Saturday, November 15, 2014
Maine (3-3/4-5) at Elon (0-6/1-9)
The Villanova game on October 4 started a three game losing streak for the Black Bears. Now they are on a two game win streak with their biggest win of the year coming last week, a 33-20 upset of #8 Richmond. Last year the Black Bears won the CAA, went to the playoffs and finished 10-3 with two of those losses to New Hampshire. Maine has a chance to get their revenge next week. The goal for Jack Cosgrove and his team for these last two games is to finish with a winning season (6-5) which would mean a four game win streak to carry into the recruiting season and next year.
The Phoenix haven't won a game since September 20 against Charlotte. That's 7 losses in a row. They are still looking for their first-ever CAA conference win. That won't happen next week at JMU so it has to be done this weekend.
This is a coin-flip game and tails came up for the visiting Bears but only by one, 21-20 Maine. Maine finishes at home with UNH and Phoenix travels to Harrisonburg for JMU.
Delaware (4-2/6-4) at #1 New Hampshire (6-0/8-1)
The Blue Hens picked up a nice road win last week at Albany, 31-28. They are still talking playoffs down in Newark for 2014 after their upsets of #1 CAA New Hampshire and #2CAA Villanova. Silly Hens, don't they know that UNH never losses at home? The rest of the FCS football world, who have their heads screwed on right, are saying to the Delaware faithful - be happy with a .500 season.
Congratulations to coach Sean McDonnell and his entire staff that after the North Dakota St. loss this past weekend, the # 1 team in FCS football is from the CAA Conference - the UNH Wildcats! Their win streak is now 8 after an opening loss to 1-A Toledo.
Look for a 34-21 win up in Durham for UNH this weekend. UNH finishes their regular season at Maine and Delaware hosts Villanova on the 22nd.
#25 JMU (4-2/7-3) at #14 Richmond (4-2/7-3)
Looks like the winner of this game goes to the playoffs and the loser empties their lockers until Spring ball. The Spiders put themselves in this position with their 5 turnovers and 33-20 upset loss at Maine last week. Richmond QB Michael Rocco, a 1-A transfer from Virginia and a senior, had 4 interceptions in the Maine game. His inconsistency may keep the Spiders out of the playoffs or result in a quicker-than-expected exit.
Looks like it took the JMU players a little longer to implement new head coach Everett Withers' system but they are firing on all cylinders right now and are a hot team with a win streak of 5 (thank God our Cats played them at home and early in the season). Last weekend was a huge 27-24 win at Stony Brook.
How do you pick against the CAA leading QB in JMU's Vad Lee (a 1-A transfer from Georgia Tech) and the sizzling Dukes? Well, the Spiders are still pretty hot having won 5 of their last 6 and Villanova fans know what the Richmond defense can do to an excellent quarterback. It's another coin-flip game and this time it came up heads for the home team Spiders, 27-24. The JMU Dukes finish at home next week vs Elon while the Spiders must travel to Williamsburg for W&M.
Rhode Island (0-6/0-10) at Stony Brook (3-3/4-6)
The Rams lost at home last week to #1 CAA UNH (and now #1 in FCS polls), 41-14. Their only and last chance for a victory this year is next week at home vs 4-6 Towson. Looks like the fired Joe Trainer curse on the URI program may last the entire season.
The Seawolves, in spite of their record, are a pretty dangerous team. #1 UNH had to come from behind to beat them two weeks ago and the hot Dukes of JMU trailed 24-10 before pulling out a 4th quarter victory last week.
This week belongs to the Seawolves with a 31-10 win but next week will be interesting when SB travels to Albany to finish the season. The Rams host Towson in Week 13.
#24 William & Mary (3-3/6-4) at Towson (2-4/4-6)
The Tribe must run the table to keep alive their slim playoff chances. That means a must-win this weekend at Towson and defeat Richmond in Williamsburg next week. To their credit, W&M has no bad losses so they should come out with the win this weekend. However, they seemed to sleepwalk through the 2nd half at home vs 1-9 Elon last week after jumping out to a 17-0 halftime lead and finishing with a 17-7 win.
Last weekend Towson caught Villanova sleepwalking in their first two possessions while the Tigers scored on their 1st possession in just 55 seconds and 3 plays. Finally, the Cats turned up the heat and rolled to a 42-14 win on the Mainline. Towson is all over the place this year. Their best win was on the road at 6-4 Delaware and their worst loss to 2-8 Northeast Conference Central Connecticut St. in Week One at home. I guess they have a chance in most games since they have Darius Victor, the best runningback in the CAA but then again one man shouldn't be able to carry a team (wait a minute, on 2nd thought...).
The Tribe goes Tiger hunting this weekend for a 31-17 win. The Tribe hosts Richmond and Towson goes to Kingston, Rhode Island.
Albany (2-4/6-4) at #6 Villanova (5-1/8-2)
The Great Danes, in spite of their 31-28 loss at home to Delaware last week, are still getting Top 25 votes. So come prepared Villanova. Congratulations must be given to their new head coach, Greg Gattuso, who replaced the legendary Bob Ford (only the 2nd Albany coach in 44 years) and has turned a 2013 1-11 season completely around to a very outside chance at the 2014 playoffs. Gattuso was head coach at Duquesne with a 97-32 record in 10 seasons. He was also a very successful assistant at Pitt and Maryland and won a National Championship as a player at Penn State. Dick Vitale would call him a flat-out winner, baby!
Between 2009 and 2012 the Danes never had a losing season going 7-4, 6-5, 8-4 and 9-2 in 2012 winning the Northeast Conference and leaving it for a step-up in the CAA. Since they didn't have the 63 player limit of scholarships they really struggled in their 1st CAA year going 0-8 in 2013.
In rushing offense in the CAA Villanova is ranked 1st and Albany 9th even though they have the 3rd best rusher in JR/RB Omar Osbourne, who averages about 100 yards a game on the ground. Both teams design their defense to stop the run with Villanova ranked 2nd in the CAA and Albany 4th. In scoring defense Villanova is ranked 2nd (19.5 ppg) and Albany 3rd (21.6 ppg). In passing offense the Cats are ranked 4th and Albany 6th. Their QB is a senior (Will Fiacchi) and is ranked 3rd in the CAA right behind John Robertson and averages 217 yards per game through the air. His favorite target is only a freshman from the state of Maryland, Josh Gontarek, who is ranked 6th in the CAA while Villanova best - Poppy Livers is ranked 9th.
On defense their strength is with their linebackers - Michael Nicastro and Christian Dorsey. Where the Cats have a big advantage is with the Red Zone defense - Cats are 2nd but Albany 11th.
Though the Great Danes are getting Top 25 votes it's with a suspect schedule. They played no 1-A team.
4-6 Holy Cross - 14-13
at 2-8 Central Connecticut St. - 19-0
at 0-10 URI - 37-20
0-8 Columbia - 42-7
7-3 JMU - 28-31
7-3 Richmond - 28-41
at 4-5 Maine - 20-7
4-6 Colgate - 24-17
at 8-1 UNH - 24-49
6-4 Delaware - 28-31
Cats beat Towson 42-14 and thinking that Albany is a definite step up from the Tigers, let's go with a 35-21 win Saturday night for the Cats. Albany finishes at home against Stony Brook and Villanova travels to Newark for the Battle of the Blue against their archrival - Delaware.
GO CATS - BEAT ALBANY!
