Men's DI College Gamebreakers This Week
As the pressure ramps up, so do the performances.
Here are our Men's DI College Gamebreakers for the weekend of October 23, 2021.
Billy Tenney, BYU
The Cougar prop put together a pretty complete performance against Colorado, throwing in in the lineout, lifting in the lineout when on defense, using himself as a decoy in the backline and passing off to others, and then, when it was on offer, charging into the Buffaloes’ defense. He scored a try on a big charging run and then through a maul as BYU beat Colorado 65-3.
Tyson Lucas, Arkansas
The Razorbacks flyhalf led the attack and scored three tries in 52-12 defeat of Missouri that sent his side to the conference playoffs.
Michael Amberg, Army
The West Point wing (photo below, West Point Athletics) scored the game-winning try late in a 24-17 defeat of Navy.
DIAA-Level Men College Rankings Week 9
Not a lot of change in the rankings this week, but there is one big shift, with Mary Washington bumping up to #1.
With Dartmouth idle and and Tennessee not in a game we expected much from, UMW beating #12 Mount St. Mary's was good enough to get the unbeaten (in DIAA) Mothers to the top. For now.
This has no relation to the fact that the best photos we have available this week are of Mary Washington.
The other big shift is Boise State. They are looking astoundingly good in their early games in the Northwest, and while it's going to be tough to compare their performances to the top teams in the nation, it's still worth bumping the Broncos up from 32 to 19.
MARC was idle this week, and the Ivy has been slow. Playoffs are coming, and that's going to have a lot more data for us.
Playoff Matchups Set For Liberty Conference
The final standings are set for the Liberty Conference and four teams are left for the playoffs.
Three teams ended up 1st in their division, and all were undefeated: Syracuse, Iona, and Northeastern.
Syracuse beat Nazareth 22-10 to cap off a very impressive run. Nazareth ran out to a14-0 lead with two tries in the first ten minutes, both with long runs. After that Syracuse settled down. Center Liam Kirkpatrick made a line break and offloaded to captain Nick Merriam. Flanker Angus Dorward scored his first A-side try off a maul, and suddenly it was 14-12. Nazareth slotted a penalty goal, flyhalf Brady Thompson set up Joe Hamm for a line break and Hamm sidestepped the cover defense to go in.
Men D2 College Rankings 2021 Week 8
With the #1 team losing we have to have a new #1.
Adrian had a good chance to vault into that place but—as has been the case through a chunk of their season—they had an opponent cancel on them, and #2 Norwich beat a ranked opponent in convincing fashion. So it's logical that Norwich takes the #1 spot.
Where to put Furman? They lost to the #19 team and while you could argue that UNC-Charlotte has dramatically improved (UNC-Charlotte Win Jolts Southern Conference Pecking Order ) but it's tough to say they should rise to, say, #3 or #4. In the end, we nudge them up to #7 and Furman down to #8. It is distinctly possible that any team in the top 14 or so could go on a national championship run. We do think it's pretty tight in this group.
Army Beats Navy on Dramatic Late Try
West Point beat Navy 24-17 Saturday at FedEx Field to clinch 1st in the Rugby East Conference and also put the Black Knights on the inside track to win the Commander-in-Chief Trophy, played among the three military academies.
The game was tight throughout, with Navy coming back from a 17-0 deficit to tie it 17-17. Michael Amberg's try with about eight minutes to go turned out to be the game-winner.
UNC-Charlotte Win Jolts Southern Conference Pecking Order
It was a big shakeup in the Southern Rugby Conference with #1-ranked Furman getting unseated by UNC-Charlotte.
The result, a 30-18 win for UNCC, made the Southern Premier West a bit confusing with three teams at 3-1 and only two spots available for the semifinals. The way that works is this: 1st off, bonus point (four tries or close losses) are only used in the Southern Conference to break ties. In this case, UNC-Charlotte had four bonus points, which was more than both Furman and Belmont Abbey.
The Southern's other tiebreaking rule is that in a three-way tie, if one team is deemed 1st among three, then the other two are judged by the two-team tiebreaker. So, UNC-Charlotte was taken out of the equation because they were #1 already, and Furman beat Belmont Abbey on the head-to-head tiebreaker. Belmont Abbey, 3-1, doesn't make the conference playoffs.
Michigan, Michigan State Chase That higher Seed
Michigan and Michigan State both won in Big Ten action and that sets up a key clash between the two rivals on Friday.
That's when the two 2-2 teams will meet, with the winner almost certainly joining Illinois in the 3rd-4th game on Finals Day.
Tries from Kyle Spence, Nathan Feldman, and Connor Egan staked Michigan to a 19-7 lead, but Purdue fought back to within a try in the second half.
It wasn't until George Janke's try (and Max Rector's second conversion) that the Wolverines could perhaps relax a little, and then Feldman iced it with his second try. With just a few miutes left Michigan added tries from Brendan Nell and Feldman's third, to finish it off 45-14.
Baylor, A&M to 2-0
Baylor and Texas A&M moved to 2-0 with wins in the Red River over the weekend.
Baylor once again ran out to an early lead and held on, this time in a 45-21 decision against North Texas. The Bears bench has struggled to maintain the level of play the starters have, but they are all getting them.
Michael Hand was phenomenal with two tries, including a well-executed chip-and-chase. Outside center Dom DePizzol has been a danger man on the outside.
For A&M, they beat Oklahoma 51-6. A&M had some work to do to deal with the powerful Sooner forwards, but, said Head Coach James Lowrey, "the intensity in training is paying off."
Former coach Johnny Smith is back helping the Aggies pack and their set piece is very good.
Top Teams in Heart of America Conference Set
Minnesota is atop the Heart of American North after beating Iowa 41-7.
The Gophers ave not lost and are in a good position to make something happen in the playoffs.
"Iowa was a tough and physical team," said Golden Gophers Head Coach Sean Lindersmith. "Our team was challenged the entire way.
"We started executing well after making some adjustments."
Minnesota Gophers On the Same Page, Writing a New Chapter
Arkansas won also, beating Missouri 52-12. The Razorbacks began the game with a 17-0 run but Mizzou got a try just before halftime from prop Cam Gillespie and another right after halftime from flanker Devin Petersen.
Pitt State Win Finalizes Gateway Playoff Quartet
The Gateway Conference has shown itself to be pretty deep and competitive at the top end, despite some issues for some teams in getting enough players (or coaches) after the COVID shutdowns.
Still, we've got a playoff set up after this weekend's slate.
The key game was Pitt State over UMS&T. The score was 14-0 and Pitt State played strong defense, but it was mostly all about the Gorillaheads playing in the S&T end.
Perhaps the work-on is that Pitt State didn't get more points—they certainly felt as if they should. The win put Pitt State in 1st in the West, with Central Missouri 2nd. In the East we already have the top two with Principia and SLU.
So that's the playoff: Principia vs UCM and Pitt State vs St. Louis University on October 30, with the winners playing on October 31.
Where We Are in Great Midwest
Marquette kept up their winning ways with a comprehensive defeat of UW-Milwaukee (59-12) to finish the regular season 4-0.
Also winning were Northern Iowa, 55-16 over Loyola, Northwestern 43-0 over Illinois-Chicago, and UW-Whitewater, 43-0 over Northern Michigan.
What does this all mean? Marquette is the #1 seed and Whitewater the #2 seed from the North. In the South, everyone was waiting on the Loyola-UNI game. Loyola kept it tight early but Northern Iowa's impressive offense saw them run away with it.
As a result, UNI finishes 4-0 and top in the GMW South, and Illinois State (3-1 and idle this weekend) hangs on to 2nd.
Next week's playoffs will decide the order of finish, and it will be interesting to see if Whitewater and Marquette meet again, as they opened with season with a 36--31 Marquette win.
NEWCRC Playoff Matchups Settled, We Think
We have the Men's DII College brackets for National Collegiate Rugby, and a better idea of who will go where.
The New England Wide will have three seeds into the playoffs, and right now it's looking like Norwich is in the driver's seat. The cadets shut out a very good Coast Guard team 46-0 with two tries each from prop Arthur Martinez and No. 8 Jack Tellifson and yet another outstanding defensive performance. That put Norwich at 5-0.
UMass-Lowell edged Vermont 31-26 to move to 5-0 and drop UVM to 3-2, which is the same record as that of Coast Guard.
Mary Washington Win Sets Up Clash of Undefeateds in Chesapeake
UMW Mother’s Rugby pulled off an impressive 43-12 win over Mount St. Mary's to remain undefeated in the Chesapeake Conference and set up a clash with similarly 5-0 Queens University Charlotte next week.
Mary Washington continued to play solid defense, as they have all season, and held the Mount to just three points until late in the game.
Bill Tamani started the scoring for UMW with a well-worked try , carrying, as he usually does, several defenders with him. Senior center Seamus Brennan scored next with a powerful burst through the defense, and then flanker Lloyd Stephens broke Mount’s line and touched down under the posts. All three tries were converted by freshman Jamie Cooper for a 21-3 halftime lead.
Binghamton Holds Off Cortland in Liberty
Binghamton University Rugby faced off against SUNY Cortland Red Dragons Rugby Saturday, with Binghamton coming away 33-22 winners.
With the win, Binghamton improved to 5-2 in the Liberty Empire Conference.
The first half began with Cortland getting a penalty after some pressure inside the Binghamton half and taking the shot at goal for a 3-0 lead. Binghamton replied with a try through the forwards working the phases after a scrum. Michael Davitt was good on the conversion for a 7-3 lead. Cortland came back and Binghamton defended against multiple attempts to score from Cortland midway through the first half.
Playoff Implications in DI Games This Weekend
Playoffs and rankings and some conference titles are on the line this weekend in Men's DI (all-encompassing) college rugby, so here's a look at what's on the slate.
Check back for scores.
DIAA
Georgia, Tennessee, and Clemson all expect to win the SCRC, so that's not an issue. This is all about who can position themselves for the conference playoffs.
Cincinnati is poised to do something in the MAC playoffs, but need to stay on top of things this week. Boise State started really well in NCRC, but can't let up against an always tough Washington State team.
