Like It and Love It: FCS Playoff Round of 16
North Dakota State isn't dead yet, Southern Illinois proves they belong and everything else from the first round of the playoffs
Love It: North Dakota State will not go down without a fight
As long as North Dakota State is in the playoffs, they’re going to be the biggest story. They drew a tough Eastern Washington team and even though they won pretty easily, 42-20 it wasn’t without intrigue. North Dakota State looked like they could get run off the field early before completely flipping the game in the opposite direction.
Eastern Washington moved the ball at will early leading 14-0 and 20-7, but the North Dakota State defense shored up and shut Eastern Washington down the rest of the game. Eastern Washington had 217 yards of offense in the first 20 minutes of game time, but only gained 90 the rest of the game. North Dakota State’s defense has been vulnerable at times this year and was early in this game, but the Bison defense found an extra gear when they needed it and wiped out the Eastern Washington offense.
On the other side of the ball, well, North Dakota State looked like North Dakota State. Cam Miller got his first career start, but he wasn’t the story. The Bison did absolutely anything they wanted in the run game. NDSU ground Eastern Washington down, running the ball 57 times for 422 yards which is 7.4 yards per carry. Miller was...fine? He had 80 total yards of offense, but threw for two touchdowns and ran in another. He wasn’t asked to do much and didn’t make any mistakes, and like most NDSU games if their quarterback can do that they’re going to win.
So what do we make of all this? I have no idea honestly. It’s really impressive that North Dakota State faced a different kind of adversity than they’ve faced at other times this year and handled it extremely well, but we’re still asking the same questions we were asking coming into the week: Can their quarterback win them a game if they need to? Eastern Washington had the worst defense the Bison will play in the playoffs so it’s hard to make a determination about the NDSU offense. Eastern Washington also had maybe the best offense North Dakota State will play in the playoffs and the way the Bison defense turned things around is encouraging.
This sets up a FASCINATING quarterfinal game with Sam Houston State. The dynasty facing more questions than ever coming off a good win goes up against a team known for playoff disappointment coming off a shaky performance. Speaking of that shaky performance...
Like It, But Really No Sir, I Don’t Like It: Sam Houston State wins with defense
When the bracket came out, one first round matchup didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me: Monmouth at Sam Houston State. Even though Monmouth only played three games, both the human polls and computer polls thought highly of the Hawks. Monmouth was tenth in the human poll and ranked 15th in the Massey Ratings. Contrast that with Sacred Heart who was 69th in the Massey Ratings and not really facing a significantly longer hypothetical trip to Huntsville, it really seems like the committee should’ve sent Sacred Heart to play Sam Houston State and Monmouth to play Delaware.
That’s not a hindsight opinion after Monmouth nearly pulled off a stunning comeback against Sam Houston State. Let’s start with the positive for Sam Houston State: they held Monmouth, who entered the game averaging 41.7 points per game, to just 15 points. Monmouth is the third team Sam Houston State played that ranked in the top five in scoring offense and the Bearkats held all three under 20 points.
That said, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT SAM HOUSTON STATE???
The Bearkats defense was great for three quarters, but the offense was a mess all day. Sam Houston State only ran 49 plays and gained just 257 yards. They scored three touchdowns thanks to one short field and two explosive plays, but couldn’t sustain any drives. They ran the ball well at times, but never seemed ready to commit to it. The inability to consistently move the ball kept Monmouth alive, but barely entering the fourth quarter.
Monmouth just kept grinding and grinding and wore the Sam Houston State defense down in the final frame. Monmouth ran an astounding 92(!) plays in the game. They ran 32 plays in the fourth quarter and controlled the ball for 10:55. They were 8-11 on third down and converted two of three fourth downs in the final frame. Sam Houston State’s defense was completely gassed and got no help from its offense. Monmouth cut the deficit from 21-0 to 21-15 and had a first and goal situation for the lead, but Sam Houston State’s defense was able to get the one stop they needed, intercepting Tony Muskett in the endzone on fourth down.
I mentioned in my playoff preview that Sam Houston State’s defense was reason to believe this postseason run might end differently for the Bearkats, but they’re going to have to figure out things fast on offense or else they’re going to be in serious trouble going forward. That’s a cruel twist for a program who put so many great offenses on the field, but never had a defense to contend for a national championship in the past.
Love It: Southern Illinois proves they belong
Nick Hill was irritated on his birthday. The Southern Illinois coach didn’t seem like he was enjoying his 36th birthday because he had opt outs on his mind. Hill went to Twitter to express his frustration with the Salukis’ last two opponents opting out of the season. His rant was serendipitous because it struck a chord with Southeastern Louisiana coach Frank Scelfo. Scelfo agreed to bring his team to Carbondale on less than two weeks notice. That 55-48 win over SELA might have just propelled Southern Illinois into the playoffs.
The Salukis proved their playoff inclusion was deserved with a thrilling 34-31 win on the road at Weber State. Southern Illinois has been a team with a great offense and suspect defense all year and that was the case early in this game. They trailed 21-7 in the second quarter, but they just kept grinding and grinding.
Trailing 21-17 late in the third quarter, SIU lined up for a short field goal. They lined up Cole Steward out wide and nobody from Weber State noticed it. Kicker Nico Gualdoni took the snap and made the easiest touchdown pass a kicker has probably ever made in their life and the Salukis had their first lead of the game. The teams traded field goals in the fourth quarter before Weber State went up 31-27 on a Bronson Barron touchdown run with 5:25 left.
On their final drive, SIU managed to chisel out from a 1st and 27 hole to set up a 4th and 6 from the Weber State 8 yard line with just under a minute to go. Stone Labanowitz, whose craftiness is such an asset to the Salukis, lofted the ball to Branson Combs in the back of the endzone for the game-winning score.
It’s a bitter loss for Weber State. The Wildcats probably felt disrespected not getting a national seed despite being ranked third in the country. The committee dinged them for winning their last four games by just 18 combined points. Instead of a national seed they drew a really good Southern Illinois team and came up just short.
A Twitter rant may have led to Southern Illinois making the playoffs now they’re headed to the quarterfinals to play South Dakota State. Southern Illinois gets the chance to avenge a 44-3 loss in which they completely imploded in the second and third quarters. In that game Southern Illinois led 3-0, but after a South Dakota State touchdown the next six SIU possessions went: fumble, interception, interception, turnover on downs, interception, punt. In a little more than a quarter of action Southern Illinois went from down 7-3 to down 41-3. If they can avoid a similar trainwreck it’s not crazy to think they can compete with the Jackrabbits.
No Sir, I Don’t Like It: Missouri State doesn’t reward the selection committee
If Southern Illinois proved they belonged in the 16-team field, their conference brethren Missouri State sure didn’t. Missouri State was admittedly a tough team to evaluate. After an 0-3 Fall schedule where they lost to Oklahoma and twice to Central Arkansas the Bears did go 5-1 in the Spring. The problem in terms of evaluation was they only played one of the three best teams in the Missouri Valley getting blown out 25-0 by North Dakota State. On the flip side, it would be hard to leave Missouri State out and put Southern Illinois in because Missouri State won the head-to-head game. The committee did have an out though, they could put Missouri State up against South Dakota State or North Dakota because they didn’t play either in the regular season. They sent Missouri State to North Dakota to play a Hawks team they were supposed to play April 3rd but didn’t because of COVID.
North Dakota might’ve had the strangest end of the regular season of any team in the playoffs. The Hawks started a surprising 4-0 before getting humbled in Fargo against North Dakota State on March 20th. North Dakota didn’t play another regular season game. They had three games cancelled because of COVID and a game with Illinois State lost because the Redbirds opted out of the season. There were fair questions about how they would look after such a long layoff.
North Dakota looked well-rested, not well-rusted. UND led 24-3 at the half en route to a 44-10 win. They jumped out 14-0 on touchdown passes of 50 and 48 yards. The North Dakota defense only allowed 50 yards and sacked Matt Struck seven times in the first half. It was a complete performance for North Dakota who won their first ever playoff game and head to play an interesting game with James Madison next week.
Despite the struggles in this game, Missouri State should be proud of what they accomplished this year. They were picked to finish tied for last in the conference, but won a share of the conference championship and made their first playoff appearance in 30 years.
Like It: Sometimes you just have to handle business
Every game doesn’t have to be dramatic or have some narrative attached to it. Sometimes good teams play playoff games against teams they are better than and just take care of business. I wish something moved me more in regards to four of the better teams in the field, but it honestly didn’t.
Top seed South Dakota State gave Holy Cross some opportunities early they weren’t able to capitalize on and the Jackrabbits quickly took control and weren’t threatened in a 31-3 win. SDSU was stout in the run game again running 34 times and averaging 8.1 yards per carry. Mark Gronowski had three touchdown passes, but will still need to be more consistent as the competition gets better the deeper they go in the playoffs. Coach John Steigelmeier summed the day up well: “some days you just go to work, punt the ball and play good defense.” FEEL THE EXCITEMENT!
Third seed James Madison beat VMI 31-24 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicated. Jawon Hamilton scored on a school-record 99-yard touchdown run to open the scoring and the Dukes never looked back. Give VMI a lot of credit. The Keydets got to within seven with nine seconds left in the game which made James Madison have to recover an onside kick, but the Dukes mostly handled their business.
Fourth seed Jacksonville State used a quick burst to turn a close game with Davidson into a blowout. The Gamecocks got the ball with 3:13 left in the first half up 14-7. 76 seconds into the third quarter they were up 35-7 and the game was pretty much over. Jacksonville State quarterback Zion Webb was efficient totalling 307 yards of offense and three touchdowns.
Jacksonville State will host Delaware next. The Blue Hens had 199 yards of offense and were 2-13 on third down and still beat Sacred Heart 19-10. The less said about this game the better. Julius Chestnut had a good game, but couldn’t get any help. He gained 138 of Sacred Heart’s 236 yards.
Like It: No shame in losing
Sure, some of the games this weekend weren’t all that close, but all-in-all every team had some bright spots with the notable exception of Missouri State. VMI was outclassed by James Madison, but the Keydets fought to the very end. For a school that hadn’t had a winning season in 40 years entering this Spring and was playing their first every playoff game they left their fans with a performance to be very proud of.
The final score line was ugly for Davidson, but as I mentioned above, they got blown out because things spiraled on them really quickly. That can happen against good teams. They can be proud of the fact that they hung with one of the best teams in the country for a good bit and can also learn some lessons about how buttoned up you have to be to pull off upsets in the playoffs. A playoff debutant like VMI, Davidson has so much to be proud of.
Holy Cross had two prime scoring chances on South Dakota State early. They missed on a wide open pass play that probably would’ve gone for a touchdown and then had a field goal blocked. They then missed a wide open receiver on a trick play. They had some openings to make things interesting and couldn’t do it and the final score line reflected that, but that’s how it goes. Holy Cross had only been to the playoffs twice before Bob Chesney took over in 2018 and now they’ve made the playoffs two years in a row.
Sacred Heart fought their asses off against Delaware but came up short. They held the Blue Hens under 200 yards of offense and held CAA Offensive Player of the Year Dejoun Lee to just 35 yards. Sacred Heart was a bit of a surprise playoff team, avenging a regular season loss to Duquesne on the road in the NEC title game. It was the school’s first playoff appearance since 2014 and they put a scare into a really good team.
The reality is that the seven of the top eight teams in the FCS polls are in the Quarterfinals and should be. The other is Southern Illinois who went on the road to beat the number three team in the polls. The beautiful thing about a playoff system that is inclusive of all the conferences is that it gives programs from smaller conferences a chance to compete with the best teams in the country. All of the final scores may not have truly indicated it, but every single one of those teams achieved a lot even in defeat.