SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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FIRST ROUND
#10 NORTHERN IOWA used a 23 point first quarter to key a 44-10 rout of unranked Stephen , Austin. David Johnson scored on a 73 yard run to open the scoring and later on a 70 yard pass play while Michael Schmadeke kicked three first quarter field goals. The Panthers had the yardage edge 453-223. Johnson had 152 yards rushing and 84 catching passes.
#11 MONTANA crushed unranked San Diego, (not to be confused with San Diego State), 52-14. “The Grizzlies scored on six of their first eight possessions in the first half and held the Toreros (9-3) of the Pioneer Football League scoreless, to jump to an insurmountable 38-0 halftime lead.” (gogriz.com) They added two more scores before the Toros finally made it onto the scoreboard in the fourth quarter. Montana won the yardage battle 442-158. Jordan Johnson threw three touchdown passes and his back-up, Shay Smithwick-Hann passed for two more.
#12 FORDHAM doubled up #22 Sacred Heart 44-22. Mike Nebrich threw for 423 yards and 4 touchdowns, two to Tebucky Jones Jr. Chase Edmunds carried for 91 yards and a score, pushing his season total to 1,630 yards with 22 scores. It was the Rams ninth 40 point game of the year
And it came against the country’s 10th ranked defense.
#13 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE outscored #17 Montana State 47-40. The game was played in a snowstorm but it didn’t prevent Zach Zenner from pounding his way to 324 yards of total offense, 252 of them on the ground. “A Walter Payton Award candidate, Zenner tallied the first of four long scores on the second play from scrimmage and a mere 30 seconds into the game with a 45-yard touchdown run through the Bobcat defense….Zenner put the Jackrabbits ahead 14-6 with another quick-strike touchdown. This time, he took a swing pass from Austin Sumner and motored down the left sideline for a 69-yard score….The Bobcat lead lasted all of 38 seconds as Zenner went down the right sideline for a 60-yard touchdown run, giving SDSU a 31-26 lead following the Syrovatka PAT…..Zenner, who moved into third place on the FCS career rushing charts with 6,415 yards, finally put the game out of reach with a 69-yard touchdown run with 3 minutes and 10 seconds remaining in the game.” (NCAA.com) Austin Summer passed for 249 yards and 2 scores. The Bobcats had their heroes, too: Dakota Purkop, (love that name) passed for 280 yards and a score while Chad Newell rushed for 105 yards and topped Zenner with 5 rushing touchdowns- but the total distance was only 27 yards.
#16 RICHMOND downed unranked Morgan State 46-24, the entire margin of victory coming in a 22 point first quarter. Seth Fisher scored on two one yard plunges to build the lead up and alter caught a 22 yard pass for a third score. Michael Strauss passed for 272 yards and 4 scores. The yardage was virtually equal 463-460, but four turnovers doomed the Bears.
#19 SAM HOUSTON SATTE rallied to beat #9 Southeastern Louisiana 21-17 after being down 0-10 at halftime and lucky for it to be that close. They fumbled the opening kickoff and had two other turnovers, one on the SEL 1 yard line. Halftime was gut-check time. “The emotion going out was very strong,” first-year head coach K.C. Keeler said. “You could see guys bouncing around. (The coaching staff) did a great job of gently grabbing them by the throat and saying, ‘This is what we need to do.’ (chron.com) Jalen Overstreet and Donavan Williams both rushed for scores to give the Bearkats a 14-10 on the first play of the quarter. Bryan Bennett, the Southland Conference top quarterback two years in a row, ran it in from the 2 to give the Lions a 17-14 lead with 11:11 left. But, after a blocked field goal attempt Williams scored from 5 yards out with 7:10 left and the Bearkats made that lead hold up. They held SEL to 305 yards after they’d averaged 480 and Bennett only completed 17 of 48 passes.
#21 INDIANA STATE upset ##18 Eastern Kentucky and did in decisive fashion, 36-16. It was their first post season victory in 31 years.” Mike Perish led the way with a 41-of-57 passing performance for 407 yards and three touchdowns.” (gosycamores.com) The Colonels did all their scoring first, taking a 16-0 first half lead. But the Sycamores. Perish hit Robert Toynan from four yards out on the last play of the first half and then Kyani Harris from 57 yards out and Gary Owens from 38 in a 24 point third quarter. Two field goals, a safety and a pick six completed the scoring.
#23 LIBERTY defeated #15 James Madison, (James Madison was against Liberty?) 26-21. First it was all Liberty, 10-0. Then JM scored three unanswered touchdowns to take a 21-1o halftime lead. But then Liberty’s defense shut down the Dukes, who came in averaging 497 yards and 37 points a game. They only got 336 yards and didn’t score after halftime, gaining only 65 of those yards. The winning touchdown was scored with 2:53 left when Nicky Fualaau fumbled into the end zone and back-up tight end Canon Smith recovered it in the end zone for the score. Jauan Latney ran for 119 yards, including 73 for the Dukes first score. The game broke a six game losing streak for Liberty against James Madison.
The second round match-ups:
FORDHAM 11-2 (550-281), lost to Villanova 6-50 and Army 31-42, ranked #12 post season record: 5-5 (0 titles)
At
NEW HAMPSHIRE 10-1 (407-227), lost to Toledo 20-52 (in their first game) ranked #1, post season record: 10-15 (0 titles)
SAM HOUSTON STATE 9-4 (490-375), 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: 15-9-1 (1 title)
At
JACKSONVILLE STATE 10-1 (396-223), lost to Michigan State 7-45 (in their first game) ranked #2, post season record: 20-13 (1 title)
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 9-4 (423-328), lost to Missouri 18-38, Illinois State 10-45, Youngstown State 27-30 and North Dakota State 17-37, ranked #13 post season record:3-4 (0 titles)
At
NORTH DAKOTA STATE 10-1 (397-139), lost to Northern Iowa 3-23 ranked #3, post season record: 45-13 (11 titles)
MONTANA 9-4 (395-257), lost to Wyoming 12-17, North Dakota State 10-22, Cal Poly 21-41 and Eastern Washington 26-36, ranked #11 post season record: 33-20 (2 titles)
At
EASTERN WASHINGTON 10-2 (535-360), lost to Washington 52-59 and Northern Arizona 27-28, ranked #4, post season record: 14-10 (1 title)
LIBERTY 9-4, (452-365), lost to North Carolina 29-56, Indiana State 19-38, Richmond 39-46 and Charleston Southern 36-38, ranked #23 post season record: 0-0 (0 titles)
At
VILLANOVA 10-1 (468-254), lost to Syracuse 26-27 in 2OT and Richmond 9-10, ranked #5, post season record: 12-11-1 (1 title)
RICHMOND 8-4 (374-295), lost to Virginia 13-45, New Hampshire 26-29, Maine 20-33 and James Madison 20-55, ranked #16 post season record: 11-8-1 (1 title)
At
COASTAL CAROLINA 11-1 (454-220), lost to Liberty 14-15 (in their last game) ranked #6, post season record: 3-4 (0 titles)
NORTHERN IOWA 9-4, (431-238), lost to Iowa 23-31, Hawaii 24-27, Indiana State 19-20 and South Dakota State 28-31, ranked #10 post season record: 21-13 (0 titles)
At
ILLINOIS STATE 10-1 (426-208), Northern Iowa 28-42, ranked #7, post season record: 4-5 (0 titles)
INDIANA STATE 7-5 (304-288), lost to Indiana 10-28, Illinois State 18-20, North Dakota State 17-34, South Dakota State 17-24, Western Illinois 20-34,ranked #21 post season record: 1-2 (0 titles)
At
CHATTANOOGA 9-3 (421-222), lost to Central Michigan 16-20, Jacksonville State 23-26 in OT and Tennessee 10-45, ranked #8, post season record: 0-1 (0 titles)
Comments: The Bison of North Dakota State are going for their fourth straight national championship, something only one other college football team has ever done, (Augustana of Illinois in Division 3 from 1983-86). They are necessarily the Alabama of this division- the team to beat for the national championship each year, playing rock-ribbed defense with a strong running game but the ability to pass as well. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year, especially after coach Craig Bohl moved on to Wyoming. But they don’t rebuild: they reload. But their 33 game winning streak was snapped by Northern Iowa and snapped hard, a 3-23 loss that was no fluke. The Panthers are a tam to reckon with, also being the only team to beat Illinois State, against whom they now have a rematch. Also watch out for Eastern Washington, a perennial contender and former champion with an amazing quarterback in Vernon Adams, who has thrown for 107 touchdowns in his career. Then there’s Villanova and Coastal Carolina, who lost three games by a total of three points between them. But it’s New Hampshire who is ranked #1. They’ve never won anything but this could be the year.
Note: the first round was last week. The second round games were played yesterday, before I had a chance to complete this, so I’m posting it now. Here are the second round results, which I’ll be describing in my next post in this series:
New Hampshire 44 Fordham 19
Sam Houston State 37 Jacksonville State 26
North Dakota State 27 South Dakota State 24
Eastern Washington 37 Montana 20
Villanova 29 Liberty 22
Coastal Carolina 36 Richmond 15
Illinois State 41 Northern Iowa 21
Chattanooga 35 Indiana State 14
#10 NORTHERN IOWA used a 23 point first quarter to key a 44-10 rout of unranked Stephen , Austin. David Johnson scored on a 73 yard run to open the scoring and later on a 70 yard pass play while Michael Schmadeke kicked three first quarter field goals. The Panthers had the yardage edge 453-223. Johnson had 152 yards rushing and 84 catching passes.
#11 MONTANA crushed unranked San Diego, (not to be confused with San Diego State), 52-14. “The Grizzlies scored on six of their first eight possessions in the first half and held the Toreros (9-3) of the Pioneer Football League scoreless, to jump to an insurmountable 38-0 halftime lead.” (gogriz.com) They added two more scores before the Toros finally made it onto the scoreboard in the fourth quarter. Montana won the yardage battle 442-158. Jordan Johnson threw three touchdown passes and his back-up, Shay Smithwick-Hann passed for two more.
#12 FORDHAM doubled up #22 Sacred Heart 44-22. Mike Nebrich threw for 423 yards and 4 touchdowns, two to Tebucky Jones Jr. Chase Edmunds carried for 91 yards and a score, pushing his season total to 1,630 yards with 22 scores. It was the Rams ninth 40 point game of the year
And it came against the country’s 10th ranked defense.
#13 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE outscored #17 Montana State 47-40. The game was played in a snowstorm but it didn’t prevent Zach Zenner from pounding his way to 324 yards of total offense, 252 of them on the ground. “A Walter Payton Award candidate, Zenner tallied the first of four long scores on the second play from scrimmage and a mere 30 seconds into the game with a 45-yard touchdown run through the Bobcat defense….Zenner put the Jackrabbits ahead 14-6 with another quick-strike touchdown. This time, he took a swing pass from Austin Sumner and motored down the left sideline for a 69-yard score….The Bobcat lead lasted all of 38 seconds as Zenner went down the right sideline for a 60-yard touchdown run, giving SDSU a 31-26 lead following the Syrovatka PAT…..Zenner, who moved into third place on the FCS career rushing charts with 6,415 yards, finally put the game out of reach with a 69-yard touchdown run with 3 minutes and 10 seconds remaining in the game.” (NCAA.com) Austin Summer passed for 249 yards and 2 scores. The Bobcats had their heroes, too: Dakota Purkop, (love that name) passed for 280 yards and a score while Chad Newell rushed for 105 yards and topped Zenner with 5 rushing touchdowns- but the total distance was only 27 yards.
#16 RICHMOND downed unranked Morgan State 46-24, the entire margin of victory coming in a 22 point first quarter. Seth Fisher scored on two one yard plunges to build the lead up and alter caught a 22 yard pass for a third score. Michael Strauss passed for 272 yards and 4 scores. The yardage was virtually equal 463-460, but four turnovers doomed the Bears.
#19 SAM HOUSTON SATTE rallied to beat #9 Southeastern Louisiana 21-17 after being down 0-10 at halftime and lucky for it to be that close. They fumbled the opening kickoff and had two other turnovers, one on the SEL 1 yard line. Halftime was gut-check time. “The emotion going out was very strong,” first-year head coach K.C. Keeler said. “You could see guys bouncing around. (The coaching staff) did a great job of gently grabbing them by the throat and saying, ‘This is what we need to do.’ (chron.com) Jalen Overstreet and Donavan Williams both rushed for scores to give the Bearkats a 14-10 on the first play of the quarter. Bryan Bennett, the Southland Conference top quarterback two years in a row, ran it in from the 2 to give the Lions a 17-14 lead with 11:11 left. But, after a blocked field goal attempt Williams scored from 5 yards out with 7:10 left and the Bearkats made that lead hold up. They held SEL to 305 yards after they’d averaged 480 and Bennett only completed 17 of 48 passes.
#21 INDIANA STATE upset ##18 Eastern Kentucky and did in decisive fashion, 36-16. It was their first post season victory in 31 years.” Mike Perish led the way with a 41-of-57 passing performance for 407 yards and three touchdowns.” (gosycamores.com) The Colonels did all their scoring first, taking a 16-0 first half lead. But the Sycamores. Perish hit Robert Toynan from four yards out on the last play of the first half and then Kyani Harris from 57 yards out and Gary Owens from 38 in a 24 point third quarter. Two field goals, a safety and a pick six completed the scoring.
#23 LIBERTY defeated #15 James Madison, (James Madison was against Liberty?) 26-21. First it was all Liberty, 10-0. Then JM scored three unanswered touchdowns to take a 21-1o halftime lead. But then Liberty’s defense shut down the Dukes, who came in averaging 497 yards and 37 points a game. They only got 336 yards and didn’t score after halftime, gaining only 65 of those yards. The winning touchdown was scored with 2:53 left when Nicky Fualaau fumbled into the end zone and back-up tight end Canon Smith recovered it in the end zone for the score. Jauan Latney ran for 119 yards, including 73 for the Dukes first score. The game broke a six game losing streak for Liberty against James Madison.
The second round match-ups:
FORDHAM 11-2 (550-281), lost to Villanova 6-50 and Army 31-42, ranked #12 post season record: 5-5 (0 titles)
At
NEW HAMPSHIRE 10-1 (407-227), lost to Toledo 20-52 (in their first game) ranked #1, post season record: 10-15 (0 titles)
SAM HOUSTON STATE 9-4 (490-375), 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: 15-9-1 (1 title)
At
JACKSONVILLE STATE 10-1 (396-223), lost to Michigan State 7-45 (in their first game) ranked #2, post season record: 20-13 (1 title)
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 9-4 (423-328), lost to Missouri 18-38, Illinois State 10-45, Youngstown State 27-30 and North Dakota State 17-37, ranked #13 post season record:3-4 (0 titles)
At
NORTH DAKOTA STATE 10-1 (397-139), lost to Northern Iowa 3-23 ranked #3, post season record: 45-13 (11 titles)
MONTANA 9-4 (395-257), lost to Wyoming 12-17, North Dakota State 10-22, Cal Poly 21-41 and Eastern Washington 26-36, ranked #11 post season record: 33-20 (2 titles)
At
EASTERN WASHINGTON 10-2 (535-360), lost to Washington 52-59 and Northern Arizona 27-28, ranked #4, post season record: 14-10 (1 title)
LIBERTY 9-4, (452-365), lost to North Carolina 29-56, Indiana State 19-38, Richmond 39-46 and Charleston Southern 36-38, ranked #23 post season record: 0-0 (0 titles)
At
VILLANOVA 10-1 (468-254), lost to Syracuse 26-27 in 2OT and Richmond 9-10, ranked #5, post season record: 12-11-1 (1 title)
RICHMOND 8-4 (374-295), lost to Virginia 13-45, New Hampshire 26-29, Maine 20-33 and James Madison 20-55, ranked #16 post season record: 11-8-1 (1 title)
At
COASTAL CAROLINA 11-1 (454-220), lost to Liberty 14-15 (in their last game) ranked #6, post season record: 3-4 (0 titles)
NORTHERN IOWA 9-4, (431-238), lost to Iowa 23-31, Hawaii 24-27, Indiana State 19-20 and South Dakota State 28-31, ranked #10 post season record: 21-13 (0 titles)
At
ILLINOIS STATE 10-1 (426-208), Northern Iowa 28-42, ranked #7, post season record: 4-5 (0 titles)
INDIANA STATE 7-5 (304-288), lost to Indiana 10-28, Illinois State 18-20, North Dakota State 17-34, South Dakota State 17-24, Western Illinois 20-34,ranked #21 post season record: 1-2 (0 titles)
At
CHATTANOOGA 9-3 (421-222), lost to Central Michigan 16-20, Jacksonville State 23-26 in OT and Tennessee 10-45, ranked #8, post season record: 0-1 (0 titles)
Comments: The Bison of North Dakota State are going for their fourth straight national championship, something only one other college football team has ever done, (Augustana of Illinois in Division 3 from 1983-86). They are necessarily the Alabama of this division- the team to beat for the national championship each year, playing rock-ribbed defense with a strong running game but the ability to pass as well. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year, especially after coach Craig Bohl moved on to Wyoming. But they don’t rebuild: they reload. But their 33 game winning streak was snapped by Northern Iowa and snapped hard, a 3-23 loss that was no fluke. The Panthers are a tam to reckon with, also being the only team to beat Illinois State, against whom they now have a rematch. Also watch out for Eastern Washington, a perennial contender and former champion with an amazing quarterback in Vernon Adams, who has thrown for 107 touchdowns in his career. Then there’s Villanova and Coastal Carolina, who lost three games by a total of three points between them. But it’s New Hampshire who is ranked #1. They’ve never won anything but this could be the year.
Note: the first round was last week. The second round games were played yesterday, before I had a chance to complete this, so I’m posting it now. Here are the second round results, which I’ll be describing in my next post in this series:
New Hampshire 44 Fordham 19
Sam Houston State 37 Jacksonville State 26
North Dakota State 27 South Dakota State 24
Eastern Washington 37 Montana 20
Villanova 29 Liberty 22
Coastal Carolina 36 Richmond 15
Illinois State 41 Northern Iowa 21
Chattanooga 35 Indiana State 14
