Best Performance: (#8) Montana St. 21, (#11) Montana 16 - Thanks to 4 second-half turnovers by the Griz, the Bobcats win the Brawl of the Wild without Mike Kramer or Travis Lulay for the first time since 1985.
Worst Performance: Portland St. 14, Northern Arizona 62 - The Viking defense is ripped to shreds: they allowed Giovannie Dixon & Zach Bauman to run for a combined 371 yards and 4 touchdowns on just 27 carries & Michael Herrick to throw for 261 yards and 4 touchdowns on just 22 attempts. PSU's D allowed a pathetic 11.1 yards-per-play. Imagine how bad this would have been if NAU hadn't lost 4 fumbles.
Most Surprising Result: Northern Arizona 62, Portland St. 14 - The 'Jacks exorcise 3 years of late-season frustrations on one hapless opponent.
Southland
NWST 13-36 SFA
TXST 29-31 SHSU
MCNSE 24-28 UCA
SELA 25-27 NICH
NConf Record: 0-0 Overall: 15-17
vs. FCS: 0-0 Overall: 11-5
Best Performance: (#5) Stephen F. Austin 36, Northwestern St. 13 - Jeremy Moses throws for 489 yards and 3 touchdowns in this playoff tune-up. Since the confusing Texas State choke, SFA has won three straight games by an average margin of 31.7.
Worst Performance: Southeastern Louisiana 25, Nicholls St. 27 - The Lions end a woefully disappointing season as they lose despite winning yardage & turnovers.
Most Surprising Result: Texas State - The Bobcats go 1-6 in conference, beating the champs & no-one else.
Missouri Valley
UND 0-21 SDKST
NDSU 0-3 MIZST
UNI 14-30 WIU
INST 21-49 SIU
NConf Record: 1-0 Overall: 14-6
vs. FCS: 1-0 Overall: 9-3
Best Performance: Western Illinois 30, (#13) Northern Iowa 14 - The Leathernecks rack up 527 yards & control the game throughout as they make the playoffs & deny the Panthers a first-round bye.
Worst Performance: Indiana St. 21, Southern Illinois 49 - The Sycs still got their first winning season since 1996, but this is hardly a way to keep up the momentum for next year.
Most Surprising Result: Missouri St. 3, (#17) North Dakota St. 0 - After weeks of defenseless shootouts, the Bears hold playoff-bound NDSU to 120 yards & win with just a field goal.
OVC
AP 3-17 EKU
TSU 23-28 MUR
JAXST 24-35 TTU
NConf Record: 0-0 Overall: 13-16
vs. FCS: 0-0 Overall: 7-7
Best Performance: Tennessee Tech 35, (#4) Jacksonville St. 24 - Cass Barnes throws for 271 yards in leading a stunning comeback.
Worst Performance: (#4) Jacksonville St. 24, Tennessee Tech 35 - Gamecocks pull an SFA & give up 4 unanswered touchdowns in the final 12 minutes.
Most Surprising Result: (#4) Jacksonville St. 24, Tennessee Tech 35 - Gamecocks forget that football is a 60-minute game & cost themselves a seed.
Patriot League
LEH 20-13 LAF COLG 47-12 FORD
BUCK 9-34 HC
MARIST 7-14 GTOWN
NConf Record: 1-0 Overall: 13-22
vs. FCS: 1-0 Overall: 13-20
Best Performance: Colgate 47, Fordham 12 - Nate Eachus runs for 204 yards and 2 TDs and finishes the regular season atop the nation with 1871 yards and 21 TDs.
Worst Performance: Bucknell 9, Holy Cross 34 - Bison finish 1-10 in Joe Susan's first season.
Most Surprising Result: Georgetown 14, Marist 7 - Hoyas end a 6-game losing streak & finish with 4 wins for the first time since 2005.
Best Performance: Duquesne 37, Bryant 29 - Dukes get first-ever win over Bryant thanks to 160 rushing yards from Larry McCoy.
Worst Performance: Wagner 22, Sacred Heart 38 - Seahawks shredded by Dale Fink—395 yards and 5 TDs passing.
Most Surprising Result: Duquesne 37, Bryant 29 - The former kings of the Metro Atlantic win 7 games for the first time in 4 years
CAA
TOW 19-38 UNH JMU 14-10 MAINE
UMASS 34-37 URI NOVA 28-21 UD (OT)
RICH 3-41 W&M
NConf Record: 0-0 Overall: 19-11
vs. FCS: 0-0 Overall: 17-3
Best Performance: (#15) Villanova 28, (#1) Delaware 21 (OT) - Wildcats force 2 turnovers in getting their 5th. straight win over the Hens.
Worst Performance: (#18) Richmond 3, (#6) William & Mary 41 - Spiders forget they were in the playoff race & give up 616 yards to a defensive team.
Most Surprising Result: (#1) Delaware 21, (#15) Villanova 28 (OT) - Well, the Hens did go to the title game after an upset loss to Nova in 2007. Still, they cost themselves home field throughout here.
Best Performance: (#21) Liberty 54, Stony Brook 28 - Mike Brown puts up a monstrous 494 yards of total offense and 4 total touchdowns, but this beatdown wasn't good enough to overcome last week's choke.
Worst Performance: Charleston Southern 3, Coastal Carolina 70 - The Bucs have been outscored by an average of 18 points in this rivalry.
Most Surprising Result: Stony Brook 28, (#21) Liberty 54 - All the Seawolves had to do to make the playoffs was hold Liberty under 42 points & they couldn't do it. Instead, they provide the Chanticleers the biggest gift of the season.
MEAC
HAMP 21-16 MORG DSU 53-43 HOW SCSU 48-3 NCAT ODU 33-21 NCCEN NFOLK 42-6 SAV
BCOOK 27-38 FAMU(in Orlando, FL)
NConf Record: 0-1 Overall: 8-23
vs. FCS: 0-1 Overall: 1-14
Best Performance: Florida A&M 38, (#7) Bethune-Cookman 27 - Philip Sylvester runs for 146 yards and 3 TDs as the Rattlers finish with 8+ wins for the third straight season.
Worst Performance: Savannah St. 6, Norfolk St. 42 - Tigers allow 233 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns to DeAngelo Branche.
Most Surprising Result: (#7) Bethune-Cookman 27, Florida A&M 38 - With a 27-14 lead, the Wildcats apparently realized at halftime that they clinched the auto-bid (thanks to SCSU's win) & didn't bother coming out.
SoCon
APP 10-48 UF
WCU 14-45 ELON GASO 32-28 FUR
UTC 14-45 WOFF CIT 13-12 SAM
NConf Record: 0-1 Overall: 15-12
vs. FCS: 0-0 Overall: 11-2
Best Performance: (#9) Wofford 45, Tennessee-Chattanooga 14 - Eric Breitenstein runs for 131 and 3 touchdowns as the Terriers crush a playoff hopeful that had played running teams well.
Worst Performance: Western Carolina 14, Elon 45 - The Catamounts throw Elon QB Scott Riddle a smashing retirement party as he finishes at Elon with a 452 yard, 5 TD performance.
Most Surprising Result: Tennessee-Chattanooga 14, (#9) Wofford 45 - Like Richmond, the Mocs apparently forgot they had a playoff shot too.
Best Performance: UC Davis 17, Sacramento St. 16 - Aggies force 4 turnovers off their hated rivals to overcome 153 yards of offense.
Worst Performance: North Dakota 0, South Dakota St. 21 - The Sioux also get held under 200 yards, but don't force any turnovers.
Most Surprising Result: UC Davis 17, Sacramento St. 16 - Despite being in a lower division for a decent chunk of its existence, the Aggies are now 40-18 against the Hornets in the Causeway Classic.
Ivy League
PENN 31-7 COR
YALE 21-28 HARV
COLUM 16-38 BROWN DART 31-0 PRINCE
NConf Record: 0-0 Overall: 14-10
vs. FCS: 0-0 Overall: 14-10
Best Performance: Harvard 28, Yale 21 - Crimson another team that won a rivalry with less than 200 yards of offense. This time it was due to an 84-yard KR touchdown by Marco Iannuzzi & a terrible punting performance by the Bulldogs.
Worst Performance: Princeton 0, Dartmouth 31 - Tigers do a relatively decent job on Nick Schwieger (105 yards), but can't get any offense themselves.
Most Surprising Result: Yale 21, Harvard 28 - The Bulldogs have now lost 9 of 10 in The Game.
SWAC
UAPB 13-20 TXSO PVAMU 35-14 AAMU
ALCORN 14-27 JSU
NConf Record: 0-0 Overall: 9-9
vs. FCS: 0-0 Overall: 3-2
Best Performance: Jackson St. 27, Alcorn St. 14 - The Tigers hold Alcorn to a 26% completion rate & a 7% third-down conversion rate.
Worst Performance: Alcorn St. 14, Jackson St. 27 - The Braves fall to 5-11 against JSU since Steve McNair's graduation.
