Around the Nation in Men's D1 College Action
Around the Nation in Men's D1 College Action
Let's take a look around the nation in Men's D1A, D1AA, and NCR D1 rugby.
In no particular order ...
MAC
Cincinnati pulled off a bit of a surprise in beating IUPUI. It was a poor start for IUPUI and the Bearcats ran out to a 38-5 led and held on 43-31. That vaulted Cincinnati to 2-2-1 and 5th in the conference. Pitt beat Ohio to move to 3-2 and 4th in the conference, right behind Western Michigan.
WMU, of course, lost 25-18 to Bowling Green as BGSU improved to 4-0 and set up October 29's clash with fellow undefeated team Louisville.
"We're still not efficient inside the 22," said Bowling Green Head Coach Tony Mazzarella. "I felt we dominated in the first 20 to 25 minutes and only had five points to show for it. Some poor decisions and lack of execution."
Beating rivals Western Michigan was a good thing, added the coach, but "we have to look at the bigger picture."
MARC
This coming weekend the 4-0-1 St. Joseph's Hawks play 3-0 Rowan. Waiting in the wings is a steadily improving James Madison.
Resurgent James Madison a Player in MARC Hierarchy
After edging West Chester 21-19, Salisbury has a good shot at making the top four as they sit 3-2. West Chester (idle this weekend) has to be shaking their heads after two ties and a two-point loss, and could well think that with a little more good fortune they might have been 4-1 rather than 1-2-2.
Liberty
We go into details on the Liberty DIAA league here:
Liberty DIAA Conference Latest: Is BC Top Dog?
In the D1A league, Brown is set to host Ivy League rivals Dartmouth this coming weekend. Brown shut out Fordham 50-0 over the weekend. Their scrum is really quite special and every opponent that plays them says so.
"The score flatters us a bit and takes away from the effort of the Fordham players," said Brown Head Coach David Laflamme. "Nothing came easy."
No. 8 Antonio Esteves scored five tries for them. The winner of this Dartmouth-Brown game will also be the Ivy League champion.
Big Rivers
We went into some detail with the big game between Thomas More and Adrian, the top two teams in the conference.
Long-Range Tries Spark Thomas More Win Over Adrian
Marian sits just ahead of Wheeling thanks to a close win over the Cardinals. Marian plays Thomas More and Wheeling plays Adrian this weekend. Wheeling could potentially vault to 2nd with a win.
Rugby East
We were at Navy vs Notre Dame College and Navy is certainly a conference contender. NDC, for their part, did indeed lose the game but they are enjoying an improved season. Having lost only 13-10 to St. Bonaventure, they have a pretty reasonable expectation that upcoming games with Kutztown, Mount St. Mary's, and Penn State might produce victories.
St. Bonaventure's 32-15 victory over Kutztown was a good result for Bonnies and put them back in a good spot for the NCR D1 playoffs (in which Navy and Army are not expected to compete). But they might also remember how tough Penn State was last year in those playoffs. SBU hosts Penn State this weekend. While Army and Navy (set to play November 5) look to be the top two in the Rugby East, the chase for 3rd and 4th is on, with as many as six teams in the hunt.
SCRC
As we said here, Tennessee and Kentucky won big games and are now undefeated. Those two teams seem to be on a collision course for the conference title, although this weekend's Clemson vs Kentucky game might shake that up a bit.
Kentucky, Tennessee Move to 3-0 in SCRC
Heart of America
After a rough loss to Kansas State, the Kansas Jayhawks put together one of their better games in beating Missouri 41-12.
"Our defensive effort set the tone and we were able to fully extend our new playing shape," said Coach Andy Stewart.
Meanwhile, Arkansas kept up their winning ways with a victory over Kansas State.
"Lots of room for improvement," said Coach Warren Fyfe. "We have been hampered a little through some injuries to key players, but on the whole we have a talented group of veteran players as well as some exciting young prospects that have fit in really well."
Prop Brooks Tate, lock Jezreal Bachert, and flanker Owen Schenk lead the forward effort.
"We really have a wealth of riches in the backline," added Fyfe.
Lonestar
Texas State and Sam Houston State have been playing some good rugby.
Texas State has handled Rice, Angelo State, and Dallas fairly comfortably with Herbert Evans scoring eight tries in those three games and Nic Smith averaging close to 20 points a game. It looks like we won't see SHSU vs Texas State until February.
Crossover Games
Some non-conference games turned heads this week. Iona beat Clemson 41-19. This was one of Iona's better performances of the fall and Head Coach Paul Burke said much of that had to do with having his players focus on staying on their feet. This included remaining on your feet in the rucks. Iona had been getting penalized too much in the rucks. Staying on their feet and doing a more old-fashioned bind-on-and-drive push avoided the penalties and kept the phases moving forward.
Playing in front of a big Homecoming crowd in a fun atmosphere, this game started strong for Iona. Prop Kian McGeever was very strong while Gerry Lanning came back form injury and provided a spark.
Meanwhile, Davenport beat a somewhat injury-hit Ohio State team. Still the Buckeyes played hard and played a quick game and tested Davenport. However, Davenport Head Coach Dustin Steedman said his side remained patient when it mattered and picked their sports.
"We were able to find and take space offensively, catching a good Ohio State Defense off guard at times," said Steedman. It ended up 59-20 for Davenport. Eight separate Panthers scored tries in that game.
For Ohio State this was a good test before the Big 10 playoffs. For Davenport, they have one more game, against Wheeling, before three Mid-South Conference games that will be a nice indicator of how much this team has improved.
