NCSU Wins Chesapeake 2nd-3rd Playoff
A year after winning the Men's DII College championship, North Carolina State might be going to the fall DIAA playoffs.
The Wolfpack won the runner-up playoff Saturday against Salisbury, defeating the Sharks 24-15 in the playoff between the #2 and #3 team in the conference.
As has been the case all season, the game was close.
Led by an impressive performance from No. 8 Caleb Gwaltney, who scored two tries on the day, NCSU controlled possession and field position nicely. But they weren't perfect, and some sloppy play and a series of penalty continued to stymie scoring opportunities.
Still, in the end it was a good win for NCSU, which finished 5-2 in conference play, losing only to conference champs Virginia Tech, and to Mount St. Mary's in the opening game of the season.
Life, Davenport Win In Mid-South
Life University opened up its Mid-South Conference account with an impressive 24-19 victory over Navy.
The Naval Academy produced some good rugby in the second half to come back and make a game of it, but Life's strong first half won the day.
The Running Eagles, ranked #1 in D1A by the D1A Rugby poll and also by Goff Rugby Report, got a penalty try early and added a try from outside center Conner Mooneyham to lead 12-0 after 25 minutes. A few minutes later, Elijah Billips scored to make it 19-0 with the conversion by Matt Mairowitz.
But Navy inched their way back. Life got another try while Navy added one, and then scored twice in the final ten minutes. That wasn't quite enough, and Life won 24-19.
Indiana Wins Big 10
The University of Indiana rode a torrid second half to get past Ohio State and win the Big Ten Saturday at Fortress Obetz in Ohio.
The victory capped off a day of final games in the conference, with all eight teams in action.
Ohio State and Indiana played it pretty close in the first half, but as time went on, IU started to control the point of contact.
"On offense and defense we started to get more physical," said Indiana assistant coach Daniel Devlin. "In the second half we wanted to just execute at the level we know how."
Western Michigan, Bowling Green To MAC Final
Bowling Green will face off with Western Michigan in the final of the Mid-American Conference after both won semifinals Saturday in convincing fashion.
WMU slammed IUPUI 52-14, starting quickly and scoring five converted tries in the first half to lead 35-0. Wing Reginald Ealy and prop Ivan Delgado scored tries in the first 15 minutes, and then it became the Justice Delli Bovi show, as the WMU second row thundered over for three tries. Flanker Daniel Howard converted all five.
IUPUI did get two tries, including a penalty try, but two scores from flanker Joseph Backe, and two conversions and a penalty from Howard capped it off for the Broncos. Howard ended up with 17 points.
DII Men College Games And Picks: Conference Finales
It's a relatively quiet weekend in Men's DII College, but a few conferences are selecting their champions.
Last week we did OK on our picks, getting 21 games right and three games wrong—an 87.5% accuracy rate. We'll take that.
The Great Midwest finishes up with its two-game final four weekend.
Still, Loyola will have a tough go of it with Wisconsin-Whitewater in the semis. Illinois State takes on Marquette. There's much to play for; as many as the top three could be in the national playoffs.
Check back for scores.
DIAA Games This Weekend: All About Winning
Upsets have been the story of DIAArugby this fall, with teams winning one game over a well-regarded opponent only to slip up late.
Maybe that sounds like an excuse for an iffy 13.5-5.5 record in our picks last week (half a result because we picked Salisbury by 3andthey tied, which is sort of right). West Chester, Oregon State, Rowan, Kentucky, and Princeton all lost in games we expected them to win.
Heart And Patience Lead Tennessee To Key Win
DIAA Latest: The Playoff Picture And More
Gamebreakers DI College Nov 1-3
In the SCRC it's all over bar one weekend.
University of Colorado Team Hit With Sanctions
The University of Colorado has been sanctioned by DIA Rugby fot fielding two unregistered players in a league game this fall.
Two players, Hayes Ward and Sam Tilley, played against New Mexico on September 21. Neither player was CIPP'd and neither was listed on the official matchday roster. Those players were later registered with USA Rugby in the following week.
DIA Games and Picks Nov 8-9: Playoffs and More
Well we were 15-1 in our picks last week (including two "pick 'em" games that were very close); only our pick of Colorado State vs Colorado was wrong.
It was tough on Colorado State, because their coaching staff was part of the English Premiership coaching program and weren't there. With snow causing problems finding training space, the Rams weren't in a good position to put their best foot forward. Colorado was.
OK, with that out of the way, we're hitting a period where some conferences pick up, others slow down, and some have playoffs.
The Big Ten plays its Finals Day.
The Best DII College Team Not Ranked: Thomas More
Thomas More may be the best Men’s DII college team we haven’t put in the Top 40
Part of the hybrid MCRC, Thomas More moved up to DII this year, and while the team lost a close game to Xavier of Cincinnati early in the season, the Saints kept on winning, ultimately taking the conference title this past weekend.
Thomas More Rugby is a school-supported program. That all happened in part because the president of the college from 2013-2018, David Armstrong, had helped get rugby to Notre Dame College. He was a rugby fan, and understood what rugby can do to attract students from Catholic schools.
They started playing in the MCRC as an NSCRO team, with the idea they would build sowly.
But, as often happens in these situations, things built quickly.
PAC Conference 7s Tight As Ever
It's going to be a bit of a repeat of October as November welcomes the PAC-12 Conference Sevens to Stanford.
the top three teams in the West Coast 7s in October, UCLA, Arizona, and Cal, will likely be the top three once again. But the tournament as a whole is quite deep with talented teams. Some of them have jumped right into 7s from 15s, but that might not be the handicap some think it is.
Pool A: Cal, Utah, USC, Washington State
Cal
The Bears have had a bit of a rough go of it this fall—rough for them, that is. Injuries to some key upperclassmen kind of forced the team to rework some combinations. This week's lineup is missing Christian Dyer, Sam Cusano, Max Clark, Jason Severance, Henry Poon, and Kevin Saunders.
Gamebreakers Men DII College Nov 1-3
Conference championships and key final games mark a big weekend for Men's DII college teams, and
Connor Ericksen, Montana State
The MSU inside center scored the first and last try of his team’s comeback win over Northern Colorado. Down 28-7 Montanan State got Ericksen over with 25 minutes to go, and then with the score 28-24 and a minute left, Ericksen scored again to secure a 29-28 victory that won the Rocky Mountain Conference for Montana State.
Josh May, Boston University
May's two tries started things off right as the Terriers beat the Coast Guard Academy 32-19 in the New England-Wide Collegiate Rugby Conference. May's first try opened up the scoring at 5-0, and the second try turned a tight 15-12 scoreline into a relatively comfortable 22-12 lead.
Michigan Over Michigan State In Key Midweek Makeup
The University of Michigan defeated Michigan State with a late surge to claim a top-four spot in the Big Ten Wednesday evening.
This game was a makeup of a September 27 game postponed by lightning. It needed to be played in order to round out the seedings for the Big Ten Finals Day this Saturday in Obetz, Ohio.
In a physical, back-and-forth clash, the improving Wolverines were down 29-24 with 12 minutes to go but stormed back to win 43-29.
MSU started the scoring when flyhalf Ryan Wakley scooped the ball up off the deck and raced in. Michigan No. 8 Davis Grimm, who had a strong game despite having had to battle through injuries, powered over. Nathan Feldman converted for a 7-5 Wolverines lead. Feldman added a penalty goal midway through the first half, but Michigan State responded.
Heart And Patience Lead Tennessee To Key Win
Down 20-17 Saturday against Kentucky, the University of Tennessee, after some sustained pressure, got a penalty right in front of the posts.
It was an ideal time to go for goal and tie the game, setting up a potential game-winning try or kick in the final minutes. But the Vols opted instead for the whole enchilada. They took a lineout in the corner, knowing that a tie would not bump Tennessee into the top two in the SCRC, only a win over the Wildcats would do that.
The result? Not so good. Kentucky foiled the Tennessee try-scoring attempt, cleared their lines, and got a reprieve.
Then back came Tennessee. Four minutes to go, pressure, a penalty that was, again, right in front of the posts. This time, no doubt there was no time, really, to kick a penalty and try to get back for one more shot. They had to go for the try.
Spring Hill Dismisses Obstacles, Keeps Winning
A few years ago Spring Hill College was one of a new wave of burgeoning varsity rugby programs around the country, but that didn't last.
In the spring of 2018, the college pulled scholarships and funding for the men's and women's rugby teams, and there was a real concern that it would all fall apart. But that hasn't happened. In fact, if anything, Spring Hill rugby has gotten stronger.
Captain and lock Ollie Kane didn't want the program to implode and he rallied his teammates around him. Phil Dembowski was brought back to coach, and they kept playing.
This season, the Spring Hill Badgers ended the Deep South Conference at 4-0, tying Southeastern Louisiana for the best record in the conference. SLU will go into the USA Rugby DII playoffs, while Spring Hill will enter the National Small College Rugby Oranization playoffs.
Gamebreakers DI College Nov 1-3
Yes we like to recognize try-scorers, but some sterling defensive work and a few clutch plays get recognized in this week's DI men's college Gamebreakers.
Greg Janowick, Tennessee
The Volunteers lock was a massive presence in the set piece and also with some key carries. His attention to detail and power surges helped set up Tennessee’s winning try in a 24-20 victory over Kentucky. (pictured at left, 3rd photo)
David Phillips, UT San Antonio
The powerful tighthead prop (pictured above) for UTSA was a force in the scrum but also thundered through, over, and around St. Edward’s. Phillips scored four tries as UTSA rolled.
Deionte Murray, Sam Houston State
Playing on the wing, Murray torched UT Dallas for two tries, including one in the opening minute, to spark SHSU to a victory over their Lonestar Conference rivals.
