November 1st, 2016 12:00am
What in the world is going on at Pittsburg State?
The Gorillas played MIAA rival Northwest Missouri last weekend and lost. Big. The Bearcats dominated in every way possible, rolling to a 41-3 halftime lead on the way to a 69-10 victory.
To make matters worse for PSU (5-4), the game was televised and a three-lateral interception return for a touchdown by the Bearcats on the final play of the half was the top play on ESPN SportsCenter Saturday night. A lot of fun was had at the Gorillas' expense.
To be fair, NWMSU is good. Really good. I believe they will win fairly easily against any team that steps on the field with them this year.
So going into the game I was expecting the Bearcats to win, but by a somewhat respectable score like 40-21. Not 69-10.
It was shocking to see the difference in talent these two teams have on the defensive side of the ball. Now again, the Bearcats have a great defense. But the Gorillas should not be this far behind. Remember, five years ago PSU was the national champion. Two years ago the Gorillas spoiled Homecoming at Northwest with a fairly convincing win. Things should not have changed this much in such a short period of time.
It will be interesting to see what if any changes Pittsburg State makes going forward. The facilities and fan support are among the best in D2 and I cannot imagine a product like this will be tolerated for long. Division 2 football needs a strong Pittsburg State program.
The Handshake Controversy
Pittsburg State was not the only blue blood program to have some issues last weekend: Valdosta State lost 38-20 at Florida Tech, giving up 345 rushing yards in the process.
But it is what happened before the game that has me shaking my head. The four Blazer captains refused to shake hands with the FIT captains at the pregame coin toss.
Now I am sure something was said leading up to the game or in the pregame warm up that led to the bad blood. But as a team captain, you are a leader and must be above that. To not shake hands at the coin toss is poor sportsmanship and frankly, foolish. Why would you want to go on the road and give a talented team even more motivation by showing them up just before the kickoff? It makes zero sense and should be something that a 3-time national championship program is above doing.
VSU (6-2) must now go on the road again to face a red hot West Alabama team that is also fighting for a playoff spot. FIT (6-2) travels to face West Georgia in another game with playoff implications. There should be some great football played in the Deep South this weekend.
News and Notes
-Strange things tend to happen at Sherman Field in Houghton, MI so I guess it should not be a huge surprise that the upset of the week was Michigan Tech (3-5) beating 7th ranked Ashland 24-21. Despite the loss, the Eagles (7-2) retained the seventh spot in the SR4 rankings this week.
-Colorado Mesa put up 933 yards of offense, 708 rushing yards and 40 first downs in an 87-14 win over New Mexico Highlands. This season cannot get over soon enough for NMHU (0-9). For the season the Cowboys allow 611 yards and 56 points per game.
-I am still perplexed as to how Azusa Pacific (8-1) can be ranked the lowest of all the one loss teams in SR3. As I mentioned last week, APU has a strong strength of schedule but they seemed to get no lift off of a dominating 44-7 win over Central Washington last week.
-The last two weeks are going to be very interesting in SR4. After unbeaten Grand Valley and one loss teams Midwestern State, Southwest Baptist and Texas A&M-Commerce, there are six teams with two losses rounding out the top ten in that region. Just three will be selected for the playoffs, and there are no head to head match ups in the next two weeks. Right now, Colorado Mines, Truman State and Ashland would be in with Ferris State, Colorado Mesa and Wayne State out. Something else to point out: SBU's last two opponents are a combined 2-16 on the season. Even if they finish 10-1 will the Bearcats be able to stay in the top seven in the final regional ranking?
-Despite starting the season with three straight defeats, Kutztown (6-3) has turned it around and captured a spot in the PSAC title game with a 24-21 2OT win over Shippensburg last week. The Golden Bears ran the table in the PSAC East but interestingly one of the early season losses came at the hands of Mercyhurst, a team that is in last place in the PSAC West.
-IUP quarterback Lenny Williams raised his pass efficiency rating to a ridiculous 208 for the season by completing 7-7 pass attempts for 224 yards and two touchdowns in his team's 48-3 rout of Gannon. Williams also rushed for 110 yards and touchdown against Gannon and has 12 rushing touchdowns this season.
-USF (9-0) won 24-14 at Minnesota State, which marked the first victory in five tries for the Cougars against the Mavericks. USF should finish the season strong as the Cougars wrap up with a pair of 3-6 opponents in Upper Iowa and Wayne State (NE). Both of those games are in Sioux Falls.
Top Games this Week
Edinboro (8-1) at California (8-0)
As I have mentioned in past columns, Edinboro has been the surprise team of the year after being winless in 2015. The Scots still have a ways to go to be mentioned among the elite teams, but they have excelled in close games and have relied on the arm of Jake Sisson, who averages nearly 50 pass attempts per game. However, California is the better team, particularly up front on both sides of the ball. California 51 Edinboro 35
Valdosta State (6-2) at West Alabama (6-3)
The Tigers are red hot, having won five straight games. Included in that streak are high profile wins over West Georgia and Florida Tech. One of UWA's losses is to a D-I FCS school so the Tigers are currently 5th in the regional poll while VSU is 7th. Winning the turnover battle has been key to both team's success this season so I expect the team with the fewest mistakes to win this game. West Alabama 30 Valdosta State 27
Fairmont State (9-0) at Shepherd (8-0)
This is the game of the year in the MEC. These two teams have been lights out all year defensively, with both allowing under 300 yards per game. Neither team runs the ball all that well so I expect quarterback play to be a deciding factor. Cooper Hibbs has had a solid senior year for the Falcons, but he does not have the talent at receiver that the Rams have surrounded Jeff Ziemba with. Plus, the Rams do not lose home conference games very often. Shepherd 24 Fairmont State 16
Florida Tech (6-2) at West Georgia (6-3)
With a likely playoff spot on the line, obviously this game is huge. The Wolves have the top defense in the GSC and FIT the top offense so it will be interesting to see how that match up plays out. However, the Panthers have been very good against the run this year, allowing just 84 yards per game. The Wolves have had major struggles offensively this season and I do not see them scoring enough points to win this game. Florida Tech 30 West Georgia 23
Mailbag
[Q] I'm a big fan of D2 football, and I enjoy reading your commentary and keeping up with the latest news on the D2 football website. I have a few comments and questions about rankings and coverage. You may very well be correct in your assessment of the Bearcats and your prediction that they could beat any team and also that they will repeat as National Champions. However, not too many people are talking about the Lions from North Alabama. They have resounding wins vs Valdosta State (44-19) and West Alabama (45-7). They also defeated then #3 West Georgia (24-23), and recently a pretty good Region 2 opponent North Greenville (52-21). UNA was tied for #1 in strength of schedule (at least the last time I heard, which was about week 6). Furthermore, that strength of schedule did not even include the #2 ranked FCS team Jacksonville State (North Alabama's only loss). I am not sure where the Bearcats stand in strength of schedule, but I have a feeling it's not anywhere close to #1. I think the D2Football poll has had it right, ranking UNA at #3 for several weeks now. There has always been a big discrepancy between that poll and the NCAA poll. At one point, North Alabama was #11 in NCAA, but #3 in D2Football.
I am a UNA alumnus, and we love our Lions football. So, I may be a little biased. I just wanted to point some of these things out and get your thoughts on them. Thanks for reading, and I know we all can't wait for the playoffs.
[A] I think UNA has a very good team. The Lions should be the favorite in SR2 and have an excellent shot of making it all the way to Kansas City. However, I also believe this Northwest team is one of the best in D2 history and they are two scores better than anyone else in the division this year. I do think the GSC is a slightly better league top to bottom than the MIAA, but Northwest is so good they would dominate the GSC this year as well.
Contact
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