FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SUBDIVISION

• Around FCS: Licking their wounds

  
  

  By David Coulson, FCS Executive Director Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - As fans, when we see showdowns between the top teams of a given conference, we expect those games to go down to the final seconds. There were plenty of heavyweight-caliber games this weekend, but most of them resulted in early-round TKOs.

  No. 2 Appalachian State bombed No. 3 Wofford 70-24 in a first-place encounter in the Southern Conference, No. 5 Northern Iowa pummeled No. 12 Western Illinois 30-6 in a key Missouri Valley Football Conference game and Montana ripped Northern Arizona 45-10 in a Big Sky contest with huge playoff implications.

  About the only competitive games of the showdown variety were Brown's 34-27 win over Penn in a battle for first place in the Ivy League, and Colgate's 21-13 decision against No. 21 Lafayette in what amounted to an elimination game for the Patriot League crown.

  There were other, more shocking results as No. 11 Central Arkansas fell to suddenly rejuvenated Nicholls State in the topsy-turvy Southland Conference, and No. 17 Liberty tumbled for the second time in three weeks to an FCS transitional school, Presbyterian, 31-28.

  HALLOWEEN HORROR It didn't take long for Wofford's trip to Kidd Brewer Stadium on Halloween to turn into the Rocky Horror Picture Show on ESPN2. Appalachian State and Wofford combined for 35 points in the first six minutes before the Terriers became the Terrorized on national television.

  Leading 21-14 early, ASU used the first of three Mark LeGree interceptions and another defensive stop to finally slow down Wofford's option attack. Once the Mountaineers did that, there was no slowing down their offense.

  Armanti Edwards became the all-time total offense leader in the Southern Conference, replacing his predecessor at quarterback, Richie Williams, with 17-of-19 passing for 367 yards and five touchdowns and 14 carries for 73 yards and another score rushing as the Mountaineers rolled to their biggest offensive performance since last season's 79-35 win over Western Carolina.

  It was a coming out party for Appalachian State's redshirt freshman receiver Brian Quick. This 6-5 speedster caught four passes for 172 yards, three of them going for touchdowns of 58, 50 and 31 yards.

  Altogether, ASU forced Wofford - the leading team in turnover margin in FCS before the game - into five miscues.

  About the only Wofford player to have any fun was true freshman fullback Eric Breitenstein. Breitenstein, a prep star at Boone's Watauga High School who is the grandson of former ASU head coach Bob Breitenstein (1959) and the brother of ex-Mountaineer safety Seth Breitenstein, had a game-high 157 yards rushing on 18 carries.

  NORTHERN EXPOSURE Western Illinois welcomed coach Don Patterson back to the sidelines for Saturday's game with Northern Iowa, but even the emotional lift of having their coach back following his treatment for cancer wasn't enough for the Leathernecks to slow down Northern Iowa.

  The Panthers, still playing without starting quarterback Pat Grace, who is sidelined with a knee injury, received strong play from backup Zach Davis and another stalwart defensive effort to win on the road.

  Davis was an efficient 13-of-21 passing for 191 yards and a touchdown. Corey Lewis and Derrick Law combined for 157 yards on the ground and two more scores as the Panthers built a 20-3 halftime lead and didn't look back.

  It was another tough outing for Western Illinois quarterback Matt Barr, who also struggled in last year's 42-3 loss to UNI. Barr was limited to 4-of-11 passing for 39 yards and one interception after going 3-of-12 for 19 yards and an interception last season against the Panthers.

  Barr's replacement, Zach Wells, had an even more difficult time, going 1-of-6 for nine yards and an interception. Payton Award candidate Herb Donaldson rushed for 116 yards on 23 carries, but he couldn't make up for three Leatherneck turnovers.

  UNI moved a half-game ahead of Southern Illinois and South Dakota State in the MVFC race with two games remaining. South Dakota State travels to Southern Illinois on Nov. 15 for a game that could ultimately determine the MVFC title and the league's automatic bid to the playoffs, but SIU must first host Western Illinois next Saturday.

  UNI closes out its MVFC schedule with games against Missouri State and Indiana State, while SDSU has Illinois State at home and North Dakota State on the road in its other league games.

  OH, THOSE RERUNS Northern Arizona has viewed this program before. The Lumberjacks went into Montana's Washington-Grizzly Stadium with a chance to stay in the FCS playoff race, but left with another loss.

  It was reality television at its worst for NAU, which hasn't won in Missoula since 1986 and hasn't beaten the Grizzlies at all since 1997. This time, Montana scored four times in the first 19 minutes of the game on the way to a 31-0 halftime lead.

  Cole Bergquist was an effective 14-of-23 for 186 yards and three touchdowns, but the biggest development was the performance of the Grizzly running game. Chase Reynolds carried 12 times for 157 yards and three TDs against a defense that came in ranked No. 1 nationally against the rush.

  Northern Arizona also struggled offensively with just 264 yards and four turnovers. The loss left the Lumberjacks (6-3 overall) on the bubble for a possible FCS playoff berth, with two games left at home against Montana State and on the road against Eastern Washington.

  Montana (8-1), meanwhile, would have to experience a total collapse to miss out on earning a playoff bid for the 16th straight year. The Grizzlies finish at Portland State and at home against Idaho State before hosting Montana State in the 108th Brawl of the Wild.

  The Grizzlies will have a tougher time earning a share of the Big Sky title after 10 years of either winning or sharing the crown. Weber State holds a one-game lead and a win over Montana with just games at Idaho State and at home against Eastern Washington remaining.

  The Wildcats turned in one of their poorest performances of the season in a 31-21 victory over Portland State on Saturday - a game that didn't come close to the excitement on offense of last year's 73-68 win over the Vikings that set an NCAA record for scoring.

  WSU built a 31-0 lead in the first minute of the third quarter and then lost interest in the game. Portland State used four different quarterbacks to pass for 354 yards, and rallied to within 10 points in the fourth quarter before running out of time.

  Cameron Higgins led the Wildcats with 21-of-36 passing for 242 yards, with one TD and one interception, while Trevyn Smith rushed 28 times for 161 yards and two scores. Scotty Goodloe added a 41-yard interception return for another touchdown.

  CATCH ME, IF YOU CAN Brown knew its 24-22 victory over Harvard at home to open Ivy League play was huge, but now the Bears are 4-0 in league play and have a possible championship clearly in their sights.

  The Bears got past one huge obstacle on Saturday when they defeated Penn at historic Franklin Field in Philadelphia. Should Brown beat Yale next Saturday at home, only a pair of wins against Ivy League bottom-feeders Dartmouth and Columbia will stand in the Bears' way.

  Brown features one of the top passing attacks in FCS with Michael Dougherty and Buddy Farnham, and even the best defense in the Ivy League couldn't stop them in Saturday's game.

  Dougherty was just 16-of-32 for 234 yards, but he fired four touchdown passes, including a 57-yarder with 54 seconds left in the first half that stole the momentum from Penn.

  The Quakers had used a three-yard option pass from Bradford Blackmon to Luke DeLuca to take a 10-7 lead, but Dougherty struck just 16 seconds later with a bomb to Farnham (six catches, 120 yards, two TDs) to put Brown back on top. An 11-yard connection between Dougherty and Farnham midway through the third period put the Bears back into the lead for good at 21-17.

  Penn blocked a field goal, an extra point and a punt to keep things close, the punt block being recovered by Tyson Maugle in the end zone for a touchdown with 1:21 to play. But Farnham was there again with his sure hands to recover the onside kick, ending Penn's hopes.

  Harvard and Penn will now be in the strange position of rooting for Yale to win next Saturday to keep alive their hopes of earning a share of the Ivy title.

  THE CLOSER Colgate has long held a reputation for being able to close out games with its bruising running attack. But going against Lafayette, one of top defenses in FCS, the Raiders had their hands full after falling behind 10-0 at home in the first half as two of the three leaders in the Patriot League met.

  The key to the comeback occurred when linebacker Greg Hadley stripped Jerome Rudolph of the ball and linebacker Zach Smith recovered at the Raider eight- yard line to open the second half. The Raiders then marched 92 yards in nine plays and scored for the first time on Nick Eachus' seven-yard run.

  After a 35-yard Davis Rodriguez field goal pushed Lafayette's lead to 13-7, the Raiders put together two more drives in the fourth period, with quarterback Greg Sullivan scoring on a 35-yard scamper and Eachus (34 carries, 171 yards) plunging in from the one with 4:02 remaining.

  The Raiders had to win without Jordan Scott again. The Patriot League's all- time leading rusher managed just two carries for one yard as he continues to recover from an ankle sprain. Scott is 28 yards away from becoming a member of the four-year, 1,000-yard club.

  Colgate, which has now won six consecutive games, remains on course to meet Holy Cross at home in the final game of the Patriot League regular season with a possible championship on the line. Colgate must first get by Lehigh this Saturday on the road, while Holy Cross still must knock off Fordham at home and Lafayette on the road.

  The Crusaders stayed on pace Saturday with a 34-17 victory over Bucknell. Trailing 10-7 at halftime, Holy Cross took the lead with a 17-point outburst in the third period.

  Dominic Randolph hit 38-of-49 passes for 398 yards and four touchdowns to bring the Crusaders back.

  BYE, BYE BABY Liberty probably watched its playoff hopes slip away on Saturday when the Flames were upset by Presbyterian. Every time Liberty scored, the Blue Hose had an answer, as the game went into the final quarter tied at 28.

  Presbyterian finally took a 31-28 lead with seven minutes left on Cam Miller's 28-yard field goal, and the Blue Hose defense made it stand up the rest of the way against the potent Flame offense.

  Redshirt freshman quarterback Brandon Miley completed 21-of-29 passes for 301 yards and two TDs, with only one interception. That offset 204 yards passing from Liberty's Brock Smith, and 188 yards on 32 carries from Rashad Jennings. Smith had two touchdown passes to Dominic Bolden and Jennings added two scoring runs, but it wasn't enough as the Flames lost for the second time in three weeks.

  THE SOUTHLAND SOAP OPERA The race for the Southland Conference title seems to get murkier by the week, and Saturday's action did little to clear the cloudy waters.

  Nicholls State beat the No. 11-ranked team in the country for the second week in a row after starting with four straight losses, this time knocking Central Arkansas off its undefeated perch in the league race. The Colonels had beaten McNeese State in their last outing.

  The Colonels used their option attack to build a 17-0 lead in the first half, and then watched Nathan Brown (23-of-42 passing for 224 yards and two TDs) and company come storming back to tie the game.

  Brown's 16-yard pass to Eric Ware with 44 seconds left looked like it would send the game to overtime, but Nicholls State battled back with Chris Bunch completing a 38-yard pass to Antonio Robinson to move the ball to the UCA 38. Three more completions set up Ross Schexnayder's 38-yard field goal on the final play of the game.

  UCA is now tied with Northwestern State for the top spot in league with a 3-1 record, with McNeese State, Texas State, Stephen F. Austin and Nicholls State all just one game back.

  Northwestern State held off Texas State 34-31 on the road in overtime to work its way back to a share of the lead. Byron Lawrence (34 carries, 173 yards) scored his second touchdown of the game on a two-yard burst to give the Demons the win.

  William Griffin's two-yard spurt had tied the game for Northwestern State with 3:55 left in regulation, and Andrew Ireland had given Texas State a 31-28 lead to open overtime with a 28-yard field goal.

  Central Arkansas hosts Northwestern State on Saturday in a game for first place.

  SFA dropped its second game in league play despite an NCAA-record passing performance from quarterback Jeremy Moses in a 34-31 double-overtime loss to Sam Houston State. Moses set school, league and NCAA marks for completions (57) and attempts (85). The Lumberjacks also established an NCAA standard with 116 offensive plays.

  Moses finished with 501 yards passing and four TDs, but he also was intercepted twice. Cornell Tarrant had 111 yards rushing on 14 carries for SFA, which logged 627 yards of total offense.

  Moses sent the game to overtime with a 21-yard TD strike to Duane Brooks, and tied it again in the first overtime with a 15-yard scoring pass to Dominique Edison, but the Lumberjacks failed to score in the second overtime session and Taylor Wilkins won it for the Bearkats with a 28-yard field goal.

  Rhett Bomar was 20-of-34 for 328 yards, three touchdowns and one interception for Sam Houston State.

  11/03 15:45:28 ET