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Last week was a real thriller with a lot of FCS Playoff implications. Montana State, Eastern Washington and North Dakota State had statement wins showing how they plan to be a part of these playoffs come Thanksgiving, while the SoCon’s title and autobid race seems as muddled as ever.
Towson opted out of the spring season. When we last saw them, Towson had a high flying offense and an improving defense.
The CAA has its champion. James Madison handily defeated Richmond and claimed the outright CAA title. Joining the Dukes in the playoffs should be Villanova, Albany and Towson who each have seven division one wins on the season.
We are down to the last two weeks of the regular season. In the CAA, James Madison is a playoff lock and will claim the outright conference championship with another win. The Dukes should also slide into the seeds when the playoff bracket is released on November 24. Villanova is probably also solidly in the field. From there, its anybody’s guess what other CAA teams will be included on Selection Sunday
At this point the CAA could have five teams get into the FCS Playoffs, or they could have two. Its going to be a tense last three weeks.
One of the wildest endings to a game this year happened last week between Stony Brook and Villanova. Villanova held a 35-20 lead with five minutes remaining only to see Stony Brook roar back with 16 points to win on a Nick Courtney field goal as time expired. As a result, the CAA is a huge jumble, as it seems to be every year.
Entering week 9, James Madison is the only CAA school remaining without a conference loss. However, there are five teams with only one conference loss. Of the twelve CAA teams, there are nine teams that could still make a run at a playoff berth.
Villanova and James Madison may have been caught looking ahead to their showdown last week, as both had to survive and win late. Take nothing away from Stony Brook and William & Mary, who gave those two teams all they could handle. The CAA title may well be on the line this week in Harrisonburg.
Villanova showed that they are not to be forgotten in the CAA race in 2019. The Wildcats went toe to toe with the best offense in the conference – Towson – and came away victorious. Daniel Smith has been spectacular through four games with 13 touchdowns passing and four more rushing. Most teams in the CAA are getting into conference play from here on out so the path to the playoffs is going to start to clear up.
Towson showed they aren’t going away in the CAA and FCS race. The Tigers easily beat Maine by 22 points last week. In the only other CAA matchup, Elon picked up its first conference win, cruising by Richmond. In a couple more weeks, conference play will be in full swing. But for this week there are only two conference matchups while James Madison plays an interesting out of conference contest at Chattanooga.
Week two brought a mixed bag of results. The highlight of the weekend was the triple OT thriller in Meade Stadium that saw Delaware outlast the host Rhode Island Rams. That game set the stage for what should be an excellent season of conference matchups.
A new season is finally upon us. The Colonial Athletic Association is always among the top conference in the country and 2019 looks to be no different. Villanova already made a statement in week zero against Colgate. Most everyone else gets going this week.
The CAA had an excellent regular season in 2018 culminating with a record 6 playoff berths. However, once they got there, everyone except for Maine fell flat. The Colonial again looks strong with most every team feeling like they have a shot at the playoffs.
Towson found a quarterback to start the 2018 season and that made all the difference. QB Tom Flacco, brother of the NFLs’ Joe Flacco, took the reins and led the Tigers to a 7-5 season and an FCS playoff appearance. After a strong start, Towson fell off, losing 4 of their last 5 games including an inexplicable playoff loss at home to Duquesne.
Duquesne 31, Towson 10 Video Highlights Courtesy NCAA.com TOWSON, Md. – Two weeks ago against Sacred Heart, Duquesne was in a must-win game to have a chance to capture the NEC title and the autobid to the FCS playoffs. After their 28-24 win over the Pioneers, the Dukes once again faced a must-win game against.
Duquesne at Towson When: Saturday, November 24, 2:00 PM Where: Johnny Unitas Stadium, Towson, MD TV/Streaming: ESPN3 Duquesne University Pittsburgh, PA Northeast Conference Enrollment: 5943 FCS Sagarin Rating: 79 Season Recap: Duquesne tested itself in its non-conference schedule, playing two FBS teams along the way. The Dukes went 8-1 against the FCS this year with.
James Madison at Towson When: Saturday, November 17, 2:00PM Where: Johnny Unitas Stadium, Towson, MD TV/Streaming: College Sports Live James Madison Dukes One week after getting pulled in the first quarter in an ugly loss to New Hampshire, James Madison quarterback Ben DiNucci had a great bounce back game in a big win over Rhode.
Towson at Elon When: Saturday, November 10, 12:00PM Where: Rhodes Stadium, Elon, NC TV/Streaming: ElonPhoenix.Com Towson Tigers Towson won its first give CAA games to shoot into the top 10 of the rankings. However, the Tigers have dropped their last two games in conference play to Delaware and Maine. The schedule makers were not kind.
Maine at Towson When: Saturday, November 3, 4:00PM Where: Johnny Unitas Stadium, Towson, MD TV/Streaming: College Sports Live Maine Black Bears Maine bounced back from a bad loss to William & Mary by easily beating Albany last week. The loss to William & Mary lands the Black Bears in a tie with 3 other teams.
Towson at Delaware When: Saturday, October 27, 3:30PM Where: Delaware Stadium, Newark, DE TV/Streaming: Fox College Sports Atlantic/Fox Sports Go (subscription req’d) Towson Tigers The Tigers were projected as the 10th place team in the CAA preseason polls. They have clearly exceeded expectations with the leadership of Coach Rob Ambrose and the play of quarterback.
Towson QB Tom Flacco, North Dakota RB James Johanneson, VMI QB Reese Udinski, Dartmouth DL Rocco Di Leo, and North Dakota State WR/RS Darrius Shepard have been selected as the College Sports Journal FCS Football Players of the week ending October 22nd 2018. The honorees are listed here with their achievements and their school, position, class,.
Here is my upset-laden take on the top 5 FCS football games of the week with video highlights from Week 3. Towson upended one of the early powers in the CAA, Villanova, by scoring 35 straight points against a team that only yielded 26 points in their first two games combined; Western Illinois knocked off.
