Rob Weiss, FCS Update
Holy Cross 28 at (2) Villanova 38
The Holy Cross offense got rolling a little more than I expected in this game. The game went back and forth as the teams traded scores until knotted at 14. At that poitn Villanova took over a bit and drove the score to 28-14. In the 3rd quarter the teams traded TDs. In the 4th quarter the Crusaders comeback bid came up short as the only mustered 7 points to Villanova’s 3. Holy Cross played 2 quarters of even football with Villanova, but the 2nd quarter blanking of the HC offense was too much to overcome. The Crusaders’ QB, Dominic Randolph went 31 of 51 for 347 yards, 3 TDs, and 0 INTs.
South Carolina State 13 @ Appalachian State 20
South Carolina State gave App St a scare for the 2nd year in a row. In a game filled with turnovers, SCSU snapped a FG attempt past the kicker and it was returned for a TD. SCSU had one last chance, but needed to go 93 yards in 53 seconds. both QB’s threw 3 INTs in a game where each team scored a defensive TD off of a turnover.
Weber State 0 @ William and Mary 38
As I predicted, this was a one-sided matchup featuring one of the best teams in the country against the last team in. Cameron Higgins of Weber State was 21/40 with 4 INTs. W&M played a well balanced offensive game in the rout.
Elon 13 @ (4) Richmond 16
Elon was down most of the game, but a late 4th quarter push put a scare into the Spider fans. The Phoenix came up short when a 48 yard game-tying FG attempt was no where near the mark. Interesting stat of the game: Richmond threw 3 INTs, Elon: none. Elon actually finished the game +3 in the turnover margin. Spider QB Eric Ward finished with 276 all purpose yards. Scott Riddle of Elon threw for 307 and 1 TD.
Eastern Illinois 7 @ (3) Southern Illinois 48
Southern Illinois scored 48 unanswered points in one of SIU’s best first round performances in years.
South Dakota State 48 @ (1) Montana 61
In what could be called the biggest comeback in FCS playoff history the Griz scored 41 unanswered points to beat the Jacks in the first round at Washington-Griz Stadium.
New Hampshire 49 @ McNeese State 13
In one of my more controversial picks, I stated that I felt that New Hampshire was the clear favorite in this game. After following FCS football all across the nation (even the MEAC, haha) this was the result I was expecting. I have no regional biases, just the games I watch and the things I read.
Eastern Washington 33 at Stephen F. Austin 44
My one flaw for the day. I guess I should’ve referenced the Weber State-EWU game for an idea of how EWU would perform against the SFA passing attack. Lumberjack QB, Jeremy Moses went 43 of 57 for 432 yards and 4 TDs. Only issue was his 3 INTs. But even with 3 INTs SFA was never too nervous. They lead by 11 or more for the entire 2nd half with leads as great as 25. EWU’s Matt Nichols was 43 of 76 for 461 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT. 133 passing attempts kept this game going forever. Both teams had one RB go over 100 yards. EWU’s Taiwan Jones ran for 118 and an average of 7.8 while SFA’s Vincent Pervis ran for 125 and also averaged 7.8 per carry.
So 7-1 on the day. Not too shabby. 🙂
The Grizzlies only score 40 unanswered points, not 41. Lets not blow this come back up anymore than it is.
The original box score I read did not show 2 missed extra points.
You weren’t there to see it! That was quite possibly the most amazing comeback in college football!
yeah i def get those free ESPN texts about score updates and what not. well i had updates for every quarter of every FCS playoff game. so there i was i was standing at the McNeese massacre game against New Hampshire and it was the end of the 3rd in Missoula. and i saw Montana was down by what? 35 points? so im thinking the #1 seed is 15 min from upset then about you know 30 min later i get a text from ESPN montana 61-48! i said WTF!?!?! about lost my mind thinking espn may have screwed up the score but nope… it happened