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January 18

FCS coaching changes

Now that the coaching poaching season is coming to an end, here's the up-to-date list of coaching changes at the FCS level.

Bethune-Cookman - Alvin Wyatt replaced by Brian Jenkins

Bucknell - Tim Landis replaced by Joe Susan

Cornell - Jim Knowles replaced by Kent Austin

Georgia Southern - Chris Hatcher replaced by Jeff Monken

Mississippi Valley State - Willie Totten replaced by Karl Morgan

Montana - Bobby Hauck replaced by Robin Pflugrad

Murray State - Matt Griffin replaced by Chris Hatcher

Nicholls State - Jay Thomas replaced by Charlie Stubbs

Portland State - Jerry Glanville replaced by Nigel Burton

Princeton - Roger Hughes replaced by Bob Surace

Richmond - Mike London replaced by Latrell Scott

St. Francis (PA) - Dave Opfar replaced by Chris Villarial

Sam Houston State - Todd Whitten replaced by Willie Fritz

Southern - Pete Richardson replaced by Stump Mitchell

Tennessee State - James Webster Jr. replaced by Rod Reed

Valparaiso - Stacy Adams replaced by Dale Carlson

Western Illinois - Don Patterson replaced by Mark Hendrickson

Winston-Salem State - Kermit Blount replaced by Connell Maynor

Youngstown State - Jon Heacock replaced by Eric Wolford

Former North Alabama DC Karl Morgan was named heach coach of Mississippi Valley State.
Photo courtesy of RoarLions.com

10:59 AM GMT | Read comments(0)

December 17

Walter Payton, Buck Buchanan, and Eddie Robinson awards handed out

In the lead up to the FCS national championship, there was still some hardware to be handed out.

Appalachian State quarterback won his second straight Walter Payton Award, given to the top offensive player in FCS football. Edwards is the first player in FCS history to win the award twice. The record-breaking QB threw for 3,291 yards, rushed for 679, and accounted for 30 touchdowns.

On the defensive side, James Madison defensive end Arthur Moats won the Buck Buchanan award for the best defensive player. Moats amassed 90 tackles on the season, including 23.5 for loss and 11 sacks for the Dukes.

Henry Frazier III of Prairie View A&M won the Eddie Robinson Award for FCS coach of the year, after leading his Panthers to a SWAC championship, a 9-1 overall record, and a perfect 7-0 conference mark. Frazier is the first coach from a Historically Black College or University to take home the honor.

Photo courtesy of JMUSports.com

6:48 PM GMT | Read comments(0)

December 15

Walter Camp All-American Team

The 2009 Walter Camp FCS All-America Team was released yesterday. Elon's senior wide receiver Terrell Hudgins was named to his third-straight Walter Camp All-America Team, while Appalachian State's quarterback Armanti Edwards and defensive back Mark LeGree and Florida A&M's kick returner LeRoy Vann received second-straight All-American honors.

Appalachian State led all teams with three players named to the list, with offensive lineman Mario Acitelli joining Edwards and Legree.

Joining Hudgins at wide receiver are two players facing off for the national championship later this week, Montana's Marc Mariani and Villanova's Matt Szczur. Offensive lineman Benjamin Ijalana of Villanova was also named.

2009 Walter Camp Football Championship Subdivision All-America Team

OFFENSE
WR	Terrell Hudgins#	Elon		Sr., 6-2, 236	Rocky Mount, NC
WR	Marc Mariani	Montana		Sr., 6-0, 185	Havre, MT
WR	Matt Szczur	Villanova		Jr., 5-11, 195	Cape May, NJ
TE	Clay Harbor	Missouri State	Sr., 6-4, 243	Dwight, IL
OL	Matt McCracken	Richmond		Sr., 6-3, 300	Pittsburgh, PA
OL	Mario Acitelli	Appalachian State	Sr., 6-2, 275	Charlotte, NC
OL	Jeff Hansen	Montana State	Sr., 6-4, 292	Great Falls, MT
OL	Benjamin Ijalana	Villanova		Jr., 6-4, 320	Hainesport, NJ
C	Kyle Mutcher	Weber State	Sr., 6-3, 300	Park City, Utah
QB	Armanti Edwards*	Appalachian State	Sr., 6-0, 184	Greenwood, SC
RB	Pat Paschall	North Dakota State	Sr., 6-0, 198	St. Louis, MO
RB	Deji Karim		Southern Illinois	Sr., 5-11, 205	Oklahoma City, OK
PK	Matt Bevins	Liberty		So., 6-2, 185	Newport News, VA
		
DEFENSE
DL	Arthur Moats	James Madison	Sr., 6-2, 250	Portsmouth, VA
DL	Adrian Tracy	William & Mary	Sr., 6-4, 243	Sterling, VA
DL	Tim Knicky	Stephen F. Austin	Sr., 6-4, 235	Cedar Park, TX
DL	Danny Batten	South Dakota State	Sr., 6-4, 250	Gilbert, AZ
LB	J.C. Sherritt	Eastern Washington	Sr., 5-10, 210	Truckee, WA
LB	Brandin Jordan	Southern Illinois	Sr., 5-11, 230	Kenner,LA
LB	Matt Cohen	Lehigh		Sr., 6-1, 230	Allentown, PA
DB	Mark LeGree*	Appalachian State	Jr., 6-0, 200	Columbus, GA
DB	Josh Morris	Weber State	Sr., 6-0, 180	Ada, OK
DB	Terrell Whitehead	Norfolk State	Sr., 6-2, 200	Virginia Beach, VA
DB	Jeromy Miles	Massachusetts	Sr., 6-2, 215	Sicklerville, NJ
DB	Charles Graves	Delaware		Sr., 6-0, 195	Raleigh,NC
P	Jon Vandenwielen	Idaho State	Sr., 6-3, 220	Upland,CA
KR	LeRoy Vann*	Florida A&M	Sr., 5-9, 185	Tampa, FL

# - 2007 and 2008 Walter Camp FCS All-America selection
* - 2008 Walter Camp FCS All-America selection


North Dakota State's Pat Paschall led the FCS in rushing at 139.7 yards per game.
Photo courtesy of GoBison.com

7:35 AM GMT | Read comments(0)

December 14

Montana edges App State, returns to championship game

Another instant classic transpired in Missoula, Montana, between the Montana Grizzlies and the Appalachian State Mountaineers. The two best FCS football programs of the past decade fought off wind, snow, cold, and each other in this semi-final epic.

Montana struck first when Chase Reynolds broke lose mid-way through the first quarter for 39 yards and a 7-0 lead. Reynolds would run wild all game, racking up 193 yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns.

Armanti Edwards and Appalachian State responded, leading two second-quarter scoring drives to take a 10-7 edge into halftime.

As the second half began, the snow and the thermometer continued to fall at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The temperature dipped below 15 degrees, but felt much colder on the field where the winds whipped through the stadium.

The teams traded off back and forth throughout the second half until Montana moved the ball deep into Mountaineer territory with under two minutes to play. A Montana holding penalty backed the Grizzlies up to the 25, but on the next play, quarterback Andrew Selle, who had been mostly off target throughout the night, lobbed a perfectly placed ball to wideout Jabin Sambrano, who hauled in the catch with one hand in the corner of the end zone.

Fortunately for App State, they had a minute and a half on the clock and the reigning Walter Payton Award winner at quarterback. Edwards led his troops down the field in quick succession, completing three darts to move to the Montana 24. Eventually a fourth-and-ten conversion to wide receiver Brian Quick kept the drive alive.

The Mountaineers had first-and-goal from the 3-yard line with six seconds remaining, but time expired after two incompletions, and the stadium of over 24,000 exploded in celebration.

The final gun marked the end of a brilliant career by Armanti Edwards, but also noted a return to the championship game by the Montana Grizzlies, who fell short of last year's title to Richmond.

"That's as special as it gets in college football," said Montana coach Bobby Hauck. "A whiteout blizzard on national TV against a great football team."

Photo by Becky Malewitz, MontanaGrizzlies.com

8:18 AM GMT | Read comments(0)

Villanova advances to first championship game

Villanova faced a tall task coming out of the locker room for the second half in its semi-final tilt against William & Mary. The Wildcats had been stymied in the first half by an impenetrable William & Mary defense that was giving up just 12 points a game. Villanova had managed only 70 yards and nine minutes of possession through the first two quarters and saw a 10-0 deficit on the scoreboard.

That's when Villanova head coach turned to the X-factor, junior wide receiver Matt Szczur. With nine minutes remaining in the third, Szczur took a direct snap and jetted 63 yards for a touchdown to trim the lead to 10-7. Following another William & Mary field goal, Villanova's offense again stalled to 4th-and-7, but Szczur ran a fake punt nine yards for the first down, leading eventually to a one-yard, fourth-down touchdown run by quarterback Chris Whitney to pull ahead for the deciding score 14-13.

The Tribe outgained Villanova 336-267, but couldn't muster any points in the fourth quarter against Villanova's inspired defense.

Whitney had a subdued night, throwing 7-20 for 98 yards and gaining 37 yards on 17 carries, but he protected the football well (zero Villanova turnovers) and came up with key runs when it counted to keep drives alive.

Villanova's defense was stellar, limiting W&M to less than 2.6 yards per rush (97 yards total), and except for a 98-yard touchdown bomb to junior wide receiver Cameron Dohse, the Tribe passing game was limited to short yardage gains all night. Junior safety John Dempsey had six tackles, a sack, and an interception he returned for 17 yards.

"Obviously it was one of those games where the first half belonged to William & Mary and the second half belonged to Villanova," said Coach Talley. "That is probably as even a game as you could maybe predict between us.

"[William & Mary] has come a long way since we beat them the last time. They are not really a team you want to give 10 points to and try to play catch up because their defense is so good."

Villanova was up to the task on Friday night and came up with arguably the school's biggest win on the football field. The Wildcats will move on to the FCS championship game for the first time in school history.

Photo courtesy of Villanova.com

7:43 AM GMT | Read comments(0)

December 06

Villanova conquers the snow; and W&M stifles

Villanova bounded into the FCS playoff semi-finals with a 46-7 pounding of fellow CAA foe New Hampshire in a driving snowstorm.

New Hampshire looked abominable throughout the quarterfinal matchup on the Main Line, but especially in the first half. By halftime, the Wildcats to the south held a 24-0 scoreboard advantage, and UNH had tallied -33 total yards (yes negative) and exactly zero first downs. New Hampshire simply did not respond well to the abysmal weather, while Villanova thrived.

The Wildcats (the Pennsylvania version) piled on 343 rushing yards, at nearly six yards a carry, led by junior running back Angelo Babbaro's 148 on 13 carries. 'Nova scored on three of its first four possessions on a day where many initially thought the inclement weather might favor the visitors from the far north. The deciding factor, however, was up front, where the New Hampshire offensive and defensive lines got pushed around, while Villanova seemed to have all the traction.

Another key factor was the huge momentum swing on the first play from scrimmage, where New Hampshire running back Chad Kackert fumbled the football, which was bounced around and eventually recovered by Villanova safety John Dempsey, who took it four yards for a touchdown.

"It was a huge momentum factor for us," Dempsey said of the play. "We were sky high, and we didn't take our foot off the gas after that one."

The strong Villanova defense sacked quarterback R.J. Toman four times and took down his backup Kevin Decker twice. Defensive end Tim Kukucka notched 2.5 of those sacks and a team-high six tackles to lead Villanova.

Villanova will move on to the semi-finals to meet William & Mary, who stifled third-seeded Southern Illinois on the road. After surrendering a first-quarter field goal, the Tribe defense took over the football game, holding Water Payton Award finalist Deji Karim to a season-low 27 yards rushing on 12 carries. Karim had previously rushed for four-straight 100-yard games and had 7 touchdowns in his previous three outings.

W&M senior quarterback R.J. Archer struggled in the early going, but settled in to throw for 192 yards, along with running back Jonathan Grimes' 133 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

The Tribe dominated the time of possession battle and kept the powerful Saluki offense off the field, but the offense wasn't much more effective when it was on the field.

William & Mary advances to the FCS semis for the second time in school history. In 2004, the Tribe lost to James Madison in the semi-finals on the Dukes' way to the championship. This year's playoff matchup against Villanova will be a revisiting of an October 3 CAA tilt, won by Villanova at home 28-17. The Friday, December 11, game will be televised on ESPN2 starting at 8:00 p.m.

Yesterday's win also marked the 200th career victory of William & Mary head coach Jimmye Laycock.

1:09 PM GMT | Read comments(0)

Montana dominates; and Appalachian State overcomes Richmond

There is no hotter team in FCS football right now than the top-seeded Montana Grizzlies. Since falling behind 48-21 late in the third quarter of its first-round game against South Dakota State, Montana has outscored its opponents 91-0, including a 51-0 domination in the quarterfinals against Stephen F. Austin.

Coming into the game, Stephen F. Austin, co-champion of the Southland Conference, claimed arguably the most potent offense in the FCS, leading the nation in scoring at nearly 40 points a game. The Lumberjack offense was humbled to say the least, managing only 280 yards and committing 10 turnovers to the swarming Grizzly defense. FCS passing leader Jeremy Moses was relegated to his worst passing performance of his otherwise-stellar season, just 204 yards and four interceptions.

Montana quarterback Andrew Selle had a big game for the Grizzlies, going 19/30 for 281 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. It was Selle's third straight game throwing three touchdown passes. One of those came on a beautiful thread-the-needle to senior wide receiver Marc Mariani, who met the end zone for the 14th time this season.

Montana fans brave the freezing temperatures to cheer on the Grizzlies.
Photo courtesy of MontanaGrizzlies.com

Montana advances to the semis for the second straight year, this time to take on the Appalachian State Mountaineers, who won their second-round game in more dramatic fashion.

App State quarterback Armanti Edwards laced a four-yard touchdown strike to wideout Matt Cline with 10 seconds remaining to give the Mountaineers the deciding advantage 35-31 against Richmond.

A budding rivalry has been emerging between these two non-conference powers, as this is the third straight year that Richmond and Appalachian State have met in the post-season playoffs. In 2007, App State beat Richmond 55-35 in the semis on its way to a national championship. Last year, Richmond ended the Mountaineers' season in the quarterfinals 33-13 on Richmond's way to winning it all.

This time around, both teams squandered late chances to pull away. Richmond was on the verge of extending its lead, but two first-and-goals in the second half yielded only three points for the Spiders, who took a 24-14 advantage in the fourth quarter. App State responded with two consecutive rushing touchdowns to take the lead 28-24 and held Richmond to a punt, but Spider linebacker Eric McBride swiped the ball from return man Travaris Cadet and scampered into the end zone to give Richmond a 31-28 lead with just over three minutes remaining.

But three minutes was more than enough time for Edwards to lead his offense 70 yards down the field for the go-ahead score with just 10 ticks on the clock.

The semi-final game between (1) Montana and Appalachian State will be televised from Missoula, Montana, on Saturday at 4:00 ET, live on ESPN/ESPNHD.

Appalachian State celebrates a late touchdown against Richmond.
Photo courtesy of GoASU.com

12:16 PM GMT | Read comments(0)

Final Four!

We have narrowed it to four. The fab four in the FCS semifinals are (1) Montana hosting Appalachian State and (2) Villanova taking on William & Mary. Third-seed Southern Illinois and fourth-seed Richmond were both knocked out of the quarterfinals.

The Villanova/William & Mary game is set for Friday night, December 11, at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2 at Villanova, Pennsylvania. The Montana/Appalachian State contest will take place on Saturday, December 12, at 4:00 p.m. ET on ESPN live from Missoula, Montana.

11:18 AM GMT | Read comments(0)

December 03

Tribe hopes to shut down Salukis' rush attack

To say the William & Mary defense was impressive last week in their 38-0 win over Weber State would be the understatement of the 2009 FCS playoffs.

The Tribe held one of the most prolific offenses in the country to 161 yards of total offense - more than 260 yards short of Weber's average on the year. The defense picked off Wildcat quarterback Cameron Higgins four times, returning two for touchdowns, and they held four-time All-Big Sky running back Trevyn Smith and the Wildcat rushing attack to negative six yards on the ground.

The Tribe defense will have to bring a similar effort against the Southern Illinois Salukis, who ran away from Eastern Illinois 48-7 in their first-round matchup.

The Salukis boast the nation's fourth best rushing attack, spearheaded by Walter Payton Award finalist Deji Karim, who ran for 155 yards against EIU - his ninth 100-yard rushing game of the season. Karim leads the nation in rushing with 1,667 yards, to go with 18 touchdowns. Freshman running back Paul McIntosh has even gotten in on the action, rushing for over 100 yards the last two weeks and averaging over seven yards a carry on the year.

With this collision of such a dominant running game against an equally dominant run defense, the unsung matchup - the play of William & Mary's offense against the Saluki defense - will prove ever more crucial. While sluggish at times, W&M's "O" has still managed good production on the year, averaging over 370 yards and 27 points per game.

Quarterback R.J. Archer and the Tribe offense are also disciplined in avoiding turnovers, which will likely be the key to the game. William & Mary coach Jimmye Laycock seconded that notion: "With two teams as talented as SIU and ourselves, turnovers will be the big key," Laycock said. "Just one mistake here or slip-up there and we’ll lose this game." Laycock must know that Southern Illinois is +17 on the year in turnover margin, including 32 takeaways.

Photo courtesy of SIUSalukis.com

4:17 PM GMT | Read comments(0)

Hofstra second CAA school to drop football

Another sad announcement came today as Hofstra University officials announced that the school is dropping its football program. This comes less than two weeks after Northeastern University, another member of the Colonial Athletic Association, announced that it was dissolving its football program.

Both institutions cited large financial losses and waning public interest as reasons for the decisions.

These announcements are very unfortunate for the players, coaching staffs, fans and followers, but are apparently necessary financial decisions for these institutions in a troubled economy. Always sad to see FCS programs drop, especially when decreased interest/attendance is one of the reasons.

Photos courtesy of GoNU.com; GoHostra.com

8:45 AM GMT | Read comments(0)

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