SWC75
Bored Historian
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New Hampshire had one moment of glory vs. mighty North Dakota State, opening the scoring with a 38 yard pick six by Steven Thames off a pass by Brock Jensen. The Bison scored the next 52 points before letting the Wildcats get a totally meaningless late touchdown with 29 seconds left in the game. They out-gained the visitors 509-184, out-rushing them 350-67. Jensen only passed for 146 yards but got 3TD passes. John Crockett didn’t score but ran for 195 yards in the Bison’s long, grinding drives, one of which went 15 plays and other 12.
Towson vs. Eastern Washington was running vs. passing. In the quarterfinals vs. Eastern Illinois, another great passing team , (their quarterback, Jimmy Garropolo, wound up with 53 TD passes), jumped out to a 14-0 lead but wound up losing 39-49. They kept the momentum going against Eastern Washington, (whose quarterback, Vernon Adams wound up with 55 TD passes), jumping out to a 21-0 lead. Then EW came alive, scoring 31 unanswered points.
I love a game with multiple comebacks and this was one. The Tigers then pulled themselves together and drove 75 yards in on 13 running plays to make it 28-31. The final 3 yards was negotiated by the nation’s leading rusher, Terrence West, who now has 2,490 yards and 40 touchdowns, both FCS records. West was hit in the backfield but spun away from his tackler and out-sprinted everyone else to the corner.
Eastern was trying to run out the clock and attempted a pass on 4th and 2 at the Tiger 29 but a pass was dropped by Cooper Kupp, who had caught 93 of Adams passes this year. Cupp was wide open not only for a first down but a touchdown. Taking over with 1:35 left, Towson drove down the field on five passes and three runs by Connor Frazier, arriving at the one yard line with 25 seconds left West was stuffed for no gain but Frazier pushed it over behind some determined blocking to make it 35-31. Adams first pass, with 17 seconds left was intercepted and Frazier took a knee to end a terrific game.
The Eagles out-gained the Tigers 580-483 but were out-rushed 241-186 and gave up those last drives when it counted. In the end they couldn’t seal the deal on their bright red turf.
One can only hope the title game, which will be played on January 4th at 2PM in Frisco, Texas on ESPN2, will be as great a game as the Towson-EW classic. The match-up:
NORTH DAKOTA STATE 14-0 (546-162) #1, 44-13 (10)
At
TOWSON 13-2 (578-348) #4, 6-5 (0)
Towson has shown all kinds of guts, coming back to dominate Eastern Illinois 49-25 after that 0-14 deficit, taking the 21-0 lead on Eastern Washington, giving up 31 in a row and then scoring those two late touchdowns to win. And they did that on the road in bad weather conditions. Now they will be playing on a neutral field in good weather conditions. They are not to be under-estimated.
But they are playing North Dakota State, a team with a much superior defense and plenty of history on their side who has breezed throw the playoffs, beating three teams who thought they were pretty good by 31, 34 and then 38 points. This game reminds me of the FBS title game where Florida State is “obviously” the better team with a better all-around offense and a much better defense. But their opponent, Auburn, can dominate games with their rushing attack. And the favorite has not been used to playing close games. What will they do if they have to make those long drives at the end. The difference is that the Bison have won the last two national championships and have had plenty of experience with tough games.
Towson, like Auburn seems like a team of destiny. But North Dakota State, like Florida State is a team of excellence.
Towson vs. Eastern Washington was running vs. passing. In the quarterfinals vs. Eastern Illinois, another great passing team , (their quarterback, Jimmy Garropolo, wound up with 53 TD passes), jumped out to a 14-0 lead but wound up losing 39-49. They kept the momentum going against Eastern Washington, (whose quarterback, Vernon Adams wound up with 55 TD passes), jumping out to a 21-0 lead. Then EW came alive, scoring 31 unanswered points.
I love a game with multiple comebacks and this was one. The Tigers then pulled themselves together and drove 75 yards in on 13 running plays to make it 28-31. The final 3 yards was negotiated by the nation’s leading rusher, Terrence West, who now has 2,490 yards and 40 touchdowns, both FCS records. West was hit in the backfield but spun away from his tackler and out-sprinted everyone else to the corner.
Eastern was trying to run out the clock and attempted a pass on 4th and 2 at the Tiger 29 but a pass was dropped by Cooper Kupp, who had caught 93 of Adams passes this year. Cupp was wide open not only for a first down but a touchdown. Taking over with 1:35 left, Towson drove down the field on five passes and three runs by Connor Frazier, arriving at the one yard line with 25 seconds left West was stuffed for no gain but Frazier pushed it over behind some determined blocking to make it 35-31. Adams first pass, with 17 seconds left was intercepted and Frazier took a knee to end a terrific game.
The Eagles out-gained the Tigers 580-483 but were out-rushed 241-186 and gave up those last drives when it counted. In the end they couldn’t seal the deal on their bright red turf.
One can only hope the title game, which will be played on January 4th at 2PM in Frisco, Texas on ESPN2, will be as great a game as the Towson-EW classic. The match-up:
NORTH DAKOTA STATE 14-0 (546-162) #1, 44-13 (10)
At
TOWSON 13-2 (578-348) #4, 6-5 (0)
Towson has shown all kinds of guts, coming back to dominate Eastern Illinois 49-25 after that 0-14 deficit, taking the 21-0 lead on Eastern Washington, giving up 31 in a row and then scoring those two late touchdowns to win. And they did that on the road in bad weather conditions. Now they will be playing on a neutral field in good weather conditions. They are not to be under-estimated.
But they are playing North Dakota State, a team with a much superior defense and plenty of history on their side who has breezed throw the playoffs, beating three teams who thought they were pretty good by 31, 34 and then 38 points. This game reminds me of the FBS title game where Florida State is “obviously” the better team with a better all-around offense and a much better defense. But their opponent, Auburn, can dominate games with their rushing attack. And the favorite has not been used to playing close games. What will they do if they have to make those long drives at the end. The difference is that the Bison have won the last two national championships and have had plenty of experience with tough games.
Towson, like Auburn seems like a team of destiny. But North Dakota State, like Florida State is a team of excellence.
