Mon Sep 8 12:51:43 2008

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Around FCS: Montana-Cal Poly Lives Up To Billing

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Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - It is amazing what FCS fans will do to catch a good football game. There were plenty of folks around the country finding any way possible to follow the showdown between No. 5 ranked Montana and No. 11 Cal Poly on Saturday evening.

Fans in Montana were fortunate to have a nice, local television broadcast of the game, but the rest of us had to find more creative ways to watch the FCS game of the week.

For me, it entailed sitting in an empty press box at Fordham, with the wind howling and crashing again the stands at Jack Coffey Field and the rains from tropical storm Hanna flooding the stadium. But at least with a fast, wireless internet connection, I was able to see streaming video of a classic game.

With my game between Fordham and Rhode Island washed away until Sunday, at least I had another one to watch.

Others managed to find radio broadcasts, or to follow along with the play-by- play on numerous message boards.

One thing was for sure, it was a contest that lived up to its billing, with Montana holding on for a 30-28 victory when Cal Poly junior kicker Andrew Gardner missed a 27-yard field goal wide left with 38 seconds remaining.

It was a game of changing tides, as one team, then the other, stole the momentum. Montana quarterback Cole Bergquist and his Cal Poly counterpart Jonathan Dally exchanged touchdowns early, Bergquist firing one TD pass to Mike Ferriter from 34 yards and running 15 yards for another score, while Dally was utilizing the awesome skills of Ramses Barden to earn touchdown strikes of 50 and 11 yards.

James Noble capped off a great second quarter for the Mustangs with a two-yard touchdown burst to give his team a 21-14 lead, but it was Montana's turn to regain control in the third period. Bergquist (13-of-22 for 163 yards passing) found Ferriter again for a 20-yard score to tie the game at 21.

One of the key plays of the game came early in the fourth quarter when Cal Poly was pinned back in its own end by a punt. Dally was hit near his own goal line by Craig Mettler, forcing the ball to be fumbled in the end zone.

A wild scramble of Mustang and Grizzly players ensued in the end zone and officials finally ruled that Cal Poly had recovered the fumble and Montana had scored a safety.

The free kick that followed gave Montana excellent field position, and the Grizzlies struck on Andrew Schmidt's four-yard TD blast to make it 30-21 in Montana's favor with 11:07 remaining.

It took less than three minutes for Cal Poly to answer, and the Mustangs cut the lead to 30-28 on Noble's two-yard touchdown and Gardner's extra point.

Montana looked to score a knockout punch on the next drive, but the Mustang defense stopped the Grizzlies on fourth down, sacking Bergquist at the Cal Poly 44-yard line.

Mixing runs and passes, Dally moved the Mustangs to a 1st-and-10 from the Montana 11 with just over two minutes to play. But rather than going for the jugular and trying to score a clinching touchdown, Cal Poly went conservative.

Hoping to set up the scenario that had worked in the 29-27 victory over San Diego State the week before, the Mustangs tried to run out the clock and get in position for a Gardner field goal attempt. Gardner had drilled a 21-yarder on the final play of the game against San Diego State.

But the fates were not as kind to Gardner this time and on fourth down, he pushed his potential game-winning kick wide of the uprights as the Grizzlies celebrated a huge win.

Montana got sturdy play from its defense, particularly against the Cal Poly option, in the second half, and Bergquist did what he does best - managed his team to a victory.

The Grizzlies showed how awesome their offensive line is in blowing open holes, with Colin Dow, Brent Russum, J.D. Quinn and company helping Schmidt to a 26-carry, 145-yard performance.

Ferriter came up big as the next Montana receiving star, with three clutch catches for 65 yards (21.7 average) and two TDs.

There were some positives for Cal Poly, even with the heart-crushing loss. But there were also some problems.

The Mustang defense showed it again has the means to rush the passer, harassing and sacking Bergquist plenty of times in the second half, particularly when the game was on the line.

Dally completed 16-of-23 passes for 248 yards and rushed 16 times for 80 yards, but he misfired on some chances to give the Mustangs more points.

Barden looked unstoppable with seven receptions for 131 yards and those two scores, but as has often been Cal Poly's problem during his four years in the lineup, the Mustangs didn't utilize Barden enough.

There were plenty of questions after the game.

Was this showdown a closing or opening act for the two teams?

Was Montana showing the ability to continue its impressive streak of Big Sky championships and postseason appearances?

Can Cal Poly rebound from an emotional loss to reach the playoffs and possibly meet Montana again, like it did in 2005?

Only time will tell, but this writer is one who wouldn't mind seeing a sequel from these two teams.

HEARTBREAK HOTEL

Eastern Washington and Sacramento State were the latest teams to check into Elvis Presley's home for near-FBS upsets.

These two Big Sky teams nearly made a daily double of Colorado and Colorado State, outplaying their FBS opponents for most of the day before disaster struck in the final minutes.

Eastern Washington was dominating for much of the game, grabbing a 21-7 halftime lead over the Buffaloes, and still led 24-17 when Felipe Macias hit a 52-yard field goal with 3:52 remaining.

But Colorado quarterback Cody Hawkins tied the score with a two-yard TD pass on 3rd-and-goal to Jake Behrens at the 2:05 mark, and EWU's Matt Nichols threw an interception that was run back 27 yards by Cha'pelle Brown with 1:44 left.

Nichols (32-of-51 for 303 yards and a touchdown) had one more chance to bring the Eagles back in the final seconds, but he was intercepted again while throwing for the end zone.

Eastern Washington had suffered a loss to Texas Tech the previous week, but played well enough in those two FBS games to make its FCS scheduled opponents nervous.

A bigger surprise was Sacramento State's performance in a 23-20 loss to Colorado State.

The unsung Hornets had a 10-7 lead halftime and trailed just 17-13 before Jason Smith (15-of-25 for 205 yards passing) tossed a 40-yard bomb to Tony Washington (seven catches, 117 yards) with 10:03 on the clock to give SSU a shocking 20-17 advantage.

Sacramento State's fine defense made that lead stand up until the Rams tied it with 1:29 left on Ben Deline's 36-yard field goal. Then the turnover bug felled the Hornets as Evander Wilkins was hit by CSU's James Morehead and fumbled. Mike Pagnotta recovered for the Rams to set up Deline's 20-yard, winning kick on the final play of the game.

OOPS, WE DID IT AGAIN

There is probably no FCS team that makes FBS opponents more nervous than New Hampshire. The Wildcats had beaten three FCS opponents - Rutgers, Northwestern and Marshall - in the past four years and added Army to their list of victims on Saturday.

This one wasn't even close, as UNH dismantled the Black Knights 28-10. After falling behind 7-0 early, John Clements returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards to tie the game for the Wildcats.

Chad Kackert's 23-yard scoring scamper gave New Hampshire its first lead with 8:35 remaining in the first half, and the Wildcats gradually pulled away from there.

Playing its first game without four-year starter Ricky Santos around, New Hampshire chose to emphasize the run over the pass, piling up 184 yards on the ground. Sean Jellison had 84 yards on 10 carries and Kackert added 68 yards on 12 attempts.

New starting quarterback R.J. Toman was an efficient 12-of-17 for 138 yards, but was intercepted once by Army.

After four FBS wins in a row, you've got to wonder if New Hampshire is going to find it hard to find opponents from those ranks in the future.

THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT

Massachusetts has built a reputation for defense in its rise to become one of the elite programs in FCS. But the Minutemen are taking a different tack so far this season.

UMass needed every bit of offense it could muster to hold off Dominic Randolph and Holy Cross on Saturday, 45-42.

The second period alone featured 42 points, as the two teams each scored three touchdowns.

Randolph (28-of-44 for 249 yards and three TDs passing) had tied this wild and wooly game at 42 with 2:22 remaining on a nine-yard pass to Freddie Santana.

But Liam Coen (25-of-36 for 395 yards and three TDs passing) brought the Minutemen back into scoring position, and Armando Cuko's 43-yard field goal as time expired won it for UMass.

UMass supporters had complained when Randolph was named over Coen as an All- American quarterback earlier this season, but the Minutemen faithful probably have a new-found respect for the Crusader signal-caller now.

But UMass has to be somewhat concerned about its defense as it heads into Colonial Athletic Association play this week when it travels to James Madison. JMU evened its record with a 56-7 victory over North Carolina Central.

MAKING A STATEMENT

Hey, folks in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. In case you hadn't noticed, South Dakota State is now a member.

The Jackrabbits made that point abundantly clear Saturday at home when they thumped No. 14-ranked Youngstown State 40-7 in SDSU's first MVFC game.

Ryan Berry was 19-of-30 for 319 yards and a touchdown and Kyle Minnett rushed 14 times for 123 yards and two scores as the Jackrabbits shredded the Penguin defense for 506 yards.

South Dakota State built a 27-0 lead in the first half to turn this game into a laugher. YSU used two quarterbacks, Brandon Summers and Todd Rowan, and both were ineffective.

In two games, a Penguin squad that was expected to challenge for the MVFC title (and still may) has been outscored 83-7 by Ohio State and South Dakota State.

STORMBRINGER

Tropical storm Hanna made an impact on numerous games on Saturday, but one of the positives was that she helped bring about a nice day of football on Sunday for several schools.

Games between Rhode Island and Fordham, Colgate and Coastal Carolina, along with Georgetown and Howard, were postponed because of the weather.

Fordham showed a strong defense and a big play offense, led by two John Skelton touchdown bombs, to beat Rhode Island 16-0 on a sun-struck day in The Bronx.

Down the road in Washington, D.C., Georgetown and Howard met for the first time and the Hoyas came up with nine fourth-quarter points to pull out a 12-7 victory. James Brady's 31-yard pass to Kenny Mitchell gave the Hoyas their first lead 29 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Coastal Carolina appeared on its way to a sleepy win over Colgate before the Raiders scored 20 points in the final 9:22 for a 23-19 win.

Jordan Scott (43 carries, 190 yards) got the comeback started with a one-yard scoring plunge, and Greg Sullivan made it a little closer with a six-yard TD pass to Adrien Schriefer with 3:06 left.

With one play left in the game, Colgate set up for a potential tying field goal, but when the snap when bad, holder Ryan Meyers threw a 16-yard pass to Schriefer for the game-winning touchdown.

OTHER NOTABLES

-No. 1 Appalachian State cruised to a 56-7 win over Jacksonville, but more significant was the school-record crowd of 30,718 that crammed into Kidd Brewer Stadium for the affair. The Mountaineers wore throwback jerseys with black tops and gold pants to celebrate Jerry Moore's 20th year as coach and the school's third straight national championship.

-Sparky Woods, whose move from Appalachian State to South Carolina opened the door for Moore at ASU, returned to the FCS ranks and enjoyed VMI's 49-0 victory over St. Francis.

-Northern Arizona set a school record with 752 yards in its 68-10 thumping of New Mexico Highlands. Three Lumberjack quarterbacks - Lance Kriesien, Michael Herrick and Corey Slater - were a combined for 347 yards and five touchdowns.

-In a battle between two programs trying to establish their FCS credentials, host Central Arkansas outlasted UC Davis, 24-21. Nathan Brown finished 26- of-38 passing for 258 yards and two TDs for the Bears, while Greg Denham was 30-of-45 for 296 yards and three scores for the Aggies.

Denham's six-yard pass to Brad Bispo with 9:14 left made it a three-point game, but the UCA defense held the Aggies from there.