Game 591: Penn State second half surge turns back Buffalo Bulls, 45-13

Posted on by

Game 591: Penn State second half surge turns back Buffalo Bulls, 45-13

State College, PA – A tough Buffalo defensive effort and a ball-control, ground game earned the Bulls a 10-7 halftime lead over the Nittany Lions, but a 36-yard interception return by CB John Reid early in the third jump-started a Lion rally in the second half to come back for a 45-13 PSU victory.  PSU QB Sean Clifford (16 for 22, 279 yards, four TDs) added three TD passes after that to add to his early scoring pass to WR Jahan Dotson (four catches, 109 yards, two TDs) midway through the first period.  Throughout the first half, UB showed no signs of intimidation in front of 104,136 in attendance in Happy Valley.  HC Lance Leipold has his team that plays in front of lesser crowds in their 30,000-seat stadium well prepared.

PSU WR Jahan Dotson dives for Sean Clifford’s first of four TD passes to take an early 7-0 lead for PSU against the Buffalo Bulls.

Bull rush

     PSU scored a TD before they ever recorded a first down nine minutes into the game.  In the end, the Bulls out-rushed the Lions, 184-78.  Their time of possession overwhelmed PSU, 42:32 to 17:28.  The home team overcame the visitors’ short yardage, ball-control running game with six quick touchdown-scoring drives consisting of five plays or less.  After State led 7-0 at the end of one, PK Alex McNulty converted a 32-yard FG to put the Bulls on the board.  With 14 seconds left in the second, QB Matt Myers tossed a six-yard scoring pass to TE Julien Bourassa to give the Bulls an unexpected lead at the half.

Alex McNulty puts up three in the second period for the Bulls.

Fan Friendliness!

    We noted a couple of positive changes for the fans after having attended over 90 games in the Happy Valley over these last 40 years (Penn State’s record with collegefootballfan.com in attendance is 84-25, both home and away).  Parking spaces are no longer arranged to park front end to back end.  Now, parking attendants guide every vehicle to park head to head giving everyone plenty of space to party from their tailgates or trunks.  Secondly, we like the new game program policy.  Fans can now buy a laminated tri-fold for only $2.  It includes rosters, depth charts, stats, and game schedules of the Big Ten teams that particular week.  Very easy to reference when watching a game.  The traditional 100+ page programs are now sold as yearbooks.  Buy one and you’re set with all the stories, team history, biographies, and features of that year’s team in one tidy, prefect-bound periodical.  Perfect!  Somebody’s been thinking about ways to make the game experience even more happy for the Blue and White faithful of the valley.

Needed spark

     Things didn’t start well offensively for the Lions in Q3 as RB Ricky Slade fumbled to set UB up on their 33.  Reid then stepped between a Myers pass and his intended receiver to race down the right sidelined unimpeded 36 yards for a TD to lead, 14-10.  Buffalo punted after a three and out.  A 22-yard return by KJ Hamler and a 15-yard personal foul put the Lions at the Bulls’ 23.  The PSU O went right to work getting TE Pat Freiermuth (8 snags for 99 yards, two TDs) into the end zone on one play.  The Bulls responded with McNulty’s FG from 25 to whittle the Lions lead, 28-13.  The Lion O roared back once again.  In three plays, Clifford raced 58 yards to the Bulls’ two where Frosh RB Noah Cain took it in for the score. 

Penn State’s Journey Brown looks to live up to his name, but it was short trip. He carried six times for 28 yards against the Buffalo Bulls.

Tragic moment

     Following another UB three and out, a horrific injury occurred on UB’s punt. The ball got tipped and misdirected, but the blocker fan into P Evan Finegan whose leg whiplashed through the air and came down on it at a bad angle. We heard that FOX Network decided correctly not to show the replay.  Our sight was blocked by the emergency cart.  All we could see was a medical technician quickly pumping air into what we figured was an air cast.  The loaded Finegan gently on to the cart and whisked him out of the south end zone portal to an awaiting ambulance to take him to Geisinger Medical Center conveniently not far from our designated parking area.  On Monday, reports indicated he was still there following surgery with a full leg cast on.  Members of the PSU special teams and HC James Franklin went by to visit.  We hope and pray for his full recovery to what surely is a very serious and unfortunate injury.

    After the punt on the fifth play, Clifford connected again with Freiermuth for 28-yard score.  With the Lions now leading, 35-13, heading into the final period, Jake Pinegar split the uprights from 32 yards out. The two teams exchanged puts before UB turned the ball back over on downs at the Lions 26.  Franklin decided he needed to extend the score for rankings.  On first and ten from the Nittany 44, Clifford led Dotson wit a deep pass for a56-yard score.  With 3:03 remaining the game wound down with the blue-chip Lions overcoming a young but game Buffalo Bulls team.

Lion LB Jan Johnson (36) tallied 12 tackles in this game for the most among all defenders.

Observations from us in the “peanut gallery”

     Penn State has some kinks to work out after having seen them in early season action.  This week Surprise Guest Game Analyst, “Steve from Hershey” sitting alongside, noted how until Clifford’s final TD pass, many of his passes fell short of his intended receivers (don’t tell me about that back- shoulder pass crap they talk about on TV).  Receivers had to slow down their routes or come back on their patterns to make catches.  He’s going to have to lead his receivers more often.  The defense allowed 245 yards passing and Leipold’s offense did not show much of a threat with a long passing with their RS frosh signal-caller in Myers (16 of 31 averaging 7.9 yards, longest for 29 yards).  Buffalo is young a well-coached team. They will do well in MAC competition this year.

     We believe Leipold, six-time HC of D-3 national champ Wisconsin -Whitewater and proving his worth at UB with stellar improvements over five years, will be coaching at a Power Conference next year.  Illinois?  Rutgers? I might actually root for the latter if Leipold stepped into that fire pit.

Maybe we’ll see Bulls Head Coach Lance Leipold wearing a different color next season.

Next!

     No. 13 Penn State (2-0) hosts Pitt (1-1) for the 100th  meeting, but probably the final game of this natural, intra-stare rivalry.  This concludes a four-year deal with no future plans to continue in sight. It sounds like an effort should be made by both teams to enhance their non-conference schedules (Idaho? Yeah, we know why, James) and to get their blood boiling before diving into conference play.  The Bulls (1-1) travel to Lynchburg, VA to play Liberty (0-2).

Fight on, State!

     For Collegefootballfan.com, we hit a local D-3 contest Friday under the lights to see the Pioneers of William Paterson U. of the NJAC (0-1) visit the Red Devils of FDU-Florham (1-0) after a log awaited winning season at 6-4 a year ago.  Last week, FDU defeated Kings Point, 56-48.  What’s going on here?  We really look forward to Saturday though.  For the first time, we’ll see FCS No. 1 North Dakota State, FCS champs five of the last six years charge into Delaware to meet the No. 18 Fightin’ Blue Hens in their newly renovated stadium.  We’re rooting for the upset.  Should be fun and memorable, we hope!

Game 590: DiGalbo leads Kutztown Golden Bears past Assumption Greyhounds in a romp, 54-16

Posted on by

Game 590: DiGalbo leads Kutztown Golden Bears past Assumption Greyhounds in a romp, 54-16

Kutztown, PA – On our way to Penn State for a 7:30 pm kickoff on Saturday, Collegefootballfan.com took a slight detour and added a convenient 12 noon start at Kutztown University’s Andre Reed Stadium, named for their famous, football alumnus who started at wide receiver for a very good Buffalo Bills team for many years.  Two firsts – our first time at Kutztown and our first Assumption game.   QB Collin DiGalbo of the Golden Bears threw four TD passes and ran for two more as they defeated Assumption in a somewhat unexpected blow-out, 56-14. In two previous games played here by these two Division 2 programs, the Greyhounds bolted out of town with close wins.  DiGalbo foiled that this time leading his team to 629 total yards.   He gained 352 himself, rushing and passing.

Golden Bear opening kickoff return

Surprised by some small school spirit!

    A great atmosphere pervaded in Kutztown as the home crowd among the 4,162 in attendance showed great spirit and support for the Golden Bears at the D-2 level.  The home team fans followed the lead of its Golden Bear Marching Band which exuded spirit and antics from the Reed stands throughout the game.   Their football program has improved vastly during the past five seasons.   They’ve defeated every other team in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference over that period.  The sunny, calm day made it a glorious Saturday afternoon to attend a college game, and the fact that this contest was not televised gave us no cause for concern to see this one in its entirety before driving another two and a half hours to State College in time for our nightcap.

True school spirit at KU!

Bears start out quick against Greyhounds

     Kutztown’s first three scores came on their first three possessions. DiGalbo completed a 20-yard TD pass to TE Jake Pilkerton to polish off a 70-yard drive.  The same combo updated the scoreboard again at the end of an 80-yard drive connecting from the one.  The Bears next TD drive went for more yards and came about much quicker.  Starting from the three and getting some breathing room from their 24, DiGalbo (5 carries for 89 yards) swept right on a 76-yard TD scamper.  Before the period ended Assumption responded with a long scoring drive when RB Khaleed Exum-Strong ran it over from the three to close to 21-7. 

TE Jack Pilkerton picks up a block on the move for the Golden Bears.

     To start the second, Assumption forced a punt and drove to KU’s seven.  A field goal attempt went wide left killing whatever momentum the Greyhounds seemed to muster.   The Golden Bears took offense to that second, yet scoreless drive.  On their next two possessions, the Golden Bears scored two more times with DiGalbo throwing scoring strikes to redshirt-freshman WR Jake Novak from 20 and 21 yards out respectively. They dominated by halftime, 35-7.

Khaleed Exum-Strong crosses goal line for only Greyhound TD in first half.

Can’t keep a good coach down

     The Kutztown football program has been mediocre at best in the PSAC for many years.  Enter current Head Coach Jim Clements in 2014.   His Bears have thrived since.  He’s the first KU Coach to start his career there with five consecutive winning seasons.  Under his tutelage, the team’s record now stands at 38-18, 27-9 in the PSAC.  In 2018, he coached the Golden Bears to only their third D-2 playoff in school history.  Jim Clements owns an overall head coaching career record during 13 seasons of 104-42 mentoring Kutztown and D-3 Delaware Valley University.  The man can coach!  During this game, you saw how well his players were coached.  They did little things right like closing down outside lanes to ball carriers to run them into oncoming tacklers.  They tackled well.  Most impressive was when a ball came loose, the entire sideline shouted, “Ball!”  His team totally focused on the game.

    Duly impressed with what we witnessed and what is written in the KU Game Day program, there should be interest in him beyond D-2. We’ll keep an eye on his success for the balance of this season and what possibilities may lay ahead for him.  He’s no doubt a winner at the lower levels as his record indicates.  Someone should be willing to give him a chance.  Possibly nearby – FCS Bucknell?

HC Jim Clements has Golden Bear fans turning out with great spirit to see their team play at Andre Reed Stadium.

Beat goes on

     In the third period, RB Daryl Davis-McNeil put the Golden Bears on the board to start with a one-yard run after he picked up 24 there on his previous run.  However, the Greyhounds blocked the point after and CB Carlins Platel picked it off the turf and sprinted the length of the field for a defensive PAT return to make the score 41-9.  An interception by LB Kyle Sapp in close range from Assumption QB Easton Turner put KU back on offense at AU’s 17.  DiGalbo carried the ball over from the five to make the score 47-9 late in the third.

This great over the shoulder catch sets up Assumptions second TD of the game near the goal line.

    For the balance of the game, the Golden Bears played their second teamers and the upstarts continued to move the football against Assumption’s first team.  The visitors played without their five leading tacklers from a year ago.  There’s a lot of need for more experience on D.  The offense graduated their starting QB and All-American WR Deonte Harris from last year finishing 6-4 under then first-year HC Andy McKenzie.  Their leading rusher from 2018, Doug Santos, returned though, and he scored from the two to top off a 64-yard drive.  Harvin Keagan finished off the scoring for the day with a one-yard run late in the game, and the Golden Bears looked good in a 54-16 triumph over the Greyhounds. 

A late Harvin Keegan TD seals the final score.

Next!

  Kutztown heads to western Pennsylvania to meet PSAC conference foe California of Pennsylvania (1-0).  Assumption returns home to Worcester, MA to host St. Anselm’s of Manchester, NH (0-1).  It just so happens that St. Anselm’s fell to the Vulcans of California, PA in their opener last weekend, 53-19.   It sounds as if all teams will be meeting challengers of equal talents.  These could both be good games.  We won’t be going to either.

  We headed up to State College right after this to see Penn State host Buffalo.  Look for our upcoming game review by Thursday this week.

We have another DH weekend planned for next week with the feature on Saturday between FCS No. 1 North Dakota State (2-0) visiting No. 18 Delaware (2-0).  On Friday night, we’ll hit up a local D-3 contest when William Paterson (0-1) visits FDU-Florham (1-0), a 56-48 winner over Kings Point last weekend.

We added Game 590 and 591 this weekend

Posted on by

On our way to Penn State for a 7:30 pm kickoff on Saturday, Collegefootballfan.com took a slight detour and added a convenient Game 590 with a 12 noon start at D-2 Kutztown University’s Andre Reed Stadium, named for their famous, football alumnus who started at wide receiver for a very good Buffalo Bills team for many years.  We saw Kutztown impressively win over a very good Assumption program.

      The beautiful, sunny day day us a great option to watch two games in one day. Also the fact that this contest was not televised gave us no cause for concern to see this one in its entirety before driving another two and a half hours to make it to State College on time for the Penn State-Buffalo game which was very competitive during the first half. Game 591 appears in our books now, too. We just have to write up our game review coverage for our fans now.

Come back and check out the reviews over the next few days as I took a side trip on Sunday on the way back to see a good friend not seen in few years, so there’s been no time to publish game reviews yet. Thanks for you patience. Two more games this upcoming weekend with the feature game on Saturday when No. 1 FCS North Dakota State comes east to clash with 2-0 Delaware. We’re rooting to see an upset, of course! Be sure to check us out again this week and every week during the college football season. These past two put us within eight games of celebrating Game 600 on October 19. Lots of college football ahead before and after for the rest of our 2019 season. A few on our schedule look to be more interesting than initially thought (Penn State at Maryland and Louisville at Wake Forest, for instance). Come back for more!

Game 589: Balanced Boston College attack holds off VA Tech in ACC season opener, 35-28

Posted on by

Game 589:  Balanced Boston College attack holds off VA Tech in ACC season opener, 35-28

Chestnut Hill, MA – In an opener between two teams vying for improvements over mediocrity a season ago, the Eagles and Hokies fought a competitive game with host Boston College maintaining ball control in the final minute to preserve a 35-28 victory.  BC QB Anthony Brown (Cliffwood, NJ) tossed two TD passes and ran for one.  Junior RB AJ Dillon carried 21 times for a score and 83 yards on the ground.  Virginia Tech’s QB Ryan Willis amassed 344 passing yards and three TDs, but BC dominated in the turnover department picking off four passes and recovering two fumbles while they lost the football once.

    The Eagles scored on their second possession driving 67 yards with Brown connecting with WR Zay Flowers (two for 91 yards) on a 33-yard TD pass.  After BC missed a FG to increase their lead, Tech responded with a 55-yard TD pass to Hezekiah Grimsley (four for 98 yards, one TD) to knot the score at the end of the first.

Hezekiah Grimsley on route to first quarter score for the Hokies.

Eagles take off!

     In the second period, the Hokies took a 14-7 lead when Willis hit Tayvion Robinson for a 20-yard score.  The Eagles came back with a vengeance.  Mixing their play calling effectively, they drove 75 yards with Dillon running the final 17 to tie.  On Tech’s next series, Tate Haynes sacked Willis to fumble, and BC took over again at the VT 17.  On third and ten from there, Brown threw to a leaping Kobay White in the end zone along the sideline to take a 21-14 lead. 

QB Anthony Brown (13) sails 28 yards for BC’s 28-14 halftime lead.

   The Eagles next series ended with a punt, but a muff by Grimsley was recovered by DB Nolan Borgerson (Westwood, NJ) to put BC on offense at Tech’s 28.  From there on the second play, Brown dropped back and started up the left side of the field going untouched for BC’s third score in the second and a 28-14 lead.  Willis completed five passes and ran for four more yards to the BC 17 as the period wound down. However, his next pass into the end zone got picked by LB Joe Sparacio, and the Eagles held their two TD lead going into halftime.

Boston College Marching Band performs at the half.

Defenses toughen up

     Early in the third, BC thwarted another Tech pass attempt into the end zone when Willis’s 30-yarder got intercepted on a leaping catch in front of its intended receiver by S Brandon Sebastian.  The Hokies eventually scored the only TD of the period when Willis connected with James Mitchell at the 11-yard line to get back within a touchdown.  The Hokies held the Eagles to a three and out, but their next possession ended with another INT by Tanner Karafa to put the Eagles at the Hokie 41 early in the last quarter.

James Mitchell crosses goal line with catch for VA Tech score.

      A Kobay White pass attempt got picked by Tech’s Jermaine Walker on his own two.  Tech only gained a yard before punting, Dillon and David Bailey took turns running the ball with Bailey doing the honors with a one-yard TD to extend the BC lead, 35-21.  Eighteen plays later, Willis, who converted a first down with a run on fourth and one at the 13, converted a score on and 11-yard TD pass to Kaleb Smith to put the Hokes within another score once again to trail 35-28.

BC DB Brandon Sebastian takes on Tech ball carrier.

Could go either way

    BC recovered the ensuing onsides kick on their 38.  After Tech called two time-outs in hopes of forcing a punt to get the ball back, Dillon negated that opportunity against DC Bud Foster’s defensive unit with an 11-yard gain on third down and nine.  BC ran out the clock in the victory formation for an early 35-28 ACC victory.  “It was all over but the shouting,” as my late, former high school football coach Joe Mol used to say. 

Looking ahead

    It was a tremendous Week 1 game to attend played between two solid programs with great incentives to improve this season.  VT out-gained BC 442 yards to 432, but five more turnovers than the Eagles, several in the end zone, made the significant difference.  The Hokies have to cut back on mistakes.  Willis needs to protect the football better.  Boston College’s offense threw more effectively and more often than in the previous few years – not normal as pointed out by Guest Game Analyst Zach Rittle (PSU, class of ’15). The Eagles totaled more yards through the air than on the ground, 275 to 157.  Their O-line blocked effectively with two new guards in Soph Alec Lindstrom, whose brother played at the same position a year ago at BC and before being drafted in Round One by the Atlanta Falcons, and in Frosh Tyler Vrabel, son of HC Mike of the Tennessee Titans. 

One thing for sure is that Boston College will bring plenty of t-shirt firepower to Alumni Stadium each week.

Next!

    Both teams look ready to be competitive this season in what’s determined to be a little weaker ACC to be dominated once again by Clemson.  Both play at home this Saturday against other Virginia schools.  Tech hosts Old Dominion of Conference USA (talk about a revenge match) while BC is at Alumni Field again against The Richmond Spiders of the Colonial Athletic in the FCS. 

   Collegefootballfan.com is weighing two options before seeing Penn State (1-0) host the MAC’s Buffalo Bulls (1-0) on Saturday at 7:30 pm.  One is to see a D-3 game Friday night when No. 14 Delaware Valley heads to Union, NJ to take on the Kean Cougars of the NJAC.  On the other hand, we are tempted to consider seeing Assumption College visit Kutztown (PA) at noon in a pretty good D-2 matchup on the way to State College for our night cap.  We’re waiting for a few things to happen to make a final decision on Friday.

Some people are looking forward to having us back at Beaver Stadium in Happy Valley on Saturday! And so are we.

Extra Points: 

We’re wishing the best to our BC friend Bob “Pops” LeBlanc who couldn’t meet us at his alma mater for this game Saturday.  Pops was put on injured reserve by his doctor following surgery he held off on for a while.  We hear he should be back up for some BC action later in the season.  We’ll just let him know he left his tailgate parties in good hands with his buddy, Rick.

Our first-time GGA Zach is not only a PSU alum and fan, of course, he went on to a Sports Management degree at Temple and now works in the athletic development department at Texas State University in San Marcos.  He flew up that morning to Boston where I picked him up to go to this game to head up to a wedding the next day with my daughter Alex and St. Laurie in New Hampshire.  Zach had been to State’s game at Texas A&M the week before and is prepping for his team’s first home game this Saturday when the Bobcats play Wyoming.  He’s looking forward to that, but very busy I’m sure. Good luck to him in his new position on a Game Day!

Zach was thinking about his future endeavors as he admired BC’s new indoor practice facility adjacent to Alumni Stadium.

Game 588: Rutgers defeats UMass to keep Coach Ash off the hot seat for the short-term, 48-21

Posted on by

Birthplace of College Football, NJ – Trailing UMass 21-7 at the end of the first quarter, Rutgers offense came to life to keep Chris Ash off the hot seat for the time being on the passing arm of QB McLane Carter and the legs of Isaih Pacheco to defeat a “rebuilding” Minuteman program, 48-21. Carter, a Texas Tech grad transfer, threw for 340 yards, and Pacheco mustered four TS on the ground to gain the win over new HC Walt Bell and a team finding key replacements after a 4-8 season.  The Scarlet Knight defense allowed 164 yards by the end of the first, but yielded only 153 me in the final three against a UMass offense devoid of any deep-threat passing game.  QB Randall West averaged only 3.4 yards per completion going 20 for 31 with one TD and one INT.

UMass dominates outset

    The Minutemen opened the scoring with an easily managed 7-yard TD drive finishing it off with a 20-yard scoring pass from West to Kyle Horn. Carter threw an interception to S Joseph Norwood on RU’s first possession putting the visitors at the Knight’s 44.  Two plays later, Cam Roberson sprinted 39 yards to add to the Minuteman lead.  Fans including Guest Game Analyst Fran Scarpa (RU) sat stunned in bewilderment.  Big Ten losses are tough enough, but UMass? Other than fellow GGA Brian Donnelly’s traditional Old Bay Spice chicken wings at our tailgate, his evening was a letdown thus far.

     On the next possession, the Rutgers offense provided a glimpse of optimism mixing effective passes and a running game ending in a two -yard TD run by Pacheco to put some hope in the hearts of the 20-some thousand in Scarlet fans in attendance (don’t believe the 40,515 indicated in the box score).  However, their optimism subsided aw the Minutemen countered with a 75-yard scoring drive of their own.  Bilal Ally raced 33-yards for a TD to end the first period with a 21-7 UMass lead. 

RB Isaih Pacheco (#1) falls short of first Rutgers score before his first TD.

Rutgers busts out in the second

     Carter started the second with a hot hand completing two long passes finalizing a 64-yard scoring drive with a 33-yard pass to WR Bo Melton (six for 127 yards).  The Scarlet defense forced a punt.  RU capped an 85-yard drive in four plays with Pacheco’s 57-yard burst to pay dirt to suddenly knot the score 21-all.  The next Rutgers drive culminated with a 27-yard FG by Justin Davidovicz exciting the home crowd by giving the lead, 24-21.  Rutgers continued to roll.  An interference penalty on the next UMass punt spotted the Knights on the 50.  On the third play, Carter fired a 28-yard TD pass to RB Raheem Blackshear (nine catches for 126 yards; 12 rushes for 39) to enhance their lead 31-21.  CB Avery Young’s INT gave the ball back to RU on their 41.  HC Chris Ash did not run out the clock.  A 52-yard pass to Melton put the ball on the seven, and two plays later, Pacheco carried it over for a 38-21 Rutgers’ lead in front of a relieved and exuberant home crowd.

Second half, defense…defense

   Rutgers moved the ball on its first possession to extend the lead on Davidovicz’s  23-yard FG.  The RU defense shine from hereon out forcing two punts and a turnover on down.  The offense failed on its next drive when CB Isaiah Rodgers pick off a Carter pass on his own 10, and Rodgers picked off his second on the subsequent drive in his end zone for a touchback as the period ended.

LB Tyshon Fogg, who totaled 11 tackles against the Minutemen, and his mates jammed up RB Bilal Ally (22) in the last three quarters of the Rutgers victory.

    The ensuing Minuteman drive in the final period ended desperately with a sack of West by RU linemen Elorm Lumor and Jamree Komrah to turn the ball over on downs at the UMass 31. Six straight rushing plays capped the Rutgers scoring with Pacheco’s fourth TD   coming in from seven yards out.  Final score, Rutgers 48 UMass 21.  Like last year, the Scarlet Knights started off the season with a home victory besting Texas State, 35-7, giving the RU faithful a glimmer of optimism.  This year there’s hope for better, but the realization looms that the rest of the schedule will be much more competitive than a UMass team ranked deep among the 130 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Rutgers cheer-leading squad – Jersey Girls!

Next up!

    Talk about a step up. Rutgers travels to face Iowa in Iowa City next Saturday.  Ranked 20th in the AP preseason poll, the Hawkeyes defeated Miami of Ohio, 38-14. Their offense is led at QB by senior Nate Stanley.  Defensively, they feature All-American DE AJ Epenesa.  Iowa poses a true early Big Ten test for Rutgers.

   UMass will host FCS Southern Illinois next week.  Walt Bell will look to revamp his offense next week still replacing the leading Minuteman passer, runner, and receiver from a year ago. WR Andy Isabella led the nation in receiving yards his senior season before being drafted by the Arizona Cardinals.

   Collegefootballfan.com spent Saturday after this Friday night contest in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts to watch a significant ACC opener with Boston College taking on Virginia Tech.  Come back and check out our game review.

A smoke ring lingers after the Rutgers Cannoneers fired off a final round after many at the end of the opening victory. RU fans hope that the rest of the season doesn’t go off in another puff of smoke.

Extra points:  CB Isaiah Rodgers impressed us the times we’ve seen him play going back to his freshman year.  Beside being a stalwart defender, he excels in kickoff returns as well. Yesterday, he returned four kicks for 125 yards including one for 55.  Look for him to pop up on someone’s draft in 2020. 

Change in our schedule – We initially planned for game 588 to be played last Thursday between Stony Brook and Bryant.  The Stony Brook Seawolves triumphed, 35-14.  However, because my company coed volleyball team which I play for got into the Boston Property championship on Wednesday night, my birthday celebration with my family had to be postponed until hat night.  I don’t regret either change.  On Wednesday, my SolvayUSA team defeated Bioclinica Labs for the championship, 3-1!  We finished our season 13-1 reeling off 13 straight wins after dropping our opener.  On Thursday, I celebrated my birthday with my family at our favorite local BBQ place, Hot Rod’s, in Wharton, NJ. 

To assure Game 600 will be celebrated on October 19 when a large group will join me for the Minnesota at Rutgers game, I had to be sure I added another game to replace this one. For my best chance to see two games on an upcoming weekend, I cancelled the Boston College at RU game on September 21.  Both teams appeared on our schedule this weekend any way. On that day.  We will attend two Ivy League openers.  At 1 pm, we will attend Yale’s opener in the Yale Bowl against Holy Cross who fell to Navy, 45-7, last Saturday.  After that, we will travel to Smithfield, RI to see aforementioned Bryant host Brown University.  It will be our first visit to Bryant for a game.  These Bulldogs will be going up against their former HC from a year ago, James Perry.  Perry will be looking to revive a Bruin team coming off a 1-9 season. We look forward to seeing Jean Constant, Bryant’s All-American kick returner, to see what he can do.

See our 2019 schedule for updates.

Game 587: Villanova opens 150th college football season with 34-14 victory over No. 9 FCS Colgate

Posted on by

Hamilton, NY – Collegefootballfan.com attended the opener of college football’s 150th season (our 40th) as Villanova knocked off No. 9 FCS Colgate, 34-14.  Wildcat QB Daniel Smith, a former starting QB from Campbell, threw for 205 yards and three TDS.  The Villanova defense sacked Colgate QB Grant Brenneman four times and applied pressure through gaps in the Colgate line seemingly at will.  They held the Red Raider offense to 288 total yards.

Villanova QB Dan Smith (12) fires for one of his 14 completions in early action.

Second period lightning strike

    The two teams held each other scoreless during the first period.  However, in the second, Smith opened the scoring early as his run-pass option fake around left end drew in two Red Raider defenders to leave RB Jalen Jackson wide open down the left sideline for an 18-yard scoring pass. Less than a minute later, the Cats struck again quickly as DB Jaquan Amos picked off Brenneman’s pass, under pressure from LB Forrest Rhyne, past the line of scrimmage and returned it 27 yards for a sudden 14-0 Wildcat lead. 

Wildcat RB Justin Covington rambles for 23 of his 134 yards on this second period touchdown drive.

Armor leg didn’t help

    Colgate’s most effective weapon this day turned out to be Punter Barney Amor’s leg.  His booming spirals averaged 50.6 yards on the day to keep ‘Nova deep in its own territory.  Despite Armor’s performance, ‘Gate could not keep ‘Nova out of the end zone.  Later in the second, WR Changa Hodge hauled in a 45-yard catch over the shoulder beating the Raiders pre-season All American DB Abu Daramy-Swaray for a touchdown.  With only twelve seconds left in the first half, Davis tossed his third scoring pass for 15 yards to wide open WR Andrew Perez (Seton Hall Prep) for a dominant 27-0 halftime lead. 

The Wildcat defense applied the pressure all day to Colgate QB Grant Breneman.

Cocktail time

     My Colgate host and die-hard Colgate season ticket holder, Sam Cooper, and other Guest Game Analysts Bruce and Skip headed back to the parking lot for a cocktail at halftime to relieve their frustrations.  They were unsure if they would return.  Red Raider fans got spoiled last season by the Red Raiders fantastic 10-2 season, a home playoff FCS victory over James Madison, and an FCS-leading defense that allowed 9.3 points per game.  Villanova had already put up 27.  They didn’t expect this despite some key losses to graduation. Of the 4,519 fans in attendance, Villanova had a strong turnout.

Colgate fan Sam Cooper, in yellow and in shock, shares half time thoughts and a drink with other CU fans before he returned in the second half.

Third period

    By the time these shocked Red Raider fans returned to their seats, their defense had halted a Villanova drive and drove 68 yards for their first score.  Brenneman connected with WR Nick Draught to finish the drive with a ten-yard scoring pass.  Before the third ended, the Red Raiders forced a second turnover on downs and took over from their 23.  A 38-yard “escape” by TB Mailk Twyman and a pass to long pass to TE Nick Diaco put ‘Gate at ‘Nova’s as the third expired.

TE Nick Diaco snares a pass before time expired in the third.

Maybe a comeback?

     Early in the final period, Brenneman faked a dive to the TB and dove in from the one to cut the Wildcat lead, 27-14.  Our GGA’s all agreed the Raiders had to stop the Cats once again and get quick score by using the clock efficiently to have a chance to pull this out.  Instead, Villanova controlled the ball with the help of some costly and repetitive offsides penalties.  With 8:41 remaining, Smith ran an effective quarterback draw at the Colgate nine to take back the 20-point lead.  The Raiders could not sustain its next drive. The Wildcats held on to keep the score intact even though HC Dan Hunt kept Brenneman and other starters on the field until the bitter end, 34-14.

Sound person for CBS TV sports looks like a lonely job, but somebody’s got to do it!

Next!

    Villanova awaits its home opener on September 7 when they host another Patriot League team, Lehigh, under its new HC Tom Gilmore.  No let-up for Colgate though as they fly out to Colorado Springs to face FBS Air Force and its triple-option offense.  Hopefully Colgate HC Dan Hunt started prepping his defense for this during the weeks leading up to this opener.  Two weeks later, the Red Raiders very ambitious non-conference schedule continues at William and Mary, followed by 2018 FCS semi-finalist Maine at home, and then on to Ivy runner-up Dartmouth, 9-1 a year ago. Patriot League play starts after that for which Colgate is the anonymous choice to win it all.   Sam Cooper is banking on it. In the infinite wisdom coined by Lee Corso, after what we saw yesterday, “Not so fast, my friend!” However, Surely Dan Hunt sees where improvements will have to be made and will start working on them right away.

Chins up, Red Raiders!

Speaking of ambitious schedules

   For CFF.com, we plan to travel to Long Island this Thursday night to see another Colonial Conference member, Stony Brook, host NEC member, Bryant University, on our slate for the first time. The Seawolves return eight starters on defense while the Bulldogs feature WR Jean Constant, returning first-team FCS return man. The next evening, we will watch UMass under its new HC Walt Bell try to build something out of the Minutemen’s 4-8 season a year ago after graduating some of the team’s best talent against Rutgers.  Coming off an 1-11 season and sporting a 7-29 record after three years, HC Chris Ash sits on the proverbial hot seat.  Then on Saturday at 4 pm, we are at Chestnut Hill, MA for an ACC match when Boston College takes on Virginia Tech.  Toughness against quickness in this one.  On Sunday, we top off the weekend with a South Carolina Gamecock wedding in New Hampshire of all places.  Congratulations to Jocelyn and her husband to be!

HC Mark Ferrante leads the Wildcats after his mentor, Andy Talley, turned over the reins to him. In 1982, we watched Ferrante play QB for St. Lawrence under Talley in a 43-34 win over Wagner College in the D-3 playoffs.

   Not sure when this report will be out as Monday (Labor Day) is going to be a long trip to get back to give you all the updates on these.  Check back with us Wednesday. Two games follow the next weekend including Buffalo at Penn State on Saturday, September 7.  We’re keeping pace to be sure our Game 600 takes place this October 19!

Steveo’s Salvos: 2019 kick-off week

Posted on by

Game One (really Game 587 in the long run)

Seven weeks from this Saturday, Collegefootballfan.com’s 2019 kick-off begins its 40th season of college football in Hamilton, NY at Andy Kerr Stadium, home of the Colgate Red Raiders, defending 2018 champions of the Patriot League (10-2, 6-0) and FCS semi-finalist. A solid D returns led by All-FCS DL Nick Wheeler and DB Abu Daramy-Swaray. Returning QB Grant Breneman starts his Junior year behind a solid, experienced group of linemen. They should dominate the Patriot League again and take the automatic bid back to the play-offs. We watched them defeat a great James Madison program last season in the play-offs under HC Dan Hunt…

Their competition comes from Villanova under third-year HC Mark Ferrante off a 5-6, 2-4 CAA season set back by numerous injuries including at QB. The Wildcats will return a good secondary on our 2019 kick-off led by CAA Defensive Rookie of the Year Christian Benford. On offense, Ferrante might start 6′-7″ Frosh QB Qadir Ismail who will have an experienced running game behind him. On a historical note, we watched current Villanova Wildcat HC Mark Ferrante quarterback St. Lawrence University past Wagner College in a D-3 Play-off game, 42-34, in 1982.

Colgate’s defense will need to be tough up front again this year to halt a good Villanova running game at our 2019 kick-off.

2019 Game Two

In our 588th game ever, we will return to Stony Brook out on Long Island for only the second time. In 2008, Collegefootballfan.com was invited by the underground student newspaper to attend their opening day win over Colgate in the press box, 42-18. HC Chuck Priore, still there after all these years, brings back eight defensive regulars from his 7-5, 5-3 CAA playoff team. He looks to start up a whole, new backfield to try to make it into the FCS playoffs for the Seawolves’ third year in a row. Coming across the Long Island Sound from Rhode Island to do battle will be the Bryant Bulldogs 6-5, 2-4 of the Northeast Conference under new HC Chris Merrit who replaces James Perry who took the HC job at nearby Brown to try to turn football fortune around there. FCS All-America return man Jean Constant who doubles at wide-out will offer some excitement in this Thursday evening game. Rumors persist that the Bulldog starting QB will be Ohio State transfer Kory Curtis. On defense, stalwart DL Tomas Wright, LB Jesse Nemerovich, and CB Andre Brackett will lead the charge. It will be a tough home opener for Stony Brook.

2019 Game Three

Rutgers HC Chris Ash will be wearing “hot pants” this Friday evening entering his fourth season at Rutgers “on the banks of the old Raritan“. Coming off a 1-11, 0-9 Big Ten season, the Scarlet Knights’ stats look even worse. Of 130 FBS football teams, they finished 127th in pass completions, 128th in yards per catch, and dead last in scoring, 13.5 points per game. Soph QB Arthur Sitkowski returns for a second helping and hopes to gets some better pass protection around him and some open receivers down field. Last year he finished with only four TD passes and 18 INTs. A star at IMG in Florida, it once again reinforces my point that the best QBs don’t come out of these high school “football factories”. At that level, they get the best around them at every position on the field and dominate. At the college level, the surrounding talent around a QB is on more equal footing. All we can say about the RU team this year is that there is a lot of experience returning. How much of an improvement remains to be seen. The talent level fall far short of its Big Ten East brethren.

R-U! Rah! Rah! R-U! Rah! Rah! Upstream Red Team!

In this third game of our 2019 kick-off, like in 2018, Rutgers best chance to win a game is in their season opener. Last season, the Knights stirred their fans up with a 35-7 win over Texas State of the Sun Belt. This year, UMass comes to The Birthplace off a 4-8 record and under a new HC Walt Bell, former offensive coordinator at Florida State and Maryland. However, the Minutemen return without a key starters from last season at QB, WR (Dandy Isabella drafted by the Arizona Cardinals), RB, and MLB, all graduated. QB Michael Curtis played in six games last year and will probably start in the season opener. We’ve liked DB Isaiah Rogers when we saw UMass play the last few years. Despite future FBS schedules already announced by the UMass Administration, we bet the football program eventually settles back into the FCS where it will compete on a more equal level.

Last season our opening kick-off week included UMass at Boston College. This season, both open our 2019 season kick-off but on consecutive days against different foes.

2019 Game Four

We started our 2018 season kick-off with UMass at Boston College. The day after we see UMass play RU on Friday night, we’re on our way to a wedding on Sunday in New Hampshire. Luckily for our daughter Alex’s four-year roommate as South Carolina, Jocelyn, Boston College hosts Virginia Tech on Saturday the day before, otherwise we’d be scrambling our schedule to make October 19 fall on our Game 600 target. Good job, Jocelyn!

With Navy’s Bill the Goat’s “background” in our background, Collegefootballfan.com and friends along with Cincinnati fans get together of celebrate the Bearcats’ win at the Military Bowl after the game.

BC hosts Virginia Tech, the team we saw finish off last season with a 35-31 loss to Cincinnati in the Military Bowl. Tech 6-7, 3-5 returns eleven starters on defense under successful long time DC Bud Foster after one of his unit’s less spectacular seasons. A solid secondary returns and LBs Rayshard Ashby, Dylan Rivers, and Dax Hollifield return with a lot of experience under their belts. Offensively, HC Justin Fuente will rely on Ryan Wills a at QB again having thrown for 2,716 yards, 24 TDs, and nine INTs during his inaugural season. Four of five top receivers return to solidify the passing game. However, three new starters on the line need to develop quickly to provide protection and to open holes for RBs DeShawn McClease and Jalen Holston.

BC Eagles host an opener during 2019 kickoff weekend for the second year in a row. This game should be much more competitive.

The experienced Hokie defense will be tested by the BC Eagles’ offense who return AJ Dillon as their prime ball carrier. Last season he ran for 1,108 yards and 10 TDs in ten games. QB Anthony Brown fired 20 TDs with Kobay White as his prime target with 526 yards a season ago. The offensive line will make some adjustments, but will add some familiar football family names up front with C Alec Lindstrom whose brother Chris just graduated to go 14th in the NFL draft to the Atlanta Falcons. OT Tyler Vrabel, son of Mike Vrabel formerly of the New England Patriots, fills in to open up some holes for Dillon and to protect Brown. HC Steve Addazio’s defense will play typically tough despite one returnee on the D-Line and one in the secondary. Tech’s receiving corp will look to take advantage, but with BC LBs Isaiah McDuffie and Max Richardson leading the defensive attack, this should be a very competitive game in Chestnut Hill. We look forward to this one.

2019 – THE ANNIVERSARY SEASON

Posted on by

FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL AND FOR COLLEGEFOOTBALLFAN.COM, 2019 MARKS A HISTORICAL, MOMENTOUS, ANNIVERSARY SEASON FOR BOTH. COLLEGE FOOTBALL CELEBRATES THE 150TH YEAR SINCE PRINCETON (THEN KNOWN AS THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY) AND RUTGERS CLASHED IN THE FIRST INTERCOLLEGIATE GAME EVER PLAYED. WON BY THE HOST SCARLET KNIGHTS, 6-4, ON NOVEMBER 6, 1869, THESE TWO SCHOOLS OF HIGHER ACADEMIA IGNITED ONE OF THE GREATEST AMERICAN SPORTS TRADITIONS OF ALL TIME. SINCE 1869, THE PRINCETON TIGERS HAVE BATTLED IN 1,245 GAMES FOR A WON-LOSS-TIE RECORD OF 799-396-50. THE SCARLET KNIGHTS ENTER THEIR 150TH SEASON WITH 1,352 PLAYED GAMES SINCE THAT HISTORIC MEETING WITH A RECORD OF 652-658-42 HEADING INTO THIS HISTORICAL, ANNIVERSARY SEASON.

Ghost-like figures don the program of the next to last game 110 years later in the series that kicked off college football in 1869. Princeton dominated the series overall 53-17-1, but Rutgers polished them off 12-8-1 to end the series and move up to D-1A football.

NOT TO BE OUTDONE, COLLEGEFOOTBALLFAN.COM CELEBRATES NOT ONE ANNIVERSARY, BUT TWO SIGNIFICANT MILESTONES IN 2019. ON SEPTEMBER 8, 1979, WE VENTURED UP FROM OUR HOME IN NEW JERSEY, BIRTHPLACE OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL AND ARGUABLY ITS GREATEST FAN, TO KINGSTON, RHODE ISLAND. VISITING MY SISTER MARY KAY ATTENDING THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND, WE AND HER BOYFRIEND GUNTHER AT THE TIME ATTENDED THE OPENING GAME OF THAT SEASON BETWEEN THEIR RHODE ISLAND RAMS AND THE FIGHTING BLUE HENS OF DELAWARE.

LITTLE DID WE KNOW THEN, THAT I STARTED A TREK LASTING INTO THIS UPCOMING COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON. URI VS. UD MARKED THE FIRST OF 586 COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAMES HEADING INTO 2019, MY 40TH SEASON SEEING AT LEAST ONE COLLEGE FOOTBALL EVERY WEEK IN EVERY SEASON SINCE (NOTE: STILL MARRIED TO THE SAME WOMAN FOR 30 YEARS, HAVE TWO GROWN KIDS, AND STILL GO TO WORK MONDAY-FRIDAYS). TAKE AWAY TWO TIES ATTENDED OVER ALL FORTY SEASONS, AND WE’VE SEEN ONLY 218 WINS LESS THAN PRINCETON HAS ACHIEVED OVER 150 YEARS! AS FOR RUTGERS, ONLY 66 FEWER THAN THE SCARLET KNIGHTS TALLIED OVER THAT SAME SPAN AND IN 110 YEARS LESS TIME!

The Rhode Island Rams didn’t chop up the Fightin’ Blue Hens as depicted on the Game Program on our first of 586 college football games. The Blue Hens pecked away at the Rams and all bur one other foe that season. We have a collection of programs from 99.8% of all the games we’ve attended.

AFTER THEIR GRAND OPENING IN 1869, THE TWO SQUADS MET AGAIN A WEEK LATER ON NOVEMBER 13 IN PRINCETON. THE TIGERS CELEBRATED THIS TIME WINNING, 8 “GOALS” – 0. DIFFERENT RULES FACILITATED EACH CONTEST BASED ON THE PREFERENCES OF THE HOME TEAM. A THIRD GAME WAS SUPPOSED TO BE PLAYED, BUT NEVER WAS, POSSIBLY BECAUSE OF DISAGREEMENTS REGARDING WHAT RULES WOULD BE USED. SHARING 1-1 RECORDS, THE TWO SQUADS SHARED THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OF 1869 “RETROACTIVELY”.

NOT TO BE OUTDONE 110 YEARS LATER, COLLEGEFOOTBALLFAN.COM WITNESSED A NATIONAL CHAMPION COMPETE IN ITS HISTORICAL FIRST GAME AS WELL. AT MEADE STADIUM ON THE CAMPUS OF “LITTLE RHODY” , THE FIGHTING BLUE HENS DEFEATED THE RAMS, 34-14. UNDER LEGENDARY HEAD COACH HAROLD “TUBBY’ RAYMOND, THE HENS WENT ON TO RECORD OF 13-1 AND DEFEATED YOUNGSTOWN STATE FOR THE DIVISION 2 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OF 1979.

IN ADDITION TO CELEBRATING OUR 40TH SEASON, COLLEGEFOOTBALLFAN.COM PLANS TO CELEBRATE ANOTHER MONUMENTAL ANNIVERSARY. ON NOVEMBER 19, 2019, WE WILL VENTURE TO RUTGERS FOR OUR ANNUAL BIG TAILGATE. THE OCCASION CELEBRATES THE 600TH GAME IN OUR COLLEGE FOOTBALL HISTORY. THE SCARLET KNIGHTS HOST THE MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS IN A BIG TEN MATCH-UP. MANY OF OUR FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS OVER THE YEARS WILL BE ATTENDING TO CELEBRATE WITH US.

WE INVITE YOU TO FOLLOW OUR CELEBRATORY YEAR RIGHT HERE. OUR SEASON KICKS OFF ON AUGUST 24. WE PLAN TO FINISH UP AS FAR AS POSSIBLE INTO BOWL SEASON FOR ATTENDING SOME OF THE BEST MATCH-UPS POSSIBLE AND FAVORITE PLACES TO GO FROM WEEK TO WEEK.

We celebrated Game 500 on November 21, 2015 when Rutgers defeated Army, 31-21. We’ll bring even more fans when Rutgers hosts Minnesota appropriately at the Birthplace of College Football on October 19 during the anniversary of the college football’s 150th season.

2019 Pro Draft preview

Posted on by

Collegefootballfan.com has attended 82 college football games over the last three years, and with that you can see we’ve surely witnessed some great football talent eligible for the 2019 pro draft coming up this Thursday. Forget the pro days and forget the televised try-outs, we evaluate the players in action. We can’t remember the individual performances of all of them, but based on those we’ve focused on and the overall performance of their team on that day, we can give pretty good assessments of who we think will make it and who won’t despite what the “experts” say. As in the past few years, Collegefootballfan.com presents a pictorial analysis of players in action who you will see and hear about when the selections start this upcoming Thursday.

No. 1 to Arizona Cardinals – Heisman winner Kyler Murray (1) of Oklahoma got outgunned in this showdown against Heisman runner-up Tua Tagovailoa of Alabama. Good arm and good speed, his stats impress with a 69% completion rate for 4,361 yards and 42 TDs against suspect Big Twelve defenses. We don’t think his stature will keep him in the NFL for the long term. For Kyler’s sake, we still hope he’s in one piece when he opts out to pursue a Major League Baseball career.
No. 9 to Buffalo – Houston DT Ed Oliver (10) was an early draft choice, but we thought LB Austin Robinson (22) could possibly make a bigger impact at the pro level. He racked up six sacks among 128 tackles during his senior season with the Cougars. No word on any free agency yet.
No. 11 to Bengals – Alabama LT Jonah Williams (73) will be providing adequate protection to some lucky QB in the NFL as he did for Tua Tagvailoa. He could be a dominating keeper for a long time.
No. 12 to the Dolphins – Clemson’s Christian Wilkins (42) will lead several fellow Tiger defensive line mates including Clelin Ferrel (No. 4 to the Raiders) and Dexter Lawrence (No. 17 to the Giants) into the early rounds of the draft toward stellar careers.
No. 14 to Atlanta Falcons Boston College Guard Chris Lindstrom (75) will be opening up holes to bolster somebody’s running game as he did for the Eagles.
No. 100 to the Panthers West Virginia QB Will Grier runs for first down against VA Tech in their 2017 opener. In 2018, he completed 67% of his passes for 3,864 yards and 37 TDs. Like Kyler Murray, the question is how do those Big Twelve stats translate to success at the next lever?
No. 53 to Philadelphia Miles Sanders (24) bursts through Maryland line for a big gain. He went early in this year’s draft after gaining 1,274 rushing yards and scoring nine TDs for the Nittany Lions.
James Madison CB Jimmy Moreland (6) didn’t follow South Dakota State receiver, Jake Wieneke (19), as an undrafted free agent into the pros. The Redskins made him draft choice no. 227. Weineke signed on with the Vikings before being cut in 2018 and going to the now defunct AAF. Moreland picked off five INTs during his senior season for the Dukes.
Watch out for this guy to make it big in the NFL. Wake Forest’s Greg Dortch torched the Louisville Cardinal secondary four times before he got injured falling on a pylon late in this game. He recovered and caught 89 passes for 1,089 yards and eight TDs from an inexperienced QB in 2018. He’ll be go-to guy for the New York Jets who signed him as a free agent. He’ll be returning punts, too.
Boston College CB Hamp Cheevers (4) looks to make stop against No. 62 to Cardinals UMass WR Andy Isabella who led the FBS in 2018 with 1,698 receiving yards. Cheevers opted out after his junior year to go pro after picking off seven passes. He did not get selected and awaits free agency.
No. 60 to LA Chargers – Delaware Safety Nasir Adderly (23) will seek to make an impact as a hard-hitter in the pros.
Liberty WR Antonio Gandy-Golden makes one of several sideline catches against UMass in a 62-59 OT shoot-out loss. His athleticism impressed us and hopefully some NFL scouts, too. He came down with 71 receptions for 1,037 yards and ten TDs in 2018. No one selected him, but someone will certainly get him into their camp as a free agent.
No . 65 to Cardinals Boston College DE Zach Allen (2) pursues Miami QB in the Eagles 27-14 win last season. He seems to has the size and toughness to make it on Sundays, but we’re not sure about his quickness to make any significant impact at the next level.
Ryquell Armstead (7) races around the right side of Golden Hurricane defense. He ran for 1,098 yards and 13 TDs during his senior season. We liked him in several games early in his Temple career. The Jaguars picked him up ant No. 140.
No. 87 to Patriots – Alabama RB Damien Harris (34) led a talented, balanced Tide rushing attack with 876 yards and nine TDs to the 2018 CFP. He showed his versatility with 22 catches for 204 yards. He runs hard and has a lot of yards left in him to add to the Pats running attack next season.
Over the past two seasons, Penn State’s Amani Oruwariye (21) has impressed at CB tallying 100 tackles and eight INTs. We look forward to him be a solid defender after being drafted by the Lions at No. 146.
No. 78 to Dolphins C/G Michael Deiter (63) of Wisconsin and his cohorts up front put the Badgers at fourth in the nation averaging 273.4 yards per game in the rushing department. He stands 6’6″ 310 lbs and should bolster someone’s line by end of the second round.
    Auburn QB Jarrett Stidham could go on late rounds to be considered for long term development. His performance fell off from junior to senior year at Auburn after transferring from Baylor, but with some development and his strong arm, he could be a worthwhile project for the future. Evidently Bill Belichick thinks the same as the Patriots picked him up at No. 133.
    Boston College’s Tommy Sweeney (89) blocking here against Miami was one of the last Tight Ends picked in this year’s draft by the Bills at No. 228. We also saw TE Irv Smith of Alabama perform against Oklahoma. We liked his toughness and strength. We predicted he’d also be one of the top selections taken at that position and he was by the Vikings at No. 50 .
    Breakfast in the afternoon: No. 90 Dallas Cowboy RG Connor McGovern (323 lbs) “pancakes” Terp DT Keiron Howard (290 Lbs) after Miles Sanders moves past line for PSU.
    Northern Illinois DE Sutton Smith (15) fights to get to Toledo ball carrier and got selected at No. 175 by the Steelers.
    Penn State defenders Kevin Givens (30) and Shareef Miller (48) opted out after their Junior season to risk going pro. The Eagles nabbed DE Miller at No. 138. Givens is waiting to hear what teams may have an interest.
    Alabama Center Ross Pierschbacher opens a hole for Crimson Tide running game and an opportunity with the Washington Redskins who selected him at as No. 153 in the draft.
    Trace McSorely (9) rushes against Maryland Terrapins. The record-setting Penn State QB will now be heading to Maryland instead of against them as the Ravens selected him at No. 137. They may consider him for action at another position so they say.

    Collegefootballfan.com builds 2019 schedule, our 40th

    Posted on by

       Today is Feb 24, 2019, in exactly six months from today, Collegefootballfan.com plans to be at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii for our first game of our 2019 schedule.  To kick-off our 40th season, we travel out over the Pacific to see Hawaii’s Rainbow Warriors (8-6) take on the Arizona Wildcats (5-7).  This will be our first game scheduled outside the continental US, and it fulfills a promise to St. Laurie that we would go back to the Islands to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary by going back to where we spent our honeymoon.  And she even gave her word in front of witnesses that we could go to a football game while there. Our timing couldn’t be any better!

    This game programs shows where and when our great adventure started 40 years ago . Rhode Island didn’t chop up the Delaware Blue Hens that day. UD defeated the Rams handily and started on their way to the D-2 National Championship in 1979. UD will kick-off our 40th season accordingly in 2019.

    Three new stadiums

         Games at Clemson and at Texas along with our far-off trip to the 50th state enable us to add three more FBS venues to our current total of 60. We plan to see the 2018 Champion Tigers off a record-setting 15-0 record host Florida State (5-7) on October 12.    On November 9, we plan to journey to Austin, Texas for the first time to watch the improving Longhorns (10-4) battle the Kansas State Wildcats (5-7) under their new Head Coach Chris Kleiman, just on board after two consecutive FCS National Championships at North Dakota State.

    HC Dabo Swinney will have his Clemson Tigers back in the hunt for another national title this season. We plan to attend our first Clemson home game in our 40th season.

    FCS first for us

        And speaking of North Dakota State, FCS titlists for six of the last seven seasons, the Bison compete on our 2019 schedule for the first time ever when they visit the Fighting Blue Hens of Delaware on September 14 in a key FCS non-conference game.  Last season, like Clemson, ND State finished 15-0 including a 38-10 win over UD at home in Fargo.  This upcoming season, new HC Matt Entz, the Bison defensive coordinator for the past five seasons leads his team into Newark where HC Danny Rocco has the Blue Hens improving in his third season there.  Last season, the Blue Hens finished 7-5 losing their last three games. 

    The Fighting Blue Hens will be looking to stop North Dakota State at home this season. We watched them halt Elon down in Newark last season, 28-16.

    GAME 600!!!

         The 40th year of our great adventure includes our 600th game since 1979.  It’ll be less than four years since we attended Game 500 when we traveled to West Point where we watched Army defeated Rutgers, 31-21. Well Rutgers (1-11), celebrating the 150th anniversary of the first college football game ever against Princeton this season, will be one of our two celebrants for our milestone game when they clash at home with the Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-6). 

    RU HC Chris Ash lives up to his surname this year being on the proverbial hot-seat with a 7-29 record after three seasons.  Across the way will be PJ Fleck entering his third season with the Gophers.  Fleck was former assistant under Greg Schiano at Rutgers.  This game marks our Big Tailgate event for the season!  We’re still planning a game or two beforehand to assure this falls in precisely as # 600 during our 2019 schedule.

    Minnesota Head Coach P.J. Fleck will return to the Rutgers Stadium sideline to celebrate our 600th game this season, but he won’t be wearing Scarlet and White this time.

    Five Midshipmen…

        Of course, Navy and Penn State dominate our 2019 schedule. We hope to see the Mids (3-10) rebound from their first losing season in seven years.  To make it even more worthwhile, we’ll watch them do battle with both their primary rivals for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy.  On October 5, they’ll host Air Force (5-7) in Annapolis for our traditional “Boyz weekend”.  This will be the seventh time we see Mids host the “Zoomies.” On December 14th, we’ll be back in Philly for our 12th meeting between Army (11-2) and Navy. Army’s won the last three meetings. For the storied rivals, this will be their 120th    meeting.  It’ll certainly be another hotly contested gridiron clash on a very cold, December Saturday afternoon.

    In 2019, Navy Senior football players will have their final shot at tradition singing “Navy Blue and Gold” with a win in Philadelphia after the Cadets of Army sing their Alma mater.

      …and three Nittany Lion games

    Penn State games for us will be at State College on extreme weekends of the season. The Lions (9-4) host improving Buffalo (10-4) on September 7, and we’ll be back on November 30 for Senior Day against Rutgers.  In between, we’ll see PSU visit Maryland (5-7) in College Park on Friday, September 27.  We hope we can get to a PSU bowl game this season. It’ll be a priority for us.  We’ll see how the Lion offense adapts with Tommy Stevens stepping in for the graduated Trac McSorely at QB.  The coaching of UB HC Lance Leipold still intrigues us with the improvements being made at Buffalo since he took over after six D-3 National Championships at Wisconsin-Whitewater. Another successful season with the Bulls could have him moving on to a Power Five program looking to improve in 2020.

    Penn State LB Micah Parsons (11) about to put hit on Terps’ Anthony McFarland. Parsons played LB during his Frosh year for the Lions. For the third year in a row, we’ll see PSU play Maryland. Their two previous combined scores have the Lions up, 104-6.

    Break a record or two

    In addition to all these FBS games, we look forward to helping set a D-3 attendance record on November 16 at The Meadowlands in East Rutherford.  On that day, traditional upstate New York rivals Cortland State (7-3) and Ithaca (8-3) will play for the 61st time for the Cortaca Jug.  The venue enables them to set the record for the largest attendance ever at a D-3 game. The current record was set in September 2017 in a game between Minnesota rivals St. John’s and St.  Thomas at Target Field.  The Red Dragons of Cortland and the Bombers of Ithaca plan to eclipse the number of 37,355 souls in those seats that day.  We plan to be part of it.

    Click here to find out how you can make D-3 history!

      During our 40th season, we also hope to eclipse our own record on our 2019 schedule.  Three times we’ve amassed 26 games during the course of a season. We should make that mark once again this year. However, with the discipline to make RU vs. Minnesota our 600th game on October 19, 2019, we will be looking for opportunities and convenient bowl scheduling to try to surpass our personal record for most games in one season.  Once again, we look forward to another great college football season!

    Colgate QB Grant Breneman carries closer to the JMU goal line on a scoring drive. Another FCS playoff game on our 2019 schedule within driving distance could help put us within striking distance to establish a new game record for www.collegefootballfan.com.

      For our current, tentative 2019 schedule which is subject to change, click here to see our most up-to-date plan.