In a week of upsets all across the college football landscape, the SOCON was not immune. Wofford, in a mild upset over Chattanooga, gave its playoff hopes a shot in the arm. VMI gave The Citadel fits before the Bulldogs put it away to claim the Silver Shako once again. Oh, they also claimed sole possession of the SOCON Championship with a perfect 8-0 conference record. Samford almost let Mercer come back on them, but held on the secure a likely playoff berth. Furman racked up another win, this time over Western Carolina. And ETSU was victorious over Cumberland, although it was a bit close for the Bucs. The game reviews are bit shorter compared to my usual summaries. Sorry, am under the gun with family commitments.
#22 Wofford 36 #7 Chattanooga 28 (box score)
Wofford needed to win and they did. Now at 7-3, the Terriers are most likely playoff bound with a win next week.
Wofford did what they do best, they ran and used up clock time. They totaled 247 yards on the ground and they held back a late rally by Chattanooga.
Chattanooga scored on its first drive of the day. But Wofford scored right back with a 100 yard kickoff return. It went a back and forth in the first quarter, but Wofford went up early in the second quarter and maintained the lead from there. Chattanooga continued to nip at their heels but could not close the gap. A late fourth quarter field goal by Wofford put the gap at 8 and although the Mocs made it deep into Wofford territory with seconds remaining, they could not score.
Alejandro Bennifield went 19/32 for 177 yards for the Mocs with 4 TDs and 2 interceptions. The stingy Terrier defense held the Mocs to only 88 yards on the ground. The Terriers also forced a safety on the Mocs.
Brandon Goodson went 6/11 for 95 yards and 1 TD. On the ground for the Terriers, Lorenzo Long led with 123 yards.
The win put Wofford in position for at large playoff berth. Chattanooga who was in position for a possible seed and an opening bye week in the playoffs, mostly likely lost any hope of a seed.
Wofford faces VMI next week on the road and Chattanooga will travel to Tuscaloosa to face FBS #1 Alabama.
#4 The Citadel 30 VMI 20 (box score)
With this victory, in addition to retaining the Silver Shako, The Citadel completed a perfect 8-0 season in SOCON play. VMI did not make it easy. They pulled out a bunch of gadget plays and caught the Bulldogs flatfooted with them. On one play, the Keydets executed a double reverse, lateral back to the QB and pass. I think 5 guys touched the ball on that play. But The Citadel ground out some long drives late to put it away.
The Bulldogs actually rested at least 3 of their starters in this game including a couple of their running backs and a WR (aka blocker). It showed. Couple that with a stubborn VMI defense that held the Dogs to 233 yards on the ground and the Keydets made a game of it. But the Dogs also passed for a season high with Dominique Allen going 6/14 for 133 yards and 1 TD. Unfortunately for the Dogs, they also suffered their first sack of the season this game. It came on a blitz. Allen also led the Dogs in rushing yards with 113.
VMI has some serious issues at QB. With Cobb still out, Austin Coulling started, but he was knocked out of the game with a possible concussion. Before he left he went 5/7 for 33 yards. Oh yeah, he also caught a TD pass from WR Ryan Swingle. Jake Paladino came in to replace Coulling and did a very good job for the Keydets. He went 9/13 for 100 yards and 1 TD. The Dogs held the Keydets to 82 yards rushing.
One aspect of the game which VMI did very well in was sustaining drives and chewing up clock. They held it over 32 minutes which turned the tables on the Dogs. It was also a fairly sloppy game for the Dogs. They lost one fumble and also had 8 penalties for 82 yards which did not help their cause.
VMI hosts Wofford next week. The Citadel travels to Chapel Hill to face FBS top 25 UNC.
#14 Samford 24 Mercer 19 (box score)
Usually if a team outscores an opponent 21-0 in the first quarter, they would be expected to win easily. That is, unless you are playing Mercer. They have a habit of not giving up. That is what happened Saturday. Samford went up 21-0 after one quarter and fought to hang on 24-19.
After three successful drives Samford suffered 4 punts and 2 fumbles before scoring a field goal in the fourth. Samford QB Devlin Hodges still went 39/43 for 401 with 3 TD and no interceptions, which is pretty ridiculous. Mercer held Samford to just 54 yards on the ground.
For Mercer, John Russ went just 13/30 for 183 yards and 1 TD. But he went huge on the ground with 185 yards as well. Mercer held the ball for over 38 minutes which seems to be the best way to beat Samford. Keep the ball away from Hodges. It almost worked.
The win puts Samford at 7-3 and in a good position for an at large playoff berth. The Bulldogs face ETSU on the road next week. Mercer hosts Furman.
Furman 49 Western Carolina 21 (box score)
The Furman Paladins did something Saturday they have not done in well over a year. They won at home. And they did it in a big way. They racked up over 600 yards of offense. This is a team that was averaging under 300 yards a game after their first four games.
Furman’s QB Reese Hannon went 15/21 for 232 yards and 1 TD. On the ground Furman’s Kealand Dirks and Antonio Wilcox both had 100 yard days with 171 and 105 respectively.
Down 14-13 at half, Furman exploded in the second half for 22 points in the third.
WCU’s QB Tyrie Adams had a good day. He went 19/27 for 295 yards with 1 TD and no interceptions. The Catamounts gave up two fumbles on the day. Western’s Detrez Newsome got 56 yards rushing and 2 TDs on 9 tries.
Furman’s defense made a couple stops, but it was really their offense which won them this game. It may have come out of hibernation finally. Or it could be WCU’s defense is sliding deeper into despair. They trail the SOCON in yards given up at 516 a game.
It will not get any easier for the Catamounts as they face FBS South Carolina next week. Furman travels to Macon to face the Mercer Bears.
ETSU 23 Cumberland 16 (box score)
It should have been an easy victory for the ETSU Bucs against NAIA Cumberland. It wasn’t. Cumberland scored on its first two possessions. The Bucs scored on their first three. But Cumberland got a bonus when ETSU had their last XP blocked and Cumberland returned it for 2. ETSU tacked on a field goal late in the second and that was the end of the scoring for the game. It was all defense from there.
ETSU’s Austin Herink went 11/20 for 163 yards with 1 TD and 2 interceptions. The Cumberland QB, Justin Snyder went 22/36 for 226 yards and gave ETSU’s defense fits most of the night. Jajuan Stinson had 114 yards for the Bucs. Cumberland managed just 116 yards on the ground.
ETSU probably relaxed just a bit for this game when they should have stepped up, especially on defense.
The Bucs host Samford next week and the wicked arm of Devlin Hodges.
Power Rankings
1 – The Citadel – Conference Champions – 8-0
2 – Wofford
3 – Samford
4 – Chattanooga
5 – Furman
6 – Mercer
7 – VMI
8 – Western Carolina
9 – ETSU