This Week in the FCS: Great West’s Great Wins; The CAA Gauntlet Revisited

Think the Associated Press and/or Coaches Polls are wacky? Figure this: Southern Utah beats No. 8 Sacramento State, 35-14. The three-touchdown loss sent Sac State plummeting down 12 spots in the poll, victims of the Letdown Game trap discussed in last week’s “This Week…” And SUU? The Thunderbirds are unranked. Granted SUU is 1-1, having suffered a one-point Week 1 loss at South Dakota State, but a three-touchdown spread would suggest the Thunderbirds deserve to sit atop the Hornets, or at least as unranked equals.

Since misery loves company, SUU can take heart in fellow Great West Conference member South Dakota also getting the cold shoulder. The Coyotes are ranked No. 24, sure, but remain 14 spots below Eastern Washington — a team USD just beat 30-17. Perplexing, yes. Even worse is polls have a significant impact on both SUU and USD’s playoff fates. The Great West is limping to its final football season’s conclusion, as USD heads to the Missouri Valley and SUU, UC Davis, Cal Poly and North Dakota join the Big Sky next season. With just five members, the conference champion does not receive an automatic berth in the NCAA Playoffs, joining the SWAC, Ivy and Pioneer as the only leagues that don’t since last season’s expansion to 20 entrants. The latter two are non-scholarship, and the former don’t traditionally accept playoff invitations (a SWAC member can, but not its champion due to the league title game conflicting with the playoff schedule. Thus, the SWAC is virtually persona non grata in playoff terms).

The GWC is on its own, peculiar little island now that the NEC and Big South have auto-bids, hence it’s break up. In the meantime though, it’s members are reliant on meeting the criteria for an at-large bid from a non-automatic qualifying conference. In 2009, that criteria included a ranking of at least 16 in the poll. The expansion of the playoff field has amended the latter, but rankings factor favorably into a team’s resume.

USD can forget about a playoff berth regardless, as the Coyotes play three Div. II opponents and are still a provisional Division I themselves. The NCAA requires seven wins against Division I competition. The Coyotes would need to run the table, including a win over Wisconsin. Now, the Badgers did go to overtime with another GWC program, Poly, back in 2008. I highly doubt that’s happening a second time.

USD isn’t getting into the postseason despite dominating the defending national champion, but it could produce a Payton Award candidate via quarterback Dante Warren. The dual threat signal caller threw three interceptions in a reasonably competitive loss at Air Force, but bounced back against EWU. He didn’t throw much against the Eagles, but completed for over 15 yards on average while 59 yards and a touchdown. Currently he’s at 150 yards passing and 60 rushing per game with four total touchdowns. Those figures will surely swell once USD plays lesser competition.

Brad Sorensen at SUU is already in the Payton conversation as a preseason watch list nominee. He’s fourth in the nation with 30 completions per game, hitting that mark in both of his first two outings. Perhaps more impressive is he’s doing so while completing nearly 74 percent of his attempts. He went without a touchdown against Sac State, but make no mistake; his leadership controls all facets of the Thunderbird offense.

No Off Days in CAA

There might not be a division between the Colonial’s pace setters and its followers. Towson has spent the last few seasons in the cellar, but roared to 2-0 with a sound beating of Villanova (yet ‘Nova received more votes in this week’s rankings). Joe Suhoski was on the scene and had outstanding analysis of what the win means for Towson’s season right here at SaturdayBlitz.com.

Towson could factor into the league’s championship race, particular given frontrunners William & Mary and Delaware have looked sluggish through the first two weeks. Similarly, Rhode Island and Maine showed serious resolve over the weekend in defeats. Both gave Big East competition more than a handful. The Black Bears played with Pitt until the final zeroes, falling 35-29. UM quarterback Warren Smith outplayed Pitt’s Tino Sunseri in every facet: 334 yards to 224, three touchdowns to none, zero interceptions to two.

Likewise, Syracuse needed a fourth quarter touchdown to put away URI 21-14. The Ram defense completely shutdown ‘Cuse’s rushing offense, holding the Orange to just 36 yards. All three of Towson, Rhode Island and Maine were teams pundits like Phil Steele slated for the bottom of the league before the season.

Top Week 3 Match-Ups

The Southland Conference championship could be decided in mid-September. How’s that for pressure? Central Arkansas took Conference USA member Louisiana Tech to overtime before falling 48-42. The loss was the first of three straight games away from the silver-and-purple striped friendly confines in Conway, Ark. Sam Houston State’s Brian Bell could be a match for UCA’s Casey Dick. The quarterback who can outduel the other gets the upper hand in the league’s championship race.

With the Bears welcoming fellow SLC favorites McNeese State and Stephen F. Austin to their den, stealing this one on the road sets an important tone.

A marquee, in-state pairing of ranked foes is on tap for Saturday. The Big South’s Liberty hosts the CAA’s James Madison in a non-conference, heavyweight main event. This is your prototypical pairing of irresistible force and immovable object. Liberty’s offense boasts explosive dual threat star Mike Brown at quarterback and a receiving corps including Chris Summers and Pat Kelly. The JMU defense returned to its conventional form in Week 2, winning 14-9 over Central Connecticut State after giving up 42 to North Carolina.

Defending champion EWU faces the very real possibility of falling into an 0-3 hole as its hellacious road tour takes it to Montana. The Grizzlies scored a major win over Cal Poly last week behind Jordan Johnson’s outstanding dual showing of 240 yards passing and 59 rushing. Johnson poses a similar challenge to the Eagle defense Dante Warren brought last week at South Dakota. Eastern Washington must also enter the hostile territory of Missoula without running back Mario Brown, who was suspended for throwing a punch in the USD loss.

Aforementioned Rhode Island and UMass lock up in the CAA opener for both, the final in-conference meeting between the two New England universities before the Minutemen head to the MAC. Rhody knocked off UMass in last year’s season finale, giving the Rams a 2-1 mark against its regional rivalries that also include Maine and New Hampshire.

FCS Over FBS Alert

Last week’s pick of Stony Brook over Buffalo whiffed, so to any Indiana State supporter reading allow me to preemptively apologize. That said, the Sycamores are a tempting choice traveling to Western Kentucky. WKU gave Kentucky quite a tussle in Week 1 (as well as one of the best memes of the season thus far), but the Hilltoppers don’t have a win to show for it. ISU rolled against Butler en route to its first win; is that the momentum Trent Miles’ team needs to move into the Missouri Valley?