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

This Weekend in Men's DI College Rugby

irish rugby tours

This Weekend in Men's DI College Rugby

Mario Mockus fends off a WVU defender in Bowling Green's win over the Mountaineers. Roger Mazzarella photo.

It's the second week of conference competition for most teams in Men's DI; here's a rundown of what's on the docket:

In non-conference action, Kutztown hosts Delaware. KU beat Stony Brook 56-17 over the weekend with three tries from Kina Kolafu and two from Robert Storz, but assistant coach Larry Chester said there was much more the Bears could have done. Their backline was speedy but mid-season precision wasn't there, especially in set piece. Meanwhile, Delaware won well over St. Joseph's and look to build on that.

Dartmouth is still working with some player turnover and they lost to Boston College last weekend. Now they handle AIC, who won their opening conference game. Notre Dame College won big  over Kentucky, and the Falcons continue on to pursue their independent schedule. Oklahoma looks to rebound from a loss to Tennessee by hosting Tulsa University and a Tulsa U21 team.

Ohio State and Bowling Green both won nicely last week, with Ohio State handling Pitt and Bowling Green beating West Virginia. BGSU Director of Rugby Roger Mazzarella said the Falcons could have done a bit better.

“A little bit of nerves along with trying too hard to make things happen led to some sloppy play at the start,” said Mazzarella. “West Virginia certainly did a lot to help their cause by coming up fast and hitting hard.” 

In conference play, Stony Brook enters an Empire conference that has seen plenty of changes already. The Sea Wolves host Fordham, while last week's winners Colgate visit Binghamton and SUNY Brockport pays at Syracuse.

In the ECRC, BC visits Albany, UConn is at Middlebury, and Northeastern is at UMass. But the game to really watch is Fairfield, new joining DI from DII, visiting New England College, newly joining DI from NSCRO. Fairfield is 1-0, and NEC 0-1 in conference play.

The ACRL starts up with Clemson playing two games - and the understanding is that the Tigers, under new coach Steve Lynch, will run out two completely different lineups for the games against Wake Forest (Friday) and North Carolina (Saturday). NC State also visits Virginia.

The Ivy League also starts up and the talk is that Yale, which had that impressive run into the playoffs last year, is strong and expecting to start strong. They host Penn, while Cornell, always a team to worry about, hosts Columbia.

The Keystone starts up wiht Pitt at Millersville and Villanova at St. Joe's. Both Pitt, led by captains David Zimmerman and Connor Janawitz, and St. Joe's, led by captains Jimmy Wolfer and Thomas Cuddihy, got knocked around last week, so they need to build some confidence.

The MAC has a full slate, with Western Michigan having started very well.

In the Rugby East, Wheeling Jesuit hosting Penn State is the big game, with WJU looking to stakes their claim to being the top team in that very competitive conference. It's a completely full slate in the SCRC and a a big clash between upstarts Alabama and Mississippi State this weekend.

The SIRC also gets going in the South, with defending conference champion Central Florida, which has made the DIAA final three years in a row and won it twice. The Knights are at Suth Florida.

And it's the beginning of things for the Big Ten Universities. Indiana is back in good standing and eligible for the playoffs. You know they are shooting for it.

 

9/18/2015 Tulsa University 27-60 Oklahoma Non-Conference
9/18/2015 Fordham 13-53 Stony Brook Empire
9/18/2015 Wake Forest 0-89 Clemson ACRL
9/19/2015 Boston College 74-0 Albany ECRC
9/19/2015 UCONN 39-47 Middlebury ECRC
9/19/2015 Fairfield 10-57 New England College ECRC
9/19/2015 Northeastern 7-65 UMASS ECRC
9/19/2015 Colgate 39-5 Binghamton Empire
9/19/2015 Brockport 10-74 Syracuse Empire
9/19/2015 Columbia 11-26 Cornell Ivy League
9/19/2015 Penn 14-25 Yale Ivy League
9/19/2015 Pittsburgh 9-43 Millersville Keystone
9/19/2015 Villanova 15-57 Saint Joseph's Keystone
9/19/2015 Ball State Ccld Ohio MAC
9/19/2015 Central Michigan L-W Dayton MAC
9/19/2015 Kent State 27-31 Miami MAC
9/19/2015 Western Michigan 22-18 Cincinnati MAC
9/19/2015 Delaware 21-77 Kutztown Non Conference
9/19/2015 AIC 79-14 Dartmouth Non-Conference
9/19/2015 Ohio State 22-44 Bowling Green Non-Conference
9/19/2015 St. Bonaventure 0-55 Army Rugby East
9/19/2015 Iona 29-0 Buffalo Rugby East
9/19/2015 Penn State 38-33 Wheeling Jesuit Rugby East
9/19/2015 Alabama 34-7 Ole Miss SCRC
9/19/2015 Auburn 5-59 Tennessee SCRC
9/19/2015 Mississippi State 21-55 Florida SCRC
9/19/2015 Kentucky 5-66 South Carolina SCRC
9/19/2015 FSU 7-36 FIU SIRC South
9/19/2015 UCF 10-14 USF SIRC South
9/19/2015 KSU 39-5 Georgia Tech SIRC North
9/19/2015 MTSU 64-14 Memphis SIRC North
9/19/2015 North Carolina 5-68 Clemson ACRL
9/19/2015 NC State 15-15 Virginia ACRL
9/19/2015 Minnesota 5-65 Michigan State Big Ten
9/19/2015 Illinois 23-52 Indiana Big Ten
9/19/2015 Notre Dame College 54-15 West Virginia Non-Conference
9/19/2015 Wyoming 43-14 Montana State Non-Conference
9/19/2015 Virginia Tech 36-26 East Carolina Non-Conference