Around FCS: The Perfect Storm

NCAA Football Betting Lines

11/07/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New England fishermen working off the coasts of the north Atlantic have long known the perils of a storm called the Nor'easter.

And if you follow football long enough in that part of the country, you know that Nor'easters can wreak havoc upon your favorite teams.

Such was the fate of Massachusetts and New Hampshire last weekend. Both were victims of monumental upsets by Rhode Island and Northeastern, respectively, on a day that was better suited for remake location shots of "The Perfect Storm" than for football.

With the wind howling and rain crashing down on the water-logged fields of Rhode Island's Meade Stadium and New Hampshire's Cowell Stadium, the concept of offensive football quickly disappeared and the games became matters of survival against the remnants of Hurricane Noel.

Northeastern put the pressure on No. 8 New Hampshire by scoring three first- half touchdowns and then playing keep-away from the Wildcats for the rest of the game. The Huskies managed to hold the ball for more than 48 minutes with five scoring drives of nearly six minutes or more.

Maurice Murray had scoring runs of three, one and five yards on a day when he broke the Colonial Athletic Association record with 55 carries. He finished with 206 yards, the second-highest total of his career. Murray broke the record of 53 carries by New Hampshire's Jerry Azumah in a 1998 game against Connecticut.

Northeastern quarterback Anthony Orio might hope for bad weather every week. This inconsistent passer had the game of his life, despite the awful conditions, hit 11-of-12 passes for 153 yards and a three-yard TD toss to Alex Broomfield that gave the Huskies a 21-0 lead with three minutes left in the first half.

Ricky Santos did his best to try to rally the Wildcats, passing 31 times, with 20 completions for 196 yards and a 22-yard touchdown pass to Chad Kackert that made it 21-7 at halftime. But Santos was picked off twice, and the Wildcats couldn't manage another score until Keith LeVan ran in from the one with 2:39 remaining.

Compared to No. 3 UMass, Santos and New Hampshire were rolling up offense. The Minutemen managed just 139 yards against Rhode Island - a team that ranked 107th nationally in defense, giving up 448 yards per game.

Rhode Island was almost as inept on offense, putting up only 171 yards in the absence of starting quarterback Derek Cassidy and All-American fullback Joe Casey with injuries. But the Rams did find a way to get into position for field goals of 26 and 23 yards by Bryan Giannecchini in the first half.

UMass ended the first half with just two first downs, four passing yards and 32 yards in total offense.

Only a remarkable and NCAA-record-tying three safeties allowed UMass to stay in the game. The final one occurred after the Minutemen's Matt Lawrence (24 carries, 83 yards) had been stopped on fourth and goal from the one-yard line early in the fourth quarter.

URI quarterback D.J. Stefkovich slipped in the end zone and was tackled by Kyle Harrington for the two-pointer to tie the game at 6-6 with 14:24 remaining in regulation.

The first two safeties were the results of bad snaps from punt formation, with Giannecchini being tackled in the end zone by Keiron Brown and Victor Cruz. Remarkably, Giannecchini was involved in all five scoring plays in regulation.

Both teams had chances to win the game in the second half, but UMass kicker Chris Koepplin missed a 32-yard field goal that was caught by the wind and drifted wide left, and Giannecchini never got a chance to kick from 42 yards when the snap was fumbled by holder Shawn Leonard.

On the first play of overtime, a 22-yard completion from Stefkovich to Tim Allen pushed the Rams to the three-yard line to set up a one-yard scoring run through the middle by Stefkovich (14 carries, 49 yards rushing, 3-of-10, 62 yards passing).

UMass failed to score in its overtime possession, to end the game. Liam Coen had a tough day, completing 7-of-22 passes for 22 yards and two interceptions.

Senior linebacker Jason Hatchell did his best to keep UMass in the game with 16 tackles.

With both UMass (7-2, 5-1) and New Hampshire (6-3, 3-3) losing, it makes this Saturday's showdown in Amherst, Mass. between the two teams a critical one. A loss would finish New Hampshire's playoff hopes, while losing would jeopardize UMass's playoff future with a game remaining at No. 18 Hofstra in the final weekend of the season.

Delaware, playing in windy but dry conditions at home, put itself in position for a possible automatic bid by edging James Madison, 37-34. Four turnovers, the last one on a quarterback Rodney Landers fumble with the Dukes driving for a score late in the game, killed JMU's hopes of a comeback.

The Blue Hens rolled to leads of 10-0 in the first quarter and 16-6 at halftime before long scoring runs of 86 yards by Griff Yancy and 48 yards but Antoinne Bolton gave JMU a 20-16 advantage in the third quarter.

Delaware answered with two TDs of its own, by Omar Cuff from the nine and quarterback Joe Flacco on a three-yard keeper, but Bolton came through again with a 55-yard scoring scamper to make the score Delaware 30, James Madison 27 heading for the fourth period.

The two teams traded scores in the fourth quarter on an eight-yard burst from Cuff (28 carries, 101 yards, three TDs) and a six-yard blast by Landers (15 carries, 66 yards, one TD rushing, 5-of-16, 39 yards, one interception passing), but the Dukes couldn't pull out the win.

Suddenly, JMU (6-3, 4-2) is fighting for its playoff life after back-to-back losses to Richmond and Delaware in the CAA South Division. The Dukes must win at William & Mary and at home against Towson to have any chance of making the playoffs, but even that might not be enough.

With New Hampshire and Hofstra at three losses, UMass and Richmond at two losses and Delaware with only one loss, that puts JMU sixth and needing a lot of help to prove its playoff worth.

No. 11 Richmond avoided an upset by coming from behind for a 35-27 victory at home against scrappy No. 23 Villanova. Trailing 21-20 late in the third period, Spider quarterback Eric Ward (17-of-24, 178 yards passing) fired a 20- yard scoring aerial to Kevin Grayson and waltzed in from nine yards out to give Richmond a 35-24 lead.

Villanova added a 28-yard Joe Marcoux field goal with 17 seconds left to cut the lead to eight, but couldn't get any closer. Villanova's freshman quarterback Chris Whitney was 13-of-24 passing for 186 yards and a pair of scores, and rushed 16 times for 64 yards.

The Wildcats' attempts at slowing down running back Tim Hightower were futile. Hightower slashed through the stacked Villanova defense to run 36 times for 187 yards and a touchdown in a game where the lead changed hands seven times.

Hofstra came through with a must-win by beating William & Mary, 38-14. Missing top runner Kareem Huggins with a knee injury, the Pride played great defense and got enough offense from quarterback Bryan Savage to win.

Savage was an efficient 15-of-17 for 193 yards and scoring strikes of six yards to Charles Sullivan and 12 yards to Ottis Lewis. Savage also added 13 carries for 57 yards rushing and three TDs of 12, one and 11 yards.

A RAY OF SUNSHINE IN THE CLOUDS

While UMass and New Hampshire were grumbling at the weather, No. 15 Yale didn't let the wind and rain keep it from a second-half comeback. The Bulldogs trailed 7-3 at the break after Brown quarterback Michael Dougherty (10-of-31, 99 yards, two interceptions) fired a 43-yard scoring pass to Buddy Farham in the second quarter.

Jordan Farrell broke loose for a 31-yard touchdown scamper to give Yale the lead with 5:01 left in the third period and Mike McLeod clinched things with his two-yard TD plunge midway through the fourth quarter. McLeod, the leading rusher in FCS, banged out 185 yards on 32 carries, despite playing with a broken toe.

The Bulldogs used their big offensive line to control the ball, rushing 70 times for 335 yards. Yale's defense held the high-powered Brown offense to just 169 yards.

Should Yale (8-0) beat Princeton on Saturday, it will host Harvard in another week with a chance to win the Ivy League outright on the line.

Harvard kept its hopes for the title alive by beating Columbia, 27-12. Chris Pizzotti passed for 217 yards and one TD and Cheng Ho rushed 24 times for 119 yards and two touchdowns for the Crimson.

SOUTHERN RECONSTRUCTION

Oh, what a mess in the Southern Conference. The SoCon has been known for years for having dominant teams and winning national championships. What it hasn't been considered is a conference with a lot of depth.

But this is the most balanced the SoCon has been in years, with seven of its eight teams having a shot at the league title heading into last Saturday's games. Chattanooga and Furman were eliminated for the championship chase two weeks ago, and The Citadel joined their ranks with a 45-24 loss to two-time defending champion Appalachian State last weekend.

But with Georgia Southern edging Wofford 38-35 and Furman hanging on for a 52-49 victory over Elon, suddenly the SoCon has a four-way tie for first with two weeks left on the schedule.

When Jayson Foster raced 82 yards for a touchdown just 24 seconds into the game, the Georgia Southern quarterback was announcing it was going to be another special day. By the time Foster was done, he had 28 carries for 279 yards and two more TD runs (of 72 and three yards), 57 yards on 7-of-13 passing, and one punt return for 14 yards.

The Eagles rolled to a 28-14 halftime lead as Foster set Southern Conference records with 174 yards in the first quarter and 232 yards in the first half.

Wofford showed its composure by rallying to tie it at 28 and again at 35, but Jesse Hartley gave Georgia Southern the lead again 38-35 with a 44-yard field goal with under nine minutes left.

The Terriers had one last chance when they drove deep into Eagle territory with about five minutes left, but they were stopped when they gambled on fourth down-and-two, and Georgia Southern ran out the rest of the clock.

Georgia Southern scorched Wofford's defense for 481 yards, 424 on the ground, and played turnover-free football. Wofford lost despite 500 yards, including 137 yards on 18 carries with one TD from Kevious Johnson. The Terriers had two turnovers.

Furman unleashed Jerome Felton on Elon, and the big fullback ran over the Phoenix 25 times for 154 yards and four touchdowns. Furman built a 24-7 first- half lead and then survived a 42-point onslaught from Elon in the second half.

Elon's freshman quarterback Scott Riddle completed 38-of-52 passes for 534 yards and three TDs, but he was intercepted three times. Terrell Hudgins caught 16 passes for 207 yards and a pair of scores, but the Phoenix never could catch the Paladins.

Appalachian State's Armanti Edwards broke the school's single-game rushing record, running 21 times for 291 yards (13.9 average) and two touchdowns in the Mountaineers' 45-24 victory at The Citadel.

Edwards cracked the mark set by Richie Melchor, who had 267 yards on 36 carries on Oct. 28, 1989 against Tennessee-Chattanooga. The rushing performance was the best ever for a Southern Conference quarterback, beating the mark of 286 by Gene Brown of The Citadel against VMI in 1988.

It was the third-best rushing total in a single game this season, bettered only by Herb Donaldson's 314 yards for Western Illinois against Missouri State and Tim Hightower's 295 yards for Richmond against Bucknell. Ironically, it occurred on the same day that Foster ran for the fourth-best performance of the season.

Edwards, starting for just the third time since being sidelined by a shoulder injury, also completed 10-of-20 passes for 148 yards and two more touchdowns. He finished the day with 439 yards of total offense on 41 plays. It was the fourth-highest total offense output in ASU history.

Only former All-American quarterback Richie Williams had put up more yards in an ASU uniform. Williams holds the team record with 517 yards.

Edwards had an 80-yard TD run in the first period, TD passes of six and 45 yards in the second quarter and a 25-yard scoring scamper in the fourth stanza. Edwards also became the career leader at ASU in rushing by a quarterback with 1,889 yards, breaking the record previously held by Scott Satterfield (1992-95), Edwards' quarterback coach.

The Citadel couldn't keep up with the Mountaineers, with Payton Award candidate quarterback Duran Lawson on the sideline with torn cartilage in his left knee, the same knee that the senior Lawson tore an ACL as a sophomore. Lawson is out for the season after surgery.

ASU piled up 587 yards on the Bulldogs and could have had more if they hadn't cleared the bench in the fourth quarter.

With a four-way tie for first place, Elon currently has the inside track to the auto bid, if all four teams remain tied, but the playoff scenarios in SoCon country are endless. Elon has a tough game at The Citadel this weekend, Wofford is facing a potentially difficult game at Chattanooga, Georgia Southern hosts arch-rival Furman and Appalachian State is at home against Western Carolina in the battle for the Old Mountain Jug.

ASU finishes league play the following Saturday at home against Chattanooga, while Georgia Southern and Elon have non-conference games with Colorado State and Stony Brook.

AUTOMATIC

Four teams did put themselves into the playoff field with victories on Saturday to earn automatic bids.

No. 1 Northern Iowa overcame a pesky Missouri State team, coached by former UNI head man Terry Allen, to beat the Bears 38-17 and clinch a share of the Gateway Conference title.

Eric Sanders completed 16-of-23 passes for 199 yards and two scores to lift the Panthers. He tossed a four-yard scoring pass to Schuylar Oordt and snuck over from the one for another TD as UNI broke a 17-all tie in the third quarter. Sanders had a 43-yard scoring strike to Johnny Gray in the first half.

Corey Lewis rushed 23 times for 167 yards and a 14-yard second-quarter TD and the Panther defense held MSU scoreless in the second half, limiting a good offense to 226 yards.

No. 4 Montana survived another tough one in Big Sky play, but held off Portland State, 34-31. The Grizzlies scored 21 second-period points on the way to a 31-24 halftime lead, and let their defense and Lex Hilliard (31 carries, 116 yards) win it in the second half.

Portland State had 404 yards and one touchdown from quarterback Drew Hubel, but the freshman was intercepted twice. The Vikings also lost one fumble.

It was a rough day for Montana quarterback Cole Bergquist, who passed for 305 yards and two TDs, but also fired three interceptions. A 24-yard pick-off and return by Allen Condrew with 6:14 left pulled Portland State within 34-31, but Montana then controlled the clock behind Hilliard the rest of the way for a win that clinched a share of the conference title.

McNeese State stormed out to a 21-0 lead and didn't look back as the Cowboys clinched the Southland auto bid with a 49-20 victory at Stephen F. Austin. Derrick Fourroux rushed for two touchdowns and had 168 yards of total offense on a night when the Cowboys spread around the football.

Bryan Smith led the defense with a six-yard fumble return for a touchdown.

McNeese State still has to win one more Southland game to clinch a share of the title, and Central Arkansas still has a chance to share or win the Southland outright, but the Bears are not yet eligible for the FCS playoffs.

The first team to stamp its playoff ticket was Fordham, which won a high- intensity contest at home against Holy Cross, 24-21, for the Patriot League title.

James Crockett sparked Fordham to the victory, recovering a fumble in the end zone after a muffed punt for a touchdown that gave the Rams a 21-14 lead in the third period. He then intercepted a pass in Fordham territory in the final seconds to end the Crusaders' hopes of a comeback.

Crockett tied for the team lead in tackles with seven, including four solo stops, and had one tackle for loss. The Rams clinched their first PL title and playoff berth since 2002 with the victory.

Jonte Coven rushed 29 times for 167 yards and got the Rams off to a great start with a 61-yard touchdown run in the first period.

Dominic Randolph nearly brought Holy Cross back, passing for 309 yards and three touchdowns with 32 completions in 53 attempts on a cold and windy day, but Crockett's interception in Fordham territory cut the comeback short.

FBS NEAR-MISSES

In a season filled with FCS wins against FBS opponents, not many people would have expected teams from Northwestern State and Chattanooga to join the club, both of these teams nearly pulled off big victories in the midst of tough years on Saturday.

Northwestern State gave Mississippi fits before losing, 38-31. Ole Miss relaxed after getting off to a 17-0 first-quarter start, and it nearly proved fatal for the Rebels.

Northwestern State scored 31 second-half points and pulled within a touchdown with 3:16 remaining on a 37-yard pass connection from Drew Branch to Keadrin Seastrunk. But unlike a similar comeback against Louisiana-Monroe in 2005 that resulted in an FBS victory, the Demons couldn't finish this one off.

NSU out-gained Ole Miss 499-387. Germayne Edmond was 22-of-30 passing for 250 yards, and Branch came off the bench to go 2-of-4 for 55 more passing yards. Both threw a touchdown pass.

Chattanooga came even closer to an upset in a 28-21 loss to ex-Gateway opponent Western Kentucky. The Mocs led 14-7 in the second quarter after touchdown runs of three yards by quarterback Antonio Miller and five by Bryan Fitzgerald, and went up again in the third period 21-14 on Buster Skrine's 45- yard interception return.

But Western Kentucky scored twice in the final eight minutes to pull this one out. Stephen Willis danced in from 11 yards out with 7:47 remaining to tie the score and Marell Booker gave the Hilltoppers the lead with a 12-yard scoring scamper with 53 seconds left.

Miller nearly pulled UTC even again, moving the Mocs from their own 16 to the WKU 29 with eight seconds left. Clint Woods dropped a pass at the goal line with one second left, and Miller's final pass to the left corner of the end zone fell incomplete.

CUTTING IT FINE

There was also a fine line between winning and losing in a pair of games with big playoff implications.

Southern Illinois trailed almost the entire game at Western Illinois before Nick Hill's one-yard run with 8:18 remaining lifted the Salukis to a Gateway win. The loss pretty much ruined WIU's hopes of an at-large playoff berth with the Leathernecks' fourth loss.

Taylor Rowan gave Western Illinois a 3-0 first-quarter lead with a 56-yard field goal to tie Mike Scifres' school record, but Rowan missed attempts from 47 and 24 yards.

SIU's Kyle Dougherty matched it with a 27-yarder in the second period, but quarterback Matt Barr's 20-yard scoring dash put the Leathernecks back in front. A high snap from center prevented WIU from making the extra point and left the Leathernecks with a 9-3 lead.

No. 6 Southern Illinois was out-gained 414-321, but Hill was 22-of-29 for 250 yards passing. Herb Donaldson spearheaded the Leatherneck attack with 26 carries for 137 yards.

Barr brought WIU to a first-and-10 at the SIU 44 with 30 seconds left, but Southern Illinois ended Western Illinois' comeback hopes with sacks by Devon Reese and James Cloud for a loss of two yards and Cloud again, dropping Barr for an eight-yard loss that moved the Leathernecks out of Saluki territory. Two plays later, Barr had his pass picked off by Trevor Moe to end the game.

The victory was the 100th for Jerry Kill, another milestone for a coach that has taken the SIU program from the depths of FCS and built it into one of the top teams in the country.

Delaware State has grown used to close calls in rolling to the brink of an NCAA tournament bid. For the second week in a row, Peter Gaertner kicked a game-winning field goal in the final seconds to lift the Hornets to a win.

His 37-yard kick - Gaertner's third field goal of the game - with no time remaining gave Delaware State a 23-20 victory over Winston-Salem State and moved it within a win of the MEAC championship. The Hornets can clinch the league's auto bid by beating Norfolk State on Saturday.

The Hornet defense kept them in the game by limiting WSSU to 286 yards and forcing four turnovers. Vashon Winton hit 21-of-29 passes for 238 yards and an 18-yard touchdown to Shaheer McBride.

But DSU trailed 20-12 after WSSU's William Haynes returned a fumble six yards for a touchdown midway through the third quarter.

Chris Strother (17 carries, 91 yards) cut the lead to 20-18 with a one-yard TD smash with 5:31 left, and Winton's two-point run tied it.

Norfolk State did its part to set up the MEAC title clash by beating Morgan State, 24-16. Darryl Jones rushed 30 times for 167 yards and two touchdowns and the Spartans overcame the loss of three fumbles.

CHAMPIONSHIP POSTURE

Just a couple of weeks back, Grambling and Jackson State met in an entertaining SWAC game, with Grambling shutting down Jackson State's offense in the second half on the way to a 30-20 victory.

But after Saturday's wins by these two legendary teams, they look like they will meet again on Dec. 15 in the SWAC championship game at Birmingham's Legion Field.

Grambling punched its championship ticket with a 21-7 victory over Alabama State to clinch the West Division title. Grambling's defense limited the Hornets to 169 yards and Brandon Landers keyed the offense with 20-of-30 passing for 177 yards and two TDs.

Alabama State's Jack Pack ran 19 times for 116 yards, but after Grambling took a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter, the Hornets were taken out of their game plan. Forced to rely on the pass, things went south for ASU with quarterback Chris Mitchell hitting just 10-of-24 passes for 34 yards, with two interceptions.

Jackson State needed a five-yard pass from Jimmy Oliver to Rodney Gray with three seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 37 and force overtime with Alabama A&M.

Oliver (26-of-43, 391 yards, four TDs) had put the Tigers behind with 5:35 left when he got careless with the ball on a sack and was stripped. Byron Wilson gathered the ball in on a bounce and jaunted 42 yards for a touchdown that gave A&M a 37-30 advantage.

In overtime, Jeremy Licea gave the Bulldogs another lead with a clutch 41-yard field goal. But Edward Lee's only rush of the game resulted in a one-yard TD smash that lifted Jackson State to a 43-40 victory.

All Jackson State needs to do the rest of the season is win one of its final two games, at Prairie View or at home against Alcorn State, to join Grambling in the title game.

In the Pioneer Football League, Dayton, San Diego and Morehead State all stayed on pace for a wild finish with victories that left the three tied for first place.

Dayton had no trouble with Butler, winning 61-0 behind strong defense and the passing of Kevin Hoyng. Hoyng hit 15-of-18 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns, and scored again on a 28-yard run.

Defensively, Kevin Burns raced 55 yards with an interception for a touchdown and the Flyers limited the Bulldogs to 69 yards of total offense.

After dominating its opponents 347-140 in its first seven victories, San Diego has shown itself mortal in a 35-16 loss to Dayton and last weekend's 52-49 win over Davidson.

Quarterbacks Josh Johnson of San Diego (31-of-35, 416 yards, five TDs) and Ryan Alexander from Davidson (35-of-54, 404 yards, six TDs) combined for 11 touchdowns and 820 yards through the air.

Ryan Hubbard (11 catches, 158 yards, two TDs) and Beaux Jones (eight catches, 115 yards, two TDs) of Davidson were good. John Matthews (11 catches, 190 yards, four TDs) and Wes Doyle (10 catches, 147 yards, one TD) were better.

San Diego led 14-7 after one period, 28-21 at halftime and 42-28 after three quarters, but Davidson rallied for 21 points in the fourth stanza.

Johnson's 16-yard scoring strike to Matthews with 2:25 left finally gave the Toreros some breathing room at 52-42, but Alexander answered with a three-yard TD aerial to Justin Williams with a minute remaining to cut the lead to three points.

San Diego finally could exhale when it recovered an onside kick to end the game.

Morehead State set up a showdown with San Diego this Saturday by blasting Drake, 33-0. Brian Yost was 17-of-25 passing for 189 yards passing, but this was really a game that was won by the Eagle defense.

MSU held Drake to minus-five yards rushing and 116 yards passing with four interceptions. Drake's star running back Scott Phaydavong had seven carries for 23 yards.

Brian Gray intercepted three passes and Ryan Messer recovered a fumble in the end zone for an Eagle touchdown.

Morehead State hosts San Diego Saturday and can clinch a share of the PFL title and a berth in the Gridiron Classic with a win. Should San Diego win, the Toreros would gain at least a share of the crown, but the Toreros need a Dayton loss at Drake to get into the Gridiron Classic.

Dayton can earn its share of the title with a victory at Drake, but needs a victory by San Diego to get into the Gridiron Classic.

The PFL's opponent in that game will be the winner of the Northeast Conference, and Albany took another major step towards that game by beating Robert Morris 45-17 to move to 4-0 in league. The Great Danes can clinch a berth in the Gridiron Classic by beating Central Connecticut State in the final game of the regular season.

Albany piled up 292 yards on the ground, with Dave McCarty running 27 times for 167 yards and two touchdowns. The Great Danes broke out to a 17-0 lead, held up when Robert Morris scored 10 straight points in the second quarter and pulled away in the second half.