Playoffs!

[SWC75]

FCS QUARTERFINALS

Every quarterfinals FCS team scored at least 30 points and all the games were close and fun to watch. Football like it ought to be.

#1 NEW HAMPSHIRE beat #8 Chattanooga 35-30, coming back from a 15-21 halftime deficit, to win a school record 12 straight game. The did this despite being out-gained 328-566. Punter Brad Prasky helped out with a 45 yard average and four punts downed inside the Moccasin 20, ensuring that Chattanooga had father to go than the Wildcats did. A 49 yard kick-off return set up the go-ahead touchdown and a 28-24 lead early in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats struck with a bit of trickery on their first play of the ensuing possession with a reverse flea-flicker that resulted in a Goldrich to Harris 61-yard touchdown pass. Goldrich pitched the ball to Harris, who pitched it to Jimmy Giansante (Jefferson Hills, Pa.), who pitched it back to Goldrich, who passed it to Harris in the left flat. Harris covered the 61 yards, with the assistance of a couple of huge blocks – one by left tackle Rob Bowman (Cheshire, Conn.)- to push New Hampshire's lead to 35-24 with 11:04 remaining in the fourth. (UNHwildcats.com) Sean Goldrich passed for 238 yards and 3 scores and ran for another. The Moc’s Jacob Huesman reversed that, running for 93 yards two scores and passing for 338 yards and one score.

#3 NORTH DAKOTA STATE continued its quest for a fourth straight national championship with a shaky 39-32. The Bison jumped out to a 14-3 lead only to see the Chanticleers, (I kid you not) come back to tie it at 17 all and match State score for score and even take a 32-31 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter. But John Crockett, (a name they’ve likely heard of back in Carolina), broke away for a 45 yard run with 9:28 left and then ran in a two point conversion for the win. The game ended on an interception on 4th and 12 by the Bison’s Colton Heagle. State gained 500 yards, 327 on the ground, (Crocket had 227 on 26 carries and scored twice). But they weren’t as dominant defensively as their past national champions have been. Coastal Carolina gained 383 yards. , 186 on the ground and 197 through the air. DeAngelo Henderson rushed for 143 yards against them. They’ve won their two playoff games by a total of 10 points and look vulnerable.

#7 ILLINOIS STATE beat by 20 Northern Iowa, the team that beat North Dakota State by 20. Then the Red Birds went to the bright red field at Eastern Washington, a very tough place to win, and out-scored #4 Eastern Washington and their record-setting quarterback , Vernon Adams, 59-46. They took a 45-20 lead into the fourth period and withstood a 26 point onslaught from the Eagles. Adams passed for 425 yards and 3 TDs but also had 2 interceptions. Adams, who threw 55 TD passes last year and 7 this year at Washington, has 10,438 yards and 110 touchdown passes in 37 career games. And he’s a still junior in eligibility. But it wasn’t enough against the Red Birds. Who out-rushed the home team 336-95. Marshaun Koprich ran for 258 yards and 4 touchdowns. Running beat passing as it often does.

#5 Villanova’s John Robertson just won the Walter Payton Award, basically the FCS version of the Heisman. It will offer some small consolation for missing the Wildcat’s quarter-final game against #19 SAM HOUSTON STATE. They almost pulled the game out anyway. Robertson’s back-up Chris Polony, passed for 228 yards and a touchdown and also ran for 87 yards and 2 scores. The Bearkats’ Jared Johnson matched that with 303 yards passing and 3 scores while running for 32 yards. The game was a classic back-and-forth affair: 7-0, 7-6, 7-13, 14-13, 17-13, 17-16, 24-16, 24-24, 27-24, 27-31, 34-31. Villanova scored on a 54 yard pass and runs of 34 and 58 yards Sam Houston scored on a 66 yard pass but mostly on long drives.


The Semi-Final match-ups:

Friday, December 19 at 7:10 on ESPN2 (TWC Syracuse channel 25)
SAM HOUSTON STATE 11-4 (561-432), lost to Eastern Washington 35-56, Louisiana State 0-56, Colorado State-Pueblo 21-47 and Northwestern Louisiana 27-31, ranked #19 post season record: 17-9-1 (1 title)
At
NORTH DAKOTA STATE 12-1 (463-195), lost to Northern Iowa 3-23 ranked #3, post season record: 47-13 (11 titles)

Saturday, December 20 at 2:00 on ESPNU (TWC Syracuse channel 370)
ILLINOIS STATE 12-1 (526-275), Northern Iowa 28-42, ranked #7, post season record: 6-5 (0 titles)
At
NEW HAMPSHIRE 12-1 (486-276), lost to Toledo 20-52 (in their first game) ranked #1, post season record: 12-15 (0 titles)

Comments: North Dakota State beat Sam Houston State in the finals in both 2011 (17-6 and 39-13)and will be favored to do it again but The Bearkats can score and have a puncher’s chance. I just don’t think team that has given up over 400 points is likely to win a championship. I think the best team is Illinois State. New Hampshire didn’t impress me that much vs. Chattanooga but the Red Birds did on the red field.

 

[SWC75]

D2 SEMI-FINALS

#1 MINNESOTA STATE-Mankato proved vastly superior to the only other D2 unbeaten team, #11 Concord of West Virginia, scoring touchdowns on its first six possessions on their was to a 47-13 win. They had a considerable size advantage up front and knew how to use it, rushing for 268 yards and gaining 498 total yards. They led 30-7 at halftime and 47-7 early in the fourth quarter. Connor Thomas ran for 123 yards and a score. Quarterback Rickey Lloyd was 14 for 128 for 177 yards and 4 TDs.

#8 COLORADO STATE-Pueblo downed #25 West Georgia in a defensive duel, 10-7. The ThunderWolves won it on the old “homecoming” play: “Trailing 7-3, the Pack put together the game-winning drive on their second possession of the fourth quarter. After back-to-back runs of 13 and 14 yards by Cameron McDondle, CSU-Pueblo had the ball first-and-10 at the Wolves' 38 yard line. On first down, McDondle lined up in the "wildcat" formation and received the snap. The junior handed the ball off to his brother Bernard McDondle, who was coming in motion on the snap. Bernard McDondle immediately tossed the ball back to quarterback Chris Bonner who found a wide open (Zach) Boyd for the 38-yard touchdown.” (D2football.com) The Braves had taken a 7-3 first period lead on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Dallas Dickey to Shaq Hall. The game was then scoreless until the CS-P pulled the flea-flicker out of their playbook. It put them in the final. The visitors actually outgained the home team 366-249.

The Finals match-up:

MINNESOTA STATE (Mankato) 14-0 (600-180), ranked #1, post season record 8-7 (0 titles)
Vs.
COLORADO STATE-PUEBLO 13-1 (543-206) lost to Fort Lewis 22-23, ranked #8, post season record: 4-3 (0 titles)

Comment: Somebody will win their first ever title. I suspect that Mankato is much the superior team but we’ll see when they kick it off.

The game will be played Saturday, December 20 at 4PM in Kansas City, Kansas on ESPN2 (TWC Syracuse channel 25)

 

[SWC75]

D3 SEMI-FINALS

#1 WISCONSIN-WHITEWATER survived a comeback by #11 Linfield, 20-14. The Warhawks took a 14-0 halftime lead. Ryan Winske intercepted a first quarter pass and returned it to the Linfield 32. That set up an 8 yard pass from Matt Behrendt to Jake Kumerow for a 7-0 lead. Behrendt then hit halfback Matt Moore with a short pass early in the second quarter and moored took it in form 46 yards out. WW seemed to be in control of the game until the third quarter when the Wildcats suddenly erupted for two scores of their own. San Riddle passed 14 yards to Levi Altringer and then ran 14 yards for the second score.

With five minute left in the game, “Moore broke two tackles, made a cut and outran a pair of defenders to the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown to give the Warhawks the lead. Linfield drove the ball into Warhawks territory, but junior defensive lineman John Flood sacked Sam Riddle on fourth-and-3, and senior defensive lineman Mykaell Bratchett recovered the fumble to give the ball back to UW-Whitewater with 1:51 left. Ratliffe iced the contest with a 23-yard run on second down.” (D3.com)

"We earned it, to get here," said Moore. "It wasn't an easy road. We worked hard and played in close games and came out victorious."


#3 MOUNT UNION hasn’t had too much experience with close games and they didn’t gain any beating #5 Wesley 70-21. If anything, the game wasn’t that close. It was 28-0 after the first period, 56-0 at halftime and 70-0 after three quarters. The Wolverines got three “make it look like we at least showed up” scores in the fourth quarter.. The result was disappointing considering that Wesley, after an 0-31 fourth quarter last year, had given the Purple Raiders a 59-62 scare. I’m sure Mount Union coach Vince Kehres remembered that game and kept the pedal to the mettle until he was convinced even Wesley couldn’t do anything about it. The Wolverines had rolled up some pretty good scores themselves, outscoring thirteen previous opponents 664-132, (51-10). But, this year, they were no match for Mount Union.

Mount Union’s Kevin Burke and Wesley’s Joe Callahan were the #1-2 passers in the country in Division III. Both put up big numbers. Burke was 26 for 41 for 415 yards and Callahan was 39 for 69 for 440 yards. But for Burke it produced 7 touchdown passes and one interception and for Callahan it produced 1 TD and four interceptions, one of which was returned 85 yards for a touchdown. Burke also ran for 52 yards and a score while Callahan had -20 yards due to 5 sacks. Wesley also lost two fumbles .

Mount Union’s record over the last two decades is amazing:
http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_iii/oac/mount_union/yearly_totals.php
Since they first won the DIII title in 1990, they have a record of 330 wins and 15 losses to go with 1 tie, (remember ties?). They have outscored their opposition 15,222-3,927, an average of 44-11. They have won 80 games by 50 points or more, 21 of those by 60 points or more and three of those by 70 points or more. Their record in the DII playoffs in this period is 83-12 with 11 national championships.

But they have a nemesis, Wisconsin-Whitewater:
http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/incomplete_data/year_by_year_current.php?teamid=3622
They’ve been pretty good for a long time but in the last decade, they became the first Division II team to really challenge Mount Union’s Dominance. They’ve even come to dominate the dominators. The Warhawks lost the first two times they faced the Purple Raiders, 28-35 and 16-35. Then, in 2007 they broke through and won 31-21. Then Mount Union, from their point of view, restored order with a 31-26 win in 2008. Sure that was the end of it. But it wasn’t. Amazingly, they met three more years in a row for a total of seven straight champion ship confrontations. Even more amazingly, Whitewater beat Mount Union three times in a row, 38-28, 31-21 and 13-10. At that point, they actually had the lead in the series, 4-3. The combined points were 183-181. It was the greatest championship rivalry in the history of sports!

But it was also getting boring. The DIII title game used to be a chance to see a lot of different teams who are normally just scores in the Sunday papers. In the first 32 years of the champion ship games, 26 different schools made it to the championship game. In the last ten years only three schools have: Mount Union, Whitewater and St. Thomas of Minnesota who slipped in when Whitewater had a rare, (very rare) off year with 3 losses in 2012. Mount Union was there to beat them, 28-10 for their 11th title, but at least we had a little variety. Last year White righted the ship and we had MU-WW III. The result was shocking. Mount Union, the team that always slaughters the opposition, got slaughtered 52-14.

We’d gone from a wide-open era to the Mount Union Era to the Mount Union-Whitewater Era to the Whitewater Era. What’s interesting is that while Whitewater has come to dominate even Mount Union, they haven’t been as dominant as Mount Union. Since 2005, they are 136-8. They have out-scored their opposition 5,279-1,719, (37-12). They are 32-2 in the playoffs. They have beaten 11 teams by 50 or more point, 6 of those by 60+, none by 70. That’s very impressive but this year’s Mount Union team has beaten 10 teams by 50+ points. The obvious conclusion is that Mount Union comes from a weaker conferences but, historically the Ohio Conference has been the most prestigious DIII conference, producing several national champions and contenders. But when they face off against each other, Whitewater has tended to dominate the line of scrimmage. They seem to be more of a running team and pound away at the Purple Raiders while the Mount Union quarterback is like Peyton Manning against the Patriots or Seahawks: he has to do things faster and thus without his usual efficiency.

Now we have MU-WW IX. This Mount Union team seems better than last year’s team. Last year they out-scored 15 opponents 700-318. This year they’ve outscored 14 opponents 844-130. That 844 is the most points scored in college football history, breaking the record of Division II’s Pittsburg State in 2004, (please note that Pittsburg State lost the D2 final that year to Valdosta State, 31-36). The improvement of the defense from 318 to 130 points may be more significant. Despite all the blow-outs they’ve won this year, the Purple Raiders have never been ranked #1 and even dipped to #3 in the final poll when John Carroll gave them the first of two close battles. People won’t believe in them as the country’s best team until they beat Whitewater. The Finals match-up:

WISCONSIN-WHITEWATER 14-0, (558-149), Ranked #1 post season record: 42-7 (5 titles)
Vs.
MOUNT UNION (Ohio) 14-0, (844-130) ranked #3, post season record: 85-13 (11 titles)

The game will be played Friday, December 19th at 7PM in Salem Virginia on ESPNU (TWC Syracuse channel 370)

If you watch the game, you’ll notice the teams, other than being in home and road uniforms, look startlingly alike:
http://lubbockonline.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/superphoto/10760289.jpg

http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000GZiCXfPbiIo/s/750/750/M3F2008C024.jpg

They have similar colors and, except for Whitewater’s dark pants, a similar look. Basically I think both these teams have risen to the level of dominance they have by building up facilities beyond what was intended for Division III, even if they can’t formally issue scholarships. I suspect they are both much stronger than D3 champions of previous eras because they have built the equivalent of D2 or higher programs. I think the NCAA should think about moving schools up and down form division to division based on competitiveness. Whitewater and Mount Union should be seeing how they can do against the D2 teams. D2 schools that have been unsuccessful at competing at that level should be moved down to D3. The same could be done at other levels. Mount Union Whitewater IX should make it clear to anybody that something here is out of whack.

 

[SWC75]

NAIA SEMI-FINALS

#8 SOUTHERN OREGON swamped #3 St. Xavier 62-37. Austin Dodge completed 31 of 52 passes for 460 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown. Ryan Retzlaff caught 11 passes for 160 yards and a score. John Rhode of St. Xavier tried to keep up, throwing for 308 yards and 3 scores himself St. Francis led 17-10 after the first quarter but Dodge hit Ronald Rylance from 2 yards out and Sean Tow scored form the 3. A field goal made it 27-17 at the half. Dodge found Retzlaff’s brother Matt from the 7 to push it to 34-17. The tam then traded scores before SOU closed it out with two straight to end the contest, Dodge hitting Ryan Retzlaff from 46 and running ti in from the 1. The Red Hawks had the yardage edge, big time: 643-430. The Cougars just couldn’t stop them. SOU had ten scoring drives: eight touchdowns and two field goals.

#7 MARIAN handled high-scoring and fourth ranked Morningside 41-21 by forcing five turnovers. “Despite the loss, Morningside running back Brandon Wegher set the NAIA single-season rushing record with 151 yards and two touchdowns. He ends the season with 2,610 rushing yards, 106 yards more than the previous record of 2,504 set by Northwestern’s (Iowa) Dave Perrigo in 2000….for Marian, running back Tevin Lake led the charge with a season-high 159 yards on 36 carries, including a pair of 1-yard touchdown scampers. The four-year starter has run for more than 1,000 yards in every season at Marian and with today’s performance boasts 5,377 career yards – seventh most on the NAIA’s career rushing list…Overall, the Knights held a 530-497 advantage in total yards.” Morningside got off to a great start, taking a 21-7 lead on two Wegher touchdowns of 14 and 63 yards. It was all Marian after that, 34-0, Lake scoring twice, both 1 yard plunges.

The Finals match-up:

SOUTHERN OREGON 12-2 (630-393), lost to Carroll 40-42 and Eastern Oregon 27-31. Ranked #8, post season record 8-6 (0 titles)
Vs.
MARIAN (Ind) 11-2 (444-232), lost to St. Xavier 38-65 and Robert Morris 7-20. Ranked #7, post season record: 10-2 (1 title) at

Comment: Has it come to this? Can a team give up 400 points and win a championship? Marian, who won the title two years ago, handled Morningside, who had scored 700 points. They won’t be intimidated by a team that has scored only 630. Southern Oregon is on a roll but so is anyone who made it this far.

Title game particulars:
59th Annual Russell Athletic-NAIA Football National Championship
Friday, Dec. 19 | Municipal Stadium | Daytona Beach, Fla.
Marian (Ind.) (11-2) vs. Southern Oregon (12-2), 3 p.m. EST
Broadcast live on ESPNU (TWC Syracuse channel 370),
and ESPN 3 (http://espn.go.com/watchespn/ )