UCAFANS.COM | GO UCA BEARS!

Seeded Teams:
1-Sam Houston State (AQ-7, 10-0)
2-North Dakota State (MVFC, 10-1)
3-James Madsion (CAA,10-1)
4-Sacramento State (Big Sky, 9-2)
5-Villanova (CAA, 9-2)
6-Montana (Big Sky, 9-2)
7-East Tennessee State (Southern, 10-1)
8-Montana State (Big Sky, 9-2)

Round 1 games:

SFA (AQ7, 8-3) @ Incarnate Word (Southland, 9-2)...winner plays #1
UT-Martin (OVC, 9-2) @ Missouri State (MVFC,8-3)...winner plays #8
Southern Illinois (MVFC, 7-4) @ South Dakota (MVFC,7-4)...winner plays #2
Davidson (Pioneer, 8-2) @ Kennesaw State (Big South, 9-1)...winner plays #7
Sacred Heart (Northeast, 8-3) @ Holy Cross (Patriot, 9-2)..winner plays #5
UC-Davis (Big Sky, 8-3) @ South Dakota State (MVFC, 8-3)...winner plays #4
Florida A&M (SWAC, 9-2) @ Southeastern La (Southland, 8-3)...winner plays #3
Northern Iowa (MVFC, 6-5) Eastern Washington (Big Sky, 9-2)...winner plays #6

AQ7 - 2
Big Sky - 5
Big South - 1
CAA - 2
MVFC - 6
Northeast - 1
OVC - 1
Patriot - 1
Pioneer - 1
Southern - 1
Southland - 2
SWAC - 1

Round 1 games on 11/27/21:
(For what it's worth, Sagarin predicted winning margin shown)
6-2

{Note- some really good games...tough games to win...}

SFA (AQ7, 8-3) @ Incarnate Word (1) (Southland, 9-2), 28-35, OT
UT-Martin (OVC, 9-2) @ Missouri State (17) (MVFC,8-3), 32-31
Southern Illinois (MVFC, 7-4) @ South Dakota (3) (MVFC,7-4), 22-10
Davidson (Pioneer, 8-2) @ Kennesaw State (25) (Big South, 9-1), 21-48
Sacred Heart (Northeast, 8-3) @ Holy Cross (15) (Patriot, 9-2), 10-13
UC-Davis (Big Sky, 8-3) @ South Dakota State (17) (MVFC, 8-3), 24-56
Florida A&M (SWAC, 9-2) @ Southeastern La (13) (Southland, 8-3), 14-38
Northern Iowa (MVFC, 6-5) @ Eastern Washington (2) (Big Sky, 9-2), 9-19

Round 2 games on 12/3-4/21:
(For what it's worth, Sagarin predicted winning margin shown)
8-0/14-2

Some good football games to follow this weekend....

Friday:
Holy Cross (Patriot, 10-2) @ Villanova (12) (CAA, 9-2), 16-21
Eastern Washington (2) (Big Sky, 10-2) @ Montana (1) (Big Sky, 9-2), 41-57

Saturday:
Kennesaw State (Big South, 10-1) @ East Tennessee State (1) (Southern, 10-1), 31-32
Southeastern La (Southland, 9-3) @ James Madison (11) (CAA, 10-1), 20-59
Incarnate Word (Southland, 10-2) @ Sam Houston State (11) (AQ7, 10-0), 42-49
Southern Illinois (MVFC, 8-4) @ North Dakota State (12) (MVFC, 10-1), 7-38
UT-Martin (OVC, 10-2) @ Montana State (6) (Big Sky, 9-2), 7-26
South Dakota State (9) (MVFC, 9-3) @ Sacramento State (Big Sky, 9-2), 24-10

Round 3 games on 12/10-11/21:
(For what it's worth, Sagarin predicted winning margin shown)
3-1/17-3

For fans of FCS football, this is a huge weekend of potentially great games. Hope the Bears are getting to watch these and study what the top teams look like.

Friday:
Montana (Big Sky, 10-2) @ James Madison (4) (CAA, 11-1) - 6pm, ESPN2

Dukes win 28-6. Play either ETSU at home in semi-finals next week or hit the road to North Dakota State. JMU piled up 492 yards offense vs Bobcats who could only manage 302. JMU looked like a team ready to move up to FBS. Montana lost at least 5 players during the game.....their QB and top WR went out early which crimped their offense and they lost 3 players on one punt return when two tacklers missed the runner and collided and on the same play another tackler hit the runner while on the ground n was called for targeting. JMU scored like 5 plays later to seal the win.

Saturday:
East Tennessee State (Southern, 11-1) @ North Dakota State (20) (MVFC, 11-1) - 11am, ESPN

Bisons wins 27-3. NDSU had the most conservative game plan I have seen in a long time.....defense, dominate LOS and run the ball. Awfully good o-line....missing 3 starters including center but looked like never a beat missed. I suspect our o-line compares in size to them but NDSU is really good blocking and moving on sweeps, screens and the like plus double teams inside. Just pounded ETSU for three quarters then pounded them some more in Q4. NDSU had 401 in total offense with 278 rush.....ETSU could only manage 165 total with 66 rush. I can see where ETSU could be tough against a normal good FCS defense. Now Bisons get to host JMU next week. This game will be a FBS caliber game at CUSA or Sunbelt level or better.

Surprisingly, the attendance looked way off....usually the Fargo Dome is packed. Dome holds 19,000 and box score shows attendance at only 11,800.....maybe deer hunting and another team playing in-state....

South Dakota State (10) (MVFC, 10-3) @ Villanova (CAA, 10-2) - 1pm, ESPN+

Jackrabbits win in Philly by 35-21. Very strong road win. Wildcats scored with less than a minute to go in first half on a 55-yard bomb to take 21-14 lead at break. That is the last they would score. SDSU piled up 418 yards of offense, including 266 rushing, while Nova gained a respectable 378 with 271 through the air. Opposite offense approaches...run gain wins again. A couple oddities in the game.....SDSU's leading rusher ran for 119 while Nova's top receiver also tallied 119. Also, both placekickers had first name of "Cole" and both punters had a longest punt of 46. Nova had two fumbles losing one and Rabbits had none...each team threw one interception. SDSU had about 8 more minutes of possession time. Nova only had 5 2nd half possessions with one punt from their 31, the next with a 10-yard punt from their 39, then a turnover on downs, then two drives deeper into SDSU territory that ended with an INT and a lost fumble.

Montana State (Big Sky, 10-2) @ Sam Houston State (7) (AQ7, 11-0) - 7:30pm, ESPN+

Bobcats win 42-19. Bobcats with a stifling defense and a productive offensive show helped by a couple of INTs jumped out to a 28-0 lead midway in Q2 and had held Sam to 3 yards rush and about 40 passing. SHS finally pulled off a long 14-play 75-yard drive to score at 1:28 in half to narrow half time lead to 28-6 (2pt conversion failed). Kats held MSU and got the ball back with about 30 seconds on the clock but could get beyond the MSU 40. Bobcats total offense in H1 was 166, 101 rush, and Kats was 146, 93 rushing. Sam scored on an QB Eric Schmid 1-yard run. MSU scored first on a 75-yard drive, then a 1 play 31 yd drive with a TD pass after an INT, then a 10-play 55-yard drive and finally a 3-play 3-yard drive after another INT returned 28 yards to the Sam 3.

H2 started with early long 60-70 TD passes by each team then settled into a defensive struggle with short drives and 3 and outs. Sam then hit another 60+ yard pass on the first play after a MSU punt. Bobcats then stopped the Kats on a 3rd and 4th down sacks in MSU territory and promptly ran for a 41 yd final TD before holding Kats one final time. Total offense 359 for MSU, 190 rush, and 433 for SHS, 354 pass (about 290 in H2!). Kats WR Idi Adeyi had only about 30-40 receiving at half but ended up with 187 on 7 recepts and two TDs.

Round 4 - Semifinal games on 12/17-18/21:
(For what it's worth, Sagarin predicted winning margin shown)
1-1/18-4

Another weekend of great FCS playoff football games....unfortunately a lot of very familiar teams....

Friday, 12/17/21:

#3 James Madison (CAA, 12-1) @ #2 North Dakota State (5) (MVFC, 12-1)

Bisons win 20-14. H1 was routine NDSU....run the ball, run the clock and play tenacious defense.....JMU hardly had any offense and not much was working....momentum shifted as time ran out in H1 with NDSU leading 10-0 and had the ball on JMU 2 with a first down....after three running plays NDSU was still on the JMU2 and kicked FG for a 13-0 lead at half. Whatever JMU did at half gave their offense a big lift and they looked like the JMU we normally see. JMU also continued with good defense and shut out NDSU in Q3. JMU scored on opening possession with a 13 play 80-yard drive capped by a 17yd TD pass to close to 13-7. After a few exchanges of punts, NDSU was at their 44 and got a little too cute with a punt formation and JMU blew thru for the block and got the ball at the NDSU41. A solid 6 play 59-yard drive put the Dukes up 14-13. Then NDSU took the KO and scored the go ahead and winning score on a 6-play 73-yard drive with FB Hunter Luepke accounting for 65 of those with two runs plus two catches, the last a 22-yard falling down recept in the endzone. NDSU botched the 2-point attempt, got a delay of game penalty and ended up kicking the PAT for a slender 6 point lead. After some more trading of punts, JMU mounted a drive to NDSU7 then tried to throw a fade route into the endzone but the QB was rushed and hit and threw the ball inside instead of out and was intercepted. JMU had one more chance with 55 seconds remaining but NDSU really tuned up the pass rush heat and JMU really had no good throws once they got past midfield and time expired after a couple of sacks. NDSU total offense was 174 rush and 165 pass for 339...JMU rushed for only 95 and threw for 210 for a total of 305.....Luepke is a remarkably tough dude....a classic FB style....runs over people regularly...but also a solid receiver similar to a TE....and , of course, a blocker....he accounted for 199 of the total offense...110 rush (19 carries) and 89 recepts, including both of NDSU's passing TDs........who says there is no place for a FB today....they added two FGs.....this may have been JMU's last game as a FCS team....next stop Frisco for Bisons....

Reported attendance at 16,550.

NDSU plays Alabama music after the game....not many people left immediately....maybe the best atmosphere of any FCS school....

Saturday, 12/18/21:

#11 South Dakota State (6) (MVFC, 11-3) @ #8 Montana State (Big Sky, 11-2)

Bobcats thump J-Rabbits, 31-17. First half ended tied at 17 and looked to be a high scoring whoever had the ball last game. Q3 turned into a defensive matchup and was essentially scoreless except that MSU scored on the last play of the quarter to cap a 12-play 88-yard drive that took 6:29 off the clock. Rabbits took KO and promptly hit a very nice 22-yard pass before Bobcats forced a sack then stuffed a short run....Rabbit QB then threw an INT returned 20+ to SDSU40. Two plays facing 3rd and 11, MSU hit a 24-yd pass then a 17-yd TD pass to take a two TD lead at 31-17 with 10:35 left. From that point SDSU would threaten on each of its last three possessions and MSU would only muster 16 yards on offense. One the first possession SDSU drove to MSU27 and on 4th down opted to go for the first down rather than try a FG to narrow the gap. With 4:40 left SDS got the ball back at its 37 and moved quickly to the MSU8 and with 1st and goal was pushed back to the MSU26 where the ball went over on downs. MSU ran three plays then punted to the SDSU 16....Rabbits then moved out to their 47 with a well-executed pass and lateral play.....tried a similar play next and completed the pass but fumbled the lateral...MSU ran out the clock. MSU had total offense 176 rush and 233 pass for total of 409 and SDSU ran for 124 and threw for 315 for 439. The star of the game was MSU QB Tommy Mellot who threw 10-15/233 (2 TD passes) and ran 34-155 (scored 2 TDs)...accounted for 388 of the offense!! Each team had two 90+ yard receivers and SDSU had a RB with 94 yards. Mellot only became the starter a couple weeks ago in the playoffs. MSU head coach in his first season. As they say, if you want to play in Texas, you gotta play in Frisco!! Another great FCS game atmosphere...less than 30 degrees, snow piled up around the field, 2-3 feet of snow obvious outside the stadium...even MSU fans were bundled up (although lots of players wore short sleeves)....no empty seats that I could see.......more than capacity crowd....estimated at 20,000+.

Round 5 - Championship Game on Saturday, January 8, 2002
Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
11am, ESPN2
(For what it's worth, Sagarin predicted winning margin)
19-4 for FCS playoffs


#8 Montana State (Big Sky, 12-3) vs #2 North Dakota State (9) (MVFC, 14-1), 10-38

Another day at the office in Frisco for NDSU....Montana State tallied 335 yards total office but The Champs piled on 506 with 380 rush.....Bisons led 38-3 after Q3 and ran clock in Q4 on two possessions that consumed 9+ minutes and 60 yards more offense..... now 9x....