AGS Poll: Top 25 Week 4 Results

Week 4 in the AGS poll was not a volatile at the top as last week but there was plenty of movement towards the bottom of the top 25. North Dakota State maintained it’s stranglehold on the top spot followed once again by Jacksonville State and Eastern Washington at #2 and #3, respectively. Chattanooga makes their first appearance in the top 5 coming in at #4 as they leapfrogged Sam Houston State who stayed at #5.

Among the biggest risers of the week were the Cal Poly Mustangs who jumped up 9 spots to #8 after a second consecutive impressive, but close, win – this time at home against Montana. The Southern Utah Thunderbirds also rose 9 spots to #20. Last week we saw one team come from outside the top 40 the previous week to the top 25 in the Stony Brook Seawolves. This week three teams accomplished that feat; the Indiana State Sycamores who debuted at #21, the Central Arkansas Bears who came in at #23, and the Sacred Heart Pioneers who used a stunning upset of the aforementioned Stony Brook to jump to #25.

Montana (down 7 spots to #11),  Illinois State (down 7 spots to #19), and William & Mary (down 11 spots to #22) all saw their rankings take a tumble this week. Stony Brook, Samford, Colgate, and Portland State all dropped out of the top 25 this week after sustaining losses.

The MVFC led the way in terms of representation with 7 teams in the top 25. They were followed by the CAA with 5 and the Big Sky with 4.

One final note; for proof that every vote matters check out the spread between numbers #4-#5 and #16-#17.

Full results below:

Rank Team: Total Points First Place Votes Previous Wk.
1 North Dakota State Bison 2050 82 1
2 Jacksonville State Gamecocks 1890 2
3 Eastern Washington Eagles 1874 3
4 Chattanooga Mocs 1695 6
5 Sam Houston State Bearkats 1694 5
6 Western Illinois Leathernecks 1655 8
7 James Madison Dukes 1483 7
8 Cal Poly Mustangs 1363 17
9 The Citadel Bulldogs 1284 9
10 Richmond Spiders 1238 10
11 Montana Grizzlies 1224 4
12 Charleston Southern Buccaneers 997 14
13 Northern Iowa Panthers 961 13
14 Albany Great Danes 865 18
15 Youngstown State Penguins 855 16
16 Eastern Illinois Panthers 833 19
17 South Dakota State Jackrabbits 832 15
18 Villanova Wildcats 763 20
19 Illinois State Redbirds 389 12
20 Southern Utah Thunderbirds 327 29
21 Indiana State Sycamores 290 NR
22 William & Mary Tribe 286 11
23 Central Arkansas Bears 278 NR
24 Harvard Crimson 228 25
25 Sacred Heart Pioneers 166 NR
ORV:
26 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 150 31
27 Colgate Raiders 138 23
28 Samford Bulldogs 128 22
29 North Carolina A&T Aggies 103 27
30 Dartmouth Big Green 88 30
31 McNeese State Cowboys 84 28
32 Stony Brook Seawolves 73 21
33 Fordham Rams 64 32
34 Southern Illinois Salukis 45 33
35 Wofford Terriers 44 NR
36 North Dakota Fighting Hawks 42 38
37 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 36 26
38 Tennessee State Tigers 31 36
39 Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens 19 34
40 Elon Phoenix 16 NR
Fell Out Of Poll:
Mercer Bears
Nicholls State Colonels
Portland State Vikings
South Carolina State Bulldogs
Western Carolina Catamounts

 

Most Significant Win: Cal Poly Mustangs

Most Significant Loss: William & Mary Tribe

SOCON: Week 4 Review and Power Rankings

It was a light week for the Southern Conference as three teams (The Citadel, Mercer and Western Carolina) had the week off.  VMI played out of conference at Bucknell and Furman was at FBS bound Coastal Carolina.  The conference race actually cleared a small amount with a key match up between UTC and Samford.  Wofford also faced off against a rising ETSU.

Wofford 31 ETSU 0   (box score)

In its first conference game of the season, Wofford made a big statement by knocking off ETSU in dominating fashion, 31-0. In its second consecutive shutout, the Terriers also made a statement about its defense.  After holding ETSU to just 76 total yards, it has now passed fellow SOCON member UTC for the number one spot for total defense in FCS.

Running up an impressive rushing total of 350 yards, Wofford moved into the #3 spot in rushing in FCS. Wofford’s leading rusher was Lorenzo Long who finished with 156 yards on 18 carries for an impressive 8.2 average.  He added 2 TDs as well.

Wofford began the game with a solid 79 yard drive of 12 plays which took nearly 6 minutes. After a three and out by ETSU, Wofford did it again for 60 yards in 13 plays and it took almost another 6 minutes off the clock. The TD came on a 4th and goal from the 4.  That was one of four, fourth down conversions by Wofford on the day.  They also scored on a 13 yard scamper on another 4th down later.

By the end of the 1st quarter ETSU was still on its second possession, and they had to punt that one away as well. That is how the day went for ETSU.  Wofford totaled nearly 40 minutes of possession in the game.  In the second quarter the ETSU defense stiffened up a bit and the teams traded a few punts to leave it at 14-0 in Wofford’s favor at the half.

The third quarter saw Wofford score on its first possession after holding ETSU to a 3 and out. After trading a few punts, the Terriers again scored on a 60 yard drive at the beginning of the 4th to make it 28-0.  They tacked on a FG late in the 4th for a 31-0 victory.

Bucs QB Austin Herink was held to just 80 yards going 14-22. The Wofford defense registered 3 sacks on the day.  The Wofford defense held ETSU to a minus 7 on the ground, sunken greatly by the sack yardage.  Overall, the Terriers defense recorded 9 tackles for loss against the Bucs.

The only blemish for Wofford’s numbers was a disappointing 3rd down conversion record of 3-15. But with 21 1st downs they really didn’t need them.  The Terriers also did not need any passing yards to get the job done finishing with just 14 yards through the air on the day.

It was a fairly mistake free and clean game for both teams with no turnovers and a mere 4 penalties called in the entire game.  On special teams, Wofford got a 34 yard field goal and missed a 45 yarder.

ETSU gets no break as they face the #2 FCS defense of Chattanooga next week at home. Wofford will travel to Samford to see if they can contain Samford’s aerial attack as well as UTC did last week.

# 6 Chattanooga 41  #22 Samford 21 (box score)

Last September, UTC dimmed Samford’s conference championship hopes 31-21. They did it again in an even more convincing manner and put Samford in the hole for the conference title.  Mocs QB Alejandro Bennifield delivered a great effort going 19/34 for 236 yards and 2 TDs.  But the star for the Mocs, at least in the second half, was running back Derrick Craine who ran for 222 yards for a scorching 9.7 average and 2 TDs.  Although Samford had some success through the air, the Bulldog’s anemic running game was held to a dismal 46 yards by the stout Mocs defense.

The game started out with the foes trading punts or turnovers for most of the 1st quarter except for a UTC TD which came after a 5 play 91 yard drive which nearly ended in disaster for the Mocs. After Bennifield connected with his receiver, and on his way to the goal after a 70 yard jaunt, Samford forced a fumble.  Luckily for UTC they fell on it in the end zone for the first score.

At the beginning of the second quarter a Samford fumble at midfield gave the Mocs great field position which they capitalized on with a 51 yard, 8 play drive for the second score. After trading more punts, both teams would then trade scores, with Samford finally getting a sustained drive of 85 yards in 9 plays to cut the score to 21-7 prior to half.

After forcing a three and out to start the second half, Samford had excellent field position at the UTC 48 after a great punt return. Two plays later Bulldog QB Devlin Hodges connected for a long pass and a near TD only to have UTC force a fumble of its own and get a touchback out of it.  That about sums up Samford’s outing for the day.  They suffered 1 interception and 2 fumbles in the game.  Against a dominating Chattanooga defense, this was fatal.  To be fair, the UTC secondary did have something to do with those turnovers.  Even so, Hodges had fairly impressive numbers going 33/53 and 343 yards, but couldn’t piece it together to put points on the board.  He also didn’t have enough time with UTC holding the ball for an enviable 39+ minutes.   And when he did have it, Hodges had to dodge Preseason All American Keionta Davis who recorded 3 sacks on the day.  UTC would get to the Samford QB 5 times in all.

Samford did score on their next possession and again in the fourth, but UTC would match them each time and tack on a couple FGs as well. As well as Bennifield played, the second half could have been called the Derrick Craine show.  Samford had no answer for the elusive Mocs running back who tallied nearly 200 yards in the second half alone.  It was his career high and third highest in school history.  That is how you play conference games.

As mentioned, it was a bit of a sloppy game by both teams. In addition to the 2 turnovers, UTC had 8 penalties for 79 yards with one of those keeping a Samford drive alive.  Samford turned it over three times.  Also, UTC again had poor numbers on 3rd downs making only 6 of 18 attempts, but they got all the yardage they needed racking up 518 in total.  But they were also 2 of 2 on 4th downs making the first one on a 4th and 4, fake punt, direct snap to Craine at their own 39.  He picked up 32 yards.  The other one they got on a 4-1 at the Samford 35.  Craine ran that one as well…for 35 yards and a score.

Now at 4-0 and tied with the Citadel at 2-0 in conference, UTC is in the driver’s seat having knocked off one of the best teams able to threaten its chance at another conference championship.   They travel to Johnson City next week in what will probably be a one sided affair at ETSU.  Samford, now 2-1 and 0-1 in the SOCON, has to get up, dust itself off and face a disciplined Wofford team at home next week.

VMI 23   Bucknell 17 (3OT) (box score)

VMI had not won two consecutive road games since 1982. Wow!  I was a cadet back then.  It took 3 overtimes to do it, but they pulled out their second consecutive road win of the year, this time against Bucknell.  And in what can only be viewed as a bizarre ending, the first 2 OTs were completely scoreless.

VMI looked like they took control early. To open the game, they held the Bison to a couple first downs and forced a punt.  The Keydets then marched 88 yards in 8 plays.  This included 4 runs by VMI’s leading running back, Daz Palmer, who ran for 27 yards including a 9 yard TD run on the drive.  It also included 4 passes by their solid QB, Al Cobb, who passed for 61 yards.  Cobb also became VMI’s leading career passer on this drive.  VMI didn’t convert and the score was 6-0.

After this first score, the two teams first traded interceptions, then missed field goals. Bucknell struck next at the beginning of the second on an 8 play, 69 yard drive to make it 7-6.   On the very next drive Cobb threw his second interception on a long ball deep in Bucknell territory and it looked as though he was again infected with the turnover bug.  He had held them check so far this year with none coming into this game.  But neither team could produce much except punts for the rest of the half and the score remained 7-6 at the break.

Bucknell held VMI on their opening drive of the second half and then drove 70 yards in 10 plays to go up 14-6. VMI answered right back with an 8 play 64 yard drive.  They also got back even at 14 with a two point conversion.

On the next drive Bucknell made an impressive 11 play 67 yard effort but VMI stopped them on a 4th and 2 at the VMI 6 yard line to get the ball back. Bucknell held VMI in turn and went on another drive at the start of the 4th quarter, this time ending with a 22 yard FG to make it 17-14 Bucknell.

With 8:28 to go VMI began what they hoped was a game winning scoring drive. The Keydets moved the ball well, but Bucknell snapped up yet another Cobb interception at their own 20.  But the VMI defense stepped up and forced a 3 and out.

With 5:44 to go VMI tried it again. They drove 59 yards in 15 plays only to be stopped at the Bucknell 7.  They did kick a 25 yard FG to even things at 17.  Bucknell threatened on their final drive with less than a minute to go, but the game headed into OT.

VMI won the toss and obviously elected to go on defense. Bucknell made it to the 5 but decided to go for it on 4th and 2 only to be stuffed by the VMI defense.  Only needing a field goal to win it, VMI required ball security and a few yards to seal it.  Oh yeah, and a good kick as well.  They made it to the Bucknell 5 only have their FG attempt blocked.

In the next OT VMI only got to the 21 and missed the 38 yard attempt wide left. Wow.  Now Bucknell only needed a FG to win.  Enter VMI’s defense.  They held the Bison to 0 yards and the 42 yard attempt missed as well.  I am not sure I have ever heard of two scoreless OT periods before.

Now in the 3rd OT, the VMI defense stepped up again with an interception on Bucknell’s first play. Not taking any chances this time with an iffy field goal attempt, the Keydets ran 5 times.  The last run was by Daz Palmer for 12 yards and the win.

It is easy to look at Cobb and Palmer as the VMI saviors, but the real heroes appear to be the Keydet defense. Specifically linebackers Cratsenberg and Francis who combined for 34 tackles between them, including 6 tackles for loss.

Cobb did finish 34/52 and 285 yards, and as mentioned, the all time leading career passer at VMI. His three interceptions could have been costly, but VMI’s defense did not let Bucknell convert any into scores.  VMI ended with 443 total yards to Bucknell’s 403.

It will definitely be remembered by the VMI faithful as one for the history books. And it could very well give the Keydets some much needed confidence as they head into conference play.  They open with Mercer at home next week.

Coastal Carolina 41   Furman 21 (box score)

The good news for Furman is that they scored more points in this game than in any so far this year. They also outgained CCU and they held a hefty advantage in TOP.  Their defense was actually pretty good as well.  The bad news is their special teams broke down on multiple levels and led to at least 3 Coastal scores.  Ouch.  It’s hard to recover mentally from that.

Coastal took the opening kickoff down to the Furman 35 to give them the short field and an eventual score to go up less than 2 minutes into the game. After a short drive Furman had to punt, but they held CCU as well. Furman’s next drive fared no better and they had to punt again.  This time the Chanticleers drove 77 yards in 13 plays but were forced to settle for a FG.  Score one for the Furman D.

After a decent kickoff return Furman’s offense got some traction and made it to the CCU 25 yard line. But they were held and they had to settle for a FG attempt.  But CCU blocked it, scooped it, and scampered 60 yards for a score to make it 17-0 mid way through the 2nd quarter.

As if this was not enough, after Coastal kicked off, Furman ran two plays deep in their territory and fumbled it. But CCU got nowhere and they had to settle for a field goal again to make it 20-0.  Score another one for the Furman D.

After CCU’s defense forced a 3 and out, Furman punted and suffered an 80 yard punt return for another score to make it 27-0 toward the end of the 2nd quarter.

Furman did engineer a ten play, 72 yard scoring drive to make it 27-7 at the half, but Furman would have to dig deep to come back from such a poor half time showing.

To their credit, Furman did come out in the third ready to play. They drove their opening possession 7 plays and 65 yards for a TD to close the gap to 27-14.  CCU answered right back to keep it a 20 point lead at 34-14.

The next 4 possessions for Furman were disasters; one punt and 3 interceptions. CCU moved the ball each drive, but got no more offensive scores.  But they did return one of the three interceptions for a TD to make it 41-14. Furman scored late on a 65 yard drive to make 41-21.

Furman’s senior QB Reese Hannon started after P.J. Blazejowski left the game at UTC last week with an injury. Hannon went 26/45 for 305 yards with 3 interceptions and 2 TDs.  Furman ended up with a mediocre 103 yards rushing.  Furman outgained the Chanticleers, who had 253 on the ground and only 130 in the air.  But who need yards when your defense and special teams can score 21.

This was a disappointing finish to Furman’s brutal September schedule. They may get a break next week at home with Kennesaw State.

Power Rankings:

1) Chattanooga

2) The Citadel

3) Wofford

4) Samford

5) VMI

6) Mercer

7) Western Carolina

8) Furman

9) ETSU

 

MVFC: Week 4 Review

MVFC LogoMaybe it’s just me, but this seemed like a weird weekend in the MVFC. There were 2 ½ games played this weekend, with two potentially considered “upsets” (depending on your own personal ranking system). Also, just for clarification, since only 4 of the 10 teams in the conference were in action this week, it was a much smaller pool of players to choose from for the weekly conference awards.

In case you’re just here to see what the scores were, here’s those:

#9 Illinois State – 31
Indiana State – 34

#13 Western Illinois – 28
FBS Northern Illinois – 23

Missouri State – 0
FBS Kansas State – 35
(game called at halftime due to weather)

And now for the details and insight…

First game up was Illinois State at Indiana State. In probably the closest thing to a “normal” game that happened this weekend, the Redbirds traveled 2 hours down the road to visit the Sycamores’ home field. Illinois State started backup QB Tristan Smith due to an injury to starting QB Jake Kolbe’s shoulder last weekend. After nearly 2 quarters and falling behind 17-7, the Redbirds decided that a banged-up Kolbe would still be better than a full-strength Smith. It took a while to get warmed up, and IN State would get up 24-7 early in the 3rd quarter, but IL State would battle back, coming within 3 points twice in the 4th quarter…27-24 with just under 9 minutes left in the 4th quarter, and then 31-34 with 3:07 left. The Redbird defense held the Sycamores to a 3 and out on the following possession, but then after a couple of decent passing plays, Kolbe was sacked by Indiana State LB Jonas Griffith. Kolbe fumbled the ball on the play and it was recovered by Indiana State DL Kenyota Rollins. Indiana State was then able to pick up a first down, after which they were able to take a couple of knees and run out the clock on the Redbirds, making 34-31 the final score.

Illinois State WR Anthony Warrum caught 151 yards and 2 TDs and their QB Kolbe passed for 258 yards and 3 TDs (in only slightly more than 2 quarters of work), but was sacked 3 times. The lead rusher for Illinois State was RB George Moreira with only 37 yards, but he did have 1 TD. Indiana State’s lead receiver, WR Bob Pugh, finished the game with 93 yards receiving. Pugh also picked up 92 yards on kick returns (196 all-purpose yards) which was good enough for the MVFC Newcomer of the Week award. WRs Robert Tonyan and Miles Thompson each had a receiving TD also. RB Roland Genesy had a good day running the ball, picking up 112 yards and 2 rushing TDs, and QB Isaac Harker (last week’s MVFC offensive player of the week) put up 237 yards and 2 TDs with 1 INT and was sacked 3 times. Indiana State’s kicker Jerry Nunez had a couple of key FGs, hitting a 41 yarder in the 2nd quarter, and a 27 yarder in the 4th quarter, as well as going 4 for 4 on XPs. Considering the difference in the game was only 3 points, he definitely contributed in a significant way to the Sycamore win. Nunez was awarded the MVFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance. Defensively, the Redbirds had two players with 13 total tackles, Safety Alec Kocour (who also had 1 interception), and LB Brent Spack. Indiana State DB Tsali Lough finished with 11 tackles, LB Jameer Thurman with 10 including 1.5 for loss and 1 forced fumble, and LB Jonas Griffith with 8 tackles, and 1 tackle for loss…the key sack/forced fumble that effectively ended the game.

The Redbirds fall to 2-2 (after starting the season beating Valparaiso and the Big 10’s Northwestern, then falling to both Eastern Illinois and Indiana State) and will have to head up to the Fargodome to take on the Bison of NDSU at their Homecoming game next week. Indiana State moves up to 3-1 overall (after beating Butler, losing to Big 10’s Minnesota…the MVFC’s only loss to a Big 10 team this season, then beating Southeast Missouri State and Illinois State) and will host the Missouri State Bears next weekend in their own Homecoming game.

Next up, we have a game where an occasionally successful 2-win FCS team travels a few hours northwest to take on a currently winless in-state G5 FBS opponent that they’ve actually played quite a few times throughout their history. As usual, the FBS team is favored, but the FCS team holds off a late surge to come away with a 28-23 victory and another FCS over FBS scalp for the season. The winning FCS team flies their purple flags proudly, and the losing FBS team packs up their red and black ones and their mascot goes home with his doggy tail between his legs. Of course, I’m talking about….the Central Arkansas Bears beating the Arkansas State Red Wolves….no…wait….sorry….the Western Illinois Leathernecks beating the Northern Illinois Huskies. The parallels between these two games are a bit insane…from the final score, the in-state aspect, the level of the teams, the team colors…even the distance between the two schools, the size of the FCS schools, and the size of the FBS schools all being roughly equivalent.

Anyway, enough about UCA and A-State, I’m here to talk about my own Leathernecks taking on the NIU Huskies, which was the game I attended this weekend. With the Huskies doing pretty badly so far this season (0-3 prior to the game), and Western doing surprisingly well (2-0 up to that point), NIU was technically favored with most rankings/oddsmakers, but only by a few points…roughly the difference of home-field advantage + or – a couple of points. The Leathernecks started off very strong in the game, going ahead 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. The Huskies started to step things up a little bit in the second quarter, putting up a TD themselves, and making it 14-7 at the half. In the 3rd quarter, Western had 2 more TDs in the first half of the quarter to bring them to 28 points, with a 28-7 lead going into the 4th.

In the 4th however, the Leathernecks “let off the gas” and went to pretty conservative playcalling, punting on 4 straight series and only picking up 2 first downs the entire time. The Huskies were able to capitalize on some big-gain plays, first picking up a touchdown on a 2-play drive (38 yard pass, then 23 yard TD run), and then another touchdown on a 6-play drive that finished with a 39 yard TD pass. NIU went for two on that last TD, but was unable to convert, making the score 28-23 at that point. NIU would get within the 20 on their next drive, but needing a TD to take the lead, went for it on 4th down and was turned away.

Three plays and 23 game seconds later, the Leathernecks would be forced to punt again, giving the Huskies another chance at it with about 2 ½ minutes left on the clock. Again the Huskies drove down the field picking up first down after first down until they reached the Western 16-yard line. They hit a 6 yard run, then a 1 yard run, making it 3rd and 3 from the 9. After an incomplete pass, it was 4th and 3, and again, needing a TD to take the lead, they went for it. With pressure coming from the left side from LB Brett Taylor, NIU’s QB Maddie went for a pass down the middle to a NIU receiver in the end zone that was knocked out of the way by LB Riggs Baxter (despite the announcers saying it was David Griffith…I went back and reviewed the replay repeatedly to double-check). One kneel-down later to run out the final 35 seconds and Western had taken down the NIU Huskies by a final score of 28-23.

Something interesting about this game, and I’m sure it happens every now and then, although it’s the first time I can remember seeing it in person, every score of the game happened in the south end zone (which just happened to be the area right in front of where I was sitting). All of Western’s scoring came in the 1st and 3rd quarters…NIU’s in the 2nd and 4th.

Western’s QB Sean McGuire finished the game with 315 yards and 1 TD passing, as well as 11 yards and 1 TD rushing, which garnered him a MVFC Offensive Player of the Week award as well as College Sports Madness FCS Offensive Player of the Week Award. The Huskies keyed into WIU RB Steve McShane pretty well, holding him to only 80 yards and 1 TD rushing (plus 43 yards receiving, so 123 all-purpose yards). Transfer RB Jamie Gilmore also picked up a TD. On the receiving end, WR Lance Lenoir was covered well, catching only 83 yards, while (usually #2) WR Joey Borsellino racked up 148 yards receiving…his 5th 100+ yard receiving game. Defensively, WIU’s Brett Taylor had 13 tackles (12 solo), and a ½ sack, earning him a MVFC Defensive Player of the Week award.

NIU had two QBs combine for 251 passing yards and 2 TDs, with 1 INT. Their top rushing performer was Jordan Huff, who racked up 130 yards and 1 TD on 9 attempts (a 14.4 yard per carry average). Receiver Kenny Golliday burned the Western DBs for 113 receiving yards and 1 TD, as well as picking up 39 yards on the ground. Their top tackler was Brandon Mayes with 12 total tackles including 1 tackle for loss.

Western stays “perfect” at 3-0 on the season (also defeating Eastern Illinois and Northern Arizona) and will head up to Brookings, SD to take on South Dakota State next weekend. Northern also stays “perfect” and 0-4 on the season (having lost to Wyoming, South Florida, and San Diego State earlier). They will head over to Indiana and attempt to salvage some semblance of even a mediocre season against Ball State.

Finally, we have our ½ game…and I do mean “finally” because the game between Missouri State and Kansas State was initially delayed quite a bit due to a significant amount of lightning in the air. The ½ part comes in due to the fact that the game was called at halftime for the same reason, and since it looked like it wasn’t going to let up for most of the evening. The game itself was essentially a “shortened blowout” of what was expected, with the Bears falling 35-0 through two quarters of play. MSU started the game already handicapped somewhat due to the suspension of their starting QB, Breck Reddick, who was suspended Friday night for “conduct detrimental to the team” tied to allegations of animal abuse against him. The university’s Office of Student Conduct is handling the investigation and Reddick will not return to team activities until the situation is resolved.

So, starting their #2 QB Brodie Lambert, as well as giving a shot to backup QB Michael Briggs, the Bears didn’t have much success. To get an idea of how the game played out, all you have to do is look at the end result of each of the drives for each team. For MSU, it went: punt, fumble, punt, punt, punt, punt, interception. On the KSU side of things: TD, TD, punt, TD, TD, TD, punt, missed FG (I assume due to the storm/wind situation). To MSU’s credit, the two drives where Kansas State had to punt, the Bears defense held pretty well, defending passes mostly, and holding them to 3-and-outs for each of those two possessions.

Offensively, MSU didn’t have much going on. The QBs combined for 24 total passing yards and 1 interception and their top rusher was WR Malik Earl with 11 yards on 1 attempt. Receiving-wise, TB Phoenix Johnson led the way with 1 catch for 9 yards. In total, the Bears had 54 yards of offense. On the defensive side of things, LB Eric Greely had 5 total tackles with 1 for loss, S. Cameron Price and LB Dylan Cole each had 3 tackles.

For KSU, it was pretty much the opposite story. QB Jesse Ertz passed for 94 yards and 2 TDs and rushed for 85 yards. FB Winston Dimel only rushed for 19 yards but accounted for 2 TDs on the ground. RB Charles Jones picked up the other rushing TD. On the receiving end there wasn’t a ton of yards through the air…again, half a game, in wind and rain, but it looks like they spread the ball around quite a bit, with 8 players getting at least 1 catch. WR Byron Pringle had 30 yards and 1 TD and WR Dominique Heath had the other receiving TD.

Overall, I think this was pretty much a game that Missouri State would like to just forget and move on from, for a multitude of reasons. Despite the loss, the Bears are still 2-1 after previously beating Southwestern College (NAIA) and Murray State and will head over to play Indiana State next weekend.

K-State is also 2-1 now, after previously losing to Stanford and beating Florida Atlantic. They head over and play at West Virginia to open up Big 12 play for the season.

So, a couple of close exciting games, one an FCS over FBS upset, and one particularly ugly game. Last week in my Week 4 preview article, I made predictions for the games. Here’s what I predicted and how I did:

Illinois State by 7 – missed on this one, Indiana State won by 3
Western Illinois by 4 – nailed this one, almost on the button, Western won by 5
Kansas State by 51 – I’m going to go ahead and count this as a win, if you don’t mind. K-State was up by 35 at halftime and it’s entirely likely that if the game hadn’t been shortened by weather, they would have continued to pile on points for a bit more, probably getting up in the range of a margin of 40-50 or so before letting off the gas and getting some of the younger players some time on the field. It’s possible that MSU might have picked up a FG or even a TD, but nothing that I saw or read tells me that it wouldn’t have likely ended up roughly in the vicinity of a 50 point win.

So, for my first week of predictions in the MVFC, I’d say I’m 2-1.

Next week begins the “meat grinder” that is the Missouri Valley Football Conference season. It’s that time of year where all the MVFC teams just beat the heck out of each other until a few teams emerge, bloody, beaten, but in the majority of their games, victorious, and proceed to drag themselves off to the playoffs where they quite frequently dismantle some of the FCS’s better teams before often running into another MVFC team. It’s also the time of year that gave North Dakota State 4 of their 5 losses over the previous 5 years. If any team isn’t intimidated by the Fargodome crowd, it’s a MVFC team. This is part of the reason why only MVFC teams have beaten the Bison at home, despite having many very good teams show up to play there throughout 5 years of playoffs and into this year with Charleston Southern and Eastern Washington both failing to defeat the Bison at their dome/barn/shed/not a stadium.

Stay tuned for my Week 5 preview article later this week, where we’ve got Illinois State at North Dakota State, Missouri State at Indiana State, South Dakota at Youngstown State, Southern Illinois at Northern Iowa, and Western Illinois at South Dakota State.

Patriot League: Week 4 Preview

For the first time since week 1 all seven Patriot League teams are in action. This weekends  slate features four traditional Patriot League vs Ivy Leagues games. All of which will be played on the Patriot League team’s home turf. There’s also two intriguing games featuring #10 Richmond and #20 Villanova from the CAA. The league will be hoping Lafayette and/or Colgate can notch a win to prevent the Patriot League from putting up an “O’fer” against the CAA in out of conference play. After two straight losses Bucknell will be looking to get back on track against Southern Conference member VMI.

Princeton @ Lehigh – 24 Sept. 12:30 P.M. Goodman Stadium Bethlehem, PA

(Patriot League Network)

Lehigh (1-2) and Princeton (1-0) will do battle for the 59th time this weekend. The Tigers currently own a 40-16-2 series record but Lehigh has won 11 out of the last 15 meetings. Princeton won last year’s game 52-26 by taking advantage of numerous Lehigh mistakes. The Mountain Hawks turned the ball over 4 times and committed 10 penalties in the loss. As a result of those numerous self-inflicted wounds Lehigh managed only 26 points on their 561 yards of total offense.

There’s the potential for a lot of yards and points to be posted again this year. Both teams are coming off very good offensive performances. Lehigh racked up 548 yards and 49 points against Penn while Princeton put up 35 points by using a balanced attacked (178 passing/182 rushing) versus Lafayette. Leading the charge for the Tigers and Mountain Hawks are two talented and experienced quarterbacks. Nick Shafnisky and Chad Kanoff (2nd team All-Ivy League preseason) have proven their ability to light up defenses for quite some time.

Kanoff’s ability to attack every level of the defense allows Princeton to score from anywhere on the field. Kanoff will look to fellow senior Joe Rhattigan to lead the ground attack. The senior running back is coming off an excellent season opening performance (136 yards, 3 TDs) against Lafayette. The Tiger’s 2015 leading WR Isaiah Barnes also started the year with a bang. The 6’3 210 pound second year starter torched the Leopards for 5 receptions and 102 yards.

Lehigh’s defense will also have to contend with Princeton’s fast paced and diversified attack. The Tigers will go anywhere from hurry up to NASCAR fast at times in an attempt to apply added stress an opposing defense. The Tigers offensive coordinator James Perry will often turn a trick play when he feels a defense is on its heels. Lehigh’s defense will look to carry over the momentum from their second half performance against Penn last week when they shutout the Quakers.

Of Note: It took Lehigh 33 attempts to finally notch their first win over Princeton in 1930. Lehigh did manage to salvage two ties in that span (1911, 1924). The then Engineers never scored more than 6 points against Princeton until their 13-9 win in 1930.

Penn @ Fordham – 24 Sept. 1 P.M. Jack Coffey Field Bronx, NY

(Patriot League Network)

Fordham (1-1) hosts their first FCS opponent of 2016, the Penn Quakers (0-1), on Home Coming in the Bronx. The Rams have been on both ends of blowouts to start the year. They took it on the chin against Navy in the season opener then proceeded to rout Division 2 Elizabeth City College 83-21 in historic fashion two weeks ago. Penn opened their 2016 campaign last weekend with a 49-28 loss to Lehigh. Fordham used a late field goal to sneak by Penn 48-45 last year in Philadelphia. Penn QB Alek Torgersen missed that game with an injury.

The Rams will look for an improved defensive performance this time around. However, that might be easier said than done given the amount of injuries the unit is dealing with. Defensive tackles Emmanual Adeyeye and Tony Fox will both miss the Penn game leaving a large void in the middle of the defensive line. Fordham will hope the added time off to prepare will allow the new faces to step-up and fill the void without too many hiccups. If the Rams aren’t able to successfully get the defensive up to speed it might be a long day for the unit given the weapons the Quakers possess on offense.

The Penn QB and WR duo of Alek Torgersen and Justin Watson form a deadly passing duo. It will be imperative for Fordham to get pressure on Torgersen early and often in order to keep the passing attack out of sync. Lehigh was able to get after Torgersen in the second half which was a major reason their defense was able to hold the Quaker offense scoreless in the second half.

Should the Rams defense struggle, the offense seems more than capable of keeping up. Like Fordham, Penn is also trying to sort things out on defense after surrendering 561 yards to Lehigh last weekend. Having uncertainty on defense is never a good thing when facing an offense led by arguably the best running back in FCS, Chase Edmonds. The Quakers will hope the improvement made from game one to game two is enough to slow down Edmonds and Co.

Of Note: Fordham is currently on a 19 game home winning streak dating back to the final contest of the 2012 season when they lost to Patriot League Champions Colgate 41-39. Penn is part of the streak due to their 60-22 loss to Fordham the last time they visited the Bronx on October 11, 2014.

Dartmouth @ Holy Cross – 24 Sept. 1:05 P.M. Fitton Field Worcester, MA

(Patriot League Network)

After opening the season with three consecutive road games, Holy Cross (1-2) gets an opportunity to defend their home turf against the Big Green of Dartmouth (1-0). The Crusaders are coming off of two straight disappointing road losses to CAA conference mates New Hampshire and Albany. Meanwhile, Dartmouth is coming off of a potential program defining win over of their in-state rival New Hampshire. It’s easily Buddy Teevens biggest out conference win over the course of his 12 seasons in Hanover. Dartmouth won the most recent meeting against Holy Cross 24-21 in 2014. The all-time series is tied up 37-37-4.

A major key for the Crusaders will be tightening up a rush defense that yielded 362 yards to New Hampshire and 220 yards against Albany. The inability to stop the run also allowed the opposing quarterbacks to make big plays in the passing game the last two weeks. Holy Cross will likely have their hands full again against Dartmouth. Juniors Ryder Stone (RB) and Jack Heneghan (QB) spearheaded a rushing attack that piled up 206 yards in the win over New Hampshire. Heneghan added 220 yards and three touchdowns through the air.

The Crusaders chances of victory will likely lie in the hands of Peter Pujals again. The senior quarterback continues to put up huge numbers in the passing game (leads nation in completions per game) despite being without stud WR Brendan Flaherty the last two games. If there’s one chink in Pujals’s armor so far this year it’s been turnovers. He has five interceptions and a fumble lost so far this year. A few of those turnovers have come at especially inopportune times.

Both teams’ defenses are led by exceptional talents at linebacker. Holy Cross’s junior Nick McBeath leads the team 29 total tackles, 3 of which being for losses. Dartmouth will look to Folarin Orimolade (First Team preseason All-Ivy League) to pick up where he left off against New Hampshire. The senior LB had 9 tackles, 2 forced fumbles and a pass break-up in Dartmouth’s big win.

Orimolade’s teammate Joe Cascarano earned Ivy League Defensive POW honors for his key fumble recovery and game ending sack.

Of Note: Dartmouth is the Crusaders second most played out of conference opponent with 78 meetings. Boston College remains Holy Cross’s most played (82 meetings) non-conference opponent despite the two having not played since 1986. Holy Cross is scheduled to play Boston College in 2018.

Columbia @ Georgetown – 24 Sept. 2:00 P.M. Cooper Field Washington D.C

(Patriot League Network)

Georgetown (2-0) will be seeking their first 3-0 start since 1999 when they play host to the Columbia Lions (0-1) Saturday afternoon. The Hoyas were members of the MAAC in 1999 when they began the 5-0 season en route to a 9-2 final record and league championship. Columbia will also be seeking to build some early season momentum under second year head coach, and Ivy League Legend, Al Bagnoli. The Lions showed considerable progress in 2015 even though their record (2-8) did not reflect that. The defense kept them in nearly every game but a limited offense killed their chances at a .500 or better record. Columbia’s offensive woes appeared last week in a 13-9 loss to Saint Francis to begin the year.

Based on the first two games, Georgetown might not be the defense Columbia’s “O” wants to see. The Hoyas have limited their first two opponents to 15.5 ppg. Perhaps even more impressive has been their ability to shut down the run (69 ypg). Lion’s junior RB Chris Shroer was able to have some success last week against Saint Francis on the ground. As a team, Columbia did manage to post 154 rushing yards. The passing game continues to be the Lion’s biggest Achilles’ heel. Senior Skyler Mornhinweg’s 2015 struggles showed (15-32 112 yards 1 TD, 1 INT) up in the season opener. Mornhinweg will need to give Columbia balance if the Lions want leave our nation’s capital with a win.

Georgetown’s quarterback Tim Barnes has enjoyed a solid start to his 2016 season. If he can avoid costly mistakes and continue to get the ball in his talented wide receiver’s hands the Hoyas should have some success passing the ball. Junior Alex Valles will look to take advantage of a Lion defense that surrendered 273 rushing yards last week.

Of Note: This will be the second battle for the Lou Little Trophy between Georgetown and Columbia. Lou Little coached for both Georgetown (1924-1929) and Columbia (1930-1956) with great success. Georgetown won last year’s game 24-16.

VMI @ Bucknell – 24 Sept. 3:00 P.M. Christy Mathewson–Memorial Stadium Lewisburg, PA

(Patriot League Network)

After two straight losses, Bucknell (1-2) will try to get back on track this weekend when they welcome Southern Conference member VMI (1-1) to Central Pennsylvania. The Bison played without starting quarterback R.J. Nitti in last weekend’s game against Cornell. It’s uncertain if Nitti will be under center when the offense takes the field against VMI. If not, junior Matt Muh figures to get the start. The Bison beat VMI 28-26 last year in an OT thriller.

VMI opened 2016 with a tough 44-27 loss to FBS Akron but were able to bounce back with 17-13 win over non-scholarship Morehead State. The Keydets had last week off.

VMI is led by preseason All-SoCon first team duo QB Al Cobb and WR Aaron Sanders. Cobb has the potential to break three career school records on Saturday. He needs 30 yards to become the career leader in passing yards, 1 passing TD to own the record for touchdown passes, and 21 completions to break that record. Needless to say, the usually stingy Bison defense will have their work cut out trying to slow down the Keydets passing attack. Bucknell will also have to deal with a rushing attack that utilizes several backs. Freshman Daz Palmer has led the way but Quan Myers and Brice Tucker have also contributed through the first two games.

Regardless of who starts at QB for Bucknell, VMI should expect to see a healthy dose of Bison RB Joey DeFloria. The junior RB has been the one true constant (132 ypg rushing) for an otherwise struggling Bucknell offense. Talented senior WR Will Carter is also a play-maker but the lack of production from the QB spot has hurt his ability to consistently produce.

Of Note: Amazingly, the Keydets will be looking for back-to-back wins for the first time since 2005. But that’s not the most shocking stat of the week. The Keydets have not won back-to-back road games since 1981!

#23 Colgate @ #10 Richmond – 24 Sept. 3:30 P.M. Robbins Stadium Richmond, VA

(Spider TV)

Colgate (1-1) heads into the showdown with #10 Richmond (2-1) brimming with confidence following their historic 55-13 rout of Yale last weekend. The three headed monster of QB Jake Melville, RB James Holland and WR Joe Maddaluna led the offensive explosion for the Raiders. Those three will once again need to bring their best if Colgate wants to leave Virginia victorious.

Richmond comes into this game a little wobbly after being knocked out by Stony Brook 42-14. The Spiders arrived on Long Island ranked second in the country but left battered, bruised and emphatically defeated. The Spiders struggled to run and stop the run. Stony Brook’s powerful running attack leaned on the Spider’s front seven most of the day while amassing over 200 yards. Star QB Kyle Lauletta had 411 yards passing but had 3 interceptions in the loss.

Colgate will try to employ a similar physical offensive game plan (run and stop the run) the Seawolves used with great success last week. The Raiders used that simple premise to perfection in their dominating win over Yale. If Colgate can get RB James Holland and co. going, the Raiders have to like their chances to control the clock and wear down the Spider’s front seven.

While the Eli are a talented team, their skill players are a notch or two below Richmond’s. The Spider’s have a lethal Quarterback Kyle Lauletta (321 ypg 6 TDs, 5 INTs) and WR Brian Brown (20 rec. 104 ypg 2 TDs). There might be added pressure on those two given the Spiders recent inconsistent play from the running back position. The Spiders will have to do much better than the 32 rushing yards they racked up against Stony Brook last week. A lack of balance against Colgate may very well lead to another Spider loss.

Of Note: Colgate won their first meeting against Richmond 43-14 in 1983. They’ve lost their lost three meetings (’84, ’96, ’97) to the Spiders by a combined score of 91-31.  

#20 Villanova @ Lafayette – 24 Sept. 6:00 P.M. Fisher Field Easton, PA

(Patriot League Network)

For the first time in 96 years Lafayette (1-2) and Villanova (2-1) will meet on the gridiron. Lafayette enters the game off a hard fought 35-31 road loss to Princeton. The Leopards nearly pulled off the upset thanks to another solid performance (28-36 356 yards 3 TDs 2 INTS) by senior quarterback Drew Reed. Villanova is coming off an impressive 40-21 win over former Patriot League member Towson. The Wildcats were propelled by Zach Bednarczyk’s 3 touchdown passes.

If the Leopards want to pull off the upset on Saturday they’ll need to take the pressure off of quarterback Drew Reed by finding some semblance of a ground attack. After 3 games the Leopards rank 118th out of 122 FCS teams in rushing with a 53.3 ypg average. A team of Villanova’s caliber will be able to tee off on Drew Reed if Lafayette becomes too one dimensional. All-American Wildcat DE Tanoh Kpassagnon would love nothing more than to rush the passer all night.

The Leopards defense will have to contend with an efficient (335 ypg) Villanova offense. The Wildcats have shown the ability to win with a dominating rushing attack (Lehigh) and with timely passing (Towson). Lafayette’s usually stout defense will need to clean up the mistakes they made against Princeton. The Wildcat’s offense is not as quirky as the Tiger’s but it is still equally difficult to defend given Bednarczyk’s ability to distribute the ball to his fellow skill players. Senior running back Jevon White leads the team with 6 TDs while Taurus Philips is the leading receiver (53 ypg 2 TDs).

Barring a playoff matchup, legendary Villanova coach Andy Talley will be facing a Patriot League opponent for the final time. Talley and Lafayette head coach Frank Tavani have spent a combined 60 years at their respective schools.

Of Note: Villanova is 27-4 all-time against current Patriot League teams under Andy Talley. The last loss came against Fordham in 2013. The Wilds have since won 3 straight games (Fordham 2x, Lehigh 1x) over Patriot League opponents.

FCS TV/Streaming Guide: Week 4

Thank you to FargoBison on AGS again for the accumulation of FCS games on TV/Streaming.

All times are in central time, as usual I listed the Direct TV channel the game is on…If there are any games I missed please post them and I will get the list updated…

TV Guide:
9/24
James Madison at Maine 11 a.m. SNY: 639 / CSBA: 696
Harvard at Brown 1 p.m. OWS: 623
Montana at Cal Poly 2 p.m. RSNW: 687 / RSRM: 683 / RSSW: 674/ AUD: 601
Colgate at Richmond 2:30 p.m.  Comcast Sports Mid-Atlantic+ 642-1
Delaware State at Missouri 3 p.m. SEC Network: 611
Eastern Washington at NAU 6 p.m. FSPT: 693 / FSAZ: 686
Elon at William & Mary 6 p.m. CSNE: 630 / CSMA: 642
Sam Houston State at Houston Baptist 7 p.m. FCS Central

ESPN3
CCSU at Bryant noon
Charleston Southern at Monmouth noon
Wagner at Boston College noon
ETSU at Wofford 12:30 p.m.
Gardner Webb at Ohio 1 p.m.
Davidson at Valparaiso 1 p.m.
Illinois State at Indiana State 2 p.m.
WIU at Northern Illinois 2:30 p.m.
SEMO at Murray State 6 p.m.
Nicholls State at South Alabama 6 p.m.
Howard at Morgan State 6:00 p.m.
Abilene Christian at Stephen F. Austin 6 p.m.
Central Arkansas at Arkansas State 6 p.m.
Jacksonville at Stetson 6:00 p.m.
JSU at Liberty 6:00 p.m.
Northwestern State at SLU 6 p.m.

ESPN Extra:
CCSU at Bryant noon TBA
WIU at Northern Illinois 2:30 p.m. TBA
Howard at Morgan State 6:00 p.m. TBA
Jacksonville at Stetson 6:00 p.m. TBA
JSU at Liberty 6:00 p.m. TBA
Northwestern State at SLU 6 p.m. TBA

Where to find other FCS games(FREE) online….
http://lsufootball.net/tvschedule.htm (Guide to all games on TV or online webcasts)
Big Sky Conference…http://eversport.tv/big-sky
Big South Conference…http://www.bigsouthsports.com/
Colonial Athletic Association…https://portal.stretchinternet.com/caa/
Northeast Conference…http://www.necfrontrow.com/
OVC Conference…http://www.ovcdigitalnetwork.com/watch/
Patriot League…http://campusinsiders.com/network/patriot_league
SoCon Digital Network…http://www.socondigitalnetwork.com

The FCS Wedge – 2016-0921 – MVFC SotC Show

What the heck is “SotC”?

State of the Conference.  These are short 8 to 10 minute shows we will be doing every once in a while.  Should be a different conferences each week if I got my guess right.  This week, it is the MVFC.

Kris & Lance bring in Rob Weiss, one the authors on  thefcswedge.com to get his analysis on the MVFC so far this year.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Big South: Week 4 Preview (9/24)

(1-2)    Charleston Southern     @   (2-1)   Monmouth – Saturday, Sept 24th, 1:00pm (ESPN3)

 Conference season has finally arrived in the Big South.  Well, just, for these two teams anyway.  Everyone else has to wait until October.

CSU comes into this game after a badly-needed bye week that allowed the Buccaneers to heal up some injuries and sort through some of the NCAA-related chaos that has surrounded their program so far this season.

CSU has a major question to answer at quarterback, specifically, what’s that person’s name?  Since starting QB Kyle Copeland was lost with an ACL injury against Kentucky State and backup Shane Bucenell went out with a leg injury of his own in the same game, CSU has thrown three other players behind center with poor results.  Part of that ineffectiveness is certainly due in part to the fact that those other three players had to face the pre-Louisville defense of Florida State and had to do so without a single starter present on the offensive line.  All of those starters should be back for the game at Monmouth but it must be noted that nearly half of the 32 players that were caught up in CSU’s bookstore scandal (Barnes & Noble-gate? Borders Boondoggle? E-Campus E-Cluster?… It’s a work in progress) have yet to serve their suspensions so it’s possible that a fair number of depth players will miss this game as well.

On the Monmouth side, the Hawks have played well but were without the services of RB Lavon Chaney in their last game due to a shoulder injury.  Chaney’s explosiveness to the hole and cut-back ability is key to Monmouth being able to move the chains.  MU quarterbacks Cody Williams and Kenji Bahar have been solid but, otherwise, unremarkable in their time under center.  One gets the sense from the Monmouth offense that it’s less a slate of playmakers and more of an anonymous but smooth-running first-down machine.  That’s all well and good until a key cog, ie., Chaney, is missing from the machine.

Defensively, it’s hard to get a handle on either team.  It’s been nearly a full month since CSU last played a meaningful game at NDSU on August 27th.   Monmouth has held up well, statistically speaking, over the course of three games but struggled with Kent State’s running quarterback.  A running quarterback, of course, is the linchpin of CSU’s offense.

These teams have met twice before in conference play and, in neither case, was it a good day to be Monmouth.  In 2014, CSU won 27-0 on their first ever trip to New Jersey and won again last year 34-7.  This game represents Monmouth’s home opener and the first of only three home games on the Hawks entire schedule.

What Charleston Southern needs to do against Monmouth:  Establish a lead early and get it in the Monmouth’s collective head that this game is going to go the same way the last two times went.

What Monmouth needs to do against Charleston Southern:  Get after the CSU quarterback.  Nobody back there has even a full game’s experience under their belt.

Best case scenario for Charleston Southern – If CSU can get off to a 15-point lead, it’s over.  If Chaney doesn’t play, make that an 8-point lead.

Best case scenario for Monmouth – MU continues to manufacture first downs and, defensively, flusters whoever the CSU quarterback(s) is (are).

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 (1-1) Kennesaw State @ (2-1) Duquesne – Saturday, Sept 24th, 1:00pm (ESPN3)

After a week off, Kennesaw hits the road for their first road game of the 2016 season to visit the defending champions of the NEC, Duquesne University.   The Dukes were blown out in Week 1 at Youngstown State but have been rolling at home since then.  A victory over Bucknell and a comeback win over Dayton, the defending Pioneer League champ, have gotten Duquesne off to a solid start in 2016.

Offensively, the Dukes are multi-faceted.  They were extremely pass-heavy against Bucknell but pretty balanced run/pass against Dayton.  Defensively, Duquesne has been positively stingy against the run at home, allowing only 172 yards rushing in the last two games combined.  That’s not good news for Kennesaw as the ground game is their bread and butter although, to be fair, Kennesaw’s triple-option rushing game is a bit different than Bucknell’s pro-style and Dayton’s spread attack.

The good news for KSU this week is a number of injured starters got some healing done over the off week and should be back in action at Duquesne.  The bad news is that starting QB Trey White and starting A-back Myles White won’t be among them.  The White’s – no relation – are still dealing with injuries suffered in their opening day loss to ETSU and have been left off the depth chart once again.  Backup QB Chandler Burks will get his second career start in Pittsburgh.

One more challenge for the Owls this week will be Duquesne’s unique home field advantage.  KSU has yet to play a day game this season and has yet to play in front of a crowd of less than 8,000 people.  This week, they’ll be going on the road for the first time with an early start and in front of a crowd that’s a small fraction of what they’re used to.  Official attendance for Duquesne’s game against Dayton last Saturday – a meeting of 2015 conference champions – was all of 908 people.  For a young team used to feeding on the energy of a crowd – either positive or negative – it can be hard to adjust to an environment so quiet that players on the sidelines can hear spectators ordering food at the concessions stand.  It’s very easy for the visiting team to come out flat and uninspired.  It sounds strange but I’ve seen it many times.

What Kennesaw needs to do against Duquesne – Get the football to the edges.  ETSU did a very good job of forcing the Owls to work the middle of the field which had more defenders in it.  If KSU can the ball outside, either on the pitch or pass, it will force Duquesne to stretch their box defenders and open up the middle. Duquesne enjoys a 9-minute advantage in TOP in the last two games and KSU needs to cut into that.

Best case scenario for Kennesaw – The Owls smother the Dukes defensively and the offense takes care of itself.

Worst case scenario – Kennesaw comes out lethargic, allowing Duquesne to jump on them early.  If the Dukes get up by two touchdowns, that’ll be hard for KSU to come back from.

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 (1-2) Gardner-Webb @ (1-2) Ohio  – Saturday, Sept 24th, 2:00pm (ESPN3)

This week, Gardner-Webb travels up to Athens, OH to face the Bobcats of Ohio University.  This will be the third time in the last decade that G-W has faced OU with losses there in 2007 and 2011.

Ohio sits at 1-2 following an opening-day triple overtime loss to Texas State, a dominating win at Big XII Kansas and a fairly competitive loss at Tennessee.  The Bobcats have spread the ball around pretty well so far with four players carrying the ball at least 20 times and a half dozen receivers with at least six catches.  That comes largely even without standout running back AJ Ouelette who was injured early in the first game of the season and is not expected to return until November.  Defensively, Ohio was awful the first week against Texas State but have been stout since considering that they’ve been punching above their weight class for two weeks.  Ultimately, while Ohio has a significant advantage in terms of scholarship athletes and team size, the Bobcats have played to the level of their competition so far this season.  They were heavily-favored against Texas State but played poorly.  They were significant underdogs to Kansas and Tennessee and played well.  If they play to the level of an FCS team, then Gardner-Webb has a chance.

Gardner-Webb comes into this game fresh off a disheartening home loss to the now 10th-ranked The Citadel team.  Through their first three games, Gardner-Webb has put together extended periods where they are a quality football team but have not really been able to manage that for a full game.  One interesting note from the GWU box scores from the last several weeks has been the Bulldogs’ use of backup QB Brody Rollins.  While some teams have been giving their younger quarterbacks a series or two to get acclimated to the college game – and GWU has done that with Rollins as well – but Rollins is currently the team’s leading kickoff returner.

What Gardner-Webb has to do against Ohio:  Play a full game.  By my estimation, they had a solid last three quarters of play at Elon, the first half at Western and about 50 minutes’ worth last week between The Citadel’s first drive and their last.  If they can do that and Ohio helps them out by playing down again, Gardner-Webb has a chance.

Best case scenario for Gardner-Webb against Ohio – Offensively, G-W stays out of 3rd-and-long situations and is able to manage the clock.  The lower the score, the better Gardner-Webb’s chances become.

Worst case scenario for Gardner-Webb – A disappointment hangover from The Citadel game and it won’t matter how badly Ohio plays, because it won’t be bad enough.  Gardner-Webb would be in position to get embarrassed by a program not used to embarrassing other teams.

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(3-0) Florida Tech (D2) @ (1-2)  Presbyterian – Saturday, Sept 24th, 7:00pm (Big South Network)

After nearly a month on the road to start the season, Presbyterian finally comes home to host the Panthers of the Florida Institute of Technology – or FIT.

In only their fourth year of existence, FIT competes in the Gulf South Conference with the likes of North Alabama and Valdosta State.  FIT currently holds a top-25 ranking in D2 and sits atop the Gulf South standings at 2-0 in-conference.  In fact, their last two wins have come against conference opponents Shorter and Mississippi College by a combined score of 81-0.  Despite their relatively short history, this will be the Panthers’ third attempt at knocking off a host scholarship FCS opponent in as many years and they have come very close before.  In the last two seasons, FIT has held 4th quarter leads on both Bethune-Cookman and Southeastern Louisiana before ultimately falling to the home team late.

Florida Tech has been about as balanced offensively as you can get, 827 rushing yards on the year compared to 825 through the air, but have outscored their opponents through three games by an average of 41-9.  Defensively, they’re holding their opponents rushing attack to just 57 yards a game, although some of that can probably be attributed to the Panthers jumping out to early leads and their opponents abandoning the run game to play catch-up.

Obviously, Florida Tech is not your standard D2 home-opening cupcake.  This is more of a jalapeño-laced bran muffin more likely to leave a bad taste in your mouth and an ugly stain in your Jockeys.  Often, these games are scheduled years in advance and I can’t imagine that the master schedulers at Presbyterian ever dreamed that the Panthers would be a quality program quite so soon.  Even so, the game must be played.

Fun fact:  FIT’s third-team quarterback is Ryan Singer.  Singer was last seen in 2011 as the sophomore starting quarterback for…wait for it… Presbyterian.

For PC, this game may answer a lot of questions.  The Blue Hose sit at 1-2 with just this one game between them and conference play.  Their single win to this point came just last weekend at non-scholarship Campbell and their two losses have been to FBS Central Michigan and 6th-ranked Chattanooga, so it’s really hard to judge how good a team – or not – PC really is.  It will also be interesting to see who lines up for Presbyterian at quarterback.  Assuming that starter Ben Cheek is still injured, can Will Brock perform efficiently for a second straight week?  If he performs well against FIT, head coach Harold Nichols has demonstrated in previous seasons that he has no reservations about switching horses in mid-stream.

Ultimately, this is a must-win game for Presbyterian.  The rest of the Big South hasn’t shown yet that they’re on the same level as Chattanooga but they are all far north of Campbell in terms of being quality opponents.  If Presby expects to contend in the Big South, they have to be able to beat a program with at least 20 fewer scholarships.

One more fun fact:  Since beginning their transition from D2 to FCS in 2007, Presbyterian has hosted a D2 school in every year except one (2015) and has lost just once.  That lone loss came to North Greenville University in 2010, Nichols second season at the helm and featured the aforementioned Ryan Singer as the freshman backup QB standing on the PC sideline and current Charleston Southern head coach Jamey Chadwell standing on the NGU sideline.

What Presbyterian has to do against Florida Tech:  Control the football and keep FIT’s offense on the sideline.  If that means turning workhorse RB Darrell Bridges into a pack mule and letting him carry the ball 50 times, so be it.  Third down conversions in this game will be of major importance on both sides of the ball.

Best case scenario for PC – PC repeats their performance against Campbell, jumping out to a lead and playing ball-control the rest of the way.

Worst case scenario – FIT forces Presby to throw the ball.  Brock’s passing numbers are better than Cheek’s through the first three games but neither even remotely resembles a gunslinger-type quarterback.  If Presby has to play catch-up, they won’t.

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 (2-1) #3 Jacksonville State @ (1-2) Liberty– Saturday, Sept 24th  7:00pm EST (ESPN3, LFSN)

This will be Jacksonville State’s first-ever visit to Liberty’s Williams Stadium but not the first time these two teams have met. The Flames and Gamecocks played a two-game series back in the early 80’s when both teams were members of Division II.  JSU won both of those games rather handily.

JSU came into the season ranked in the top 5 nationally and have been on a gradual climb up the polls to their current spot.  Last week, they took care of business at home against FBS-transitioning Coastal Carolina, rolling up 30 first downs and more than 500 yards of offense on the Chanticleers’ defense on their way to a 27-26 victory.

JSU is certainly covered more and better in other spaces, so I’m not going to try to snapshot the entire Gamecock program here.  Suffice to say that JSU’s roster is packed with talent, enough so that a fair portion of that roster originally signed with another (read: FBS) program before eventually transferring to Jacksonville State.  This won’t be the highest-ranked program that Liberty has ever faced but, from an individual player standpoint, it may be the most athletically-talented.

The atmosphere on Liberty’s campus Saturday night should be a fun environment as LU and JSU are both always among the attendance leaders in FCS.  At the same time, both schools already have visits to hostile FBS venues under their belts this season so a crowd of a mere 20,000-25,000 fans won’t be anything new.

Offensively, Jacksonville State has piled up offensive yards all over the place and controlled the clock in every game so far this year but, curiously, all that yardage and possession time hasn’t turned into a proportional advantage in number of points. JSU outgained Coastal by over 200 yards apiece and held the ball for ten minutes longer but still needed a late 4th-quarter score to win the game.  LSU of the all-powerful SEC only outgained JSU by three yards and gave up a TOP advantage of more than 6 minutes but held the Gamecocks to 13 total points and essentially had the game in hand at halftime.  I’m not sure why that’s the case but it may be worth noting going forward.

Liberty comes in at 1-2 with a win over a team from the Pioneer League and two losses to schools from the FBS.  That experience against FBS athletes will likely come in handy this week.

Defensively, the Flames were able to somewhat corral the SMU passing game and to bog the Mustangs down when they got to the red zone.  However, JSU’s Eli Jenkins is at least as mobile an athlete at quarterback as Virginia Tech’s Jerod Evans and possibly more so.  His athleticism will present a challenge for a Liberty defense that is, apparently, a big banged up.  On offense, LU has a question at quarterback.  Against SMU, Stephon Masha started strong but faded quickly, eventually throwing three interceptions.  Enter true freshman Stephen Calvert who drove the Flames offense down the field for one touchdown and threw a go-ahead touchdown that was called back on a procedure penalty.  So who plays against Jacksonville State?  Head coach Turner Gill has refused to say though that stoicism is likely as much gamesmanship as anything else.  Masha is the better athlete of the two and gives the Flames more dual-threat options but Calvert has looked sharp in the passing game.

What Liberty has to do against Jacksonville State – Jenkins is most dangerous both as a runner and a passer on designed pass plays where he gets outside the pocket so, defensively, Liberty’s best chance lies in keeping him within the box.   Offensively, Liberty has to execute – again.

Best case scenario for Liberty against Virginia Tech – Masha/Calvert lead the offense with efficiency and the defense continues their knack for acquiring turnovers.

Worst case scenario for Liberty – Jenkins or RB Roc Thomas runs wild and Liberty gets another faltering performance at quarterback.

The FCS Wedge – 2016-0921 – LISTEN UP!

fcs wedge logo b

This week the fellers look back at the big FBS win again by NDSU taking down Iowa.  Also go over all the big games of the week in OOC like UNI/EWU, EIU/Ill. State and several others.  The AGS Poll is also a topic and discussion of the teams on said list.

Lance & Kris also take an early look at the leaders and dark horses in each playoff eligible conference.  It’s another great effort by these two budding FCS Stalwarts.  If it isn’t worth your time I’ll give you double your money back.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

CAA : Week 3 Review & Power Rankings

Thank you to our friend superman7515 on AGS for stepping and providing us some CAA recaps for this week.

 

Three weeks into the season and the CAA picture is as transparent as testimony on a politicians’ private email server. It was all home cooking this past weekend as the home teams went 9-0, 10-0 if you count Maine’s victory in getting 63 teenage males to give up seeing a bikini for four years of their lives to play football in Orono’s balmy -125-degree weather.

Rhode Island Rams 21 – Harvard Crimson 51

The men of Harvard had the Rhode Island faithful seeing red on Saturday as the Crimson took the Rams behind the woodshed and tanned their hides. Harvard quarterback Joseph Viviano III, because is there any doubt that a Harvard quarterback will eventually be running a law firm, accounted for 340 yards of offense by air and ground, throwing for three touchdowns and rushing for another, without turning the ball over. Rhode Island, meanwhile, used three different quarterbacks, who combined for 13/33 passing and 194 yards with a touchdown and interception in the mix. Wide receiver Khayri Denny was a bright spot for Rhode Island, catching five passes for 103 yards, and returning six kicks for 131 yards. His 231 all-purpose yardage was higher than the rest of the team combined, which is fitting when you remember that like Rams in the wild, a native offense has never been spotted in Rhode Island.

Richmond Spiders 14 – Stony Brook Seawolves 42

Did you know spiders can’t digest solid foods? They have to liquefy their food before they consume it. Pretty convenient when you take a look at how Stony Brook kicked their teeth in. A week ago, there was talk that perhaps Richmond was the new number one team in town, but Stony Brook running back Stacey Bedell silenced all of that by rushing for exactly 100-yards and four touchdowns and, perhaps the most Long Island sounding quarterback of all, Joe Carbone was an efficient, if unspectacular, 11 of 15 for 155 yards with a touchdown and interception. Unable to get anything going on the ground for the Spiders, as seven rushers combined for just 32-yards, they turned to the pass. It was the much heralded Spiders quarterback, Kyle Lauletta, who struggled with trying to force a few passes on Saturday, throwing for over 400-yards, but tossing three interceptions to just one touchdown, while Richmond could only convert 3-of-9 third down attempts against a hungry Seawolves defense.

Towson Tigers 21 – Villanova Wildcats 40

In a battle of teams vying to become apex predators on the national scene, the Wildcats reduced the Tigers to mere kittens in Villanova, Pennsylvania on Saturday. Villanova quarterback Zack Bednarczyk tossed three touchdown passes in the first 20 minutes of the game, two of them to wide receiver Taurus Phillips on his way to 110 yards receiving, as the Wildcats jumped out to a 20-7 lead early in the second quarter. Towson running back Darius Victor picked up 115-yards on 22 rushing attempts, but an inability to sustain drives, and three turnovers by Towson quarterback Ellis Knudson, which included a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown by Villanova’s Rob Rolle in the fourth quarter, neutered any chance for a Tigers victory.

James Madison Dukes 28 – North Carolina Tar Heels 56

James Madison football players were ecstatic this weekend to head to Chapel Hill and put up their dukes against the Tar Heels, mostly because they knew academic study by athletes is expressly forbidden on the UNC campus. Or so I’ve heard. James Madison held their own early in the game, taking a 21-14 lead into the second quarter thanks to a pair of rushing touchdowns by Khalid Abdullah, in route to a 116-yard rushing day, and a 68-yard bomb from quarterback Bryan Schor to Cardon Johnson. But in honor of their 5’4” namesake, they came up short after the Tar Heels went on a 28-0 run over twenty minutes in the second and third quarters. Bryan Schor added a touchdown run of his own, while spreading the ball around to ten different receivers in the game without turning the ball over, to get James Madison back to within two scores late in the third quarter, but North Carolina runningback T.J. Logan added his second and third touchdowns to ice the game.

Fayetteville State Broncos 3 – Elon Phoenix 26

The Elon Phoenix have struggled since joining the CAA, but decided to pick on someone their own size last week, taking on Division 2 HBCU Fayetteville State. The D2 Broncos actually jumped out to 3-0 lead early in the game, but it was all Elon from there as the team score 26 unanswered points. The Phoenix defense played very well, holding the Broncos to 60-yards through the air and 103-yards on the ground, but the offense is going to need a lot of work or this Phoenix team is going to flame out very early in conference play. Despite the difference in depth and gaining more than double the yards of Fayetteville, Elon often found themselves having to settle for a John Gallagher field goal, as he converted all four of his attempts into 12 points, and was forced to punt by the Broncos defense a further four times.

Norfolk State Spartans 10 – William & Mary Tribe 35

The original manuscript of the classic book “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” was burned in a fire, deliberately, by the author’s wife, who wrote to a friend that the book was “a quire of utter nonsense.” Perhaps someone at William & Mary could contact Coach Laycock’s wife and suggest she do the same with the Tribe’s passing section of the playbook, which casts Mr. Hyde to the running games Dr. Jekyll. William & Mary quarterback Steve Cluley completed 58% of his passing attempts, with no touchdowns and two interceptions, despite being sacked only once in the game and kept relatively clean by his offensive line. Instead the Tribe was led by freshman Albert “You Can Call Me Al” Funderburke who gained 137-yards and 3 touchdowns on 13 rushing attempts, while Johnathan “Well” Dunn added another 89-yards and 2 touchdowns on 18 carries. Since he’s just a freshman, Funderburke hasn’t earned a real nickname yet. For now, he’s stuck with Albert “You Can Call Me Al” Funderburke, a reference to a Paul Simon song he’s probably never heard considering his age, but which featured a fantastic cameo by Chevy Chase in the music video. However, if he keeps putting up numbers like that, I’m growing on the idea of “The Thundering” Funderburke. I don’t know why; it just does it for me. Meanwhile, though the Tribe defense was unable to force any turnovers, they held Norfolk State quarterback Greg Hankerson to a Spartan 125-yards passing with no touchdowns on 25 attempts, although Hankerson did add another 43-yards and a touchdown on the ground, it was much ado about nothing as the Tribe cruised easily on their quest in the second half.

Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens 21 – Wake Forest Demon Deacons 38

There are lies, damned lies, and statistics, and looking at that final score is all of the above. Word out of Newark is that the University of Delaware football team will be switching to a dairy-free diet this week as, nearly a month into the season, the offense has apparently loaded up on cheese and just can’t seem to get their butts going. Quarterback Blake Ranking completed just 6 of 20 passing attempts for 38 yards and, miraculously, one touchdown as the Blue Hens, who had the worst passing offense in team history last year as they finished dead last in the FCS, actually look a little worse this season. Running back Jalen Randolph led the Blue Hens rushing attack, and I use that term loosely, with 36 yards and one touchdown on seven carries; while Thomas Jefferson added 30-yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. The offensive MVP for Delaware had to be Wake Forest, as two of the three Blue Hens scoring drives were from 19-yards or less. The only sustained drive for Delaware came in the middle of the fourth quarter with the game already in hand for Wake Forest. Perhaps these chickens are blue because they are anemic.

New Hampshire Wildcats 21 – Dartmouth Big Green 22

New Hampshire stayed in state this weekend for a road game against the Dartmouth Big Green of the Ivy League. Hmmm… Ivy League… dart is to pin as mouth is to head… SAT that one. The Wildcats have been known for years for a high powered offense, and while they still chuck the ball around like they don’t understand they are in New Hampshire and not New Havana, they’ve struggled on that side of the ball for the last two seasons. Quarterback Trevor Knight completed 24 of 36 pass attempts for a pair of touchdowns, but the offense didn’t put up their first points until there were only seconds left in the first half, and despite taking a 21-7 lead into the fourth quarter, they never felt like they were clicking on all cylinders and starting QB Trevor Knight was pulled. An interception midway through the final quarter by backup Adam Riese led to a short field for Dartmouth, and Emory Thompson connected with Jack Heneghan to capitalize with their first touchdown since the opening frame. On the ensuing drive, the Wildcats went three-and-out and Dartmouth again capitalized, taking a 22-21 lead with under two minutes to play, and holding on for their first victory over New Hampshire since 1976. How you lose to a team named after a Steve Guttenberg film is beyond me.

Holy Cross Crusaders 28 – Albany Great Danes 45

The mere idea that a group of Holy Crusaders would battle across the Middle East for God and Country, expending huge sums of wealth and global influence while engaging in some of the bloodiest battles mankind has ever seen, then eventually just give up and settle for Worcester, Massachusetts is a glaring condemnation on what kind of nicknames the NCAA should actually find hostile and abusive to their namesakes. Albany, on the other hand, is exactly the sort of place you could see Marmaduke living, and that’s why they continue to roll along, plowing through opponents like the 120-pound aloof canines they are. The Great Danes didn’t ask for much from quarterback Neven Sussman, he completed a respectable 75% of his passes on an 8-of-12 day, but managed two touchdowns and 183 yards in those eight completions. If you can average nearly 23-yards per completion, you’re having a good day. Why didn’t he throw it more? Well, Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks racked up 183-yards on the ground, with four touchdowns to go with it, as even when Holy Cross knew what was coming, EIH would not be denied. Holy Cross was not without weapons of their own, quarterback Peter Pujals threw for over 353-yards and a trio of touchdowns as wide receivers Richie DeNicola and Jake Wieczorek each hauled in over 100-yards receiving and a touchdown a piece. But the Great Danes defense got timely stops when it mattered, forcing four punts and a trio of turnovers, to help turn the Crusaders from a formidable opponent to a Monty Python troupe.

Power Rankings:

1) James Madison +1
2) Stony Brook +6
3) Villanova
4) Albany +2
5) William & Mary -1
6) Richmond -5
7) Towson
8) New Hampshire -3
9) Maine
10) Delaware
11) Elon
12) Rhode Island

MVFC: Week 4 Preview

Hi Wedge Fans. Some of you may be familiar with me, some not so much. I’m Scott, also known as ST_Lawson on AnyGivenSaturday.com as well as on LeatherneckNation.com (where I’m the admin). I’ve been following Leatherneck, Gateway/MVFC, and FCS football since 1996 when I was a freshman at Western Illinois and a member of the Marching Leathernecks.

One more thing, since I’m not a football player and I never played football myself (just watched a ton of games both live and on tv/computer), I’m not a huge X’s and O’s kind of guy. I like to look at the stats, compare numbers…yards, TDs, INTs, etc. but talking about the strengths of various defensive schemes, for example, is not really my forte. Still, I try to do my research, so hopefully I’ll be able to put out information that you all find interesting and useful.

As for my first “column” for the FCS Wedge about the upcoming weekend for the MVFC, this is probably the best weekend to get started, since a lot of the MVFC is off this week. There are 3 games involving MVFC teams, with 4 teams playing. North Dakota State, South Dakota State, South Dakota, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, and Youngstown State are all on bye this week.

For reference, all ranking numbers listed are the current AGS poll rankings, unless otherwise stated. Also, since most of the MVFC is located in the Central Time Zone, I’ll be listing times for that region (sorry Sycamores and Penguins).

So, in Week 4, here’s what we’ve got:

Illinois State Logo @ Indiana State Logo

#12 Illinois State (2-1) at Indiana State (2-1), 2 PM on ESPN3/WatchESPN.com
Illinois State Game Notes, Indiana State Game Notes

Through the first 3 weeks of the season, both ISUs are 2-1 and have actually had a fairly similar series of opponents. Both opened with a home victory over a non-scholarship Pioneer League team, then played at a Big Ten team, and most recently took on an Ohio Valley team.

The Redbirds are currently ranked #12 in the AGS poll. They started the season with a 50-13 dismantling of perennial FCS “doormat” Valparaiso and followed that up with an exciting 9-7 win on a last second FG over the Big 10’s Northwestern (the first of 2 MVFC wins over Big 10 teams this season). ISU then went back home to play in their longest-standing rivalry…the “Mid-America Classic” against Eastern Illinois. In the 104th meeting of the series, a somewhat unexpectedly good EIU team knocked off Illinois State, 24-21 (EIU is now ranked #19 in the AGS Poll).

The Sycamores are also 2-1 on the season so far, with a win over Butler (41-25) a loss at Minnesota (58-28, the MVFC’s only loss to a Big 10 team this year) and a hard-fought, come from behind, 27-24 victory over Southeast Missouri State.

Illinois State has had to adjust somewhat from being the offensive powerhouse of the last few years after losing RB Marshaun Coprich and QB Tre Roberson, and it appears that they’ve done a pretty good job at it, switching focus to the other side of the ball and becoming currently the #2 team in the FCS in terms of total defense giving up only 223.3 total yards per game.The Illinois State defense is pretty balanced, ranking 11th currently in both rushing yards and passing yards allowed.

Indiana State, on the other hand, looks to have a pretty decent QB on their hands with Sophomore Isaac Harker. Harker played in 4 games last year, but has really hit his stride this year, throwing for an average of 284.7 yards per game and 2.6 TDs per game with no interceptions so far. His performance against SEMO of 302 yards and 3 TDs garnered him a MVFC Offensive Player of the Week award.

Illinois State looked strong in their first couple of games, but had problems with turnovers in the game against EIU (1 INT and 2 fumbles) which they couldn’t overcome. Outside of that, I think Illinois State has the advantage. The Redbird defense is one of the best in the FCS right now and their offense is decent enough to get the job done usually. The Sycamore offense is fairly solid, but their defense isn’t so great. I think that if Illinois State keeps the turnovers to a minimum (1 or 0), then they’ll be back to their winning ways…likely by about a TD.

TL:DR – Illinois State by 7

Western Illinois Logo at Northern Illinois Logo

#8 Western Illinois (2-0) at Northern Illinois (FBS, MAC, 0-3), 2:30 PM on ESPN3/WatchESPN.com
WIU Game Notes, NIU Game Notes
(Bias reminder, I am a WIU fan/alum, so keep that in mind while reading)

Western had a bye last weekend, so they only have two games under their belts so far, whereas most teams have three. So far, the 8th ranked Leathernecks have been fairly impressive, starting off the season with wins over an (as previously mentioned) unexpectedly good (and now #19) Eastern Illinois team in Charleston (38-21) and the currently ranked 26 (in the others receiving votes section) Northern Arizona Lumberjacks back in Macomb to the tune of 34-20.

Northern has played three games and it seems like their fan base is wishing they’d just skipped this season right about now. The Huskies are 0-3 with losses at Wyoming (40-34 OT), at South Florida (48-17) and back home against San Diego State (42-28). Despite the fact that WIU and NIU are not in the same division, they have a 4-4 record against each other since the I-A/I-AA split, with WIU holding a 3-1 advantage in games in the last 20 years. The only loss was in the second year of Coach Kill at NIU and was when WIU was in the midst of a 1-10 season (percentage-wise, the worst season since a winless 1944 season for the Leathernecks).

NIU has put up some fairly decent numbers so far, with much of the production coming at the hands of their senior WRs Kenny Golladay (a UND transfer from a couple years ago) who has 86.3 yards per game and 3 receiving TDs + 2 rushing TDs, and Aregeros Turner who has 1 rushing and 1 receiving TD, but also puts up decent numbers on the kick return game. It sounds like Turner may have to sit out the game, however, due to personal issues. Their defense, however, has given up an average of 382.7 yards per game with 271.3 yards of it on the ground, and has been prone to getting a lot of penalties, racking up 86.33 penalty yards per game.

WIU has been very solid on offense, with currently the #1 rusher in the FCS in terms of yards per game, Steve McShane, who has 181 yards and 2 TDs per game so far. Defensively, the Leathernecks are very “bend, don’t break”, giving up quite a bit of yardage, but holding teams to an average of 20.5 points per game on the scoring front.

I think that the Leatherneck offense is trending up at this point, still getting their feet under them, but very good, and NIU’s defense has been vulnerable to the run. The Huskies offense is better, but I’m not sure they’re really that much better than a team like Northern Arizona. Western has been vulnerable to the long pass plays, but they were able to minimize that with extra pressure on the QBs by the front line and LBs. If they can do the same against Northern IL, I think it’ll be roughly the same result. I think NIU will put up a few more points than NAU did, but Western has the ability to score quite a few points as well. The Leathernecks will be able to come away with a win, starting the season 3-0 and snagging their first FBS scalp since 2003. Maybe not entirely unexpectedly, all of the FBS wins that Western has had in their history came against MAC teams: 4 against NIU, 1 each against Ball State and Eastern Michigan.

TL:DR – Western Illinois by 4

Missouri State Logo at Kansas State Logo

Missouri State (2-0) at Kansas State (FBS, B12, 1-1), 6:10 PM on K-StateHD.TV (paid)
MSU Game Notes, KSU Game Notes

Missouri State is off to their first 2-0 start since 2007. Like in 2007, MSU started the season with a blowout win against a lower-division foe…this year a 57-0 win over Southwestern College (KS), and then followed it up with a close win at an Ohio Valley team…this year 28-22 over Murray State. Also like in 2007, the Bears will take their 2-0 record into Manhattan, KS to take on K-State of the Big 12.

On the other side is K-State, who is sitting on a 1-1 record after losing at FBS #8 ranked Stanford (13-26) and then crushing Florida Atlantic (63-7). Their game against Missouri State will be their last non-conference game before heading into Big 12 play.

MSU is led offensively by Sophomore QB Breck Ruddick, who put up 295 passing yards and 3 TDs with 1 INT against Murray State. Their top rusher, Junior Calan Crowder, had a decent day, running for 97 yards and 1 TD, and their top receiver, Junior Malik Earl caught 4 passes for 98 yards. Three other players had receiving TDs in that game. Defensively, the “top Bear” is Senior LB Dylan Cole. Cole, a preseason MVFC all-conference team selection, leads the team with 19 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 forced fumble. The MSU defense held Murray State to 72 total yards rushing and 0 rushing TDs, however, the Racers picked up 356 yards and 2 TDs through the air. On the plus side, the Bears also picked off the Racers QB 3 times and sacked him twice.

K-State meanwhile, is led by QB Jesse Ertz. Ertz hasn’t put up huge numbers in their first couple of games (162 yards per game, 2 TDs) and their rushing attack boasts of nobody that rushes over 50 yards per game at this point. Their best rusher averaged 48.5 yards through their first two games and no TDs. They do apparently have a “TD Machine” in FB Winston Dimel. Dimel, a hometown boy from Manhattan, KS, broke the plane 4 times for TDs in the first half of their game against Florida Atlantic last week, but only had a total of 19 yards rushing, so he’s apparently the guy you call when you really want to get those last couple of yards to the end zone. On the defensive side of the ball, the Wildcats are pretty solid. They are currently the 5th best defense in the FBS, only giving up 241.5 yards per game and are allowing an average of 16.5 points per game. One good thing for Missouri State though, is that K-State has been averaging 74.5 penalty yards per game.

In 2007, MSU took their 2-0 record into K-State and was steamrolled 61-10. By the looks of things at this point, I think we can probably expect a fairly similar result. If the Bears are able to put up 10 points against the Wildcats, I would consider that a “win”, honestly. I think the spread will probably be close to what it was back in ‘07 though. However, that ‘07 season, the Bears did finish 6-5, which would be a pretty big step up from how they finished last year. I don’t think they’ll get there this year, but there are signs that the Missouri State team is starting to turn a corner, just a bit, and maybe starting to get better again.

TL:DR – Kansas State by 51