#7 Wofford 45, Chattanooga 14
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - With a 45-14 win on Saturday afternoon, the Wofford College football team defeated Chattanooga and claimed a share of the 2010 Southern Conference Championship. The Terriers scored two touchdowns in the first quarter and held the nation's seventh-ranked offense to their lowest point total of the season.
The Terriers, ranked seventh in the nation, are 9-2 on the season and 7-1 in the conference and the Mocs are 6-5 overall and 5-3 in the SoCon. The Terriers were led by Brenton Bersin with 146 receiving yards and one touchdown and Eric Breitenstein with 131 rushing yards and three touchdowns. The Mocs were led by B.J. Coleman with 210 passing yards and Joel Bradford with 21 receiving yards.
The Mocs went three-and-out on the first possession on the game. On the first drive of the game for Wofford, Eric Breitenstein went 38-yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead at 12:44 in the first quarter. Chattanooga moved the ball into Wofford territory and had fourth-and three. Keon Williams went up the middle, but the ball was stripped by Blake Wylie at the one-yard line and the ball went out the back of the end-zone for a touchback.
On the next drive, Eric Breitenstein had a 27-yard run, but the Terriers were forced to punt and it was downed inside the ten. The Wofford defense forced another three-and-out and the Mocs punted. Wofford was able to pick up three first downs on the drive that was capped by a two-yard touchdown run by Eric Breitenstein at 2:02 in the first quarter for a 14-0 lead.
Chattanooga gained three first downs, but came up empty as Jeff Veres was wide right on a 28-yard field goal attempt at 14:47 in the second quarter. Wofford was forced three-and-out and punted on the ensuing drive. The Mocs passing game came to life on their next drive with three first down receptions. Erroll Wynn scored for Chattanooga with a four-yard run to make it a 14-7 game at 9:56 in the second quarter.
The Terriers hit quickly when they got the ball back as Mitch Allen found Brenton Bersin deep for a 43-yard touchdown pass with 8:57 on the clock in the second quarter. The Mocs gained one first down, then on third down Keaton Thompson sacked B.J. Coleman for a loss of seven yards and forced a punt with 5:08 left in the half. With the ball back, Wofford drove to the 18-yard line and set up for a field goal. The Terriers faked the field goal, but the pass from Mitch Allen to Jamie Chappell was incomplete as the half ended.
To open the second half, Wofford converted a fourth-and-one and scored with a two-yard touchdown run by Eric Breitenstein at 10:04 in the third quarter to take a 28-7 lead. The Terrier defense forced a three-and-out by the Mocs. With the ball back, Wofford was able to add to the lead with a 31-yard field goal by Christian Reed with 3:59 to go in the third quarter for a 31-7 advantage.
On the next drive for the Mocs, they gained two first downs before being forced to punt. Wofford was forced three-and-out and punted. Chattanooga was driving, but B.J. Coleman was intercepted by Coleman Hornaday, who returned the ball 37-yards into Mocs territory. The Terriers added to the lead with an eleven-yard run by Mitch Allen with 9:59 left in the game for a 38-7 score.
The Mocs got the ball back, but Ameet Pall forced a fumble and recovered it, giving the Terriers the ball back at the 30-yard line. On fourth-and-eight, Brian Kass threw the ball to Brenton Bersin at the goal line, but interference was called on the Mocs for the first down. Bryan Youman bounced over several tacklers on the way to an eight yard touchdown with 6:48 left in the game as Wofford took a 45-7 lead.
Chattanooga gained one first down before punting it back to the Terriers. Wofford went three-and-out and the punt by Landon Bennett was blocked and recovered by Chris Awuah for a touchdown to make it a 45-14 game with 3:35 remaining in the game. Both teams had one more drive in the game before time ran out and the Terriers earned a share of the Southern Conference Championship.
Wofford had 474 total yards, with 295 on the ground. Chattanooga had 322 yards, 231 of which were passing. Wofford had the time of possession advantage by a 40:23 to 19:37 margin. Wofford was 7-of-15 on third downs. Chattanooga was 4-of-12 on third down.
Elon 45, Western Carolina 14
ELON, N.C. - Elon's Scott Riddle threw for a career-high five touchdowns and 452 yards to guide the Phoenix to a 45-14 victory over Western Carolina on Saturday afternoon at McKinnon Field / Rhodes Stadium in the season finale for both squads.
Western Carolina finishes the year 2-9 overall and 1-7 in SoCon play while Elon was 6-5, 5-3.
The Catamounts limited Elon to 97 yards of total offense in the opening quarter and trailed by one score, 7-0, after the opening 15 minutes. However, over the final three frames, the Phoenix and its fourth-year signal caller outscored WCU 38-to-14 and put up 546 yards of total offense.
Trailing by two touchdowns, the Catamounts got within one possession late in the second quarter on a Michael Johnson one-yard run, 14-7. But the Phoenix advanced their lead on the following drive as Riddle connected on a 20-yard strike to Matt Eastman to cap a five play, 71-yard drive covering 1:40 to take a 21-7 into the halftime locker room.
Elon continued its offensive prowess to open the second half, scoring on both of its first two possessions to take a 35-7 lead. Both drives for the Phoenix took less than two minutes to reach the end zone. Elon's Kenton Beal connected on a 31-yard field with 4:50 left in the third quarter to make the score, 38-7. On the following drive, WCU collected four, first-downs as the Catamounts drove 57 yards down to the Elon three-yard line. Yet, a Zac Brindise pass to Andrew Rogers in the back of the end zone fell short on fourth and goal to end the Catamounts drive.
The Phoenix added seven more points in the fourth quarter at the 14:03 mark when Riddle connected with Aaron Mellette for a 67-yard touchdown.
With 2:50 left in the game, WCU freshman Marshaun Edwards rumbled 60 yards on the Catamounts first play of their final drive to set up a Matt Wabby five-yard touchdown pass to Taylor Spangler to make the score 45-14 with 1:39 left in the game. It was Wabby's first WCU career touchdown pass and Spangler's first career TD reception.
Junior Zac Brindise finished the contest with 227 yards passing - the third highest outing of his career - as the Catamounts amassed 358 yards of total offense, the second-highest total of the season and most in SoCon play this year. Josh Cockrell hauled in a career-best six passes for 66 yards to lead WCU, while Jacoby Mitchell caught five passes for 59 yards and SoCon Freshman of the Year candidate Deja Alexander had four for 45.
Defensively for the Catamounts, Ricky Schwarz finished with nine tackles including five solo stops and one for loss with both redshirt freshman Randy Pressley and true frosh Courtland Carson tallying seven stops apiece, the latter with 1.5 TFLs. Senior C.J. Johnson tallied four stops in his final game for the purple and gold with two pass break-ups and three quarterback hurries, with redshirt freshman Brian Johnson recording a sack for the defense.
The Citadel 13, Samford 12
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Citadel's Ben Dupree scored on an eight-yard run with 3:04 to go in the game to lift the Bulldog football team to a 13-12 win over Samford Saturday afternoon at Seibert Stadium.
With the loss, Samford ends the season with a record of 4-7 overall and 2-6 in Southern Conference play. The Citadel finishes the season at 3-8 overall and 1-7 in SoCon play. Prior to the game, Samford honored the 25 seniors on the 2010 team.
For Samford offensively, quarterback Dustin Taliaferro completed 28-of-36 passes for a season-high 286 yards. Chris Evans rushed 28 times for 91 yards to end his career with a school and state record 4,575 rushing yards.
Sophomore place-kicker Cameron Yaw provided all of Samford's scoring in the game. He was 4-for-4 in field goals, making kicks of 19, 21, 27 and 42 yards.
Defensively for Samford, Bryce Smith had nine tackles, including two tackles for a loss and one sack in his final game in a Samford uniform. Brothers Andy Davis and Alex Davis finished with eight tackles each. Thomas Broussard had a fumble recovery for Samford for the lone turnover of the game.
As a team, Samford tallied 446 yards of total offense to 203 for The Citadel. The visitors won the time of possession battle, with The Citadel holding the ball for 30:17, compared to 29:43 for Samford.
The Citadel's Dupree completed 3-of-5 passes for 29 yards. Rickey Anderson and Terrell Dallas had 37 yards rushing each to lead The Citadel's ground game.
The game-winning score for The Citadel was set up when Luke Caldwell hit Rickey Anderson on a reverse-pass for 55 yards giving The Citadel the ball at the Samford eight yard line. Dupree scored on an eight-yard run on the next play. The Citadel attempted a two-point conversion, but Dupree's pass fell incomplete to make the score 13-12.
Samford drove to The Citadel's 30-yard line in a late comeback attempt. However, on a fourth-and-two play, Taliaferro's pass, intended for Chris Cephus, was batted away by Demetrius Jackson, sealing the win for The Citadel.
The Citadel started the scoring in the first quarter when Milford Scott blocked a Bob Hooper punt and Travis Ruff recovered it in the end zone with 1:06 to go in the first quarter. Ryan Sellers added the extra point to give The Citadel a 7-0 lead.
Samford got on the scoreboard for the first time when Yaw kicked a 19-yard field goal with 11:33 left in the second quarter to cut the lead to 7-3. Yaw added a 21-yard field goal with 5:31 to go in the second quarter and another from 27-yards out with five seconds to go before halftime to send Samford to halftime with a 9-7 lead.
Samford added to its lead midway through the fourth quarter. Yaw booted a 42-yard field goal with 8:29 left in the game to push Samford's lead to 12-7.
Georgia Southern 32, Furman 28
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Jaybo Shaw scored on a 4-yard touchdown run with 1:07 remaining in the game to complete a fourth quarter comeback and lift Georgia Southern to a 32-28 Southern Conference victory over Furman Saturday afternoon at Paladin Stadium.
Shaw's game winning score came after Roderick Tinsley pounced on a fumble by Furman quarterback Cody Worley at the Paladin 33 with 2:44 left in the game. From there the Eagles covered the distance, aided by Shaw runs of 14 and 6 yards, and a 9-yard rush by Robert Brown to the Furman 4.
Furman moved the Georgia Southern 47 in the final minute before Worley's pass into the end zone fell incomplete to end the game.
The win improves Georgia Southern to 7-4 overall and 5-3 in SoCon play.
Furman completes its season with a 5-6 overall mark and 3-5 league record in the final game under head coach Bobby Lamb, who announced his resignation on Friday following nine seasons at the helm. Lamb, whose tenure at his alma mater spanned 29 seasons in the capacities of player, assistant coach, and head coach, finishes his head coaching run with a 67-40 record.
Worley paced Furman, completing 16-of-28 passes for 196 yards and two scores in his final game as a Paladin.
Georgia Southern, which trailed 28-17 heading to the fourth quarter, took over possession at its own 7 16 seconds into the final stanza and proceeded to mount the game's most impressive drive, covering 93 yards in 20 plays and consuming 11:14 of clock. The drive featured four third down conversions of and two fourth down conversions, including a 1-yard scoring dive by J.J. Wilcox that sliced Furman's lead to 28-23. The Eagles then turned again to Wilcox, who bulled over the right side for the two-point conversion to make it 28-25 with 3:46 remaining.
Georgia Southern chose to kick off deep, and following two Jerry Williams runs that netted six yards, Worley faked a handoff and kept it but had the ball dislodged by Derek Heyden and recovered by Tinsley at the Paladin 33.
Furman jumped out to an early 14-0 lead following a 71-yard touchdown pass from Worley to Adam Mims on the game's first offensive play and a Jerry Williams 6-yard scoring run, which was set up by a Shaw fumble that was recovered by Furman's Chris Wiley at the Georgia Southern 26 just a little over a minute into the game.
After the Eagles cut the lead to 14-10 on a 41-yard Adria Mora field goal and Shaw 3-yard scoring run, Furman covered 81 yards and in 13 plays for a 1-yard scoring plunge by Tersoo Uhaa that gave the Paladins a 21-10 lead at intermission.
Georgia Southern opened the second half with an 8-play, 82-yard drive that ended with a Shaw 1-yard plunge.
The remainder of the third quarter yielded some of the game's greatest drama.
Trailing 21-17, Georgia Southern took possession of the ball at the Furman 22 following a high snap sailed over the head of Paladin punter Chas Short. After gaining a first and goal at the Furman 3, the Eagles were stuffed short of the goal line of four consecutive runs.
Two plays later Paladin running back Jerry Williams fumbled the ball, which was recovered by the Eagles' Darius Eubanks at the 5, but Georgia Southern's Robert Brown's fumble on the next play was collected by Furman's Ryan Steed, who returned it 89 yards to the Eagle 8. Three plays later Worley beat a GSU blitz with a 10-yard scoring strike to Tyler Maples that gave the Paladins a 28-17 lead with 3:43 on the third quarter clock.
Georgia Southern forged a 403-246 advantage in total offense, including 310 yards rushing. Furman was limited to 36 yards rushing in the contest, and the Paladins managed only three second half downs until moving the chains three times on the game's final possession.
Florida 48, #2 Appalachian State 10
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Florida found the end zone on 7-of-10 possessions and dealt No. 2 Appalachian State University a 48-10 defeat on Saturday afternoon at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Despite the loss in its regular-season finale, Appalachian (9-2, 7-1 SoCon) will almost certainly be one of five seeded teams in the upcoming 20-team NCAA Division I Football Championship.
Florida (7-4) controlled the action throughout, especially in the first half when it rolled up 327 of its 547 total yards en route to a commanding 28-0 halftime lead. However, Appalachian had opportunities to stay within striking distance on a number of occasions but could not capitalize.
The Mountaineers went three-and-out just once in seven first-half possessions and drove into Florida territory twice but came up empty-handed thanks in large part to seven first-half penalties that cost them 55 yards. ASU's second drive stalled at the UF 30 yard line when a fourth-down pass from DeAndre Presley to Ben Jorden was a thrown a tad behind Jorden and slipped through the tight end's hands and a second possession ended prematurely when Brian Quick lost a fumble inside the ASU 30.
After the Gators scored on the first series of the second half to stretch its lead to 35-0, the Mountaineers settled in and put together back-to-back scoring drives for their only points of the game. A 33-yard field goal by Jason Vitaris capped 12-play, 60-yard drive that put ASU on the scoreboard and a nine-yard touchdown pass from Presley to Matt Cline culminated an eight-play, 64-yard drive that closed out the ASU scoring.
Presley led Appalachian's 274-yard effort against the nation's 10th-ranked NCAA Division I FBS defense, completing 19-of-28 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown and running eight times for 26 more yards. Quick matched a game high with six receptions for 56 yards.
Defensively, linebacker D.J. Smith had a game-high 14 tackles, becoming only the second player in ASU history with 500 career tackles in the process. Smith's 503 stops rank behind only three-time all-American Dexter Coakley (616 tackles from 1993-96) in the program's all-time annals.
Florida quarterback John Brantley completed 16-of-22 passes for 222 yards and also caught a touchdown pass while another Gator QB, Jordan Reed, ran for three scores and threw for another.