Big Sky Week 7: Review and Power Rankings

Big Sky

The Big Sky season didn’t get any clearer this past weekend as there is a crush of teams at the top of the conference trying to secure the autobid to the playoffs as the season enters the second half. North Dakota kept their undefeated record in conference play intact by taking down Southern Utah in Grand Forks over the weekend. The Fighting Hawks are now 4-0 in conference play. The Hawks used a balanced attack to beat the Thunderbirds who struggled to get anything going on the ground against UND’s talented defense.

Montana took advantage of having Sacramento State in town and decided to put up 68 points on them in Missoula. Montana won their past two games by a combined 135-14. Sacramento State broke Montana’s point streak in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game. Prior to that the Griz had rolled off 129 consecutive points without giving up a score. Montana currently ranks in the top 15 in total offense and total defense. This is setting up a great football game in Cheney later this month.

Northern Colorado had a slip-up this week in their quest to finish near the top of the Big Sky standings by stumbling against previous winless (in conference) UC-Davis. UC-Davis, prior to that game, had only one win on the season. Needless to say, the Bears offense suffered a power outage when they switched time zones. Northern Arizona turned in a good ball game against Idaho State this past weekend. The Lumberjacks let the ball fly for 319 yards from back-up Blake Kemp and put up 52 points on the hapless Idaho State Bengals. Weber State continued their undefeated play in conference by taking down the even more hapless Montana State Bobcats.

Scores

Sacramento State 7
Montana 68

Southern Utah 23
North Dakota 45

Montana State 27
Weber State 45

Cal Poly 55
Portland State 35

Northern Colorado 21
UC-Davis 34

Idaho State 7
Northern Arizona 52

Big Sky Player of the Week

Blake Kemp, Northern Arizona. Kemp was 23/37 for 319 yards and four touchdowns with one interception in the Lumberjacks’ win over Idaho State on Saturday.

Big Sky MVP Candidates

Gage Gabrud, QB, Eastern Washington. Idle.
Cooper Kupp, WR, Eastern Washington. Idle.
Emmanual Butler, WR, Northern Arizona. 6 receptions, 88 yards, two touchdowns.
Joe Protheroe, RB, Cal Poly. 16 carries, 101 yards, two touchdowns.
Caleb Kidder, LB, Montana. 7 tackles, 3 TFL, 2.5 sacks.

Big Sky Power Rankings

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

Looking Ahead to Week 8

The Big Sky week 8 schedule starts off with Eastern Washington taking on Montana State in Bozeman. Sacramento State will head to Greeley to take on Northern Colorado. North Dakota will head across the mountain to take on Idaho State in Pocatello. Weber State will make the trip down I-15 to take on Southern Utah. Montana will head south to Flagstaff to take on Northern Arizona. To cap off the weekend the Cal Poly will host UC-Davis.

Final Thoughts and Hot Takes

– Jeff Choate has to be feeling a little fire under his seat already in Bozeman. Yes, he’s new on the job and is rebuilding his roster, but man.. the Cats haven’t even looked competitive this year.

– Just think of the awful things Eastern Washington is going to do to that Montana State defense. Going to be a blood bath in Bozeman this week.

– Pillow fight of the week gonna be in Greeley this week with Sac State and Northern Colorado. Can’t decide if the Bears are coming back to Earth or if they had a complete mental lapse against UC-Davis.

– Montana and Northern Arizona could result in a broken scoreboard the way both teams have scored points in the last week or so. If Montana’s defense can shut down the NAU passing attack only half of it may break.

– Weber State and Southern Utah should be a pretty good game, and pretty under the radar. Southern Utah is undoubtedly angry about that North Dakota loss and Weber is rolling through conference opponents right now. Should be a fun one in Cedar City.

– Portland State mercifully has this week off.

– North Dakota’s assault on the bottom of the conference continues this week with Idaho State. Only one game left on their schedule that presents any kind of challenge, in my eyes, and that’s their final game of the season at home against Northern Arizona.

MVFC: Week 7 Review

MVFC LogoI knew this was going to be a week of close matchups, but holy cow…I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so many close games by one conference in one weekend. Let’s start it off with the scores…

#30 South Dakota – 33
#35 Indiana State – 30
In 2 overtimes

#14 Western Illinois – 38
#36 Missouri State – 35

#11 South Dakota State – 19
#1 North Dakota State – 17

#23 Northern Iowa – 10
#12 Youngstown State – 14

Southern Illinois – 28
#33 Illinois State – 31

Look at those margins…5 games, average of 3 point margin per game, one in double-overtime, pretty much all of them still “in doubt” with less than 30 seconds left in the game, and most of them decided on the last play of the game. Essentially, there was only one instance of a team having the ball and the lead and being able to just kneel a few times to run out the clock, and that was only following an interception of the team that was down with about 30 seconds left (WIU at MSU). You could maybe put the SIU at ISUr game in that category as well, since ISU was kinda doing that, but ran out of time…sorta…and…well, I’ll explain it in the game recap below.

Thanks to ESPN and their various device apps, I was able to watch essentially the last minute or two of all of the MVFC games (in addition to watching all of the WIU at MSU game).

On to the recaps…

#30 South Dakota at #35 Indiana State

In last week’s preview of the game, I said that USD has a better running game, ISU has a better passing game, but USD has a better kicking game and that they’d win by a FG. Well, here’s how that went down…

Indiana State got the scoring started with a FG, but then a USD 69-yard touchdown pass, ISU fumble, and another USD touchdown had the Coyotes up early, 14-3. South Dakota had a 49 yard FG and then ISU was able to find the end zone with a 46 yard TD pass, making the score 17-10 after the first quarter. Fumbles on both sides and a missed ISU FG in the 2nd…otherwise, fairly uneventful and 17-10 was the score going into halftime. In the 3rd, USD actually missed a FG for the first time this season, ISU had a 48-yard TD pass, then USD with a 38 yard FG. An interception gave USD the ball on the ISU 13, which they took into the end zone 3 plays later, making the score 27-17 USD after 3. Trading drives ending in punts ate up much of the 4th quarter, but then with 2 minutes left, ISU scored on a 23-yard TD pass. The Sycamores defense held the Coyotes to a 3-and-out and was able to get within FG range and hit a 42 yard FG with 12 second remaining to tie it up at 27 going to OT. In the first OT, nobody got much of anywhere trying to move the ball, so an ISU 46-yard FG, then USD 41-yard FG kept it tied going to the second OT. USD started with the ball, and again had to settle for a 41-yard FG, but then, three plays into the ISU possession, the Sycamores threw an interception to end the game.

I’m not quite sure what happened to USD QB Chris Streveler, since he played the first half, but QB Ryan Saeger played in the second half. As near as I can tell, he got hit late in the first half and was taken out, possibly “concussion protocol”. Streveler is a big part of the USD run game, so it’ll be interesting to see how they do if he’s out for the next game or so. Streveler threw for 122 yards and 1 TD in the first half and Saeger threw for 54 yards and 1 TD in the second half. USD RBs Michael Frederick and Trevor Bouma each had 70+ yards and Bouma had a rushing TD. WR Alonge Brooks had 93 yards receiving and a TD, but also gave up a fumble. LB Jet Moreland finished with 9 tackles, 1.5 for loss, and DB Jacob Warner had 8 tackles and an interception. DB Graham Tyson had a sack and a fumble recover (along with 7 tackles) and DB Alex Gray finished with a fumble recovery and an interception (along with his 7 tackles). Kicker Miles Bergner had a great game despite missing his first FG of the season (a 40 yard attempt), nailing FGs from 49 and 38 yards out, and then two 41-yarders during OT, and as a result, was awarded the MVFC Special Teams Player of the Week honor. Bergner also had 9 punts with an average of 42.8 yards per punt.

Indiana State QB Isaac Harker threw for 325 yards and 3 TDs, but also had 1 interception (the other interception was thrown by WR Kelvin Cook in the second OT to end the game). WR Miles Thompson caught 152 yards of passes and had 2 TDs and WR Robert Tonyan Jr. had 59 yards and a TD. RB Roland Genesy ran for 109 yards. DL Conlan Cassidy led the team with 11 tackles including 3 for loss and 1 sack. LB Jameer Thurman had 8 tackles. ISU PK Jerry Nunez also had a pretty decent game, going 3 for 4, all from 40+ yards…hitting from 42, missing from 46, hitting another 42 and then making up for the earlier miss by hitting from 46 in OT. Punter Thomas Bouldin had 6 punts averaging 43.7 yards per punt with 3 inside the 20.

So, previewing the game, I said that USD had a better running game (they did, by 24 yards, but probably would have been by more if Streveler had been in the entire game), ISU had a better passing game (they did, by 149 yards, although they did throw 2 interceptions…one thrown by the QB), USD had a better kicking game (4 for 5 with a long of 49 vs ISU’s 3 for 4 with a long of 46…both were good, but USD’s was better), and that USD would win by a FG (they did…by exactly that…maybe I need to start buying lottery tickets). South Dakota is now 3-3 overall, 2-1 in the conference and will start a 2-game homestand against the other ISU…Redbirds this time…next weekend. Indiana State falls to 3-4 overall, 1-3 in the conference, and heads down to Southern Illinois next weekend.

#14 Western Illinois at #36 Missouri State

Missouri State is much improved over last year’s dismal season, plus they were playing at home against a Leathernecks team that, while winning most of their games, have been very up and down during the games themselves. The “Nerve Wracking ‘Necks”…”Nail-biting ‘Necks” (still workshopping that bit) have now had three of their last four games where they got up early and had to hold off a second half comeback to win by, at most, 5 points.

The first quarter was all Leathernecks, with MSU being held to 1 first down in their first 3 drives. Meanwhile, Western was able to find the end zone for a TD and hit a 33 yard FG to go up 10-0 after 1 quarter. Second quarter started with MSU throwing an interception, but then things started to turn back the Bears’ way. WIU missed a 40-yard FG attempt, and on the next drive, MSU used a 63-yard run on a direct snap to the RB to get them down to the 6 yard line which they took in for a 6 yard TD pass on the next play. A few drives later, Western was able to get another TD with 6 seconds left in the first half, putting the halftime score at 17-7.

WIU started with the ball in the second half, but was stalled after 5 plays. The next drive, MSU moved down the field, finishing with a 32-yard TD pass. Western answered their own TD drive, keeping the Leathernecks ahead by 10. WIU got another TD a few drives later on a 3-yard run that followed a 34-yard pass; Western was up by 17 at the start of the 4th quarter and the Bear’s fans started heading for the exits.

But wait…this is the Leathernecks we’re talking about…wouldn’t be complete without having to make it a close game….so….early in the 4th quarter, MSU nails a 49-yard TD pass. The next play from scrimmage, Western fumbles the ball and Missouri State takes over at the 21…4 plays later, another Bears TD and it’s suddenly a 3 point game…a 14 point swing in about 1 ¼ minutes. Western is held to a punt, but then MSU throws an interception a few plays later. Not to be outdone, the Leathernecks throw their own interception 4 plays later. Another MSU drive highlighted by a 37-yard pass ends in a 11-yard TD pass and the Bears are up 35-31 with under 5 minutes left in the game. Western drives down the field, eating up time, needing a TD to win (remember…they were up by 17 at the start of the quarter), and with 43 seconds left, going for it on 4th and Goal from the MSU 1 yard line, the first run at the pile stalls, but the runner steps back and goes around the side, taking it in for a TD to put the Leathernecks up 38-35. Two plays from scrimmage later and MSU throws another interception, after which Western was able to kneel a few times and end the game.

WIU QB Sean McGuire finished with 323 passing yards, 1 TD, and 1 interception. RB Steve McShane ran for 66 yards and 1 TD and RB Jamie Gilmore had 43 yards and 2 TDs. RB Devon Moore only ran for 1 yard on 1 attempt, but that one attempt was the 1-yard game-winning TD. WR Lance Lenoir had another 100+ yard receiving game, putting up 142 yards. LB Quentin Moon finished with a career-high 14 tackles and 1 interception and LB Brett Taylor had 11 tackles. DBs Xavier Rowe and David Griffith each had an interception as well. Kicker Nathan Knuffman averaged 48.4 yards on 5 punts with 2 over 50 yards and 2 downed on the 1 yard line.

MSU QB Brodie Lambert had 290 yards and 5 TDs through the air but 5 interceptions. His primary target was WR LeMarcus Stewart who finished with 95 yards and 1 TD. WR Deion Holliman had 59 yards and 2 TDs and RB Jason Randall finished with 91 yards rushing. Defensive standout, LB Dylan Cole had 16 total tackles w/ 1 for loss. LB McNeece Egbim finished with 14 tackles, and LB Kurran Blamey had 10 and a sack.

Western Illinois moves to 2-1 in the conference and 5-1 overall and will head home to take on a very angry NDSU Bison team next weekend. Missouri State falls to 1-2 in the conference and 3-3 overall. They’ll head up to Cedar Falls to take on the UNI Panthers next weekend.

#11 South Dakota State at #1 North Dakota State

While not the official “AGS Game of the Week”, this looked to be one of the most exciting and important (to the conference race and playoff seeding) games on the schedule this weekend. SDSU would get a chance to test their big-time offense against the punishing NDSU defense. It was the 105th meeting of the two teams in the Dakota Marker Game, a series going back to 1903.

SDSU started with the ball and moved 85 yards down the field, only to have the drive stall and have a turnover on downs (you’ll see that phrase a few times in this game recap) on the NDSU 1 yard line. NDSU responded with a long, grinding, stereotypical Bison drive 99 yards in 18 plays and taking just over 9 minutes, finishing with a 1-yard QB TD run….early in the 2nd quarter…seriously…not even two full drives in the entire quarter. SDSU again had a long sustained drive (78 yards) that ended in….turnover on downs at the NDSU 3. This time, the SDSU defense held NDSU to a 3-and-out and was able to get a 38-yard FG on their next drive to get some points on the board. NDSU responded with a 49-yard FG of their own, which made the score 10-3 going into halftime.

First drive of the second half and the Bison again work their way down the field, finishing with a 26-yard QB TD run, at which point NDSU was up 17-3 and considering how they were playing, that looked to be a near insurmountable lead. Another SDSU turnover on downs (at the NDSU 46 this time) gave the Bison the ball with a good lead and good field position….but then, two plays later an NDSU fumble would give the Jackrabbits the ball, which, 5 plays later, would turn into a 12-yard TD pass. NDSU was held to a punt and the 3rd quarter came to an end during SDSU’s next drive, with the score sitting at 17-10. Two plays into the 4th and NDSU would come up with an interception, but wasn’t able to make anything of it, going 3-and-out. SDSU was able to hit a 42-yard FG on the next drive to pull them within 4. NDSU was held again, and SDSU was able to head back, eventually getting to the NDSU 31 before another turnover on downs. The Jackrabbit defense really stepped up though and held the Bison to another 3-and-out. Again, SDSU would get down to nearly on top of the NDSU goal line, going for it on 4th and 1 on the NDS 2 with only seconds left on the clock….this time, however, they’d hit a 2-yard TD pass to give them the two point lead and the victory with a final score of 19-17 and their first Dakota Marker win since 2009 (when they were both just finishing up the transition to Division I).

SDSU QB Taryn Christion threw for 303 yards with 2 TDs and an interception, as well as running for 141 yards, which combined earned him the MVFC Offensive Player of the Week award. Tight End/M3A3 Dallas Goedert caught 150 yards and a TD and WR Jake Wieneke caught 108 yards and the game winning TD. LB Christian Rozeboom (a redshirt freshman, which means we have to deal with him for 3 more years) had 12 tackles and a sack as well as the MVFCU Newcomer of the Week award. DB Nick Farina had the fumble recovery that really kickstarted the Jackrabbits. SDSU kicker Chase Vinatieri went 2 for 2 on FGs from 38 and 42 yards out.

NDSU QB Easton Stick passed for 143 yards and ran for 86 and 2 TDs. RB King Frazier ran for 45 yards and WR Darrius Shepherd caught 74 yards on 6 receptions. SS Robbie Grimsley had 14 tackles and LB Matt Plank had 12. LB Pierre Gee-Tucker had 9 tackles and 1 sack, and FS Tre Dempsey had 7 and an interception. Kicker Cam Pedersen hit on the one FG he was called for, from 49 yards out.

SDSU is now 4-2 overall and 3-0 in the conference and will now head home to take on the other conference front-runner, Youngstown State, next weekend. NDSU falls to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the conference and will look to take out their anger on Western Illinois in Macomb next Saturday.

#23 Northern Iowa at #12 Youngstown State

A team that everyone thought would be mid-pack turns out to be in the running for the conference championship, and a team that everyone thought would be in the running for the conference championship appears to be “bottoming out”. Two very defensively-strong teams fighting it out in Youngstown, OH, the hometown of literally every college football coach…right?…isn’t that what ESPN said or something? Anyway…on to the game…Panthers at Penguins.

First quarter can pretty much be summed up like this (for those of you who know BASIC):

10 Drive go nowhere
20 Punt
30 GOTO 10

Yup…6 ½ drives, 6 punts (the rest of the ½ drive went into the 2nd quarter and also ended in a punt)….80 total yards of offense combined for both teams, and we’re scoreless going to the 2nd quarter. Finally, YSU coughs up a fumble which UNI is able to work down the field over 7 plays before getting points on the board with a 27-yd FG. Three plays later and YSU throws a 34-yard pick-6 giving UNI a 10-0 lead. YSU would throw another interception on their next drive, but UNI would give it back on a fumble 6 plays later. A turnover on downs by YSU 4 plays later as time expired took the teams into the locker rooms with a halftime score of 10-0, advantage Panthers.

Second half was much of the same to start off with…YSU 3-and-out and punt, UNI 3-and-out and punt, YSU 3-and-…well…missed FG, UNI 3-and-out and punt (wonder if the fans thought they were watching the movie Groundhog’s Day). Finally, YSU starts to put together a long drive that starts with 8 ½ minutes left in the 3rd and doesn’t end until about 3 ¼ minutes into the 4th with a 1 yard TD run…the first offensive TD of the game. That drive took 22 plays, went 86 yards and ate up 11:40 from the clock….very Bison-esque. UNI goes with another 3-and-out and YSU starts moving the ball again…9 plays, 32 yards, and an…..interception. That’s ok, because UNI just goes and 3-and-outs again. This time, YSU holds onto the ball, moves down the field and is able to find the end zone with a 1 yard TD run, giving them a 14-10 lead with about 30 seconds left to go. UNI starts getting the ball moving finally, but runs out of time….maybe. Apparently there was some question about if there was one second that should be left on the clock when the last pass was ruled incomplete, but the refs called it “game over”, and the Penguins came away with the win with a final score of 14-10.

I almost feel like I could say that offensive stats were “nothing”…like “nothing happened”…obviously that’s not literally true, so here’s what did happen.
UNI QB Aaron Bailey threw for 44 yards and was sacked 4 times. Not sure if he left due to injury or just for not playing well. Backup QB Eli Dunne had pretty much the same result…37 yards, 1 sack. RB Tyvis Smith ran for 71 yards, and UNI had two receivers catch for ~30 yards, WRs Logan Cunningham and Jalen Rima. DBs Elijah Campbell and A.J. Allen each had 9 tackles and Campbell had a fumble recovery. LB Duncan Ferch had 7 tackles and the pick-6 and DBs Malcolm Washington and Jamison Whiting each had an interception. Behind the QB, Center, and one RB, I think that Punter Sam Kuhter actually touched the ball more than anyone else on the team with 8 punts going for 43.6 yards per punt and 2 inside the 20.

YSU churned through QBs this game starting with Ricky Davis passing for 3 yards, an interception and a fumble…he would leave the game in the 2nd quarter (I’ve seen ankle injury from one source but also rib injury from another, so unsure at this point but likely won’t be playing next weekend). Next up was QB Trent Hosick who threw an interception and got crushed…like, broken collarbone, surgery, out for the season (possibly end of football career) kinda crushed….not good. The third YSU QB would be Nathan Mays, who would actually have the most success, throwing for 25 yards and an interception. RB Martin Ruiz led both teams in offensive yardage with 100 and a TD and RB Tevin McCaster ran for 29 yards and a TD. WR Darien Townsend led the team with 14 receiving yards. Punter Mark Schuler had 4 punts averaging 46.5 yards per punt. SS Jameel Smith led the team with 8 tackles and had a fumble recovery. LB Armand Dellovade had 8 tackles, 1 for loss. DT Savon Smith had two sacks, D-linemen Avery Moss, Derek Rivers, and Donald Mesier as well as FS Jalyn Powell had one sack each.

So…apparently if you don’t protect your QB, the UNI defense will eat you alive. This is not a big realization, but just a point worth mentioning. UNI didn’t really do any better though…I don’t know if any of their QBs got hurt, but quite a few sacks, very little yardage…no offensive TDs. Youngstown State moves up 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the conference, currently tied for the lead with SDSU, and next weekend will head to….SDSU….to decide for sure who is in the #1 spot in the conference at this point in the season. Northern Iowa falls to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the MVFC and will head home to take on Missouri State next weekend.

Southern Illinois at #33 Illinois State

In the 79th meeting of these two teams, it was a battle to see who would be able to “right the ship” after a string of losses. SIU had lost the last two and ISU the last four, and while it appears that neither will be likely playoff teams (barring some craziness involving winning out and other teams having drop-offs), they were both looking to attempt to salvage some amount of respectability in their season.

The first quarter started fairly similarly to the UNI @ YSU game…5 drives, 5 punts, 1 total first down, but then with just under 6 minutes left in the 1st, SIU broke through with a 29-yard TD run. ISU would continue the 3-and-out punting fun, which SIU would follow up with a 51-yard FG. On the next drive, ISU would finally get on the board with a 14-yard TD run that was set up by a 55-yard TD run, which made the score at the end of 1 quarter 10-7. The second quarter, Illinois State threw an interception on their next drive, but SIU wasn’t able to get any points out of it, missing on a blocked 47-yard FG attempt which was returned for 14 yards and gave the Redbirds the ball nearly to midfield. A few short plays, a 42-yard pass, and an 18-yard TD pass later, and the Redbirds would go ahead 14-10. SIU would fumble on the next drive, allowing ISU to run out the clock on the half.

Second half, SIU started by picking up a 39-yard FG, but ISU responded the next drive with a 51-yard TD pass to stay ahead, 21-13. A couple of 3-and-out drives later and SIU would pick up a TD on a 5 yard pass. A successful 2-point conversion later, and the game was all tied up at 21 with just under 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. The SIU defense would hold on the next drive, but then their offense would give it right back three plays later with an interception. In one play, ISU would take that interception and turn it into a 38-yard TD pass. Two drives later, ISU would come away with a 50-yard FG just a couple of minutes into the 4th quarter putting them up by 10…and then we were back to more 3-and-outs…on 6 consecutive drives. SIU was able to complete a 35-yard TD pass with about 1 ¼ minutes left in the game to pull within 3 points, after which ISU was able to run a few plays and run out the clock…or not…because SIU still had a couple of timeouts and they were able to force ISU to have to punt the ball back, giving SIU one last chance with just a few seconds left to try and do something. But…when ISU went to punt the ball, defensive penalty, offsides on SIU…5 yard penalty + 10-second clock runoff = time’s up…game over…ISU wins by a FG, 31-28.

SIU QB Josh Straughan threw for 244 yards, 2 TDs, 1 interception, and was sacked 3 times. WR Darrell James caught 84 of those yards and both of the TDs. RB Cameron Walter ran for 72 yards and a TD. Safety Jeremy Chinn led the team with 7 tackles and had an interception. Punter Lane Reazin had 8 punts that averaged 44 yards per punt, a long of 57, and 3 over 50 yards.

ISU QB Jake Kolbe had 200 yards passing with 3 TDs, 1 interception, and was sacked once. WR Anthony Warrum caught 98 yards and 2 passing TDs, and WR Christian Gibbs had 79 yards and 1 TD. RB James Robinson ran for 122 yards and a TD. S Mitchell Brees had 11 tackles including 2 for loss and LB Brent Spack had 10 tackles including 1 for loss. DL Dalton Keene had 9 tackles, including 1.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and the blocked FG, which earned him the MVFC Defensive Player of the Week award.

Illinois State is now 3-4 on the season and 1-3 in the MVFC and will look to continue a new streak by heading up to South Dakota to take on the Coyotes next weekend. Southern Illinois drops to 2-4 overall and 0-3 in the conference and will head home to take on Indiana State for Homecoming next weekend.

How’d I Do

Last week, in my preview article, here’s what I predicted as compared with what really happened:

South Dakota over Indiana State by 3 – as mentioned earlier, I picked USD over ISU by a FG, so I pretty much nailed this one…that’s a win.

Western Illinois over Missouri State by 7 – WIU up by 17 at one point, but wanted to both give me a heart attack and a result much closer to my picks…so they gave up a bunch of points and finished 3 points up. Western still won, pretty close on the margin, but it was a little tougher than I thought it’d be. Still, I’d call that a win for me.

North Dakota State over South Dakota State by 6 – I did say that SDSU looked like the most likely team to upset the Bison this season, but I didn’t end up predicting that they would. SDSU won by 2 points, so that’s a loss for me.

Youngstown State over Northern Iowa by 3 and a total score for both teams combined of maybe 40 at the most – YSU beat UNI by 4 and the total score for both teams was 24. I honestly thought about putting down 30 points as the total score, but thought that would be a bit too “bold”…guess I need to go with my gut a bit more. Still, I got the winner, within 1 point of the margin, and that it’d be a defensive battle, so that’s a win for me.

Illinois State over Southern Illinois by 6 – ISU held off SIU to win by 3, so that’s a win also.

I was pretty good overall this week, going 4-1 on my picks…and in a week where the teams were all pretty evenly matched, that’s not too shabby, I’d say. Combined with 9-5 from the previous couple of weeks, and I’m 13-6 in picking MVFC games.

Later this week, my Week 8 preview article will cover Missouri State at Northern Iowa, Illinois State at South Dakota, Indiana State at Southern Illinois, the battle for the top spot in the conference when Youngstown State heads up to South Dakota State, and what happens when an angry herd of Bison travel to Macomb to take out their aggression on a decent squad of Leathernecks with North Dakota State at Western Illinois.

BIG SOUTH: Week 7 Review

Finally, every Big South team has played a conference game so the standings actually make some semblance of sense.

Charleston Southern                                                   1-0       1.000               3-2 overall

Liberty                                                                           1-0       1.000               3-3 overall

Gardner-Webb                                                             1-0       1.000               3-4 overall

Presbyterian                                                                 1-1       0.500               2-4 overall

Kennesaw State                                                           0-1       0.000               4-2 overall

Monmouth                                                                   0-2       0.000               4-3 overall

  • CSU is going to go nearly a full month between playing conference games but four of their next five games at home. Their outlook is good.
  • On the road at Kennesaw was a big test for Liberty but the Flames get the next two Big South games at home. Both of them (Monmouth & Gardner-Webb) are against teams that Liberty lost to on the road in 2015.
  • Despite losing to Coastal, Gardner-Webb is still in the exact same position in-conference as CSU and Liberty. Next week at Kennesaw will determine if G-W is ready to make a statement this year.
  • Presbyterian is a looooooooonng shot at best to win the conference title but, mathematically, are still in the hunt.
  • Losing at home to Liberty hurt Kennesaw’s chances of the conference title in a big way but didn’t completely end them. KSU’s non-conference schedule did them no favors in terms of earning them an at-large.
  • Monmouth is still technically alive for the conference title but needs a Domesday Book-like list of things to go their way just to get a share of the title, let alone win any tiebreakers. For all intents and purposes, Monmouth is playing for next season.

 

On to the games:

  (3-2) Charleston Southern                          BYE

The Buccaneers enjoyed an open date – this one scheduled – for the third time this season.  No FCS team has had three open dates during an 11-game schedule since at least 2009.

 

(2-4) Presbyterian 17,    (4-3) Monmouth 13                       

A quick congratulations goes out to Presbyterian who actually won twice this week.  A couple of hours before kickoff, news broke out of Gainesville that the University of Florida had bought out their November 19th game with Presbyterian to the tune of around half a million dollars.  A couple of days later, Presbyterian and South Alabama made the announcement that they will, instead, play each other that day with PC getting another six figures to play in Mobile.  Kudos to Presby AD Brian Reese and his staff for getting two FBS payouts for the price of one.  Add in that season-opening trip to Central Michigan and the Blue Hose have made bank this season.

Now, on to this week’s game.

Given that Presbyterian QB Ben Cheek had never thrown for 125 yards in a game over the course of his entire career, one would be forgiven for assuming this game would be won or lost for Presbyterian in the trenches.  But, when Cheek had hit that mark by halftime against Monmouth, it became obvious that he and the Blue Hose were winning the battle where it was least expected, in the defensive secondary.

For much of the first quarter, this was less of a defensive slugfest and more a frat party chest bump standoff.  Both teams struggled to build any momentum and, when they did, penalties or injuries shut it down again.  Presby committed drive-stalling penalties on each of their first four possessions.  Monmouth, on the other hand, nearly converted a 3rd-and-20 on their first drive but MU QB Cody Williams was hit low while scrambling for the first down.  He came up limping and was ineffective for the rest of the night, eventually being replaced for good by Kenji Bahar early in the 3rd quarter.

Both teams came to life in the second frame, however.  PC put together a lengthy 14-play drive down to the 12-yard line only to watch Monmouth block their field goal attempt.  Monmouth, for their part, started feeding RB Lavon Chaney the ball as often as possible.  Chaney, who looked as healthy as he has since opening day at Lehigh, responded and carried the ball for 46 yards on the drive including the last one into the end zone to put the Hawks up 7-0 with 4:15 remaining in the half.  That was just enough time for Presbyterian though as Cheek’s arm and legs carried his team the length of the field over that time span, finally lofting a pass to WR DaShawn Davis in the back corner of the end zone with just twelve seconds remaining before the halftime whistle.

Presbyterian got the ball to start the second half and picked up right where they left off.  However, on the 4th play of the drive, Monmouth LB Payton Minnich came through the line completely untouched and planted Cheek into the ground for a 10-yard loss.  Cheek got up slowly holding his throwing shoulder and was escorted to the locker room from whence he did not return.  John Walker came on for PC and completed the drive – helped out by a huge penalty on Monmouth for roughing the punter –, culminating in a 27-yard field goal that just barely got through the uprights and which gave Presby a 10-7 lead.  The two teams traded punts as neither Bahar nor Walker were able to get particularly comfortable but, eventually, Monmouth went back to the one thing that was working for them: more Lavon Chaney.  Chaney got the ball on five straight plays and carried it into the end zone from five yards out to give the Hawks the lead once again at 13-10.

That lead lasted for just under three minutes.  On PC’s next drive, and after an offensive pass interference had set them back to 1st-and-25, Monmouth had a complete breakdown in pass coverage and allowed Presby WR Daryl Wilson to wander completely uncovered up the home sideline where Walker hit him for a 44-yard touchdown pass to put the Blue Hose back on top for good.

Monmouth would not go quietly, however.  Cheney and Friends put together one last surge that got them as far as the PC 7 but another ill-timed penalty and an incomplete pass on 4th down essentially ended the game.

What does this win mean for Presbyterian? – It is absolutely massive for Presbyterian and it’s not just the win, it’s how they did it.  PC has relied heavily on their ground game with RB Darrell Bridges partly because they can – Bridges is good enough – and partly because they couldn’t rely on a consistent passing game.  Bridges still got 80 yards on the ground and was a vital part of the offense but it was the sudden emergence of an air attack that stole the show.  On the Big South telecast, you could see the Monmouth DB’s turning to each other, pointing and shaking their heads in frustration as they gave up one key play after another through the air.

What does this loss mean for Monmouth? – It’s bad.  Monmouth still has the opportunity to win eight games for the first time since 2006 but this loss is an absolute back-breaker for the Hawks post-season hopes.  Any realistic shot at winning the conference title is now gone and this loss pretty much washes out the Fordham win in terms of an at-large resume.  No team has ever made the FCS playoffs after losing to Presbyterian.  Really, Monmouth has no one to blame but themselves, too.  The Hawks are easily the most-penalized team in the nation let alone being easily the most-penalized team in the conference and penalties played a huge part in this game. PC got a first down on both of their first two scoring drives due to MU penalties and Monmouth’s last shot at winning the game was made more difficult thanks to a false start that pushed the Hawks even farther away on 4th down.

 

 (4-2) Coastal Carolina 17, (3-4) Gardner-Webb 7   

This game was a study in monotony and frustration, particularly for the Coastal offense.  Coastal came into this game averaging just north of 42 points a contest.  However, the first quarter consisted largely of both Gardner-Webb and Coastal running the ball outside followed by running into the line followed by a short pass and neither team progressing past the 50.  Coastal finally got a little bit of a breakthrough when returner Chris Jones brought a Gardner-Webb punt out to midfield and the Chanticleers were able to drive into the red zone.  However, G-W freshman DB Jaylon Foster stepped in front of a Tyler Keane pass in the end zone and snuffed out the drive.

Gardner-Webb went three-and-out and, again, Coastal drove into the red zone and all the way down to the goal line.  But, the offense stalled at the 1-yard line and they came away with just a field goal to go up 3-0.

After two more Gardner-Webb drives ended at midfield, Coastal got the ball back at their own 20 with 2:12 left in the first half and made one more push to get into the end zone before the break.  The Chants got as far as the Runnin’ Bulldog 31-yard line where they threw a receiver screen pass to the left but G-W’s Chad Geter ripped the ball out of the Coastal player’s hands and Foster picked up the fumble and ran it back inside the Coastal 10.  Two plays later and with just four seconds on the clock, QB Tyrell Maxwell found Adonus Lee for an 8-yard touchdown pass that gave G-Webb a 7-3 halftime lead.  At that point, Coastal had outgained Gardner-Webb 174-84 in total offense.

The third quarter was more of the same.  Neither team put together a drive that went longer than four plays or farther than 13 yards.  Coastal finally got something going at the end of the frame by force feeding Gardner-Webb a steady diet of DeAngelo Henderson.  The Chants drove once again into the red zone and the opening of the fourth quarter found them standing on the G-W 10-yard line.  Henderson went left down to the 1 and then, on the next play, dove over the top to extend his NCAA-record streak of consecutive games with a touchdown to 32.  However, Henderson landed awkwardly on his shoulder and gingerly exited the field.  He would not return.

Down 10-7, the Gardner-Webb offense still could not find a way to manufacture yards.  After three plays, they punted the ball back to Coastal.  Having finally found a rhythm even without Henderson on the field, Coastal marched right back deep into Gardner-Webb territory.  Keane found WR Bruce Mapp from eleven yards out and it was a 17-7 ball game.  Gardner-Webb got one more desperate shot though.  With just two minutes to play and starting at their own 11-yard line, the Bulldogs rolled 69 yards in under 90 seconds – far and away their best offensive output of the day – but Maxwell threw an interception in the end zone to seal their fate.

What does this loss mean for Gardner-Webb? – Aside from boring the homecoming crowd silly, it means nothing substantial, really.  Gardner-Webb’s only path to the post-season lies in the conference title and this wasn’t a conference game.  While the defense was stout, what could be of concern here is that, for 58 minutes, the Bulldog offense was completely stagnant.  Their final desperation drive in the fourth quarter was effective but accounted for 31% of their total offense on the day.  That’s not ideal.

 

 (3-3) Liberty 36, (4-2) Kennesaw State 21

The marquee conference matchup from Saturday – also the only conference matchup from Saturday – saw perennial Big South contender Liberty visiting the hot upstart program at Kennesaw State.  KSU had won four straight coming into the game while LU had lost five straight on the road going back to last year.  But, it was homecoming at Kennesaw and anything can happen at Kennesaw.

Both teams went three-and-out on their first possessions but the Owls caught a break when their low, gnarly-looking punt took a backwards hop and hit a Liberty gunner in the back of the leg.  KSU fell on the live ball at Liberty’s 26-yard line and, seven plays later, QB Chandler Burks dove in from a yard out to put the home team up 7-0.

That lead lasted eighteen seconds.

Frankie Hickson received the ensuing kickoff at his own goal line – in just about the same spot that Burks had just scored from moments before – and ran it 99 yards the other way to tie the game at 7-all.  It was Liberty’s first kickoff return touchdown since taking one back against VMI in 2011.

Not to be outdone, KSU RB Darnell Holland took a pitch on the first play from scrimmage and ran 53 yards down inside the Liberty 30.  That drive would stall, however, and the Owls were forced to attempt a field goal from 26 yards.  It went wide left.  That would be important later.

Liberty did nothing with their turn with the ball this time and had to punt.  That kick was partially blocked, though, and KSU was again sitting in prime field position to take the lead once more.  They got as far as the LU 25 and chose to go for it on 4th-and-9 instead of attempting a long field goal.  That failed.  Taking over the ball, the Flames finally got some offense going and advanced as far as the KSU 30 before settling for a 47-yard field goal attempt from Alex Probert.  Right down the middle and the visitors went up, 10-7.

On KSU’s next possession, the Liberty defense held and forced a quick punt.  They then drove across into KSU territory but got held up at the KSU 33.  Probert came in again – this time from 50 yards out – and, again, he split the uprights to put LU up by six.  The Flames couldn’t keep the Owls in check for long, however.  On 3rd down from his own 37, RB Chaston Bennett took a pitch around the right side, eluded two tacklers, cut back across the field and ran 63 yards straight into the KSU student section behind the end zone.  Kennesaw was up by a point with 2:18 remaining in the half.  That was just enough time for Liberty.

QB Buckshot Calvert engineered a dink-and-dunk drive that went 10 plays, 73 yards and took all but the last nine seconds off the clock. It ended with WR BJ Farrow making a gymnastic leaping grab in the front corner of the end zone and Liberty was back up six going into halftime.

After the break, KSU got the ball but went three-and-out.  Given the opportunity to extend the lead and put pressure on Kennesaw’s offense, LU did just that.  Calvert hit Zack Parker down the middle for a big gain and, three plays later, RB Todd Macon would punch it in from three yards out to extend the Flames’ lead to twelve.  A two-point conversion attempt failed.

Liberty and Kennesaw traded punts but, in the closing moments of the third quarter, KSU hit two big pass plays that put them on the Liberty goal line at the start of the 4th quarter.  The Liberty defense, however, stood strong.  1st-and-Goal from the 5 turned into 4th-and-Goal from the 1, where Burks was stonewalled for the third straight play and LU took over on downs.  The Flames got out from under the goal posts enough to punt the ball away to their own 43.  On the next play, however, a scrambling Burks reversed field twice before hitting Bennett in stride and running up the home sideline.  He raced untouched into the student section again and the Liberty lead was now just five points.

LU got the ball back and took another five full minutes off the clock, eventually getting as far as the KSU 30-yard line.  In came Probert one more time from 47 yards and, one more time, he booted it through.  With 7:29 remaining, the Flames were up 29-21 and it looked like this game might come down the wire.   However, KSU was called for an illegal block penalty on third down and were forced to punt.  Liberty began to dink-and-dunk again with short passes and direct runs, just keeping the clock moving.   With three and a half minutes left, KSU gambled on defense and called a blitz as Liberty RB Carrington Moseley broke through the hole up the middle. When the KSU linebacker bounced off of him, there was no one there to stop him and Moseley raced 52 yards untouched to pay dirt.

Kennesaw refused to go quietly, however.  Burks and the Owls took to the air getting all the way down to a 1st-and-Goal from the Liberty 5-yard line.  1st-and-Goal – again – turned into 4th-and-Goal from about a foot out and, again, Burks called his own number.  The Flames’ defense stoned him again to preserve the final margin.

What does this win mean for Liberty? – It’s a pretty big deal.  As mentioned, Liberty was on a 5-game losing streak and to get a win in someone else’s house is significant.  Add in the raucous homecoming crowd and an up-and-coming team out to prove a point and it gathers even more meaning.  Liberty’s confidence has to have been a little shaky after the early season struggles but Calvert handled himself and the offense like a veteran, the offense was balanced and productive, Probert banged in three monster field goals – both in distance and in import – and, while the defense gave up a lot of yards, had not one, but two goal line stands and held the opponent to 1-of-4 in the red zone.

What does this loss mean for Kennesaw? – The margin of defeat to Liberty in this game was larger than that of their loss a year ago but, unlike the 2015 meeting in Lynchburg, this one was actually a close game.  The loss, however, puts them behind the 8-ball in the standings with three of their remaining four conference games on the road.

 

Biggest surprise of the week:  Liberty’s defense coming up with two goal line stands against a triple-option team.

Biggest disappointment of the week:  Monmouth’s pass defense.  PC had not passed for 250 yards in a game since 2013.

SLC: Week 8 Preview

Lions, and Kats, and Bears! Oh my, it was an interesting week 7 in the Southland Conference as Southeastern Louisiana deflated any hopes Stephen F Austin had of making the playoffs in the span of 2 plays, winning 58-34. Sam Houston has kept the train rolling, destroying the Wildcats of Abilene Christian 48-21, and Central Arkansas did something few teams have ever done, and that is shut out McNeese at the Hole 35-0. Northwestern State took Lamar to the very end, but lost on a last second touchdown pass 32-31, and Nicholls beat Houston Baptist 33-30.

Before taking a look at week 8, let’s take a moment to send condolences to McNeese State coach Lance Guidry, who lost his brother Saturday morning. Even though we fight like cats and dogs, we’re all family in the Southland, and Coach Guidry and his family are in our thoughts and prayers.

Let’s see what we have coming up in Week 8

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Incarnate Word at Abilene Christian

It’s a battle of former division 2 conference mates, as the Cardinals of UIW travel up to Abilene to face the Wildcats. Incarnate Word is coming off of their bye week, and the week before, they hung in with Sam Houston for most of their game, losing 63-48. Incarnate Word has shown some signs of bringing it together, and they could make a late reason run as a spoiler in the conference. They head to Shotwell Stadium to face ACU, who are looking to end their streak of imperfection, as they are still winless this season. ACU normally fields the talent to be competitive; it just seems that this year the cylinders are misfiring for the Wildcats. This week, ACU ends the streak, taking out UIW 28-24.

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Sam Houston State at Nicholls State

This could potentially be the game of the week in the conference, depending upon which Nicholls defense shows up. Sam has been just steamrolling the opposition, and they are leading just about every offensive stat category. Jeremiah Briscoe is one of the top quarterbacks in the nation, and it is going to take a stout defense to keep him, running back Corey Avery, and star wide receiver Yedidiah Louis in check. Nicholls comes in to this game after beating the Huskies of HBU, and they were able to do it with some solid defense and special teams play, including a blocked field goal for a touchdown. If the Nicholls defense can keep Sam in check, this could be an interesting game. I think Sam wins, but it will be a lot closer than most expect, with the final of 42-31.

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Houston Baptist at Southeastern Louisiana

The Huskies travel to Hammond to attempt to play spoiler to the Lions of Southeastern Louisiana, who are starting to pull things together and are gaining momentum through the second half of the season. HBU played Nicholls really well, but just didn’t have enough to pull the upset victory. While this season is a wash, HBU has shown that they are developing the talent to be competitive in the conference. Southeastern Louisiana comes in after ruining any hopes Stephen F Austin had of a postseason in the span of two plays. First, while up 37-34, they blocked a game tying field goal attempt and ran it back for a touchdown, and then on the next drive, they intercepted quarterback Hunter Taylor and took it to the house. Southeastern is sitting at 3-1 and conference and 3-3 overall and should be a concern for Central Arkansas, as their game may decide who gets an at-large spot. Quarterback Justin Alo has been solid in leading the Lions offense, and their defense has made pretty solid plays. This game should be an easy win for the Lions, and they’ll take it 42-10.
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McNeese at Northwestern State

McNeese is coming off of a horrible week, and they are looking to rebound against the Demons. McNeese, while showing some spark this year, just seem to be struggling this year, and it could be due to transitioning under a new coach. The DWA was just outclassed by the Central Arkansas Bears, who had a field day in Lake Charles and won the Red Beans & Rice bowl. Thankfully for the Pokes, they get an easy match against Northwestern State, who is now basically just playing for pride’s sake. The Demons come in still winless in conference, and their only win this year is over Kentucky Wesleyan. Their offense just hasn’t come together, and their defense has been abysmal. McNeese will bounce back and move back to .500 on the year. Final score will be 38-13.

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Lamar at Central Arkansas

Well, this would have been the game of the week in the Southland, except bad news has come out of Beaumont, as Lamar has announced that stud running back Kade Harrington broke his foot, and his career at Lamar is done. Kade had been the offensive spark for the Cardinals, and had been a force to reckon with. Lamar is going to have to depend on their passing game, which performed well enough to eke out the win last week vs Northwestern State, but it looks to be a long second half of the season for the Cardinals. Central Arkansas comes in after destroying McNeese in Lake Charles, and the Bears are showing that their rankings in the top 25 are no fluke. While it’s still a month out, their game vs Sam Houston is looking to be the potential Southland Conference championship game. The Bears defense has been stifling, specifically their run defense, as they have only allowed 395 yards on the ground this season, and their secondary has forced 8 interceptions thus far. Central Arkansas should take control of this game and put in the second stringers early, as the Bears roll 42-14.

SOCON: Week 7 Review and Power Rankings

It was a exciting week in the Southern Conference.  The Conference race became a little clearer, but there is still a lot of football to play and anything can happen still.  The Citadel took the drivers seat for the title by knocking off Chattanooga.  Samford is still rolling with another big win, this time over VMI.  Mercer got another one in the win column in a crazy game in Macon and Furman got its first win of the season in a big way over ETSU.

#7 The Citadel 22   #5 Chattanooga 14 

Please see the AGS Game of the Week recap for a review of this game.

#19 Samford 55  VMI 21

Samford scored four times in the first quarter on Saturday and cruised past VMI easily by 34.  This game showcased two of the SOCON best passers, Samford’s Devlin Hodges and VMI’s Al Cobb.  Hodges had a monster day with 435 yards and 5 TDs.

Samford scored on 5 of its 7 first half possessions and snagged an interception for a pick six as well.  VMI was stymied by two first half turnovers including the pick six interception thrown by Cobb.  The Bulldog defense was pretty effective holding VMI to three, three and outs in the first half as well.  By halftime, Samford had racked up 339 yards, mostly through the air, and a 38-14 lead.

VMI wasn’t about to give up though and they tried to make a game of it in the second half.  After trading three punts to open the second half, VMI went on a quick 4 play 80 yard drive to cut the deficit to 38-21.  Cobb tossed a 50 yarder on this drive.  VMI held the explosive Samford offense again and drove the ball well again.  But the Bulldogs stiffened up and held them on a 4th and 1 from the Samford 26.  After trading punts again, including a bad one by VMI that gave the Bulldogs great field position, VMI held them and Samford was forced to kick a field goal to go up 41-21 at the start of the fourth.

On VMI’s next play, Cobb threw his second interception and gave Samford the ball at the VMI 45. The Bulldogs scored 5 plays later on another Hodges TD toss.  Austin Coulling came in at this point as the Keydet QB, but VMI was done.  Samford scored again on their next possession on pass by back up QB Liam Welch.

Samford rolled up 557 yards total for the day, including 95 on the ground, which is actually above their average.  Hodges went 35/50 for 435 yards, 5 TDs and one interception.  He is very dangerous QB.  Samford’s scoring drives average under two minutes usually.  They only had the ball 26 minute during the game.  Cobb went 23/31 for 247 yards, with no TDs and 2 interceptions.  VMI went a disappointing 80 yards on the ground.

VMI is now 3-3 and 1-2 in SOCON play and travels to faces a deflated, and probably pissed off Chattanooga next week. Samford improves to 5-1 and 3-1 and gets Western Carolina next at home.

Furman 52  ETSU 7

The Furman Paladins were looking for a win and they got it.  The ETSU Bucs were overwhelmed by a very frustrated Furman team who has suffered through their worst start in half a century.  And just as I predicted, they won big.  On both sides of the ball, the Paladins played like they were possessed.

It did not start well for the Bucs. Furman went on a 7 play, 73 yard drive to open the game and scored on a 28 yard pass from Paladin QB Reese Hannon to Andrej Suttles.  After a now healthy again Furman defense held ETSU to a three and out, Hannon connected again on a 9 yard TD pass after a six play drive to make it 14-0.  Furman wanted to make a statement at this point and they opted for an onside kick.  They didn’t recover, but they held the Bucs to another three and out.  It did not take Furman long to score again as they went on a three play 80 yard drive and scored on yet another Hannon to Suttles pass.  This time for 56 yards and it put Furman up 21-0 with about 4 minutes to go in the first quarter.

ETSU got on first down on their next drive, but penalties plagued them and they punted it back to the Paladins for a third time. Furman then went on another systematic drive, this time for 6 plays and 64 yards to score just seconds into the second quarter.  By this point, Furman’s Hannon had gone 12 for 12 for 218 yards and 4 TD passes.

ETSU began there next drive and it looked like a revitalized Furman defense would stop them again after a three and out.  But on a 4/1 at their own 34 the Bucs went for it and got it, barely.  A quick strike pass for 18 yards and a rougher the passer penalty got them 15 more.  Furman’s defense stiffened up and held them at the 21 and the Bucs attempted and missed a field goal to leave it at 28-0 with 8:05 to go in the half.

Furman got their running game going a bit on the next drive which included a 15 yard trot by Hannon. After a pass interference call deep in Bucs territory, Furman ran it in from the 2.  The drive took 10 plays and went 79 yards.  Hannon made his first two incompletions of the game on this drive.  ETSU drove well on their next drive, but they ran out of time before the half with the ball on the Furman 38.

Furman dominated the first half behind the arm of Hannon.   The Paladins totaled 336 yards to ETSU’s 94.  Hannon went 14-16 for 244 yards and 4 TDs.  They also rushed for 92.  But the stat that Furman coach Bruce Fowler probably liked the best was Furman’s zero turnovers.  Turnovers have really been Furman’s bane so far this year.

Already down 35-0, it had to be hard for the ETSU players to face the second half.  Furman’s defense held the Bucs to a three and out on their first possession of the second half and the Paladins went on yet another long scoring drive.  This time the drive was for 53 yards in 7 plays to make it 42-0.  ETSU got a good drive going their next possession, but they were finally held and forced to punt yet again.  Furman made an error at this point and rougher the punter to keep the Bucs drive alive.  But the Paladin defense was not done yet and they held the Bucs again.

Now with about 4 minutes to go in the third, Furman started to rotate players in en masse. This included replacing Hannon with the Paladin’s former starting QB P.J.Blazejowski who had not seen action since Furman played Chattanooga.  But Furman, now with a new sense of confidence, scored quickly as the third quarter was closing.  After Furman tacked on a FG later, ETSU went on its best drive of the day and scored on a 12 play, 76 yard drive with just over two minutes to play to make it 52-7

Furman definitely got the monkey off its back with this win. Hannon had great numbers on the day going 16/18 for 267 yards and 4 TDs.  The Paladins also got 198 on the ground.  Bucs QB Austin Herink only went 8/21 for 65 yards.  The Bucs did get 131 yards on the ground, but most of those were in the late 4th quarter.

Furman gets next week off before traveling to VMI the following week. ETSU gets Div II West Virginia Wesleyan on Thursday.

Mercer 38  WCU 24

Both the Mercer Bears and Western Carolina Catamounts were looking to bounce back after losses last week.  Mercer has been looking for a break out game after a string of losses and close wins.  Western Carolina was hoping to find it defense, absent for most of the year.  It was a wild game, especially in the second half.  But you wouldn’t have known it the way the game started.

It took both teams a while to get going in this game.  On WCU’s first possession they fumbled after driving into Mercer territory.  Mercer drove it right back in 7 plays to the WCU 28, but missed a field goal.  The Cats went three and out though and Mercer again drove it well on a 14 play drive to the WCU 22.  They again missed a field goal after the Cats held them.  Not to be outdone, Western took the ball on a 9 play drive to the Mercer 8 for a field goal try of their own.  They missed it as well.

After teams traded punts, the Bears again drove deep into Cat territory, but were once again held and forced to attempt yet another field goal. They got this time to go up on the Cats 3-0 with 2:39 to go in the half.

After the teams traded punts again, the Cats got a good drive going between some passes by Cats QB Tyrie Adams and a couple good runs by Detrez Newsome.  Western executed a good two minute drill on this drive.  But in a great razzle dazzle play call, the Cats pulled out an obviously planned hook and ladder to score easily from 28 yards out.  Western had to be feeling good going in to the half up 7-3.

As boring as the first half was, minus the last score, the second half was bit crazy.  Mercer took the kickoff and made a little headway before the Cats held them at the Mercer 45 on a 4th and 3.  But Mercer decided to go for a fake punt.  They didn’t get it and they fumbled in any event, but the ball got shot forward and the Cats could not jump on it until it was at their own 39.  It almost looked liked Mercer intentionally tossed it forward because it shot out of his hands without being forced.  In any event, the Cats made the Bears pay for it.  Western went on a 6 play 61 yard drive highlighted by a 40 yard pass by Adams to the Bears 5.  They scored two plays later to go up 14-3.

Mercer finally got going as well on their next possession with a 10 play, 79 yard TD drive.  Bear QB John Russ connected on a 30 yarder on this drive to Marvin Tillman who ran for most of those 30.

Sometimes, there are plays that just change the complexion of games.  The next play did that.  Mercer kicked off from the 50 due to a roughing the passer on the previous Mercer TD play.  Detrez Newsome took the kickoff at the 5 and immediately fumbled it.  Mercer recovered and scored on the next play to go up 17-14.

It went slowly downhill from here for the Cats.  On their next drive, Adams tossed his first interception at the WCU 33 on a tipped ball.  Mercer struck back fast and scored in two plays on a jump ball deflection to Marquise Irvin on a 21 yard TD pass to go up 24-14.

Western answered back on an 8 play 82 yard TD drive capped off by a 43 yard TD pass to close it to 24-21. But Mercer answered back again in just 4 plays including a 55 yard pass to the WCU 6.  A 5 yard TD pass two plays later was the third on the day for Russ.

Just a few seconds into the fourth quarter, and down by 10, Western started a nice drive to find themselves with a first and ten on the Mercer 11. Newsome suffered yet another fumble, this time forced by the Mercer defense.  After Mercer had to punt, the Cats had an 11 play, 70 yard drive but got held at the Mercer 13 and had to settle for a field goal to close the deficit to a TD at 31-24.

Mercer got it back with 5:48 but the Cats did themselves no favors by committing an unsportsmanlike foul on the kickoff return to give Mercer free yards.  The Bears put it out of reach after a 7 play drive to go up 38-24.  With only 1:53 to go Western needed a miracle.  What they got was another turn over as Adams tossed his second interception of the day.

There is no doubt that Tyrie Adams will be a very good QB. He went 24/40 for 384 yards with 2 TDs, but also 2 interceptions.  His line seemed to give him enough time and he looked poised most of the time.  Newsome is a very talented player, but he just had a bad day and it may have cost the Cats a win as a result.  He finished with 85 yards rushing on the day, but had two costly fumbles.  Overall, Western finished with 483 yards.

Mercer finished with 499 yards including 224 by Russ who went 18/32 with 3 TDs and no interceptions.  Mercer also gained 275 on the ground with Alex Lakes leading the way with 112 and 2 TDs.  The thing that has always impressed me about Mercer is that they do not get rattled, even when they are down.  They certainly were not rattled in this game.

Mercer goes on the road next week at Austin Peay.  Western Carolina faces Samford on the road.

Power Rankings

  1. The Citadel
  2. Chattanooga
  3. Samford
  4. Wofford
  5. Mercer
  6. Furman
  7. VMI
  8. Western Carolina
  9. ETSU

AGS Poll: Top 25 Week 7 Results

The headline of the Week 7 AGS Top 25 is a change at the top for the first time this year. The Eastern Washington Eagles climbed up to the #1 spot with the Jacksonville State Gamecocks also leapfrogging previous #1 North Dakota State after their upset loss to South Dakota State. Sam Houston State maintained their #4 ranking and The Citadel Bulldogs make their first appearance ever in the AGS top 5 coming in at #5 after their huge conference win against Chattanooga. Overall 6 teams (the top 5 and James Madison) received first place votes this week.

As for other big risers of the week the South Dakota State Jackrabbits used their win over previously top ranked NDSU to move up 4 spots into a tie with Richmond at #7. Stony Brook moved up 5 spots to get back into the top 25 at #21. South Dakota jumped 6 spots to make their first appearance of the season in the top 25 coming it at #24. Lehigh and Wofford also made their first appearance in the top 25 coming in at #23 and #25, respectively.

The biggest drops of the week belonged to Chattanooga, who dropped 5 spots to #10, Villanova, who also dropped 5 spots to #18, and Albany, who dropped 6 spots to #22. Harvard, Northern Iowa, New Hampshire, and Southern Utah all fell out of the top 25.

The CAA and MVFC led the way each placing 5 teams into the top 25. They were followed by the Big Sky and the SOCON who each had 4.

Full results below:

Rank Team: Total Points First Place Votes Previous Wk.
1 Eastern Washington Eagles 1998 33 3
2 Jacksonville State Gamecocks 1973 27 2
3 North Dakota State Bison 1906 11 1
4 Sam Houston State Bearkats 1836 8 4
5 The Citadel Bulldogs 1719 1 7
6 James Madison Dukes 1671 4 6
7T Richmond Spiders 1561 8
7T South Dakota State Jackrabbits 1561 11
9 Montana Grizzlies 1442 9
10 Chattanooga Mocs 1297 5
11 Youngstown State Penguins 1243 12
12 Charleston Southern Buccaneers 1215 10
13 Western Illinois Leathernecks 1077 14
14 Cal Poly Mustangs 1039 15
15 Central Arkansas Bears 897 17
16 North Dakota Fighting Hawks 828 18
17 Samford Bulldogs 759 19
18 Villanova Wildcats 648 13
19 Eastern Illinois Panthers 555 21
20 North Carolina A&T Aggies 457 22
21 Stony Brook Seawolves 340 26
22 Albany Great Danes 334 16
23 Lehigh Mountain Hawks 227 27
24 South Dakota Coyotes 123 31
25 Wofford Terriers 110 28
ORV:
26 Tennessee State Tigers 92 30
27 New Hampshire Wildcats 87 24
28 Harvard Crimson 64 20
29T Grambling State Tigers 44 29
29T Maine Black Bears 44 NR
31 Sacred Heart Pioneers 41 34
32 Weber State Wildcats 38 NR
33 Southern Utah Thunderbirds 19 25
34 North Carolina Central Eagles 15 NR
35T Illinois State Redbirds 9 33
35T Northern Iowa Panthers 9 23
37T Liberty Flames 6 NR
37T Missouri State Bears 6 36
39T Fordham Rams 4 40
39T William & Mary Tribe 4 39
41 Monmouth Hawks 2 37
Fell Out Of Poll:
Indiana State Sycamores
McNeese State Cowboys
Sacramento State Hornets

 

Most Significant Win: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
Most Significant Loss: North Dakota State Bison

AGS GOTW: Week 7 (Part 2) | The Dakota Marker: South Dakota State at North Dakota State

(In a unique turn of events, we decided to highlight two different games in Week 7. Marc provides the backstory in Part 1, a summary of Chattanooga at The Citadel.)

Late in the 4th quarter North Dakota State held a 17-13 lead with South Dakota State driving. SDSU QB Taryn Christion could not connect with any receivers after a miscommunication on 4th and 15 with 4:00 left in the 4th quarter from the NDSU 31. It felt like the Bison had dodged another bullet, something they have done quite a bit in 2016.  It seemed like the Jackrabbits had run out of time with the Bison offense back on the field and only 2 timeouts in their pocket.

Unfortunately for the Bison faithful, Easton Stick and the NDSU offense gained 4 yards and went 3 and out before punting back to the Jackrabbits.

South Dakota State went to work. Christion would go 6 for 10 and would connect with WR Jake Wieneke on a 2 yard pass with :01 left on the clock to give the Jackrabbits the win.

With a 19-17 lead the Jackrabbits took a knee on the 2 point conversion to prevent the Bison from having a chance to return any attempts for a game tying safety. They squibbed the ensuing kickoff and the Bison returner did not fall to the ground fast enough and the game was over.

On the day Christion was 24-42 for 303 yards. He connected on 2 touchdowns, including the game winner, and threw only 1 interception. He added a lot on the ground as well, 20 attempts for 140 yards including a long run of  39.  Dallas Goedert and Jake Wieneke were big factors for the Jackrabbit offense. Goedert was the leading receiever with 11 catches for 150 yards and a touchdown. Wieneke added 6 catches for 108 yards and the game winning touchdown.

For the Bison, it was a quiet day for quarterback Easton Stick through the air. He went 14-20 for 143 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. On the ground he was NDSU’s leading rusher adding 86 yards on 12 carries and scored both Bison touchdowns. Darrius Shepherd was his top target with 6 catches for 74 yards.

Moving Forward:

All of the sudden South Dakota State finds themselves in the driver’s seat for the MVFC championship. I’m sure they welcome the idea of their playoff road not going through Fargo (now if they can also avoid Missoula). The Jackrabbits face Youngstown State in their next game and the Penguins are injury riddled and did not look good against a downtrodden Northern Iowa squad. SDSU also faced the task of playing Northern Iowa in the UNI-Dome, but given their win in the Fargodome and the aforementioned woes of the Panthers, things are looking very good for the Jackrabbits.

For the Bison, everything is okay. The sky hasn’t fallen. During their recent dynasty NDSU has dropped games against worse opponents. The Bison head to Macomb to take on a Western Illinois squad that has lost a lot of its shine. The Bison are still in prime shape to spend a lot of the playoffs at home if they can bounce back. They should be able to win out with the schedule in front of them.

Patriot League: Week 7 Review and Power Rankings

Week seven in the Patriot League was highlighted by Holy Cross’s non-conference win over 20th ranked Harvard. It was the Crimson’s first loss outside of the Ivy League since 2011. Fordham also took care of an Ancient 8 opponent, Yale, on their way to a 4-2 record. Ram quarterback Kevin Anderson had a big day in the victory over the Eli. The third out of conference game of the weekend did not go nearly as well for the Patriot League. Lafayette was blown out by an Army team that seems destined to reach their first bowl in 20 years.

In league action, Colgate rebounded from their loss to Lehigh with an impressive 27-7 road win over Bucknell. The Colgate defense had their best game of the year in the win. Finally, Lehigh continued their dominance of Georgetown with a 35-3 win over the Hoyas in Washington D.C. Sophomore QB Brad Mayes once again saw significant playing time in relief for an injured Nick Shafnisky.

Army 62 Lafayette 7

Army (4-2) outrushed Lafayette (1-5) 537 yards to 10 on their way to a dominating 55 point win Saturday afternoon. This was the second straight game in which the Leopards gave up over 500 yards (516 to Fordham) on the ground. Not surprisingly both games resulted in blowout losses for Lafayette. Army racked up 671 total yards of offense which is the second highest total in school history (record came against Montana in 1984). The Black Knights have now won two straight games against the Patriot League since opening the 2015 season with a loss to Fordham.

The loss was the Leopards 5th straight since their season opening win over Central Connecticut State. Going back to the start of last season Lafayette is 2-16 overall. To say they’re stuck in a funk would be a drastic understatement at this point. Thankfully for Lafayette there won’t be another FBS opponent for two more years. The bad news is, it’s against Army again.

It did not take long for the Black Knights to get rolling on offense. Following a punt on Lafayette’s opening possession, Army briskly marched 88 yards in 4 plays to take a 7-0 lead on QB Ahmad Bradshaw’s (6 carries 109 yards 1 TD) 60 yard TD with a little over 12 minutes left in the 1st quarter. After the Leopards were forced to punt for the second straight drive the Black Knights put together a time consuming 8 play 50 yard drive that ended with Jordan Asberry’s 20 yards TD run.

Lafayette’s offensive struggles continued on their next drive with a 3 and out. The Black Knights offense on the other hand kept humming along. Army used a 7 play, 64 yard drive to push their lead to 21-0. The Leopards went 3 and out again on their next drive. The weary Lafayette defense would prove to be no match for the now rolling Army “O”. Ahmad Bradshaw’s touchdown pass to Jeff Ejakem from 7 yards out with 2:02 left in the first half made it 28-0. The first half fireworks weren’t over. Following Lafayette’s 5th punt of the first half, Jordan Asberry ripped off a 59 yard TD on first down to really blow the game open. Now down 35, QB Drew Reed (21-36 205 yards 2 INTs) and the Leopards offense would finally get things going. The senior would go 3-5 throwing the ball and finish off the drive with a 7 yard TD scramble to get Lafayette on the board late in the first half.

Unfortunately for the Leopards, they would not be able to carry the momentum from the late drive over to the second half. The Black Knights received the second half kickoff and proceeded to go on a grueling 12 play 75 yard TD drive that took nearly 6 minutes off the clock. Sophomore RB Cole Macek capped the drive with a short 4 yard TD run to push the lead back to 35. Army would tack on threee more second half touchdown drives to put the exclamation point on the route.

Up Next: Lafayette hits the road for a Patriot League battle with Bucknell in Lewisburg. The Leopards fell to the Bison 35-24 last year.

Fordham 44 Yale 37

Fordham (4-2, 1-0) learned this weekend they can win a game when Chase Edmonds (18 carries 121 yards) fails to hit his per game average (188 ypg) for yards and doesn’t reach reach the end zone. QB Kevin Anderson (18-27 270 yards 5 TDs) picked up the slack by tossing 5 touchdown passes to propel the Rams to victory over Yale (1-4) on a beautiful afternoon for football in the Bronx. It was the third time this season the Yale defense gave up five or more touchdown passes to a Patriot League quarterback. Not surprisingly Yale went 0-3 in those contests.

Anderson and Co. got things going for Fordham early on. Jihaad Pretlow returned the opening kickoff 62 yards to set the Rams offense up at Eli 33 yard line. Four plays later Anderson hit senior WR Robbie Contelli (3 rec 91 yards 2 TDs) from 15 yards out to give the Rams an early 7-0 lead. The Yale offense would immediately respond on their next drive. Eli QB Tre Moore’s (13-34 103 yards 1 INT) QB sneak finished off an 8 play 55 yard TD drive. Yale’s successfully converted a 2 point conversion gave them an 8-7 lead with 9:49 left in the 1st quarter. After the early fireworks both defenses would settle in and force each team to punt on consecutive drives. Following Yale’s second punt of the day the Ram offense got things rolling again. After Edmonds went 16 yards on first down, Anderson found Corey Caddle downfield for a 55 yard TD connection to put Fordham back in the lead with 1:12 left in the opening quarter.

The Eli would retake the lead 15-14 on their first possession of the second quarter when Yale RB Dale Harris (24 carries 136 yards 4 TDs) found pay dirt from 4 yards out. Fordham’s offense would once again have an answer. Anderson notched his third TD pass of the game when he found the diminutive Austin Longi for a 15 yard TD with 5:32 left in the 2nd quarter. The Ram “O” would get another opportunity to put up points before half after a quick Yale 3 in out. Like good teams do, they did not waste their chance to tack on points before intermission. Anderson connected with Caddle (4 rec 74 yards 2 TDs) for their second TD connection of day to extend the Ram lead to 27-15 (2pt attempt failed) after 30 minutes of play.

After a lot of offense in the first half, both defenses would set the tone early on in the second half. The highlight for the Ram defense during that time came on Caleb Ham’s 63 yard pick six to extend the lead to 34-15. However, the Yale offense would not be deterred by their early second half mistake. On their next possession the Eli put together their most impressive scoring drive (12 play, 64 yards) of the day. Dale Harris finished it off with a 1 yard TD plunge and a 2 point conversion to cut the Fordham lead to 11 (34-23) with 1:48 left in the 3rd quarter. The Yale momentum would turn out to be very short lived. 17 seconds later Anderson found Cantelli behind the Eli secondary for an electric 69 yard TD strike to push the Fordham lead to 18 points.

Yale would show great character by responding with a 9 play 73 yard TD drive to once again close the deficit to 11 with 12:21 left in the 4th quarter. The Eli would get the ball back again and had things going before the Ram defense would finally stiffen on 4th down to end drive at the 36 yard line with a little over 5 minutes left in the game. The 4th down stop effectively ended Yale’s chances at a comeback. Fordham would tack on a late FG while Yale would get a TD with 21 seconds left to close out the scoring.

Up Next: Fordham welcomes Georgetown to the Bronx for a key league contest Saturday. The Rams have won 4 straight over the Hoyas.

Colgate 27 Bucknell 7

Colgate (2-4, 1-1) ended their three game losing streak with an impressive 20 point road win over league foe Bucknell (2-4, 1-1). The Raiders used a stifling rushing defense (27 yards) to make life miserable for the Bison offense. Colgate held the second leading rusher in the PL, RB Joey DeFloria, to a mere 40 yards on 11 carries. To make matters worse, Bucknell QB Matt Muh had to leave the due to injury in second half with the game still in reach. He was replaced by freshman John Chiarolanzio (11-19 139 yards 1 TD) who made his varsity debut in the loss. The Bison have been without usual starter R.J. Nitti since the second game of the year.

Both defenses would control play for most of the first 20 plus minutes of the game. Bucknell’s first four possessions of the contest resulted in punts. Three of those drives resulted ended with 3 and outs. Colgate was able to move the ball slightly better over that time. Their second possession of the game showed promise but fizzled out when Jonah Bowman missed a 45 yard FG. Bowman would redeem himself on the next drive with a 36 yard FG to give the Raiders a 3-0 lead with 1:33 left in the 1st quarter. The senior kicker extended the Colgate lead to 6-0 when he knocked through a 22 yard chippy at the 4:35 mark of the 2nd quarter. On the ensuing Bucknell possession Matt Muh was picked off by Colgate’s Tyler Castillo. Castillo returned the interception 31 yards to the Bison 18. Two plays later Jake Melville hit Owen Rockett for a 16 yard touchdown to give Colgate a 13-0 lead with 1:27 left in the first half.

Bucknell opened the second half with their best drive of the game but it would be all for not as Jack Chambers doinked a 30 yard FG off the upright. The Bison finally got on the board on their next drive. Bucknell backup QB John Chiarolanzio found Andrew Owers for a short 2 yard TD pass to cap an impressive 11 play 71 yard drive that 5:44 off the clock.

With Colgate clinging to a 13-7 lead early in the 4th quarter, the Raiders offense put together a much needed scoring drive. Melville finished off an 11 play 57 drive that took nearly 6 minutes off the clock with an 8 yard quarterback keeper to give Colgate a two score lead with 5:08 left in the game. Bucknell’s last ditch attempt to comeback ended on downs. Following the defensive stop, Melville added his second 8 yard TD to close out the scoring.

Colgate RB James Holland missed his second straight game due to injury. Kenyon Washington had his second straight 100 yard game (25 carries 159 yards) filling in.

Up Next: Bucknell will look to get back over .500 in league play when Lafayette invades Christy Mathewson Stadium next week. After hitting the road 5 times in 6 weeks to start the year, Colgate gets to enjoy a much needed bye week.

Holy Cross 27 #20 Harvard 17

Holy Cross (3-4, 1-1) shocked their rivals from Cambridge 27-17 Saturday afternoon for a head turning non-conference win. Harvard (4-1) entered the game having won their previous 16 out of conference games. Their last loss outside of the Ivy League ironically came at the hands of the Crusaders (2011). The Crimson were also riding a 16 game road winning streak before suffering the 10 point setback. With a huge game against Lehigh looming next week, this is the type of victory that could propel the Crusaders the rest of the season. Their defense should enter next week’s game confident after holding Harvard to 245 total yards.

It didn’t start out particularly well for the Holy Cross “D”. After punting on their opening possession of the game, the Crimson put together a 7 play 44 yard TD drive the second time they touched the ball. Noah Reimers finished the drive with a 14 yard TD run to give Harvard an early 7-0 lead. Holy Cross would then awaken for the rest of the quarter. All League WR Brandon Flaherty (8 rec 96 yards 1 TD) got things started with a 32 yard TD catch to conclude an 8 play 51 yard drive. The Crusaders would take a 14-7 lead on their next possession thanks to Geoff Wade’s second TD pass of the game. This time Wade (23-35 244 yards 2 TDs) connected with WR Jake Wieczorek (3 rec 69 yards 1 TD) for a short 3 yard TD. The Crusader defense got in on the points blitz when Kyle Young strip sacked Tom Stewart in the end zone and Brett Laurie fell on the ball for a TD to extend the lead to 21-7 lead with 1:22 left in the opening quarter. The 14 point deficit was Harvard’s largest of the year. The Crimson made sure the 14 point hole did not last long. The Crimson immediately responded with a 7 play 84 yard TD drive. Tom Stewart redeemed himself with a 12 yard TD pass to Brian Dunlap to draw Harvard within 7 points early in the 2nd quarter. Harvard would add a 37 yard FG in the final seconds of the first half to cut the Holy Cross lead to 21-17.

Holy Cross would match Harvard’s 3 points on their opening possession of the second half. Zane Wasp drilled a 44 yard FG to push the Crusader lead back to a 7 early in the 3rd quarter. From that point on Holy Cross’s defense took over. Harvard managed a dismal 21 total yards in the second half. The Crusaders forced three 3 and outs and created two turnovers in five of the six Harvard second half possessions. The other Crimson drive netted 0 yards on 9 plays due to penalties and sacks.

It’s rumored that senior Holy Cross QB Peter Pujals will sit out the rest of the year and apply for a 5th year via a medical redshirt. The first team all-Patriot League QB was injured in first half of the third game of the season (Dartmouth).

Harvard played without several starters due to injury/precautionary reasons. Those players that sat out include starting QB Joe Viviano, RB Semar Smith and WR Justice Shelton-Mosley.

Up Next: Holy Cross will be at home for the third straight week. This time Lehigh visits Worcester for a pivotal game in the race for the league championship. Holy Cross trailed 41-10 at half to Lehigh last season before ultimately losing 51-38.

Lehigh 35 Georgetown 3

Death, taxes and Lehigh beating Georgetown? It sure has to feel that way if you’re a fan of either team. Lehigh’s Brad Mayes (19-26 247 yards 2 TDs 1 INT) once again put forth an impressive performance in relief of starting QB Nick Shafnisky as the Mountain Hawks beat the Hoyas for the 16th straight time. Lehigh (5-2, 2-0) remains the only Patriot League school Georgetown (3-3, 0-1) has not defeated since joining the league for the 2001 season. The 3 points given up by the Lehigh defense were the fewest allowed since the Mountain Hawks shutout Georgetown 27-0 in 2009.

The Lehigh defense did their job early on by stopping the Hoya’s opening possession after one first down. Lehigh’s offense rewarded the defense’s effort by putting together an efficient 5 play 80 yard TD drive in just over 2 minutes. The score came on a 42 yard Shafnisky (7-12 101 yards 1 TD 1 INT) to Gatlin Casey TD pass. The Lehigh defense would force two more Georgetown punts to close out the first quarter. On Lehigh’s fourth possession of the game Shafnisky injured his ankle and left the game. Mayes entered and proceeded to march the Lehigh “O” down the field for their second TD of the day. The sophomore QB connected with Troy Pelletier (7 rec 68 yards 1 TD) from 11 yards out to give Lehigh a 14-0 lead with 9:07 left in the 2nd quarter.

The Hoya’s biggest offensive threat came late in the first half. Michael Dareus’s 27 yard punt return set Georgetown’s offense up at the Lehigh 25 yard line with 3:05 left in the half. The Hoya’s would get the ball down inside the 10 yard line but couldn’t find the end zone and had to settle for a 24 yard FG with 1:41 to go in the 2nd quarter. Lehigh drove the ball the down to the Georgetown 14 yard line but Hunter Kiselick intercepted a tipped Mayes pass to thwart the scoring opportunity.

Georgetown put together an impressive drive to start the second half. Unfortunately for the Hoya’s it would be all for not as Henry Darmstadter missed a 42 yard FG. The Mountain Hawks offense would once against get things going. Mayes directed his second TD drive (9 plays 75 yards) of the day. This time he handed off to RB Dominic Bragalone (19 carries 61 yards 2 TDs) for a 1 yard TD plunge with 7:52 remaining in the 3rd quarter. The Lehigh offense would strike again the next time they saw the ball. This time Mayes hit a streaking Gatlin Casey (6 rec 164 yards 2 TDs) down the middle for a 57 yard TD to push the Lehigh lead to 28-3 with 5:16 on the clock in the 3rd quarter. Dominic Bragalone added one more short TD run to close out the scoring.

Georgetown QB Clay Norris (15-25 79 yards) made his second straight start for the injured Tim Barnes. The Hoya offense continued to struggle (177 total yards) against better competition without Barnes under center. The lack of a running game (74 yards) has been an issue all year.

Up Next: Lehigh puts their 5 game winning streak on the line against Holy Cross in Worcester. The Mountain Hawks lost the last time (2012) they played at Fitton Field. Georgetown travels to the Bronx to face Fordham. The Hoyas most recent win over the Rams came in 2011.

Power Rankings

  1. Lehigh
  2. Fordham
  3. Colgate
  4. Holy Cross
  5. Bucknell
  6. Georgetown
  7. Lafayette

AGS GOTW: Week 7 (Part 1) Chattanooga at The Citadel

That’s right, we have a two part installment this week for the AGS Game of the Week.  In what was a hard fought battle on the Any Given Saturday web site, the members made it a battle royal for which game would come out on top as the Game of the Week.  With much lobbying, many lead changes, and voting strategies, it made for a great competition.  In the end The SOCON game came out on top, but barely.  As a result, both games will be highlighted on The FCS Wedge as Games of the Week.  After the voting ended, it could only be hoped that the games themselves lived up to their billing.

Both of the games had all the makings of great FCS football.  The #5 Chattanooga Mocs, with their FCS leading defense, traveled to Charleston, SC to face the leading FCS rushing team, the #7 Bulldogs of The Citadel.  And while there is still a lot of season left to play, this game will have big implications for the Southern Conference title and seeding in the FCS playoffs.  The other game that vied for Game of the Week was a classic rivalry game pitting the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State against the current and 5 time FCS Champions, the North Dakota State Bison.  Up for the taking was the coveted Dakota Marker trophy.  That game could also have big repercussions on the Missouri Valley Conference race and seeding as well.

In the last battle of unbeatens in FCS football this year, The Citadel returned home to Charleston for only the third time in its last 10 games in a face off with the 2015 SOCON co-champions Chattanooga.  The Mocs won the head to head last year, but both finished 6-1 in the conference to claim a share of the title.

With the top spot in the SOCON at stake, a beautiful fall day in Charleston, and Parents Day festivities going on at The Citadel, 14,590 fans came out to watch.  With at least 8000 seats currently condemned at Johnson Hagood Stadium, this was a pretty good turnout.  The Mocs took the opening kickoff and went to work.  They had been averaging 464 yards a game behind a very capable QB Alejandro Bennifield and running back Derrick Craine.  On the first play from scrimmage, the Mocs connected for 18 yard pass and it looked like their offense was in gear.  But they lost yards on the next two rushing plays and it was clear a slugfest was on.  The drive ended on a 4th and 7 on the Dogs 17 and the Mocs opted for as field goal, which they missed wide left.

The Citadel, averaging 389 yards a game on the ground coming into the contest, also got a great first play. Dominique Allen rushed for 15 yards.  In a typical Bulldog drive, they drove the field methodically and patiently.  They converted three third downs on the 80 yard, 13 play drive.  Allen punched it in from the Mocs one yard line.  The drive took over 6 and a half minutes.

The Dogs did not have much success with its fullback, Tyler Renew, up the middle on this drive, but it was finding room on the edges with Cam Jackson’s speed.  This continued for most of the game as well.  At this point, it was clear the Dogs could move the ball against the stout Mocs defense, but whether the Bulldog defense could hold against the Mocs powerful offense had still yet to be answered.  It was answered quickly on the next play from scrimmage as Bennifield connected with C.J. Board for a 75 yard TD pass after Board gained some space on the Bulldogs cornerback.  The UTC possession took 11 seconds.

Starting from its own 12 after a holding penalty on the ensuing kickoff return, the Dogs went to work again. The Bulldogs executed a carbon copy of the first drive, only it was longer.  The 19 play, 88 yard drive took 9:27.  The Dogs called a pretty good play mix to keep the Chattanooga defense working hard.  Allen again scored on a 1 yd TD run to make it 14-7, The Citadel.  Now with 10:10 to go in the second quarter, each team had only had the ball twice.

Chattanooga’s first play on their next drive again went for big yards as Craine took it 24 yards to near midfield.  But the Bulldogs defense began to stiffen up and made it harder the Mocs.  They drove all the way to the 5 yard line before Bennifield looked to score on a second down, but he fumbled.  Luckily for the Mocs, they recovered on the 1 and Craine punched it in on the next play.  The 13 play, 76 yard drive took 6 and a half minutes. Only 3:32 remained in the half with the score tied at 14.  Both defenses were making it harder for the teams to score, but they were simply slowing them down and not getting stops.

While the Dogs have scored quickly here and there during the season, it would be tough against the Mocs with so little time left before half.  They did get great field position on a good kickoff return to start from their 38 yard line.  They stuck to what they knew best, although they did toss a couple passes to try and speed things up and to keep the Mocs defense honest.  Taking their timeouts as well, the Dogs ended up on the Mocs 20 after a 13 play drive.  With three seconds on the clock they kicked the go ahead field goal to take the 17-13 lead into half.

There had only been a total of 6 possessions in the first half, combined, and the difference was one missed field goal.  It was clear that the first team to get a stop was going to get a big advantage.  The Dogs took the kickoff to start the third quarter and they got their first third down conversion.  But the Mocs defense got the first stop on the next set of downs and the Dogs made the first punt of the day.  Not to be outdone, The Citadel defense delivered the first three and out of the day on the next Chattanooga possession.  Matching it, the Mocs answered right back with a three and out defensive performance of their own.  The defensive adjustments made by each team appeared to be working.  In fact neither team scored another TD in the game.

The Bulldogs had better success on their next drive going 11 plays for 49 yards, but gave it up on downs on a fourth and one from the UTC 10.  It was a calculated risk to not go for the field goal at this point.  I am sure that the armchair coaches were all screaming at this point, but being up by 6 doesn’t give you much and the potential benefit of being up by 10 surely outweighed the risk.

The Bulldogs defense has been lights out in the fourth quarter all year.  As the Mocs took over at their 10, with 1:18 to go in the third, the Dogs defense started a little early this game.  After connecting for an 11 yard pass, Bennifield was sacked for a 12 yard loss.  On the next play, the last of the third quarter, he was going down again, this time in the end zone and in the tackle box, but he got a wild pass off at the last moment.  It might be argued that it was in the direction of a receiver, but it was just throw out of bounds 10-15 yards from his receiver, and the refs agreed and the Dogs went up 5 on the safety.  Just as important as the 2 points, the Dogs got the ball back on the free kick.

Unfortunately for the Dogs, they stalled after gaining a couple first downs and punted it back to the Mocs. With 10:51 to go in the game, the Mocs needed to score on their next drive.  Craine had gone out with a knee injury earlier in the third quarter.  Losing such a versatile and productive player really hurt the Mocs effectiveness on offensive, but Bennifield still moved the ball well.  They drove all the way to the Citadel 37 before being stopped on a 4th and 7.  With just 5:18 to go in the game, The Citadel looked to score one more time and put it out of reach for the Mocs.

The Dogs made a 12 play 48 yard drive that took almost five minutes off the clock.  They ended up settling for a 32 yard field goal to make it 22-14 with 24 seconds left.  After a touchback on the kickoff, UTC made it to midfield on a couple passes underneath, but the Dogs secondary held and the Bulldogs broke their skid against the Chattanooga Mocs to take the lead in the SOCON race.

If there was a key stat to the game, it had to be the time of possession.  The Bulldogs held the ball 39:31.  Very few teams can win holding the ball for only 20 minutes.  On the day, the Dogs rolled up 354 yards on the ground.  They kept their drives going and made 13/20 third down conversions.  Dominique Allen made some outstanding option reads.  He pitched it sometimes at the last possible millisecond.  Some of the fake shoulder movements he made froze the Chattanooga defenders just long enough to get an extra step.  Allen finished with a career high 135 yards rushing and two TDs.  He only went 1/4 for 7 yards through the air.  But the Dogs did not need to pass with their running game so effective.  Neither team committed a turnover in the game.  The Citadel was flagged 5 times and the Mocs twice, they were both very disciplined teams.

Alejandro Bennifield went 17/28 for 240 yards and 1 TD.  Craine had 8 rushes for 35 yards and two receptions for 55 yards, but he went out midway in the third.  He is a bruising, crafty, and a fast runner.  Get him in space and he will burn you.  The Mocs can ill afford to lose him.  As it was, the Bulldog defense was able to limit the Mocs to their lowest offensive output on the year at 295 yards.  I say the defense, but the offense had a hand in that as well with the ridiculously high TOP they maintained.

The Citadel, now 6-0, 4-0, travels to Wofford to continue their quest for the SOCON title. Chattanooga, 6-1, 4-1, gets VMI at home to try and stay close in case The Citadel stumbles.

If you were looking for a flashy game and a track meet for a Game of the Week, this wasn’t it.  It was an old fashion defensive slugfest, especially in the second half, and a hard fought battle the entire game.

AGS Top 25 – How They Fared Week 7 2016

This is the incomparable tool put together each week by our friend on AGS for use by the voters in our poll.  It is a very useful tool we all utilize.  Even if you are not a voter it will provide a quick and concise review of the weekend’s happenings.  This is a very truncated version of the full sheet available on anygivensaturday.com each Saturday night.

superman7515, we tip our caps to you again this week.

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Rank Team Week 7 Result Total Points First Place Votes Overall Record Conference Record
#1 North Dakota State Bison Lost vs #11 South Dakota State Jackrabbits 17-19 1999 79 5-1 2-1
#2 Jacksonville State Gamecocks Won vs Austin Peay Governors 34-14 1849 5-1 2-0
#3 Eastern Washington Eagles BYE 1835 1 5-1 3-0
#4 Sam Houston State Bearkats Won vs Abilene Christian Wildcats 48-21 1735 6-0 5-0
#5 Chattanooga Mocs Lost at #7 The Citadel Bulldogs 14-22 1708 6-1 4-1
#6 James Madison Dukes Won at #24 New Hampshire Wildcats 42-39 1558 6-1 4-0
#7 The Citadel Bulldogs Won vs #5 Chattanooga Mocs 22-14 1423 6-0 4-0
#8 Richmond Spiders Won vs #13 Villanova Wildcats 23-0 1396 6-1 3-1
#9 Montana Grizzlies Won vs #36 Sacramento State Hornets 68-7 1386 5-1 2-1
#10 Charleston Southern Buccaneers BYE 1199 3-2 2-0
#11 South Dakota State Jackrabbits Won at #1 North Dakota State Bison 19-17 1165 4-2 3-0
#12 Youngstown State Penguins Won vs #23 Northern Iowa Panthers 14-10 1095 5-1 3-0
#13 Villanova Wildcats Lost at #8 Richmond Spiders 0-23 1058 5-2 3-1
#14 Western Illinois Leathernecks Won at #36 Missouri State Bears 38-35 963 5-1 2-1
#15 Cal Poly Mustangs Won vs Portland State Vikings 55-35 843 4-2 2-1
#16 Albany Great Danes Lost at Maine Black Bears 16-20 813 4-2 1-2
#17 Central Arkansas Bears Won at #32 McNeese State Cowboys 35-0 650 5-1 4-0
#18 North Dakota Fighting Hawks Won vs #25 Southern Utah Thunderbirds 45-23 584 5-2 4-0
#19 Samford Bulldogs Won vs Virginia Military Institute Keydets 55-21 575 5-1 3-1
#20 Harvard Crimson Lost at Holy Cross Crusaders 17-27 411 4-1 2-0
#21 Eastern Illinois Panthers Won at Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 30-24 377 5-2 3-1
#22 North Carolina A&T Aggies Won at Bethune-Cookman Wildcats 52-35 344 5-1 3-0
#23 Northern Iowa Panthers Lost at #12 Youngstown State Penguins 10-14 268 2-4 1-2
#24 New Hampshire Wildcats Lost vs #6 James Madison Dukes 39-42 238 4-3 3-1
#25 Southern Utah Thunderbirds Lost at #18 North Dakota Fighting Hawks 23-45 170 3-3 2-2
Next 15
#26 Stony Brook Seawolves Won vs Rhode Island Rams 14-3 130 4-2 3-0
#27 Lehigh Mountain Hawks Won at Georgetown Hoyas 35-3 49 5-2 2-0
#28 Wofford Terriers BYE 44 4-2 2-1
#29 Grambling State Tigers BYE 28 4-1 3-0
#30 (t) South Dakota Coyotes Won at #35 Indiana State Sycamores 33-30 (2OT) 19 3-3 2-1
#30 (t) Tennessee State Tigers Won vs Eastern Kentucky Colonels 35-28 19 5-1 2-1
#32 McNeese State Cowboys Lost vs #17 Central Arkansas Bears 0-35 14 3-4 2-3
#33 Illinois State Redbirds Won vs Southern Illinois Salukis 31-28 13 3-4 1-3
#34 Sacred Heart Pioneers Won at Cornell Bears 31-24 10 5-1 0-1
#35 Indiana State Sycamores Lost vs #30 South Dakota Coyotes 30-33 (2OT) 9 3-4 1-3
#36 (t) Missouri State Bears Lost at #14 Western Illinois Leathernecks 35-38 5 3-3 1-2
#36 (t) Monmouth Hawks Lost at Presbyterian Blue Hose 13-17 5 4-3 0-2
#36 (t) Sacramento State Hornets Lost at #9 Montana Grizzlies 7-68 5 1-6 1-3
#39 William & Mary Tribe Won vs Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens 24-17 4 3-4 1-3
#40 (t) Fordham Rams Won vs Yale Bulldogs 44-37 1 4-2 1-0
#40 (t) Liberty Flames Won at Kennesaw State Owls 36-21 1 3-3 1-0
#40 (t) Northern Colorado Bears Lost at UC Davis Aggies 21-34 1 3-3 1-2
#40 (t) San Deigo Toreros Won at Drake Bulldogs 38-7 1 5-1 4-0

Perfection: Boy did this one take a hit this week, with three of the five undefeated teams tripping along the path. #1 North Dakota State loses to #11 South Dakota State, giving NDSU their first loss in a year (October 17, 2015), perhaps it’s this week that does it for them. I have it on good authority that as you’re reading this, David Harris (Northern Iowa’s Director of Athletics) is furiously typing an email to try and get the Panthers and Bison scheduled for October 14th next year.

#5 Chattanooga gets their first loss to #7 The Citadel, who remains undefeated and moves to 6-0. #20 Harvard has the most surprising loss of the three teams, losing to a subpar Holy Cross team that looks to be middle of the pack in the Patriot League. #4 Sam Houston State easily handles Abilene Christian, so Sam Houston State and The Citadel are the final two undefeated teams in the FCS.

Of course, Abilene Christian is one of the teams trying to run the table in reverse, they fall to 0-7. Joining them at the kids table is Austin Peay (0-6), Bethune-Cookman (0-5), Delaware State (0-6), and Mississippi Valley State (0-7). Furman gets themselves off the schneid though, with a win over East Tennessee State.

Under The Radar: Last year, Portland State was the surprise team who enjoyed a better than expected season, and while things aren’t working out quite as well, there are a few teams that aren’t on the HTF sheet with records suggesting they may be worthy of you taking a few seconds to examine.

  • Weber State (4-2, 3-0) has won four straight games, their only losses this year are to FBS Utah State and #30 South Dakota, on the road, in double-overtime.
  • Maine (3-3, 2-1) has won three straight games, their record is hurt by two losses to FBS opponents, but they are 3-1 against FCS competition with their only loss to #6 James Madison.
  • North Carolina Central (5-2, 4-0) isn’t getting the attention that #22 North Carolina A&T is because A&T has an FBS win that Central doesn’t, but NCCU has won 5 straight games and their only losses were to FBS teams, #24 Western Michigan and Duke.

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superman7515 AGS Top 25 – How They Fared Week 7 2016