Around the FCS - UNI, SIU Play Role of Avengers

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/12/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois were taking a trip down Retribution Drive on Saturday after scoring big victories over Iowa State and Northern Illinois.

It wasn't enough that UNI and SIU won games against FBS opponents, it was all the sweeter because of who the Panthers and Salukis beat. Revenge has never tasted so good.

Last year, Northern Iowa was on the verge of an upset of Iowa State, outplaying the Cyclones for most of the evening. The Panthers led 27-21 with just 1:05 left when Bret Meyer's 16-yard TD pass to Jon Davis gave the Cyclones a 28-27 advantage.

Quarterback Eric Sanders moved the Panthers into range for Brian Wingert's 51- yard field goal attempt, but Wingert's kick fell just short and UNI lost a heartbreaker that ultimately cost the Panthers a playoff berth.

But on Saturday, Northern Iowa made sure there was no need for late heroics in this 24-13 victory. The Panthers dominated all day long and took control with a pair of Sanders touchdown passes to Johnny Gray and Victor Williams in the second quarter for a 17-6 lead and never looked back.

Sanders was an efficient 23-of-29 for 180 yards and added an eight-yard scoring run in the third period to put UNI ahead 24-6. Corey Lewis gave the Panthers balance by rushing 19 times for 130 yards and the Northern Iowa defense did its part by forcing four turnovers.

Southern Illinois had a longer memory to absolve on Saturday. The Salukis were still smarting from a 24-23 loss to Northern Illinois in 2004.

In that game, SIU led most of the way, but lost the lead late. The Salukis rallied for a late touchdown to pull within one point, but coach Jerry Kill, sensing how tired his team was, rolled the dice and went for two points and the win.

A great play call led to a tight end being wide open in the end zone, but he dropped the pass and Southern Illinois was left with a disappointing defeat.

This time, a victory appeared even less likely when the Salukis trailed 31-14 in the fourth quarter. But SIU rallied for 20 points in the fourth quarter to pull out the win.

Brandon Williams got the comeback started with his 53-yard interception return for a touchdown with 10 1/2 minutes left. Nick Hill (21-of-33, 238 yards, three TDs) pulled the Salukis closer with a 26-yard scoring strike to Ryan Kearns with 1:01 left. The Salukis still needed to recover an onside kick to have a chance, but after they did, Hill struck again with a 30-yard game- winning TD pass to Justin Allen with 22 seconds remaining to provide SIU with the 34-31 victory.

With four wins over FBS teams in just two weekends, this could be a historic year for FCS squads. Appalachian State, Nicholls State, Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois are looking for company on the ever-growing list.

This week, Delaware State (Kent State), New Hampshire (Marshall), Idaho State (Oregon State), Texas State (Baylor), Missouri State (Kansas State), and Jacksonville State (Memphis) will take shots at joining that exclusive club, while Nicholls State looks to add another FBS scalp when it faces Nevada.

SHOWDOWN IN HARRISONBURG

It isn't often that a game this early in the season has such huge implications, but Saturday's New Hampshire-James Madison clash was one that is sure to impact the Colonial Athletic Association, the national polls and, ultimately, the playoff brackets.

"You can't underestimate what a big game this was," said JMU coach Mickey Matthews. "We'll look back in November and see this has playoff implications."

James Madison showed it is ready to contend in the CAA and compete with the best in the country by wearing down New Hampshire for a 41-24 win. The game was tied four times before an 11-yard TD pass from Rodney Landers to Eugene Holloman gave the Dukes the lead for good at 31-24 with 1:29 left in third period.

JMU used its typically strong running game to pile up 285 yards on a day where UNH was packing the box. But the Dukes also showed the ability to pass as Landers completed 14-of-22 passes for 241 yards to go with his 128 yards and two TDs on the ground.

New Hampshire showed it still has some of the same question marks it has had in the past three years, but it also showed how much it misses record-breaking receiver David Ball.

Quarterback Ricky Santos completed 36-of-47 passes for 353 yards and two TDs, but he was intercepted twice and didn't have a deep threat to loosen up the Dukes defense. The Wildcats only went deep once in the game.

Both teams also have some injury concerns after this contest. UNH playmaking runner Chad Kackert played just one series before leaving with an ankle injury, and JMU lost Holloman for at least one game with a separated shoulder.

WAKE-UP CALL

Hofstra went into the 2007 season flying under the radar both in the CAA and nationally, following last year's 2-9 disaster under rookie coach Dave Cohen. But Cohen guaranteed that things would be better this season, and the Pride proved it Saturday in their season opener.

There was little sign that Hofstra was up to anything when No. 9-ranked Furman took a 17-9 halftime lead. But the Pride, led by linebacker Gian Villante (12 tackles, forced fumble, recovered fumble, two pass break-ups) stiffened up their defense in the second half, allowing the Paladins just 117 yards after the break.

Furman still led 17-16 in the fourth quarter, but Hofstra finally woke up on offense to score 16 points in the final period. Kareem Huggins' second TD run of the day from six yards out gave the Pride a 23-17 advantage with 14:33 left and Bryan Savage (24-of-36, 285 yards) connected with Charles Sullivan for a 43-yard TD aerial to give Hofstra complete control.

Rob Zarilli's fourth field goal of the day sealed the victory.

Huggins rushed 25 times for 116 yards as he out-dueled Payton Award candidate Jerome Felton. Felton, the powerful Furman fullback, was limited to 10 carries, 28 yards and one touchdown.

Hofstra emerged from the game as the No. 19 ranked team in FCS and as a dark horse in the CAA when the Pride opens league play in two weeks.

READY TO MAKE A MOVE?

Missouri State had confidence that Terry Allen could make a difference when it hired the former Northern Iowa and Kansas coach to direct its program last season. The Bears just didn't know how quickly that turnaround would occur.

Allen spent 2006 cleaning house and it wasn't surprising when MSU finished 1-10. But known as an uncanny talent evaluator, Allen gambled on one of the nation's youngest teams when he began planning for 2007.

On Thursday night, the Bears got their first real test and shocked No. 20 Tennessee-Martin with a wild, 51-44 upset.MSU scored twice in the first three minutes and forced the ground-oriented Skyhawks to play catch-up the rest of the night.

The Bears used a tag-team of runners to pile up 244 yards of rushing, and quarterback Matt Krapfl played turnover-free football while tossing two TD passes and running for a third.

UT-Martin's Payton candidate Donald Chapman rumbled for 111 yards on 23 carries and Jamar Akfar was a big weapon through the air, catching six passes for 142 yards (23.7 average). The Skyhawks rolled up 542 yards of total offense, but a 24-point rally in the fourth period couldn't bring them back.

NO LETDOWN

Many people wondered if Appalachian State might be prone to a letdown against Division II Lenoir-Rhyne after beating Michigan 34-32 the week before and dealing with media distractions previously unheard of for an FCS team.

The Mountaineers scored on their first six possessions to show that wouldn't be the case, eventually winning 48-7 as backup quarterback Trey Elder connected on 9-of-13 passes for 210 yards and four TDs and rushed 11 times for 90 yards and another touchdown in a little more than one half of play.

Armanti Edwards was rested with what was described as a minor shoulder injury, but the sophomore spark plug would have been in the lineup at quarterback if the game had been more important. Edwards should be back running the offense on Saturday against Northern Arizona.

Appalachian State's success at Michigan led directly to the largest crowd in school history. It was the first pre-game sellout in Kidd Brewer Stadium history, with 28,802 fans showing up to break the record of 26,620 set against Elon lasts season. Kidd Brewer has seats for 16,600 fans.

The Mountaineers have also sold out for the Northern Arizona game and are close to selling out four other home games.

The fallout from the win at Michigan also had one other effect. Associated Press announced that it would allow voters to cast ballots for FCS teams after several voters questioned the ban against FCS teams last week.

With the change in policy, all Division I teams are now eligible for the AP Top-25

The Mountaineers were listed on four ballots this week in the AP poll and received 19 points, good for 33rd place. Appalachian State remained a unanimous No. 1 in The Sportsbook Betting Lines's Top-25.

OTHER GAMES OF NOTE

North Dakota State may not be eligible for the playoffs for another year, but the Bison showed they will one of the toughest squads in FCS to beat with a 28-19 victory over Stephen F. Austin. New running back Tyler Roehl rushed for 238 yards and three TDs on 27 carries to ease concerns about the graduation loss of Kyle Steffes.

Speaking of North Dakota schools, North Dakota University may be in its transition year, but the Fighting Sioux scored a big 37-10 victory over Southern Utah.

Portland State and Cal Poly were among the top-ranked teams in the country in the preseason, but both fell out of the Top-25 with their second straight losses.

Portland State followed its loss in week one to McNeese State with a 26-17 defeat to UC Davis. The Vikings led 17-9 at halftime, but the Aggies scored 17 unanswered points in the third quarter behind quarterback Tim Plough (18- of-29, 234 yards and two TDs passing).

Cal Poly, which had dropped a tough 38-35 decision to Texas State the week before, battled gamely against Idaho before losing, 20-13. Jon Hall rushed for 114 yards in a losing cause.

Texas State followed its upset of Cal Poly with a 45-27 home loss to Abilene Christian.

Richmond received 246 yards rushing from Tim Hightower to topple Northeastern, 49-14. The Spiders could be another team to watch in the CAA.

Northwestern State won an entertaining 31-28 decision at home against Central Arkansas when Robert Weeks kicked a 35-yard field goal on the game's final play. NSU quarterback Germayne Edmond threw for 281 yards and a couple of touchdowns as the Demons rallied from a 21-7 halftime deficit.

In two interesting CAA-Patriot League pairings, the CAA got the better of things. Massachusetts stopped Colgate 35-17 behind 204 yards and four TDs by Liam Coen and Villanova outlasted Lehigh 30-20.

In a great quarterback duel, Antwon Young of Villanova hit 15-of-22 passes for 257 yards and three TDs and added 55 yards rushing on 15 carries. Lehigh's Sedale Threat had 302 yards on 29-of-53 passing and 12 rushes for 58 yards, but just one touchdown pass, while being intercepted once.