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Morgan State coach Donald Hill-Eley went conservative in Saturday's game with Towson. The rain started in the first quarter and got harder as time went on, so Hill-Eley decided to play the field-position game - and his plan worked perfectly. Darren McKhan returned a blocked extra point for a two-point conversion and made a crucial fourth-quarter interception, and Morgan's defense came up with several key plays late to help the Bears hang on for a 12-9 victory over Towson at Hughes Stadium. This was the Bears' first victory against the Tigers since 2003. Hill-Eley's plan worked because his defense came up big several times.
Morgan State Bears RB Darren McKhan scores one against Towson.
Towson ran up 344 yards of total offense, but the Bears forced three turnovers, blocked the extra point and limited the Tigers to two of 13 third-down conversions. Punter Nicholas Adams made a number of good kicks to pin Towson deep. "I didn't want to do anything that would give them any energy," Hill-Eley said. "Some coaches don't take it into consideration, but with me, we always take Mother Nature into consideration." The Morgan offense never really got going, finishing with only six first downs and 161 yards but had just one turnover. All three of Towson's turnovers came in the fourth quarter, ending its last three drives and handing the Tigers a 13th straight road loss.
Attendance: 4,307 at Hughes Stadium, Baltimore, MD
All-MEAC RB Devan James,#34 is ready to bust loose on cross-town rival Tigers.
Their players eat at the same restaurants, shop at the same malls and date women from each other's campuses. But pit Towson against Morgan State in football and get set for a row. The schools square off Saturday for the 22nd time in their intracity rivalry at Morgan's Hughes Stadium at 4 p.m. Both teams are 1-1. Lineups of Tigers and Bears, oh my. Let the battle for North Baltimore begin.
"It's easy to get juiced for Morgan," said Dan Bridges, Towson's 290-pound offensive tackle. "
It's one of those games that we don't want to lose the most."Ditto, says Morgan."I saw a couple of [Towson] players at Wal-mart last week, but I just kept movin'," said Devan James, Morgan's star running back. "Can't be too friendly because it's time to go to war."Five miles separate the colleges, which first met in football in 1979. Towson leads the series 16-5, with four straight wins. Last year, the Tigers rallied after halftime and held on, 21-16, as Morgan failed to score on three consecutive plays from Towson's 1-yard line in the fourth quarter. Two years ago, a late interception sparked the Tigers, 28-21.
Rivalry is intense between teams separated by five miles Their players eat at the same restaurants, shop at the same malls and date women from each other's campuses. But pit Towson against Morgan State in football and get set for a row. The schools square off Saturday for the 22nd time in their intracity rivalry at Morgan's Hughes Stadium at 4 p.m. Both teams are 1-1. Lineups of Tigers and Bears, oh my. Let the battle for North Baltimore begin.
"It's easy to get juiced for Morgan," said Dan Bridges, Towson's 290-pound offensive tackle. "It's one of those games that we don't want to lose the most."Ditto, says Morgan."I saw a couple of [Towson] players at Wal-mart last week, but I just kept movin'," said Devan James, Morgan's star running back. "Can't be too friendly because it's time to go to war." Five miles separate the colleges, which first met in football in 1979. Towson leads the series 16-5, with four straight wins. Last year, the Tigers rallied after halftime and held on, 21-16, as Morgan failed to score on three consecutive plays from Towson's 1-yard line in the fourth quarter. Two years ago, a late interception sparked the Tigers, 28-21.
They kept playing. They did some nice things in the downfield passing game for the first time in this young season. They allowed just six points after halftime. Anyone looking for positives from Norfolk State's 27-15 loss to William and Mary on Saturday night could take some comfort from those developments. As a building block, the game could have some value, as the Spartans head into the MEAC portion of their schedule. As a straight-up match-up, however, the game showed that NSU still has much ground to make up to compete with one of the top teams in the Football Championship Subdivision.
On a night when they were going to need to play error-free ball - or close to it - to have a chance at the upset, the Spartans (1-2) again made too many mistakes, especially early, falling behind 14-0 before some of the crowd of 10,005 had settled into their seats. It was 21-0 at the half, and 27-0 at the start of the fourth quarter. NSU ran just four plays in the entire third quarter, as No. 5 William and Mary (3-0) strung together a pair of long drives.
Not that anybody thought suspense was in the forecast Saturday evening when William and Mary met Norfolk State at Dick Price Stadium. This one was your basic mismatches. The final score - 27-15 - doesn't do justice to the visitor's domination. One of Jimmye Laycock's best teams in his long career, William and Mary isn't overly dependent on the pass, as previous Tribe editions have been, and features a defense that is stronger than any from Williamsburg in years. Just ask U.Va. It was too much for Norfolk State, which, after its loss to North Carolina A&T last week, came into the game a work in progress. One thing Norfolk State couldn't afford to do was fall behind W&M early. But that's exactly what happened.
NORFOLK - If this is how R.J. Archer plays injured, watch out. Archer, William and Mary's senior quarterback who played with a brace on his injured left knee, directed two early touchdown drives that put the Tribe ahead to stay in a 27-15 victory at Norfolk State on Saturday night on his way to 153 passing yards and three touchdowns. Archer, who took a seat after the Tribe's initial possession of the fourth quarter, finished 15-of-20 after completing his first five passes for 62 yards and two touchdowns as William and Mary, ranked No. 5 in the country, opened the season 3-0 for the first time since 1998.
The Tribe outgained Norfolk State 137 yards to 7 in the first quarter, running 21 plays to the Spartans' eight and not allowing Norfolk State to complete a pass while taking a 14-0 lead on a pair of touchdown passes from R.J. Archer. The Tribe also intercepted a first-quarter pass, amassed eight first downs to the Spartans' one and had the ball for nearly six minutes longer.
Rolling the dice Jimmye Laycock probably hasn't been called a riverboat gambler often in his 30 years at William and Mary, but he went for it on fourth-and-1 from his own 23. Punter David Miller took the snap and rolled to his right for a rugby-style kick, but finding no defender within 15 yards of him, kept going, picking up 10 yards and keeping alive a touchdown drive. Laycock said Miller usually has the option to do that, but as he watched the play unfold, the coach had just one thought: "He better make it. And that was probably what went through his head, too."
Last weekend's victories by William & Mary over Virginia, Richmond over Duke and Villanova over Temple reinforced the notion that the Colonial Athletic Association remains one of the strongest leagues in division I-AA football, if not the most powerful. Should James Madison knock off Maryland (Maryland won 38-35 in OT) and New Hampshire topple Ball State (NH won 23-16) on Saturday, it will further enhance the CAA's reputation and strengthen the argument that the talent gap between division I-A teams and the top programs in I-AA is shrinking.
"I've always told people that when Appalachian [State] beat Michigan [in 2007] . . . it was all the talking heads on television that were talking about what a huge upset it was," James Madison Coach Mickey Matthews said. "You didn't hear any coaches in the Big Ten and the CAA saying it was a huge upset. The top 10 or 15 teams in I-AA football can play with anyone in the country. I'm not saying we're going to beat them, but we certainly can compete against anyone."
This is the fourth year in a row that at least one CAA team has defeated a division I-A team. New Hampshire is going for its fifth consecutive win against a division I-A team this weekend. Since 1997, CAA teams boast 19 wins against division I-A opponents; no other I-AA conference comes close to matching that number. CAA teams have also fared well within their own classification. The league sent a record five teams to the division I-AA playoffs in each of the past two seasons. Last year in the 16-team field, four of the final eight teams and two of the final four teams were from the CAA.
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QUESTION FOR OUR READERS:Is South Carolina State, Florida A&M and Grambling competive with "any" of the ranked teams of the CAA? You may want to wait until after this Saturday's games to answer the question, although, other MEAC/SWAC teams are not as competitive as SCSU, FAMU or Grambling. Two CAA vs. MEAC games are on tap:
William and Mary (2-0) @ Norfolk State (1-1): 6 p.m. Delaware State (0-1) @ Delaware (1-1) 12:00 noon
DOVER, Del.- Delaware State University and the University of Delaware announced Tuesday that they have reached a formal agreement that will result in the scheduling of four future football contests. In a joint announcement made by DSU acting President Claibourne D. Smith and UD President Patrick T. Harker at Delaware State's Administration Building, the two universities will play a series of games that will take place on Sept. 8, 2012, Sept. 7, 2013 and Sept. 6, 2014. All three games will be played at the University of Delaware's 22,000-seat Delaware Stadium.
The series will kickoff this fall when the two schools will play a scheduled game on Sept. 19, 2009 at Delaware Stadium. The game time and ticket information will be released later this spring. The 2009 game came about when Furman announced earlier this month that it was dropping out of a scheduled Sept. 19 game at Delaware earlier this month in order to schedule a game at the University of Missouri on that date. In addition to Smith and Harker, also taking part in the announcement were Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, Delaware head coach K.C. Keeler, and DSU head coach Al Lavan.
The DSU Hornets and the UD Blue Hens played for a historic first time in 2007 when both teams earned bids to play in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Series. The first round game, won by the Blue Hens by a 44-7 score, drew a Delaware Stadium playoff record crowd of 19,765, was broadcast live nationally on ESPN, and generated extensive local and national media attention.
WILLIAMSBURG, VA - Both teams wore green and gold at Zable Stadium on Saturday night. That's where the similarities ended between Norfolk State and William and Mary in the first meeting between the schools in 23 years. For the Tribe (2-1), it was a night of big plays in a 42-12 rout. For the Spartans (2-2), it was a frustrating evening of missed opportunities, blown coverages and offensive ineptitude.
NSU Coach Pete Adrian and the Spartans were steamrolled by William and Mary Tribe 42 -12, Saturday. However, the Spartan Legions Band did play and may have won the so-called mystical battle of the bands. It appears that Spartans football was out of their league in facing divisional foe, William and Mary.The Spartans were validated by the Tribe as being "certified pretenders" for the MEAC Crown and a FCS playoff berth.
NSU had four turnovers, committed 12 penalties and converted just three of 18 third-down opportunities. William and Mary's Jake Phillips, meanwhile, had his third straight game with three or more touchdown passes, throwing four four scores. "We played very poorly and I'm not happy with it at all," NSU coach Pete Adrian said. DeAngelo Branche's 1-yard run with 5:58 remaining in the third quarter was the lone touchdown by the Spartans.
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ATTENDANCE: 10,152 (82.8%) at Zable Stadium, Williamsburg, VA (Capacity: 12,259).
Two weeks into the College of William and Mary’s 2008 season, the Tribe sits at 1-1 after playing two radically different teams. Week one opponent North Carolina State University was an athletic, deep Bowl Championship Series program with which the College did well to compete. Last week, the Tribe pounded an over matched Virginia Military Institute squad. Tomorrow, the College will get its first chance to match up against comparable talent when the Norfolk State University Spartans come to town.
Norfolk State University and QB Dennis Brown can lay the cornerstone for a possible At-Large 1-AA Playoff Berth for the Spartans with a victory at CAA foe William and Mary, Saturday.
“We want to come out and make a big statement to our future opponents,” senior linebacker Michael Pigram said. Such a statement will not come easily. The Spartans went 8-3 a year ago and head into tomorrow’s matchup at 2-1 on the season. The squad received 23 votes in The Sporting News’ most recent Football Championship Series poll to the Tribe’s single tally. “We haven’t played them in quite some time, but we know their reputation,” Head Coach Jimmye Laycock said. “We’ve looked at a little bit of tape and they’re a very good football team.”
HARRISONBURG, VA – A week ago, a football team from Durham, N.C., slapped some of the swagger from James Madison. Saturday night, against another team from the same city, the Dukes grabbed it all back. With quarterback Rodney Landers bouncing back from a nightmarish effort against Duke, JMU scored touchdowns on its first seven possessions to stomp North Carolina Central 56-7 in front of 15,518 fans on a surprisingly bright evening at Bridgeforth Stadium.
“Anytime you lose, people nitpick, find something to say,” Landers said. “We know what we can do because we're out at practice every day. We throw the ball around a lot, we change it up. Tonight I think we showed a little bit of that versatility.”
Nobody had more to prove than the senior quarterback, who committed three turnovers before being benched for JMU’s final possession in a 31-7 loss at Duke last weekend. Saturday, Landers was at his most efficient, finishing 13-for-17 through the air for 164 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 31 yards and a score on three carries.
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Attendance: 15,518 (100%) @ Bridgeforth Stadium, Harrisonburg, VA (Capacity: 15,500).
Towson quarterback becomes school's all-time passing yardage leader in 21-16 victory over Morgan State
Sean Schaefer threw three touchdowns and became Towson's all-time passing yardage leader, and the Tigers rallied to beat Morgan State 21-16 Saturday night. Schaefer, who passed for 243 yards, broke the record of 8,900 career passing yards set by Dan Crowley (1991-94) on a 40-yard screen pass to Hakeem Moore with 3:50 remaining in the game.
MSU Bears running back Devan James hits a career high 178 yards on 33 carries at Towson.
Schaefer connected with Steve Holmes for a 12-yard touchdown to pull Towson (1-1) within two points in the third quarter. The record-breaking quarterback threw a 4-yard passing score to Marcus Lee to put the Tigers ahead for good with 1:59 left in the quarter. Devan James totaled a career-best 178 yards on 33 carries for Morgan State (0-1). The Tigers improved to 16-5 all-time against Morgan. Towson took a 7-0 lead on the game's first drive when Schaefer threw 55-yard touchdown to Casey Cegles.
Morgan State Bears RB Darren McKhan scores one against Towson.
