FCS Roundtable: Week 2 Highlights; Patriot on the Rise; Great West Playoff Chances

Lehigh went 0-3 against the Colonial Athletic Association last season, losing the trio of games by an average of three touchdowns. Yet since, the Mountain Hawks beat perennial FCS power Northern Iowa on the road in last year’s playoffs, and Saturday sent a message in a loss. Lehigh fell to New Hampshire, but not before taking the Wildcats to overtime and scoring 41 points. Is the showing indicative of a stronger Patriot League, and is Lehigh a legitimate threat in this season’s playoffs? And will said postseason include a Great West member after Southern Utah and South Dakota both soundly defeated top 10 Big Sky opponents? The FCS Roundtable breaks down these topics, Week 2’s best performances and what to watch in Week 3. Be sure to visit all of the Roundtable contributors’ sites throughout the week to keep abreast of the happenings in the Championship Subdivision.

Ben Moore, Panther Talk & SBNation Atlanta

My eyes went to 3 games this weekend as FCS schools nearly pulled off upsets of an FBS school. Rhode Island fell 21-14 at the Carrier Dome vs. Syracuse, Maine fell 35-29 at Pittsburgh and Wofford could not knock off Clemson on the road 35-27.

My top player comes from one of those near upsets in Maine QB Warren Smith who went 27/45 for 334 yards and 3 TDs with 0 INTs. It is very likely that Smith put himself on a few radars across the country with that performance.

Both Southern Utah and South Dakota’s wins were big and I absolutely believe that the Great West has a shot at an at large bid. Southern Utah plays brand new program UTSA this weekend at home and should move to 2-1 before headed to UNLV. South Dakota also has a home date before facing Wisconsin in two weeks. The October 8th match up between the two in the Dakota Dome will be a must watch for FCS fans.

I think UT-Chattanooga’s win was good their team but, I believe, exposed more issues that Jacksonville State is having. Through 2 games, the JSU defense has given up 983 total yards. This is not good at all. As many fans of our site know, I’m a huge proponent of combined weight of front 7 defensive size. The Gamecocks currently start a combined total of 1701lbs within their front 7. You’re going to have serious problems against the better teams in the Southern Conference stopping the run and applying pressure.

Lehigh was impressive to me but they have a whale of a game brewing vs. Liberty in two weeks. The Patriot League is strong with Bucknell starting strong, Georgetown may be my early surprise and should be 3-0 after this weekend and Holy Cross has a tough stretch coming the next 3 weeks but have been impressive early.

Chuck Burton, Lehigh Football Nation

Lehigh definitely sent a message about their team by rallying by 18 points to take the lead on UNH. Head coach Andy Coen and quarterback Chris Lum both said in the post-game press conference of the game that they felt like they could match up toe-to-toe with UNH, and did so even after falling behind my more than three scores. To me, it showed a lot about this particular team, though, not necessarily the entire Patriot League.

As for the Patriot League itself, much will depend on how they do this week. Lafayette plays Penn, a Top 25 team, and Holy Cross plays Harvard, a perennial Ivy League title contender. With a strong showing in these two games, Lehigh’s gallant effort against UNH might become something more of a statement about the entire league.

Joe Suhoski, VBR Productions

It would be easy to list running back Colby Goodwyn as Week 2’s top player. The sophomore running back ran for 190 yards on 26 carries for ODU against the Georgia State Panthers. He was named the National Running Back of the Week by the College Football Performance Awards, as well as the CAA Offensive Player of the Week by the conference members. That’s not bad for a player who started summer camps as the Monarchs’ third-string back.

But as a fan of the Buffalo Bills, I am obliged to select Old Dominion sophomore Paul Morant. Bills wideout Steve Tasker affected the outcome of more games than any non-kicker in his career with his special teams play. Watching Tasker taught me to look for non-scoring plays that change the pace of a game. This Saturday against the Panthers, ODU’s reserve safety blocked two first-half punts – one was scooped up and returned for a touchdown, while the offense quickly turned the second into another score. These blocked punts helped erase two of Old Dominion’s own turnovers that resulted in ten Panther points. In two weeks Morant has one INT and two blocked punts; all three of these plays were converted to Monarch touchdowns.

Let’s move on to the Great West’s at-large chances. Last season the Jacksonville of the Pioneer League finished the season with an impressive 10-1 record. That one loss was a 45-14 drubbing at the hands of Appalachian State; they played no other top 25 team. Despite the ten wins, there was no postseason for the Dolphins, as the NCAA decision-makers thought there were no quality wins on JU’s schedule. Had Jacksonville finished the season undefeated then it would have been criminal to leave them out, but the NCAA didn’t see enough out of the team despite just one loss.

With this in mind, there is minimal margin for error for either Southern Utah or South Dakota to earn at-large bids to the FCS tournament. Both teams already have one loss on their records. The SD Coyotes lost already to Air Force and plays at Wisconsin of the Big Ten/Twelve in a few weeks. Meanwhile the SUU Thunderbirds lost by one point at South Dakota State before dominating Sacramento State.

Potemtially missing the playoffs is a shame because UC Davis and Cal Poly have fielded excellent programs over the years, and Southern Utah is poised for a fine season with eight returning starters on each offense and defense. Between the two Great West teams in question, Southern Utah has the better chance to stake a claim going forward. In addition to a chance at an FBS win over UNLV, the Thunderbirds take on the Big Sky’s Northern Arizona and the UNI Panthers of the MVFC. If SUU wins the rest of its games, wins over these three teams would be more impressive than JU’s 2010 resume and could lead to an FCS at-large bid.

Russell Varner, SouthernPigskin.com

Week 2 top team and player: The team of the week award has to go to Chattanooga for their statement victory over Jacksonville State. This was a team that struggled to finish against the Gamecocks last year and came back with authority this year. The win was a gigantic step towards the playoffs for the Mocs. This weekend’s matchup against Eastern Kentucky will be another big challenge for the Mocs to step up to. My player of the week award goes to Chatty receiver Joel Bradford, whose 15 catches, 162 yards and a touchdown played a major role in the victory. Western Carolina’s freshman Shaun Warren deserves a mention though. All he did was run 21 times for 203 yards and four touchdowns – enough to earn SoCon Freshman of the Week honors.

Week 3 matchup to watch for: It’s a very light slate of games this weekend as only three teams take to the field. But, the best matchup will best Chattanooga visiting Eastern Kentucky. As I mentioned before, the Mocs are coming off arguably the biggest victory of the Russ Huesman era. A win on the road against EKU will help place Chattanooga among the nation’s best teams as we prepare for conference play.

Does the Great West have a shot at a at-large bid? Of course they do. They have just as much of a shot as anyone else – slightly better actually after their respective victories. What would it take for them to get in? Well, about the same that it would take for a non-automatic qualifying school to get an invite to the BCS – impressive victories, an undefeated season and some luck.

So this will be the third time I have talked about Chattanooga today. It’s hard to understate just how big a victory this was for the team. The knock on the Mocs coming into this season was that they are chokers and cannot handle the big game, thanks in part to their result at Jacksonville State last year. This absolutely helps get rid of that notion, at least for now, and says that the Mocs deserve as much talk for the SoCon title as App, Georgia Southern and Wofford do. It is going to be a hell of a race to the title this year and I, for one, cannot wait to see it.

Lehigh showed that even the “little guys” of the FCS can compete with the big boys. For a team that plays in the Patriot League to go toe-to-toe with a CAA team and take them to overtime definitely helped open eyes across the nation. If they weren’t taken seriously before, they definitely are now – and rightfully so.