Top 25 roundup: JMU holds off UNH
(STATS) - Oh, did the list of unbeaten FCS teams lessen considerably after the two biggest games in the FCS on Saturday lived up to their billing.
Top-ranked North Dakota State fell 19-17 on a last-second touchdown by No. 11 South Dakota State in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and No. 5 Chattanooga lost 22-14 at No. 8 The Citadel in the Southern Conference.
The Citadel and No. 2 Sam Houston State, both 6-0, are the only FCS unbeatens. Harvard also suffered its first loss Saturday.
South Dakota State (4-2, 3-0 MVFC) stunned the five-time reigning MVFC and FCS champion Bison (5-1, 2-1) on Taryn Christion's 2-yard touchdown pass to Jake Wieneke on 4th-and-1 with one second remaining.
The Jackrabbits, who won the Dakota Marker trophy and ended an eight-game losing streak against NDSU, scored the final 16 points after they trailed 17-3 in the third quarter at the Fargodome.
Christion wore down the Bison with 444 yards of total offense. He completed 24 of 42 pass attempts for 303 yards and two touchdowns with one interception, and rushed for 141 yards on 20 carries.
Tight end Dallas Goedert (11 receptions, 150 yards, one TD) and Wieneke (6-108-1) were Christion's favorite targets as SDSU racked up 523 yards and held the ball for 32 minutes, 23 seconds.
An opponent has held the ball longer than the Bison in only two of their last 37 games, both NDSU losses.
The Citadel knows quite a bit about controlling game clock. The Bulldogs, who are 4-0 in the SoCon, entered the matchup between last year's co-champs ranked second in the FCS in time of possession. Against Chattanooga (6-1, 4-1), the Bulldogs held the ball for 39:26 with 77 rushes among their 81 plays.
Quarterback Dominque Allen led the way with 31 carries for 135 yards and two touchdowns.
The Citadel went ahead for good 17-14 when Cody Clark kicked a 37-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.
Mocs quarterback Alejandro Bennifield was penalized for intentional grounding from his team's end zone on the final play of the third quarter, resulting in a safety and a 19-14 Bulldogs lead.
Clark then kicked a 32-yard field goal with 24 seconds remaining in the game.
"They changed up their defense a little bit, and it gave us a little trouble up front and in the passing game," Bennifield said. "We dropped a couple of balls, and I threw a couple of balls incomplete. With them running the ball, you don't get that many opportunities."
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STATS FCS TOP 25 SCHEDULE=
Saturday, Oct. 15
No. 2 Sam Houston State (6-0, 5-0 Southland) 48, Abilene Christian (0-7, 0-5) 21
Jeremiah Briscoe was 31 of 39 for 404 yards and six touchdowns against two interceptions. He leads the FCS with 26 TD passes.
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No. 3 Jacksonville State (5-1, 2-0 OVC) 34, Austin Peay (0-6, 0-5) 14
Running back Josh Clemons (19 carries, 143 yards, two touchdowns) and quarterback Eli Jenkins (15 carries, 117 yards, two touchdowns) led a Jacksonville State offense that had the ball for less than 24 minutes. Jenkins also had a touchdown pass.
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No. 6 Richmond (6-1, 3-1 CAA) 23, No. 13 Villanova (5-2, 3-1) 0
Kyle Lauletta connected on a touchdown pass to wide receiver Brian Brown and Richmond handed Villanova its first shutout loss since 2004.
Villanova quarterback Zach Bednarczyk was knocked from the game in the second quarter with an upper-body injury.
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No. 7 James Madison (6-1, 4-0) 42, New Hampshire (4-3, 3-1) 39
Coupled with Villanova's loss, James Madison has sole possession of first place in the CAA. The Dukes nearly let a 42-12 lead slip away in the final 10 minutes before knocking UNH from first place.
Quarterback Bryan Schor accounted for 312 yards (242 passing, 70 rushing) and a career-best five touchdowns. He threw two touchdowns each to Brandon Ravenel and Terrance Alls and scored on a 5-yard run.
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No. 10 Montana (5-1, 2-1 Big Sky) 68, Sacramento State (1-6, 1-3) 7
One week after beating Mississippi Valley State 67-7, Montana went one point higher as Brady Gustafson threw for four touchdowns and backup Chad Chalich added two more.
Running back Jeremy Calhoun had five touches from scrimmage and scored three times. John Nguyen set the school record for the longest touchdown run at 81 yards.
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No. 12 Western Illinois (5-1, 2-1 Missouri Valley) 38, Missouri State (3-3, 1-2) 35
On his only carry of the game, Devon Moore scored from 1 yard out on 4th-and-goal with 43 seconds remaining to give Western Illinois the lead for good.
Quarterback Sean McGuire passed for 323 yards and a touchdown.
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No. 15 North Carolina A&T (5-1, 3-0 MEAC) 52, Bethune-Cookman (0-5, 0-3) 35
A&T senior Tarik Cohen rushed for 220 yards and three touchdowns. He has gone over 200 yards in three straight wins.
Trailing 35-31, the Aggies took the lead for good on Lamar Raynard's 37-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Bell with 9:22 left. On Bethune's next play, linebacker Jeremy Taylor intercepted quarterback Larry Brihm Jr. and returned the ball 24 yards for a touchdown.
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No. 16 Coastal Carolina (4-2) 17, Gardner-Webb (3-4) 7
Coastal avoided an upset with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. De'Angelo Henderson (22 carries, 101 yards) scored on a 1-yard run to push his Division I record for consecutive games with a touchdown to 32, and Tyler Keane threw a 7-yard score to Bruce Mapp.
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Maine (3-3, 2-1) 20, No. 17 Albany (4-2, 1-2) 16
Dan Collins threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns - each at least 40 yards long - as Maine earned its third straight win and handed Albany its second consecutive defeat.
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No. 19 Cal Poly (4-2, 2-1 Big Sky) 55 Portland State (2-5, 1-3) 35
Cal Poly racked up 658 yards of offense. Kyle Lewis (158 yards, two touchdowns), Kori Garcia (141, one) and Joe Protheroe (101, two) each rushed for over 100 yards, while quarterback Dano Graves was 12 of 13 for 166 yards and three touchdowns.
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Holy Cross (3-4) 27, No. 20 Harvard (4-1) 17
Harvard's Ivy League-record 16-game road winning streak ended as well as its 16-game winning streak against non-league opponents. The Crimson hadn't lost outside the league since a 30-22 defeat to Holy Cross on Sept. 17, 2011.
In his first career start, Crimson sophomore Tom Stewart was 19 of 33 for 219 yards and a touchdown with one interception. The Crimson also lost two fumbles.
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No. 22 North Dakota (5-2, 4-0 Big Sky) 45, Southern Utah (3-3, 2-2) 23
North Dakota posted its fifth straight win and took sole possession of first place in the Big Sky. Keaton Studsrud was 20 of 27 for 282 yards and four touchdowns - all to different receivers - and the Fighting Hawks held the ball for 39 minutes, 36 seconds.
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No. 24 Samford (5-1, 3-1 Southern) 55, VMI (3-3, 1-2) 21
Samford quarterback Devlin Hodges remained red hot, completing 35 of 50 passes for a career-high 435 yards and five touchdowns with one interception.
Wide receivers Karel Hamilton (12 receptions, 163 yards, one touchdown) and Emmauel Obajimi (8-129-1) went over 100 yards, while Kelvin McKnight caught two TDs.
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No. 23 Central Arkansas (4-1, 3-0 Southland) at McNeese (3-3, 2-2), (n)
No. 18 Eastern Illinois (4-2, 2-1 OVC) at Tennessee Tech (2-4, 2-2), (n)
No. 21 Northern Iowa (2-3, 1-1 Missouri Valley) at No. 14 Youngstown State (4-1, 2-0), (n)
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IDLE=
No. 4 Eastern Washington (5-1), No. 9 Charleston Southern (3-2) and No. 25 Grambling State (4-1)
