FCS 2017

A couple of things to look forward to in the FCS this upcoming season:

1)  Who will be the king of the mountain?  James Madison or North Dakota State?  Both programs will have what it takes to win the championship, so will they meet again, this time in Frisco?

2)  The CAA will again be exciting to follow.  Besides James Madison, you have Villanova, Richmond, and Delaware - but they will all have new coaches.  Which team will be most energized by their new coach?

3)  The Southland Conference will have a lot to prove after two straight disappointing post seasons by their champions - Sam Houston State and McNeese State.  The Bearcats will again compete for the top spot in the rankings, while the Cowboys, Central Arkansas, and Nicholls State will all make appearances in the national rankings.

Quinton Porter

Quinton Porter, a star quarterback from Portland, Maine, was the player Matt Ryan replaced as QB of Boston College back in 2005.  Porter was namd the starting QB that fall after redshirting the previous year, and under his guidance, the Eagles climbed to #13 in the polls.  That was the pinnacle of his college career, because after attaining that ranking he would lose back-to-back games to Virginia Tech and North Carolina.  BC coach Tom O'Brien created a quarterback controversy by naming Matt Ryan as the new starter, and Ryan would later lead BC to a bowl victory over Boise State.

Matt Ryan is now in the Super Bowl, while Porter signed a free agent contract with the Huston Texans, but he never played a regular season down.  Later he would play for two CFL teams before being released in the summer of 2013.

National Title and Super Bowl

Cyrus Jones, a Patriot rookie out of Alabama, will have the opportunity to join an exclusive group becoming one of the few playes to win the National Championship and the Super Bowl in back-to-back years.  He would be the third Patriot to accomplish this, following Randall Gay (LSU) and Bryan Stork (Florida State).  I only know of three other players to accomplish this feat:  William Floyd (Florida State/49ers), Courtney Upshaw (Alabama/Ravens), and Tony Dorsett (Pitt/Cowboys).

Super Bowl Rosters

Three quick observations regarding the Super Bowl rosters from both the Patriots and the Falcons:

1)  The two colleges represented most on the rosters with five each:  Alabama and Rutgers (all five former Scarlet Knights are active, while one former Crimson Tide player is on the practice squad)

2)  South Dakota has two former players on the rosters - which is one more than:  Texas, Notre Dame, Miami (FL), Tennesse, and Ohio State

3)  The conferences represented most in Houston:  SEC (25), Pac-12 (20), Big Ten (19), and the ACC (18)

ESPN to Televise the Secretaries' Cup

ESPN will honor America's veterans with live coverage of the annual Secretaries Cup football game between the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy during Veterans Day weekend.  The two academies will again be in the same league next season as the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) adds football, and they will play the in the final game of the season.

The atmosphere surrounding a Secretaries Cup game day is remarkably similar to that of an Army-Navy football game. The game is attended by both institutions' entire student bodies – Coast Guard's Corps of Cadets and Merchant Marine's Regiment of Midshipmen – which adds to an atmosphere that is already high-spirited and emotionally charged, yet at the same time very respectful.  Following the on-field trophy presentation, each institution's team, staff and official party stands at attention for the playing of the respective alma maters.

2018 Recruiting

Tracking next year's recruiting has already begun, and the current leader is Penn State, who has signed 3 recuits in the Top 30 (5th, 8th, and 30th) and 8 prospects ranked in the top 300.  Miami, Florida State, USC, and Notre Dame are also doing well for themselves in the early going.  Surprisingly, Kansas has gotten off to a strong start as well.

With the Nittany Lions finishing strong in 2016 and following that up with some strong recruiting, it appears as though the Big Ten's top three teams in the near future will be from the East Division.  James Franklin is proving to be a darn good coach...

Notes

I have begun gathering notes for games being played in 2017.  Back near the beginning of the year, I talked about discussing up to 800 games over the course of the year (57 a week for 14 weeks - 13 Regular Seaon + Postseason).  In order to do that, I figure that I need to research close to 1,000 games since I will probably filter some down, and if I wait until the season begins I won't have a chance to talk about 800 games.  As any big fan knows - the season goes by quickly!

So the 2017 College Football season has begun for me, but it doesn't mean that I won't start getting wound up soon about March Madness...

Last Weekend of the Year

Taking a look at the schedule of games for the weekend of November 23rd thru the 25th, four things I noticed:

1)  Maryland is now playing Penn State on the last weekend of the year

2)  Ole Miss and Mississippi State are back playing on Thanksgiving night for the first time since 2013

3)  I don't like Texas playing anyone but Texas A&M on this weekend

4)  Oklahoma and Oklahoma State aren't playing on the last weekend of the season now because the Big 12 officials are concerned that they would be playing the following week in the Big 12 Championship

Two Stories with a Kick

Pete Gogolak, who went to Cornell, was football's first soccer-style placekicker.  During his three years in New York, from 1961 through 1963, he converted 54 of 55 extra-point attempts, good for a 98.1 percentage.

A few years later, in 1976, Texas A&M had a placekicker who kicked barefoot.  His name was Tony Franklin.  In October of that year he kicked not one, but two field goals that exceeded 60 yards (first 65, then 64).  He went on to have a successful NFL career with the Eagles and the Patriots.

Longest Division I Undefeated Streaks

Last Sunday, I listed the longest winning streaks.  Tonight, I have the longest undefeated streaks:

1)  Washington:  63 games (59 wins, 4 ties from 1907-1917)

2)  Michigan:  56 games (55 wins, 1 tie from 1901-1905)

3)  California:  50 games (46 wins, 4 ties from 1920-1925)

4)  Yale:  48 games (47 wins, 1 tie from 1885-1889)

4)  Oklahoma:  48 games (47 wins, 1 tie from 1953-1957)

Bonus:  From 1879 to 1908, Yale had 4 undefeated streaks of 40 or more games:  48, 47, 44, 42.  The Bulldogs squeezed in a 37 game undefeated streak too - between 1890-1893.

2016 FBS Attendance

The other day I talked about Montana's 2016 attendance in the FCS, so today I have a list of schools that filled their stadium beyond capacity for the season on average:

Appalachian State:   26,153   (113% capacity)

Oklahoma:  86,857  (106% capacity)

Ohio State:  107,278 (105% capacity)

Kansas State:  51,919  (104% capacity)

Michigan:  110,468 (103% capacity)

Utah:  46,506  (102% capacity)

Baylor:  45,838  (102% capacity)

Ole Miss:  64,910  (101% capacity)

Oregon:  54,677  (101% capacity)

On the downside of this year's attendance figures, two FBS schools averaged less than 10,000 fans:  Ball State (7,789) and New Mexico State (9,545)

Three Updates on Signing Day

Three things as the day is wrapping up:

1)  Marvin Wilson, the top DT prospect signs with Florida State - fear the spear in 2017

2)  USC closes strong again late in the game to garner the 5th best class

3)  FCS strongholds James Madison, North Dakota State, and Sam Houston State continue to get stronger

National Signing Day

A successful recruiting class or a series of successful recruiting classes doesn't guarantee a playoff spot or a national championship.  It certainly doesn't hurt!  Look at the current top ten teams of this year:  Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Michigan, LSU, Florida State, USC, Oklahoma, Clemson, Auburn.  All but Georgia or Michigan have won titles or challenged for a title in the last 10-15 years.  And I wouldn't be surprised if either the Bulldogs or the Wolverines are playing for a title in the next four years.

I'm thrilled that Maryland is clinging to the 20th best class this year!

Under the Radar

Indiana State has recently announced that they are moving up their season opener against Eastern Illinois to Thursday night, August 31st.  The Sycamores will be unveil their new lights.

This renewal of this 115-year-old rivalry has caught me pleasantly by surprise as I had forgotten that they had agreed to a four game series last spring.  It only makes sense for these two schools to play as the schools are only 50 miles apart and the rivalry is one of the oldest in both programs' history.

An annual game that was torn apart by realignment is temporarily put together by the schools' athletic directors...

One Down

With this entry, one month of adding an item or two to this website each day will have come and gone.  Only eleven more months, or 334 days, to go...

Despite a subpar year on the field, Montana led the FCS in attendance for the third straight year.  The Griz averaged 25,733 per home game - which was higher than 47 FBS programs.  After Montana, FCS National Champion James Madison averaged just under 20,000.  The next two spots were surprises:  Florida A&M (19,710) and Jackson State (19,660).  Rounding out the top 5 was North Dakota State, as they averaged 18,556 fans per game.

Weekly List

I have already started to compile my weekly list of games that I will be researching this year.  I am somewhere around 25-30 games a week through the middle of October - and I haven't even included Divisions II and III yet.

It could be a busy spring and summer...

Quick History Lesson

In my previous quick thought, I mentioned Farragut Field at the U.S. Naval Academy.  I can't help but throw out some history on Admiral David Farragut:

• He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the U.S. Navy
• He was commisioned as a midshipman at the age of nine, and served in the Navy over a span of 60 years
• At the age of 12, in the War of 1812, he was given the task to bring a captured ship safely to port
• Lastly, an order of his was paraphrased to, "Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead!"  During the Civil War, naval mines were known as torpedos.

He died at the age of 69 while on vacation in what is known now as Kittery, Maine...

Longest Punt

The longest punt in college football history happened in 1925, but the true distance that the punt traveled was never determined.  Marquette's QB, Bob Demoling, kicked the ball from his own 20-yard line on a blustery day (reminds me of a favorite animated Disney movie, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day) at Farragut Field in Annapolis.  It landed on Navy's 19 yard line, bounced, and then was picked up by a gust of wind. The ball was carried 30 yards beyond the end zone.  where it went into the Chesapeake Bay, and was swept out to sea.

Team Capsules

Two team capsules were added to both the Mid-America and Wisconsin conferences.

Longest Winning Streaks

Here are the five longest winning streaks in Division I College Football:

1)  Oklahoma  47  (1953-1957)

2)  Washington  39  (1908-1914)

3)  Yale  37  (1890-1893)

4)  Yale  37  (1887-1889)

5)  Toledo 35  (1969-1971)

Mount Union, Division III's powerhouse, broke the Sooner's record in Oct. '99, and they extended the record out to 55 before it was ended in Dec. '99.  The Purple Raiders would break their own record 4 years later - but they could only get the streak to 56, which ironically is Joe DiMaggio's record hitting streak in MLB...