Of note, Wofford/KSU --- Two Option teams, will be pitching the ball in rain and thunder -- assuming it doesn't get a severe delay.

The weather forecast in Fargo is always for the tailgate -- bring your long johns, that's some cold drinking weather.

I just looked up how fat Colgate was from Manhattan - tempted to see if I could get over there for an hour or two Saturday. Too far away. 3.5 hours.

...and weather. I have reason to be up in Fargo and the Twin Cities from time to time...but that drive across Minnesota is always dependent on driving weather (4 hours when it's decent)

How fat? Like Fat Tuesday?

haha. “Far” not fat. Would have been cool if within an hour to get over there for a half. Not to be.
Will try to get some thoughts on all the week 2
Games once I get out from the work I’m buried under.

Alright, I’ve seen enough of the alternating weather forecasts to be confident that we won’t see precipitation during the game itself. Pulling out the rain gear from the Causeway Downpour and buying a poncho for the little tyke.

Ok, some thoughts on round 2 (in order of start time)....

Jax St @ Maine: Interesting game. Jax St is generally a national power in FCS and has been the last few years. However, with the exception of 2015 they have flamed out hard. In 3 of the last 4 years they entered the playoffs as a seed and lost their first game at home. The other year they went to the title game and lost a great game vs NDSU. Zerrick Cooper is their QB (Clemson xfer) and brings some athleticism to the position. But he'll make mistakes, 2:1 interception ratio. He's helped give the offense some life as in prior years it was an unreal D but struggling offense esp come playoff time. Now they are a little more balanced and hes driving it. From a pure talent standpoint, Jax has an advantage here but this Maine group is tough and scrappy. They were picked to finish at the bottom of the CAA, then won it. They play great D. Really strong against the run which should help as they contain the ground game of both the RB's and QB. Stuff the run, put it in Cooper's hands and force him into mistakes if you can. Both team play great defense (top 15 statistically), Jax St has the advantage on offense IMO. Ferguson is a solid QB for Maine and has battled injuries all year. He left the reg season finale but is expected back this week. Maine sint going to blow you away on offense but they find ways. I think they can generate enough on offense, create some turnovers, and find a way to slip past Jax st by 4.

JMU @ Colgate: This game could easily end up 9-6 and it would surprise no one. Similar to the Maine/Jax St game, two more really good defenses. Colgate is the best defense in the nation statistically but we have to take their SOS into account. They were crazy dominant with 5 or 6 shutouts but me, AggieFinn, and EastBay Aggie could have made a few plays against some of the teams they were playing. They showed their merit holding a 9-2 Army to under 280 yards of offense and trailed by 7 until the final 2 mins of the game. Their D is no joke. JMU ranks 7th in the nation in defense w/ 38th SOS (this number surprised me). Both teams will take away the run, allowing 3ypc or less. The question that has to be answered is what offense will have success on Saturday? Most people will say JMU given their history and "brand” but they just haven’t had the same explosiveness and it’s clear they are missing QB Schor (graduated LY). I think Colgate can really limit JMU but i also am concerned about how Colgate does much against the Dukes D. Thus, the reason the total was set at 38 and even at that low number I still bet under. Dont see either team getting to 21+ barring turnover, D/ST TD's. Il be surprised if anyone from the media doesn’t pick JMU but i like the upset here. I believe what my eyes tell me and this JMU team isn't nearly as good as expected (and deserving of the non-seed) yet there is still a belief this team is top 5 caliber. They arent and their offensive issues are going to be their demise. This is a coin flip game and I'll take the rested teams playing at home by a FG.

More later....

EWU lost their all conference Safety to injury during PSU game and he is out for the year. He’s a stud and was third in tackles in game vs the Ags. Tough blow.

They have a playmaking DE and their Kicker also questionable this weekend.

Wofford @ Kenny St: option v option. Kenny St but did face scrutiny for their soft schedule (ie how good are they?) almost all year. I watched almost the entire game against FCS Georgia St and they were the better team and gave it away. I knew from the get go this team was for real. Proved it against Jax St in the OT thrilled to close the season. Chandler Bruks at QB is fun to watch, runs the option to precision and can throw it a little too. Their D (ranked #3 nationally) has been lught out all season (including GSU) but did se Jax St exploit them to the tune of over 500 yards. Wofford is just a consistently strong FCS program. They got a nice break last week facing an banged up Elon team. I expected more from Elon but their QB play (or lack therof) ultimately did them in.... I don't think this game is very tricky. As it stands Kenny St is a 7.5 fav and i think they are the clear better team. Would not surprise me if its tied or Kenny is losing a close one at half but ultimately think they win this one by 10.

Duquense @ SDSU: These teams actually met last year in Brookings to open the season and the Jacks won 51-13. SDSU/EWU are vying for the 2nd best team in the country IMO. Their QB Taryn Christon is a stud. He makes this whole thing go and there was concerns after losing NFL TE (Goedert) and a WR (Weineke) that had a cup of coffee with the Vikings. But they reloaded at the skill spots and with their gunslinger (mobile) havent missed a beat. Duqense on the other hand pulled off the biggest upset of round 1 beating the CAA's best offensive team in Towson as 18 points underdogs. Now a couple things to note here:
1. The game was played in a torrential downpour (weather, the great equalizer)
2. That said, Towson led 10-0, missed a FG and then FUMBLED on the Duq 1 yard line. Yup, that game was literally inches from being 20-0 early 2nd quarter. That happens and Duq has to start going to air, isnt able to run the ball all game as much, changes the gameplan and they probably get blown out. But they made the play when they had to and rode their star RB to a win. Crazy how games can shift as Towson was in complete control the first 20 mins. They wont be as forunate this week. They may get some snow but they are also going to get a way more complete team, who is rested. Duqense will be lucky to run for 100 yards this week and might find a little success passing it but just have the horses to keep up with this SDSU group. Duqense is a little better than last year so the differential might not be 38 but i like the Jacks by 30.

Nicholls playoff game highlights vs. San Diego last Saturday:

Spokesman-Review on the Nicholls @ EWU game: Article

Fettig out
EWU senior and All-Big Sky safety Mitch Fettig’s successful career has come to a close.

Fettig, who totaled 282 tackles in his career, suffered an injury at Portland State two weeks ago. He was seen on crutches after the game.

“He sustained an injury that won’t allow him to continue his career in pads at Eastern, which is unfortunate,” said Best, who noted that Fettig suffered a “weight-bearing injury.”

Calin Criner and Dehonta Hayes are listed as the starting safeties this week on EWU’s two-deep. Tysen Prunty, who started most of the season at safety alongside Fettig, was also injured at Portland State.

All-Big Sky defensive end and Cheney product Keenan Williams, who was also injured at Portland State, isn’t listed on EWU’s two-deep this week.

“Everyone else (besides Fettig) has the potential to return Saturday,” Best said. “Some closer to probable than others.”

All-Big Sky kicker and punter Roldan Alcobendas, who sat out the Portland State game with an injury, is listed as a starter at both positions this week.

I wonder if any were hurt when they were pilling it on.

What a blow to JMU. Sure, he may finish out this playoff run but it's not entirely for sure given the recruiting period for Charlotte. Has to be disruptive to the locker room. FWIW, Charlotte is a D1 program but JMU would be favored over them if the two teams played.

From what I know only one coach has stayed on to coach throughout the entirety of the playoffs: Bohl (NDSU) when going for the 3 peat. Chances are Houston is gone which is a huge blow to JMU and then how many JMU coaches will he take with him?

This could be messy.

Montana St @ NDSU: I watched nearly all of the MSU/Lamar game last week. If Lamar has their stuf Frosh QB that game goes to the wire. Talent wise they were equal, its just that Lamar had to throw out the bacjup QB, on the road, in the playoffs, in the cold and he was just avg. Their RB also got hurt to start the 2nd half. MSU has made the most out of a bad situation losing their starting QB mid summer and turning to star RB Troy Anderson. It's a run first offense with Anderson doing a lot of the running, very effectively. He has thrown the ball decently and actually threw a couple beautiful deep balls last weekend for big gains. But MSU doesnt have the horses to keep up here. They played SDSU on the road early in the year and got smacked 45-14. This wont be any different, Bison Roll by 31. (No need to talk about NDSU here, will be plenty of time n the coming week.

SEMO @ Weber St: Welcome to this weeks segment of "how did they win that game?". I thought Stony Brook would beat SEMO last week. They are the better team IMO. And for the most part they were the better team last week too despite losing 28-14. They outdid SEMO in almost every aspect of the boxscore including out-gaining them 404-240!!!!!!!! Stony Brook actually led 14-0 and should have cruised to a win. But the 2H happened as did FOUR turnovers. Here's the drives in the 3Q: Int, TD, Int TD, Punt TD. And the drives consisted of 24, 38, and 40 yards! Wow. Gifted this game because of two fumbles and two picks. Short field and quick scores flipped this game and SB is home this weekend. for their effort, the Redhawks earned a trip to Weber. I wasnt a huge beleiver in this team entering the playoffs and nothing has changed. Now they play on the road against a significantly better, rested defense and i expect Weber to be workmanlike in their approach this weekend. Ride Josh Davis alot. Throw it when they need to. Rely on their great D/ST to set up great field position and cruise to a DD win. 'Cats by 13.

Good points. JMU is not the same team it has been the past couple of years without Schor. I also think it will be a low scoring game.

UNC Charlotte started their football team from scratch with the same model as South Alabama, Georgia State, and Texas San Antonio, I.e., move to 1A ASAP. You are correct JMU would be favored (or certainly should be) in a matchup. Charlotte is a commuter school to a large extent. They played Tennessee close this year but Tennessee is awful and the Charlotte offense could not move the ball at all.

I don’t think any of these wannabe big time football teams from scratch has done very well. Maybe the guy wants a challenge.

Ranking the remaining FCS teams:
https://herosports.com/fcs/football-favorites-win-national-title-ndsu-bzbz

Wow this Maine D Is filthy and their offense so much better w a healthy Ferguson. Leading 14-0 & driving...

thanks for the heads up. I had all DVRd starting at 1:00 EST. 21-7 now. 99 for JSU was frustrated at the last Maine score. Looked like his feet were in concrete.

JSU has some long wideouts. Game now at 21-14.

Exciting 1Q. Mo Has shifted.

Charlotte retracted offer to Houston. Evidently Houston wanted to keep possibility of offer to ECU open. ECU would be a much better job to take other than having to live in Greenville.

JMU scores early on Colgate. Could it be that Colgate’s season has Crested? Feel free to groan.

Welp Maine settle back in.

JMU winning bigtime at LOS vs Colgate D. That pick helped Colgate settle in. Their QB is rusty (missed two big completions to 87) one would have been a td. Colgate gonna have to show more on D.

Wow, big deals going on for Houston

Montana State first play to NDSU 3. Then field goal. That ain’t gonna get it done.

Colgate has not created but are riding the wave now up 20-13 and just intercepted JMU.