Sept. 12, 2004

By David Coulson Senior Columnist, I-AA.org
Special to CollegeSports.com from www.I-AA.org

Boone, NC -- It was just another ho-hum Saturday in I-AA.

All you had was the top ranked team in I-AA losing to a team that had been ranked in the I-A top 25 last season on a two-point conversion.

And a team that had beaten the defending national champion last week following up on that by upsetting a I-A squad.

For the second week in a row, you had one of I-AA's traditional powers lose a significant player to a season-ending injury.

And that was just scraping the surface on this wild day.

Near-Miss

For the second week in a row, I-AA's top-ranked team lost in excruciating fashion. Southern Illinois scored with 54 seconds remaining to pull within 23-22 of Northern Illinois on a 19-yard pass from Joel Sambursky to Brent Little.

Much to his credit, Saluki coach Jerry Kill went for the win by calling for a two-point conversion try. But Sambursky's pass attempt fell incomplete and SIU was left with a tough one-point loss.

Sambursky did his best, completing 16-of-27 passes on the day for 208 yards and two touchdowns as he rallied the Salukis from a 23-9 deficit in the fourth period.

Two other I-AA teams came painfully close to pulling off upsets over I-A squads.

No. 18 Northeastern led Navy 17-14 at halftime, but couldn't outscore the Midshipmen's spread option in the second half of a 28-24 loss.

Paul Johnson, who coached Georgia Southern to back-to-back I-AA titles before moving to Navy, had warned fans that Northeastern would be dangerous. He proved to be almost too accurate.

Of course, Johnson should know. His Middies lost to Delaware 21-17 last year.

Youngstown State tried on Saturday to recapture some of its championship magic of the 1990s, when the Penguins won four titles in seven years under current Ohio State coach Jim Tressel.

The Penguins led I-A newbie Florida International 16-3 in the fourth quarter before FIU forced overtime with two touchdowns in the final 6:31 of regulation and won 22-16.

Another One Bites The Dust

If anyone thought that No. 19 New Hampshire's 24-21 upset of defending national champion Delaware was a fluke, the Wildcats proved them wrong by disposing of I-A Rutgers 35-24. It was the second straight road win for UNH.

Freshman quarterback Ricky Santos, forced into action against Delaware when starter Mike Granieri suffered a season-ending knee injury, was brilliant again, hitting 30-of-40 passes for 385 yards and five touchdowns.

The New Hampshire defense got into the act, shutting Rutgers out in the second half as the Wildcats rallied from a 24-14 deficit.

While the Wildcats' success may be surprising to some it isn't to most knowledgeable observers of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

"Watch out for New Hampshire," Maine coach Jack Cosgrove said at the A-10 media day last month. "They won three of their last four games at the end of last season and they have a chance to be really good this year."

So far, Cosgrove looks like a prophet.

Meanwhile, No. 7 Delaware came back from its loss to New Hampshire and struggled to beat Towson 21-17. It was even more surprising when you consider that it was Towson's first A-10 game.

Return Of The Mumme

Hal Mumme was pretty much a forgotten coach when he left Kentucky in the midst of an NCAA scandal. But like a horror movie's leading man, Mumme is resurrecting an exciting sequel at Southeastern Louisiana.

The Lions traveled to one of I-AA's tough road venues on Saturday night and shocked No. 6 No. 6 McNeese State 51-17. Sophomore quarterback Martin Hankins completed 38-of-54 passes for 439 yards and five touchdowns, while freshman receiver Felton Huggins grabbed 13 passes for 235 yards and a pair of scores.

After SLU discontinued football in 1985, Mumme was selected as the man to bring the program back to life. He guided the Lions to a 5-7 record last year and appears to have SLU right on track for its move to the Southland Conference in 2005.

Cutting It Fine

If No. 9 Villanova captures a national championship in December, it probably will be because of its defense. For the second week in a row, the No. 8 Wildcats beat a Patriot League opponent by the finest of margins.

Last week, Villanova led Bucknell 20-0 before three turnovers nearly cost the Wildcats the game. Bucknell scored twice to make it 20-14 and was stopped inches from the winning score in the fourth quarter.

This week, the Wildcats trailed No. 22 Lehigh 16-0 in the second quarter before its defense shut the Mountain Hawks down the rest of the way. Villanova's offense rallied and Terry Butler's one-yard TD run with 4:02 to play and a two-point conversion pass from Marvin Burroughs to Noble Chapman lifted the Wildcats to a 22-16 victory.

What Were They Thinking?

No. 24 Appalachian State was basking in the glow of a 49-21 victory over No. 20 Eastern Kentucky with just 30 seconds remaining at home on Saturday afternoon when the win took on a sudden somber tone.

Free safety and defensive leader Corey Lynch trotted on the field at that point to return the first punt of his two-year college career. He had instructions to call a fair catch, so ASU could run out the clock in the next few plays and celebrate the win.

But Lynch, a legitimate All-American candidate for the Mountaineers, decided to return it. He gained seven yards, was tackled and stayed on the ground with what was described by team officials as a dislocated elbow.

"He played last year as a true freshmen, so if its as bad as we think it is, we'll redshirt him and he will have three years left," ASU coach Jerry Moore said.

Lynch started for the first time in week two last year against Eastern Kentucky. He made such an impression that he finished second in Southern Conference balloting for freshman of the year to Wofford halfback Kevious Johnson and also made the all-conference team.

Called the Ball Hog by Appalachian supporters, Lynch led the league in interceptions with six and fumble recoveries with four last season. He also forced two other fumbles.

Lynch had picked up where he left off in the first two games by recovering a fumble against Wyoming and intercepting a pass and forcing another fumble against EKU.

The question you have to ask was why Lynch was even on the field in such a situation? Put some walk-on, or third-string back on the field and get out of Dodge City with the win.

"I didn't know he was even in there until I looked up and saw him back there," Moore said.

ASU is more fortunate than most teams in that Nygel Rogers, a senior free safety who was considered an All-American candidate himself until undergoing reconstructive knee surgery last year, will move back into his old spot.

But this was an injury that never should have happened.

Another team dealing with the injury bug is Grambling, which lost Payton Award candidate quarterback Bruce Eugene last week to a season-ending ACL injury. Without Eugene in the lineup on Saturday, the Tigers lost 21-9 to Alabama A&M -- the second SWAC loss in a row for a Grambling squad that was favored to win the league championship.

Creampuffs And Cupcakes

Get me a game with Creampuff College. See if we can schedule Cupcake State.

You have to wonder what was going through the heads of the athletic directors that scheduled games between Georgia Southern and Johnson C. Smith, as well as Western Illinois and Cheyney on Saturday.

For those of you who missed the carnage -- and believe me there definitely was carnage in both Statesboro, Ga. and Macomb, Ill. this weekend -- Georgia Southern rolled over Johnson C. Smith 84-3 and Western Illinois destroyed Cheyney 98-7.

Now I know that the Eagles of GSU took their licks at Georgia last weekend and WIU was plastered by Nebraska, but does a win like this do anybody any good?

And I don't want to hear the excuse of how "we couldn't find anyone else to play." How about this for a novel approach. Georgia Southern could have played Western Illinois.

Now that's a game I would have liked to have seen.

On a day where you had inter-conference battles between Appalachian State and Eastern Kentucky, Massachusetts and Colgate (UMass won, 30-20), Villanova and Lehigh (Villanova pulled one out, 22-16), Stephen F. Austin and Northern Arizona (SFA won, 17-10) along with Montana and Hofstra (Montana won, 41-23), we deserved better from Georgia Southern and Western Illinois than 81 and 91-point routs.