College Warmups Around the Nation
College Warmups Around the Nation
Late August and we already have college teams playing games.
All of these games are warmups, not conference games, but that doesn't mean they are meaningless. Here's a quick look at what happened.
We already gave you some details on Mary Washington beating REME, a Welsh-based military side that is basically the rugby team for the British equivalent of the Army Corps of Engineers. It was a close match, a tough match, and a signal that UMW might have something to say this fall.
GRR's #1-ranked D2 team, IUP, at least made it appear we weren't completely barking up the wrong tree with a convincing 44-12 victory over Pitt. The Hawks also put opponents on notice that they will find points any which way, with Tyler Johnson slotting a nicely-taken drop goal on the day. This is a returner-heavy IUP side and we saw the likes of Johnson (12 points with the boot), Brian Arnold (two tries), and Colton Moyer (also two tries) start strong. Dylan McAnulty and Jordan Smith also scored tries and Barry Ashway added a conversion.
SUNY Binghamton started their fall with an impressive 52-12 win over Cornell.
Michigan looked solid taking a home warmup over a young University of Cincinnati side 38-8. Michigan has been working hard behind the scenes to be stronger and they showed flashes of that last year. And according to a report produced by Wolverines publicity officer George Janke, a bulked-up Grant Sasina was a force on the wing. His running actually led to a penalty try for Michigan, and then Janke himself, playing No. 8, set up center Nathan Feldman for a try. Flyhalf Braden Loughnane was strong in defense and set up the attack nicely as Michigan cruised.
Michigan has several interesting freshman additions: Morris HS product Connor Gilfillan, 6-6 Tom Palermo, Zach Small out of Aspen who played the summer with the Gentlemen of Aspen, outgoing Bellarmine Prep captain Brody Stratz, and Elsie Allen Lobo Ty West to name just a few. They might shake things up in the Big 10.
Iowa Central defeated Iowa State 28-8 in what jas become a very nice rivalry between those two teams. We will have.more on this game later.