SWC75
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Here is the field for the NCAA Division I (Football Championship Subdivision, or FCS) playoffs, with the team name, the state they are in, (if it’s not already part of the name), the won-loss record, the points for and against, who they lost to, their ranking, their all time post season record, (including NAIA and other NCAA divisions and small college bowl games, and championships won. They run a 20 team playoff with the bottom four teams playing “play-in” games the first week, which is this week.
FIRST ROUND
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (8-3, 243-175) Lost to Kansas 17-31 on 9/1, Northern Illinois 6-27 on 10/20 and North Dakota State 17-20 on 11/10. Rank: #21. All-time: 0-2. No titles.
Vs.
EASTERN ILLINOIS (7-4, 428-376) Lost to Western Michigan 21-52 on 9/8, Illinois State 51-54 on 9/15, Tennessee-Martin 37-51 on 10/6 and Central Arkansas 30-48 on 11/17. Unranked. All-time: 8-15. Titles: NCAA II 1978 (1).
BETHUNE-COOKMAN of Florida (9-2, 339-195) Lost to Miami 10-38 on 9/15 and Tennessee State 14-21. Rank: #22. All-Time 5-7. No titles.
Vs.
COASTAL CAROLINA of South Carolina (7-4, 387-292) Lost to Eastern Kentucky 17-35 on 9/15, Toledo 28-38 on 9/22, Appalachian State 14-55 on 9/29 and Stony Brook 21-27 on 10/13. Unranked. All-time: 0-2. No titles.
STONY BROOK of New York (9-2, 430-176) Lost to Syracuse 17-28 on 9/15 and Liberty 14-28 on 11/10. Rank: #11. All-time: 1-1. No titles.
Vs.
VILLANOVA of Pennsylvania (8-3, 343-231) Lost to Temple 10-41 on 8/31, Richmond 17-28 on 10/6 and Towson 35-49 on 10/27. Rank: #18. All-time: 12-10-1. Titles: FCS 2009 (1).
WAGNER of New York (8-3, 242-179) Lost to Florida Atlantic 3-7 on 8/31, Georgetown 10-13 on 9/8 and Monmouth 17-38 on 9/15. Unranked. All-time: 4-3. Titles: NCAA DIII 1987 (1).
Vs.
COLGATE of New York (8-3, 453-349) Lost to Albany 23-40 on 9/1, South Dakota 21-32 on 9/8 and Stony Brook 31-32 on 9/22. Rank: #25. All-time: 4-8. No titles.
Byes:
NORTH DAKOTA STATE (10-1, 391-130) Lost to Indiana State 14-17 on 10/3. Rank: #1. All-time: 41-14. Titles: POLL 1965, 1968, 1969, NCAA DII 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, FCS 2011 (9).
WOFFORD of South Carolina (8-3, 345-195) Lost to Georgia Southern 9-17 on 10/13, Samford 17-24 on 11/3 and South Carolina 7-24 on 11/17. Rank: #9. All-time: 5-7. No titles.
NEW HAMPSHIRE (8-3, 402-314) Lost to Minnesota 7-44 on 9/8, Old Dominion 61-64, (yes, 61-64!) on 9/22 and Towson 35-64 on 11/17. Rank: #13. All-Time 7-13. No titles.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN (8-3, 390-234) Lost to the Citadel 21-23 on 9/8, Appalachian State 28-31 on 11/3 and Georgia 14-45 on 11/17. Rank: #7 All-time: 43-12. Titles: FCS 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1999, 2000 (6).
CENTRAL ARKANSAS (9-2, 402-246) Lost to Mississippi 27-49 on 9/1 and Stephen F. Austin 37-42 on 9/29. Rank: #8. All-Time 15-15-2. NAIA DI 1984, 1985, 1991 (3).
OLD DOMINION of Virginia (10-1, 489-312) Lost to Villanova 14-38 on 10/13. Rank: #3. All-time: 1-1. No titles.
MONTANA STATE (10-1,403-230) Lost to Eastern Washington 24-27 on 10/13. Rank: #2. All-Time 9-6-2. NAIA 1956, NCAA DII 1976, FCS 1984 (3).
SAM HOUSTON STATE (8-3, 490-209) Lost to Baylor 23-48 on 9/15, Central Arkansas 20-24 on 9/22 and Texas A&M 28-47 on 11/17. Rank: #5. All-time 10-6-1. NAIA 1964 (1).
CAL POLY (9-2, 424-266) Lost to Sacramento State 29-35 on 10/27 and Eastern Washington 17-34 on 11/3. Rank: #12. All-time: 5-5. Titles: NCAA DII 1980 (1).
APPALACHIAN STATE of North Carolina (8-3, 358-314) Lost to East Carolina 13-35 on 9/1, the Citadel 28-52 on 9/15 and Wofford 28-38 on 10/20. Rank: #6. All-Time 26-22. Titles: FCS: 2005, 2006, 2007 (3).
ILLINOIS STATE (8-3, 320-151) Lost to Southern Illinois 0-17 on 10/6, Missouri State 17-24 on 10/20 and North Dakota State 20-38 on 11/17. Rank: #15. All-time: 3-3. Bo titles.
EASTERN WASHINGTON (9-2, 350-257) Lost to Washington State 20-24 on 9/8 and Southern Utah 27-30 on 10/27. Rank: #4. All-time: 10-8. Titles: FCS 2010 (1).
I have a soft spot in my heart for North Dakota State. They, Delaware and Ithaca are my favorite small college teams, Ithaca because of their success and the way they represented Upstate New York in the DIII playoffs from 1974-1991, Delaware because my cousin was a professor there for many years and because, I thought a team that dressed like Michigan, (but in a more appealing shade of blue), and called themselves the “Blue Hens” was cool. They were also the top upper-level, (mid-major?) small college program in the East for many years and, like the Ithaca Bombers, seemed to represent the region to the nation. My affection for North Dakota State dates back to a couple of articles I read in Sports Illustrated in 1966:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1079213/3/index.htm
and
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1079266/index.htm
The first article peaked my interest and the second elicited my sympathy and I’ve followed the Bison from a distance ever since, though their great success in the late 60’s and the 80’s. I was delighted to see them come back to prominence last year and win the FCS title over Sam Houston State, 17-6. My hope is to someday see the Blue Hens and the Bison duke it out for the FCS title. But this year I’m pulling for the Stony Brook Sea Wolves. It would be cool to think that SU had beaten the FCS champs.
FIRST ROUND
South Dakota State crushed Eastern Illinois 58-10 as Zach Zenner ran for 295 yards and three touchdowns. Reggie Handy ran for another 151 yards and two scores for the Jackrabbits. All three of Zenner‘s scores including an opening 63 yarder, and 246 of his rushing yards came in the first half and SDSU rolled up a 34-3 lead. They scored on six consecutive possessions.
Like South Dakota State, Coastal Carolina had never won a post-season game until they beat Bethune-Cookman. The Chanticleers, (Roosters), scored the game’s first 24 points and withstood a late rally to win, 24-14. A 17 point second quarter was all they needed. A field goal before halftime was set up by a disputed fumble recovery. BC Coach Brian Jenkins: “He did fumble and we had a couple players that were in the area of the ball, but they blew the play dead so they stopped and their player recovered the ball,” Jenkins said afterward. “And then they reviewed it. If you call a play dead, I don’t understand how you go back and review it, but they did. My argument was you blew the play dead so it negates anything else. ... That’s what happened. And then right before halftime, the guy who blew the play dead, he came to me and we talked and I appreciate what he said.” He didn’t reveal what he said, however. The 10 penalties for 108 yards the refs called on Wildcats didn’t help Jenkins’ disposition any, either. Bethune-Cookman finally scored twice in the final 6:44 but a failed try for two on the second score left them 10 points short.
I think we should all be rooting for Stony Brook to win this so we could brag that, while we played an FCS team, our FCS team won the national championship- and we beat them!. They could do it, too. Last year they lost in the playoffs to the #1 ranked team, Sam Houston State, by only a touchdown in their place. This year they started out by beating Villanova, the 2009 FCS champs, 20-10. Miguel Maysonet, who had the big run vs. us, ran for 160 yards and two second quarter scores against the Wildcats. To give the Sea wolves a 14-0 halftime lead. They extended the lead to 20-3 before Villanova scored with 6:57 left to make it 20-10. But Stony Brook clinched it by forcing the Wildcats to turn the ball over on downs three minutes later.
Back in the 60’s, my brother went to Hamilton and the toughest team they played every year was Wagner, a small school on Staten Island. They were still a division III schools in 1987 when they beat Dayton for the title. They jumps all the way from DIII to what was then 1AA in 1993. It seemed like a strange move for a school with only 2400 students. But their schedule didn’t change much. Basically the conference they were in, the Northeast Conference, declared themselves to be 1AA teams and they mostly played each other. Bryant, Central Connecticut, Duquesne, Monmouth, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis (Pa), SUNY-Albany and Wagner. Not exactly a murder’s row. They conference didn’t even participate in the playoffs until 2010 and were 0-2. I didn’t give Wagner much of a chance against Colgate. I still see them as a DIII team. But the Seahawks pulled down the Red Raiders, 31-20. They had lost their first three games to Florida Atlantic, Georgetown and Monmouth but have responded with 9 wins in a row, 7 of them by 11 points or less. Colgate had been averaging 504 yards per game but got only 296 against Wagner, who forced 5 turnovers. Nick Dorscher tossed two touchdown passes and Dominique Williams rushed for 106 yards and a score for the winners.
SECOND ROUND
Defending champion North Dakota State had beaten South Dakota State, (once upon a time they were in North Central Conference but now they are together in the Missouri Valley), 20-17 on November 10th but this was the playoffs. The Bison haven’t won 9 national championships for nothing. “Our guys are vets in the playoffs. There's just a different look in their eye," NDSU head coach
Craig Bohl said. "Once we get to postseason play they're kicking it into a different gear." (San Francisco Chronicle) After spotting the Jackrabbit’s a field goal, they trampled them the rest of the game on the way to a 28-3 win. They held FCS’s leading rusher, Zach Zenner to 46 yards rushing. It was 21-3 at the half. “The Bison (11-1) added a trick play for good measure when diminutive wide receiver Ryan Smith took a handoff from Jensen, took cover behind one of his offensive linemen and scampered 32 yards untouched on an end around in the second quarter. Most of the SDSU defenders and the 18,482 fans inside the Fargodome
had their eyes on Jensen. "Ryan stood there with the ball for a couple seconds. He took off and there was no one within 40 yards of him," Jensen said. "All 11 guys for South Dakota State thought I had the ball."
Old Dominion of Virginia won a game with a basketball score, 63-35 over Coastal Carolina. Quarterback Taylor Heincke had a record-setting day, completing 32 of 44 passes for 497 yards and 6 touchdowns. He ran for another 45 yards and two scores, giving him an FCS playoff record 542 yards of total offense. He’s passed for 4,655 yards this year, the second highest total in the Division’s history. The Monarchs are the FCS total offense champion with 549 yards per game, 46 more than any other team. And 46 is their division leading scoring average. They scored the final 28 points to break up a 35-35 tie with the Chanticleers, who scored two touchdowns in 28 seconds in the third quarter to tie it. An 11 yard fade from Aramis Hillary to DeMario Bennett made it 28-35. Tyree Lee fumbled and the “Chants” scored again on an 18 yard run by Travis Small. Heinicke threw three touchdown passes, one a beautiful 73 yarder in stride to Larry Pinkard and Nick Mayer ran it in from 13 yards out to put the game out of reach.
New York State got eliminated form the playoffs out west as Stony Brook lost to Montana State 10-16 and Wagner to Eastern Washington 19-29. (And the reason they weren’t playing each other instead is: ?). The Sea Wolves missed a field goal and Miguel Maysonet fumbled in the red zone ion the first half and Quarterback Kyle Essington fumbled when sacked with a minute left to kill their chances. DeNarius McGhee hit Tanner Bleskin for a 69 yard scoring strike and a 45 yarder that set up one of Roy Perez’s three field goals for the winners. Stony Brook’s one touchdown was set up by an interception and two interference calls as they were only able to gain 245 yards to 346 for the Bobcats.
Eastern Washington beat Wagner 29-19 as Kyle Padron threw for 327 yards, including 174 to Brandon Kaufman on 10 catches. Strangely, they never hooked up for a score. The Seahawks led 19-14 in the third quarter but short runs by Quincy Forte and Demitrius Bronson after long drives decided the issue. Wagner’s 1000 yard rusher, Dominique Williams, was unable to play. The Eagles out-gained the Seahawks 411-296.
Wofford ran right by New Hampshire, totaling 454 yards on the ground, 247 by Eric Breitenstein who scored three touchdowns in a 23-7 win. They average 348 for the season. “New Hampshire coach Sean McDonnell said Wofford’s run-based offense led by Breitenstein is difficult to prepare for when you don’t see it much. ‘‘It’s like teaching another language in two weeks.”, (per Boston.com.) New Hampshire only gained 238 yards and their only score was on a fumble return.
Georgia Southern’s quarterback Jerick McKinnon ran for an incredible 316 yards on an even more incredible 34 carries, scored two touchdowns and actually passed for another in leading the Eagles to a 24-16 win over Central Arkansas. Georgia Southern, long masters of the triple option, ran for 404 yards. They have won the 1AA/FCS championship 6 times, more than any other school. Wynnick Smothers passed for 251 yards for Central Arkansas but 2 of his 41 passes fell incomplete.
Illinois State eliminated Appalachian State in a 38-37 thriller, blocking the game typing extra point to win it. Matt Brown passed for 322 yards and 5 touchdowns. App State had rallied from a 17-28 fourth quarter deficit to send the game into overtime. Brown threw 25 yards to James O’Shaughnessy to give the Redbirds the lead. Jamal Jackson threw 4 yards to Andrew Peacock but Shelby Harris blocked Sam Martin’s extra point for the win.
Sam Houston State was the hot team last year- until they ran into North Dakota State. This year has been a bumpier ride with three losses. But two of them have been to Baylor, (no, not Mary Hardin’s Baylor), and Texas A&M. The third was to Central Arkansas and they almost got a fourth vs. Cal Poly, who out-gained them 387-241 but came up short on the scoreboard, 16-18. The difference was a blocked punt that bounced through the end zone for a safety. The rest was mostly field goals. SHS got three of them and Cal Poly got two of them. Brian bell threw 18 yards to Keyshawn Hill for the Bearkats (sic) only TD while the Mustangs, (yes, Cal Poly is the Mustangs, not Sam Houston State) but a 50 yard bomb from Willie Tucker to Ryan Taylor with 1:34 left but they could not get the subsequent onsides kick.
QUARTER-FINALS
Defending national champion North Dakota State barely survived Wofford, 14-7, twice stopping the Terriers twice inside their own 10 yards line in the fourth quarter to advance to the semi-finals. Linebacker Grant Olson set a record with 27 tackles. The Bison continued their record of stopping option attacks, keeping Wofford’s offense out of their end zone. They haven’t given up an offensive touchdown in 14 quarters. The Terrier’s only score came on a 54 yard interception return in the second quarter. The two fourth quarter threats ended in a blocked field goal and a failed fourth down conversion.
The Bison scored after a 75 yard opening drive and a 97 yard drive just before the half. The terriers out-gained the Bison 326-262 and did manage to rush for 262 yards, far less than the 454 they gained in the quarter-finals vs. New Hampshire.
North Dakota State will once again face Georgia Southern, whom they beat 35-7 on the way to the title last year, in the semis. The Eagles, the nation’s #1 rushing team, (they gained 302 yards rushing in a game against Alabama- no less- two years ago but could only manage 186 vs. NDS last year), won their confrontation with the nation’s #1 passing team, Old Dominion, 49-35, but had to come back from a 35-21 deficit to do it. The Monarchs passed for 421 yards but the Eagles ran for an incredible 602 yards, including 186 yards and 2 scores form Dominique Swope and 171 yards and 4 scores from Jerik McKinnon.
Sam Houston State, who was #1 all last season until the Bison tamed their option offense, 17-6, in the finals, (they only rushed for 95 yards and could only gain 210 vs. NDS), had too much team speed for Montana State, whom they beat 49-13 in last year’s playoffs. They were in the Grizzlies’ backfield on every defensive play and ran past them when the Bearkats had the ball. The out-gained the home team 458-292, Last year in Texas it was 501-349). They ran for 204 yards and passed for 254. The Bearkats led 20-3 at halftime and Montana State never got back in it. They’d been looking for revenge for last year and all they got was a replay.
The Bearkats will now play the 2010 FCS champion, Eastern Washington, the team that plays on the red carpet. They beat the Redbird of Illinois State 51-35 in a game that must have been blinding to look at. Kyle Padron threw 6 touchdown passes, including two on successive plays to Brandon Kauffman early in the third quarter, (the second following an interception) to give the Eagles a 38-17 lead The Redbirds closed to within 38-35 but Padron found Kauffman again for a 76 yard score and then closed out the scoring with #6 to Ashton Clark from 10 yards out. Their game vs. the Bearkats will be another “Red Carpet” game.
SEMI-FINALS
Two of the legendary programs of small-college football got together for a classic game when Georgia Southern, holder of 6 FCS championships, took on North Dakota State, who won three poll titles in the 60’s, five Division II titles and last year’s FCS title. In their title run last season, the Bison nominated Georgia Southern in the semi-finals, 35-7. The Eagles are masters of the triple option, (they are current coached by a Paul Johnson disciple, Jeff Monken), and they can be hugely- and frustratingly, for the defense, productive when they don’t make mistakes. But in last year’s game they turned the ball over 3 times and were held to 186 yards rushing by the Bison, who have a reputation for stopping option attacks. This year they were determined to do better, and did, sort of. They rushed for 276 yards and also connected on 5 long passes for another 159 yards. The Eagles out-gained the Bison 430-276 and led for most of the game. But they committed an agonizing 13 penalties for 103 yards and had two kicks blocked, allowing the defending champs to wriggle off the hook.
The teams traded first quarter touchdowns- and blocked extra points for a 6-6 tie. The Dominick Swope, who I think you’ll hear about on the next level, caught a pass from quarterback Jerik McKinnon and bounced off tacklers until he found the end zone after 49 yards. NDS got a field goal before halftime and even took a brief lead in the third period after GSU’s only turnover, a fumble followed by a 53 yard run by Sam Ojuri on the next play. But Southern responded with a 9 play 85 yard drive capped by McKinnon’s 25 yard burst for the go-ahead score that made it 20-16 in the Eagle‘s favor.
The teams then traded punts until NDS got the ball at it’s own 17 with 5:49 left. To this point they had only 194 yards of total offense. But they put on an 83 yard drive, aided by a roughing the passer penalty to score the winner, which came at 4th and 3 from the 5 yard line. Quarterback Brock Jensen had had a 53 yard run on the first play of the drive turned into a 20 yarder with a somewhat dubious holding penalty, dropped back into a spread formation and called his won number, bolting over almost untouched because the Eagles were trying to account for all of his receivers. The extra point made it 23-20 with 3:05 left.
That’s a lot of time but Georgia Southern is not really a passing team, even if they can hit a big one occasionally when the other team is concentrating on the run. McKinnon ran for a loss of a yard and then threw two incompletion on the run. It seemed hopeless but McKinnon, on 4th and 11 found Ezayi Youyoute for 40 yards down the sideline. GSU’s kicking game had been so bad this year that Monken had appealed to the soccer team for a kicker. He found Drew Ruggles, who had done some (American) football kicking in high school. Monken was apparently content with trying to set up Ruggles rather than risk an interception as three running plays produced a net 3 yards before Ruggles’ 50 yard field goal was blocked. McKinnon wound up with the ball and threw a pass to Austin Hagan which was short and didn’t count anyway as Hagen wasn’t an eligible receiver. Jensen took a knee and the defending champ survived for a date with the Sam Houston State- Eastern Washington winner next Saturday.
The bright red field of Eastern Washington was the scene of one of the most remarkable football games I’ve ever seen. In the first half it was remarkably one-sided as speedy Sam Houston State bolted out to a 35-0 halftime lead. They scored on a 9 play 64 yard drive int heir first possession, then Robert Shaw intercepted Kyle Padron’s pass and returned it 37 yards for a score. Brian bell ran 72 yards for another touchdown. A short punt set up a 48 yard drive for #4. And failed fourth down conversion and a 39 yard burst by Tim Flanders set up still another TD. The only question seemed to be: how a bad is this going to get?
In the second half it got very bad- for the Bearkats. In an amazing performance, back-up quarterback Vernon Adams threw six second half touchdown passes in his team’s first 7 possessions: 31 yards to Greg Herd, 22 to Brandon Kauffman, 43 to Ashton Clark, 43 to Kauffman, 7 to Nicholas Edwards and 33 yards to Kauffman. SHS managed to respond with a 4 yard pass from Brian Bell to Shane Young, (set up by a 49 yard run by Flanders) and a 42 yard field goal by Miguel Antonio, followed by the one time they stopped Adams with an interception by Dax Swanson at the Bearkat 26.
When the dust had cleared, Sam Houston State won 45-42 and advanced to the finals against North Dakota State, who beat them in last year’s finals, 6-17. If the Eagles had completed their comeback, they would have tied the record for the largest comeback in college football history. But the final margin was the closest they got. Adams was 14 for 26 for 364yards, 6TDs and 2 interceptions. Padron had been 8 for 16 for 117 yards, no scores and a pick. Together they threw for 481 yards of Eastern Washington’s 523 total yards. Sam Houston State ran for 418 of their 503 yards, 231 on 34 carries by Flannery who, strangely, didn’t score in a game where seemingly everyone else did.
The Championship match-up:
NORTH DAKOTA STATE (13-1, 456-160) Lost to Indiana State 14-17 on 10/3. Rank: #1. All-time: 44-14. Titles: POLL 1965, 1968, 1969, NCAA DII 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, FCS 2011 (9).
Vs.
SAM HOUSTON STATE (11-3, 587-283) Lost to Baylor 23-48 on 9/15, Central Arkansas 20-24 on 9/22 and Texas A&M 28-47 on 11/17. Rank: #5. All-time 13-6-1. NAIA 1964 (1).
So which Sam Houston State will show up? The team that was so dominating in building a 35-0 first half lead vs. Eastern Washington? Or the one that was out-scored 10-42 in the second half. They lost so much intensity in that second half that it often seemed that their D-backs were just jogging after the receivers. Hopefully they will get it back for the final. I thought they were pretty much unstoppable last year but that the lay-off dissipated their momentum. North Dakota State looked very vulnerable both against Wofford and Georgia Southern but it will take 60 minutes of sustained effort to beat them.
FIRST ROUND
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (8-3, 243-175) Lost to Kansas 17-31 on 9/1, Northern Illinois 6-27 on 10/20 and North Dakota State 17-20 on 11/10. Rank: #21. All-time: 0-2. No titles.
Vs.
EASTERN ILLINOIS (7-4, 428-376) Lost to Western Michigan 21-52 on 9/8, Illinois State 51-54 on 9/15, Tennessee-Martin 37-51 on 10/6 and Central Arkansas 30-48 on 11/17. Unranked. All-time: 8-15. Titles: NCAA II 1978 (1).
BETHUNE-COOKMAN of Florida (9-2, 339-195) Lost to Miami 10-38 on 9/15 and Tennessee State 14-21. Rank: #22. All-Time 5-7. No titles.
Vs.
COASTAL CAROLINA of South Carolina (7-4, 387-292) Lost to Eastern Kentucky 17-35 on 9/15, Toledo 28-38 on 9/22, Appalachian State 14-55 on 9/29 and Stony Brook 21-27 on 10/13. Unranked. All-time: 0-2. No titles.
STONY BROOK of New York (9-2, 430-176) Lost to Syracuse 17-28 on 9/15 and Liberty 14-28 on 11/10. Rank: #11. All-time: 1-1. No titles.
Vs.
VILLANOVA of Pennsylvania (8-3, 343-231) Lost to Temple 10-41 on 8/31, Richmond 17-28 on 10/6 and Towson 35-49 on 10/27. Rank: #18. All-time: 12-10-1. Titles: FCS 2009 (1).
WAGNER of New York (8-3, 242-179) Lost to Florida Atlantic 3-7 on 8/31, Georgetown 10-13 on 9/8 and Monmouth 17-38 on 9/15. Unranked. All-time: 4-3. Titles: NCAA DIII 1987 (1).
Vs.
COLGATE of New York (8-3, 453-349) Lost to Albany 23-40 on 9/1, South Dakota 21-32 on 9/8 and Stony Brook 31-32 on 9/22. Rank: #25. All-time: 4-8. No titles.
Byes:
NORTH DAKOTA STATE (10-1, 391-130) Lost to Indiana State 14-17 on 10/3. Rank: #1. All-time: 41-14. Titles: POLL 1965, 1968, 1969, NCAA DII 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, FCS 2011 (9).
WOFFORD of South Carolina (8-3, 345-195) Lost to Georgia Southern 9-17 on 10/13, Samford 17-24 on 11/3 and South Carolina 7-24 on 11/17. Rank: #9. All-time: 5-7. No titles.
NEW HAMPSHIRE (8-3, 402-314) Lost to Minnesota 7-44 on 9/8, Old Dominion 61-64, (yes, 61-64!) on 9/22 and Towson 35-64 on 11/17. Rank: #13. All-Time 7-13. No titles.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN (8-3, 390-234) Lost to the Citadel 21-23 on 9/8, Appalachian State 28-31 on 11/3 and Georgia 14-45 on 11/17. Rank: #7 All-time: 43-12. Titles: FCS 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1999, 2000 (6).
CENTRAL ARKANSAS (9-2, 402-246) Lost to Mississippi 27-49 on 9/1 and Stephen F. Austin 37-42 on 9/29. Rank: #8. All-Time 15-15-2. NAIA DI 1984, 1985, 1991 (3).
OLD DOMINION of Virginia (10-1, 489-312) Lost to Villanova 14-38 on 10/13. Rank: #3. All-time: 1-1. No titles.
MONTANA STATE (10-1,403-230) Lost to Eastern Washington 24-27 on 10/13. Rank: #2. All-Time 9-6-2. NAIA 1956, NCAA DII 1976, FCS 1984 (3).
SAM HOUSTON STATE (8-3, 490-209) Lost to Baylor 23-48 on 9/15, Central Arkansas 20-24 on 9/22 and Texas A&M 28-47 on 11/17. Rank: #5. All-time 10-6-1. NAIA 1964 (1).
CAL POLY (9-2, 424-266) Lost to Sacramento State 29-35 on 10/27 and Eastern Washington 17-34 on 11/3. Rank: #12. All-time: 5-5. Titles: NCAA DII 1980 (1).
APPALACHIAN STATE of North Carolina (8-3, 358-314) Lost to East Carolina 13-35 on 9/1, the Citadel 28-52 on 9/15 and Wofford 28-38 on 10/20. Rank: #6. All-Time 26-22. Titles: FCS: 2005, 2006, 2007 (3).
ILLINOIS STATE (8-3, 320-151) Lost to Southern Illinois 0-17 on 10/6, Missouri State 17-24 on 10/20 and North Dakota State 20-38 on 11/17. Rank: #15. All-time: 3-3. Bo titles.
EASTERN WASHINGTON (9-2, 350-257) Lost to Washington State 20-24 on 9/8 and Southern Utah 27-30 on 10/27. Rank: #4. All-time: 10-8. Titles: FCS 2010 (1).
I have a soft spot in my heart for North Dakota State. They, Delaware and Ithaca are my favorite small college teams, Ithaca because of their success and the way they represented Upstate New York in the DIII playoffs from 1974-1991, Delaware because my cousin was a professor there for many years and because, I thought a team that dressed like Michigan, (but in a more appealing shade of blue), and called themselves the “Blue Hens” was cool. They were also the top upper-level, (mid-major?) small college program in the East for many years and, like the Ithaca Bombers, seemed to represent the region to the nation. My affection for North Dakota State dates back to a couple of articles I read in Sports Illustrated in 1966:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1079213/3/index.htm
and
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1079266/index.htm
The first article peaked my interest and the second elicited my sympathy and I’ve followed the Bison from a distance ever since, though their great success in the late 60’s and the 80’s. I was delighted to see them come back to prominence last year and win the FCS title over Sam Houston State, 17-6. My hope is to someday see the Blue Hens and the Bison duke it out for the FCS title. But this year I’m pulling for the Stony Brook Sea Wolves. It would be cool to think that SU had beaten the FCS champs.
FIRST ROUND
South Dakota State crushed Eastern Illinois 58-10 as Zach Zenner ran for 295 yards and three touchdowns. Reggie Handy ran for another 151 yards and two scores for the Jackrabbits. All three of Zenner‘s scores including an opening 63 yarder, and 246 of his rushing yards came in the first half and SDSU rolled up a 34-3 lead. They scored on six consecutive possessions.
Like South Dakota State, Coastal Carolina had never won a post-season game until they beat Bethune-Cookman. The Chanticleers, (Roosters), scored the game’s first 24 points and withstood a late rally to win, 24-14. A 17 point second quarter was all they needed. A field goal before halftime was set up by a disputed fumble recovery. BC Coach Brian Jenkins: “He did fumble and we had a couple players that were in the area of the ball, but they blew the play dead so they stopped and their player recovered the ball,” Jenkins said afterward. “And then they reviewed it. If you call a play dead, I don’t understand how you go back and review it, but they did. My argument was you blew the play dead so it negates anything else. ... That’s what happened. And then right before halftime, the guy who blew the play dead, he came to me and we talked and I appreciate what he said.” He didn’t reveal what he said, however. The 10 penalties for 108 yards the refs called on Wildcats didn’t help Jenkins’ disposition any, either. Bethune-Cookman finally scored twice in the final 6:44 but a failed try for two on the second score left them 10 points short.
I think we should all be rooting for Stony Brook to win this so we could brag that, while we played an FCS team, our FCS team won the national championship- and we beat them!. They could do it, too. Last year they lost in the playoffs to the #1 ranked team, Sam Houston State, by only a touchdown in their place. This year they started out by beating Villanova, the 2009 FCS champs, 20-10. Miguel Maysonet, who had the big run vs. us, ran for 160 yards and two second quarter scores against the Wildcats. To give the Sea wolves a 14-0 halftime lead. They extended the lead to 20-3 before Villanova scored with 6:57 left to make it 20-10. But Stony Brook clinched it by forcing the Wildcats to turn the ball over on downs three minutes later.
Back in the 60’s, my brother went to Hamilton and the toughest team they played every year was Wagner, a small school on Staten Island. They were still a division III schools in 1987 when they beat Dayton for the title. They jumps all the way from DIII to what was then 1AA in 1993. It seemed like a strange move for a school with only 2400 students. But their schedule didn’t change much. Basically the conference they were in, the Northeast Conference, declared themselves to be 1AA teams and they mostly played each other. Bryant, Central Connecticut, Duquesne, Monmouth, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis (Pa), SUNY-Albany and Wagner. Not exactly a murder’s row. They conference didn’t even participate in the playoffs until 2010 and were 0-2. I didn’t give Wagner much of a chance against Colgate. I still see them as a DIII team. But the Seahawks pulled down the Red Raiders, 31-20. They had lost their first three games to Florida Atlantic, Georgetown and Monmouth but have responded with 9 wins in a row, 7 of them by 11 points or less. Colgate had been averaging 504 yards per game but got only 296 against Wagner, who forced 5 turnovers. Nick Dorscher tossed two touchdown passes and Dominique Williams rushed for 106 yards and a score for the winners.
SECOND ROUND
Defending champion North Dakota State had beaten South Dakota State, (once upon a time they were in North Central Conference but now they are together in the Missouri Valley), 20-17 on November 10th but this was the playoffs. The Bison haven’t won 9 national championships for nothing. “Our guys are vets in the playoffs. There's just a different look in their eye," NDSU head coach
Craig Bohl said. "Once we get to postseason play they're kicking it into a different gear." (San Francisco Chronicle) After spotting the Jackrabbit’s a field goal, they trampled them the rest of the game on the way to a 28-3 win. They held FCS’s leading rusher, Zach Zenner to 46 yards rushing. It was 21-3 at the half. “The Bison (11-1) added a trick play for good measure when diminutive wide receiver Ryan Smith took a handoff from Jensen, took cover behind one of his offensive linemen and scampered 32 yards untouched on an end around in the second quarter. Most of the SDSU defenders and the 18,482 fans inside the Fargodome
had their eyes on Jensen. "Ryan stood there with the ball for a couple seconds. He took off and there was no one within 40 yards of him," Jensen said. "All 11 guys for South Dakota State thought I had the ball."
Old Dominion of Virginia won a game with a basketball score, 63-35 over Coastal Carolina. Quarterback Taylor Heincke had a record-setting day, completing 32 of 44 passes for 497 yards and 6 touchdowns. He ran for another 45 yards and two scores, giving him an FCS playoff record 542 yards of total offense. He’s passed for 4,655 yards this year, the second highest total in the Division’s history. The Monarchs are the FCS total offense champion with 549 yards per game, 46 more than any other team. And 46 is their division leading scoring average. They scored the final 28 points to break up a 35-35 tie with the Chanticleers, who scored two touchdowns in 28 seconds in the third quarter to tie it. An 11 yard fade from Aramis Hillary to DeMario Bennett made it 28-35. Tyree Lee fumbled and the “Chants” scored again on an 18 yard run by Travis Small. Heinicke threw three touchdown passes, one a beautiful 73 yarder in stride to Larry Pinkard and Nick Mayer ran it in from 13 yards out to put the game out of reach.
New York State got eliminated form the playoffs out west as Stony Brook lost to Montana State 10-16 and Wagner to Eastern Washington 19-29. (And the reason they weren’t playing each other instead is: ?). The Sea Wolves missed a field goal and Miguel Maysonet fumbled in the red zone ion the first half and Quarterback Kyle Essington fumbled when sacked with a minute left to kill their chances. DeNarius McGhee hit Tanner Bleskin for a 69 yard scoring strike and a 45 yarder that set up one of Roy Perez’s three field goals for the winners. Stony Brook’s one touchdown was set up by an interception and two interference calls as they were only able to gain 245 yards to 346 for the Bobcats.
Eastern Washington beat Wagner 29-19 as Kyle Padron threw for 327 yards, including 174 to Brandon Kaufman on 10 catches. Strangely, they never hooked up for a score. The Seahawks led 19-14 in the third quarter but short runs by Quincy Forte and Demitrius Bronson after long drives decided the issue. Wagner’s 1000 yard rusher, Dominique Williams, was unable to play. The Eagles out-gained the Seahawks 411-296.
Wofford ran right by New Hampshire, totaling 454 yards on the ground, 247 by Eric Breitenstein who scored three touchdowns in a 23-7 win. They average 348 for the season. “New Hampshire coach Sean McDonnell said Wofford’s run-based offense led by Breitenstein is difficult to prepare for when you don’t see it much. ‘‘It’s like teaching another language in two weeks.”, (per Boston.com.) New Hampshire only gained 238 yards and their only score was on a fumble return.
Georgia Southern’s quarterback Jerick McKinnon ran for an incredible 316 yards on an even more incredible 34 carries, scored two touchdowns and actually passed for another in leading the Eagles to a 24-16 win over Central Arkansas. Georgia Southern, long masters of the triple option, ran for 404 yards. They have won the 1AA/FCS championship 6 times, more than any other school. Wynnick Smothers passed for 251 yards for Central Arkansas but 2 of his 41 passes fell incomplete.
Illinois State eliminated Appalachian State in a 38-37 thriller, blocking the game typing extra point to win it. Matt Brown passed for 322 yards and 5 touchdowns. App State had rallied from a 17-28 fourth quarter deficit to send the game into overtime. Brown threw 25 yards to James O’Shaughnessy to give the Redbirds the lead. Jamal Jackson threw 4 yards to Andrew Peacock but Shelby Harris blocked Sam Martin’s extra point for the win.
Sam Houston State was the hot team last year- until they ran into North Dakota State. This year has been a bumpier ride with three losses. But two of them have been to Baylor, (no, not Mary Hardin’s Baylor), and Texas A&M. The third was to Central Arkansas and they almost got a fourth vs. Cal Poly, who out-gained them 387-241 but came up short on the scoreboard, 16-18. The difference was a blocked punt that bounced through the end zone for a safety. The rest was mostly field goals. SHS got three of them and Cal Poly got two of them. Brian bell threw 18 yards to Keyshawn Hill for the Bearkats (sic) only TD while the Mustangs, (yes, Cal Poly is the Mustangs, not Sam Houston State) but a 50 yard bomb from Willie Tucker to Ryan Taylor with 1:34 left but they could not get the subsequent onsides kick.
QUARTER-FINALS
Defending national champion North Dakota State barely survived Wofford, 14-7, twice stopping the Terriers twice inside their own 10 yards line in the fourth quarter to advance to the semi-finals. Linebacker Grant Olson set a record with 27 tackles. The Bison continued their record of stopping option attacks, keeping Wofford’s offense out of their end zone. They haven’t given up an offensive touchdown in 14 quarters. The Terrier’s only score came on a 54 yard interception return in the second quarter. The two fourth quarter threats ended in a blocked field goal and a failed fourth down conversion.
The Bison scored after a 75 yard opening drive and a 97 yard drive just before the half. The terriers out-gained the Bison 326-262 and did manage to rush for 262 yards, far less than the 454 they gained in the quarter-finals vs. New Hampshire.
North Dakota State will once again face Georgia Southern, whom they beat 35-7 on the way to the title last year, in the semis. The Eagles, the nation’s #1 rushing team, (they gained 302 yards rushing in a game against Alabama- no less- two years ago but could only manage 186 vs. NDS last year), won their confrontation with the nation’s #1 passing team, Old Dominion, 49-35, but had to come back from a 35-21 deficit to do it. The Monarchs passed for 421 yards but the Eagles ran for an incredible 602 yards, including 186 yards and 2 scores form Dominique Swope and 171 yards and 4 scores from Jerik McKinnon.
Sam Houston State, who was #1 all last season until the Bison tamed their option offense, 17-6, in the finals, (they only rushed for 95 yards and could only gain 210 vs. NDS), had too much team speed for Montana State, whom they beat 49-13 in last year’s playoffs. They were in the Grizzlies’ backfield on every defensive play and ran past them when the Bearkats had the ball. The out-gained the home team 458-292, Last year in Texas it was 501-349). They ran for 204 yards and passed for 254. The Bearkats led 20-3 at halftime and Montana State never got back in it. They’d been looking for revenge for last year and all they got was a replay.
The Bearkats will now play the 2010 FCS champion, Eastern Washington, the team that plays on the red carpet. They beat the Redbird of Illinois State 51-35 in a game that must have been blinding to look at. Kyle Padron threw 6 touchdown passes, including two on successive plays to Brandon Kauffman early in the third quarter, (the second following an interception) to give the Eagles a 38-17 lead The Redbirds closed to within 38-35 but Padron found Kauffman again for a 76 yard score and then closed out the scoring with #6 to Ashton Clark from 10 yards out. Their game vs. the Bearkats will be another “Red Carpet” game.
SEMI-FINALS
Two of the legendary programs of small-college football got together for a classic game when Georgia Southern, holder of 6 FCS championships, took on North Dakota State, who won three poll titles in the 60’s, five Division II titles and last year’s FCS title. In their title run last season, the Bison nominated Georgia Southern in the semi-finals, 35-7. The Eagles are masters of the triple option, (they are current coached by a Paul Johnson disciple, Jeff Monken), and they can be hugely- and frustratingly, for the defense, productive when they don’t make mistakes. But in last year’s game they turned the ball over 3 times and were held to 186 yards rushing by the Bison, who have a reputation for stopping option attacks. This year they were determined to do better, and did, sort of. They rushed for 276 yards and also connected on 5 long passes for another 159 yards. The Eagles out-gained the Bison 430-276 and led for most of the game. But they committed an agonizing 13 penalties for 103 yards and had two kicks blocked, allowing the defending champs to wriggle off the hook.
The teams traded first quarter touchdowns- and blocked extra points for a 6-6 tie. The Dominick Swope, who I think you’ll hear about on the next level, caught a pass from quarterback Jerik McKinnon and bounced off tacklers until he found the end zone after 49 yards. NDS got a field goal before halftime and even took a brief lead in the third period after GSU’s only turnover, a fumble followed by a 53 yard run by Sam Ojuri on the next play. But Southern responded with a 9 play 85 yard drive capped by McKinnon’s 25 yard burst for the go-ahead score that made it 20-16 in the Eagle‘s favor.
The teams then traded punts until NDS got the ball at it’s own 17 with 5:49 left. To this point they had only 194 yards of total offense. But they put on an 83 yard drive, aided by a roughing the passer penalty to score the winner, which came at 4th and 3 from the 5 yard line. Quarterback Brock Jensen had had a 53 yard run on the first play of the drive turned into a 20 yarder with a somewhat dubious holding penalty, dropped back into a spread formation and called his won number, bolting over almost untouched because the Eagles were trying to account for all of his receivers. The extra point made it 23-20 with 3:05 left.
That’s a lot of time but Georgia Southern is not really a passing team, even if they can hit a big one occasionally when the other team is concentrating on the run. McKinnon ran for a loss of a yard and then threw two incompletion on the run. It seemed hopeless but McKinnon, on 4th and 11 found Ezayi Youyoute for 40 yards down the sideline. GSU’s kicking game had been so bad this year that Monken had appealed to the soccer team for a kicker. He found Drew Ruggles, who had done some (American) football kicking in high school. Monken was apparently content with trying to set up Ruggles rather than risk an interception as three running plays produced a net 3 yards before Ruggles’ 50 yard field goal was blocked. McKinnon wound up with the ball and threw a pass to Austin Hagan which was short and didn’t count anyway as Hagen wasn’t an eligible receiver. Jensen took a knee and the defending champ survived for a date with the Sam Houston State- Eastern Washington winner next Saturday.
The bright red field of Eastern Washington was the scene of one of the most remarkable football games I’ve ever seen. In the first half it was remarkably one-sided as speedy Sam Houston State bolted out to a 35-0 halftime lead. They scored on a 9 play 64 yard drive int heir first possession, then Robert Shaw intercepted Kyle Padron’s pass and returned it 37 yards for a score. Brian bell ran 72 yards for another touchdown. A short punt set up a 48 yard drive for #4. And failed fourth down conversion and a 39 yard burst by Tim Flanders set up still another TD. The only question seemed to be: how a bad is this going to get?
In the second half it got very bad- for the Bearkats. In an amazing performance, back-up quarterback Vernon Adams threw six second half touchdown passes in his team’s first 7 possessions: 31 yards to Greg Herd, 22 to Brandon Kauffman, 43 to Ashton Clark, 43 to Kauffman, 7 to Nicholas Edwards and 33 yards to Kauffman. SHS managed to respond with a 4 yard pass from Brian Bell to Shane Young, (set up by a 49 yard run by Flanders) and a 42 yard field goal by Miguel Antonio, followed by the one time they stopped Adams with an interception by Dax Swanson at the Bearkat 26.
When the dust had cleared, Sam Houston State won 45-42 and advanced to the finals against North Dakota State, who beat them in last year’s finals, 6-17. If the Eagles had completed their comeback, they would have tied the record for the largest comeback in college football history. But the final margin was the closest they got. Adams was 14 for 26 for 364yards, 6TDs and 2 interceptions. Padron had been 8 for 16 for 117 yards, no scores and a pick. Together they threw for 481 yards of Eastern Washington’s 523 total yards. Sam Houston State ran for 418 of their 503 yards, 231 on 34 carries by Flannery who, strangely, didn’t score in a game where seemingly everyone else did.
The Championship match-up:
NORTH DAKOTA STATE (13-1, 456-160) Lost to Indiana State 14-17 on 10/3. Rank: #1. All-time: 44-14. Titles: POLL 1965, 1968, 1969, NCAA DII 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, FCS 2011 (9).
Vs.
SAM HOUSTON STATE (11-3, 587-283) Lost to Baylor 23-48 on 9/15, Central Arkansas 20-24 on 9/22 and Texas A&M 28-47 on 11/17. Rank: #5. All-time 13-6-1. NAIA 1964 (1).
So which Sam Houston State will show up? The team that was so dominating in building a 35-0 first half lead vs. Eastern Washington? Or the one that was out-scored 10-42 in the second half. They lost so much intensity in that second half that it often seemed that their D-backs were just jogging after the receivers. Hopefully they will get it back for the final. I thought they were pretty much unstoppable last year but that the lay-off dissipated their momentum. North Dakota State looked very vulnerable both against Wofford and Georgia Southern but it will take 60 minutes of sustained effort to beat them.
