FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SUBDIVISION
-
Around FCS: Give The Dog A Bone
By David Coulson, FCS Executive Director Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Somewhere in the midst of the crowded field at Bridgeforth Stadium on Saturday, Duke Dog, the playful and spunky mascot for James Madison, had to be smiling.
The record crowd of 17,163 had watched JMU pull itself off the mat after trailing No. 1-ranked Appalachian State 21-0 in the first half and rally for an improbable 35-32 victory over the three-time defending national champion before storming the field in a wild celebration.
Duke Dog has witnessed some great celebrations over the past 12 years, as coach Mickey Matthews has built the JMU program into one of the best in FCS.
I'll never forget seeing fans repeatedly throwing their mascot - the costumed variety, not the adorable, little pooch - into the air and then catching him as they celebrated the school's first and only national championship in Chattanooga, TN, in 2004.
But this win was extra special for a team that had carried the weight of a 28-27 first-round playoff loss to Appalachian State with it since Thanksgiving weekend of last year.
The Mountaineers had won last year's first-round playoff game over James Madison when Jacque Roman forced a Jamal Sullivan fumble that Pierre Banks recovered with the Dukes trying to set up for a potential game-winning field goal with 22 second left.
There was criticism in almost every corner for Matthews, who had made some aggressive calls that backfired at the end of the game.
"Without a doubt, it's the most painful loss I've ever suffered as a coach," Matthews said in last week's Colonial Athletic Association teleconference.
But being a cagey, old defensive coordinator at heart, Matthews did something that no one else at the FCS level has really been able to do. He and his staff found a way to slow down ASU's lethal spread attack in the second half, and his defense executed its game plan to near-perfection, holding quarterback Armanti Edwards and company to just 11 points after the break.
A 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Scottie McGee and a 62-yard touchdown run by quarterback Rodney Landers started a 35-point offensive explosion in the second half, but those plays wouldn't have mattered if the Dukes hadn't been able to slow down Edwards in the second half.
JMU jammed up the running lanes for Edwards, and its four-man pass rush won the battle of the trenches to put pressure on the elusive quarterback when he dropped back to pass.
The Dukes defense also put itself in good situations by repeatedly forcing the Mountaineers into second- and third-and-long situations.
Edwards had 97 yards rushing on 14 first-half carries and added 66 yards and a touchdown by completing 5-of-9 passes. ASU had built a 223-66 advantage in total offense by the intermission, and held a nearly 2-to-1 edge in time of possession, flip-flopping what JMU had done to the Mountaineers in last year's playoffs.
But in the second half, JMU limited Appalachian State to only 128 yards, while bursting forth for 236 yards. The Dukes also had 279 of their 359 return yards after the break.
Edwards managed just 12 carries for 12 yards rushing in the second half to finish with 109 yards. He completed 6-of-10 passes for 76 more yards through the air, but was on the run from the JMU pressure the rest of the way.
"They just didn't quit," said Edwards. "It's hard to convert when you're third and long. You go up 21-0 and you don't expect to see someone come back." But the Dukes did, to put some ribbons (or were they purple and gold streamers?) on a game that lived up to its pre-game hype.
AN UPSETTING WEEKEND Appalachian State wasn't the only ranked team to go down on a wild weekend of upsets.
No. 6 Delaware gave up five turnovers, including four interceptions by quarterback Rob Schoenhoft (22-of-39 for 246 yards and one TD) in its 23-21 loss at No. 24 Furman.
Delaware coach K.C. Keeler was furious afterwards.
"We were underachievers today," said Keeler. "Furman is a good football team, but they are not as good as we are. We will live with this loss, but we have to move on." "We just made so many mistakes. We are embarrassed and its on me and on every player. I'm as upset with this loss as any game I've coached here. We made mistakes today we just can't make and haven't made before." Maybe Keeler should have given the Paladins more credit. Furman quarterback Jordan Sorrells was an efficient 17-of-30 for 263 yards and running back Mike Brown had 13 carries for 63 yards rushing and five catches for another 91 yards.
Meanwhile, Youngstown State, which seemed on the brink of ruin with injuries and defections in the first two weeks of the season, stopped No. 3 North Dakota State 32-24 in the first Missouri Valley Football Conference game for the Bison.
The Penguins intercepted four Nick Mertens' passes and the running duo of Kamryn Keys (21 carries for 146 yards and two TDs) and Jabari Scott (17 carries for 120 yards) ran wild on NDSU.
Tyler Roehl was back from his ankle injury and rushed 14 times for 104 yards for the Bison, Kole Heckendorf continued his early-season success with nine catches for 111 yards and Mertens threw for 296 yards, but it wasn't enough to overcome the mistakes.
TOP-25 SHOWDOWNS No. 12 South Dakota State saw its early MVFC run end after two wins, when No. 8 Northern Iowa stopped the Jackrabbits 34-20 at the UNI-Dome.
Ryan Berry hit on 32-of-53 passes for 375 yards with one TD and one interception, but the Panthers were able to stop SDSU's ground game, limiting Kyle Minett to 14 carries and 36 yards. JaRon Harris snagged nine catches for 120 for the Jackrabbits.
Pat Grace began to round into form as the UNI quarterback, hitting 12-of-20 passes for 200 yards with two TDs and one interception, while Corey Lewis complemented him with 95 yards on 18 rushing attempts.
In a key SoCon showcase, No. 17 Elon traveled to No. 16 Georgia Southern and came away with a 22-20 victory on Andrew Wilcox's 34-yard field goal with six seconds remaining.
The Phoenix dominated in terms of total offense, piling up 509 yards to just 339 for Georgia Southern, but Elon struggled to finish off drives.
Scott Riddle was 27-of-45 passing for 308 yards and a pair of scores, while Payton candidate Terrell Hudgins was brilliant with 13 catches for 199 yards and a score.
The biggest stat for Elon, however, was that Brandon Newsome rushed 24 times for 148 yards, and the Phoenix finished with 201 yards on the ground.
Eagles quarterback Antonio Henton was 20-of-40 for 232 yards and one TD passing and he added 46 yards on the ground, but he was intercepted three times on a night in which GSU committed three costly turnovers.
HANGING ON -No. 4 Montana looked like it would have a quiet Saturday at Washington- Grizzly Stadium when it waltzed to leads of 13-0 and 23-10 in the first half against UC Davis. But the Grizzlies needed a nine-yard scoring strike from Cole Bergquist (19-of-29, 255 yards, two TDs) to Marc Mariani (nine catches, 98 yards) with 3:36 remaining to come back from their second-half doldrums for a 29-24 win.
Greg Denham had some rocky moments for UC Davis, but he went 31-of-38 for 251 yards, with a seven-yard touchdown to Bakari Grant that gave the Aggies their first lead at the 6:36 mark.
-No. 22 Eastern Illinois survived a tough test to edge Illinois State, 25-21. Trailing 21-7 midway through the third quarter, the Panthers erupted for 18 straight points, bookended by Tyler Wilkes field goals of 20 and 44 yards.
Bodie Reeder (17-of-28, 221 yards, two TDs) got EIU close with a 44-yard scoring strike to Alicus Nozinor with 9:37 remaining and Chip Keys banged into the end zone on a four-yard burst with 7:06 left to give the Panthers their first lead.
Kevin Brockway was 19-of-33 for 240 yards and two touchdowns for the Redbirds, but he was intercepted three times.
-No. 14 Eastern Washington had given scares to Texas Tech and Colorado in a pair of games with FBS opponents, but it was Western Washington's turn to petrify EWU on Saturday night.
The Eagles needed 21 fourth-quarter points to finally hold off WWU, 52-31. Adam Perry of Western Washington outplayed Payton candidate Matt Nichols, hitting 24-of-37 passes for 349 yards and two TDs.
But the battle Nichols (18-of-24, 281 yards) won was in the touchdowns-to- interceptions ratio. Nichols avoided some of his early-season woes with three TD passes and no interceptions, while Perry was picked off twice.
Tony Davis caught six of Nichols' passes for 126 yards and a touchdown to offset a 10-catch, 152-yard night by Travis McKee of WWU.
MAKING STATEMENTS -No. 13 Cal Poly did something that few non-conference teams have been able to do over the years. The Mustangs not only beat Northwestern State at tough Turpin Stadium, they hammered them, 52-18.
Quarterback Jonathan Dally was 11-of-17 for 224 yards and a pair of scores through the air and rushed for 33 yards and two more TDs on the ground. He also got plenty of help from James Noble (eight carries, 118 yards, one TD) and Ramses Barden (nine catches, 176 yards, one TD).
-No. 20 Western Illinois got back on track with a 34-14 thumping of Stephen F. Austin. Herb Donaldson rushed 37 times for 229 yards and three TDs and Matt Barr continued his sudden burst as a passer, completing 13-of-23 attempts for 247 yards and a score.
Jeremy Moses of SFA was 32-of-64 for 386 yards and two TDs, but he suffered three interceptions.
-If there were any doubts about No. 25 Tennessee State's resume as an Ohio Valley Conference title contender, they were answered when the Tigers handed Eastern Kentucky a rare loss in the series.
TSU beat the Colonels for only the third time in 22 outings, as Antonio Heffner completed 20-of-28 passes for 312 yards and three touchdowns and Javarris Williams rushed 17 times for 117 yards and opened the scoring with a 48-yard TD jaunt.
The Tigers held EKU's normally strong rushing attack to nine yards on 22 carries to negate a 244-yard passing day with two TDs by Colonel quarterback Allen Holland.
-Central Arkansas took care of business as expected against Quincy with a 51-6 victory, as Nathan Brown threw for 310 yards and four touchdowns.
HEARTBREAK HOTEL ALL OVER AGAIN Wofford came within 10 yards of forcing overtime with South Carolina a couple of years ago and the Terriers gave Steve Spurrier, and the Gamecocks another fright on Saturday night.
South Carolina, which had battled Georgia on almost even terms before losing 14-7 last week, led just 16-13 until a late drive led to Chris Smelley's 17- yard scoring to Dion LeCorn with 1:58 remaining.
Wofford gave up 376 yards to the Gamecocks, but forced three turnovers to keep the game close. Ben Widmyer was 8-of-13 passing for 100 yards and rushed 10 times for 59 yards and a touchdown for the Terriers.
A NIGHT ON THE CHARLES RIVER You would have been hard-pressed to have found a more exciting finish than the Harvard-Holy Cross game. For the second year in a row, these two old rivals put on a gem to match the pre-game tailgating.
Last year, Dominic Randolph lifted Holy Cross to a 31-28 win with a 40-yard scoring strike to Thomas Harrison with 19 seconds left. This year, it was Chris Pizzotti's turn to out-duel Randolph, 25-24 before a loud and wild crowd of 20,462 in just the second-ever night game Friday at Harvard Stadium.
After a slow first half, Pizzotti went to the locker room with his team trailing 17-6. But the tall, strong-armed passer got into rhythm after the intermission and the Crimson out-scored the Crusaders 19-7 in the fourth quarter.
The key to the turnaround was a perfectly-thrown strike of 68 yards to Marco Iannuzzi, a sophomore who grabbed 11 passes for 174 yards. That cut the Holy Cross lead to 17-12.
Randolph (27-of-52 for 239 yards, one TD and one interception) led the Crusaders back and snuck over from the one to make it 17-12 with 9:28 remaining, but Pizzotti engineered two more drives in between a Crimson defensive stop, and punctuated both with one-yard TD plunges.
After a failed two-point conversion, Harvard was ahead by one point with 1:42 left, but the Crimson defense, paced by defensive tackle and team captain Matt Curtis put the clamps on one of the best comeback artists in FCS, shutting down Randolph to preserve the win.
It was a great way to kick off the Ivy League's first weekend of action.
Elsewhere, Penn nearly upset No. 19 Villanova at Franklin Field, losing 20-14 in overtime. The Quaker defense intercepted quarterback Antwan Young four times - three times in the end zone - and held the high-octane Wildcat attack scoreless in the second half.
Villanova eventually benched Young and went to backup quarterback Chris Whitney, whose nine-yard touchdown scamper in the extra period pushed the Wildcats back into the lead. But Penn cornerback Chris Wynn gave Penn a chance for a win when he blocked Joe Marcoux's extra point to leave Villanova with a six-point lead.
The excitement being felt by the Quakers changed sidelines on the very next play, however, when sophomore running back Bradford Blackmon fumbled the ball and Villanova's Salim Koroma recovered.
It was the third straight time at Franklin Field that the game has come down to the final play.
Colgate struggled to put away upset-minded Dartmouth, but scored 14 fourth- quarter points to beat the Big Green 34-20.
Raider quarterback Greg Sullivan scored on runs of 14 and 31 yards in the fourth quarter, finished with 18 carries for 136 yards rushing, and completed 7-of-10 passes for 119 yards including a 41-yard score to Pat Simonds.
But a bigger story was running back Jordan Scott. Scott, the NCAA's current active career rushing leader, piled up 29 carries for 239 yards and two TDs as he smashed several school and Patriot League records.
Scott became the PL's leading all-time rusher with 5,015 yards, breaking the mark of 4,834 set by Lafayette's Erik Marsh (1991-94). It was a school-record 16th straight 100-yard rushing game for Scott and was his seventh 200-yard performance.
Scott is 14 carries from the FCS career record and is 105 attempts from the NCAA Division I mark. He should get that FCS record on Saturday when Colgate plays at Fordham.
Princeton traveled to The Citadel for the first-ever meeting between members of the Ivy League and Southern Conference, and the Tigers spurted to a 17-7 halftime lead.
But the game turned in the third period when Reggie Rice returned a blocked punt 25 yards for a touchdown. The Bulldogs then outscored the Tigers 23-7 the rest of the way. Bart Blanchard tossed three touchdown passes, two of them to Payton Award candidate Andre Roberts.
There was more excitement off the field when Princeton's notorious marching band nearly caused a riot by marching onto the practice grounds of The Citadel's corps of cadets. Fighting broke out when the scramble band's hurled insults were taken seriously, and police had to come in to break things up.
The only action was on the field as Yale showed its promise with a 47-7 blasting of Georgetown. Brook Hart and Ryan Fodor combined to hit 24-of-34 passes for 361 yards and four touchdowns.
Fordham outlasted Columbia, 29-22, with 15 fourth-quarter points on a pair of TD bursts by Xavier Martin of two and five yards. Martin finished with four touchdowns and 155 yards on 31 carries for the Rams.
In the other Ivy League game, Brown's defense shut down Stony Brook for a 17-7 victory.
OTHER GAMES OF NOTE North Dakota, making its transition to FCS play this year, won its first game over a Division I opponent since the move, o