Oct. 22, 2006

Special to CSTV.com From I-AA.org

If there is one thing that 14 seasons of covering I-AA football has taught me, it is to expect the unexpected each and every Saturday.

That is about the only way to explain things when you have a rash of upsets like the ones that occurred this weekend.

I'd be the first to say I didn't anticipate Northeastern's wild, 36-35 victory over a New Hampshire team that two weeks ago appeared headed for destiny.

I didn't think I'd be writing about South Carolina State's stunning 13-6 upset of Hampton, a team that hadn't lost a regular-season game in over two years.

And I certainly didn't give much consideration to a 29-28 victory by South Dakota State against Cal Poly -- a game that featured a 23-point rally on the road in the fourth quarter by the Jackrabbits against what many think is I-AA's best defense.

Other upset victims -- at least in terms of poll position -- on Saturday were Southern Illinois (27-24 against Western Kentucky), Youngstown State (31-23 against UNI), Richmond (28-24 against Delaware), Alabama A&M (23-21 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff) and Sam Houston State (38-30 against Central Arkansas).

The polls also said that No. 22 Princeton's magical 31-28 victory over No. 15 Harvard was another upset, though it might have just been a fight between two teams for the Ivy League crown.

Two other highly-ranked teams, No. 1 Appalachian State and No. 12 Furman needed overtime to fight off upset bids by Georgia Southern and Tennessee-Chattanooga.

And for the third time this season, a major I-AA squad came up a point short in its battle for a significant victory over a well-known BCS school.

At Drake, the big surprise wasn't San Diego's win over the Bulldogs in a battle that likely decided the Pioneer Football League. It was the fact that the Toreros beat their biggest PFL rival 37-0.

On another crazy day in I-AA, no other game was as shocking as the entertaining contest at Northeastern's Parsons Field. It wasn't just that lowly Northeastern, one of the Atlantic 10 bottom feeders, knocked off New Hampshire, if was how the Huskies beat the Wildcats.

During its non-conference schedule, New Hampshire looked like a potential national champion as it steamrolled to a 3-0 start that included a lopsided win against I-A Northwestern.

The Wildcats managed to hold off stiff challenges from Delaware and Richmond in the first two weeks of A-10 play before James Madison derailed them last week, 42-23. But at least, the Dukes were a team that had won the 2004 national championship and one that was ranked among the top dozen teams in I-AA.

Payton Award favorite quarterback Ricky Santos struggled with a pair of interceptions as UNH had trouble putting away the Huskies. Leading 14-7 in the fourth quarter, the Wildcat defense were pierced by a pair of Maurice Murray TD runs as Northeastern jumped ahead 21-14 with less than seven minutes left in regulation.

Santos tied the game with a one-yard scoring run at the 2:47 mark, but Alex Broomfield's 38-yard scamper into the end zone with just 53 seconds remaining put Northeastern back in front, 28-21.

The Wildcats relied on some Santos to David Ball magic with one second left on the clock as a 23-yard scoring strike and Tom Manning's clutch extra point sent the game to overtime. It was the second TD connection of the game between the two playmakers.

Santos, who finished 41-of-66 for 434 yards, ended his day with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Mike Boyle (14 catches for 178 yards) to give UNH the lead one more time and the extra point made it 35-28.

But the Huskies struck again on John Sperrazza's 20-yard TD aerial to Kendrick Ballantyne and coach Rocky Hager decided to go for the win, instead of an extra point and a second overtime. Sperrazza ended the game with a two-point pass to Broomfield that left New Hampshire stunned.

Hampton pretty much knew that a win against South Carolina State, the last major challenge left on its schedule, would all but wrap up another MEAC title for the No. 11 Pirates.

But instead, the Bulldogs earned some revenge for a loss last year that kept S.C. State out of the playoffs. Sometimes erratic quarterback Cleveland McCoy (17 carries, 114 yards rushing, 8-of-14 for 81 yards passing) gave the Bulldogs an early 7-3 lead with a 17-yard scoring romp and two Michael Gaston field goals extended that advantage to ten points.

With scoring machine Alonzo Coleman limited to one carry, because of injuries, Hampton struggled offensively and managed just two Andrew Paterini field goals. The Pirates were limited to 50 yards rushing and 201 yards of total offense.

Two other games with league title implications were also played on Saturday.

In a game between unbeaten teams, Princeton blew all of a 24-14 first-half lead against Harvard as Clifton Dawson scored his second touchdown of the day on a one-yard run and quarterback Liam O'Hagen (13-of-17 for 168 yards) came back from a five-game suspension to toss a go-ahead, 15-yard TD pass to Corey Mazza to give the Crimson a 28-24 lead in the third quarter.

Harvard nearly nursed that advantage to the finish line, but Princeton quarterback Jeff Terrell (17-of-33 for 223 yards) threw his second scoring pass of the game 20 yards to Brendan Circle with 4:37 left on the clock.

Princeton's defense came up big, holding the All-American Dawson to 64 yards on 21 carries and forcing five Harvard turnovers.

Another unbeaten team, San Diego has endured criticism of a weak schedule, but the Toreros passed one of their few tests with flying colors Saturday on the road with a whitewashing of Drake in the most anticipated game of the PFL season.

Quarterback Josh Johnson hit 19-of-27 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns and J.T. Rogan rushed 20 times for 173 yards as the Toreros broke open a 17-0 game with a big second half. Johnson and Rogan both scored touchdowns on the ground.

The San Diego defense, meanwhile, got some much deserved acclaim, limiting Drake to 200 yards of offense. Bulldog running back Scott Phaydavong was held to 51 yards on 19 carries and Drake's passing attack proved to be ineffective.

The last thing No. 4 Cal Poly needed as it prepared for a brutal stretch of schedule was to lose a game it was suppose to win. The Mustangs led the Great West Conference contest 28-6 when Fred Hives scored on what should have been a game-clinching, one-yard TD run in the final minute of the third quarter.

But Andy Kardoes (14-of-27 for 250 yards) connected with three touchdown passes to JaRon Harris in the fourth quarter as South Dakota State rallied.  Kardoes also had a two-point pass to Chris Wagner.

Harris scored on a 19-yard pass with 1:05 left to pull the Jackrabbits to within one point, but South Dakota State followed Northeastern's lead and went for the win instead of the safety of overtime. Kardoes ran into the end zone for two points and the Jackrabbits lead by one.

Matt Brennan completed a 45-yard pass to Ramses Barden to get the Mustangs into scoring territory. But on the next play, Tyler Koch intercepted a Brennan pass in the end zone to complete the improbable win.

North Dakota State came excruciatingly close to a victory over Big Ten Conference foe Minnesota, leading most of the way before the Gophers finally took the lead, 10-6, on Amir Pinnix's five-yard TD burst with 10:36 remaining.

Shawn Bibeau inched the Bison closer with his third field goal of the game at the 5:32 mark. He had successful kicks of 30, 39 and 41 yards, but a 21-yarder in the third quarter bounced off the left upright.

Bibeau got one more chance from 42 yards out when North Dakota State marched from their own 16 to the Minnesota 25 in eight plays in just over two minutes. But the Gophers blocked Bibeau's attempt on the final play of the game to save the win.

Steve Walker completed 22-of-37 passes for 237 yards and Kyle Steffes rushed 29 times for 138 yards to help North Dakota State keep things close.

University of Northern Iowa came within a missed field goal in the final seconds of beating Iowa State and lost by one and Illinois State came up short on a two-point attempt in a one-point defeat at Kansas State earlier this season.

UNI was more fortunate on Saturday, leading practically wire-to-wire in a 31-23 victory over Youngstown State.  Eric Sanders (19-of-27 for 291 yards) connected with Johnny Gray (seven catches and 160 yards) for three touchdown passes of six, 15 and 70 yards to give the Panthers a 24-17 lead early in the third period.

Youngstown State rallied to within one when Marcus Mason (33 carries, 173 yards) scored his third touchdown on a one-yard plunge with 11:02 remaining. But the extra point was blocked and Darian Williams scooted into the end zone with 4:08 remaining to give the Panthers an eight-point lead that the defense was able to protect.

Illinois State kept pace with UNI and got a big monkey off its back by beating Western Illinois 27-14 on the road. A loss at home to WIU last year kept ISU out of the playoffs and the Redbirds have historically struggled against the Leathernecks.

Western Illinois led 14-3 midway through the first half before ISU took charge. Pierre Rembert (39 carries, 230 yards) scored the first of two touchdowns from one yard out to make it 14-10 and Luke Drone (14-of-20 for 179 yards) gave the Redbirds a 17-14 halftime lead with his 15-yard scoring pass to Dave Mordis and Illinois State never looked back.

Southern Illinois was a perfect 5-0 heading into last weekend's showdown with Illinois State, but the Salukis are now trying to stay afloat after losing for the second straight time. SIU lost 37-10 to ISU and was shocked 27-24 on Saturday when Western Kentucky scored 14 points in the fourth quarter.

Justin Haddix (19-of-29 for 268 yards) threw a 31-yard scoring strike to Jake Gaebler with 7:01 to play and Lerron Moore (34 carries for 121 yards) scored his second TD of the game on a three-yard blast with 2:20 remaining.

Southern Illinois struggled on offense as Arkee Whitlock was limited to 66 yards on 15 attempts, but the Salukis built their lead on Alan Turner's 12-yard return of a blocked punt and Craig Turner's 83-yard punt return.

Delaware also rallied with 14 fourth-quarter points to stun Richmond 28-24.  Jared Bradley's one-yard TD smash with 43 seconds left -- his second touchdown of the game -- put the Blue Hens in front for good. Joe Flacco was 31-of-45 for 305 yards and two touchdowns for Delaware.

Leading 23-7 early in the fourth quarter, Arkansas-Pine Bluff held off a late Alabama A&M rally in the wacky SWAC to win 23-21. Quarterback Kelcy Luke threw for one touchdown and ran for another to get Alabama A&M to within two points with two minutes left, but Arkansas-Pine Bluff ran out the clock.

It's a good thing for Southland Conference teams that Central Arkansas isn't competing for a league championship this season. Sam Houston State, the league leader, fell 38-30 to the Bears in a Thursday night game.

Central Arkansas, a future Southland member, relied on 208 yards and four touchdowns passing from quarterback Nathan Brown.

No league had a wilder day on Saturday than the Southern Conference, with three games going to overtime.

Appalachian State won its first game in Statesboro, Ga. in 10 years, surviving a spotty offensive performance to pull out a 27-20 double-overtime victory.

William Mayfield scored on a 65-yard catch and run to tie the game at 17-all in the fourth quarter and Kevin Richardson's three-yard scoring surge put the top-ranked Mountaineers in front in the second overtime session.

ASU received brilliant defensive play throughout and closed out the game by stuffing a Jayson Foster reverse and forcing three consecutive incomplete passes in the second extra session.

Furman needed a 23-yard field goal from Scott Beckler on the final play of regulation to force overtime with Chattanooga. Andrew Thacker's interception in the end zone and a 23-yard pass from freshman quarterback Jordan Sorrels to tailback Cedric Gipson won the game.

Furman travels to Appalachian State next Saturday in a much anticipated game that should decide the SoCon race.

The stakes were not that high for The Citadel, but the Bulldogs pulled out a 30-27 overtime victory against Western Carolina when Tory Cooper scampered in from eight yards for the winning TD.

No. 2 Montana survived a scare at Weber State when the Wildcats scored 14 fourth-quarter points before falling 33-30. Bryant Eteuati started the comeback with a 100-yard kickoff return and Ian Pizarro hit Terry Larsen with a four-yard TD pass with 1:07 left, but that was as close as the Wildcats could get.

Yale won an important Ivy League game by outlasting Penn 17-14 in overtime.  After a scoreless second half, Alan Kimball's 35-yard field goal won it in the extra session for the Bulldogs.

Holy Cross took another step towards a possible Patriot League title by rallying from a 14-0 deficit for a 38-28 win over Lafayette. Dominic Randolph threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes to spark a 17-0 Crusader rush in the final 15 minutes.

Lehigh and Colgate also picked up PL wins, beating Bucknell (38-7) and Fordham (46-3) in a pair of blowouts.

Eastern Illinois and Tennessee-Martin tuned up for an Ohio Valley Conference showdown next week in Tennessee by surviving upset bids on Saturday.

Trailing 10-0 at halftime, EIU rallied for a 20-10 victory against Murray State as Vincent Webb rushed 28 times for 182 yards and Norris Smith carried 22 times for 154 yards and the Panthers' two touchdowns.

Tennessee-Martin did just the opposite, bursting to a 10-0 lead and then holding Samford off the rest of the way to win 10-6. Donald Chapman scored the game's only touchdown on a 12-yard sprint in the first period and finished with 24 carries for 96 yards.