Week 6 - Conference by Conference Breakdown

[Mvemjsunpx]

Big Sky

WEB 19-41 EWU
YALE 24-10 CP
NOCO 21-37 SAC
UND 28-25 IDST
UCD 21-3 SUU
PORTST 27-55 UMT
NAU 7-36 MTST

• NConf Record: 0-1
  Overall: 18-22
  
  vs. FCS: 0-1
  Overall: 5-7
  
  
  Best Performance: (#8) Montana St. 36, (#15)Northern Arizona 7 - The Bobcat running game & defense compensate for an ineffective Denarius McGhee by dominating the 'Jacks, who look like one-week wonders right now.
  
  Worst Performance: Southern Utah 3, UC Davis 21 - The T-Birds, who were leading the Big Sky in run defense coming in (& still are, in fact), give up 175 yards to sudden breakout RB Gabe Manzanares.
  
  Most Surprising Result: (#18) Cal Poly 10, Yale 24 - MSU had their "didn't show up" game two weeks ago, Montana had theirs last week, and NAU & Cal Poly had absent games this weekend. Is Eastern Washington next?

Southland

MCNSE 59-28 UCA
UIW 3-35 SELU

• NConf Record: 1-0
  Overall: 24-15
  
  vs. FCS: 1-0
  Overall: 14-5
  
  
  Best Performance: (#11) McNeese St. 59, (#14) Central Arkansas 28 - Cowboy passers combine for 323 yards and 4 TDs on just 20 attempts while Marcus Wiltz puts up 223 total yards and 2 total touchdowns in a surprisingly dominant win.
  
  Worst Performance: (#14) Central Arkansas 28, (#11) McNeese St. 59 - The lopsided score was quite surprising given the stats were pretty even all-around, but the Bears can probably point to 4 failed fourth-down conversions as the biggest key.
  
  Most Surprising Result: Sparseness - Two games, Southland Conference? Two games? Couldn't you have evened out the schedule a bit?

Missouri Valley

UNI 23-24 NDSU
MIZST 14-17 SDK
SIU 27-24 SDKST
WIU 21-35 ILST
YSU 35-24 INST

• NConf Record: 0-0
  Overall: 20-17
  
  vs. FCS: 0-0
  Overall: 14-7
  
  
  Best Performance: (#1) North Dakota St. 24, (#4) Northern Iowa 23 - The Bison pull out their 14th. consecutive win despite losing turnovers and trailing for more than 55 minutes.
  
  Worst Performance: Missouri St. 14, South Dakota 17 - The Bears gain just 177 yards against a team that was 0-9 all-time in Missouri Valley play.
  
  Most Surprising Result: (#7) South Dakota St. 24, Southern Illinois 27 - Losing to NoDak State is one thing, but losing to SIU and falling to 0-2 in conference might just be a season killer for the Jackrabbits.

OVC

AP 3-38 EKU
TTU 24-35 MUR
SEMO 16-40 TSU
JAXST 41-27 UTM

• NConf Record: 0-0
  Overall: 19-15
  
  vs. FCS: 0-0
  Overall: 13-5
  
  
  Best Performance: Jacksonville St. 41, (#22) Tennessee-Martin 27 - DaMarcus James runs for 184 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Gamecocks win despite being dominated in total plays & TOP.
  
  Worst Performance: Austin Peay 3, Eastern Kentucky 38 - They did play three FBS teams, but the Governors have been outscored 201 to 16 this season.
  
  Most Surprising Result: (#22) Tennessee-Martin 27, Jacksonville St. 41 - Skyhawks fall to 7-28 all-time against JSU.

Pioneer League

MER 13-45 USD
JU 17-27 DRAKE
STET 15-35 BUT
DVDSN 8-40 DAY
VALPO 0-37 MARIST
MHEAD 45-36 CAMP

• NConf Record: 0-0
  Overall: 13-24
  
  vs. FCS: 0-0
  Overall: 3-16
  
  
  Best Performance: Drake 27, Jacksonville 17 - Bulldogs rebound after a horrid first-four games.
  
  Worst Performance: Campbell 36, Morehead St. 45 - Despite running for nearly 400 yards & containing the Eagle ground attack, the Camels allow MSU to score TDs on all 5 of their redzone trips.
  
  Most Surprising Result: Jacksonville 17, Drake 27 - The Dolphins rack up 87 penalty yards to Drake's 30, illustrating a disproportionately common theme from Saturday's interesting game results (this was also a major factor in Campbell/Morehead).

Tomorrow: the rest of the playoff conferences.

[JohnStOnge]

Best Performance: (#11) McNeese St. 59, (#14) Central Arkansas 28 - Cowboy passers combine for 323 yards and 4 TDs on just 20 attempts while Marcus Wiltz puts up 223 total yards and 2 total touchdowns in a surprisingly dominant win.

Sometimes things happen your way and sometimes they don't. Things definitely happened, on balance, McNeese's way. Like UCA was threatening to score inside the five and UCA's QB Smothers slipped as he was throwing the ball and McNeese got a 96 yard interception return TD. Later Smothers had a ball tipped at the line of scrimmage just before half and a McNeese DT intercepted it then McNeese scored the first play after. McNeese did fumble the ball away once on third and a half yard at around the UCA 2 but overall McNeese definitely came out on the long end of the breaks stick.

One weird thing is that UCA got 496 yards of offense in the first half but "only" 148 in the second. When McNeese got the big lead (42-21) at halftime I was still worried because UCA looked unstoppable. But all of a sudden the McNeese defense turned into something capable of controlling that offense in the second half. The only points UCA got in the second half came after McNeese fumbled on its first possession deep in its own territory. After running up and down the field at will in the first half UCA couldn't sustain drives in the second.

I do think McNeese is a lot better than it showed at UNI last week. For sure I hope so. But I think they are. Sometimes games like that just happen. At least last week it wasn't in the playoffs.

[SuperHornet]

Worst Performance: (#14) Central Arkansas 28, (#11) McNeese St. 59 - The lopsided score was quite surprising given the stats were pretty even all-around, but the Bears can probably point to 4 failed fourth-down conversions as the biggest key.

I know there's been debate about this recently, but an unwritten rule from time immemorial is that a major key to losing is the failure to punt on fourth down. Sure, surprise is a key element of winning, and that includes knowing when to break the unwritten rules, but you HAVE to be careful about that. Being a riverboat gambler usually has its downside, and this is it. The ONLY times one should go for it is when one of these factors is in play:

- It is late in the game, you are behind, and you MUST maintain possession to score.
- You are absolutely CERTAIN that the opposing defense is so weak that they can't stop you on fourth and short.
- You are absolutely CERTAIN that the opposing OFFENSE is so weak that if you lose the ball here, they will NOT score on your own STRONG defense.

Unfortunately, as former Sac State AD Don Fuoss says, it is amazing how often the pressure of converting a fourth down results in a busted assignment or a fumble, even against a weak defense. If you wait until fourth down to punt (the usual strategy nowadays, given that the quick kick has almost completely disappeared, seen as "giving up"), you had BETTER have outstanding protection for the punter. And your punter had better not get delusions of grandeur, calling for an unauthorized fake. If you punt on THIRD down, and there's a bad snap, the punter can cover it up and have another chance. (Fuoss, 138-140).

While Fuoss' rules on when to punt are generally for a byegone era (Rule #1 says to punt on FIRST down inside your own 10), the last half of his ten punting rules bear repeating even today.

4. Between your 35 and 50, kick on either third or fourth down.
5. ALWAYS kick on fourth down behind the 50, unless the HC decides otherwise.
6/7. From the 50 to the positive 25 (EDIT: given today's kicking legs, I'll say the 35 or 40), kick the ball forward on fourth down. If your placekicker has the leg, kick the FG. Otherwise, punt. Deviate from this ONLY when behind late in the game.
8. Punt before losing the wind at the end of the first or third quarters.
9. If punting on fourth down, unless the HC has called for a fake, the punter MUST get the ball off.
10. Above all, when in doubt, PUNT.

(Fuoss, 112).

These general rules should prevent a LOT of lost games.

Fuoss, Donald E. Quarterback Generalship and Strategy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1958.

[andy7171]

[EWURanger]

What just happened? ^^^


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[Mvemjsunpx]

Patriot League

BUCK 7-31 LAF
COLG 41-20 COR
LEH 34-52 FORD
HARV 41-35 HC (3OT)

• NConf Record: 1-1
  Overall: 14-17
  
  vs. FCS: 1-1
  Overall: 13-16
  
  
  Best Performance: (#12) Fordham 52, (#13) Lehigh 34 - Mike Nebrich outduels Brandon Bialkowski in a game that likely would be deciding the Patriot League title if the Rams' games actually counted toward such a thing.
  
  Worst Performance: Bucknell 7, Lafayette 31 - The Bison are held to a pathetic 80 yards by an 0-3 Leopard team.
  
  Most Surprising Result: Colgate 41, Cornell 20 - The Raiders regain some of their mojo by outrushing the Big Red 258-52.

NEC

wlu 14-27 DUQ
BRY 13-21 SBU
SFPA 29-38 CCSU
WAG 23-20 SACHRT
RMU 9-35 MONM

• NConf Record: 1-2
  Overall: 14-17
  
  vs. FCS: 0-2
  Overall: 9-14
  
  
  Best Performance: Wagner 23, Sacred Heart 20 - The Seahawks blow a 17-point lead against the undefeated Pioneers, but Bryan Maley's 3rd. field goal with 4 seconds left solidifies the upset.
  
  Worst Performance: Robert Morris 9, Monmouth 35 - Colonials go 2/13 on third down, 0-2 on fourth down, and 0/1 on field goals in a puzzling performance.
  
  Most Surprising Result: Wagner 23, Sacred Heart 20 - Wagner wins their 2nd. straight in Fairfield after posting just one win there ever prior to that.

CAA

W&M 16-20 NOVA
BRY 13-21 SBU
UD 28-62 MAINE
URI 14-31 BROWN
UNH 28-44 TOW
ALB 13-40 JMU

• NConf Record: 1-1
  Overall: 22-16
  
  vs. FCS: 1-1
  Overall: 20-7
  
  
  Best Performance: (#23) Maine 62, (#24) Delaware 28 - The typically reserved Black Bear offense puts up 602 yards in an eye-opening ass kicking.
  
  Worst Performance: Rhode Island 14, Brown 31 - Rams lose 3 straight to their intrastate rivals for the first time since the mid-to-late '80s.
  
  Most Surprising Result: (#23) Maine 62, (#24) Delaware 28 - Maine has broken 50 points 4 times since the beginning of last year after only breaking 50 points once in the prior 5 years combined.

Big South

LIB 17-21 ODU
GWEBB 51-53 CHAR
ngu 14-28 CHSO
PRESBY 14-55 WOFF

• NConf Record: 1-3
  Overall: 20-13
  
  vs. FCS: 0-2
  Overall: 13-7
  
  
  Best Performance: Liberty 17, (FBS) Old Dominion 21 - The Flames somehow keep ODU to single digits until a combined defense/special teams breakdown in the final 5 minutes.
  
  Worst Performance: (#25) Gardner-Webb 51, Charlotte 53 - The Bulldogs somehow give up 586 yards and 29 consecutive points to a first-year program.
  
  Most Surprising Result: (#25) Gardner-Webb 51, Charlotte 53 - After failing to score a touchdown in two upset wins, the Bulldogs score 51 points & lose.

MEAC

BCU 21-7 DSU
FAMU 21-34 MORG
NCCEN 37-28 HOW
SAV 24-26 NFOLK
NCAT 24-29 SCSU (in Atlanta, GA)

• NConf Record: 0-0
  Overall: 12-27
  
  vs. FCS: 0-0
  Overall: 5-15
  
  
  Best Performance: South Carolina St. 29, North Carolina A&T 24 - The Bulldogs end N.C. A&T's brief reign as Bethune-Cookman's biggest threat.
  
  Worst Performance: Florida A&M 21, Morgan St. 34 - The Rattlers have now lost 3 of 5 to the Bears after winning 18 of the first 21.
  
  Most Surprising Result: Florida A&M 21, Morgan St. 34 - At 1-4, FAMU is off to their worst five-game start in 29 years.

SoCon

ELON 28-25 FUR
PRESBY 14-55 WOFF
APP 28-31 CIT (OT)
GASO 34-44 SAM
WCU 21-42 UTC

• NConf Record*: 3-0
  Overall: 11-16
  
  vs. FCS*: 1-0
  Overall: 4-8
  
  
  Best Performance: Samford 44, (FBS) Georgia Southern 34 - Andy Summerlin throws for 495 yards and 3 touchdowns in a big win for the Bulldogs.
  
  Worst Performance: Western Carolina 21, Tennessee Chattanooga 42 - The Catamounts throw 4 picks as their last conference win continues to move into the distant past.
  
  Most Surprising Result: Samford 44, (FBS) Georgia Southern 34 - Summerlin—not a name you think of when you think of gaudy passing statistics—has now thrown for more than 450 yards twice this season.

* - I know App State & Georgia Southern are still technically in the SoCon this year, but I'm counting them as FBS and as a non-conference opponent for SoCon teams (same idea as Georgia State last season & UMass the year before).


Tomorrow: Ivy, SWAC & Indies.

[Mvemjsunpx]

Ivy League

DART 31-37 PENN
COLG 41-20 COR
HARV 41-35 HC (3OT)
URI 14-31 BROWN
YALE 24-10 CP
COLUM 7-53 PRINCE

• NConf Record: 3-1
  Overall: 10-6
  
  vs. FCS: 3-1
  Overall: 10-6
  
  
  Best Performance: Yale 24, (#18) Cal Poly 10 - The Bulldogs shockingly outplay the Mustangs in the first-ever game between a Big Sky team & an Ivy.
  
  Worst Performance: Columbia 7, Princeton 53 - Just when you thought it couldn't get any more embarrassing for the Lions, they are outgained 629-136 in New Jersey.
  
  Most Surprising Result: Yale 24, (#18) Cal Poly 10 - Appropriately named Yale DB Cole Champion puts up a championship performance with 13 tackles, 2 INTs, and a fumble recovery.

SWAC

ALST 34-2 TXSO
GRAM 31-3 PVAMU (in Dallas, TX)
MVSU 28-9 AAMU
UAPB 33-42 JSU
warn 0-57 ALCORN

• NConf Record: 1-0
  Overall: 3-17
  
  vs. FCS: 0-0
  Overall: 1-8
  
  
  Best Performance: Mississippi Valley St. 28, Alabama A&M 9 - How do you win convincingly when you're dominated on the ground 281-74? You win the turnover battle 6-0, of course.
  
  Worst Performance: Alabama A&M 9, Mississippi Valley St. 28 - Why did the Bulldogs even bother throwing the ball at all? They ran for 281 yards, but ended up with more interceptions (5) than completions (4).
  
  Most Surprising Result: Mississippi Valley St. 28, Alabama A&M 9 - The Delta Devils get just their 2nd. win over AAMU in the last 18 tries and their first road win over the Bulldogs since 1985.

Independents

ACU 20-28 pittst
UIW 3-35 SELU
RMU 9-35 MONM
GWEBB 51-53 CHAR

• Non-Ind. Record*: 2-2
  Overall: 13-11
  
  vs. FCS*: 2-1
  Overall: 6-9
  
  
  Best Performance: Charlotte 53, (#25) Gardner-Webb 51 - Matt Johnson throws for 342 and 5 touchdowns while three 49er running backs each break the 70-yard mark.
  
  Worst Performance: Abilene Christian 20, (DII) Pittsburg St. 28 - The Wildcats continue receiving their multi-week reality check by losing to the #10 team in DII.
  
  Most Surprising Result: Charlotte 53, (#25) Gardner-Webb 51 - Whoda thunk the infant 49er program would appear more FBS ready than Appalachian State?

* - Old Dominion is a first-year transitional, so I'm counting them as FBS and not counting them as an FCS Independent.

[BlackFalkin]

At least he cited his sources.