is a halfway decent team…they’re from the NEC, but still, pretty good for that “level” and kinda expected a few more points out of them. Still, essentially the game I was expecting.

9/2 – Missouri State at Missouri

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
MSU 21 14 0 8 43
MIZ 20 28 10 14 72

Quick Hits:

  • MIZ – What is even defense? 83 total points for both teams in the first half alone led to a record-breaking day for the Missouri offense (and a personal thank you from this WIU fan for erasing our name from most of Mizzou’s record books in the best offensive game categories).
  • MSU – 43 points…against an SEC defense…you don’t see that often from an FCS team.
  • MSU – SR RB Calan Crowder runs for 124 yards and 2 TDs
  • MSU – SO Transfer (from Garden City CC) QB Peyton Huslig throws for 353 yards, 2 TDs (1 INT) and earns the conference “Newcomer of the Week” award.
  • MSU – SR WR Malik Earl snags 8 catches for 163 yards and 1 TD.
  • MIZ – JR QB Drew Lock sets school records by throwing for 521 yards and 7 TDs (1 INT).

If you had told me before the game that Missouri State would put 43 points up against an SEC defense…ANY SEC defense…I would have said that you were drunk or high (or probably both). Has MSU found their QB after a season of question marks and alleged canine abuse? It’s possible, although I’d like to see another game or two out of him before I’m sure it isn’t just “beginner’s luck”. Still, a great debut performance for the new Bears QB.

Mizzou is now, as expected, 1-0 on the season and they’ll welcome South Carolina to Columbia next weekend.
Missouri State heads northward to take on future MVFC member North Dakota in Grand Forks, South Manitoba.

My Pick in Review:

I said: Mizzou by 20
It was: Mizzou by 29
I know I said that if MSU kept it within 20 points, that would count as a “moral victory”, but I think they can count this one, at least on the offensive side of the ball. If this keeps up, I can’t wait to see the 78-73 offensive shootout between MSU and SIU later this season.

9/2 – Youngstown State at Pittsburgh

1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Final
YSU 0 0 7 14 0 21
PITT 14 7 0 0 7 28

Quick Hits:

  • YSU – SR QB Hunter Wells throws for 311 yards and 2 TDs (1 INT), mostly to non-WR’s
  • YSU – True-FR RB Christian Turner and SR TE Kevin Rader each catch over 100 yards, with Turner getting 2 TDs and rushing for 32 yards.
  • YSU – SR S Jalyn Powell finishes the game with 14 tackles (9 solo)
  • Pitt – SR QB Max Brown throws for only 140 yards and 1 TD
  • Pitt – JR RB Quadree Ollison leads the team in rushing yards with 91 and 2 TDs
  • YSU – Defense holds Pitt offense to under 350 total yards

Despite giving up TDs on the first three possessions, the YSU defense turned things around and shut down the Pitt offense, allowing only 99 yards and 0 points in the second half. They scored just enough to force OT at Heinz Field, but having a pass intercepted in the end zone ended the Penguins hopes for another upset over the Panthers.

Pittsburg next heads to the hills of Happy Valley to take on a highly-ranked Penn State team.

Youngstown State heads back to the Ice Castle and will take on Robert Morris for the third year in a row.

My Pick in Review:

I said: Pitt by 17
It was: Pitt by 7
A lot closer game than I thought it was going to be…I expected Pitt to pull away at the end of the game, as what usually happens in games between P5 FBS teams and FCS teams. What I didn’t expect was for that “pulling away” to not happen until overtime, after the FCS team climbed back into a game that looked nearly over at halftime. They’re not quite the team they were when they made it to the FCS championship game last year, but it appears that they are still going to be a very tough team to beat for anyone, at any level.

9/2 – Mississippi Valley State at North Dakota State

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
MVSU 0 7 0 0 7
NDSU 30 14 21 7 72

Quick Hits:

  • NDSU – Put up FCS-leading 498 total rushing yards, with JR RB Lance Dunn and SO RB Ty Brooks both getting over 125 yards and 2 TDs.
  • NDSU – Defensively, the Bison held MVSU to -31 yards rushing and 89 yards receiving (58 net yards), and picked up a safety.
  • NDSU – Kicking game was an issue, with JR K Cam Pederson missing on his two FGs (42 and 43 yards)

I don’t really think there’s much to say here. One of the best FCS teams over the previous few years vs one of the worst in one of the toughest places for a visiting team to play. It wasn’t going to be close. NDSU needs to find a kicker who can make 40-yard FGs in a dome though.

Life doesn’t get much easier for the Delta Devils next week, as they head to Southern Illinois to take on a pretty solid Saluki offense (they might get a few more points though).
The Bison will have a much tougher game next weekend as they head out to Eastern Washington for a game at The Inferno of Roos Field.

My Pick in Review:

I said: NDSU by whatever they want (I guessed around 45)
It was: NDSU by 65
I think everyone knew it was going to be a lopsided game. The one surprise for me was that I expected the scoring to slow down at least a little once NDSU put in their backups. I mean, I guess it did (they had 30 in the first quarter, 14 in the second), but still, another 28 points in the second half meant that MVSU just couldn’t keep up with NDSU’s players, even a ways further down the depth chart.

9/2 – South Dakota at Drake

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
USD 28 28 7 14 77
D+ 0 7 0 0 7

Quick Hits:

  • USD – SR QB Chris Streveler earned the conference’s “Offensive Player of the Week” award following a 248 passing yards + 5 TDs, and 53 rushing yards + 1 TD performance.
  • USD – Receiving targets were well spread out…no player had more than 50 yards receiving, but 7 receivers had 30 or more yards each.
  • DU – Had trouble holding onto the ball, 6 fumbles (1 lost), and 3 interceptions thrown for the Bulldogs.
  • USD – R-FR DB Phillip Powell caught two interceptions including one that was returned 9 yards for a TD.
  • USD – R-FR P Brady Schutt punted 4 times, dropping all inside the 20 and earning the conference “Special Teams Player of the Week” award.
  • USD – Drake was held to -1 net rushing yards in the game.

It was pretty obvious that Drake was overmatched fairly early on in the game. They’ve occasionally put together decent football teams, but this year doesn’t look like it’s one of them. South Dakota’s QB, Chris Streveler has the potential to be one of the best QBs in the conference this year, but like most week 1 games, I’d like to see how he does against a pretty good defense before we crown him. South Dakota will head east to take on MAC foe Bowling Green next week, and the next week, they’ll head home to take on North Dakota…a future MVFC member and a team that only VERY narrowly lost to Bowling Green last season.

Drake will bring in NAIA Southwestern College (Kansas) next weekend.

My Pick in Review:

I said: Coyotes by 20
It was: Coyotes by 70
I was apparently wrong about my assumption that “Drake isn’t a bad team for a non-scholarship team”. I didn’t realize quite how low they were ranked this year. I figured USD would win a blowout, but didn’t think it’d be a 70-point blowout (what is it with the winning teams finishing in the 70-point range this week?).

9/2 – Butler at Illinois State

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
BUT 0 0 0 0 0
ILSU 0 17 21 7 45

Quick Hits:

  • ISU – Butler held to 41 total yards of offense (0 rushing yards)
  • ISU – No 1 specific standout, as the top Redbird rusher (SO RB Markel Smith) finishes with 88 yards, but 5 other players rush for over 35 yards
  • ISU – SR WR Christian Gibbs catches for 79 yards and 2 TDs
  • ISU – fumbled 4 times, losing 1 to Butler
  • ISU – JR S Mitchell Brees has 1 interception returned 29 yards for a TD
  • BUT – SR DB Isaak Newhouse picks up 14 tackles, 1 forced fumble, and 1 pass breakup in the game

Like the last few, pretty much as expected. Non-scholarship Pioneer League team (not even a good Pioneer League team) vs a “top half of the MVFC” full-scholarship team. It seems like ISU was slowed down a bit in the first part of the game, punting on their first two possessions and not picking up their first score until the second quarter, but picked things up from there, ramping up the scoring in the 2nd and 3rd quarters.

Butler will head home to play Franklin College (DIII, Indiana) next weekend. Illinois State hits the road to play this year’s Mid-America Classic, the oldest rivalry in the state of Illinois, against Eastern Illinois. It will be the 106th meeting between the two teams, starting back in 1901.

My Pick in Review:
I said: 35-point Redbird win
It was: 45-point Redbird win
As I said, pretty much as expected when a decent MVFC team plays a mediocre non-scholarship team…35 points…45 points…about the same in the grand scheme of things.

9/2 – Northern Iowa at Iowa State

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
UNI 7 3 7 7 24
ISU 14 7 14 7 42

Quick Hits:

  • UNI – JR QB Eli Dunne has 259 yards and 3 TDs passing, but also throws 3 interceptions.
  • ISU – JR QB Jacob Park does slightly better with 271 yards and 2 TDs passing, but only 1 interception.
  • UNI – SR LB Jared Farley picks up 14 tackles including 1 for loss
  • Both – UNI SR P Sam Kuhter and ISU SO P each punt 5 times for 225 and 227 yards respectively, both with 3 within the 20-yard line. Both players averaged 45+ yards per punt in the game.

This is the FBS game that UNI, during good years, is frequently able to pull out a win for. From what I’ve heard from some UNI fans though, this year is going to be more of a “mediocre” year for them most likely, and it looks like it played out in this game, as UNI got the scoring started, but then, for the most part, spent the game trading 1 Panther TD for 2 Cyclones TDs.

UNI will host Cal Poly at the UNIDome next weekend, and ISU will take on the in-state rival Hawkeyes for the annual Cy-Hawk rivalry trophy.

My Pick in Review:
I said: Iowa State by 7
It was: Iowa State by 18
I figured UNI would stay a little closer in this game, but essentially the same result. Just not quite enough offense for the Panthers to keep up this year.

Looks like I finished 8-1 in my picks for the week, missing on 1 due to an EIU TD in the final seconds of their game.

Thanks for reading, let me know if you like the new format (as opposed to the giant “wall-of-text” posts that I had a tendency to do last year. Check back later this week for my preview of this next weekend’s games (all games on Saturday, 9/9) including 5 MVFC/Big Sky matchups, 2 FCS/FBS games, and 2 more “standard” FCS/FCS battles.

Big Sky Conference Round-Up Week 1

The first full weekend of Big Sky football is in the books and every game went about as expected for all of the teams. The teams that should have won did so, and the teams that weren’t favored in their games did not win those contests. North Dakota put up a nice fight against the Utah Utes in Salt Lake City, however the Utes aren’t slouches on the football field. North Dakota got an early lead on the Utes but after that first quarter Utah never looked back. Utah ran for 272 yards on the Fighting Hawks, while North Dakota didn’t get much going in the rushing or passing game.

Sacramento State held tough for a while against Idaho, but ultimately lost 28-6 in the Kibbie Dome. The Vandals will be making their way back to the Big Sky next season. Washington State blanked Montana State 31-0 in Pullman. The Cats offense got absolutely nothing going, however their defense somehow held Mike Leach’s Cougars to 31 points. Wazzu’s Luke Falk turned in an impressive game, going 33/39 with 311 yards and three touchdowns.

Portland State fell to 0-2 on the season, losing by three to Oregon State. The Vikings have played FBS opponents two weeks in a row and have been a tough out in both contests. Too early to tell what kind of team the Vikings are right now, but they should be encouraged in their FBS losses.

Texas Tech dismantled Eastern Washington on Saturday night, beating the Eagles 56-10 in Lubbock. Prior to the game Kliff Kingsbury announced that the team would donate $100 per point scored in the contest to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. It appears the Red Raiders will be sending $5600 to Houston for their win against Eastern. The Eagles will be replacing just about everything from last season except Gage Gabrud. Gabrud had a decent day going 22/34 for 207 yards with a touchdown and interception. The Eagles will be looking to replace the combination of Cooper Kupp, Shaq Hill, and Kendrick Bourne from last season.

Oregon absolutely crushed Southern Utah 77-21. San Diego State took care of UC-Davis 38-17. Arizona dismantled Northern Arizona 62-24 as well.

On the flipside, Weber State took care of NAIA school Montana-Western 76-0, and Northern Colorado took down College of Idaho 41-14.

In the only FCS on FCS action this weekend Montana beat Valparaiso at home to start the season 45-23. Jerry Louis-McGee caught 159 yards with of passes from Reese Phillips and had a pair of touchdown grabs for the Griz. Next week Montana will get a taste of FBS punishment from eighth ranked Washington in Seattle.

Scores

North Dakota 16
Utah 37

Western Oregon 6
Idaho State 37

Sacramento State 6
Idaho 28

Valparaiso 23
Montana 45

Montana State 0
Washington State 31

Portland State 32
Oregon State 35

College of Idaho 14
Northern Colorado 41

Eastern Washington 10
Texas Tech 56

Cal Poly 13
San Jose State 34

Montana Western 0
Weber State 76

Southern Utah 21
Oregon 77

UC-Davis 17
San Diego State 38

Northern Arizona 24
Arizona 62

Big Sky Player of the Week

Jerry Louis-McGee, WR, Montana. The receiver had nine catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns in the Griz’s opening season win vs Valparaiso.

Big Sky MVP Candidates

Gage Gabrud, QB, Eastern Washington
Cole Reyes, RB, North Dakota
Joe Protheroe, RB, Cal Poly
Emmanual Butler, WR, Northern Arizona
John Santiago, RB, North Dakota

Big Sky Power Rankings

1. Eastern Washington
2. North Dakota
3. Montana
4. Portland State
5. Weber State
6. Northern Arizona
7. Cal Poly
8. Idaho State
9. Northern Colorado
10. Southern Utah
11. Montana State
12. UC-Davis
13. Sacramento State

Final Thoughts and Hot Takes

This is probably going to be an unpopular opinion but the Big Sky Conference leadership needs to put an end to these Big Sky vs NAIA games. College of Idaho and Montana-Western should –never- appear on teams’ schedules. There are one or two hundred division 2 teams to choose from, pick one and schedule it. NAIA football is not appropriate for scheduling. That would be the equivalent of an FBS team scheduling a D2 school.

As far as this week in games goes, they turned out about as they should have. Everyone won and lost as they should have. Portland State had a shot at the upset. Oregon State is probably not a good football team this season, having been blown out of the stadium vs Colorado State last week, and nearly getting upset this week by an FCS school.

In other FCS upsets, James Madison, Liberty, and Howard all pulled off impressive FBS upsets this weekend. James Madison crushed East Carolina. Liberty took down perennial FBS power Baylor in a clash of universities with terrible morals. Howard, winner of three games over the last two season, put 43 points on UNLV and beat them.

Montana may have one of the toughest play-up games for a Big Sky team in recent memory. The Washington Huskies defense is nails. Several players named to preseason award watch lists, and quarterback Jake Browning is back. Hopefully Chris Petersen shows mercy at some point.

College football is back.

AGS Poll: Top 25 Week 1 Results

With most FCS teams getting a game (or two) under their belts we’re starting to see the AGS rankings get shook up a bit. James Madison still has a stranglehold on the #1 spot taking all but 2 of 81 first place votes. NDSU and SDSU maintained their respective positions at #2 and #3. Sam Houston State moved up to #4 following their impressive win over Richmond and Jacksonville State climbed into the top 5 at #5 following their FCS Kickoff victory over Chattanooga.

There were quite a few teams that moved up a spot or 3 this week but the big movers were at the tail end of the poll as Colgate and Howard came in at #21 and #24, respectively, after not even appearing in the top 40 in the preseason poll. North Carolina A&T also cracked the top 25 coming in at #25.

As for the teams that went in the opposite direction Eastern Washington dropped 5 spots to #9 after their lopsided loss to Texas Tech. Richmond and Charleston Southern each dropped four spots to #10 and #20, respectively, after sustaining season opening losses. Cal Poly, Fordham, and Albany all dropped out of the #25.

The MVFC once again led the way in terms of conference representation placing 6 teams in the top 25. They were followed by the CAA and SOCON with 4 each and the Big Sky with 3.

Full results below:

Rank Team Total Points First Place Votes
1 James Madison Dukes 2023 79
2 North Dakota State Bison 1927 2
3 South Dakota State Jackrabbits 1826
4 Sam Houston State Bearkats 1736
5 Jacksonville State Gamecocks 1666
6 Wofford Terriers 1442
7 Villanova Wildcats 139
8 Youngstown State Penguins 1410
9 Eastern Washington Eagles 1383
10 Richmond Spiders 1286
11 North Dakota Fighting Hawks 1109
12 New Hampshire Wildcats 1032
13 The Citadel Bulldogs 1022
14 Illinois State Redbirds 843
15 Chattanooga Mocs 813
16 Central Arkansas Bears 809
17 Samford Bulldogs 750
18 Western Illinois Leathernecks 691
19 Lehigh Mountain Hawks 460
20 Charleston Southern Buccaneers 420
21 Colgate Raiders 246
22 Northern Iowa Panthers 217
23 Weber State Wildcats 199
24 Howard Bison 164
25 North Carolina A&T Aggies 143
ORV:
26 Montana Grizzlies 142
27 South Dakota Coyotes 140
28 Tennessee State Tigers 117
29 Albany Great Danes 98
30 Nicholls State Colonels 79
31 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 73
32 Eastern Illinois Panthers 57
33 Maine Black Bears 56
34 Portland State Vikings 54
35 Furman Paladins 48
36 Stony Brook Seawolves 47
37 San Diego Toreros 46
38 Fordham Rams 39
39 Southeastern Louisiana Lions 38
40 Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks 36

Most Significant Win: Howard Bison
Most Significant Loss: Cal Poly Mustangs

Game Preview: Marist at Bucknell

Marist at Bucknell – September 2nd 6 PM Christy Matthewson Stadium Lewisburg, PA

TV: None

Streaming: Patriot League Network

For the 13th straight year Bucknell will face the Marist Red Foxes in an out of conference game. This will mark the 3rd consecutive year the two have squared off in the season opener. Bucknell has won six straight over Marist and owns an 11-1 all-time record in the series. If the Bison want to continue their dominance over the Red Foxes the defense will likely have to lead the way. Marist returns 14 starters including numerous redshirt players so this will be a rather experienced Red Fox team that Bucknell welcomes to Lewisburg.

As is often the case, the Bison defense figures to lead the way. Led by preseason 1st team All-Patriot League DT Abdullah Anderson, the Bucknell “D” will have to contain a sneaky talented Marist offense. The Red Foxes have an experienced QB in Mike White and two preseason 1st team All-Pioneer selections in WR Juston Christian (48 rec 992 yards 8 TDs) and RB Marcellus Calhoun (167 carries 605 yards 8 TDs). Marist also brings back 3 out of their 5 starting offensive linemen from 2016.  The Bison will likely try to take away Calhoun away and force to be one Marist dimensional.

The Bison’s fate in this game, and the season for that matter, will come down to their offense. Outside of running backs Joey DeFloria (1,070 yards 10 TDs) and Chad Freshnock (604 yards 10 TDs) the Bison return very little proven talent and experience on offense. Marist will certainly try to take advantage of the Bucknell offensive line that’s breaking in 5 new starters. The Red Foxes are led by 3 preseason 1st team Pioneer selections on defense. Willie Barrett (41 solo tackes, 6 TFL) leads the linebacker core while Wesley Beans (52 solo tackles, 6 INTs) and Jordyn Jean-Felix (29 solo tackles, 3 INTs) are two excellent safeties. Bucknell will need a solid game from expected starting QB Matt Muh if they want to continue their dominance over Marist. The Red Foxes will try to key on the Bison’s two headed monster at RB and take their chances that Bucknell won’t be able to beat them through the air. That is often the recipe to beat Bucknell.

This should be an extremely competitive game. Bucknell has the slightly more talented defense while Marist has the more proven offense. Marist is also the more experienced team top to bottom. However, Bucknell should have a slight overall talent advantage and are at home. After posting a 4-7 record last year the Bison can’t afford to lose to a Pioneer team to start the 2017 campaign. It won’t be easy but the Bison should be able to escape with a win.

Prediction: Bucknell 17 Marist 14

Game Preview: Lafayette at Monmouth

Lafayette at Monmouth – September 2nd 3 PM, Kessler Stadium West Long Branch, NJ

TV: None

Stream: ESPN3

The John Garrett era kicks off at Lafayette as the Leopards head to the Jersey Shore to take on the Monmouth Hawks. While Lafayette has a new coach to start the 2017 season, Monmouth will be unveiling the rebuilt Kessler Stadium. The Hawks were in desperate need of facility upgrade since they joined the Big South prior to the 2014 season. The new Kessler Stadium is still rather small (4,000) but it has numerous modern amenities the old facility lacked. If John Garrett and Lafayette want to be the ones celebrating a “new era” in style they’ll need to rely on their defense to lead the way.

Monmouth will be breaking in several new players at the skill positions so points could be at a premium for the Hawks against a potentially strong Leopard defense. Lafayette has talent every level of the “D”. The Hawks will turn to Kenji Bahar (964 yards 4 TDs in 2016) at quarterback. The sophomore started the last 3 games of 2016 with mixed results. Bahar will likely lean on preseason All-Big South selections WR Reggie White Jr. (69 rec 934 yards 7 TDs) and TE Jake Powell (16 rec 146 yards 1 TD) to lead the way on offense while the running game gains traction. Projected Monmouth starting RB Pete Guerriero did not play football last year. Instead he was one of the top track athletes in the MAAC. With all 5 starters returning along the O-line it will be interesting to see how Monmouth goes about establishing the run. Lafayette has the talent in the front 7 to test the veteran Monmouth offensive line.

The big questions for Lafayette are on offensive. Many fans were shocked when Garrett announced true freshman walk-on Sean O’Malle would begin the season as the starting QB after winning an extremely competitive battle during fall camp. Like Monmouth’s Bahar, O’Malley has an excellent WR/TE duo to lean on in the passing game. Dylan Wadsworth (42 rec 591 yards 1 TD, preseason 1st Team All-PL selection) and senior Matt Mzarek (71 rec 755 yards 8 TDs) are often an afterthought despite putting up excellent numbers on an offensively challenged team. The strength of the Monmouth defense is easily their secondary so the inexperienced O’Malley will need to be extremely smart with the ball. Mike Basile is a STATS 1st team All-American at SS so the Leopards better figure out where he is at all times. The Hawks defensive linemen and linebackers are no slouch either. Lafayette will need their offensive line to improve upon last year’s dismal play. O’Malley needs senior RB DeSean Brown (96 carries 341 yards 3 TDs) to provide the Leopards with some semblance of a rushing attack. If Lafayette can find some balance on offense they have a shot escape New Jersey with an upset win.

The first thing that Garrett must do at Lafayette is inject some energy into the program. That shouldn’t be a problem in the season opener. Or at least it better not be since Monmouth will come out sky high in their new stadium. Lafayette has the defense to get off to a 1-0 start but the offense is a huge question mark with O’Malley starting at QB. This should be a closely contested game for 60 minutes.

Prediction: Monmouth 24 Lafayette 16