Top Five Teams Maintain Position (FCS Coaches Poll)

Richmond Holds On At No. 1

 

SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? Top-ranked Richmond earned its 16^th straight victory Saturday, defeating Massachusetts 34-12 and tying its best start in school history. The Spiders maintained their No 1 ranking in the latest FCS Coaches Poll receiving all 28 first-place votes and 700 points overall.

 

The rest of the top five also picked up wins to hold onto their rankings.

 

Richmond (7-0) intercepted the Minutemen six times.  Patrick Weldon made the first pick and put the Spiders on the Massachusetts 27-yard line. After quarterback Eric Ward’s 24-yard run, Ben Keating scored on a 1-yard run to put Richmond ahead 7-3. Ward finished 8-for-20 through the air, passing for 52 yards and rushing for 62. Justin Forte had a career-high 28 carries for 118 yards and two scores.

 

Montana (7-0), the only other remaining unbeaten in the Top 25, held at No. 2 after its 45-30 win at Sacramento State.

 

Chase Reynolds and Thomas Brooks-Fletcher combined for 245 rushing yards and four touchdowns for the Grizzlies. Montana (7-0) scored two touchdowns on back-to-back possessions following a successful on-side kick and also staged a fake field goal to maintain possession and eventually score. Sacramento State pulled within 10 with five minutes remaining, but Jabin Sambrano scored on a 57-yard catch to put Montana ahead 45-28 with 3:35 left. The Hornets added two more points with a safety and had possession, but Caleb McSurdy picked off a pass to ensure the win.

 

Southern Illinois (6-1) remained at No. 3 after its 27-8 win against Youngstown State. Joe Allaria caught an 86-yard touchdown pass from redshirt-freshman quarterback Paul McIntosh, the second longest reception in school history. McIntosh came in for Chris Dieker in the first quarter after the starter was sacked and injured his non-throwing shoulder. Dieker did not return, but McIntosh finished 10-for-14 with 133 yards and rushed 12 times for 81 yards. The Salukis have won 11 straight conference games.

 

Villanova (7-1) came in at No. 4 after defeating Rhode Island 36-7 and giving head coach Andy Talley his 200^th career victory. The Wildcats rushed for 376 yards and tallied 500 yards of total offense. It was the third time this season that Villanova had rushed for 300 or more yards in a game.

 

William & Mary (6-1) stayed at No. 5 with a 24-3 victory against James Madison. R.J. Archer threw for two scores, including a nine-yard pass to Rob Varno to put the Tribe ahead 7-0 in the first quarter. The Dukes pulled within four, but William & Mary scored 17 unanswered points.

 

Northern Iowa (5-3) was the only top 10 team to fall Saturday, as the Panthers were upset by then-No. 13 South Dakota State for their second straight loss. SDSU quarterback Thomas O’Brien went 26-for-37 with 285 yards and two scores, including a 63-yard touchdown pass to Glen Fox. Fox had five receptions for 99 yards. Kyle Harris added a 49-yard field goal for the Jackrabbits, who only had one turnover, compared to Northern Iowa’s three.

 

With the win, South Dakota State jumped four spots to No. 9, while Northern Iowa fell eight spots to No. 14.

 

Rounding out the top 10 were Elon (6-1) at No. 6, followed by New Hampshire (6-1) at No. 7, Appalachian State (5-2) at No. 8, South Dakota State at No. 9 and South Carolina State (6-1) at No. 10.

 

Holy Cross (5-1), Delaware (5-2) and Eastern Illinois (6-2) made the biggest jumps this week, each moving up five spots. The Crusaders moved to No. 17 after handing Colgate its first loss of the season, followed by idle Delaware at No. 18. The Panthers came in at No. 19 after their upset of then-No. 12 Jacksonville State.

 

New to this week’s poll are No. 24 Liberty (5-2) and No. 25 Prairie View A&M (5-1). The Flames defeated Charleston Southern 20-13, while the Panthers won at Southern 16-14.

 

Falling out of the poll was Eastern Kentucky, which fell at Austin Peay 24-20. 

 

The Colonial Athletic Association is represented by six teams, including three in the top five and four in the top 10. The Big Sky Conference has four ranked teams. The Missouri Valley and Southland Conference are represented by three teams, while the Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League and Southern Conference each have two. The Big South, Great West, Mid-Eastern Athletic and Southwest Athletic Conferences each have one ranked team.

 

The FCS Coaches Poll website can be viewed here and is updated each week after the release of the poll.

 

The FCS Coaches Poll is based exclusively on a voting panel of head coaches in the FCS under the cooperation of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and is administered by the Southern Conference.

 

2009 FCS Coaches Poll ? Week 8 (October 26, 2009)

 

      Team (No. 1 Votes)               2009 Record          Points     Previous Ranking
1. Richmond (28)                                 7-0                   700                     1

2. Montana                                          7-0                   668                     2

3. Southern Illinois                               6-1                   645                     3

4. Villanova                                         7-1                   614                     4

5. William & Mary                                6-1                   578                     5

6. Elon                                                6-1                   546                     7

7. New Hampshire                               6-1                   508                     8

8. Appalachian State                            5-2                   493                     9

9. South Dakota State                          6-1                   457                    13         

10. South Carolina State                      6-1                   453                    10

11. McNeese State                              5-2                   419                    11

12. Central Arkansas                           5-2                   354                    14

13. Weber State                                  5-3                   352                    15

14. Northern Iowa                                 5-3                   340                     6

15. Stephen F. Austin                          6-1                   328                    18

16. Cal Poly                                        4-3                   231                    19

17. Holy Cross                                    5-1                   192                    22

18. Delaware                                       5-2                   179                    23

19. Eastern Illinois                               6-2                   172                    24

20. Jacksonville State                          4-3                   149                    12

21. Eastern Washington                       5-3                   141                    21

22. Northern Arizona                            5-2                   128                    25

23. Massachusetts                              4-3                   116                    16

24.  Liberty                                          5-2                    67                    NR

T25. Colgate                                        7-1                    64                     17

T25. Prairie View A&M                         5-1                    64                    NR

 

Others receiving votes (points in parentheses): Florida A&M (56), Lafayette (28), Butler (18), Eastern Kentucky (12), UC Davis (8), Albany (5), Brown (3), Chattanooga (2), Harvard (2), James Madison (2), Missouri State (2), Southern Utah (2), Gardner-Webb (1), Montana State (1).

 

 

 

 

Spiders win again to stay at No. 1 (Sports Network Poll)

 

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Richmond wasn't seriously threatened in its 34-12 victory over then-No. 14-ranked Massachusetts on Saturday and the Spiders didn't have much trouble retaining the No. 1 spot in The Sports Network FCS Top-25 poll on Monday either.

 

The Spiders (7-0) received 128 of 139 first-place votes to stay on top. Richmond, which has won 16 consecutive games and is the defending Football Championship Subdivision national champion, picked up 3,433 points, compared to 3,255 for second-place Montana.

 

Montana (7-0) grabbed seven first-place votes, with No. 3 Southern Illinois (6-1) receiving two, No. 4 Villanova (7-1) nabbed one and No. 10 South Carolina State (6-1) picked up one.

 

Montana survived for a 45-30 victory at Sacramento State, while Southern Illinois showed no hangover from its win at Northern Iowa the previous week and hammered Youngstown State 27-8 at home. Villanova (7-1) trounced Rhode Island 36-7.

 

The top five in the poll remained the same, with William & Mary (6-1) using a convincing 24-3 victory over James Madison to stay at No. 5.

 

Northern Iowa's 24-14 loss at No. 11 South Dakota State caused a shake-up in the rest of the top-10. Northern Iowa fell from sixth to 12th on a weekend where five of the top-25 teams were defeated.

 

Elon (6-1) beat Chattanooga 45-10 at home to hop up one spot to No. 6, while Appalachian State (5-2) overwhelmed Georgia Southern 52-16 in its annual rivalry game to rise one place to No. 7. New Hampshire (6-1) rebounded from a loss to UMass to hold off Hofstra on the road, 18-10, and improved to No. 8.

 

South Dakota State (6-1) used that victory over Northern Iowa to vault up two slots from No. 11 to No. 9, while South Carolina State retained the No. 10 position by beating Hampton 21-9 on the road.

 

There was quite a bit of shuffling around in the next 10, with Stephen F. Austin (6-1) improving four positions from No. 15 to No. 11 with its 42-3 victory over Sam Houston State in the Battle of the Piney Woods, one spot ahead of Northern Iowa (5-3).

 

McNeese State (5-2) needed a late comeback to beat back Southeastern Louisiana 36-35, but the Cowboys dropped one spot in the poll to No. 13.

 

Weber State's tight 28-20 victory at Northern Colorado allowed the Wildcats (5-3) to climb two slots to No. 14 and Central Arkansas (5-2) rose three places to No. 15 with a 42-13 home victory over Nicholls State. All of the losses in the top 25 helped Delaware to also improve three slots to No. 16 during an off-week.

 

Holy Cross (6-1) defeated Colgate (7-1) 42-28 at home in a key Patriot League battle and the Crusaders also took Colgate's No. 17 position in the poll. The Crusaders jumped five places, while Colgate fell to No. 24.

 

Cal Poly (4-3) bombed Division II Dixie State 44-14 to climb two spots to No. 18, while UMass fell from No. 14 to No. 19 with its loss to top-ranked Richmond.

 

Eastern Illinois (6-2) completed the top-20 by thumping Jacksonville State on the road 28-20. The Panthers leaped up five places, while Jacksonville State (4-3) plummeted from No. 13 to No. 22.

 

Closing out the poll were No. 21 Northern Arizona, No. 23 Liberty and No. 25 Prairie View, while Eastern Kentucky fell out of the top-25.

 

Northern Arizona (5-2) gained three positions by clubbing Idaho State 40-12 at home, while Liberty (5-2) stayed in the same place with a tight 20-13 win over Charleston Southern.

 

Prairie View, which made its first poll appearance last season, held off Southern 16-14 in a key SWAC contest. The Panthers are 5-1 overall and 4-0 in the SWAC's West Division after beating both Southern and Grambling for the first time in 35 years in the same season.

 

Eastern Kentucky tumbled out of the poll from No. 21 following its second loss in three games, a 24-20 setback to Austin Peay.

 

Sports Network's FCS College Football Poll