D1A Action Rundown

09.25.2023College Men

Here's a look at D1A team results around the nation.

Davenport Handles Hoosiers

Davenport showed off a very impressive result over the weekend, beating Indiana 52-3.

This was a fixture that a year ago was much closer. But Indiana has lost some experience and while Davenport has, also, has been able to reload faster. Ethan Howard (a veteran returning player) was a force attacking the line and got the Panthers plenty of go-forward. Howard also scored two tries.

Te versatile Sam Evans was also effective and crossed the tryline twice. With additional tries from Saul Pitout, Mark Armstrong, Takunda Makiwa, and captain Colin Turner, Davenport was in control for much of the game. Orlando Casey converted six tries.

"Indiana was a bit of a worry after viewing their Navy film," said Davenport Head Coach Dustin Steedman, seeing how quickly Indiana can transition from defense to attack.

"We knew if we didn't come ready to get off the ground and play on our feet, it would be a long day."

Indiana worked hard to get turnovers and put Davenport under pressure, but the Panthers did well to get back upright and into the game. As a result, they were able to defend and prevent those breakaway tries.

With the ball in hand, Davenport used their forwards.

"We were able to straighten out a few structural things and got comfortable in our defensive sets," said Steedman. "Our team philosophy is to improve every day and that is what we are doing."

Friday Night and the Big 10

We covered most of this earlier: Three Big Friday D1 College Games as Navy, ASU, and OSU Win

What we will say more about this is that the Big 10 looks to be quite interesting this year. Ohio State just barely got by Notre Dame with a late kick. And then on Saturday, Wisconsin won again, this time beating Michigan State 55-19, paced by Graham Stier's four tries and three more from Andrew Koziar.

Jackson Trotter led a good defensive effort as we are now seriously looking at the Badgers as a conference semifinal contender.

Rugby East

We also took a closer look at this:

Wild Ride in Rugby East as Bonnies, MSM Get Historic Wins

Army were upended and Mount St. Mary's logged a big one.

Out West

Colorado State backed up their win over Colorado last week with a 61-10 defeat of Wyoming to move to 2-0.

Wyoming did well to test CSU early on but the Rams still have some weapons to use, especially their kicking game. At about 13 minutes CSU finally changed the scoreboard when center Sam Masterson passed up a chance to kick and instead cut up the middle. He was caught five meters out but the CSU forwards swarmed in. Wyoming was caught offside and after a tap prop Rylan Palmer crashed over. Masterson converted for the 7-0 lead.

Drifting offside was a problem for the Cowboys on the day and CSU punished them. However, it was a late hit that produced a kickable penalty that Masterson put over.

More indiscipline resulted in a yellow card for Wyoming and another Masterson penalty and it was 13-0.

Wyoming did reply, making it 13-7, after a quick tap near the line.

But another offside infraction led to Masterson taking the points again as halftime loomed, and CSU led 16-7 at the break.

Wyoming's indiscipline continued to cost them in the second half and this time CSU kicked to touch, won the lineout and set up No. 8 Mason Kreiter for a charge through the middle. Conversion good and it was 23-7.

After that, things opened up and Colorado State saw wing Jared Wade, lock Adam Lawson, lock Aiden Wilson, and flyhalf Zach Van Haselen score in the space of 20 minutes. Masterson converted them all and also took advantage of the altitude to slot a penalty from inside his own half. Suddenly it was 54-7. CSU ended with a highlight try as freshman flanker Logan Braegger caught the ball and zig zagged his way downfield, bouncing off tackles and using his speed to outrun the entire Wyoming backline. Masterson converted, going a perfect 7-for-7 on conversions and notching a total of 26 points from the boot.

Wyoming added a penalty goal at the end of the game, but the day belonged to Colorado State.

Rebounding from their loss to CSU last week, Colorado beat Utah Valley University 22-17.