For Week Four, collegefootballfan.com heads to Clarksville, TN to attend an early FCS showdown for Atlantic Sun (ASUN) superiority. At Fortera Stadium, home of the FCS No. 23 Austin Peay Governors (3-1), the FCS No. 20 Eastern Kentucky Colonels (2-1) come calling for the conference opener for both. Expect a hard-hitting game as both teams already aspire to this newly organized conference’s championship bid for the Football Championship Subdivision playoff.
In Week Zero, we watched Austin Peay lose at FBS Western Kentucky, 38-22. Since then, HC Scotty Walden’s team has reeled of three straight wins with two shutouts by a total score of 128-3. The competition beaten holds a combined record of 1-8. Against Mississippi Valley State, the Governors raced off to a 41-0 lead at the half, and never scored again. On the other hand, the Colonels score an average 44.3 ppg and opponents challenged their defense totaling 38.7 ppg. Don’t let the stats fool you. EKU enters Week Four with two contests against FBS foes under its belt. In week one, they fell by eight points at Eastern Michigan and won in Week Two at Bowling Green, 59-57, in seven OTs. Last Saturday they defeated 0-3 Charleston Southern, an FCS team their own size, 40-17.
Confident Austin Peay vs. tested Eastern Kentucky
The Governors offense thrives under guidance of QB Mike DiLilleo. He’s thrown for 860 yards and 13 TDs while rushing for 228 yards and three TDs. His favorite target falls in the hands of WR Drae McCray with 25 snags for 362 yards and four TDs. RB Jevon Jackson leads the Gov running game with 300 yards on 43 carries and one TD. A fairly well-balanced offensive attack, but hardly tested these past three weeks. Defensively, the Governors LB Corps of Antoine Williams and Josh Rudolph combined for 65 tackles in four games thus far. They’ve allowed only 88.5 yards rushing per game, only five TDs (all by WKU), and only 10.5 points per game. Again, all against very suspect competition.
On the other hand, EKU shows better offensive balance against much better competition averaging 44.3 ppg. Against better competition as well, they allowed 38.7 ppg on defense, but defeated fellow FCS foe CSU, 40-17. QB Mark McKinney has passed for 1,027 yards and 10 TDs/three INTs, and has rushed for 129 yards. TE Dakota Allen looms has his favorite target with 18 catches for 245 yards and three TDs. Jayden Higgins converted 15 grabs for 229 yards and three TDs. RBs Braedan Sloan and Kyeandre Magloire combined for 288 yards and four TDs in their three games.
Driving force vs. overconfidence
EKU HC Walt Wells played his college ball at APU. Recovering from a seizure in August, please read his story here. He’s back on the sideline already and drives to bring the Colonels to heights of the past. EKU played in four consecutive FCS (then 1-AA) championships from 1979-1982 winning the titles in ’79 and ’82. Desiring to go to the FBS level, the Colonels are on hold until invited by a particular conference. They are driven. The results of their current start indicates that. This desire will propel them past the Governors by at least two TDs. We predict more. The feeble challenges the last three weeks leave HC Scotty Walden’s team in a false sense of overconfidence. For our Week Four FCS Game of the Year, even though its APU’s homecoming, the Colonels will prevail.
New News from our book, Tales from the Tailgate…
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Cornhusker cravings
Bidding adios to Scott Frost as the underperforming HC at Nebraska. The rumor mill abounds. Latest word conjures up three names we find very interesting. Matt Campbell, HC at Iowa State, played collegiately at D-3 Mount Union playing DL for HC Matt Kehres from 1999-2002. We attended Campbell’s Head coaching debut at Toledo in 2011 in the Military Bowl replacing departed HC Tim Beckman. In an exciting game, his Toledo Rockets defeated Air Force, 42-41. He coached the Rockets to a 35-15 record before taking over at Iowa State, where he’s now 45-34. Many pro teams offered him opportunities to join, but he’s stayed with the college game.
Kansas’ second year HC Lance Leipold’s name is being bandied about for the opening in Lincoln. At 3-0 already this season, he looks to become Coach of the Year in 2022 as we predicted. Like Campbell, Leipold’s roots start at D-3. He coached Wisconsin-Whitewater to six national championships defeating Mount Union if the final in six of eight D-3 title games from 2005-2014. He turned the Buffalo Bulls program around leading them to a record of 37-33 including two MAC championships in six years. A proven winner, his Warhawks of UW-Whitewater achieved 109 wins in 115 contests.
We saw him beat Wesley (DE) in a national D-3 semi-final and watched his Bulls beat Army and lose to Penn State. Entering Week Four, his Jayhawks host Duke and have a good shot at defeating Duke before entering Big Twelve play. We’d love to see him stay at KU to see what he can do with that beleaguered program.
The third prospect comes in Bill O’Brien, OC at Alabama. Having brought Penn State back after the devastation of the Sandusky scandal for two years, he went back into the pros where he worked prior as Tom Brady’s QB coach to become HC of the Houston Texas. At Alabama now for his second season, we believe he’s itching to go take over a program someplace else. Having worked and learning more under Nick Saban, the time at Bama served him well. We think he’s the most apt of these three to take over the struggling Husker program.
Other teams on our 2022 schedule from Week Three to Week Four
No. 1 Georgia had no problem wasting South Carolina in their SEC opener for both, 48-7. On October 8, we’ll see the Gamecocks wander into Lexington, KY to see them face No. 8 Kentucky (3-0). We’re doubting that they will fare much better. In review of future schedules, we feel we’re on track to see two 10-0 SEC East teams collide on November 19. Then, the Bulldogs visit the Wildcats for the right to go the SEC championship.
In Week Four, the Bulldogs smash the Golden Flashes of Kent State while Kentucky mushes the NIU Huskies. No. 2 Alabama wasted another weekend practicing against UL Monroe last week to the tune of 63-7. Still? Why bother? And the SEC throws a ferry boat of Commodores from Vanderbilt for The Tide to roll over at Bryant-Denny. Why bother? Bama 1-0 in the SEC, Vandy 0-1. Here’s why: Saban covers the points whatever they are (-41) so the denizens of B-D can collect.
Among collegefootballfan.com ranked teams in Week Four
No. 3 Ohio State who bashed Toledo 77-21 Week Three, hosts unranked Wisconsin (2-1). Neither has beaten anyone of note. UW took their previous loss out on No. 131 New Mexico State, 66-7, to “flex their muscle”. The No. 5 Clemson Tigers finally have a challenge when they meet No. 21 Wake Forest in Week Four. The Tigers have dominated the Deacons for many years. Could this be the Deacs’ year? They just edged Liberty last week at home, 38-37. Back in Winston-Salem again this week, maybe the Deacs’ focus anticipated the Tigers’ visit. QB Sam Hartman is healthy. Clemson has beaten nobody of note. Wake’s offense is potent and may be able to outscore this year’s Tiger team with some improvement on the defensive side. So, if anybody near the top gets beat this week, it could be the Tigers.
No. 14 Penn State as we witnessed over Auburn last week, hosts Central Michigan before heading into Big Ten play. No. 17 Baylor (2-1) off a 42-7 win over struggling Texas State (1-2), heads north to take on Iowa State (3-0). ISU’s defense looks good and the Bears fell at BYU, 26-20, so there could be an upset alert on this one here. In late November, we see Baylor face No. 22 Texas. The Longhorns (2-1) open their Big 12 season, after overcoming an early challenge from UTSA (41-20) last Saturday, at Texas Tech (2-1). This looks to be a tight one. The Red Raiders fell on the road to No. 16 NC State, 27-16. Hudson Card remains at QB for the Horns and Heisman candidate RB Bijan Robinson came around with 183 rushing yards and three TD vs the Road Runners.
Week Four Under the Top 25
Aforementioned UTSA (1-2) appears on our slate after this week on Friday night at nearby Middle Tennessee. The Road Runners look to take their frustrations out at home against Texas Southern in Week Four. Western Kentucky (2-1) fell in a close one to Indiana last week in similar fashion to a year ago, 33-31. We will see them host Troy the day after UTSA at MTSU next week. Of course, mostly everyone has seen the Trojans’ last second “Hail Mary” loss to Appalachian State, 32-28. Troy hosts Marshall (2-1) Saturday.
Not to leave the SunBelt yet, Louisiana (2-1) suffered its first loss a week ago to Rice, 33-21. Texas State hosts FCS Houston Baptist (1-1). Bobcats lose, and that’s probably all for HC Jake Spavital. In a big Sun Belt matchup, 2-0 newcomer James Madison visits the “team of destiny”, Appy State (2-1). High-scoring, close one again! Georgia Southern (2-1) hosts Ball State (1-2) whom we hope to see host Ohio later this season.
In more WEEK Four action
South Carolina (1-2) meets Charlotte (1-3) at home. So much for a Spencer Rattler’s Heisman attempt. Another Conference USA team, FAU (2-2), visits Purdue who fell to a surprisingly improved Syracuse team at 3-0. Boilermaker QB Aidan O’Connell still threw for 424 yards and three TDs in a loss with seven second left. Auburn (2-1) hosts Missouri (2-1). If the Tigers fall here, a lot of Auburn fans we met after last week’s game said they’d be selling remaining tickets for the rest of the season.
Navy (0-2) gets back in action against 2-1 East Carolina. The Pirates look to be starting to turn the corner under Mike Houston who came over from JMU four years ago. Hopefully during their bye week, HC Ken Niumatalolo worked on getting that triple option improved, or it’s going to be a very long season in Annapolis. We plan to see them play the “In-fighting” Cougars of Houston (1-2) on October 22. Check out this video of Cougar on Cougar. Of course, we will see the Mids play archrival Army (1-2) in December. The Cadets righted their own ship on the banks of the Hudson besting FCS No. 5 Villanova, 49-10, before their bye in Week Four.
Desert Heat, and another one gone.
The heat in the Desert turned on full blast as HC Herman Edwards was fired by the Arizona State Sun Devils (1-2). The loss to Eastern Michigan in Tempe Saturday and brewing scandal accusations burned too much even for them. We’ll see who’s interested in heading a team whose conference, the PAC-12, seems to be heading into turmoil…
Another one bites the dust. Not a coach, but another rivalry. Bedlam Bowl between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State – done! The move to the SEC by the Sooners and the Longhorns supposedly puts an end to 118 years of tradition because of ensuing non-conference contracts. Maybe many years from now they’ll find a way.
Not the rivalry we grew up loving
In the case of Oklahoma and Nebraska, remember back over the Big Eight years when this was a not-miss rivalry back in the 70’s and 80’s? They finally got back together last week where the Sooners stomped the Huskers, 49-14. What TV exec in their right mind put this game on as a network noon time game? This isn’t the 70’s. They make these TV decisions two weeks before the games are played. Scott Frost sat on the hottest seat in college football. OU looks to prime its program to join the SEC in two years. We don’t know where you hide potential blow-outs on Saturdays any more, but noon time on a major network couldn’t find a matchup more interesting? Not totally TV’s fault though as every school looks for “automatic wins” during non-conference play. Beating a dead horse here.
Who says the Ivy League isn’t competitive?
Last week, six of eight teams among the Ancient Eight won their opening games against other FCS schools from across the nation. If all the FBS teams do this, why not the Ivy League members? Oh, well they play and rank among schools in the FCS. Funny thing though, the epitome of the Ivies, Harvard and Yale, both lost. Smart thing in addition, to start their ten game seasons, the Ivy League rarely plays an FBS program. Maybe one of the military academies at best. Princeton was tempted a few years ago to play Rutgers for the 150th anniversary of the first college game ever. Smartly, they didn’t bite. Why ruin a good thing? Plus, like other tempted FCS schools, they don’t need the money from FBS “donors”.
Among the openers: Brown beat Bryant of the NEC about 15 miles from their campus in Rhode Island, 44-38. Revived Columbia traveled to upstate New York to clobber Marist of the Pioneer League, 38-3. Cornell socked VMI of the mighty SoCon, 28-22. Perennial leader Dartmouth hosted Valparaiso of Indiana for a 35-13 win. Princeton ventured to Florida to top the Stetson Hatters, 39-14. Valpo and Stetson both belong to the Pioneer League. The Penn Quakers defeated Colgate of the Patriot League, 25-14. All the Ivies play at least one other Patriot team every season. Harvard, the highest among Ivies in preseason polls, suffered a 13-7 upset to Merrimack not far from Cambridge. Yale fell to No. 13 FCS Holy Cross (3-0), 38-14.
Ivy barometers
Colgate fell to Stanford this season and visits Army on October 15. Bucknell lost to Central Michigan, 41-0, last week. Saturday, the Chippewas travel 45 miles west of Bucknell to play Penn State! A few CCA teams dot Ivy schedules such as New Hampshire and Rhode Island, but that’s about as close as they get to comparing to the FBS. Harvard, Princeton, and Dartmouth all have Top 25 votes among the FCS after just one week of play. In a few more weeks, the Ivy cream will show up among the ranked teams. Fun to watch for teams relegated to play only ten games every season before final exams start.
Hail Michigan? Dominator of Bottom Ten needs a message from pollsters
Got to get this in. Weekly, ESPN does an analysis of the Bottom Team FCS teams. Why is Michigan, aside from their history and fight song, “Hail to the Victors”, ranked No. 4? Their 3-0 record, out of 131 FBS teams, includes No. 130 Hawaii, No. 129 UConn, and No. 123 Colorado State. By the way, 0-4 New Mexico State ranks last at No. 131. It proves that Alabama’s benevolence beating them at Bryant-Denny the last two seasons for donations to lose games 59-3 and 62-10 didn’t help improve their football fortunes. Nick Saban must be disappointed in his efforts. Lance Leipold’s former Buffalo Bulls (0-3) rank No. 122. Underscores the success he achieved there.
Well, Jim Harbaugh’s team should be penalized in the rankings for this alone. Pollsters prove it doesn’t matter who these team play among 131 who can’t all recruit the same way. Like Saban, Harbaugh’s ballyhooed for his recruiting prowess, and then he schedules teams not even mentioned anywhere near the top in recruiting. Like Saban, he couldn’t win at the pro level where teams compete on a more level playing field. So, he’s back coaching in college picking top players and lowly opponents.
Solution that will probably never happen
At this point, it makes sense to have super conferences. Just restrict them to playing amongst themselves. This is killing college football. They’re seeing it in attendance and in TV ratings. A once exciting, competitive sport gives in to too many TV commercials shown during boring football games – about 50 each week. Who wants to sit and watch too many fan performances on the video boards? It’s getting old, or we are.
Ed. by Steve Koreivo, Author of Tales from the Tailgate: From the fan who’s seen ‘em all! See our sidebar to upper right where you can click on our title or book cover to order from Amazon. Thanks!
