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The reason that Cahill and the Lehigh football players came into the press conference with mostly serious faces wasn’t due to the stat sheet showing a resounding statistical victory for the Mountain Hawks. It’s because if you were there, playing or watching the game, you saw a different story.
The’ Pios’ are a program on the rise – one that are trying to elevate their profile and make a name for themselves the year before their entrance to one of the top leagues in FCS football.
The 35 yard spiral from Sluka to Coker was on the money – and Coker came up with it and fell in the end zone, and with it, gave Holy Cross their first-ever FCS Playoff win in five tries.
Holy Cross and Sacred Heart are both riding six-game win streaks into the first round of the FCS Playoffs.
Check out highlights of last week’s big games, and check out out CSJ composite playoff bracket, bubble team of the week, and playoff implication game of the week as well.
Find everything you need to know about this weekend’s FCS Playoff games, including full previews, and our staff’s predictions on how the games are going to go.
This first round game features the champions of the NEC, Sacred Heart against the champions of the CAA, Delaware.
This season, I had the honor to be included by Craig Haley as one of the 40 voters in the STATS Perform FCS Top 25 for the Spring. Along with the Top 25 vote comes the opportunity to vote for the FCS Legacy Awards: Walter Payton, Buck Buchanan, Eddie Robinson and Jerry Rice.
After watching and following all spring, here’s my prediction of who’s in and who’s out of the FCS Playoff bracket this spring. The selection special is at 11:30 AM Sunday and will be unveiled on ESPNU.
On February 1st, Northeast Conference Commissioner Noreen Morris announced revised regular season competition and NEC Championship formats for fall-to-spring, winter and spring sports, which included football.
I have five burning questions on the issue that might help to give clarity on what a spring season for the Patriot League might look like.
Going into this game, Lehigh’s defense had a serious challenge on their hands – to stop, or a least slow down, the leading rusher in FCS, Sacred Heart RB Julius Chestnut. For three quarters, they did just that, but in the fourth quarter Chestnut would score a pair of rushing touchdowns to lifted Sacred Heart to a 13-6 victory.
It’s highly unusual for Lehigh (4-5, 3-2) and Sacred Heart (6-4, 4-2)to be playing a non-conference game this late in the season, but for both teams, important milestones remain.
This week’s games feature a couple of challenges vs. the Ivy League, LIU still trying to win their first game in the NEC, and a good old-fashioned western Pennsylvania rivalry game.
Another interesting week awaits us in the NEC, featuring a battle between a NEC title contender and a Pioneer Football League contender.
It was a week of high-profile Top 25 clashes in FCS this week, as the marquee games of the week pitted Delaware vs. North Dakota State and Eastern Washington vs. Jacksonville State. One was a Bison display of dominance, the other a thriller that could be the game of the year. Adding to the fun of this week’s games was a shootout in Vermillion, South Dakota and another big FBS upset in Georgia.
Things pretty much played out as expected when the teams of the NEC stepped up in class, losing some games against tough competition. It was the losses to D-II squads that were an issue, with Wagner and Robert Morris losing some bad games against sub-D-I competition. This week, the NEC has another mixed back of play-up and play-down competition.
Wagner, who came within a blown defensive penalty from having a chance to beat FBS UConn, isn’t the only NEC team chomping at the bit to start Week 2 of the football season. Duquesne, Central Connecticut State, Robert Morris and Sacred Heart also have their home openers this week.
The NEC starts their 2019 football season as road warriors with the exception of Merrimack, who is not a full NEC member but is competing against mostly NEC squads. All of the games should be a challenge – with the exception of Merrimack, once again.
The Northeast Conference welcomes two new members in 2019 in LIU and Merrimack, two teams that should bring some juice to the league in future years. That newness extends to many of the existing teams of the NEC, many of whom are headed by first or second year head coaches. In such an environment, Duquesne’s returning talent and longtime head football coach really stand out.
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.
Sacred Heart at Duquesne When: Saturday, November 10th, Noon Where: Rooney Field, Pittsburgh, PA TV/Streaming: NEC Front Row Sacred Heart Pioneers The Sacred Heart football team will look to clinch its third Northeast Conference title in six years on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers (6-3, 4-0 NEC) will travel to take on Duquesne (6-3, 3-1 NEC),.
Bryant at Sacred Heart When: Saturday, October 27, 1:00 PM Where: Campus Field, Fairfield, CT TV/Streaming: ESPN College Extra/ESPN3 Bryant Bulldogs After a wild win over Fordham last week, Bryant heads to Fairfield, CT to face Sacred Heart in a critical battle in the NEC championship race. Sophomore PK Luke Samperi chose the perfect time.
Montana QB Dalton Sneed, Stony Brook RB Jordan Gowins, Sacred Heart QB Kevin Duke, Chattanooga LB Marshall Cooper, and Morgan State PK Alex Raya have been selected as the College Sports Journal FCS Football Players of the week ending Sept. 24th 2018. The honorees are listed here with their achievements and their school, position, class,.
