Montana Moves Into No. 1 Spot

 

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Montana became just the third team this season to hold the No. 1 ranking in the latest Football Championship Subdivision Coaches Poll after Villanova handed Richmond its first loss of the season Saturday.

 

The Grizzlies defeated Idaho State 12-10, coming back from a 10-9 deficit to remain undefeated on the season. Montana kicker Brody McKnight made a 33-yard field goal on the last play of the game to give the Grizzlies the win. Idaho State cornerback Michael Wright was able to deflect the ball, but McKnight’s kick passed through the uprights.

 

Montana (9-0) received 16 first-place votes and 684 points overall. The Grizzlies earned their 12^th straight Big Sky Conference title and are the only undefeated team in the Top 25.

 

Southern Illinois (8-1) received six first-place votes and 665 points overall. The Salukis defeated then-No. 9 South Dakota State 34-15 behind Deji Karim’s 127 yards rushing. Southern Illinois quarterback Paul McIntosh threw for only 108 yards but had touchdown passes of 4 and 40 yards. The Salukis held South Dakota State to just 14 rushing yards and sacked the Jackrabbits six times. 

 

With the loss, South Dakota State dropped three spots to No. 12.

 

Villanova (8-1) jumped a spot to No. 3 with its win at then-No. 1 Richmond. The Wildcats received the other six first-place votes and 663 points overall.

 

Villanova quarterback Chris Whitney connected with Brandyn Harvey on fourth down for a 29-yard touchdown with 59 seconds remaining in the game to upset the Spiders 21-20, snapping Richmond’s 17-game win streak. Richmond was able to drive down the field to the Villanova 17 yard line with 10 seconds left, but Andrew Howard’s 35-yard field goal attempt missed wide left.

 

With the loss Richmond (8-1) dropped four spots into a tie with William & Mary (8-1) at No. 4.

 

The Tribe defeated Towson 31-0 behind quarterback R.J. Archer’s 206 yards. Archer ran for a score and connected with Eric Robertson on a 25-yard touchdown pass. William & Mary has the top-ranked defense in the FCS and forced three Tiger turnovers. Towson was limited to 201 yards of total offense, including 79 rushing yards. The Tribe has won four consecutive games and has matched its best record through nine games since 1986.

 

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

 

The Cowboys enter the top 10 after their 63-42 win against Sam Houston State.

 

New to the poll this week was No. 25 Texas State (6-3) which defeated then-No. 19 Central Arkansas.

 

With the loss, the Bears dropped out of this week’s poll.

 

Lafayette (8-1) made the biggest jump this week, moving up four spots to No. 20 after its 56-49 win against then-No. 20 Colgate. Prairie View A&M (6-1) jumped three spots to No. 19 after it defeated Alabama A&M 33-27.

 

The Colonial Athletic Association maintains five teams in the Top 25, including three in the top five and four in the top 10. The Big Sky Conference, Missouri Valley Conference, Patriot League and Southland Conference each have three teams in the Top 25. The Mid-Eastern Athletic, Ohio Valley and Southern Conferences are each represented by two teams. The Big South and Southwest Athletic Conferences each have one team in the Top 25.

 

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.

 

 

Team (No. 1 Votes)                 2009 Record        Points     Previous Ranking

1. Montana (16)                              9-0                  684                     2

2. Southern Illinois (6)                     8-1                  665                     3

3. Villanova (6)                               8-1                  663                     4

T4. Richmond                                 8-1                  591                     1

T4. William & Mary                          8-1                  591                     5

6. Elon                                           8-1                  561                     6

7. New Hampshire                           8-1                  532                     7

8. Appalachian State                       7-2                  513                     8

9. South Carolina State                   8-1                  473                    10

10. McNeese State                         7-2                  436                    11   

11. Northern Iowa                            6-3                  409                    12

12. South Dakota State                   7-2                  343                     9

13. Eastern Illinois                          7-2                  336                    13

14. Holy Cross                               8-1                  334                    14

15. Jacksonville State                     6-3                  293                    15

16. Liberty                                      7-2                  258                    17

17. Stephen F. Austin                     7-2                  249                    18

18. Eastern Washington                  6-3                  223                    16

19. Prairie View A&M                      6-1                  182                    22

20. Lafayette                                  8-1                  168                    24

21. Florida A&M                             7-2                  148                    23

22. Weber State                              5-4                  113                    21

23. Delaware                                  6-3                   90                     25

24. Colgate                                    8-2                   66                     20

25. Texas State                              6-3                   46                    NR

 

Others receiving votes (points in parentheses): Butler (39), Southeastern Louisiana (21), Central Arkansas (15), Montana State (13), Harvard (10), Northern Arizona (7), Drake (6), Eastern Kentucky (6), Massachusetts (5), Cal Poly (4), Pennsylvania (3), Chattanooga (2), Alabama A&M (1), UC Davis (1).

 

 

 

Southern Illinois jumps to No. 1

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - A 35-15 victory for Southern Illinois at South Dakota State on Saturday not only won the Salukis the Missouri Valley Football Conference title and the league's automatic bid to the playoffs, it also vaulted SIU to the No. 1 spot in The Sports Network FCS Top-25 poll.

Southern Illinois (8-1) is ranked on top for the first time since Oct. 10, 2005. The Salukis, who were No. 3 last week, were ranked No. 1 for two weeks in the 2005 season after spending 11 weeks at No. 1 during the 2004 campaign.

Richmond (8-1) dropped from No. 1 to No. 4 with its 21-20 loss to Villanova on Saturday at home. The Spiders, who had their 17-game winning streak snapped by the Wildcats, had been ranked No. 1 for nine consecutive weeks.

In some of the closest balloting seen in some time in the poll, Southern Illinois edged No. 2 Montana by just 24 points, 3,196 to 3,172, despite the fact that the Grizzlies (9-0) received more first-place votes.

Montana and Butler (9-0) are the only remaining undefeated teams in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Montana, which needed a final-play field goal to beat winless Idaho State 12-10, finished with 64 first-place votes. Southern Illinois had 37 first place votes and Villanova finished third in the poll with 32 first-place votes.

The Wildcats (8-1) finished just 11 points behind Montana and 35 points behind Southern Illinois.

After the shuffling at the top, the rest of the top 10 had only a couple of other changes.

William & Mary (8-1) remained at No. 5 with a 31-0 victory at home against Towson, giving the Colonial Athletic Association three of the top five teams in the country. With New Hampshire at No. 8 and Delaware at No. 23, the CAA has four teams in the top 10 and five in the top 25, more than any other conference.

New Hampshire received one of the 137 first-place votes after surviving a close call against Rhode Island, 55-42. Delaware beat Hofstra 28-24 at home.

Elon (8-1) beat Western Carolina on the road 42-17, and Appalachian State (7-2) toppled Chattanooga 35-20 to keep the Phoenix and Mountaineers at numbers 6 and 7 respectively, also setting up a winner-take-all battle for the Southern Conference automatic bid Saturday at Elon.

South Carolina State (8-1) moved up one place to No. 9 with a 43-13 MEAC road win over Howard. The Bulldogs, who picked up one first-place vote, have never been ranked higher in the history of the poll.

Moving back into the top-10 at the 10th spot was McNeese State (7-2), which advanced two positions by crushing Sam Houston State 63-42 in Lake Charles.

Northern Iowa (6-3) remained at No. 11 with a 28-7 win over Youngstown State.

South Dakota State (7-2) fell three spots to No. 12 with its loss to Southern Illinois in the MVFC title game. The No. 9 ranking had been the highest ever for the Jackrabbits in the poll.

Holy Cross (8-1) survived a scare at Lehigh to win 24-20 and remain 13th in the rankings. The Crusaders will meet No. 20 Lafayette (8-1) at home for the Patriot League title on Saturday.

No. 14 Eastern Illinois, No. 15 Stephen F. Austin, No. 16 Liberty and No. 17 Jacksonville State also stayed in the same order. Eastern Illinois (7-2) was idle, SFA survived Nicholls State 31-27, Liberty routed VMI 54-14 and JSU stopped Southeast Missouri State 24-3.

Eastern Washington (6-3) rose three spots to 18th in the poll, while Weber State (5-4) stayed at No. 19 during off weeks for both schools.

Lafayette jumped five spots with its 56-49 home win against Colgate (8-2), The Raiders fell from 18th to 24th with their second loss in three games.

The remaining teams in the poll include Prairie View at No. 21, Florida A&M at No. 22 and Texas State at No. 25.

Prairie View (6-1) moved to within a win of the SWAC title game with a 33-27 victory over Alabama A&M, while Florida A&M held off an upset bid from North Carolina A&T for a 31-27 home win.

Texas State re-enters the poll for the first time in six weeks, after being ranked for five weeks beginning with the preseason ranking. The Bobcats (6-3) defeated then-20th-ranked Central Arkansas 27-24 this past weekend.

Central Arkansas (5-4) fell out of the poll for the first time in two years with its third close loss in recent weeks.

 

 

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