Mineral Water Bowl

Washburn 23
Bemidji State 36C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl

Fort Hays State 45
Eastern New Mexico 12Super Region 3 Final

Harding 0
Northwest Missouri State 35th time in their history, while Harding finished their best season in school history with a 13-1 record.

Coaching changes in the MIAASemifinal Preview

#14 Ferris State (12-2) at #1 Northwest Missouri State (13-0) 2:30PM

For the second straight year, the Bearcats will face an opponent for the first time ever in the National Semifinal. Last year, the Bearcats played West Georgia in Maryville, and this year they will face off against the Bulldogs of Ferris State (MI), again in Maryville. Ferris advanced to this game by avenging a regular season loss to their arch rival Grand Valley State at Lubbers Stadium. It is their second trip to the semifinals and first since the 1995 season, when they lost to eventual National Champion North Alabama. They will be looking to knock off the Bearcats and, if they are successful, have a 50/50 shot of playing UNA again in Kansas City for the National Championship. Meanwhile, the Bearcats are looking for their 10th trip to the National Championship game, which would extend their own record.

Ferris comes into the game allowing an average of 364 yards per game, which ranks 65th in D2. They rank 20th against the run (allowing about 100 yards per game), but 135th in passing yards allowed (260ypg). They do rank 53rd in pass efficiency defense, and have 20 intercetptions (t-12th) and 41 sacks (25th), so while they have given up some yardage this year, they have not made it easy. They are also decent on third down, only allowing opponents to convert on 36.8% of third down attempts (t-67th). The Bulldogs allow 22.7 points a game, ranking 44th in the country in that metric. The key player for Ferris is Zach Seiler, who has 18.5 sacks on the year, good for 3rd in the nation. They will try to slow down the nations #2 scoring offense (47.5ppg) and #14 total offense in D2. The Bearcats are pretty good on 3rd down, ranking 20ththth in D2 in 3rd down conversions (43.8%) while Northwest Missouri is 7th in 3rd down defense, allowing conversions just 27% of the time. The Bearcats will look to shut down the run game and force the Ferris QBs to beat them with their arms; the Bulldogs are certainly capable of winning in this fashion, but their chances of winning improve greatly if they can get their running game going. In games of this magnitude, turnovers are often a deciding factor. The Bearcats have been very careful with the football, only turning it over 13 times on the year (ranking 10th in the country). Ferris has turned it over twice that amount (ranking 144thth National Championship game. If it has been, Ferris State is certainly good enough to take advantage. Still, the Bearcats have won 28 in a row, and the last 24 of them have all been decided by double digits. That kind of consistency is the result of good coaching, and even if the ACU rumors are causing a distraction, I think the staff at NWMSU is good enough to work through them. I think the Bulldogs likely put up the best fight of anyone on the year, but I see the Bearcats going to KCK for the second straight year.

FSU 17
NWMSU 24

(Last week: 3-0)
(Postseason: 5-1)
(Season: 54-18)


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