GRR: Arkansas State
Navy torched a very good Arkansas State team 57-5 to advance to the 2023-24 D1A semifinals.
Played at Navy's venue in Annapolis, Md., the game could well have been very close—there were many reasons to believe it could be. But in the end, it wasn't.
Here's the latest from the D1A playoffs in the Eastern bracket.
Navy scored early, gave up a try on a chargedown, and then kept the pressure in winning 41-7 over Mary Washington.
In a result that was a bit of an upset, Davenport defeated Arkansas State 17-16 in Jonesboro Saturday.
These two teams had played a deceptively close game in Grand Rapids in the fall—ASU eventually won 30 but it was a 17-8 game as late as 65 minutes in.
This time, Davenport was determined not to allow a late-game points surge.
Longtime rivals meet up in college rugby this weekend as the old Mid-South has a sort of reunion weekend, and all four of the teams involved are in GRR's Top 10.
Life University is coming off a victory over Lindenwood that launched them up to #3. They take on Arkansas State, a team we moved up to #2.
Arkansas State, ranked #8 in the CRAA D1A Power Rankings and #9 by GRR defeated Lindenwood (ranked #2 by both rankings) 13-7 on a wild, windy day at Curt Huckaby Field in Jonesboro, Ark.
This was a low-scoring match and both teams defended their line through the game as it was a nailbiter with two minutes left. The urgency to halt scoring chances was high energy throughout.