We talked about Central Washington's huge step forward in beating Saint Mary's, but now there's the follow-up story.
The Wildcats have to show well this weekend in a double-dip with British Columbia's Trinity Western, and Whatcom County's Western Washington University. These are expected wins, but ... you never know. Saint Mary's, meanwhile, will want to rebound against UCLA in Los Angeles.
For their part, UCLA a 50-13 loss to Cal. That was a game in which the Bruins showed some grit, said Head Coach Harry Bennett.
"We competed heavily in the first half and ran out of steam in the last 20 minutes," said Bennett, who needed his tight five to run the full 80, which is something many teams don't have to do. Cal scored 26 points in the final 25 minutes, so Bennett has a point.
Take a look at the Red River and you'll see Texas at Texas A&M. The Aggies have by massive margins in their last two games (141 and 132 ... no really). Of course no one wants those sorts of games—North Texas presented a defensive line but they didn't adjust when A&M put forward numbers in different channels. The result was some missed tackles, but really it was about four A&M forwards busting through a line patrolled by one defender.
This week it will be tougher for A&M as Texas comes to town.
Lindenwood at Life is an important faceoff in the Mid-South as both teams has aspirations to win the conference. It's still early days for both.
The California D1A conference sees Cal Poly looking to consolidate its solid position. In the California D1AA, Fresno State already made a bit of a statement in beating Chico State last week and is favored over Nevada this week.
In Florida, South Florida returns after their bye with a chance to go 4-0. USF is a very entertaining team that is quite happy to see the odd tight five forward slot in among the backs and do just fine.
