Covering All College Sports Since 2012
The FCS Playoff autobid came down to the wire in Pittsburgh, PA, but Sacred Heart’s 28-24 loss to Duquesne meant 7-4 Sacred Heart would end up tied for 1st for the NEC championship , but without the autobid.
After a 1-4 start in out-of-conference, the Hoyas went a surprising 4-2 in conference to finish in 2nd place in the Patriot League en route to a 5-6 record.
Alabama State’s shock 28-25 win over Alcorn State seemed to put Alabama State in a good position going into the second half of the year, even after a brutal schedule put the Hornets at 2-4.
A tough 1-4 start for “Buddy” Pough’s Bulldogs gave way to a great 4-1 stretch with a home win over Howard and a big road win vs. Florida A&M.
A disappointing 3-8 was salvaged somewhat with a 34-3 win against their long-time Rivals Lafayette. With the win, head coach Andy Coen retired as the winningest head coach in program history.
After a trip to Brown and securing a 3-3 record, things were looking bright for the Big Red to finally get back to .500 on the season. Then Cornell fell 66-0 to Princeton, and David Archer’s team would then drop their next three games to fall into the cellar of the Ivy League.
Another year, another 4-7 year for the Spartans.
A tough, brutal early stretch of the schedule saw the Seahawks limp to a 1-5 record, though they would win their final two games against Bryant and Robert Morris to achieve a 4-7 record.
A 70 yard interception return for touchdown allowed the Rams to finish the year on a high note beating Bucknell 17-14, putting the Rams at 2-9 on head coach Joe Conlin’s first year as Fordham’s head football coach.
CCSU scored 48 straight points in a 34 point loss, and the Bulldogs never seemed to fully recover, dropping three of their last five games and squeaking by both Fordham (42-41) and Howard (56-55) by a single point each.
A 31-14 win over Southern Connecticut (D-II) brought the Warriors time in Division II to a close with a 5-5 record. Merrimack announced they would be beginning their transition to becoming a Division I athletics program in 2019, where their final destination will be the NEC.
St. Francis (PA) Red Flash Location: Loretto, PA Coach: Chris Villarrial (40-59), 9th Season at St. Francis (PA) Stadium: DeGol Field (Capacity: 3,500) CSJ Projections: 6th: NEC 8th: Pennsylvania 103rd: FCS 233rd: Division I 2018 In a Sentence: Three heartbreaking, last-minute out-of-conference losses to Lehigh, Richmond, and Albany (NY) turned what could have realistically.
After a 1-9 season, longtime head football coach Phil Estes stepped down as Bears head football coach after an illustrious 21 year career.
On Homecoming, head coach Dewayne Alexander and the Golden Eagles broke their 11 game losing streak, upsetting Murray State 27-24. It was the highlight of an otherwise tough 1-10 season.
The Hatters went 8-2 last season and were in contention for the Pioneer Football League title, had PFL winners San Diego slipped up along the way.
Assistant coach John Hendrick was thrust into the head coaching position on an interim basis after Tony Hughes was let go after a 41-7 drubbing by Southern.
Say what you want about the Wildcats and their feather-light schedule – Davidson was a mighty entertaining football team last year.
Going into November, hopes were high that the 3-5 Leopards would turn the corner and do enough to beat their archrival Lehigh in the final game of the season. Instead John Garrett’s team would lose to Holy Cross, Army and their Rivals to close out a disappointing 3-8 season.
The Red Foxes had a chance to end the year with a winning record, but a 31-14 loss to PFL champions San Diego doomed Marist to a 5-6 record. Marist went 5-3 in Pioneer League play, but went 0-3 outside their conference schedule.
The Bears had modest expectations under interim head coach Earnest T. Jones, and seemed to exceed those expectations greatly with their a 4-7 record, highlighted by perhaps the biggest win in FCS last season: Morgan State’s shocking 16-13 upset of North Carolina A&T 16-13 in Greensboro. The historic upset was not enough to have the “interim” label removed from Jones’ job description, however, and former Michigan running back Tyrone Wheatley was hired to become the Bears’ next head football coach.
After a brutal 0-7 start to the Rod Milstead era, the Hornets made a big turnaround by the end of the year, winning three of their final four games to salvage a 3-8 season. One of the wins, however, came against hapless USCAA school Virgina University of Lynchburg.
A brutal 1-10 season saw the end of the Joe Susan era at Bucknell, with the Bison hiring former Valparaiso head coach and Patriot League assistant coach and player Dave Cecchini to take over the reins of the program.
In their final season in Division II, LIU-Post went out in style, beating perennial NE-10 power New Haven to win their conference championship and qualify for the playoffs with a 10-0 record.
Following a humiliating 60-14 loss to Prairie View A&M to close out a dismal 2-9 season, three year head coach Michael Haywood resigned and Clarence McKinney, who had served as Associate Head Coach and running backs Coach at Arizona, was hired to replace him.
On November 3rd, the Keydets downed D-II Tusculum 20-11, snapping a 25 game losing streak that dated from 2016. The 1-10 record obscures the fact that VMI gave some major scares to its SoCon opponents, including East Tennessee State, Western Carolina, and VMI’s historic rival The Citadel.
Cedric Thomas, former Golden Lion player and defensive coordinator at Alcorn State, took as head coach of the UAPB program last year. The end results were similar as recent years – another 2-9 season – but there was some promise, as four of their losses were by a touchdown or less.
A somewhat promising season crashed and burned to a disappointing 2-8 record. In eight games, including one of their victories, the Dolphin defense gave up more than thirty points.
Presbyterian Blue Hose Location: Clinton, SC Coach: Tommy Spangler (48-39), 8th Season Stadium: Bailey Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 6,500) CSJ Projections: 7th: Big South 9th: South Carolina 124th: FCS 254th: Division I 2018 In A Sentence: The Blue Hose limped to a 2-8 season, their only victories coming against a pair of NAIA schools, Bluefield College.
In Week 3, the Colonials fell 73-7 to perennial FCS power James Madison, and things didn’t improve much from there, with Robert Morris losing eight other games to their FCS opponents.
At homecoming, the Delta Devils outlasted Arkansas-Pine Bluff in two overtimes, 48-47. It was the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal inaugural season for new head coach Vincent Dancy, as MVSU went 1-10.
For the first time, the average FCS crowd size was below 8,000 per game, averaging 7,853 fans. Last year, the average 8,223 fans per contest, marking a 4.5% drop from year to year.
What’s wrong, and can anything be done to reverse the decline?
Lehigh Athletics simply can’t ignore the outside forces of college football and televised sports forever. They need one renovation more than any other – lights in order to open up the possibility of hosting late afternoon or early evening games.
There was no official scoring, but plenty of physical play and competition that made it a fun morning for players and spectators.
The challenges of being a Division I football coach – the recruiting, the staff-building, even the organization of setting up the program the way Gilmore wants it – are clearly something that he relishes, perhaps even a bit more so now.
An astounding eight schools in this year’s Unclean Sixteen – Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan State, LSU, Auburn, Virginia Tech and Virginia – have had their names involved in this corruption scandal that has dragged on for more than eighteen months.
The intrigue over this game is interesting. Oni for Yale is an NBA-caliber talent, but he can’t do it all alone.
Arizona State under head coach Bobby Hurley has been a rollercoaster ride, never quite getting over the top (losing to Pac 12 champs Oregon twice down the stretch) but still eking out a 20+ win season and doing just enough to get into the tourney despite the overall perceived weakness of the Pac 12 in general.
This Sunday, C.J. returns to Stabler Arena to see his Number 3 raised to the rafters during halftime of Lehigh’s contest against Holy Cross. C.J. is the first – and only – Mountain Hawk basketball player that has gone on to play in the NBA with the Portland Trail Blazers, and, in the process, been an outstanding ambassador for Lehigh as a school.
It’s a news item in the Lehigh Valley when there isn’t an Ivy League team on the football schedule.
Five home dates, including the 155th meeting of college football’s most-played rivalry and the program’s first west coast trip in more than 20 years, highlight Lehigh’s 2019 football schedule, formally unveiled Thursday.
Temple and Memphis are meeting for the 20th time with the Owls holding a slim, 10-9 lead in the series. The Owls had won three straight until getting beaten in overtime at home last season, 75-72 on Jan. 13, 2018.
Marshall men’s basketball looks to stay perfect as it prepares for road game at Western Kentucky on Monday.
January 9th was finally the day when Lehigh fans finally got to see and meet their new head football coach: Tom Gilmore.
The Eagles key to winning this game is to win the turnover margin. The Eagles also lead the FCS in defensive touchdowns with six (and nearly had a seventh in the playoff win over Maine when CB Josh Lewis returned an interception as close as you can get without scoring to the one-yard line).
In November, the Mountain Hawks seemed to figure out some of the answers to their questions just in time to win two of their final three games, and in so doing having retiring head coach Andy Coen tie Bill Leckonby for the all-time head coaching wins record at Lehigh.
Hawai’i vs. Louisiana Tech (Hawai’i Bowl) When: Saturday, December 22, 19:30 PM EST Where: Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI TV/Streaming: ESPN, WatchESPN (subscription req’d) Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors (T-2nd, Mountain West West, 8-5, 5-3) Hawai’i is making its eighth SoFi Hawai‘i Bowl appearance and second in the last three years. This is their 12th overall bowl overall. Hawai‘i.
Army’s season has been one enjoyable weekend after another, riding a eight game winning streak going into Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl against Houston on December 22nd.
The No. 20/23 Marquette University men’s basketball team (9-2, 0-0 BIG EAST) hosts No. 14/15 Buffalo (11-0, 0-0 MAC) Friday night for a top-20 matchup at 7:30 p.m. in Fiserv Forum.
Utah State (9-2) takes a pre-Christmas trip to Houston, Texas in a matchup against a Top 25 opponent. The Aggies are tied 1-1 in the all-time series against Houston, with the teams last playing during the 1969-70 season.
This is a game for those who love long-distance shooting. Mississippi State has connected on 45 three-pointers during its last three games highlighted by a program single-game record 19 treys during the Clemson game on Dec. 8. The Bulldogs have hit 10 or more treys in three straight games on five occasions since the 2004-05 season.
Was it a fluke, or was it a sign of things to come? That’s what Syracuse fans must be wondering after the Orange were upset 68-62 by Old Dominion last Saturday. Now they face Buffalo in a bigger challenge.
