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09/05/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There are no ifs, ands or buts about it, when a Football Championship Subdivision team upsets a major-conference team, it deserves to be in the spotlight as much as any other team across the nation.
Think a No. 14 team upsetting a three seed in the early rounds of March Madness. That always gets your attention when your bracket starts to fall apart.
Jacksonville State? Yes, the Gamecocks were all over any highlight show that you might have watched this weekend following their thrilling, 49-48, double- overtime rally past Ole Miss and a stunned Houston Nutt, who won the Eddie Robinson Award as the FCS coach of the year back at Murray State in 1995. Murray State, of course, now plays in the same Ohio Valley Conference as Jacksonville State.
North Dakota State? Well, the Bison's 6-3 win at Kansas was the polar opposite of Jacksonville State's on the scoreboard, but it left an FBS coach as equally stunned, first-year Jayhawks skipper Turner Gill. Maybe his squad should have taken even a closer look at North Dakota State than they did beforehand because since the Bison moved to the FCS in 2006 they are an impressive 4-3 against Football Bowl Subdivision teams, beating Minnesota, Ball State, Central Michigan, and, now, Kansas (Turner, this certainly isn't the University of Buffalo anymore).
The reality, though, is that FCS teams aren't supposed to beat FBS teams. It's tougher to do in football than in most other collegiate sports.
So the 2-38 record that FCS teams posted against the big boys this weekend can be filed away with the guaranteed paychecks that come with playing these games.
There will be plenty more FCS-FBS matchups next weekend before the two divisions basically go their own ways.
What shouldn't be lost amid the deserved hoopla for Jacksonville State and North Dakota State is that plenty of FCS-versus-FCS games started to shape the season.
William & Mary, the No. 4 team in the country and an FCS semifinalist last season, has already lost a conference game. Now that should get your attention.
Of course, don't be overly surprised by the result because in CAA Football - the FCS' dominant conference - there is a March Madness quality in the way its teams routinely knock each other off.
Massachusetts pulled the upset of the Tribe, 27-23 as Jonathan Hernandez totaled 201 yards of total offense (132 rushing and 69 receiving) and rushed for a touchdown, and Northeastern transfer John Griffin rushed for two touchdowns, including a 5-yarder with 3:23 left to erase the Minutemen's 23-21 deficit. Linebacker Tyler Holmes' interception with 2:05 left then clinched the upset.
"It's just a testament to the team, these guys and who they are and where they have been through the winter, through the spring, the summer and the fall," Minutemen coach Kevin Morris said. "We had a long, hot preseason and every time I asked them to get something done, they got it done. Certainly today that character came out and they responded with tremendous form."
"I felt in a lot of respects we played very well," said William & Mary coach Jimmye Laycock, who held out star linebacker Jake Trantin, "but we did not do what we needed to do defensively in a lot of situations, as far as third- and fourth-down conversions. We let them convert."
The CAA's other eye-opening score in Week 1 was Maine's 3-0 loss to Albany of the Northeast Conference. Maine came into the season believing a healthier squad will turn around last year's 5-6 record, but the shutout loss might have been an ominous sign. The visiting Great Danes made Herb Glass' 21-yard field goal midway through the first quarter stand up.
Speaking of standing up, the crowd was on its feet in Springfield, Mo., as Missouri State roared past Eastern Kentucky, 31-9, in one of the better wins for fifth-year coach Terry Allen, and one seemingly worthy of getting the Bears into The Sportsbook Betting Lines/Fathead.com FCS Top 25. Junior Chris Douglas' 86-yard touchdown run in the second quarter highlighted the win, and quarterback Cody Kirby rushed for a pair of TDs.
Among the impressive road wins, Jacksonville tripped Old Dominion, 35-25, behind its offensive stars, quarterback Josh McGregor (24 of 34 for 311 yards and three touchdowns), running back Rudell Small (118 rushing yards and two TDs) and wide receiver Josh Philpart (115 receiving yards and two TDs). Also, Lehigh went to Des Moines, Iowa, and left Drake a 28-14 winner behind Jay Campbell's three rushing touchdowns. The Mountain Hawks had not boarded a plane for a game since going to Furman for an NCAA quarterfinal in 2001.
COULD THIS WEEK'S NO. 1 BE 0-1?
It will be interesting to see where Villanova is ranked on Monday. It's possible the defending FCS champion could remain No. 1 despite a 31-24 loss to Temple on Friday. The Wildcats jump-started their 14-1 campaign a year ago by edging Temple, but this year's game was a toss-up, with a slight edge to the Owls from the FBS.
"I told the guys I have never been more proud of a Villanova team," head coach Andy Talley said after the loss. "We can go far as a team this year and I am happy and excited about that."
Second-ranked Montana, which has lost in the last two FCS championship games, including 23-21 to Villanova last year, drilled Western State, 73-2, would stand to surpass Villanova if there is a change atop the poll. Third-ranked Appalachian State barely got past Chattanooga, 42-41; fourth-ranked William & Mary lost to UMass, 27-23; and fifth-ranked Southern Illinois brought out the medical examiner in a 70-7 win over Quincy.
MANY HAPPY RETURNS
Montana expected to drill Western State and did with nine touchdown receptions. Oops, make that a combined five for Griz quarterbacks Andrew Selle and Justin Roper, and four interceptions that the defense returned for touchdowns, tying an NCAA single-game record.
Jordan Tripp (22 yards), Erik Stoll (34) and Trumaine Johnson (18) scored on short returns in the first quarter, then Sean Murray had the shortest one of all, 14 yards in the fourth quarter.
"We didn't have a lot of sustained drives, and that was disappointing. But thanks to the return team, we didn't need to," Montana coach Robin Pflugrad said after winning his first game in Missoula.
Overall, the Griz defense allowed only 73 yards on 51 plays.
COACHING DEBUTS
Pflugrad was one of the small handful of winners among FCS coaches who made their debuts this weekend. The new coaches were 5-11 heading into Stump Mitchell's debut for Southern on Sunday against Delaware State.
Besides Pflugrad, the winners were Bethune-Cookman's Brian Jenkins (70-10 over Edward Waters) Georgia Southern's Jeff Monken (48-3 over Savannah State and debuting coach Julius Dixon), Tennessee State's Rod Reed (27-14 over Alabama A&M) and Western Illinois' Mark Hendrickson (45-0 over Valparaiso and debuting coach Dale Carlsson).
PRESLEY DELIVERS, BUT WHEW ...
Few players in the FCS entered the season under the microscope as much as Appalachian State quarterback DeAndre Presley, who has replaced two-time Walter Payton Award winner Armanti Edwards.
App State played it a little too close for comfort, but Presley got the thumb's up by rallying the Mountaineers from a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit to a 42-41 win at Chattanooga.
Presley, a redshirt junior, completed 22-of-29 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns, rushed for 25 yards and two other touchdowns, and scored a TD on a "reception" that was the oddest play of the game.
With the game tied 35-35 in the fourth quarter, Chattanooga jumped offsides on 3rd-and-1 from the Mocs' 29 yard line, giving Presley and the Mountaineers a free play. Presley threw a quick pass to wide receiver Matt Cline, who was drilled by defender Chris Lewis-Harris and fumbled the ball. Presley picked up the loose ball and followed blocked into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown from 33 yards out.
Statistically, Cline collected the reception and Presley the 33 receiving yards.
THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER
College football is old hat to Georgia State coach Bill Curry, but his new program won its first-ever game, 41-7 over NAIA program Shorter before an announced crowd of 30,237 in the Georgia Dome. QB Drew Little threw for two touchdowns. "I've never been more proud of a group of young men than I am of this group," said Curry, the former head coach at Georgia Tech, Alabama and Kentucky ... The most scintillating performance in a losing cause belonged to Eastern Washington junior Taiwan Jones, who collected a career-high 322 all- purpose yards on just 18 touches in the Eagles' 49-24 loss at Nevada. The All- America rushed 12 times for 145 yards, caught two passes for 92 yards and returned four kickoffs for 85 yards. He turned a Bo Levi Mitchell pass into an 82-yard catch-and- run for EWU's first touchdown of the season ... True freshman running back Zach Bauman was lost in the shadow of All-America quarterback Michael Herrick during the preseason, but in a 48-0 win over Western New Mexico he announced his arrival by rushing for 167 yards and four touchdowns ... Liberty had three receivers surpass 100 yards in a 52-7 win over St. Francis (Pa.): Chris Summers (129), B.J. Hayes (100) and Pat Kelly (115). Quarterbacks Mike Brown and Tyler Brennan combined for 452 yards and six touchdowns ... Senior linebacker Brandon Wiggins of Elon collected 19 tackles against Duke and senior linebacker Jeffrey Williams of Gardner-Webb had 18 against Brevard .. Speaking of defensive dominance, The Citadel was in on seven sacks in a 56-14 win over Chowan. Erik Clanton collected two solo sacks and assisted on two more, while fellow defensive lineman Derek Douglas had two solo sacks ... Led by North Dakota State's win at Kansas, Missouri Valley Football Conference teams won six of seven games.
SNEAK PEEK
The key FCS game next weekend is No. 9 South Dakota State's trip across the country to No. 16 Delaware. Coach John Stiegelmeier's Jackrabbits were one of only three Top 25 teams not to open their season this weekend (No. 14 Northern Iowa and No. 23 Penn were the other two). Delaware and All-America quarterback Pat Devlin tuned up by coasting past Division II West Chester, 31-0.
Among FCS-FBS matchups, Southern Illinois will travel to Illinois, New Hampshire visits Pittsburgh, James Madison will go to Virginia Tech and Montana State will visit Washington State.
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It is starting to appear as if the Cincinnati Reds are
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2010 World Basketball Championship update - September 5th >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
Slovenia 87, Australia 58
Turkey vs. France, 2 p.m.
Slovenia routs Australia to reach quarterfinals >>
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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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