FOUR NEW TEAMS ENTER DIVISION II COACHES’ POLL IN WEEK TWO

WACO, TEX.-- Catawba, Tarleton State, Tiffin and Southern Connecticut State jumped into the 2007 American Football Coaches Association Division II Coaches’ Poll in week two after a string a upsets to some of the Top 25 teams.

No. 1 Grand Valley State received 26 first place votes after the Lakers opened its season with a 42-14 victory over St. Joseph’s. No. 2 Northwest Missouri State, No. 3 North Dakota and No. 4 North Alabama were all idle this week and stay in the same spots. Valdosta State opens its season by beating then-No. 21 Albany State, 41-3, and jumps one spot to No. 5.

Chadron State falls one position to No. 6 despite its 55-14 victory over Wayne State (Neb.). Pittsburg State handed East Central a 41-15 loss and stays at No. 7. Delta State upset Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) member Jackson State, 27-15, and moves up two to No. 8. Carson-Newman also earned a 29-17 win over an FCS member, Tennessee-Chattanooga, and jumps four spots to No. 9. Shepherd beat Shippensburg, 19-14, and rounds out the Top 10.

Nebraska-Omaha opened its season with a 41-24 victory over in-state rival, Nebraska-Kearney, and moves up three to No. 11. No. 12 Bloomsburg beat C.W. Post, 42-28, while No. 13 Northwood opened conference action with a 28-10 win over Mercyhurst. Newberry blanked Chowan, 67-0, and is up two to No. 14. No. 15 West Chester also moved up two spots after beating Edinboro, 32-16.

Southeastern Oklahoma State beat Northwestern Oklahoma State, 48-26, while West Texas A&M upset then-No. 8 South Dakota, 55-45, but both are ranked at No. 16 in this week’s poll. Midwestern State was idle, but moves up one to No. 18. California (Pa.) jumped four spots to No. 19 after beating Glenville State, 34-14. South Dakota fell to No. 20 after its loss to West Texas A&M.

Catawba enters the poll at No. 21 after handing then-No. 22 Elizabeth City State a 34-7 loss. Tarleton State beat FCS member Stephen F. Austin, 27-24, in overtime and also makes its first appearance in the Coaches’ Poll at No. 22. No. 23 Tiffin is the third newcomer this week after the Dragon’s defeated Clarion, 38-10. Abilene Christian fell 13 spots to No. 24 after its 27-17 loss to Central Oklahoma. Southern Connecticut State beat Kutztown, 52-30, and jumps into the poll at No. 25.

Conference Breakdown: The Lone Star Conference (Southeastern Oklahoma State, West Texas A&M, Midwestern State, Tarleton State, Abilene Christian) has the most representatives in the AFCA Division II Coaches’ Poll with five.

Other conferences represented include: Gulf South-3 (North Alabama, Valdosta State, Delta State); North Central-3 (North Dakota, Nebraska-Omaha, South Dakota); Pennsylvania State Athletic-3 (Bloomsburg, West Chester, California (Pa.)); South Atlantic-3 (Carson-Newman, Newberry, Catawba); Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic-2 (Grand Valley State, Northwood); MIAA-2 (Northwest Missouri State, Pittsburg State); Great Lakes Football-1 (Tiffin); Northeast 10-1 (Southern Connecticut State); Rocky Mountain Athletic-1 (Chadron State); West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic-1 (Shepherd).

Head-to-Head
Three games featuring teams ranked in the AFCA Division II Coaches’ Poll highlight this weekend’s action. The first Top 25 matchup sees No. 2 Northwest Missouri State traveling to No. 11 Nebraska-Omaha. The Mavericks own the all-time series lead at 10-8-1, with each team winning at home the last two seasons. The second Top 25 matchup has No. 19 California (Pa.) playing host to No. 12 Bloomsburg. The Huskies own the all-time series lead at 10-6-2 and won last year’s meeting, 24-19, at Bloomsburg. The final Top 25 matchup has the top two teams in the Lone Star Conference meeting each other as No. 22 Tarleton State travels to No. 16 Southeastern Oklahoma State. Tarleton State owns the all-time series lead at 7-4, but lost last year’s meeting, 37-30.

Poll Points
Bloomsburg runningback Jamar Brittingham scored five touchdowns, tying a school record, and totaled 34 points, which set the school single-game scoring record, in the Huskies 42-28 win over C.W. Post. Brittingham scored on runs of 6, 5, 2, 2 and 2 yards and also had two, two-point conversions. Brittingham’s five rushing touchdowns also gave him 65 for his career, setting a new Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference career mark. He also became the PSAC’s all-time leader in career points scored with 408 ... No. 8 Delta State held Jackson State to negative 29 yards rushing in the Statesmen’s 27-15 upset victory over the Football Championship Subdivision member.

American Football Coaches Association Division II Coaches’ Poll

September 4, 2007

Rank School (1st votes) Rec. Pts. Prev.
Last Week Next Game

1. Grand Valley St. (Mich.) (26) 1-0 696 1
D. St. Joseph’s (Ind.), 42-14 Sept. 8 at Ashland (Ohio)
2. Northwest Missouri St. (1) 0-0 668 2
Idle Sept. 8 at No. 11 Nebraska-Omaha
3. North Dakota (1) 1-0 645 3
Idle Sept. 8 at Southern Utah
4. North Alabama 0-0 601 4
Idle Sept. 8 vs. Tusculum (Tenn.)
5. Valdosta St. (Ga.) 1-0 561 6
D. No. 21 Albany St. (Ga.), 41-3 Sept. 8 at Fort Valley St. (Ga.)
6. Chadron St. (Neb.) 2-0 543 5
D. Wayne St. (Neb.), 55-14 Sept. 8 at Northern Colorado
7. Pittsburg St. (Kan.) 2-0 506 7
D. East Central (Okla.), 41-15 Sept. 15 at Missouri Southern
8. Delta St. (Miss.) 1-0 469 10
D. Jackson St. (Miss.), 27-15 Sept. 15 vs. Henderson St. (Ark.)
9. Carson-Newman (Tenn.) 2-0 460 13 D. Tennessee-Chattanooga, 29-17 Sept. 15 vs. St. Augustine’s (N.C.)
10. Shepherd (W.Va.) 2-0 435 9
D. Shippensburg (Pa.), 19-14 Sept. 15 at Glenville St. (W.Va.)
11. Nebraska-Omaha 1-0 378 14
D. Nebraska-Kearney, 41-24 Sept. 8 vs. No. 2 Northwest Missouri St.
12. Bloomsburg (Pa.) 1-0 364 12
D. C.W. Post (N.Y.), 42-28 Sept. 8 at No. 19 California (Pa.)
13. Northwood (Mich.) 1-0 336 15
D. Mercyhurst (Pa.), 28-10 Sept. 8 at Findlay (Ohio)
14. Newberry (S.C.) 1-0 308 16
D. Chowan (N.C.), 67-0 Sept. 8 vs. Bowie St. (Md.)
15. West Chester (Pa.) 1-0 268 17
D. Edinboro (Pa.), 32-16 Sept. 8 at Delaware
16T. Southeastern Oklahoma St. 1-0 243 18
D. Northwestern Oklahoma St., 48-26 Sept. 8 vs. No. 22 Tarleton St. (Texas)
16T. West Texas A&M 1-0 243 24
D. No. 8 South Dakota, 55-45 Sept. 8 at Adams St. (Colo.)
18. Midwestern St. (Texas) 1-0 239 19
Idle Sept. 8 vs. Southwestern Oklahoma St.
19. California (Pa.) 2-0 197 23
D. Glenville St. (W.Va.), 34-14 Sept. 8 vs. No. 12 Bloomsburg (Pa.)
20. South Dakota 0-1 180 8
Lost to No. 24 West Texas A&M, 55-45 Sept. 8 vs. Winona St. (Minn.)
21. Catawba (N.C.) 2-0 142 NR
D. No. 22 Elizabeth City St. (N.C.), 34-7 Sept. 8 vs. Livingstone (N.C.)
22. Tarleton St. (Texas) 2-0 137 NR
D. Stephen F. Austin (Texas), 27-24 OT Sept. 8 at No. 16 Southeastern Oklahoma St.
23. Tiffin (Ohio) 2-0 83 NR
D. Clarion (Pa.), 38-10 Sept. 8 vs. Glenville St. (W.Va.)
24. Abilene Christian (Texas) 0-1 56 11
Lost to Central Oklahoma, 27-17 Sept. 8 at Texas St.
25. Southern Connecticut St. 1-0 50 NR
D. Kutztown (Pa.), 52-30 Sept. 7 vs. Bentley (Mass.)

Dropped Out (last week’s rating): Bemidji St. (Minn.) (20), Albany St. (Ga.) (21), Elizabeth City St. (N.C.) (22), Saginaw Valley St. (Mich.) (25)

Others Receiving Votes: Wingate (N.C.), 45; Southwestern Oklahoma St., 42; Western Washington, 35; Tuskegee, 25; Ashland (Ohio), 20; Central Washington, 16; Missouri Western St., 16; Albany St. (Ga.), 12; Winona St. (Minn.), 8; Ferris St. (Mich.), 7; Henderson St. (Ark.), 7; Lane (Tenn.), 7; Minnesota-Duluth, 7; Saginaw Valley St. (Mich.), 7; Washburn (Kan.), 7; Bemidji St. (Minn.), 6; Fort Valley St. (Ga.), 6; Indiana (Pa.), 6; Mars Hill (N.C.), 5; Elizabeth City St. (N.C.), 3; Southern Arkansas, 2; Fort Hays St. (Kan.), 1; Merrimack (Mass.), 1; Ouachita Baptist (Ark.), 1.

For more information on the AFCA and its programs, log on to the AFCA’s website at www.afca.com.

THE ROAD TO ATLANTA: THE SEC EAST

BY RAFAEL GARCIA
SEC INSIDER
Down in the southern parts of America, college football stadiums were filled to capacity this past weekend -- anticipation and intensity so thick you can’t cut it with wire cutters. Welcome to the Southeastern Conference:

Last season, nine teams went to a bowl game winning a SEC record six. Two went to a BCS bowl and one stood alone as a BCS champs. Let’s peek into these teams and their chances of making it to Atlanta and the SEC Title game.

Florida- The defending champs now put their hopes of a repeat on the arms and legs of Tim Tebow. He has shown flashes of what he can do but is he ready to be the man? He has two good targets in Bubba Caldwell and Percy Harvin. Most of the offensive line returns, from a season in which they performed better than was projected in 2006. On defense, end Derrick Harvey tries to improve on an 11-sack season, including three in the BCS title game. The secondary is full of speed and ability. Can they mesh for a championship push? Other than Florida State their non-conference schedule is weak. Will the Gators repeat? Likely not but don’t count out this champ till the final round.

Tennessee- The Volunteers are looking to put Rocky Top back on top. Phillip Fulmer knows the Vol faithful won’t wait long for results or to start the call for the coach’s head. Senior quarterback Erik Ainge must step forward and be the complete signal caller Tennessee has waited for. Making it tougher is the fact that he has no standout receiver in his stable. Running backs Arian Foster, Montario Hardesty and LaMarcus Coker should form a potent ground game. They will need their inexperienced offensive line to do a better job of opening up holes than they did last year. The defense had its own difficulties getting into the opponent’s backfield. In order for the Vols to compete the defensive line will have to stop the run game and get pressure on the opposing quarterback to prevent the big plays that hurt them last year. Jonathan Hefney is the only sure thing they have in the secondary. The Vols will be hard pressed to make it to Atlanta but if Ainge and the defense hold their end up the Vols have a chance.

South Carolina- The Gamecocks feel this is their time, so says The Ole Ball Coach Steve Spurrier. After an 8-5 campaign, this team feels it is ready to compete for the East now. Quarterback Blake Mitchell came on strong during the second half of last season, but started this year serving a suspension. Spurrier has molded this kid and he knows how to get the best from his quarterbacks, so know one could more disappointed in Mitchell’s off the field troubles. Cory Boyd and Mike Davis give S.C. a solid ground game so long as the offensive line can step up, as the coach is demanding. Defensively they are still weak against the run, while their pass defense is a bit more stable and should get even better this season. Maybe this team should worry more about another a winning season before thinking they can win the East.

Georgia- The Bulldogs will have sophomore Matthew Stafford take the helm from day one after leading the Dogs to wins against three Top 25 foes (Auburn, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech) as a redshirt freshman. Kregg Lumpkin is a duel threat as a runner, as well as a receiver. On defense, they lose many of their starters, but they have a good young nucleus just itching to make their mark. The secondary is loaded with talent and is expected to give opposing wide receivers all they can handle. Lastly, they must improve on their woeful kick return game to hope to compete for the East.

Kentucky- The Wildcats are ready to take few bites out of the SEC. They come off a bowl win and have Andre Woodson at quarterback. He led the league in total offense, passing yards per game and touchdown passes. His number one target will be Keenan Burton who had 77 catches for 1036 yards and 12 touchdowns. On defense they just flat out stink -- they can score but will be scored on. A 37-35 game with this team is par for the course. Just as last year, the secondary will give up chunks of yardage. With this team, you know they won’t challenge for the East but they sure can be fun to watch and may even play spoiler with an upset or two.

Vanderbilt- After so many years of losing could this be the year? In a word…no. Can the ‘Dores break a 24 year drought and have a winning season as well as go to a bowl? Quarterback Chris Nixon has the tools and the receiver in Earl Bennett. Bennett is arguably the best receiver in the SEC -- he has great hands and runs great routes. The running game provided stability for Nixon allowing him to shine as a passer. Defensively, Vandy must do a better job against the run, as they gave up too many big runs that led to points for their opponents. They have the experience in linebackers Jonathan Goff and Chris Williams to get better. At this point, the only thing that matters is that they achieve their goal of a winning season and a bowl berth. The rest as they say will take care of itself.

Check back tomorrow for the SEC West

FROM THE DEEP SOUTH: THE SEC REPORT

BY NEIL BISMAN
SEC INSIDER

All twelve teams in the SEC were in action for the opening weekend of the season and they have only two losses to show for it. Unfortunately, for the conference, two of those losses were on television and they were not pretty. A third team who won in the national spotlight, made things a lot harder on themselves than it should have been.

-LSU may have gotten off to a slow start in their romp over Mississippi State but talk of them not looking very impressive are a little premature. The team was breaking in a new quarterback, a new offensive coordinator and had to deal with some bad weather. Add all of that together and suddenly hanging 45 points on the road doesn’t look too bad, even if it was over Mississippi State.

-Speaking of Mississippi State, perhaps it wasn’t in their best interest to wear white at home and force LSU to wear purple instead of their traditional white jerseys. Sometimes its best to let sleeping dogs, or in this case sleeping Tigers, lie.

-Florida picked up right from where they left off a season ago with a 49-3 rout of Western Kentucky in a contest shortened due to lightning. The young Gators’ defense looked shaky at times but that’s to be expected at this point of the season. Luckily for them, the offense looked to be in midseason form because this team is going to have to win quite a few shootouts if they hope to repeat as SEC Champions let alone National Champions.

-Alabama looked impressive in Nick Saban’s debut but they are going to need a lot more than they got out of John Parker Wilson if they hope to be playing in Atlanta on the first weekend of December. On the bright side, at least he didn’t look as bad as the Western Carolina helmets. It’s never a good sign when your logo matches that of a Broadway play.

-The Gamecock faithful had better hope that Blake Mitchell does not miss any more time because the South Carolina offense really struggled to get off the ground without him. Good thing this game was against a school from Lafayette, Louisiana and not Baton Rouge, Louisiana or else it may have gotten ugly.

-Earl Bennett continues to put up numbers normally seen in a video game. It may have been against Richmond but Vanderbilt looked impressive in the blowout victory as they look to make their first Bowl appearance since 1982. They are going to need a lot more though out of their running backs if they hope to make that dream a reality.

-A huge win for Ole Miss this past weekend on the road against Memphis. With the exception of a blowout loss at Arkansas, Mississippi played extremely competitive football down the stretch last season and should be able to build on some of that momentum. A win at home against up-and-coming Missouri next week could be just what this team needs to propel itself out of the SEC cellar. For that to happen though, they are going to need a much better performance out of BenJarvus Green-Ellis than the one they got in Memphis.

-Perhaps the most impressive performance of the week for the conference took place in Athens when the Georgia Bulldogs rolled over the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Cowboys were a very trendy upset pick due to their high-octane offense but the Georgia defense did a tremendous job of shutting them down. Matthew Stafford continues play beyond his years and this Bulldog team may have a lot more bite than people give them credit for.

-The Kentucky offense looks extremely impressive with their three-headed monster of quarterback Andre Woodson, running back Rafael Little and wide receiver Keenan Burton but they need to get more out of their defense if they hope to replicate last season’s win total of eight. The defense did not look all that bad against in-state opponent Eastern Kentucky but that effort won’t cut it against in-state rival Louisville.

-Darren McFadden and Felix Jones continue to look like the best backfield in America but Casey Dick’s 11-of-20 effort against Troy, is not going to get the job done against conference opponents. Dick was without his favorite target in Marcus Monk but there is no guarantee that Monk will be back for the Hogs’ September 15 trip to Alabama. Houston Nutt and company had better have a Plan B.

-There is no truth to the rumor that Brandon Cox was injured during the typing of this SEC report but it would not be much of a surprise. The injury-plagued quarterback looked rather unimpressive and running back Ben Tate looked rather pedestrian filling in for the suspended Brad Lester. It wasn’t pretty but Auburn did prevail in the end over a young Kansas State team. K-State may be pesky, but what will Auburn do when they get an even peskier South Florida at Jordan-Hare Stadium this Saturday?

-Last and certainly least are the Tennessee Volunteers who apparently forgot to pack their defense for the trip to Berkeley, California. Cal deserves a lot of credit as they are an extremely fast and extremely talented football team but Tennessee looked flat-out terrible. The offense was able to expose an equally weak Bears defense and Erik Ainge did not appear to miss a beat with his broken pinky but the poor defense was just too much to overcome. If you feel something warm in Knoxville that isn’t one last summer heat wave, that would be the seat of one Phillip Fulmer.

Overall, a good week for the conference in terms of victories but many teams do have their problems. That’s what early-season cupcakes on the schedule are for; better to sort out the issues now than during the grind that is conference play.
Ala

ORANGE CRUSHED 42-12 BY U-DUB

BY CHRISTOPHER J. MOGOLLON
BIG EAST INSIDER
As Friday morning rolled along there was a lot of excitement brewing all day on campus for “Friday night lights” – even though the Orange always play under lights. It would be the first time Syracuse was featured in a big night game since they lost to Florida State 2004. Campus was bumping, sporting more orange than usual, it seemed around every corner, there were fraternities, alumni and even faculty getting ready to root on their Orange to a win.

Walking to the Dome there was a there was sense that maybe -- just maybe -- this would be the big win the program was looking for, the one that pushes them out of the cellar. Unfortunately, the team looked worse than their bright retro unis as they laid a giant egg on national television.

This was a battle between two coaches on the hot seat, Greg Robinson (SU) vs. Tyron Willingham (UW) and clearly, Robinson’s team didn’t impress anyone. The halftime score was only 14-6, and it appeared it would be a close game with two teams looking to shake the rust off. Instead, Washington blew the doors off the Dome. The Orange allowed a total 302 yards rushing and they were missing tackles left and right. It seemed as if every Washington player was that much faster.

Running back Louis Rankin rushed for 146 yards and three touchdowns averaging 8.6 a carry. Rankin had a 47-yard touchdown run down the sidelines to give Washington a secure lead to open up the second half. Freshman quarterback Jake Locker hurt Syracuse on the ground as well, rushing for 83 yards and two touchdowns. He was stable though the air going 14/19 with 142 yards.

The new linebacking crew looked bad, nobody made a big play or any good tackles. Defensive End Jameel McClain could not get any pressure on the quarterback, as his name was not called often. The only thing worse than the play of the linebackers was the play of the Syracuse offensive line. This line gave Robinson zero protection allowing SEVEN sacks, not to mention a ton of hurries.

Robinson made some good throws when he had time but that was so rare that it is extremely hard to even judge the rookies performance. With running back Curtis Brinkley banged up the Orange mixed up their running backs. Brinkley only touched the ball six times for a total of four yards and Syracuse had eight total rushing yards.

The loss was a total team effort, there was nobody on the entire team that stood out and played spectacular or made a game changing play. The Orange D looked slow and in the second half wore down. As fans emptied out the Dome, in the third quarter, there was not much excitement for the rest of the year, instead the talk was how many points West Virginia will score on the Orange, some wondering if the Mountaineers could reach triple digits.

Check below to see how the rest of the Big East fared