Posts Tagged FCS

FCS: Week 12 Recap, Final Week Preview

EDIT: I missed a detail. Two days ago, San Diego removed themselves from consideration for the Pioneer League title and autobid due to a violation of conference rules. The PFL is a non-scholarship league, and apparently some players were receiving benefits related to their athletic participation. The post has been updated; see the Pioneer section for the new status.

Some things got sorted, some others quite patently did not (including two teams which started the day in the driver’s seat finding themselves standing on the side of the road with their luggage by day’s end and a third being kicked to the back seat). Quick and dirty, the following six teams have secured entry into the FCS playoffs: Eastern Washington, Maine, North Dakota State, Sacred Heart, Eastern Illinois, and Southeastern Louisiana. Northern Arizona, Montana, Coastal Carolina, Charleston Southern, Towson, Bethune-Cookman, Youngstown State, Jacksonville State, Fordham, Chattanooga, McNeese State, and Sam Houston State are probably securely in the field as at-larges (or, if italicized, still have a shot at an autobid but probably don’t need it).

After the jump, the more detailed breakdown of the conference races. We won’t get into at-large possibilities; the 19 teams above plus three other teams which might steal two of the remaining autobids make up 20 teams of the 24-team field, and speculating as to the final three is sort of foolish with a week remaining. Anything can happen.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags:

FCS Title Chases, Week of 11.16

We’ve been away awhile, eh? My other “job” has really made trying to do this all by myself untenable, and I’m terribly sorry to the 6 of you who’d been reading this blog regularly. But I can still pop in now and again, and for the next couple of weeks expect some frequent (albeit brief) activity.

And on that note, here’s a breakdown of the conference title races in FCS with two weeks remaining.

TL;DR version: Eastern Washington, Maine, Princeton, Bethune-Cookman, North Dakota State, Robert Morris (PA), Sacred Heart, Eastern Illinois, Colgate, San Diego, Marist, Tennessee-Chattanooga, and Southeastern Louisiana are all capable of clinching conference titles this week (and in the case of all but Princeton, that means an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs).

Big Sky

Leading the pack: Eastern Washington (8-2/6-0)
Still alive: Northern Arizona (7-2/5-1), Montana State (7-3/5-1), Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo (5-5/4-2), Montana (8-2/4-2), Southern Utah (7-3/4-2)

The Big Sky’s tiebreaker procedure for the auto-bid is complex: head-to-head, then record in scheduled conference games against conference opponents in descending order, then record in all games against conference opponents in descending order, then common non-conference opponents, then Sagarin, then a coin flip. You may be scratching your head over tiebreakers two and three there; the 13-team Big Sky plays eight conference games, but some teams play other Big Sky members in games which are deemed non-conference games (mostly to preserve rivalries).

In order to clinch the autobid this week:
Eastern Washington: win at Cal Poly this week. Eastern Washington and Northern Arizona did not play this year, and Northern Arizona’s loss is to Montana State, who lost to EWU. Barring a shift in the standings which would pull Cal Poly ahead of Montana State (and such a thing is certainly possible), EWU would hold all tiebreakers. They can absolutely seal the deal by knocking off Cal Poly this week, as that will prevent that possibility altogether.

Big South

Leading the Pack: Charleston Southern (10-1/3-0)
Still alive: Liberty (6-4/3-1), Coastal Carolina (9-1/3-1)

The Big South is at it again. Coastal Carolina has already beaten Liberty. Charleston Southern has already beaten Coastal Carolina. Should Liberty beat Charleston Southern next week, well… we could be in for fun times.

In order to clinch the autobid this week:
Nobody can. Wait till next week.

Colonial

Leading the Pack: Maine (9-1/6-0)
Still alive: Towson (8-2/4-2), Delaware (7-3/4-2), William & Mary (7-3/4-2), New Hampshire (5-4/4-2)

We’re only going to consider the immediate situation here this week, as the potential for Maine to not win the title is so convoluted it would take 1000 words. If Maine loses at home to 3-8 Rhode Island this week, we’ll get back into this, but that’s so unlikely it’s not worth the effort.

In order to clinch the autobid this week:
Maine: beat Rhode Island.

Ivy

Leading the Pack: Princeton (7-1/5-0)
Still Alive: Harvard (7-1/4-1), Yale (5-3/3-2), Dartmouth (4-4/3-2), Pennsylvania (4-4/3-2)

Of course, the Ivy doesn’t participate in the FCS playoffs, so there’s no autobid to be won here. There are also no tiebreakers, so things are fairly simple.

In order to win the outright title:
Princeton: Beat Yale at home this week while Harvard loses at home to Penn.

In order to share the title:
Princeton: Beat Yale at home this week.

Mid-Eastern

Leading the Pack: Bethune-Cookman (8-2/5-1)
Still Alive: South Carolina State (7-3/5-1), Delaware State (4-5/4-2), Hampton (4-6/4-2), Morgan State (4-6/4-2), Norfolk State (3-7/3-3)

Yeah, the upper-middle tier of the conference went 0-fer non-conference, but they’re all still scrapping around the heels of the leaders in conference play. Norfolk State is really only listed as a courtesy; they can’t claim the auto-bid but can manage to stumble into a horrible tie for first at 5-3. Bethune-Cookman had a chance to very nearly ice things last week, but inexplicably lost to Norfolk. They can put it away this week, but they’ll need a hand.

In order to clinch the autobid this week:
Bethune-Cookman: needs to beat Hampton at home while South Carolina State loses, at home, to Morgan State.

Missouri Valley

Leading the Pack: North Dakota State (9-0/6-0)
Still Alive: Youngstown State (8-2/5-1), Missouri State (5-6/5-2)

Missouri State can’t win the autobid, as a three-way tie between the three schools would go to Youngstown State. But the idea of a team which started the season 0-4 managing to claim a share of the Missouri Valley title is just mind-boggling, so it needs to be acknowledged. This week is the titanic showdown to end all titanic showdowns, though…

In order to clinch the autobid this week:
North Dakota State: needs to beat Youngstown State. Simple as pie.

Northeast

Leading the Pack: Robert Morris (PA) (5-4/3-1)
Still Alive: Sacred Heart (9-2/3-2), Duquesne (5-4/3-2), Saint Francis (PA) (4-5/2-2), Central Connecticut State (4-6/2-2)

What a mess. A lot will get sorted out this week, as two different schools (or neither one!) can clinch depending on how things shake out.

In order to clinch the autobid this week:
Robert Morris (PA): needs to beat Sacred Heart at home, and needs Duquesne to lose to Central Connecticut State.
Sacred Heart: needs to win at Robert Morris, and needs Saint Francis to lose to Wagner.

Ohio Valley

Leading the Pack: Eastern Illinois (10-0/6-0)
Still Alive: Tennessee State (8-3/5-2), Jacksonville State (9-1/4-2), Eastern Kentucky (6-4/4-2), Tennessee-Martin (6-4/4-2)

This is potentially a mess, but some stuff’s going to have to happen to get there. For now, things are pretty simple this week. No matter what, either Eastern Kentucky or UT-Martin are gone after Saturday, as they play this week.

In order to clinch the autobid this week:
Eastern Illinois: needs to win at home against Jacksonville State.

Patriot

Leading the Pack: Colgate (4-6/3-1)
Still Alive: Lafayette (3-6/3-1), Lehigh (7-2/2-1)

A glance at the standings might make you think that Bucknell (4-5/2-2) is still alive, but because of who plays who in the final two weeks that’s not going to happen. Lehigh visits Colgate this week; if Lehigh wins, then the Lehigh-Lafayette winner will finish with only one conference loss. If Colgate wins, well…

In order to clinch the autobid this week:
Colgate: needs to win at home against Lehigh.

Pioneer

Leading the Pack: San Diego (7-3/6-1)
Still Alive: Butler (8-3/6-1), Marist (7-3/6-1), Mercer (9-1/5-1)

San Diego has a commanding lead in this discussion for one very pertinent reason: all three of those other one-loss teams suffered their only loss to San Diego, so the only way any of them are winning the conference title — and the conference’s first automatic playoff bid — is if San Diego stumbles. San Diego is not, however, the only team that can clinch on Saturday…

In order to clinch the autobid this week:
San Diego: win at home against 6-4 Drake.
Marist: win at home against Mercer, and San Diego lose to Drake, and Butler loses at 3-7 Morehead State.

Southern

Leading the Pack: Tennessee-Chattanooga (8-2/6-1)
Still Alive: Samford (6-4/4-2), Wofford (5-4/4-2), Furman (5-5/4-2)

How weird is it that Georgia Southern and Appalachian State, who aren’t actually eligible to win the conference title anyway since they’re in the process of moving to FBS, aren’t even theoretically in the picture? Yeah. It’s really weird. This race could end Saturday, or we could have wild and crazy times next week.

In order to clinch the autobid this week:
Tennessee-Chattanooga: needs to win at Samford.

Southland

Leading the Pack: Southeastern Louisiana (8-2/5-0)
Still Alive: McNeese State (8-2/4-1), Sam Houston State (8-2/4-1)

McNeese has lost to Southeastern, and Sam Houston lost to McNeese. Southeastern hosts Sam Houston this week, so we’ll either have a conference champion or a two- or three-way tie heading into the final weekend.

In order to clinch the autobid this week:
Southeastern Louisiana: needs to beat Sam Houston State at home.

Southwestern

It’s all over except the championship game. Jackson State (7-2/7-0) has won the East, and Southern (6-4/6-2) has clinched the West; they’ll play on December 7 in Houston for the conference title. Remember, the SWAC doesn’t send their champion to the FCS playoffs, so there’s no autobid up for grabs here.

Tags:

FCS: Week Six Recap.

FBS Spreadsheet: (Excel2003, 340 kb)
FCS Spreadsheet: (Excel2003, 308 kb)

FCS Game of the Week:
This is what an actual defensive battle looks like.  #12 Towson visited #5 James Madison, and the two best defenses in the CAA squared off for an epic showdown.

Early on, only two Cameron Starke field goals marred the scoreboard as the Dukes took a 6-0 lead.  D.J. Stoven hit from 40 with 11 seconds to go in the first half to cut the lead to 6-3. The third quarter was scoreless before Towson finally grabbed the lead with just 3:21 to play on a 7-yard Grant Enders TD run.  That drive went 92 yards and ate up 7:24 as a tiring Dukes defense finally started allowing some space; even at that, the drive turned on a fourth-and-one at Towson’s own 18. Rob Ambrose rolled the dice and called for a QB sneak, and Enders picked up the first down.

But James Madison came back.  In under two minutes, Justin Thorpe had marched the Dukes downfield, and with 1:24 to go he scored on a nine-yard run to regain the lead.  Dean Marlowe then picked off an Enders pass to kill Towson’s hope for a last-minute miracle, and the Dukes walked off with a 13-10 win.

This wasn’t a case of ineffective offense.  Terrance West had 112 yards rushing for Towson, and Enders wasn’t horribly ineffective passing the ball, going 20-32 for 147; he was picked off twice, and both were pretty good plays on the part of the JMU defense.  For the Dukes, Dae’Quan Scott had 95 yards on the ground, and Thorpe was 11-19 for 116 without turning the ball over.  The key to the game was that both defenses forced long yardage on third down, and that resulted in Towson only managing 5-16 on conversions, while the Dukes were only 2-12.

The win leaves Madison in charge of the CAA race, since co-leaders Old Dominion are ineligible for the title after announcing their departure to Conference USA.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags:

FCS: Week Five Recap.

FBS Spreadsheet: (Excel2003, 337 kb)
FCS Spreadsheet: (Excel2003, 305 kb)

FCS Game of the Week:
Still struggling through the effect of off-season problems, the reeling #21 Montana Grizzlies wandered into Cheney to take on #7 Eastern Washington.  The first half was pretty balanced; each team found the end zone once in the first quarter before the Eagles went up early in the second on a 36-yard strike from redshirt freshman Vernon Adams to Brandon Kaufman.  (Adams took over the starting duties from SMU transfer Kyle Padron last week at Weber State, although coach Beau Baldwin asserts either quarterback might start any given game depending on the opposition.)  The teams traded field goals before halftime, and the Eagles took a 17-10 lead into intermission.

The third quarter was all Montana, scoring on touchdown runs from Tren McKinney and Jordan Canada; a 25-yard Chris Lider field goal midway through the fourth handed the Grizzlies a 26-17 lead, and things looked awfully secure when Montana recovered an Eagle fumble on the ensuing drive.

The Grizzlies weren’t able to move the chains, though, and Eastern Washington took over.  With 2:19 to go, Adams found Kaufman again from 30 yards out to bring the Eagles within two.  They then recovered an onside kick, and with only 53 seconds left on the clock Adams again hit paydirt, connecting with Ashton Clark on a 20-yard score; they went for two and got it, going up 32-26.  Montana was unable to return the favor in the time they had left, and suddenly Montana found themselves 2-3, 0-2 in conference play, and on Monday out of the polls for the first time since 1998.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags:

FCS: Week Four Recap.

The FBS Spreadsheet: (Excel2003, 320kb)

The FCS Spreadsheet: (Excel2003, 291kb)

FCS Game of the Week:
Early on, it looked as though #8 New Hampshire had #4 Old Dominion’s number.  The first quarter ended with a 16-3 lead for the Wildcats, as the Monarchs’ defense wasn’t stopping them and the offense, although staging two drives deep into New Hampshire territory, only came away with a single field goal for their efforts.  Early in the second, a 57-yard touchdown pass from Taylor Heinicke to Nick Mayers made it 16-10, but New Hampshire, aided by a fumbled punt return after their drive stalled, got the points back in just over two minutes.  After ODU had to punt, Nico Steriti broke free on a 61-yard touchdown run for the Wildcats, who were suddenly leading 30-10.

And then things went insane.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags:

FCS: Week Three Recap.

Ze Spreadsheetz:
FBS (Excel2003, 289 kb)
FCS (Excel2003, 288 kb)

FCS Game of the Week:
#15 Illinois State never led by more than four points in regulation, while twice Eastern Illinois took ten-point advantages.  But there were five lead changes and three ties by the time the clock read zero in a game that defines the concept of sixty-plus minutes of HAM.

It’ll be hard to process this given the final score, but the game was scoreless for the first twelve and a quarter minutes.  That’s when Alex Donnelly picked off a Jimmy Garoppolo pass and returned it 30 yards to the house to put the Redbirds up 7-0.  Two minutes later, Eastern Illinois tied things up on a four-yard Taylor Duncan run, and then things got quiet again for ten minutes before the Panthers took a 14-7 lead when Duncan again scored, this time from eleven yards out.  Matt Brown tossed a 19-yard TD pass to Lechein Neblett three minutes later to even the score; with no time left in the first half, Cameron Berra hit a 44-yarder to put Eastern up 17-14.

The Panthers extended the lead to 24-14 when Garoppolo found Erik Lora for a 10-yard score early in the third, but two TD runs by Brown put the Redbirds back on top heading into the fourth.  Eastern Illinois jumped back out to a ten-point cushion over the first six minutes of the final period, with Garoppolo connecting with Lora a second time and Jake Walker breaking off a 13-yard scoring run; Illinois State now had 9:07 to get things back in hand.

And so they did.  Brown hit Cameron Hunt from 20 yards out, but the Redbirds tried for two and failed; this was almost a deadly error.  With only 51 seconds to go, the Redbirds scored again on a 13-yard toss from Brown to Donovan Harden, and took a 41-38 lead.  Had it been 42-38 instead… but it wasn’t, and Berra booted a 20-yard field goal as time expired to send the game into overtime.

Both teams added seven in the first overtime, with Brown and Harden again hooking up for a score, followed by Duncan bulling in from the two.  The Panthers had to settle for a Berra field goal in the second extra frame, and finally Illinois State was able to escape with a 54-51 win when Brown threw his fifth touchdown pass of the day, this one to to Tyrone Walker.

There was almost no ground game in this shootout; Eastern Illinois only picked up 122 yards rushing, while Illinois State was held to a mere 60.  Brown finished with 473 yards on 42 of 57 to go with his five TD passes, with an interception thrown into the mix.  Garoppolo was 37 of 61 for 387 yards and two TDs, but turned the ball over three times on bad passes.  The teams combined for over 1000 yards of offense, but possibly the most mind-blowing statistic of the game was this: Illinois State was penalized 22 times for a ridiculous 178 yards.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags:

FCS: Week Two Recap.

The FBS Spreadsheet: (Excel2003, 285kb)

The FCS Spreadsheet: (Excel2003, 285kb) (no, really, they’re the same size this week.)

FCS Game of the Week:
Twice before, Montana had beaten Appalachian State in playoff meetings, but this was the first-ever regular-season tilt between the two perennial powerhouses.  Over 30,000 fans descended on Kidd-Brewer Stadium in Boone for the showdown, and they did not go home disappointed.  After then-#12 Montana got on the board in the first three minutes, the then-#11 Mountaineers exploded for 21 unanswered points over the next ten to take a 21-7 lead into the second quarter.  The Grizzlies responded, though, scoring early in the period then again with only 35 seconds left in the half to knot the game at 21.  After a scoreless third, Appalachian State pulled ahead on Jamal Jackson’s second scoring pass of the game.  Just four minutes later, Trent McKinney hit Dan Moore for an 87-yard touchdown, but the PAT failed, leaving Montana behind 28-27.

With five minutes to go, the Mountaineers took an eight-point lead on a two-yard Steven Miller run, and then appeared to have iced the game on 3rd-and-8 after the kickoff when Patrick Blalock intercepted McKinney in Montana territory.  However, the Grizzlies held and got the ball back at their own 11 with 4:24 to go.  Montana drove, but it was slow and yards were scarce; there were only 18 seconds left, with Montana at the Mountaineer 42, when McKinney went for the end zone.  Demetrius McCray came down with the interception, ending the threat and giving ASU a 35-27 win.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags:

FCS: Week One Recap.

The Spreadsheet: Here you go. (Excel 2003, 281kb)

Saturday’s FCS Games of the Week:
I really had a hard time deciding between these three, so let’s just go all out on some HBCU action, shall we?

In Baltimore, Sacred Heart scored a touchdown on their first possession, but once Morgan State answered early in the second quarter with a field goal nobody ever led by more than four points and every score but one resulted in a lead change.  Midway through the second, Joe Rankin ran back a 72-yard pick six to put Morgan up 10-7; fifteen minutes later the Pioneers found the end zone on a one-yard Sean Bell run to make it 14-10.  The Bears responded after a pair of punts with a 70-yard Travis Davidson TD run to go up 17-14; Sacred Heart came back five minutes into the final quarter with a 24-yard TD pass from Tim Little to Rickey Moore. With 3:36 to go, Morgan State again claimed the lead with a one-yard Davidson run, but the Pioneers tied it at 24 on a Chris Rogers field goal with 49 seconds left.  Justin Sexton then picked off Seth Higgins on Morgan State’s first play after the kickoff and rambled back across midfield, but with one second left Rogers tried a 45-yarder which was short, and they went to overtime.

Neither team could get off the deck in overtime.  In the first round, Morgan State missed a field goal attempt, but saved themselves when Kenneth Ridley picked off Little at the three.  The teams traded field goals in the second overtime, neither being able to get into the end zone.  In the third round, Gordan Hill forced a Robert Council fumble at the one to keep Morgan State from scoring, but when Rogers attempted to win the game for the Pioneers his kick was blocked.  In the fourth overtime, Rogers missed wide left, and after Morgan State’s counter-drive stalled at the Sacred Heart three, Ervin Gonzalez finally ended the game with a 20-yard field goal, giving Morgan State a 27-24 win.

In Shreveport, Grambling seemed in control when they entered the fourth quarter with a 21-9 lead over Alcorn State.  Six minutes later, Alcorn cut that lead to five when QB Darius Smith scored from the three; with just 1:33 to go, Arnold Walker bulled in from the four to put Alcorn up 22-21.  They went for two and failed, but Grambling wasn’t able to get back into field goal range and Alcorn State handed new coach Jay Hopson his first victory.

Down in Houston, Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M had themselves a shootout.  After Prairie View tied the score at 41 with just 1:16 to go, Robert Hersh hit a 47-yarder on the game’s final play to give Texas Southern the win.  Prairie View had led 20-7 after the first quarter, but TSU clawed their way back into things.  It was TSU’s first win over Prairie View in five years, and the second year in a row the game was decided on a last-second field goal.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags:

Roundup, 9/1/12

TOG Game of the Night: Upper Iowa has struggled mightily in the years since moving up to D-II. Last night, they had a shot at unranked but always lurking Bemidji State, and the game came right down to the wire. Things looked perfectly normal, albeit with Bemidji struggling to score, through three quarters; the Beavers led 19-7, and seemed in control. Then the Peacocks erupted, with two Cole Jaeschke touchdown passes sandwiching a 35-yard Steven Sandoval field goal. The last of those three scores came with 2:28 to play and gave Upper Iowa a four-point lead, and the upset watch was on.

It was not to be, however. Bemidji stormed down the field, and Lance Rongstad dropped a 5-yard TD pass to Brett Kondziolka. Matters weren’t settled, though, as the PAT failed, leaving Bemidji up 25-23 with 40 seconds left on the clock. Upper Iowa managed to get in position for a game-winning 46-yard field goal try, but a bobbled snap led to a desperate heave into the arms of Bemidji’s Dylan Valentine, and boom, game over. The question now is whether this close call will give the Peacocks the confidence to put together a reasonably decent season, which they’ve desperately needed for some time.

So Close, Yet So… Ugly: We were this close to the third FCS-over-FBS upset of the weekend. Florida Atlantic was very bad in Howard Schnellenberger’s final sally last year, and I don’t think they’re any better now under Carl Pelini. The evidence: a miserable 7-3 win — at home, no less — over Wagner, a mediocre FCS program. Wagner took a 3-0 lead in the second quarter and held it until early in the fourth when FAU finally got on the board with a 39-yard pass from Graham Wilbert to Byron Hankerson. And that only happened because after thirty whole minutes as a head coach, Pelini already made a change at quarterback.

Blowout of the Night: The D-II Northeast-10 Conference got their league action started with a visit to Bentley by the always dubious Pace Setters. It ended with the night’s most comprehensive victory, as the Falcons spread the wealth around their entire offense on the way to a 42-0 rout.

American Football in Ireland, Part the First: Right around the time I publish this, Notre Dame will be taking on Navy over in Dublin, but that will be the second college football game on the Emerald Isle this weekend. The first one? It was a blast… for John Carroll, anyway. After spotting Saint Norbert an early field goal Blue Streaks QB Mark Myers got to work, and 457 yards and five TD passes later John Carroll had wrapped up a 40-3 win over the Green Knights.

The Warhawk Death Machine Marches On: For twenty minutes, the Bears of Washington University-Saint Louis stymied the Wisconsin-Whitewater offense, and although the upset alert wasn’t blaring since Whitewater was leading 3-0, it was still enough to attract attention. Except for one small problem: for the entire first half, Washington themselves failed to pick up a first down, and in fact ended the half with exactly zero yards of offense. By that time, Whitewater had managed to piece together a 17-0 lead. Thirty clock minutes later, it was 34-0. Washington ended with four first downs and 55 yards of offense. It’s Whitewater’s 46th straight win, and they’ve got the NCAA record for consecutive wins in their sights.

Wholly Unfamiliar Territory: Last year, the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference went 2-17 in the first two weeks of the regular season, and both of those wins came courtesy of New York Maritime. Two days into the 2012 campaign, they have already matched that win total, and Maritime’s not even playing this week. Becker scored a 13-3 win over Fitchburg State and Mount Ida squeaked past Mass-Dartmouth 24-21. Only Anna Maria’s 56-10 drubbing at the hands of Worcester State went to the conference’s detriment last night. Things are looking up for a league which saw an 8-2 Maritime squad — one of whose losses was to a D-II team — miss the playoffs last year largely because their compatriots were so awful.

Top 25 scores from last night: Only three games in the lower divisions featured ranked teams last night.

FCS: at #20 Stephen F. Austin 49, Southwest Oklahoma State [D-II] 14
D-II: #25 Bloomsburg 44, at Stonehill 28
D-III: #1 Wisconsin-Whitewater 34, at Washington (MO) 0

Tags: , , ,

Roundup, 8/31/12.

TOG Game of the Night: There was another big game in Division II we could have selected (#6 Colorado State-Pueblo 44, #24 West Texas A&M 34), but we’re going with the showdown in California, Pennsylvania. CalPA’s Peter Lalich threw for 275 an four scores last night, but with time running out the 17th-ranked Hillsdale Chargers found themselves with a first down at the Cal five yard line. The Vulcan defense stiffened, though, and after two incompletions and a four-yard run the Chargers were facing fourth-and-goal from the one yard line with time for one last play. Anthony Mifsud tried to lob a pass into the end zone, but Vulcan DB Rontez Miles batted it away as the gun sounded, preserving a 30-22 win for California.

More goodies after the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , ,