Week 1 is in the books as the NE-10 took care of business out of conference.

OOC

We always talk each year about the NE-10 and their out of conference games. It is an important measuring stick for the league and their potential playoff chances. The gap has been closing for the past several years and another step forward has been taken in 2015.

Overall, the NE-10 was 4-6 in their opening weekend. In 2014, the league was 2-8 in playing out of the conference. But the major development is the success of the league against the PSAC. This year, NE-10 teams were 3-3 against the PSAC. That is exactly the same number of wins over the past three seasons (2014 1-4, 2013 2-4, 2012 0-3).

In reading my colleague's assessment of the first week in the PSAC, the word catastrophe was used to describe the PSAC East. In fact, the NE-10 was a perfect 3-0 against that side of the league with all three wins coming on PSAC home turf.

And the NE-10 beat teams expected to compete for the PSAC East title. Start off in Bloomsburg as Stonehill absolutely manhandled the # 14 team in the country. The Skyhawks won the game in the trenches and walked away with an impressive 27-10 victory. Bloomsburg was the coaches pick to win the PSAC East.

Last Thursday night, LIU Post endured a late start and rallied from a 13 point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat East Stroudsburg 41-40. Two soccer games and a lightning delay during the second soccer game pushed the start back at ESU but Post managed to grab their first victory of the season. East Stroudsburg was picked to finish third in the PSAC preseason poll and boasts a Harlon Hill candidate at quarterback.

And last and certainty not least, Assumption did what Assumption has done for the past several seasons. Hopped onto a bus for a road trip and won another road game. This time, they traveled to Kutztown and rallied for a 41-37 victory on Saturday afternoon. The Greyhounds were down by 16 points at the half but scored 34 points in the second half to win on the road. Kutztown was picked fifth in the PSAC East.

Pace claimed the fourth out of conference victory for the NE-10 as they topped Ave Maria 36-23. The Setters are riding a two game winning streak as they closed out 2014 with a victory. They did beat a NAIA program but it shows that things are moving in the right direction for the Pace program.

Here is a look at the totals for the out of conference games:

PSAC 3-3
CIAA 0-1
D1 FCS 0-2
NAIA 1-0
Total 4-6

We have talked about moral victories as the league has played their out of conference foes tough and were close to winning. Now we can talk about winning games outside of the conference and it is exactly what the teams have strived for in the past several years. Doing a little bragging to your PSAC friends as it is well deserved.

QuarterbacksSecond Half Success

Several of the NE-10 teams needed to take the 15 minutes of halftime to regroup their teams and get them focused on their game plan or completely change it. Those 15 minutes at halftime could make or break a game sometimes.

In Kutztown, Assumption was struggling and trailing 23-7 at the half. The Greyhounds had allowed 10 points in the final two minutes of the half including an 80 yard touchdown drive in 44 seconds to close out the half. But Assumption used halftime to regroup and both sides of the ball responded.

They took the second half kickoff 75 yards to cut the lead to nine and the comeback was on. Brendan Tobey would throw three touchdown strikes in the second half to cap off his first game at the collegiate in style. He led the Greyhounds on a 64 yard drive with just under four minutes to play that was finished with a James Ward nine yard touchdown run for the victory.

In New Haven, Southern Connecticut was controlling the pace of the game before two first half fumbles cost them with short touchdown drives by Gannon. Trailing 20-3 at the half, Gannon took the opening drive of the second half 54 yards to extend the lead to 26-3. And that is when the Owls started to see success on both sides of the ball.

Southern Connecticut took the next drive and ate up 5:27 of game time before Rob Nittolo found Devante Jenkins for a 14 yard touchdown strike. It would be the first of three touchdowns between the duo in the second half to fuel the Owls comeback. Despite running out of time, Southern Connecticut used their halftime to focus the team and see a lot of success in the second half.

Points were scored at a frenzy pace in the Merrimack loss to Bowie State. The score was 7-3 at halftime before both teams erupted for 57 points in the final 30 minutes of the game.

Do not count out your team if they are trailing at the half. The coaches are working to get their team back in the game and will make sure that they play a full 60 minute game.

Congrats

Pace ended last year with a 10-7 victory over Southern Connecticut and that erased a long losing streak for the program. Head coach Andy Rondeau had made strides in his first season at Pace and used the momentum of that win in his offseason recruiting needs. Nine months later, it paid dividends.

The Setters opened the 2015 campaign with a 36-23 victory over Ave Maria, a NAIA school based in Florida. Pace used a ground and pound offensive attack that featured 282 yards of rushing in the win. But it was the special teams that set up the Setters for the victory.

Jamir Gee took a first quarter punt 48 yards to open the scoring for Pace. He later also took a punt back to the house but it was negated due to a penalty. The Setters had 185 yards in returns in the game that seemed to flip the field in their favor. As well as 149 yards in two interceptions capped off with an 80 yarder to end the game.

Rondeau has asked his team to take steps each practice and each game week. The players are buying into his philosophy and it is showing on the scoreboard. Two consecutive wins after years of winless seasons. The Setters have a new stadium and a new attitude.

Upset

Bloomsburg might find a way to unscheduled Stonehill in the future. Despite playing the past four years to open the season, the Huskies might be sick of the Skyhawks.

Bloomsburg had taken the first three matchups between the schools but none of them were cakewalks. Stonehill battled in each of those games before Bloomsburg was able to pull away at the end. But 2015 was a different story.

Stonehill made the long bus trip to Bloomsburg and they looked like the # 14 team in the country. The Skyhawks pushed around both offensive and defensive lines for Bloomsburg and completely dominated the line of scrimmage. Stonehill have been known for solid defenses the past several years but this year looks like it is amped up a notch.

They limited Bloomsburg 264 total yards in the game. The Huskies are known for a solid running game and the Skyhawks allowed just 86 yards in the game. If you eliminate the 68 yards in garbage time when Bloomsburg scored at the end of the game, the first team offense allowed fewer than 200 yards and frustrated one of the projected better teams in the PSAC.

The defense was all over the field. The defensive line was getting pressure on the quarterback. The linebackers were making plays and the secondary was like a blanket on the receivers. Coaches draw up game plans but the Stonehill coaches could not have dreamed a better outcome against a top 25 team on the road.