Week 2: Patriot League Preview

This week is highlighted by three Patriot League – Colonial Athletic Association matchups. These are the first such games against the CAA since Colgate took down New Hampshire and James Madison in last year’s FCS Playoffs. The other game to really keep an eye on is Bucknell – Duquesne. The Bison make the 3 hour bus ride to Pittsburgh for an intriguing matchup against defending NEC Champ Duquesne. #21 Colgate has the week off before venturing to the Yale next week.

Elizabeth City State @ Fordham – 10 Sept, 1 P.M. (Patriot League Network)

After being ambushed by FBS Navy in Annapolis last weekend, Fordham will try to get their season jump started in their home opener against Division 2 Elizabeth City State. One key to the Rams regaining their swagger will be getting Chase Edmonds going. The third year RB was held to 70 yards on 18 carries by the Navy defense. The Vikings don’t figure to present nearly the resistance Navy did. This will be Elizabeth City State’s second straight FCS opponent. They lost a hard fought 20-12 battle to Norfolk State on Sunday. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday but Hurricane Hermine caused it to be pushed back a day.

This unusual matchup came about when Columbia decided to discontinue the Liberty Cup because their administration felt it was no longer possible to compete with the now scholarship Rams.

Lehigh @ #20 Villanova – 10 Sept, 6 P.M. (Nova Nation All Access)                                           

The Mountain Hawks and Wildcats will be looking to avoid a 0-2 start on what figures to be a hot day in suburban Philadelphia. Villanova returns home to the Main Line after dropping their opener to Pitt 28-6. One major key for the Mountain Hawks will be getting the offense going early and often. A similar performance against a talented Wildcat defense will almost certainly lead to a long night for Lehigh. Containing ultra-talented Wildcat DE Tonah Kpassagnona (6’7 290 DL) and getting the ball in the hands of Troy Pelletier (2 receptions 21 yards against Monmouth) will key to Lehigh’s success Saturday evening.

Andy Coen is the only active Patriot League coach to notch a win (31-28 ’06) against Andy Talley. The legendary Villanova coach will be retiring at the conclusion of the season.

Georgetown @ Marist 10 Sept, 10 6 P.M. (Red Fox Network)

Georgetown will look to build off their opening season victory over Davidson when they head to the Empire State to face Marist. If the Hoya’s want to start 2-0 for the first time since 2012 senior QB Tim Barnes will need to post another strong game (26-35 215 yards 4 TD 1 INT last week). Marist lost to Patriot League member Bucknell 26-10 to open the 2016 campaign. The Red Foxes will need to limit mistakes (8 penalties, 4 turnovers in opener) if they want to avoid back to back losses.

Georgetown and Marist were once conference mates in the now defunct MAAC. Georgetown left the conference following the 1999 season to join the Patriot League.

Delaware @ Lafayette – 10 Sept, 6 P.M. (Patriot League Network)

Lafayette hosts Delaware for the first time since 1971 in a compelling contest featuring two teams seeking to assert themselves early in the season. The Leopards will need their rushing attack to help our quarterback Drew Reed (31-42 316 yards 3 TD’s last week). The Lafayette ground game managed a meager 22 yards against Central Connecticut State. That type of performance won’t work get it against a Blue Hen team that’s coming off a 56-14 trouncing of instate rival Delaware State. The Blue Hens should enter the game supremely confident.

Delaware began their 2003 national title defense by downing the Lafayette 28-14 on 11/27/04. This would be the first of three straight playoff appearances for the Leopards.

Bucknell @ Duquesne – 10 Sept, 6 P.M. (NEC Front Row)

For the second straight week to begin the 2016 season the Bison hit the road. This time they invade Rooney Field to face the usually dangerous Duquesne Dukes. In order for Bucknell to take down the defending NEC Champs, R.J. Nitti will need to be more efficient passing the ball than he was in the season opener (11/26, 42% againt Marist). Coming off a career 145 yards, Joey DeFloria should be able to find some holes in a Duke defense that surrendered 394 rushing yards to Youngstown State. The Dukes fell 45-10 to the Penguins last Thursday.

Duquesne got their first win in eight visits to Lewisburg last year when they defeated Bucknell 26-7.

Holy Cross @ New Hampshire (UNHWildcats.com)

The University of New Hampshire will showcase their newly renovated Wildcat Stadium under the lights against the Crusaders. Holy Cross has to like their chances to dampen the spirits in the Wildcats new digs if they can pick up where they left off last weekend when they defeated Morgan State 51-24. The 51 point are the most points posted by the Crusader since 10/12/13 when they equaled the total against Bucknell (51-27). Conversely, New Hampshire was blanked by Mountain West Conference favorite San Diego State 31-0. UNH was picked 5th in the preseason CAA Poll. They will be seeking their 13th straight (1-AA/FCS record) playoff this season.

Despite being separated by 100 mile, these two fine New England institutions have “only” met 14 times on the gridiron. New Hampshire is currently riding a three game winning streak in the series that dates back to 1984.

 

 

Week 2 CAA Preview (7/10)

#25 Stony Brook at Temple 1 pm ET, (ESPN 3)

Stony Brook will travel to Financial field in Philadelphia for their first ever meeting between the Stony Brook Seawolves, and Temple Owls. Fresh of their win against North Dakota, the Seawolves will hope to capitalize on their momentum, and earn another FBS scalp in week 2. Last week Temple lost to an Army squad that rushed for 329 yards and four touchdowns in their eventual 28-14 win. Look for Stony Brook RB Stacy Bedell to try and duplicate the success of Armies running game.

#22 Albany at Rhode Island 1 pm ET, (A10 Network)

Both the Albany Great Danes and the Rhode Island Rams began their seasons last week with FBS matchups. Their results were very different. The Great Danes notched their first FBS win in program history beating the Buffalo Bulls 22-16, while the Rams fell to the Kansas Jayhawks 55-6. Albany will be looking to start their season out 0-2, while Rhode Island will be looking to move toward a 1-1 season in week 2.

Central Connecticut state at #10 James Madison 4 pm ET, (MadiZone)

The James Madison Dukes will be entering this game with all of the momentum on their side. After posting a lopsided 80-7 win against Morehead State, the Blue Devils of Central Connecticut State will have their hands full containing the High Powered Dukes offense. The Blue Devils will need to figure out how to contain the run, and not allow the Dukes to repeat their 498-yard rushing performance of week 1.

Delaware at Lafayette 6 pm ET, (Patriot League Network)

In week 1 the Delaware Blue Hens put a drubbing on their in-state rivals Delaware State University. They will hope to carry that momentum into week 2 when they take on the Leopards of Lafayette. The Blue Hens will hope to capitalize on RB Wes Hills 212-yard game against Delaware state, carrying the momentum into week 2. Lafayette will have their hands full containing the ground game from Delaware.

St Francis (PA) at #24 Towson 6 pm ET, (TowsonSportsNetwork)

The Towson Tigers will hope to bounce back after a week 1 loss to FBS squad Southern Florida. Standing in their way is the St Francis (PA) Red Flash. The red Flash played out of conference Montana in week one, and gave the Griz all they could handle before eventually losing 31-41. Towson will have their hands full with the Red Flash, but will hope to put that first week loss behind them.

Lehigh at #20 Villanova 6 pm ET, (NovaNation)

Both the Mountain Hawks of Lehigh and the Wildcats of Villanova are coming off of week 1 losses. Lehigh fell to FCS Monmouth, while Villanova fell to FBS Pitt. Villanova will look to make some adjustments to a defense that gave up 175 passing yards against Pitt in order to bring their season to 1-1. Lehigh will be looking to show the FCS world that their season opening loss against Monmouth was a fluke, and that the 215 yards they gave up on the ground won’t be repeated in week 2.

#12 William and Mary at Hampton 6 pm ET, (Piratetv)

After dropping their season opener, coach Jimmye Laycock and his William and Mary squad are hoping to pull out a road win when they travel to Hampton to take on the Pirates. After being held to only 168 total yards of offense against The Wolfpack of NC State, look for The William and Mary Tribe to turn it up against the Pirates with their high powered offense.

#2 Richmond and Norfolk State 6 pm ET, (CSN)

The Spartans of Norfolk State will have arguably one of the toughest games in the FCS when they travel to Richmond to take on the Spiders. The Spiders are coming off of a convincing 37-20 win against FBS Power 5 University of Virginia. If the Spartans are going to have a chance in this, they will need to contain QB Kyle Lauletta who went 24/35 passing, and had a total of 337 yards of offense.

Maine at Toledo 7PM ET, (ESPN 3)

The Maine Back Bears will have a chance at redemption when they travel too Toledo to take on the Rockets in what will be a back to back FBS series. The Black Bears dropped a close one to FBS UConn, losing by just a field goal.


Holy Cross at New Hampshire, (NESN/ ASN)

After Being Shut out by FBS San Diego State, New Hampshire will hope to come back to their brand new Wildcat stadium and erase their 1-0 deficit. UNH will look to Sophomore Trevor Knight to deliver in his second career collegiate start. Standing in their way will be an impressive Holy Cross team who is coming off of an impressive 51-24 win against Morgan State.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big South: Week 2 Preview (9/10)

 

 

(1-1)    Charleston Southern @ #3 Florida State – Saturday, Sept 10th, 12:30pm (Fox Sports South, ESPN3)

CSU is a week away from the bye week that they really need right now but has FSU in the way.  This is as sure an epic loss as they could possibly schedule, right?

Well, actually….there is some precedent here.

On Monday night in Orlando, Florida State pulled together enough energy, emotion and skill to construct a huge come-from-behind opening game victory against Ole Miss.  The game didn’t finish until just after midnight so it’s likely that the FSU players didn’t return to campus until around 5am Tuesday morning.  Head coach Jimbo Fisher probably gave the players Tuesday off and they will likely return to practice on Wednesday with two less days of preparation than normal for an early-in-the-day home kickoff against a highly-ranked, albeit from a lower division, FCS opponent whose team is built around aggressive defense and ball-control offense.

This is pretty much the exact same scenario that played out in 2010 with a highly-ranked Virginia Tech team and James Madison.  VT lost a heartbreaking back-and-forth battle with Boise State to start off the season in a Monday night game that ended just after midnight in Landover, MD.  They returned home around 5am that Tuesday and only went to work that Wednesday preparing for their upcoming game against an FCS opponent.  By their own admission after the fact, the Virginia Tech players were not mentally ready to play when they kicked off against JMU the following Saturday.  As we all remember, they lost the game in one of the biggest upsets ever.  Could Florida State fall into the same pattern?  Will Jameis Winston show up to give another inspirational halftime speech during the Charleston Southern game?  Could CSU pull the biggest upset in college football history?

Oh, who am I kidding?  No.  The answer to all those things is, no.  Flat no.  Unequivocally, no.  No, nay, non, nein, nyet, nee, neniu, nihil.

Well before CSU can figure out how to beat FSU’s players, they have to figure out which of their own players they’ll have on hand to line up against them.  A quick look at the participation charts from the last two weeks shows that nine guys who got on the field against North Dakota State a mere eleven days ago did not play against Kentucky State last weekend.  How many of those absences are injury-related and how many of those are players who were withheld pending their ongoing internal athletics department review is impossible to determine.  What we do know is that starting quarterback Kyle Copeland is done for the 2016 season following a severe knee injury against Kentucky State.  We know that his backup, Shane Bucenell, suffered either a knee or high ankle injury of his own against Kentucky State and did not return to the game.  Star running back Darius Hammond went down with some sort of injury or condition that was indeterminate from the television broadcast but definitely affected his ability to simply keep his balance on the sidelines.  There’s no official word on either Bucenell’s or Hammond’s prognosis but it should be safe to assume that head coach Jamey Chadwell won’t send them in just to get knocked flat by the Florida State defense.  Speaking of coaches, a still-unnamed assistant coach will be serving a one-game suspension this week for recruiting violations and won’t be traveling with the team to Tallahassee.  All of that comes into play before you get to the obvious athletic mismatch of the Seminoles versus the Buccaneers.

What Charleston Southern has to against Florida State:  Protect the quarterback.  This is easier said than done in a CSU offense that requires the quarterback to be a ball carrier and, so, averages three different starting quarterbacks a year.  Counting London Johnson and TE Stephen Cagle (yes, you read that right) who finished out the Kentucky State game at quarterback, they went through four signal-callers in that game alone and, until JuCo transfer QB Robert Mitchell returns from whatever exile or undercover mission he’s been on, Johnson is the last QB listed on the roster.  I imagine that CSU will spend some time this week practicing wildcat formations and, most importantly, teaching Johnson how to slide.  Or, at least, go limp.  On defense…hell, I have no idea.  If I knew how to stop the FSU offense, I’d be a better coach than the entire staff at Ole Miss and, that, I am not.

Best case scenario for Charleston Southern – “We got better; we definitely improved. … we were pretty good as far as our discipline, our game structure and our organization. We were playing better up to the speed of the game – the FBS speed than we had before. Our ball security was very good. I thought our defense definitely did some good things.”

These were the postgame comments from former CSU head coach Jay Mills in 2010 when Charleston Southern last visited Florida State (a 62-10 loss).  If Chadwell can say the same words at the end of this game, it’s as good a day as can be expected.  Also, no more injuries.

Worst case scenario – More injuries.

 

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(0-1)  Presbyterian @ (1-0) Chattanooga – Saturday, Sept 10th, 2:00pm (SoCon Digital Network)

The Presbyterian College Blue Hose return to Chattanooga for the first time since 1961 back when the game was played on the old Chamberlain Field.  PC and Chatty have met three times since then, all in Clinton (where the tea is sweet and the “t” is silent) and most recently in 2015 when the Mocs handed Presbyterian a 21-0 home loss.

Chattanooga comes into the game after a dominating win against overmatched and undermanned Division II opponent Shorter College.  Actually, “dominating” isn’t strong enough a word for what Chattanooga did to Shorter.  It was devastation.   It was the football version of the First Gulf War with Chattanooga as a constant wave of A-10 Warthogs screaming overhead and Shorter as a column of fleeing Iraqi Republican Guards just trying to find a CNN crew to surrender to before their broken down tanks exploded.

Here’s some numbers:

  • 1; that’s the number of passes Shorter completed in the game – to their own team anyway
  • 3; the number of Shorter first downs
  • 16; Shorter’s total offensive yardage
  • -39; Shorter’s deepest drive on the night, their own 39-yard line
  • 12; the number of Mocs players who, individually, gained more yardage than Shorter’s entire team
  • 66; points scored by Chattanooga

These numbers bear relevance this week because Presbyterian comes into this game with a solid defense of their own but still a lot to prove on offense.  Last year’s meeting in Clinton between these two came down to crucial turnovers.  Chattanooga racked up 400 yards of offense but only scored on one real offensive drive.  The other two scores came on an extremely short field thanks to a PC fumble and a 4th-quarter pick-six that essentially salted the game away for the visitors.  Meanwhile, PC only managed 117 yards of offense and never threatened.  Based on Presby’s numbers last week against Central Michigan – albeit an FBS opponent –, it’s hard to imagine that they’ll fare any better this time around on the road.

What Presbyterian has to do against Chattanooga:  Move the ball.  CMU held Presby RB Darrell Bridges to under 50 yards rushing on 15 carries and the Blue Hose have no chance to win if they can’t get Bridges going.  A year ago, Chatty held a full seventeen minute time of possession advantage as Presby just could not manage to move the chains.  The PC defense played well enough that night but the offense never got in position to score.

Best case scenario for PC – The offense gets at least a dozen first downs, has zero turnovers and the defense holds serve.  This is Presbyterian’s only realistic path.

Worst case scenario – Same old, same old for the Blue Hose offense and Chattanooga proves that last week’s dominance wasn’t just because they were playing Shorter.

 

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(1-0)  Monmouth @ (0-1) Delaware State – Saturday, Sept 10th, 5:00pm (no broadcast)

As they will do a lot this year, the Monmouth Hawks take to the road – in this case, the NJ Turnpike – and head down to visit the Hornets of Delaware State University.   This meeting is the back end of a home-and-home agreement with the two teams having previously met on the opening day of the 2014 season.  Despite DSU taking an early lead, Monmouth won that game handily, 52-21.

Delaware State is led by head coach Kenny Carter in his second year at the wheel.  DSU finished 1-10 in his first year after which, his best player, DE Gabe Sherrod, chose to take a graduate transfer and joined the Michigan State program where he got on the field against Furman this past weekend.  DSU comes into this game having just been on the wrong end of a massacre at the hands of in-state rival – in the loosest possible sense of the term – Delaware.   The Hornets turned the ball over 6 times and gave up nearly 400 yards of rushing alone to the Blue Hens, falling 56-14.  On top of that, DSU lost their best offensive weapon on the day, WR Mason Rutherford, when he was injured on a late game punt return.

Monmouth comes into this game in high spirits.  Their road win over Lehigh was the perfect way to start their season and came in the best possible fashion.  They established an early lead, lost it, grabbed the lead back and then slammed the door closed when Lehigh gave them the opportunity.  MU head coach Kevin Callahan probably could not have drawn the plan up any better than that.

What Monmouth has to do against Delaware State – On offense, Monmouth must keep up their forward momentum.  Against Lehigh, MU used the ground game and a short passing attack to control the clock and keep Lehigh defenders on the move.  Presumably, Lehigh is deeper on defense than DSU so the Hawks should have at least the same level of success against the Hornets.  On defense and special teams, don’t give up the big play.  Statistically, DSU has had a hard time mounting sustained drives and their points, when they get them, come from explosive plays in the kick return game or when the defense lets a receiver get behind them.  Additionally, MU needs to get some consistency in their kicking game.  Kicker Matt White succeeded on a 46-yard field goal against Lehigh but was only 2-of-3 on extra points.  It’s great to have a kicker who can drive home kicks from 40+ but it’s absolutely necessary to have one who can hit from the extra point stripe.

Best case scenario for Monmouth against Delaware State – Establish the run game and substitute freely.  There’s no conceivable way that Monmouth loses this game – believe me, I’ve tried to conceive of it – so keeping the victory margin wide while using the largest possible number of players is in MU’s best interest.

Worst case scenario for Monmouth – Lose.  As I said above, I just can’t see a route to victory for DSU but, should they miraculously find one, the loss would be devastating for Monmouth’s morale and credibility.  With their schedule such as it is, this is one of two games on the slate – Howard being the other – which MU simply cannot afford to lose.

 

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(1-0) Gardner-Webb @   (0-1)  Western Carolina – Saturday, Sept 10th, 6:00pm (SoCon Digital Network)

Gardner-Webb hits the road once again this week to take on, also once again, another in-state out-of-conference FCS opponent over at “the ‘Whee” in Western Carolina.  Despite the schools being only two hours apart, this will be the first time that GWU and WCU have met on the football field since the two split a home-and-home series in 2009 and 2010 when Steve Patton and Dennis Wagner were the head coaches, respectively.  Gardner-Webb is 2-2 now against in-state schools under Carroll McCray with wins against Charlotte and Elon (a week ago) and losses to Wake Forest and Elon (a year ago).

This will be Western’s home opener as they come into the game fresh off a 52-7 beatdown at the hands of FBS – and recent Big XII reject – East Carolina.  Under head coach Mark Speir, the Catamounts have been fairly consistent the last few years at maintaining a balanced attack offensively between run and pass.  Defensively, WCU has done much the same thing, giving up roughly the same amount of yards the offense gains and in roughly equal proportions.  The upshot is that WCU has been a bit of a middling team for the last couple seasons.   It remains to be seen if and how Speir and new WCU defensive coordinator Dustin Landry can improve on that.

Gardner-Webb comes into this game with a legitimate chance to start off 2-0 for the first time under McCray.  They completely embarrassed Elon last week – while Elon was embarrassing themselves – and will look to do the same against Western.  However, WCU should present a bigger challenge to the Runnin’ Bulldogs than Elon did.  Presumably, WCU got their early season jitters out of the way against East Carolina and should be a bit more prepared.  I don’t know how the Catamounts conducted themselves on the field against ECU but that stat line, especially on defense, was … unfortunate.

What Gardner-Webb has to do against Western Carolina:  Spread the ball around on offense.  The vast majority of the Bulldog offense last week came through the legs of QB Tyler Maxwell first and RB Khalil Lewis second with everyone else a distant third through last.  That’s fine when it works but Western will likely do a better job of keeping Maxwell confined and forcing him to throw the ball which, history would indicate, is not his strength.  Defensively, GWU has to respect the run. Last Saturday, Gardner-Webb’s pass rush teed off on Elon’s reliance on four-receiver formations, bringing enough pressure that the Phoenix passing game never got on track whereas WCU has shown a tendency to balance the play-calling out while running multiple formations.   Western should be a lot better at running the ball and, by extension, throwing it off of play-action.  If the GWU safeties start getting sucked into the box, they’ll see the ball going over their heads all day.

Best case scenario for Gardner-Webb – Maxwell and Lewis are able to get to the edges and pick up where they left off from a week ago.  The defense makes WCU’s young quarterback uncomfortable and forces him into bad throws.  The special teams does nothing stupid.  A win here would be huge for Gardner-Webb but a loss isn’t devastating.

Worst case scenario for Gardner-Webb – Maxwell and Lewis get bottled up and Maxwell has to make plays with this arm.  That’s a recipe for disaster for the Runnin’ Bulldogs.  Other than TE Mike Estes, there isn’t a consistent receiving threat on the team and a downfield passing attack simply doesn’t exist.

 

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(0-2) Point University @ (0-1) Kennesaw State   – Saturday, Sept 10th, 7:00pm (Peachtree TV)

Kennesaw returns to the once-friendly confines of Fifth Third Bank Stadium for a date with the Skyhawks of NAIA Point University.  Point was KSU’s homecoming opponent last October when the Owls came away with a 56-17 win.  Point is already 0-2 on the year having turned the ball over 8 times and been outscored 83-18 in their first two games.  (There’s a bad joke to be made here about “Point” being held nearly “scoreless” but I’ll let it pass.) Point is led by former Presbyterian defensive coordinator Julius Dixon but, a year ago, Dixon was the defensive coordinator at Shorter College.  The Shorter defense, who also played Kennesaw in 2015, gave up 400+ yards to the Owls but kept their offense completely out of the end zone.  Despite being outgained by nearly 300 yards, Shorter had a chance to win at the end but botched the snap on what would have been a game-winning field goal.

It’s probably a different kind of atmosphere around the KSU locker room right now than the Owls are used to.  This is the first time ever that the Kennesaw program has been under .500.  Going back to last year, they’ve now lost four straight and five of their last six.  Head coach Brian Bohannon has been through this before – as an assistant at Navy in 2002, he was part of a team that endured a 9-game losing streak – but these Owls players never have.  This week’s showdown with a non-NCAA program with a demonstrable inability to score or play defense is a prime opportunity to “get right”.  Point may have the same coach that bamboozled KSU a year ago but PU (and that’s the last time I’m using that abbreviation) doesn’t have the same horses.  Despite losing starting quarterback Trey White to a groin injury, Kennesaw should be able to put away the Skyhawks with relative ease.

What Kennesaw has to do against Point – Win and don’t worry about anything else.  Just win.  Stats don’t matter, points don’t matter, substitutions don’t matter.  Just win.  The Owls’ open date is on the back side of this game and will allow them to heal up some injuries before hitting the meat of their schedule.

Best case scenario for Kennesaw – Win convincingly and restore some confidence in the players and in each other.  This is the only good outcome.

Worst case scenario – Anything else.  ETSU may have turned out to be a better team than anyone gave them credit for but the fact remains that the Buccaneers were a team that Kennesaw destroyed a year ago and by a slightly larger margin than their score against this same Point program. For the sake of their collective psyche, the Owls must blow Point out.  Regardless of the final result, if this turns into a close game, either as a shootout or a defensive quagmire, this should be seen – and rightly so – as a sign of the Kennesaw program regressing.

 

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(0-0)  Jacksonville @ (0-1) Liberty – Saturday, Sept 10th, 7:00pm (Liberty Flames Sports Network, ESPN3)

Liberty and Jacksonville have never met on the football field.  In fact, the last time that the Flames played any current member of the Pioneer League was a 12-10 loss at the hands of Morehead State in 1991 when MSU was still a member of the Ohio Valley Conference.

Jacksonville comes into this game as a complete and total unknown.  Despite winning 9 games in each of the last two seasons, JU athletics underwent something of a significant philosophy change in the offseason and parted ways with their highly successful head coach Kerwin Bell.   Evidently, a good many of the players were not on board with the new direction of the program and a good portion of the roster also left en masse.  On top of that, new head coach Ian Shields, formerly of D2 Lenoir-Rhyne and Army before that, brings with him a triple-option offense that is vastly different from the passing attack that had been in place.   The combined effect of all this attrition is that the Dolphins’ program enters the 2016 season with only 29 players on the entire roster who saw game action in 2015 and nearly 50 brand new players, most of them true freshmen.  The personnel losses have been so severe that the same team that  won 13 out of 16 Pioneer League games in the last two years has, this season, been picked to finish 8th in the conference, ahead of only Stetson, Valparaiso and Davidson.

Still, the Dolphins haven’t played a game yet and haven’t garnered much in terms of media attention or exposure.  Liberty, essentially, is playing a guessing-game this week as to what the JU schemes are and will only find out the answers at 7:00pm on Saturday night.

What Liberty has to do against Jacksonville – Liberty must get the offense organized first and foremost.  The Flames were called for eight false starts alone against Virginia Tech and that’s an area that needs to get cleaned up quickly.  Defensively, Liberty’s history against the triple-option has been to attack it early with a size and speed advantage, let their offense jump out to an early lead and then back the defense off into a “containment mode”, letting the opposing team run the option in the second half, gaining yards and stats but eating up too much clock to make any real difference to the final score.  This plan works but only if the Flames’ offense does as well.  Simply based on scholarship numbers, Liberty should have a significant edge in athleticism and experience across the board so there’s good reason to believe that LU fans should see some fireworks on Saturday.

Best case scenario for Liberty  – The LU offense executes.  This objective hasn’t changed from a week ago because, well, they didn’t.

Worst case scenario for Liberty – The offense falters and it turns out that Jacksonville has caught everyone unawares by installing the run-n-shoot as their offensive scheme.

 

 

 

 

 

The FCS Wedge – 2016-0907 – LISTEN UP!

So what is happening on  the show this week?  Well it starts off with Lance getting his nose bloodied a little bit but as the true champion that he is he rallies back from Kris’ grief about the “Homer Pick”.  Both dudes, funny as hell in that one.

We then get into the real meat of the week going over the FCS /FBS upsets.  Move on to discuss how some of these games affected the AGS Top 25 Poll, and then Lance & Kris turn their eyes forward to the bastion of big games featuring several really intriguing Big Sky vs. MVFC matchup this week.

If you don’t listen you won’t be winning any FCS arguments and you’ll have to carry that burden yourself cuz we are giving you what you need.  Just repeat what we say and drop the mic.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

SOCON: Week 2 Preview

Presbyterian at #8 Chattanooga  2pm ET, (SOCON Network)

The Blue Hose lost to the Mocs at home last year 21-0. Last week Presbyterian managed just 126 yards while giving up 492 against a pretty good Central Michigan squad and lost 49-3. UTC crushed Div II Shorter while putting on a defensive clinic, even with 5 new starters on D. UTC will roll big at home as QB Bennifield settles in as the MOC play caller for an offense that remains fairly intact from last year.

Mercer at Georgia Tech 3pm ET, (ACC Network)

The Bears play their first FBS opponent since restarting their program. They actually have a 1-15-1 record against the Yellow Jackets with the lone win coming in 1892. They certainly hope that their reps last week against The Citadel will pay dividends in slowing the Yellow Jacket rushing attack. Last week, Ga Tech played BC in Ireland and had an uninspired offensive output while Mercer held The Citadel to a meager 262 yards on the ground. Ga Tech scored with less than minute to play to win their game 17-14, but Mercer came up short and lost by a point. With the excitement and spotlight of an FBS game, expect the Bears and Sr QB John Russ to make some noise, but be overwhelmed by a few scores before it is over.

Wofford at #19 Ole Miss 4pm ET, (SEC Network)

The Terriers do have a history of playing FBS teams close. The timing for Ole Miss will also help Wofford’s effort since the Rebels have a short week due to a Monday game at Florida St which they blew in the second half going down 45-34. In their first ever meeting, Wofford might also be banking on Ole Miss not preparing for the option attack very well. But that might not matter as the Rebels had one of the stingiest D’s in FBS against the run last year. Looks like they picked up where they left off allowing FL St only 161 yards rushing including only 14 in the first half. Wofford might have success here and there, but in the end SEC depth will prevail. Ole Miss by at least 40.

Furman at #14 The Citadel 6pm ET, (ESPN3)

With Furman scaring Michigan St last week in a losing 28-13 effort, The Citadel will be on alert. Having escaped Mercer, yet again, with a RS Freshman QB at the helm, the big question for the Dogs will be whether veteran Dominique Allen returns to the line up. The Bulldog defense will be tested by Furman’s confident QB Blazejowki after he had a respectable outing against the Spartans. Expect Furman to line up in a pistol formation. Both Furman and The Citadel have played each other more than any other opponent since their first meeting in 1913. The Paladins lead the series 58-34-3, but The Citadel has taken 3 of the last 4. In a somewhat odd situation, the visitor side of Johnson Hagood Stadium has been condemned due to lead paint issues. So while the home side will hopefully be packed, the visitor side will be empty and result in a max attendance of 10-12K each game for the rest of this season. As always, it will be a hard fought game, but give the edge to The Citadel at home in a close one.

VMI at Morehead State 6pm ET, (OVC Network)

VMI escaped Morehead St 43-40 last year at home on a last minute FG. VMI QB Al Cobb threw 3 interceptions in that game. Last week he put a scare into Akron by keeping it close through 3 quarters in a losing effort, but he didn’t turn the ball over. The Eagles of Morehead St got throttled by James Madison 80-7 this past Saturday giving up 607, mostly rushing yards. If Cobb and VMI stay disciplined, they will roll this year on the road and win by a few scores.

Gardner-Webb at Western Carolina 6pm ET, (WCU Radio)

The Runnin’ Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb pulled off the upset on the road last week at Elon 31-6 behind a strong rushing attack of 327 yards. WCU sported a new RS Freshman at QB with Tyrie Adams, but got blitz by ECU 52-7 as the Pirates rack up 688 yards. With WCU returning home to Cullowhee, if they can regroup on defense, they can rebound. This will also depend on how much success Adams can have against a G-W defense which held Elon to 271 yards. Detrez Newsome, WCU’s RB with numerous preseason honors, needs to have a better day than the 50 yards he tallied against ECU. WCU by 10.

#23 Samford at Central Arkansas 7pm ET, (Samford Radio)

Last week both Samford and Central Arkansas had Thursday games where they dominated. The Samford Bulldogs racked up 573 pass heavy yards cruising 77-7 over Div II Mars Hill, while the Bears of Central Arkansas totaled 554 balanced yards winning 56-13 over Southland bottom dweller Houston Baptist. Last year at home, Samford won easily 45-16 in the first ever meeting between these teams. Expect a big day for Samford QB Devlin Hodges and a two score victory for Samford in Conway.

ETSU has a bye week where they will be tuning up for their return to the SOCON against WCU in a game to be played at the Bristol Motor Speedway.

SLC: Week 2 Preview

Incarnate Word at Northwestern State

Both teams are coming off of losses; UIW to Division 2 Texas A&M-Kingsville and Northwestern State taking the cash and the beatdown from Baylor. While UIW’s Trent Brittain looked good in their loss, the Cardinal defense is pretty suspect. I think the Demons take this at home by 14.

Lamar at Houston

This should be Lamar’s second week of being on the wrong end of a lop sided result. While running back Kade Harrington shined with over 200 yards on the ground and two touchdowns in Lamar’s loss to Coastal Carolina, he’s going to be facing an uphill battle against the Houston Cougar’s defense, who are still celebrating the win over Oklahoma last weekend. I don’t think Houston will look past Lamar, and Lamar loses by 50 or more.

Northern Colorado at Abilene Chrisitan

The Wildcats of Abilene Christian gave the Air Force Academy all they could handle but came up short 37-21. This weekend they get to open their home schedule with Big Sky cellar dweller Northern Colorado. This should get ugly quickly at ACU rolls by 28.

Samford at Central Arkansas

UCA can brag as they are the only team with a conference win, destroying HBU on the striped field last weekend. UCA amassed over 500 yards of offense and had 8 different players score touchdowns, two of them on defense. They host Samford, who is coming off a 77-7 win over Division Two Mars Hill. I think UCA wins this game by a touchdown, as the it may take the Bulldogs a while to adjust to the striped surface on Conway.

Texas Southern at Houston Baptist

Welcome to the Houston edition of “The Battle of the Bottom”. I think the only thing going for this is someone has to win.  HBU is coming off of the previously mentioned shellacking by UCA, and SWAC bottom feeder Texas Southern took a 29-24 loss vs Prairie View A&M.  Normally in a game like this, I’d take the home team, and while HBU is playing in the field on Fondren, Texas Southern will run away with this. Also, the TSU band will probably win halftime too.

Nicholls at Georgia

Nicholls is opening their season between the hedges in Athens. Hopefully they enjoy the beauty of the stadium as this will get ugly quick.  Georgia calls off the dogs early but wins by 70.

McNeese State at UL-Lafayette

This is probably the most exciting game for the Southland Conference. The Cowboys travel east to take on the Ragin’ Cajuns of Louisiana-Lafayette (USL to my McNeese fans out there).  McNeese looked good in Coach Lance Guidry’s debut, beating Division 2 Tarleton State 33-3 and looks to carry that momentum into this weekend. McNeese leads the series, won the last match in 2007, and takes this one as well. McNeese by 17.

West Alabama at Stephen F. Austin

SFA is coming off their worst season since 2008 and a drubbing at the hands of Texas Tech. While West Alabama are Division 2, they do have a lot of Division 1 talent on their roster via transfers. I’d like to say SFA wins at home by 10, but given that Stevie Austin hasn’t been stone cold in their games against weaker opponents, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see an upset.

Southeastern Louisiana at Southern Utah

Both of these schools are coming off of losses to FBS schools, SLU getting drubbed by Oklahoma State and SUU being shut out by Utah. I think when it gets to the end of the season, we will see both of these teams on the post season bubble, which makes this a critical game to build the D1 win resume. I’m giving the nod to the Thunderbirds since they are at home, and think they’ll take it by 17.

Must Watch: Week 2

Week 1 of the season provided quite a bit of excitement and last week Chad let you know where to look for it. We saw four teams defeat an in-state FBS rival and some great games that went right down to the wire.

Here are a dozen games that I believe are “must watch” games for the second weekend of the season:

 

Saturday, Sept 10 Time(CST) TV
Stony Brook @ Temple 12:00pm ESPN3
Youngstown State @ West Virginia 1:00pm STREAM
Mercer @ Georgia Tech 2:00pm ACCN
Illinois State @ Northwestern 2:30pm BTN
Eastern Washington @ North Dakota State 2:30pm ESPN3
Northern Arizona @ Western Illinois 3:00pm ESPN3
Montana @ Northern Iowa 4:00pm ESPN3
Furman @ The Citadel 5:00pm ESPN3
McNeese State @ Louisiana Lafayette 6:00pm ESPN3
Samford @ Central Arkansas 6:00pm STREAM
Maine @ Toledo 6:00pm ESPN3
Jacksonville State @ LSU 6:30pm ESPNU
  • Stony Brook started their season with a home victory over North Dakota. Going into the season I wouldn’t have picked this game as a must watch, but after seeing Temple lose to Army by 15 in Week 1, I think the Seawolves have a shot at an FBS upset in this game.
  • In their first game of the season YSU eventually put a hurting on Duquesne. This game on the road at West Virginia will give us a better indication of where Coach Pelini’s team is at for 2016.
  • Mercer opened their season at home in the AGS Game of the Week. They put on a great show after digging a hole early against The Citadel, but came up just short. Their preparation for the triple option should have them ready for this game and the team will be hungry to get a win against an in-state rival. Georgia Tech is coming off of a long trip to Ireland and an emotional win over Boston College. I see some upset potential.
  • Illinois State started the season with a lopsided win but did not look impressive in doing so. Week 2 takes them on a short bus ride to their in-state rival Northwestern. The Wildcats are coming off a loss to Western Michigan, so I can’t write off the possibility of a Redbird upset. This will be a better gauge of how Illinois State has recovered from some of their off season losses.
  • This has to be the game of the week in FCS football. Eastern Washington is riding high after defeating their in-state rival from the PAC-12, Washington State, and North Dakota State is 1-0 after surviving an overtime scare in the Fargodome from Charleston Southern. Anything can happen when you match up the power run game of the Bison against the air attack of Copper Kupp and the Eagles.
  • One of three match-ups between the Big Sky and the Missouri Valley in week 2. Northern Arizona is consider a Top 40 team at this point in the season and they head to Macomb, IL to take on a Top 25 Western Illinois squad who got a good win over their in-state rival Eastern Illinois. This game should give us a better idea of where both squads stand heading into conference play.
  • Northern Iowa is 0-5 against Montana since 1981. This will be the second game of the series to take place in the UNI-Dome, and first since 1987. Montana is still working on installing the offense of their Head Coach Bob Stitt. This quick hitting air attack could pose problems for the UNI defensive backfield if the front seven doesn’t create enough pressure. UNI is coming off a big win against their in-state FBS rival, Iowa State. They established a strong run game against a Big 12 opponent in Week 1. This match up is similar to EWU and NDSU in regards to the power game vs. the air attack.
  • Furman started Week 1 with a strong performance against a highly ranked Michigan State team. The Citadel went to Mercer and won a hard fought game to start the season with an early lead in the SoCon. This game will establish a battle for the SoCon title or will but Furman in a hole for playoff eligibility.
  • Week 1 didn’t tell us a lot about either of these teams, but McNeese State will take the short trip to Lafayette and has the opportunity to come away with the win. The Cowboys lost players and coaches in the off season, but they will be fired up to get a win over the FBS team just down the interstate.
  • Both of these teams beat up on some cupcakes last week, but this game should let us know if either or both of these teams are legit playoff contenders in 2016. I expect a close game in Conway.
  • Maine should be 1-0 with an FBS victory, but they have another chance at getting a scalp from the upper subdivision when they head to the Glass Bowl to take on Toledo. I anticipate that Toledo is a better team than UCONN, but this is still a game you will want on your radar just in case.
  • The 2015 runner up heads to Baton Rogue to take on a LSU team coming off a rough start to their season in Green Bay against the Badgers. I won’t predict a Gamecocks win, but this seems like a game worth checking out to see how JSU stacks up.

OVC: Week 1 Review

Austin Peay State 17 Troy 57

Austin Peay opened their season with a 57-17 loss on the road at Troy.  This may sound like the same old story coming out of Clarksville: “Austin Peay lost, what else is new?”. They scored 17 points, racked up 254 yards, and came back from a 13 point deficit to lead briefly in the second quarter. Now 17 points and 254 yards may not sound too impressive, but considering they only passed the 17 point mark 6 times in the last three seasons, combined, this is a huge improvement when you consider that this was against an FBS opponent. Healy’s influence in the offense showed as Austin Peay’s quarterbacks went 14/22 for 161 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Peay’s problem on offense was a lackluster rushing attack. The Govs had 41 rushes for only 93 yards, averaging to only 2.3 yards per carry.  The biggest problem with Austin Peay was the defense. Three of Troy’s touchdown drives happened on drives of 4 plays or less and Troy had 190 yards between the 8 total plays. Troy was able to gash the Gov’s defense both passing and rushing.  Austin Peay needs to work on limiting big plays on defense moving forward. Austin Peays defensive line allowed Troy to rush 43 times and averaged 8.9 yards per carry.  Austin Peay’s secondary also allowed Troy to complete 29 of 36 passes for 323 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions.  The Gov’s showed they can find success through a Healy engineered aerial attack and are dedicated to the run, now they just have to play some defense.

Tennessee State 44 Arkansas- Pine Bluff 0

One word comes to mind: dominant.  That’s how TSU looked as the posted their first shutout since the first round of the playoffs in 2013 when they shut down Butler. Tennessee State looked good on offense on stout on defense as they racked up 461 yards and held UAPB to 161 yards. Quarterback O’Shay Ackerman-Carter went 18/32 passing for 259 yards and two touchdowns and the Tigers rushed for 202 yards, three more touchdowns and averaged 5.3 yards per carry. The defensive unit was perhaps the most impressive part of the Tigers rout was the play on the defensive side of the ball.  All-OVC defensive end Ebenezer Ogundeko picked up where he left off from last year, picking up 5 tackles and 2 sacks on the night.  Overall the play from the TSU defensive line was top notch.  The Tigers made the AUPB rushing attack a non-factor as they held them to just 49 yards on 23 carries. The secondary didn’t have a bad night either, only allowing 19 completions on 34 throws and holding AUPB to 119 passing yards.  If Tennessee State builds on what they showed Saturday night they could prove to be one of the top OVC teams once again and fight for a share of the OVC championship. They’ve shown they have the tools to do so.

Tennessee Tech 7 Wofford 21

Marcus Satterfield’s first game as a Golden Eagle didn’t exactly go as planned.  The offense looked lackluster and the defense couldn’t get off the field on third down. Wofford only had 42 yards passing but why pass when you can run for 346 yards?  Tennessee Tech couldn’t contain Wofford’s rushing attack, at all. TTU gave up 6.4 yards per carry on 54 carries. If the Golden Eagles want to be successful this season they need to step up their game in the trenches on both sides of the ball.  The offensive line must play better after giving up 5 sacks and only helping TTU’s running backs to 1.7 yards per carry.  On defense it’s more of the same.  TTU needs to control the line of scrimmage stop the run because giving up 346 yards isn’t going to cut it.

Murray State 3 Illinois 52

You could tell Murray State was playing a Big Ten team.  The Illini led a balanced attack against the Racers, racking up 287 rushing yards and 4 rushing touchdowns and 228 passing yards and 3 passing touchdowns against a severely outmatch Racer’s defense. On the other side of the ball the story was more of the same.  All-OVC quarterback KD Humphries, despite his best efforts, couldn’t keep the Racers in the game. He was intercepted on his first two drives and finished the game 18-31 for 163 yards and two interceptions.  It’s hard to judge where Murray State is based on such a lopsided matchup but you can expect KD Humphries to be the team’s biggest threat as the Racers enter OVC play.

Southeast Missouri State 17 Memphis 35

SEMO had a respectable showing in the Liberty Bowl as they took on FBS team Memphis.  Memphis jumped out to a quick 22-0 lead in the first quarter, however SEMO bounced back and outscored Memphis 17-13 in the last three quarters of the game. SEMO actually found more success in the running game than Memphis did averaging 3.8 yards per carry on 29 carries compared to 3.4 yards.  The defense also forced three turnovers, however Memphis was able to pass for 295 yards and three touchdowns against the Redhawks secondary.  Like most teams this early in the season, limiting turnovers and penalties is the biggest key to improving. 

UT-Martin 7 Cincinnati 28

UT-Martin opened their season on the road with an impressive performance at Cincinnati.  The Skyhawks led Cincinnati the entire first half, going into halftime 7-6 and kept their lead until 2 minutes left in the third and were the victim of two interceptions throw in the fourth quarter that allowed Cincinnati to push the score to 28-7. The biggest surprise for the Skyhawks was the outstanding play by the defense. Kahlid Hagens earned OVC Defensive Player of the Week honors for his 15 tackle performance against Purdue. If Marshall quarterback transfer Gunnar Holcombe and his receivers can get comfortable in the passing game UTM could prove to be a dangerous team in the OVC.

Eastern Kentucky 24 Purdue 45

Eastern Kentucky went on the road and gave Purdue all they wanted.  The Colonels entered the fourth quarter only 10 points down after rallying from 21-0 deficit but Purdue pulled away in the fourth quarter to secure their 45-24 victory. The Colonels looked good offensively against the Big Ten defense, racking up 398 yards and 3 touchdowns.  There was chatter in the offseason about the acquisition of former Mizzou quarterback Maty Mauk and whether he would land the starting job over veteran starter Bennie Coney. The answer is NO! Mauk went 2 for 7 for 18 yards and two interceptions.  By comparison Coney went 13 of 23 for 158 yards and a touchdown.  Had Mauk not entered the game the final score in West Lafayette could have looked much different.

Eastern Illinois 21 #20 Western Illinois 38

Eastern Illinois started out the season with a sloppy performance that led to a Western Illinois win.  The score tells one story where the stats tell a completely different one.  Eastern Illinois had more first downs and more yards of total offense than the Leathernecks however the Panthers had 8 penalties for 66 yards and three turnovers that helped WIU secure the victory.  Questions loomed at EIU about who would replace quarterback Jalen Whitlow in EIU’s pass happy offense and it seems that they have found their answer in redshirt Junior Mitch Kimble.  Kimble finished the night 18 for 29 for 323 yards, 2 touchdowns and a pick. If the Panthers can eliminate the penalties and turnovers and improve their rushing attack they will be a strong contender in the OVC this year.

#3 Jacksonville State 31 North Alabama 12

Jacksonville State opened their season Thursday night with old Gulf South rival North Alabama.  With 22,116 in attendance the Gamecocks racked up 502 yards of offense and 31 points to win the contest 31-12.  Eli Jenkins showed poise as he led the Gamecocks to a 21-0 lead in the second quarter, however, the Gamecocks didn’t exactly look like themselves.  The biggest issue of the night for the Gamecocks was penalties.  There were 12 penalties for 106 yards.  Penalties spent most of the night killing drives and helping UNA down the field.  JSU hasn’t committed that many penalties since their 2014 loss to Sam Houston State in the second round of the playoffs and absolutely MUST clean up their act if they want to make another run at the national championship.  One of the biggest questions for JSU entering the season was how the defense would rebound from losing 8 starters. The answer is surprisingly well.  I was extremely impressed by the play of the defensive line in particular.  They played like a group that had returned all seven rather than just two.  They showed great ability to get to the ball, rush the passer, and stuff the run.  There were some issues with missed tackles but overall I thought the defensive line was the most impressive unit for the Gamecocks Thursday night. The secondary is loaded with talent but it lacked in discipline.  The secondary accounted for a bulk of the penalties and needs to play with more discipline if they want to be considered an elite unit. JSU put their stable of running backs on display as well.  Auburn transfer Roc Thomas earned OVC Newcomer of the Week honors for his performance that included 3 rushing TDs, 71 rushing yards, and 4 catches for 53 yards.  However, the surprise of the night came from true-freshman back Tyus Flakes. The Auburn High School star looked right at home in the offense, racking up 72 yards on just 12 carries.  One concerning thing I saw Thursday was Roc Thomas’s ability to get upfield.  Roc was unable to hit several holes and get upfield often opting to take an outside route to the edge of the field, resulting in a disappointing 3.5 yards per carry.  Roc showed his spectacular athleticism, elusiveness, and explosiveness at times but needs to find a way to get out of the backfield faster and more consistently. The other concern for me on offense was the receiving corps.  First off I’d like to say this group is talented and that I can’t wait to see what they looked like later in the season, however, Thursday they lacked a gel factor with Jenkins.  Jenkins did not have a single familiar face on the field Thursday to throw to (as Josh Barge was held out with a foot injury) and it showed.  The receiving group is arguably more talented than last year’s crew but they need to build more chemistry and gel more if they want to have the same kind of success that last year’s crew enjoyed.  All things considered,  it was a promising start for the Gamecocks.  Most of the mistakes and issues are easily correctable or will improve as the season grinds on.

Power Rankings

Jacksonville State Gamecocks

Eastern Kentucky Colonels

Eastern Illinois Panthers

Tennessee State Tigers

UT-Martin Skyhawks

Southeast Missouri State Redhawks

Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles

Austin Peay Governors

Murray State Racers

AGS Poll: Top 25 Week 1 Poll Results

The first week of the season seemed to take ages to show up, and then seemed to pass in the blink of an eye, even though roughly 90 games featuring FCS teams were played between Thursday and Sunday. Thanks to our dedicated poll voters we have compiled the most accurate top 25 poll in the nation.

  • This weeks poll is lead by 7 teams from the CAA and 6 from the MVFC. Following the CAA and MVFC were the Big Sky (4), SoCon (3) and Southland as the only conferences with multiple teams. One spot each went to the Ohio Valley, Patriot and Big South.
  • North Dakota State held on to fist place, but not before giving ground to Richmond and Northern Iowa, who both came off of FBS victories.
  • EWU saw the biggest gain, inside of the top 25, of the week (7 spots) while Albany and Stony Brook both jumped from no votes to into the top 25
  • The biggest slide belong too North Dakota as they fell from 18th to 34th
Rank Team: Total Points First Place Votes Previous Wk.
1 North Dakota State Bison 2084 64 1
2 Richmond Spiders 2010 14 3
3 Northern Iowa Panthers 1958 6 2
4 Jacksonville State Gamecocks 1738   4
5 Sam Houston State Bearkats 1636   5
6 South Dakota State Jackrabbits 1604 1 7
7 Charleston Southern Buccaneers 1518   8
8 Chattanooga Mocs 1484   6
9 Eastern Washington Eagles 1437   16
10 James Madison Dukes 1408   9
11 Illinois State Redbirds 1153   12
12 William & Mary Tribe 1031   10
13 Montana Grizzlies 1017   11
14 The Citadel Bulldogs 1005   13
15 McNeese State Cowboys 894   14
16 Western Illinois Leathernecks 820   19
17 Portland State Vikings 790   15
18 Youngstown State Penguins 627   21
19 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 535   17
20 Villanova Wildcats 361   22
21 Colgate Raiders 326   20
22 Albany Great Danes 187   NR
23 Samford Bulldogs 176   29
24 Towson Tigers 156   24
25 Stony Brook Seawolves 154   NR
         
  ORV:      
26 Cal Poly Mustangs 130   39
27T Harvard Crimson 129   27
27T Southern Utah Thunderbirds 129   26
29 New Hampshire Wildcats 125   23
30 Furman Paladins 124   NR
31 Central Arkansas Bears 110   38
32 Fordham Rams 101   25
33 Eastern Kentucky Colonels 86   28
34 North Dakota Fighting Hawks 69   18
35 Liberty Flames 68   30
36 Mercer Bears 62   NR
37 North Carolina A&T Aggies 56   32
38 Wofford Terriers 54   NR
39 Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens 47   NR
40 Pennsylvania Quakers 34   NR
         
  Fell Out Of Poll:      
  Bethune-Cookman Wildcats      
  Eastern Illinois Panthers      
  Montana State Bobcats      
  South Carolina State Bulldogs      
  Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks      
  Western Carolina Catamounts    

Big South: Week 1 Review

(1-0)  Central Michigan 49, (0-1) Presbyterian 3

Presbyterian is, if nothing else, consistent.  Watching this opening contest of 2016 for the Blue Hose on Thursday night, this game could very easily have been mistaken for one straight out of the middle of the 2015 season.  That’s both a good thing and a bad thing if you’re a Presby fan.

It’s difficult to tell from one game against an FBS opponent how much progress Presbyterian has made in the offseason but there are two things we can tell already.  The defense is still as salty as ever.  The offense is, well, more of a salt flat; a featureless horizontal plain, dressed up in white and devoid of life and movement.

Early on, the Blue Hose defense had a nice goal line stand and frustrated CMU’s Cooper Rush, one of the more experienced signal callers in college football, into a couple of turnovers.  Unfortunately, the Blue Hose offense either did nothing with the ball or quickly turned the ball right back over again to the Chippewas.  The score at the halftime break was 14-3 in favor of CMU and it should have appeared as if little ole Presby had a chance.  Unfortunately, the second half happened and PC’s youth along with CMU’s superior depth came to the forefront and the home side rattled off 35 unanswered points, the vast majority of it coming on the ground.

Offensively, it was pretty clear that CMU’s game plan was to bottle up Presby RB Darrell Bridges and make QB Ben Cheek beat them with his arm.  They did and he couldn’t.  Factor in three turnovers and the offense never had a chance.  Defensively, the Blue Hose were opportunistic and took advantage of some early Chippewa miscues but simply wore down in the second half.

What does this loss mean for PC? – They got paid and, hopefully, didn’t have any serious injuries.  The defense should feel pretty good about itself and the offense still has work to do.  CMU was very effective at shutting down the Presbyterian rushing attack and their tactics are now on game film.  PC has Chattanooga this week and you can be sure that Chatty probably picked up some tips.

 

(1-1) Charleston Southern 57, (0-1)   (D2) Kentucky State 7

Before we get to the game itself, we have to talk – because it’s relevant – about the big announcements out of Charleston Southern last week.  The CSU athletic department released two separate statements regarding recruiting violations.  In separate statements, CSU announced that head coach Jamey Chadwell along with another unnamed assistant football coach will be suspended one game apiece as a result of Level III recruiting violations and that certain unnamed student-athletes would be withheld from competition pending further review.  Let’s ignore for a moment the fact that both statements were released just after 7pm on a Thursday evening and just happened to coincide with the kickoff times of games involving The Citadel and South Carolina and were, thereby, guaranteed to receive minimal media coverage Let’s also ignore for a moment the fact that it’s extremely rare – as in unheard of – for a Division I head football coach to be suspended from games due to a single Level III violation – or in Clemson’s case, 14 of them – I’d like to focus on the second statement involving players withheld from games because this is the one that has already started to matter.

Last week, I wrote in this space that CSU needed to dominate their undermanned opponent in all phases and avoid injuries.  They did the first but not the second.  The Buccaneers outmanned the Thorobreds at every position and the home side was up by two touchdowns before most of the spectators had found their seats.  However, with just over four minutes remaining in the first quarter and with CSU up 14-0, starting Kyle Copeland went down with what was obviously a serious knee injury and he is out for the remainder of 2016.  Copeland was replaced by redshirt freshman Shane Bucenell who helped the Buccaneers push their lead out to 43-7 just before halftime.   At this point, Bucenell was also injured and did not return to the game.

This is where CSU’s statement about withholding players from competition comes into play.  During the spring and during training camp, CSU head coach Jamey Chadwell remarked repeatedly about the quarterback competition between Copeland, Bucenell and Blinn Juco transfer, Robert Mitchell.  It would be a safe assumption, therefore, that once Copeland and Bucenell both went down, the obvious next man up should have been Mitchell.  Instead, they went with complete unknown, London Johnson, a redshirt freshman out of Clio, SC.  (For the uninformed, Clio is pretty much two churches, a post office and a wooded crossroads between Bennettsville and noted I-95 tourist trap South of the Border.  It’s basically a ‘Supernatural’ episode come to life).  This, then, begs multiple questions:  Is Mitchell also injured? Is he being withheld from competition in relation to the ongoing review?  Did Johnson outplay him in practice?  In any event, it appears that CSU is heading down to Florida State next week with their 4th-line QB running the offense.  On top of all that, CSU RB Darius Hammond, who provided the only offensive spark against NDSU a week ago, also exited the game early with an indeterminate injury and did not return.  Further, in his postgame comments, Jamey Chadwell remarked that CSU had been forced to sit a few starters due to the official review.  The only other players who started against NDSU but did not play at all against Kentucky State are linebacker JD Sosebee and defensive end — and Big South Preseason Defensive Player of the Year — Anthony Ellis.

What does this win mean for CSU? – They won the game but that’s the only positive.  This is a textbook example in football of a Pyrrhic victory, a win so costly that it might as well have been a loss.

 

(1-0) Virginia Tech 36, (0-1) Liberty 13

In a battle between two completely new offenses, it should have been obvious that miscues and the respective defenses would be the ones to decide the game because that’s exactly what happened.

Early on, it seemed that both teams were more interested in giving the ball away than moving it downfield.  VT’s first score came two plays after a Liberty botched snap gave the Hokies the ball on their own 25-yard line.  Not to be outdone, VT returned the favor moments later, giving up a sack and a fumble at their own 10 to set up Liberty for their opening touchdown.  Through the majority of the first half, the defenses took advantage of each other.  With 5:00 remaining in the half, a Liberty defender with the incredible name of Alpha Jalloh – clearly named after a reggae band I’ve never heard of – scooped up a Virginia Tech fumble and returned it for a 13-10 lead.  This was, apparently, as much nonsense as the home side could take.  VT QB Jerod Evans found a gap in the line on 4th & 1 and ran for 30+ yards to set up the go-ahead-for-good score.

In the end, the Flames’ defense held up relatively well all things considered.  The unit had only pulled in 12 turnovers in all of 2015 but collected four fumbles in Blacksburg and, until team depth and Isaiah Ford took over – Ford is an absolutely legit player, by the way; he is, in fact, too legit to quit – , it felt like Liberty could make a game of it.  However, special teams and the newly-minted offense were problematic at best.  Liberty’s freshman kicker shanked his first extra point.  Early in the second half, the punt returner fielded a kick at his own 5-yard line – which you don’t do – and ran backwards into the end zone – which you definitely don’t do – where he was tackled for a safety.  The following kickoff went out of bounds — which you absolutely don’t ever do after a safety — and VT took advantage of being set up at midfield with a touchdown drive.  That’s a 9-point swing without the offense touching the field, not that the offense could have done much with it anyway. Liberty barely scratched out 150 yards of offense on the day, an effort that was severely hampered by 11 procedure penalties.

What does this loss mean for Liberty? – You can pretty much cut and paste the similar paragraph from Presbyterian-Central Michigan above.  $$$, hopefully no big injuries, defense good, offense bad.  The big difference is that Liberty has a home game against a Pioneer League team this week so, hopefully, they’ll see some improvement in the necessary areas.

 

(1-0) Monmouth 23, (0-1) Lehigh 21

On paper, this looked like it could be a very good game and the final score would seem to bear that out.  The stat line, however, says differently as Monmouth largely dominated this game from the outset.

Lehigh never really found an answer for Monmouth’s defensive pressure up front or for the nimble legs of Lavon Chaney.   Lehigh quarterback Nick Shafnisky spent most of the first half running for his life while Chaney found 5-yard gap after 5-yard gap in the Lehigh line.  At the same time, MU negated the Lehigh pass rush by having quarterback Cody Williams throw the shortest passes imaginable. It was slant, hitch, screen, out, hitch, slant, slant – seriously, Williams only threw three passes downfield the entire day and one of those was picked off – all of which added up to a full fifteen minute time of possession advantage for the Jersey Hawks.  Still, it’s a credit to the Lehigh team that they scrapped their way back into the game in the second half and gave themselves a chance to win.  But, a killer interception in the 4th quarter gave Monmouth the chance they needed to put a nail in the coffin.

What does this win mean for Monmouth? – Make no mistake, this win is huge for Monmouth.  Lehigh may not be the team they once were but they’re still a respected program, particularly within the northeast region, and starting off the season with win on the road is crucial for Monmouth.

 

(1-0) Gardner-Webb 31, (0-1) Elon   6

Last year’s meeting between these two was a near-scoreless pillow fight.  For the entirety of the first half on Saturday, it looked like it was headed that way again.  Then, something happened and I’m still not sure what it was.

Unlike last year, Gardner-Webb actually managed to sustain drives in the first half but, still, couldn’t manage to do anything once they got into scoring position.  They got a field goal midway through the second quarter which Elon matched right before the halftime break but, early on, this looked like another offensive horror show unfolding.

However, GWU quarterback Tyler Maxwell started the third quarter off right, accounting for 58 of a 65-yard drive by himself. Running back Khalil Lewis punched it in from a yard out and the Runnin’ Bulldogs had a 10-3 lead.  After an interception and an Elon field goal, Maxwell again accounted for the majority of the yardage on a 76-yard drive and Lewis again found the end zone and G-W took an eleven-point lead.  At this point, Elon completely fell apart.  Elon’s Chris Blair levelled Lewis five yards deep in the end zone, drawing the first of several obvious personal foul penalties.  Elon defenders would rack up three more personal fouls, half of the teams eight flags on the day, handing Gardner-Webb first down after first down and piling on the yards and points.

Let’s be clear:  when you level the ball carrier five yards deep in the end zone, it’s a childish, amateur move.  Unfortunately, that’s pretty much what Elon looked like on the day.  The entire Phoenix team looked completely unprepared to play a regular season game.  They appeared disorganized, unsure of where to line up and wholly undisciplined as a unit.  If they had come onto the field wearing practice jerseys it would have made a lot more sense because they played like they thought this was going to be a scrimmage.   It also completely boggles the mind that Elon’s defense could have spent the last several months preparing for a team whose offense revolves entirely around a running quarterback and, apparently then, never accounted schematically for that running quarterback.  Maxwell rolled up 150+ yards of rushing and, on most of those plays, was just scrambling with no defender near him or obviously assigned to him.

What does this win mean for Gardner-Webb? – It’s big.  There’s no doubt about it.  Despite Elon’s complete ineptitude, there’s nothing about this win that can be downplayed for GWU.  It’s a dominating win against an in-state FCS rival and a former conference rival.  It’s a big win for recruiting in the state of North Carolina and it’s a huge boost for the team going into their home opener against The Citadel.

 

(1-0) ETSU 20,   (0-1)   Kennesaw State   17   (2OT)

Outside of Charleston Southern suspending people, this was far and away the biggest surprise in the Big South this week.  The common reaction I noted when people saw the score to this game was an open mouth and the words, “What happened?”

Carl Torbush.  That’s exactly what happened.  The man’s a defensive genius.  Give him a few players and nearly a year to prepare and he will figure out how to shut down your rushing attack.  I’ll admit, I picked KSU in this game mostly because I didn’t think ETSU had developed their defensive talent enough yet.  Clearly, I was wrong.

Schematically, ETSU effectively took away the pitch by gumming up the edges and compelling the Kennesaw rushing attack to try to gain yards through the heart of the defense.   This forced Kennesaw into throwing the ball and cut their rushing yardage virtually in half from their 2015 average.  The Owls still had some quality chances to take a commanding lead but a key goal line stand in the first quarter and a turnover two drives later only helped the Buccaneer cause and another late fumble killed any chance of a game-winning drive in regulation.  In the first overtime, now playing without starting quarterback Trey White, KSU found themselves backed up to 4th and a 5K but were bailed out by an acrobatic touchdown catch by wide receiver Justin Sumpter.  Unfortunately, when KSU’s freshman kicker pushed a field goal wide right in the second overtime, there were no defensive acrobatics to save the Owls.

What does this loss mean for Kennesaw State? – Well, it isn’t good.  KSU only has eight D1 opponents on their schedule and they just lost to the one team that was seen by many as the most winnable of the lot.  On top of that, starting quarterback Trey White was injured while sliding (Isn’t sliding supposed to keep the QB from getting unnecessarily hurt?) and it remains to be seen how long he’ll be out.  The good news is that the next team up is NAIA Point University who KSU beat 56-17 a year ago.  It bears absolutely no relevance but it’s interesting that the final margin in last year’s KSU-ETSU matchup was virtually the same score.

 

Biggest surprise of the week:  Charleston Southern’s dual announcements regarding suspended coaches and players.

Biggest disappointment of the week:  See above.