What we learned: Week 2

There was some real shockers!

App St. is not going to be shut out again. They demolished poor little North Carolina A&T 58-6. They have put the FCS on notice. They are back.

Sacramento State is not going to be that good. They beat Oregon State, jumped in the rankings, and promptly laid an egg against a beatable opponent in Southern Utah. Instead they lost 35-14.

South Carolina State has the early edge in the MEAC. They took down Bethune-Cookman on the road in a back and forth game. South Carolina State pulled it out late, but also had some strange coaching decisions that led to a few drive killing turnovers and points for Bethune-Cookman. The win against last year's co-champs puts SC State in the driver seat.

Jacksonville State is still not ready for prime time. They lost to UTC 38-17. Jacksonville State had the early lead, but UTC adjusted and shut down Jacksonville State after the first quarter. The SoCon is still a better conference than the OVC. Jacksonville State may win the OVC, but this loss shows where they rank against top quality teams.

Montana got their revenge. They beat Cal Poly, which derailed the Grizzles last year. Montana is now set for a real battle in the Bi Sky. They have looked good so far this year in their running game, and hopefully that defense holds. Rivals Montana State won too (against UC Davis) and of course there is the defending champs: Eastern Washington . . .

Eastern Washington LOST. No kidding. In the shocker of the week, Eastern Washington slipped up to South Dakota. South Dakota ran all over Eastern Washington. They had 5 players with double digit rushing yards, and they got the early surprise big pass play touch down. But what really helped them over the top was kicker Kevin Robb. Eastern Washington's bend but don't break defense did not account for Robb's leg. He kicked three 30+ yard field goals to help South Dakota to a 30-17 upset. Bo Levi Mitchell passed 60 times. For a team that had the leading rusher in FCS last year, this is too much. He threw two TD's and two picks, one of which was returned for a score.

The CAA is still the best, but may look different this year. Traditional top dogs may find themselves on the bottom looking up unless things change quick. Delaware under performed against Navy last week in a loss, and this week still underperformed in a win against Division II West Chester. A 28-17 win is not good. Admittedly they put up 21 in the first quarter, but did little after until they had to in order to win. Villanova lost to drop to 0-2 with an ugly game against Towson 31-10. Towson is now 2-0 and Villanova 0-2. This puts Towson technically in first in the CAA. William and Mary beat VMI 24-7 with another great defensive performance, but the offense struggled again. Paulus was 11 of 20. He needs to be sharper for them to repeat as champs. James Madison and Richmond both won. Richmond looks like it could be the top dog this year. The battle for Virginia is very interesting when you add in Old Dominion who laid a 40-17 beat down on Georgia State. New Hampshire won a close one at 48-41 over Leigh. And Maine took Pittsburgh to the wire before dropping a 35-29 decision.

Wofford also looked real good against Clemson. They had a 21-21 tie at half time and were leading 24-21 half way through the 3rd. They really lost the game when they went for a bomb, which was destined to fail. It was intercepted. It was a strange call as Wofford had moved the ball rather well on the ground. They lost when they could not pick up the 4th down on the final drive. And they were driving. Game ended 35-27.