GRR on X  GRR on Facebook GRR in Instagram GRR Vimeo Library GRR on YouTube RuggaMatrix America Podcasts Support GRR on Patreon

D1AA Weekend: Breakout Time

irish rugby tours

D1AA Weekend: Breakout Time

Louisville is our #2 and they play #8 Bowling Green. Will Fagan photo.

D1AA gets its share of upstarts each year, which is something we enjoy seeing.

University of Connecticut, a team GRR now has at #29 in our D1AA rankings; SUNY Binghamton, which pulled off a nice tie with Boston College and are now in the GRR Top 35; Maryland is a team to watch also. We see UConn vs Boston College this week, which is something we're very interested. Maryland takes on GRR's #9 in Virginia Tech. That game is a 2-0-1 team vs a 1-1 team. A win for Maryland would throw the D1AA MARC South into a big mess.

In the MAC, we have what could be a preview of the conference final, with #8 Bowling Green vs #2 Louisville. For Bowling Green they have struggled a little with discipline, but they are seeing some solid performances in the forwards, with Phil Tracey a big man at No. 8. Keep an eye on Xavier Everett, who is an impact player of the bench, and their kicking game is strong.

Louisville is coming off a non-conference loss to Notre Dame which Head Coach Emil Walton said was valuable.

"Our game against Notre Dame was exactly what we needed over the past two years," said Walton. "Facing a quality team like Notre Dame mid-season has given us valuable time to address and rectify key issues as we prepare for the rest of the year. For the Bowling Green game, it’s always a strong rivalry, but in the MAC, anything can happen. Last season, we lost to both WMU and BGSU during the regular season but came out on top when it mattered. At this point, it’s one game at a time, and our focus is fully on Saturday." 

Sophomore wings JB Meier and Jack Eberle have been nice breakout players for the Cardinals, and keep an eye on freshman Matthew Woods as well.

Also on the slate worth an extra look: Alabama vs Tennessee in SCRC, Columbia at UMass, and Arizona State not favored at Arizona but still a good early test for the Sun Devils.

Check back for scores:

10/19 Minnesota 14-31 Iowa Heart of America
10/19 Binghamton 24-38 Northeastern Liberty D1AA
10/19 Boston College 37-36 UConn Liberty D1AA
10/19 Nazareth 28-0 Colgate Liberty D1AA
10/19 Columbia 5-68 UMass Liberty D1AA
10/19 Buffalo 13-7 Rhode Island Liberty D1AA
10/19 Dayton 0-28 Cincinnati MAC D1AA
10/19 Bowling Green 28-27 Louisville MAC D1AA
10/19 Pitt 48-21 Ohio MAC D1AA
10/19 Rowan 18-29 Penn MARC
10/19 Maryland 13-65 Virginia Tech MARC
10/19 LSU 71-24 Auburn SCRC D1AA
10/19 South Carolina 27-15 Georgia SCRC D1AA
10/19 Alabama 17-58 Tennessee SCRC D1AA
10/19 UNC-Charlotte 33-38 NC State Southern Conf.
10/19 Western Washington 15-17 Oregon NCRC
10/19 Florida State 43-20 UNC Chapel Hill Non-Conference
10/19 Drury 22-57 Kentucky Non-Conference