Love It: The FCS National Championship Game
Sam Houston wins its first FCS Championship in a wild game where stars shined brightly
Love It: A game for the ages, or big time players step up in big games
Wow.
Every championship game in sports comes with the hope that we’ll get to see something special. Sam Houston and South Dakota State delivered just that. It sure didn’t seem like we were headed in that direction early. The first quarter and a half were played under monsoon conditions. Both teams had trouble with ball security. There were five fumbles in the opening period. Some of the life was sucked out of the game on the opening drive when South Dakota State’s star quarterback Mark Gronowski limped off the field when the Jackrabbits were forced to punt. He tried to throw a warm up pass on the sideline but couldn’t put much pressure on his leg. His day was done after two pass attempts and two carries.
But all of that seemed like it happened YEARS ago as the teams traded punches down the stretch. Yeah, that was also probably aided by the over hour long weather delay, but there was so much drama. It was everything you could want. When championships are on the line you want star players to make star plays. To paraphrase the words of the wise profit Santana Moss, big time players stepped up.
The first star was Jequez Ezzard. Ezzard started his career at Howard where he led the country in yards per catch in 2018. After missing the 2019 season due to injury, Ezzard transferred to Sam Houston for his final year. He was second in the country in yards per catch in the regular season, but Monmouth and North Dakota State held him to four catches and 38 yards in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Ezzard broke out last week against James Madison hauling in a 69 yard touchdown catch and returning an 80 yard punt for another score. He carried that momentum over to the title game. After having a punt return touchdown nullified by a penalty, Ezzard caught a screen pass at the boundary, went around a defender and then cut across the field through the South Dakota State defense for a 35-yard score. He added a 15-yard score with 1:21 left in the first half and the Bearkats were up 14-7 which felt insurmountable.
Sunday was a rough day for Keaton Heide. Heide took over for Gronowski and he really struggled. Heide hadn’t played much this season, but he took over for an injured J’Bore Gibbs against North Dakota State in 2019 and started five games. Gibbs got injured in mop up duty during the regular season against Southern Illinois this season, so Heide was the only viable option to replace Gronowski. He looked uncomfortable against Sam Houston. He struggled in the pocket. He missed open receivers. On a 4th and 2 from the Sam Houston 33, he had Pierre Strong open in the flat and missed him. A 6 minute, 22 second drive came up empty and when Sam Houston responded with a field goal on the ensuing drive, it felt like the game was about over. That’s when the next star stepped up.
It’s a luxury for South Dakota State to have an All-American running back in Pierre Strong, yet they can unleash the true freshman Isaiah Davis and he can take over a game. And that’s what he did. He ran for 26 yards deep into Sam Houston territory. Two players later he streaked down the sideline 28 yards into the endzone. The Jacks had life, but that was just the warm up for Davis. Three straight drives ended with punts which was just fine for Sam Houston who was winning the field position game. South Dakota State took over at their own 15 with six minutes left in the game.
After an incompletion on first down, Davis took a handoff up the middle. He cut to the outside past a couple of defenders. He stiff armed a defender into the shadow realm and raced down the sidelines. He stayed in bounds, 85 yards to the house. Just watch it:
All I could think was, “my god, a freshman.” Those were the immortal words of Georgia broadcaster Larry Munson when Herschel Walker trucked Tennessee’s Bill Bates on his way to the endzone in 1980. I’m not suggesting Davis is Herschel Walker and, thankfully in this era of social media, Bearkats DB RJ Bendert isn’t Bates, but that’s what I think about every time a freshman running back announces his presence on the national stage. Davis’ run was the stuff of legends. It was the best run in the national championship game since the other Adrian Peterson’s electrifying run against Youngstown State in 1999. But that one was in the second quarter of a 10-point game. This was in the fourth quarter and gave South Dakota State the lead. It should’ve been in the discussion for the greatest play in FCS National Championship Game history.
But it won’t be. It won’t be because of Eric Schmid.
Sam Houston’s defense made stops to close out games in their first three wins of the playoffs. They were going to need their offense to come through with a championship on the line. It’s such a cliche, but with the game on the line the star quarterback did what you want a star quarterback to do. It was a long afternoon for Schmid. Quite frankly he got his ass kicked by the Jackrabbits defense. In the first half he took a hit that had him reportedly spitting up blood. In the second half he got taken down from behind and got both of his legs caught underneath him. Later, Tolu Ogunrinde jumped the snap count and absolutely laid him out. Just watch the punishment he took during the game:
But Schmid never relented. He got hit and he got back up. Schmid is one of the best quarterbacks in the country. On Sunday he proved he was one of the toughest. And with the game on the line, he delivered. He converted a 3rd and 6 with a pass to Ezzard. After a nine yard gain on a 3rd and 10, he got nine yards on 4th down to keep the game going. With 38 seconds left facing a 4th and 3, Schmid barely got the ball to Ezzard again for another first down. After two incompletions, Schmid threw the ball into a tight window past two defenders into the arms of Ife Adeyi for the game-winning score with 16 seconds left. With five seconds left South Dakota State ran a hook and ladder instead of trying to run a short pass and calling a timeout for a miracle field goal attempt. The clock ran out and for the first time Sam Houston were the FCS National Champions with the 23-21 win.
Win or lose, Sam Houston had erased the negative perception the program had entering this postseason, but a loss would’ve been bitter. Instead, they fulfilled the vision KC Keeler had three years ago after a beatdown by North Dakota State in the semifinals. Keeler has been humble, almost sheepish, when compared to Jim Tressel whom he passed to become the winningest coach in FCS Playoff history on Sunday. Tressel did win four national championships, but Keeler became the first coach to win a national championship at two different schools. He absolutely deserves to be mentioned among the best coaches in FCS history. He wore his 2003 National Championship ring he won at Delaware as a reminder of how hard it was to win a championship. The hard work paid off. “Soft Houston” is gone, the National Champion Sam Houston Bearkats are here.
Sunday will always be a big what-if for South Dakota State. They’ll always wonder what would’ve happened had Gronowski not gotten hurt. Nevertheless, if Gronowski’s injury isn’t a long term one they should be right back in contention for a national title in the Fall. They only had two seniors on offense, their star quarterback is a Freshman and their new star running back is too. The defense has some pieces to replace, including its two all-conference players, but there’s enough talent for the Jackrabbits to contend. It’s important to note with the Spring season not counting against eligibility requirements, it’s hard to know exactly who won’t be coming back at this point. South Dakota State cleared a big hurdle by making their first national title game. All that’s left to do is win the whole damn thing.
If the Jacks do make it back to Frisco the Bearkats may be waiting for them. North Dakota State’s quarterback situation is a mess. James Madison may be losing its starting and backup quarterbacks. There’s a real chance we’ll see South Dakota State and Sam Houston run it back in December.
No Sir, I Don’t Like It: Anyone who suggests this championship has an asterisk can kiss my ass
Towards the end of the regular season, as the number of qualified bubble teams dwindled, I saw UC Davis pop up as a potential at-large candidate. I never believed they would get picked because their season was weird. They lost their regular season finale to Eastern Washington, getting leapfrogged in the Big Sky pecking order as a result. They had a bye week and a cancellation so their regular season was over three weeks before the playoffs were set to begin.
I was curious if they were even still practicing in hopes of getting a playoff spot. I put my big J journalism hat on and reached out to the school for some clarification. I was told that the team wasn’t practicing. The staff made the decision to let the players go home instead of keeping the team together for a pipe dream. The players hadn’t seen their families in almost three months at that point. It was an extremely reasonable decision
It wasn’t an unexpected piece of information, but it still stuck with me. The last 14 months have been hard for everyone. If you love college football, you should care about the players. They sacrificed a lot to play the game they love to play and we love to watch. There isn’t NFL glory waiting for most of the FCS players. There were six players drafted last year and five this year. FCS players play because they love football and are hoping to get an education because they’re going pro in something other than football (sorry, I had to).
Just to have a season required a level of isolation that can be mentally draining. Players are separated from their families and friends. They’re separated from everyone who isn’t a roommate when they aren’t at practice. They know that one tiny slip up could put them at risk for contracting COVID which could harm them and cost their team games. It also came with a level of risk the Fall season didn’t have. It’s certainly fair to question if having a Spring season, taking a couple of months off and playing again in the Fall is reckless with regards to player safety.
I’m not even sure where the asterisk discussion came from. As far as I know it came from a place where they opted out of most of the Spring season and/or a place that is used to winning a lot and didn’t this year. And we can discuss the elephant in the room with the latter: Yes, North Dakota State would’ve been a heavy favorite to win the national championship if Trey Lance played this Spring, even with the Bison defense being as vulnerable as it’s been in years. But he didn’t play.
In the playoffs two seeded teams, Jacksonville State and South Dakota State, lost their starting quarterbacks in the first quarter of a game. Another seeded team, James Madison, had to put their backup on a last minute drive when their starting quarterback injured his thumb late in the game. We can assume what would’ve happened if Trey Lance had played this Spring, but we have no way of knowing what would’ve happened for sure.
This season wasn’t normal. So what? It doesn’t cheapen or lessen anything. The parameters of a season are arbitrarily set and usually dictated by how schools can make the most amount of money. There’s no sanctity in a 10, 11 or 12 game season. There’s nothing about a 24-team playoff that is more special than a 16-team one. In fact, I’d listen to an argument that taking away the first round bye makes it harder for the higher seeds to win a championship.
This championship was earned, just as every championship before it was earned. Sam Houston was a worthy champion. They beat North Dakota State, James Madison and South Dakota State to win it. That’s a gauntlet if ever there was one. Both South Dakota State and Sam Houston should be incredibly proud of everything they achieved this year. In fact, every player who sacrificed something this Spring to be able to play should be proud. Even if they didn’t win a game they’re winners just for enduring. And for the players and teams that opted out, that’s ok too. None of these decisions were easy. Everyone had to do what was right for them. Self preservation was of the utmost importance in the year of COVID. The Spring FCS season provided us some entertainment at the end of a really shitty year and for that we should all be thankful for everyone who made it happen.