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FCS Coaches Poll, 10/29/18

{STATS poll ranking in parens}

1 North Dakota State (26) 8-0 650 1 ...MVC
2 Kennesaw State 7-1 623 2 ...Big South
3 James Madison 6-2 597 3 ...CAA
4 Eastern Washington 6-2 566 4 {5}...Big Sky
5 Weber State 6-2 545 5 {4}...Big Sky
6 Elon 5-2 497 6 {8}...CAA
7 South Dakota State 5-2 481 8 ...MVC
8 Wofford 6-2 480 7 {9}....Southern
9 UC Davis 7-1 408 13 {6}...Big Sky
10 Jacksonville State 6-2 402 12 ...OVC
11 Colgate 7-0 401 11 {12}...Patriot
12 McNeese 6-2 333 16 {11}...SLC
13 Illinois State 5-3 307 9 {14}...MVC
14 Princeton 7-0 304 17 ...Ivy
15 Towson 6-2 277 10 ...CAA
16 Delaware 6-2 235 21 {13}...CAA
17 North Carolina A&T 6-2 230 18 {17}...MEAC
18 Stony Brook 6-3 229 15 {16}...CAA
19 Central Arkansas 5-3 193 14 ...SLC
T-20 Dartmouth 7-0 167 20 {24}...Ivy
T-20 Nicholls 5-3 167 22 ...SLC
22 Sam Houston State 5-3 115 22 {21}...SLC
23 East Tennessee State 7-2 101 25 {22}...Southern
24 Southeast Missouri State 6-2 32 NR {25}...OVC
25 North Dakota 5-3 29 24 ...IND

Dropped Out: Northern Iowa (23)

Others Receiving Votes: Maine, 28; Idaho St., 25; Chattanooga, 12; Northern Iowa, 8; Florida A&M, 6; Rhode Island, 1; San Diego, 1.

In every poll I've seen (STATS, Coaches, and AGS) we're still ranked. I'm amazed.

What will be interesting is if UIW beats SHSU, and we win out, could we be the third team in with the rankings keeping us up there?

I really thought a 3rd loss would knock us out, but there is a small hope that we could squeeze in (last 4 in possibly).

Week 10 Games, 11/3/18
Margins per Sagarin Ratings

SLC: 1-4/23-18; Top 10: 8-2/48-17; Overall: 71-41


SLC:

Lamar @ #19 UCA by 16, 24-38
#20 Nicholls State by 25 @ Houston Baptist, 41-20
#22 Sam Houston State by 3 @ Incarnate Word, 26-43
#12 McNeese State by 2 @ Southeastern.....Go Lions for the upset...., 6-23
Northwestern State @ Abilene Christian by 12, 47-49

FCS Top 10:

1. North Dakota State by 36 v Youngstown State, 17-7
2. Kennesaw State by 34 v Campbell, 49-0
3. James Madison by 19 @ New Hampshire, 24-35......Cats forced 6 TOs
4. Eastern Washington by 19 @ Northern Colorado, 48-13
5. Weber State by 23 v Sacramento State, 26-14
6. Elon by 15 @ Rhode Island, 24-21
7. South Dakota State by 23 v Missouri State, 59-7
8. Wofford @ Samford by 5.........upset alert......, 20-35
9. California-Davis by 19 v Northern Arizona, 42-20
10. Jacksonville State by 17 v Tennessee-Martin, 21-14

Other FCS:

Murray State by 17 @ Tennessee Tech, 24-27
#13 Illinois State @ Northern Iowa by, 16-35
#20 Dartmouth @ #14 Princeton, by 5.........anybody believe these rankings?, 9-14
Maine @ #15 Towson by 9, 35-28
#16 Delaware by 20 @ Albany (NY), 21-16

FBS of Interest:

#7 OU by 10 @ Texas Tech, 51-48 in a defensive battle in Lubbock
#18 Iowa by 4 @ Purdue...upset alert.....Hawkeyes better be prepared for air raid..,36-38
Ok State by 6 @ Baylor, 31-35........Pokes lost win 7 seconds left
South Alabama @ A-State by 16......Coach Campbell gets another shot at RWs
UConn @ Tulsa by 14...go Hurricane!!, 19-49
La Tech @ #21 Mississippi State by 22, 3-45
#13 West Virginia by 1 @ #6 Texas, 42-41........darn, UT meets the spread
Memphis by 14 @ East Carolina, 59-41
Air Force @ Army by 12.....near miss at OU was no fluke, 14-17
Texas A&M @ Auburn by 2, 24-28

FCS Coaches Poll, 11/05/18

{STATS poll ranking in parens}

1 North Dakota State (26) 9-0 650 1
2 Kennesaw State 8-1 624 2
3 Eastern Washington 7-2 589 4
4 Weber State 7-2 569 5
5 Elon 6-2 522 6
6 South Dakota State 6-2 520 7
7 UC Davis 8-1 492 9
8 Colgate 8-0 437 11
9 Jacksonville State 7-2 433 10
10 James Madison 6-3 417 3
11 Princeton 8-0 386 14
12 Delaware 7-2 364 16
13 North Carolina A&T 7-2 315 17
14 Wofford 6-3 300 8
15 Stony Brook 6-3 296 18
16 Nicholls 6-3 249 T20
17 East Tennessee State 8-2 215 23
18 McNeese 6-3 214 12
19 Southeast Missouri State 7-2 162 24
20 Towson 6-3 148 15
21 Maine 6-3 146 NR
22 Illinois State 5-4 108 13
23 Dartmouth 7-1 103 T20
24 Northern Iowa 5-4 57 NR
25 Idaho State 6-3 49 NR

Dropped Out: Central Arkansas (19), Sam Houston St. (22), North Dakota (25)

Others Receiving Votes: Central Arkansas, 18; Samford, 14; San Diego, 13; Western Illinois, 11; Indiana St., 9; Sam Houston St., 7; Florida A&M, 2; Monmouth (N.J.), 2; North Dakota, 2; Rhode Island, 2; UIW, 2; Alcorn St., 1; Chattanooga, 1; Montana St., 1.

Week 11 Games, 11/10/18
Margins per Sagarin Ratings

SLC: 2-3/25-22; Top 10: 8-1/56-18; Overall: 81-40

SLC:

Incarnate Word @ UCA by 6, 40-27
Abilene Christian @ Sam Houston State by 4, 17-10
Houston Baptist @ Lamar by 19, 9-38
SFA @ #16 Nicholls State by 19, 14-47
#18 McNeese State by 13 @ Northwestern State, 34-37

FCS Top 10:

1. North Dakota State by 30 @ Missouri State, 48-7
2. Kennesaw by 19 @ Monmouth, 51-14
3. Eastern Washington by 4 v California-Davis, 59-20
4. Weber State by 16 @ Southern Utah, 31-18
5. Elon by 1 @ #20 Towson, 10-41
6. South Dakota State by 20 @ Southern Illinois, 57-38
7. California-Davis @ #3 Eastern Washington by 4, 20-49
8. Colgate by 32 @ Lehigh, 48-6
9. Jacksonville State by 11 @ Tennessee State, 41-14
10. James Madison by 22 v Rhode Island, 48-31

Other FCS:

#19 Southeast Missouri by 7 @ Murray State, 38-40
#21 Maine by 5 @ Richmond, 28-9
#22 Illinois State by 13 @ Indiana State, 23-28
#24 Northern Iowa by 14 @ Youngstown State, 10-31
#25 Idaho by 4 @ Cal Poly, 14-37

FBS:

Tulsa @ Memphis by 15, 21-47
South Florida @ Cincinnati by 15, 23-36
Oklahoma State @ #6 Oklahoma by 19, 47-48
Arkansas State by 3 @ Coastal Carolina, 44-16
La-Monroe by 5 @ South Alabama, 36-10
Rice @ Louisiana Tech by 27, 13-26
Miami @ Georgia Tech by 1, 21-27
#17 Fresno State by 1 @ Boise State, 17-24
Ole Miss @ Texas A&M by 12, 24-38
Southern Mississippi @ Alabama-Birmingham by 17, 23-26, OT

SLC Standings after Week 11:

6-2 Nicholls
6-2 UIW
5-3 ACU
5-3 Lamar
5-3 McNeese
4-4 UCA
4-4 SHS
4-4 SLU
3-5 NWS
2-6 SFA
0-8 HBU

Note the UIW has only 8 SLC games this year due to the schedule rotation.........therefore, as I understand the rules, Nicholls will be the SLC champion over UIW even if they lose to Southeastern this week as they will have the same # of SLC wins as UIW and they beat IWU....have not worked thru the tie breakers if others get to 6 wins..........Colonels can win outright with a win........

Looking over this year's schedule I noticed we had very few home games to start the season. I thought that would rotate off next year. It doesn't.

Week 1- AWAY- WKU
Week 2- AWAY- Austin Peay
Week 3- HOME ACU
Week 4- AWAY Hawaii
Week 5- AWAY Nicholls

Home games really begin Oct. 12.

How do they expect fans and students to get into UCA football if we are GONE to start the season TWO years straight? I'm trying to decide if I really want to tailgate next year 6 weeks after the season starts (minus the ONE ACU game).

First week might not be practical if you're looking to play an FBS pay game, but week 2 should be workable.

Why not play a conference game week 2? Other conference (B10, SEC) schools do. Hopefully that would incentivize the students to start (and continue) coming out for games.

FCS Coaches Poll, 11/12/18

1 North Dakota State (26) 10-0 650 1
2 Kennesaw State 9-1 622 2
3 Eastern Washington 8-2 594 3
4 Weber State 8-2 570 4
5 South Dakota State 7-2 547 6
6 Colgate 9-0 503 8
7 Jacksonville State 8-2 484 9
8 James Madison 7-3 467 10
9 Princeton 9-0 430 11
10 Stony Brook 7-3 382 15
11 UC Davis 8-2 372 7
12 Elon 6-3 339 5
13 North Carolina A&T 8-2 324 13
14 Wofford 7-3 319 14
15 Nicholls 7-3 285 16
16 Towson 7-3 266 20
17 East Tennessee State 8-2 256 17
18 Delaware 7-3 227 12
19 Maine 7-3 224 21
20 Dartmouth 8-1 169 23
21 McNeese 6-4 84 18
22 San Diego 8-2 83 NR
23 Southeast Missouri State 7-3 82 19
24 Indiana State 6-4 50 NR
25 North Dakota 6-4 23 NR

Dropped Out: Illinois St. (22), Northern Iowa (24), Idaho St. (25).

Others Receiving Votes: Incarnate Word, 22; Idaho State, 12; Montana State, 11; Illinois State, 10, Alcorn State, 9; Monmouth (N.J.), 9; Furman, 6; Montana, 6; Rhode Island, 4; Chattanooga, 3; Northern Iowa, 3; Western Illinois, 2; Duquesne, 1.

Week 12 Games, 11/17/18
Margins per Sagarin Ratings

SLC: 3-2/28-24; Top 10: 8-1/64-19; Overall: 92-43

SLC:

UCA @ Abilene Christian by 3, 16-7
Sam Houston State by 21 @ Houston Baptist, 42-20
Lamar @ #21 McNeese State by 3, 21-17
Southeastern @ #15 Nicholls State by 12, 0-44........Colonels clinch title
Northwestern State by 1 @ SFA, 35-23
North Alabama @ Incarnate Word by 12......cancelled

FCS Top 10:

1. North Dakota State by 33 v Southern Illinois, 65-17
2. Kennesaw State by 7 v #7 Jacksonville State.....FCS game of the week, 60-52, 5OTs
3. Eastern Washington by 21 @ Portland State (Fri), 74-23
4. Weber State by 5 @ Idaho State, 26-13
5. South Dakota State by 4 v South Dakota, 49-27
6. Colgate @ FBS Army by 15, 14-28
7. Jacksonville State @ #2 Kennesaw State by 7, 52-60, 5 OTs
8. James Madison by 7 @ #16 Towson, 38-17
9. Princeton by 28 v Penn, 42-14
10. Stony Brook by 17 @ Albany, 23-25

Other FCS:

Murray State @ Austin Peay by 1...... this year Bear opponent vs next year's, 23-48
Missouri State @ Northern Iowa by 19, 0-37
Eastern Illinois @ #23 SE Missouri by 11, 32-38
Montana State @ Montana by 4, 29-25
Youngstown State @ Illinois State by 12, 28-35

FBS of Interest:

Memphis by 7 @ SMU, 28-18
Kansas @ #6 OU by 31, 40-55
#9 West Virginia by 7 @ Oklahoma State, 41-45
Iowa State @ Texas by 4, 10-24
La-Monroe @ Arkansas State by 10, 17-31
Tulsa @ Navy by 3, 29-37
La Tech by 2 @ Southern Mississippi, 20-21
South Alabama @ UL-Lafayette by 15, 38-48
Ole Miss @ Vandy by 1, 29-36, OT
South Florida @ Temple by 11, 17-27

Week 13 - 11/24/18
Margins per Sagarin Ratings

Round 1: 6-2

FCS Playoffs:

#s in <> are FCS rank in Sagarin

Round 1:

UIW <47> @ Montana State <26>by 9, 14-35......we need to study this film in off season!!!
(Winner plays #1 North Dakota State<#1>)

Stony Brook <14> by 7 @ SEMO <36>, 14-28...upset of OVC over CAA..scored all 28 in Q3
(Winner plays #2 Weber State<11>)

Delaware <22> @ James Madison <4> by 17, 6-20
(Winner plays #6 Colgate<10>)

East Tennessee State <53> @ Jacksonville State <12> by 19, 27-34..come from behind win
(Winner plays #7 Maine<27>)

Duquesne <78> @ Towson <17> by 16, 31-10.......huge upset.......
(Winner plays #5 South Dakota State<2>)

Lamar <56> @ Northern Iowa <6> by 26, 13-16
(Winner plays #6 California-Davis<9>)

Elon <23> @ Wofford <20> by 3, 7-19
(Winner plays #4 Kennesaw State<8>)

San Diego <72> @ Nicholls State <18> by 18, 30-49.....Colonels roll as expected
(Winner plays #3 Eastern Washington<3>)

FBS of Interest:

Thursday/Friday -

Mississippi State by 12 @ Ole Miss, 35-3...all players on each team received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty per Learfield Sports

OU by 2 @ West Virginia, 59-56......was not a lot of defense here.............just another stops by OU when it most counted..........
Central Florida by 15 @ South Florida,38-10
Houston @ Memphis by 2, 31-52

Saturday -

LSU @ Texas A&M by 1, 72-74, 7 OTs (tied at 31 after Q4)
A-State by 16 @ Texas State, 33-7
Oklahoma State by 1 @ TCU, 24-31
Western Kentucky @ La Tech by 15 (Bears at WKU next season), 30-15
Hawaii @ San Diego State by 13 (Bears at Hawaii next season), 31-30

AGS is blowing up about UIW and Lamar getting in. I'm sure the committee is reviewing the "last X" games as being a huge factor in letting them in. Both have tough round 1 games.

Nicholls is the only team predicted to get a win. Hopefully Lamar schemes well for UNI. I see them more likely to get the W than UIW.

Understandable that people who do not follow SLC closely do not see that Lamar and UIW the last half of the season was MUCH better than the first half and got enough D1 wins to get in...........while no rating service is without fault, Sagarin shows UIW at the #47 FCS team and Lamar as the #56....for comparison UCA ended season 2nd in SLC per Sagarin at #37........

Some notable teams that did not make the playoffs include:

#7 Illinois State............6-5.....only 5 D1 wins BUT beat FBS Colorado State
#15 Samford......6-5 record.......only 5 D1 wins
#16 Western Illinois..........did not have 6 wins
#19 Youngstown State.......did not have 6 wins
#26 New Hampshire....did not have 6 wins
#27 Furman.........6-4...they are not happy........at least basketball beat #8 Nova at Nova
#28 Villanova....did not have 6 wins.......plus they lost basketball to Furman at home....

Bizarre that playoff criteria allows Duquesne and San Diego given their lack of strength of schedule.........both rank 70+ in FCS per Sagarin

https://ucasports.com/news/2018/11/19/football-cummins-earns-slc-player-of-week-honor.aspx

FRISCO, Texas – University of Central Arkansas placekicker Matt Cummins closed his career by earning the Southland Conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors on Monday. All weekly awards in the SLC are presented by MidSouth Bank.

Cummins, a senior from Conway (Ark.) High School, accounted for 10 of UCA's 16 points in its 16-7 victory over Abilene Christian in the season finale Saturday in Abilene. Cummins connected on three field goals, from 20, 37 and 42 yards, and added the extra point on UCA's lone touchdown in the fourth quarter that sealed the victory.

For the season, Cummins finished 13 of 17 on field goal attempts and 37 of 40 on PATs. His 41 career field goals is two short of tying the school record of 43 held by UCA Sports Hall of Famer Curtis Burrow (1982-85) and is tied with Eddie Camara (2011-14) for second all time. His 129 PATs is fourth-best in school history.

Cummins had a career-long 50-yard field goal in his first career attempt against Samford in 2015, and added 47-yard field goals in both 2016 and 2017.

https://ucasports.com/news/2018/11/20/bears-earn-all-southland-football-honors.aspx

FRISCO, Texas – The University of Central Arkansas had four players named to the All-Southland Conference first team for football, three more with second-team honors, along with five honorable mentions, the league announced Tuesday. The yearly SLC awards are presented by Ready Nutrition.

UCA's first-teamers, all juniors, included running back Carlos Blackmon, offensive lineman Hunter Watts, defensive end Chris Terrell and safety Juan Jackson. The second-team selections were senior Cedric Battle, selected twice as a kick returner and all-purpose back, and senior defensive tackle Eric Jackson.

Honorable mention nods went to sophomore running back Kierre Crossley, senior wide receiver Jakari Dillard, senior linebacker Raphael Garner, sophomore safety Jackie Harvell and sophomore cornerback Robert Rochell.

Blackmon, a 6-foot-1, 228-pounder from Gosnell, Ark., led the Bears in rushing this season with 786 yards (5th in the SLC) and nine touchdowns (3rd), caught 16 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown and also threw a touchdown pass. Blackman was a second-team All-SLC selection last season.

Watts, a 6-8, 330-pounder from San Antonio, Texas (John Marshall HS), helped the Bears average more than 400 yards of offense per game and 30.5 points per game, fourth-best in the conference, in his first season as a starter at UCA.

Terrell, a 6-3, 270-pound junior from Pensacola, Fla. (J.M. Tate HS) was UCA's most feared pass rusher, finishing the season with 8.5 sacks (fourth in the SLC) and 16 tackles for loss (4th) while forcing three fumbles and recovering one. He is a two-time first-team All-SLC selection. Terrell's 46.5 career tackles for loss ranks sixth in school history, while his 21 sacks is tied for fifth.

Juan Jackson, a 5-11, 190-pound safety from Gardendale, Ala. (Gardendale HS), led the Bears in tackles this season with 91 total stops, which ranked ninth in the SLC. Jackson, a second-team selection a year ago as a sophomore, also forced a team-high five fumbles, broke up four passes and had an interception. He had four games with double-figure tackles this season, including a career-high 16 in the opener at FBS Tulsa.

Eric Jackson, a 6-1, 275-pounder from Apopka, Fla. (Apopka HS), closed out his UCA career with 34.5 tackles for loss (9.0 this season) and 18.5 sacks (3.0 this season), both Top 20 in school history. Smith added two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Battle, a 5-10, 180-pound running back/returner, finished the season with 953 all-purpose yards, including 196 rushing, 178 receiving and 579 on kickoff returns. His 22.3-yard kick return average ranked third in the SLC.

Crossley, a 5-8, 173-pounder from Everman, Texas (Everman HS) who was the SLC Freshman of the Year in 2017, rushed for 600 yards this season and averaged 5.7 yards per carry while scoring two touchdowns. Crossley also caught seven passes for 102 yards out of the backfield.

Dillard, a 6-4, 210-pounder receiver from McKinney, Texas, led the Bears in receiving yards this season with 745 on 36 receptions and had a team-high seven touchdown receptions. He finished with four receptions longer than 50 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown against Sam Houston State.

Garner, a 6-2, 235-pound linebacker from Thomasville, Ala. (Thomasville HS), was UCA's fourth-leading tackler with 60 stops, including 32 solos, along with 5.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and three forced fumbles. Garner had a season-high 10 tackles against Incarnate Word. Harvell, a 6-0, 205-pounder from Gurdon, Ark. (Gurdon HS), was a jack-of-all-trades for the Bears, finishing second in tackles (69), second in tackles for loss (11), tied for second in interceptions (2) and added two forced and two recovered fumbles.

Rochell, a 6-2, 176-pounder from Shreveport, La. (Fair Park HS), led the Bears with four interceptions, good for second in the Southland, and recorded 25 tackles and broke up six passes.