Just for a change, I'm gonna do the conferences in reverse order this week.
Sunday - Independents & Mid-Majors
Independents
CCSU 7-34 SB
NCCEN 10-35 WSSU
PRESBY 24-28 CHSO
Non-Ind Record: 1-2 Overall: 17-19
vs. FCS: 1-2 Overall: 8-14
Best Performance: Stony Brook 34, Central Connecticut St. 7 - Seawolf defense holds CCSU to 163 yards.
Worst Performance: North Carolina Central 10, Winston-Salem St. 35 - Eagle QB Stadford Brown throws 4 picks & the defense gives up 2 100-yard rushers.
Most Surprising Result: North Carolina Central 10, Winston-Salem St. 35 - Not quite the same team that went undefeated into the DII playoffs last year.
Pioneer League
DAY 34-27 DRAKE
VALPO 6-44 DVDSN
BUT 16-24 JVILLE USD 27-14 MHEAD
NConf Record: 0-0 Overall: 22-6
vs. FCS: 0-0 Overall: 6-4
Best Performance: San Diego 27, Morehead St. 14 - Toreros force 3 interceptions as they keep Morehead State from winning the PFL.
Worst Performance: Valparaiso 6, Davidson 44 - The Crusaders give up 419 passing yards & their offense achieves nothing except a garbage touchdown.
Most Surprising Result: San Diego 27, Morehead St. 14 - The Toreros run for 228 yards against a defense that was only giving up 19.4 ypg coming in.
Best Performance: St. Francis (PA) 23, Wagner 20 - The Red Flash run for 252 yards in a surprising win.
Worst Performance: Wagner 20, St. Francis (PA) 23 - The Seahawks give up 252 rushing yards in a surprising loss.
Most Surprising Result: St. Francis (PA) 23, Wagner 20 - Deja vu for the Red Flash, as, just like last year, they lose a bunch of games, then win 2 of 3 over the same opponents in the same order (beating Sacred Heart; losing to Monmouth; beating Wagner).
MAAC
LAS 8-51 DUQ MARIST 17-14 IONA
NConf Record: 0-0 Overall: 11-17
vs. FCS: 0-0 Overall: 7-12
Best Performance: Duquesne 51, La Salle 8 - Dukes hold the Explorers to 75 yards of offense.
Worst Performance: Iona 14, Marist 17 - The Gaels throw away the outright MAAC title again.
Most Surprising Result: Marist 17, Iona 14 - The Red Foxes win 3 of their last 5 to finish the year vaguely respectable.
Best Performance: (#2) North Dakota St. 31, (#24) Cal Poly 28 - Bison QB Steve Walker throws two 60+ yard TD passes in the 4th. quarter in a huge comeback win.
Worst Performance: Southern Utah 27, South Dakota St. 52 - Thunderbirds outscore the Jackrabbits 20-0 in the 2nd. quarter, but they do little else the rest of the time other than turn the ball over 7 times.
Most Surprising Result: (#24) Cal Poly 28, (#2) North Dakota St. 31 - Not a surprise the Mustangs lost, but definitely surprising that they blew a 28-9 lead with 10 minutes left.
Ivy League
COLUM 14-34 COR
PENN 7-23 HARV
DART 35-56 BROWN
PRINCE 6-27 YALE
NConf Record: 0-0 Overall: 11-13
vs. FCS: 0-0 Overall: 11-13
Best Performance: Brown 56, Dartmouth 35 - Bear QB Michael Dougherty completes 82% of his passes for 403 yards while RB Bobby Sewall runs for 4 TD's in a high-scoring win.
Worst Performance: Dartmouth 35, Brown 56 - The Big Green offense continues to show up, as they score 5 TD's & amass 481 yards, but the defense continues to struggle.
Most Surprising Result: Dartmouth 35, Brown 56 - After scoring 59 in a surprising win last week, the Big Green give up 56 in a somewhat surprising loss.
Big South
VMI 34-73 LIB
GWEBB 14-17 CCU
PRESBY 24-28 CHSO
NConf Record: 1-0 Overall: 15-19
vs. FCS: 1-0 Overall: 9-15
Best Performance: Liberty 73, VMI 34 - The Flames score a TD on a kick return, a punt return, a fumble return, & also 8 times on offense.
Worst Performance: VMI 34, Liberty 73 - 5 turnovers for the Keydets in another bad loss.
Most Surprising Result: Gardner-Webb 14, Coastal Carolina 17 - Bulldogs now officially out of the playoff race.
Best Performance: Arkansas-Pine Bluff 23, Southern 21 - Golden Lions give up the lead with a minute to go, but John Heflin hits a 32-yard FG to win it at the buzzer.
Worst Performance: Mississippi Valley St. 16, Alabama St. 20 - The Delta Devils can't quite steal a win from a Hornet team that had lost 5 straight.
Most Surprising Result: Arkansas-Pine Bluff 23, Southern 21 - Golden Lions finally playing the way they were supposed to play. Too bad it's way too late.
Most Surprising Result: Lafayette 31, Holy Cross 21 - Leopards keep their miniscule playoff hopes alive while they severely damage the Crusaders' chances.
CAA
URI 0-35 MAINE
UNH 7-27 UMASS
HOF 31-35 NE RICH 62-56 UD (5OT) NOVA 14-12 TOW JMU 55-34 W&M
NConf Record: 0-0 Overall: 24-12
vs. FCS: 0-0 Overall: 21-4
Best Performance: (#8) Massachusetts 27, (#14) New Hampshire 7 - The Minutemen run for 204 yards and make Wildcat QB Ricky Santos look very average.
Worst Performance: Rhode Island 0, Maine 35 - The Rams only gain 91 yards, even less than what they gained in the monsoon last week. This time, their opponent didn't have the same problem.
Most Surprising Result: Northeastern 35, (#18) Hofstra 31 - Where was this quality play from the Huskies earlier in the season?
Best Performance: (#10) Delaware St. 28, Norfolk St. 21 (OT) - Hornets come back from a 14-0 deficit to clinch their first outright MEAC title in 18 years.
Worst Performance: Howard 26, Bethune-Cookman 37 - The Bison allow 420 rushing yards to the Wildcats.
Most Surprising Result: Winston-Salem St. 35, North Carolina Central 10 - Rams dominate their former conference foes.
Best Performance: Furman 24, (#11) Georgia Southern 22 - Paladins score 2 TD's in the 3rd. quarter to stun the high-flying Eagles.
Worst Performance: Western Carolina 35, (#7) Appalachian St. 79 - The Catamounts committ 5 turnovers & allow 743(!) yards of offense (and that wasn't even the most yards on the day; check out the OVC section tomorrow).
Most Surprising Result: (#11) Georgia Southern 22, Furman 24 - Eagles now forced to beat FBS Colorado State to make the playoffs. Luckily, CSU is 1-9.
Best Performance: (#20) Eastern Washington 52, Northern Arizona 24 - QB Matt Nichols throws for 316 yards & 5 TD's on only 22 pass attempts as the Eagles blow out NAU early.
Worst Performance: Northern Colorado 17, Sacramento St. 20 - Well, you knew the loser of this was going to get the "worst" award this week. At least the game was exciting, however, as the Hornets won it on a hail mary as time expired.
Most Surprising Result: Montana St. 50, Portland St. 30 - The stuggling Bobcats score 36 points in the 4th. quarter, largely thanks to the Viking turnover machine.
Southland
SFA 23-35 UCA SHSU 20-16 SELA
NWST 21-27 MCNSE
TXST 28-52 NICH
NConf Record: 0-0 Overall: 13-19
vs. FCS: 0-0 Overall: 4-8
Best Performance: Nicholls St. 52, Texas St. 28 - The Colonels end their 3-game losing streak by ending the Bobcats' 3-game winning streak.
Worst Performance: Texas St. 28, Nicholls St. 52 - Bobcats give up 427 rushing yards.
Most Surprising Result: Northwestern St. 21, (#4) McNeese St. 27 - The Demons put a scare into McNeese, but utimately fall short.
Best Performance: (#21) Youngstown St. 31, (#23) Western Illinois 24 - The Penguins solidly win the battle of Gateway could-have-beens, though two late Leatherneck touchdowns made the final result look closer than it was.
Worst Performance: Indiana St. 14, (#1) Northern Iowa 68 - Sycamores outgained 662-167, though that's not terribly surprising.
Most Surprising Result: Indiana St. 14, (#1) Northern Iowa 68 - The Sycamores actually scored before halftime.
OVC
SEMO 17-55 MIZST EIU 37-23 JAXST TSU 38-28 SAM
MUR 34-76 UTM EKU 28-14 AP
NConf Record: 0-1 Overall: 13-19
vs. FCS: 0-1 Overall: 5-6
Best Performance: (#13) Eastern Kentucky 28, Austin Peay 14 - Colonels force 4 interceptions as they clinch the OVC title.
Worst Performance: Murray St. 34, Tennessee-Martin 76 - Racers give up an insane 821(!!) yards of offense to the Skyhawks.
Most Surprising Result: (#25) Eastern Illinois 37, Jacksonville St. 23 - The Panthers get a road win in this playoff elimination battle.
