Around FCS: Take Two

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12/03/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran Villanova coach Andy Talley was in a contemplative mood as he considered a rematch with James Madison, following the Wildcats' 55-28 playoff victory over Colgate on Saturday.

"Very rarely in life do you get a second chance," Talley said. "Now we have a chance to maybe win a national championship."

Four teams playing in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I Football Championships this Saturday will have the element of revenge from as they try to take another step towards a national title.

On one side of the bracket, Villanova at James Madison is a remake of an Oct. 25 Colonial Athletic Association game, while Weber State at Montana is part two of an Oct. 4 Big Sky Conference battle.

Meanwhile, Northern Iowa is meeting New Hampshire in the playoffs for the third time in four years and Appalachian State is hosting Richmond for the second straight postseason.

It isn't odd to have one rematch on a given playoff weekend, but four is unprecedented.

"We are pretty familiar with them and they are pretty familiar with us," James Madison coach Mickey Matthews said of the Villanova rematch.

There will be few tricks as all of these teams face down each other again.

Here is a breakdown of the four games:

VILLANOVA AT JAMES MADISON

You couldn't have asked for much worse weather, unless you wanted to bring in a blizzard, when the teams met the first time this year in a contest that ultimately decided the CAA title. With rain crashing down and 30 mph gusts of wind rushing through Villanova Stadium, both teams had to junk their game plans.

JMU burned Villanova a couple of times on play-action fakes and busts in the Wildcat secondary, but Villanova struck for a time-consuming 97-yard drive near the end of the first half and dominated time of possession the rest of way, hurting the Dukes on counter plays.

A six-yard pass from Chris Whitney to Phil Atkinson gave the Wildcats a 19-14 lead less than a minute into the fourth period. Villanova was one play away from the victory at 19-17 when Rodney Landers hit Bosco Williams on a 35-yard Hail Mary pass to steal a 23-19 victory.

"I think they feel like they were lucky to get out of Dodge," Talley said of the Dukes.

JMU will be helped by playing at a jammed-packed Bridgeforth Stadium, and the weather should be cold, but otherwise conducive to good football. Look for Villanova to work some passing in with its grinding running attack in an effort to exploit James Madison's defensive weaknesses. The play of quarterbacks Whitney and Antwon Young will be key here.

The No.1-ranked Dukes will hope to be more effective in the running game, after being held to just 169 yards by the Wildcats' defense the first time. A dry field should help aid JMU in that endeavor, but No. 6 Villanova has been rugged against the ground game all year. One plus is that running back Eugene Holloman seems to be healthier than he has been in awhile, adding some balance to Landers.

For JMU to score, it will have to find ways to beat a Wildcat secondary that has been vulnerable at times. But if the Dukes fall behind and are forced to pass, Landers will be at the mercy of a strong Villanova pass rush, led by defensive ends Greg Miller, Tim Kukucka and David Dalessandro.

CAA teams have faced each other three times in the past. Twice, the team that had won the regular season outing lost in the playoffs. William & Mary made a wild comeback to beat Delaware in double overtime and James Madison stopped William & Mary a week later in 2004. Massachusetts held off New Hampshire twice in the 2006 campaign on the way to the championship game, including once in the quarterfinals.

With all of those things considered, I'll take Villanova to win a close, low- scoring game.

WEBER STATE AT MONTANA

Montana fans have been hankering for a rematch between these two opponents ever since Weber State whacked out a 45-28 victory in early October on the way to the Big Sky automatic bid.

The No. 12-ranked Wildcats hadn't beaten Montana anywhere since 1998 and haven't won a game in Missoula since before Washington-Grizzly Stadium existed in 1987. Montana also knows it has only been beaten twice by one team in the same season, by Idaho in 1982 and 1988. So the No. 4-seeded Grizzlies are confident they can earn some revenge on Saturday.

But this is a Weber State squad that has been changing perceptions all season. WSU fields one of the most explosive offenses in FCS with Cameron Higgins at quarterback, two-time Big Sky rushing leader Trevyn Smith in the backfield and a host of big-play receivers that include Tim Toone, Bryant Eteuati and tight end Corey Nakamura, to go with an improving defense.

In the first meeting, Montana took a 21-10 lead midway through the second quarter as Weber State mismanaged opportunities. But the Wildcats scored three times the rest of the half to take a 31-21 advantage and never looked back.

Weber State dominated on both sides of the line in the second half, sacking Montana quarterback Cole Bergquist seven times and forcing four turnovers. The Grizzlies were also 2-of-8 on third-down conversions.

The Wildcat win snapped a streak of 25 consecutive regular-season victories and 16 Big Sky triumphs for the Grizzlies.

"It's not like we barely beat them, we beat them pretty convincingly," said safety Scotty Goodloe, who had two fumble recoveries. "We knew to give us a good chance to win, we had to force some turnovers."

Montana is obviously an improved team since suffering its only loss of the season, winning eight games in a row since then. The offense has jelled around its strong line, Bergquist's efficient results, the big-play capacity of receivers Marc Mariani and Mike Ferriter and the emergence of running back Chase Reynolds.

The Grizzly defense showed up big in a showdown victory at Eastern Washington a week later and has performed at a high level ever since. But Montana hasn't played an offense with Weber State's game-breaking capacity.

Weber State stumbled in its final regular-season game, losing to Eastern Washington, 33-26. That's why this game is being played in Missoula, instead of Ogden, UT. But the Wildcats turned things around with an impressive 49-35 road win at Cal Poly last week.

Big Sky teams haven't met in the playoffs since 1990. Four times, the teams that won the first meeting won again in the postseason and three times, the first-game loser came back to win the rematch.

This game is likely to be decided on how well Weber State adapts to the tough environment of Washington-Grizzly Stadium. If the Wildcats can avoid turnovers, they can score on almost anyone.

Montana will try to control the ball with Reynolds' running, but WSU held him to 13 carries for 30 yards in the first meeting. The Grizzlies need Reynolds to continue his recent success and to play error-free offense to keep the game close and help Bergquist have time to throw.

After watching the dominance of Weber State's offensive and defensive lines in the first game, I have a hard time thinking that Montana will win this one, even with so much history on its side.

NEW HAMPSHIRE AT NORTHERN IOWA

It hasn't seemed to matter what the circumstances have been. Whether Northern Iowa was an underdog, or a heavy favorite, the Panthers have found a way to win a pair of tight games against the Wildcats.

In 2005, UNI upset Ricky Santos and top-ranked UNH 24-21 on the road by building a 21-0 lead after 23 minutes and getting a fourth-quarter field goal from Brian Wingert, taking advantage of turnovers and big plays on defense.

Last year, Northern Iowa was 11-0 and ranked No. 1 nationally. New Hampshire was the last team chosen for the playoffs with a 7-4 mark, but the Wildcats took a 35-31 lead on Chad Kackert's 15-yard TD run with 1:11 to play. Eric Sanders drove the Panthers 71 yards and hit Montari Leonard on a 24-yard touchdown pass with seven seconds remaining to give UNI the victory, 38-35.

Northern Iowa will be at home again and a favorite as a No. 3 seed, but this time the Panthers will have to deal with R.J. Toman at quarterback, instead of Santos. UNH features its signature high-powered offense and a defense that gives up lots of yards, but forces plenty of turnovers.

The Panthers have lost Sanders to graduation, but still have a solid defense and tough running game, led by all-time leading rusher Corey Lewis. Quarterback Pat Grace has overcome a knee injury to get back into the lineup and came up huge in the passing game to spark a 40-15 thumping of Maine - the same Maine team that UNH struggled to beat, 28-24, in its regular-season finale.

New Hampshire played a suspect schedule until late in the season, but the Wildcats turned some heads by using special teams to outlast Southern Illinois 29-20 on the road last week. Winning in Carbondale is something that Northern Iowa hasn't done since 1996. The Panthers dropped a 27-24 decision there on a last-second field goal this year.

UNH has failed to get past the quarterfinals in any of its previous six playoff trips, and playing a tough opponent that has seen its proficient offense in person twice in three years doesn't help either.

Look for UNI to control the ball on the ground, keep New Hampshire in check on defense and grind out a win in a low-scoring game.

RICHMOND AT APPALACHIAN STATE

The Richmond defense is probably still prone to nightmares after enduing the play of Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards in last year's 55-35 semifinal playoff loss.

Edwards had 498 yards of total offense and the second-best rushing performance in FCS playoff history with 31 carries for 313 yards. He had four touchdowns running and three more passing as he completed 14-of-16 throws for 182 yards.

Richmond has one of the top defenses in FCS, but the Spiders know that slowing down Edwards is the only way they can advance back to the semifinals. As good as Edwards was last season, he is even better now as a junior. He passed for a school-record 433 yards and four TDs last week, hitting 29-of-41 attempts in a 37-21 victory over South Carolina State.

It has become pick your poison. Edwards is still a dangerous runner, approaching his third 1,000-yard season and he is also the NCAA's passing efficiency leader. Redshirt freshmen Brian Quick and Ben Jorden have developed into dangerous receiving threats.

ASU still has one of the best linebacker groups in FCS with Pierre Banks, Jacque Roman and D.J. Smith, while free safety Mark LeGree has taken Corey Lynch's spot as a playmaker with a school-record and NCAA-leading 10 interceptions.

The three-time defending NCAA champs are deep enough that injuries to the defensive line and running back corps hasn't slowed the No. 2-seeded Mountaineers down. On top of that, expect in the neighborhood of 30,000 fans this Saturday at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

Richmond has been helped by the return of defensive ends Sherman Logan and Lawrence Sidbury Jr. from injuries. Neither played in last year's semifinal game. Linebacker Eric McBride and cornerback Justin Rogers are other defensive standouts.

On offense, the Spiders are strong on the line, led by Tim Silver and Matthew McCracken and Michael Silva, who have opened plenty of holes for running back Josh Vaughan. Receiver Kevin Grayson is a game-breaker when he is healthy.

But quarterback Eric Ward will be the most important player for Richmond. He needs to have a huge game to take pressure off Vaughan and help the Spiders score enough points to stay close to Edwards and the Mountaineers.

Richmond hasn't found a way to win in games against talented teams from Villanova and James Madison this season as coach Mike London has taken over for Dave Clawson.

Appalachian State has won 41 of its last 42 games at Kidd Brewer Stadium, losing only to arch-rival Georgia Southern since 2003 at home. And it's hard to think that Richmond can score enough points to end the Mountaineers' championship reign.