What were supposed to be the weekend’s marquee games in the Bowl Subdivision disappointed. The Championship
Subdivision’s Week 6 had drama to spare, however. Wild fourth quarters decided five, playoff implicated outcomes with field goals and two-point conversions playing vital roles.
The 4-1 and perfect Colonial Athletic Association start of Maine is one of the FCS’s great stories. There’s something magical to this Black Bear, and Saturday’s finish against James Madison was the most amazing finish yet.
James Madison’s top 10 rush defense bottled up Pushaun Brown, the key to Maine’s defeat of Delaware the previous week. Warren Smith rose up, passing for 295 yards. He led the Black Bears’ final 47-yard drive in regulation, culminating in a game-tying Brian Harvey field goal.
Maybe Jack Cosgrove sees the magic — or maybe, and far more realistically, he sees what pundits who tabbed the Black Bears for the CAA cellar didn’t: his team is good. Cosgrove called for a two-point conversion, a make-or-break decision in overtime against the top 10 Dukes. It paid off.
Don’t be surprised if you see Chris Treister’s goal line rush on highlight packages for the rest of the season.
The swinging gate formation was a gutsy, and ultimately genius move. It’s also a play that can be looked back on as a tangible indicator of this surprising run’s impact.
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Richmond’s Aaron Corp was historically good: 31-for-34, 353 yards and two touchdowns including the tying strike with Stephen Barnette in the fourth quarter. Corp’s incredible effort fell short of tripping up another CAA team on a surprise run, as Towson moved to 4-1 and like Maine, perfect against the FCS on D.J. Soven’s 27-yard field goal with zeroes on the clock.
The Tigers finished in the Colonial’s basement a season ago, but have spun 180 degrees. One reason: freshman tailback Terrance West. West scored all four Tiger touchdowns, bringing his total to nine. West is at the front of the pack for the inaugural Jerry Rice Award, given to the best freshman in the FCS.
UR has twice been on the wrong end of two of the most exciting finishes of the FCS season. The Spiders dropped a shootout previously to New Hampshire.
Montana State took control of the Big Sky Conference lead with its second marquee road win, and third straight defeat of a possible playoff contender. The Bobcats trumped Eastern Washington a week ago on The Inferno, and put themselves on solid ground for a repeat championship performance weathering Portland State’s run game storm.
The MSU-PSU clash may have been the best competition of all Week 6: high scoring, with potential conference championship positioning at stake and a final minute finish. Walter Payton Award finalist Denarius McGhee had his breakout performance of the 2011 campaign: four touchdown passes, one touchdown rush, and 255 yards on just 15 completions.
Texas State quarterback Shaun Rutherford scored his second touchdown in the fourth quarter to break a McNeese State lead, and Dennis Franchione called for a two-point attempt to negate a would-be Cowboy touchdown-and-PAT. The Bobcats are a perfect 4-0 against FCS competition, and while ineligible for the postseason due to their move to the Western Athletic Conference, are playing spoiler to many in the Southland Conference.
MSU finds itself two games back of Sam Houston State as a result of the loss, but TSU could give the Cowboys a hand; the Bobcats still have their rival Bearkats looming on the slate in the season finale, rivalry game.
Georgia Southern remains No. 1 and the obvious target for Southern Conference teams. Being the hunted tests a team meddle, and Chattanooga pushed GSU to the brink. The Mocs had the Eagles in position to drop them off the edge thanks to reserve quarterback Terrell Robinson. Payton Award candidate B.J. Coleman came out early with an injury, but Robinson emerged with three touchdowns, the third of which brought the score to 28-27 with less than two minutes remaining.
Two-point conversion calls benefited Maine and Texas State, but UTC saw the risk end of that high risk/high reward choice. The Mocs were unable to convert, and the nation’s No. 1 team escaped. The Mocs also have a heartbreaking road loss to Appalachian State. Russ Huesman’s UTC has shown it can play with the nation’s best teams, but wins earn playoff bids, not near-misses.
POLL POSITION
Undefeated Georgia Southern tops both the Coaches and SportsNetwork.com Top 25 polls, with Montana State, Wofford, Northern Iowa and North Dakota State in various orders 2-5. From there, things start to get a bit perplexing.
Maine is not getting much respect from the pollsters; the Coaches Poll is rankings’ version of kicking sand in someone’s face at the beach. The Black Bears are No. 16, three places below the James Madison team it just beat and a mind blowing eight spots below Delaware, which Maine defeated two weeks ago. Brand recognition and preseason perception seems to go a long way in both polls. Appalachian State at 3-2 is No. 7 in both polls, with a marquee win over 2-4 Chattanooga the most notable accomplishment thus far for the Mountaineers. William & Mary is 3-3, yet 16 and 15 in the two polls ahead of conference mates like Towson and Old Dominion.
While the Tribe and Mountaineers’ rankings get boosts from their top 5 initial standing, the positioning of two that began the season off the radar becomes all the more confusing. South Dakota (No. 14) and North Dakota (No. 18) are ahead of teams with better records and more impressive wins. UND has just one victory against a scholarship Division I program. The Sioux are ranked five spots ahead of Towson. What’s going on here?
You can read the Coaches Poll here and the SportsNetwork.com Poll here.
PLAYOFFS?!
With teams midway through their regular season (already???), it’s time to start realistically discussing playoffs. The 20-team expansion is in its second season. The move made last season extended automatic bids to the Big South and NEC. The Big South season’s just begun, and not surprisingly Liberty, Coastal Carolina and Stony Brook are out to initial leads.
Reigning champion CCU has the best record at 4-1, but Liberty’s played a far more arduous schedule. Stony Brook’s just 2-3, but the Seawolves seem to be putting the pieces together and have the advantage of hosting both the Chanticleers and Flames. And both games are late in the season, guaranteeing some bone chilling weather there in Upstate New York.
The Big South’s a one-bid league, unlike the CAA, SoCon and MVFC. These three could monopolize the 10 at-large bids, assuming the power teams from each league don’t beat each other up too badly. The CAA has an astounding seven teams still realistically in the hunt: James Madison, Maine, Towson, Delaware, New Hampshire and Old Dominion are currently in the best position, with Richmond and William & Mary on thin ice but certainly capable of igniting late runs. The CAA should, in all likelihood, send five teams: one champion and four at-larges.
Georgia Southern and Wofford are on the right paths to bids from the SoCon. Appalachian State is likely headed back and gets to host GSU. Chattanooga’s tough losses to the Eagles and Mountaineers just might have the Mocs eliminated from contention, but Furman and Elon are still alive — the latter more than the former. Furman dropped a perplexing decision to Samford. The Phoenix are 4-1 though, and an 8-3 finish in that tough league would punch Elon’s ticket back.
Barring unexpected collapses, the MVFC is headed to at least two bids with Northern Iowa and North Dakota State. The issue for these two teams, among the nation’s best defensively, is which gets a likely top four bid. That should be decided Oct. 29 when the Panthers head to Fargo. This should prove to be one of the most competitive and exciting FCS games of the season.
The Big Sky is the fourth power league and boasts the nation’s defending champion Eastern Washington. But EWU must win out to have even an opportunity at an at-large. The best of the Eagles’ schedule is in the rearview, including Montana State. The Bobcats will be playing for homefield advantage all the way to Frisco, while Portland State and Montana fight for bids. The Grizzlies were automatic entrants every year, a name that could be penciled into the bracket on Labor Day, but last year missed the field. At 4-2, UM must finish 4-1 to return due to a Division II opponent on the schedule — playoff entrants need seven wins against Division I competition. Among Montana’s final games is rival MSU.
A great resource leading up to the postseason is NoBowls.com, a Joe Lunardi-style bracketology for the NCAA Playoffs.
AWARD WATCH
Walter Payton Award
Lehigh’s Chris Lum is becoming the Case Keenum of the Championship Subdivision. It’s a virtual guarantee he’ll surpass 300 yards, and against Bucknell he did just that: 368 to be exact, on 30 completions. His 23 passing touchdowns are far and away the most among FCS quarterbacks, and would actually lead FBS as well. Bucknell was probably the last serious threat to the Mountain Hawks’ Patriot League championship hopes, so a lot of momentum should carry Lum and Lehigh into November.
Denariush McGhee’s performance leading Montana State over Portland State was his own personal best of 2011, and would stack up among the very best for any offensive player this season (five total touchdowns).
Buck Buchanan Award
Northern Iowa’s stingy defense boasts a pair of Buck Buchanan Award candidates, and both played up to that reputation against Indiana State. L.J. Fort had a game high 12 tackles, 2.5 of which were for a loss. He also forced a fumble, his fifth such of the season.
Teammate Ben Boothby was a backfield terror to the tune of three tackles for loss including two sacks. Indiana State fell 23-9, but the Sycamores’ own Buchanan candidate, Ben Obaseki, had an outstanding afternoon: eight tackles, three for loss, and two sacks.
Jerry Rice Award
Terrance West’s aforementioned performance against Richmond propels the Towson running back to the forefront of the inaugural Jerry Rice Award conversation. Alongside West is Howard’s quarterback Greg McGhee. Like West, McGhee joined a team that won just once in 2010 but has reversed its fortunes. The Bison edged 2010 MEAC co-champion Florida A&M Saturday for their third win of the season.