fcs football

James Madison
by Appalachian Sports Information

November 18, 2007 - BE SURE TO TUNE INTO COUNTDOWN TO A CHAMPIONSHIP, THE APPALACHIAN ISP SPORTS NETWORK'S OFFICIAL DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW SHOW ON SUNDAY FROM 7-9 P.M. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN.
BOONE, N.C. � Appalachian State University� defense of its back-to-back NCAA Division I football national championships begins on Saturday at Kidd Brewer Stadium versus James Madison. Kickoff time has not been determined, pending television considerations.

Appalachian (9-2, 5-2 SoCon) is not one of the four seeded teams in the 16-team Division I Championship field, despite winning its third-consecutive Southern Conference championship and looking to become the first team to ever claim three-straight national titles at the Division I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision ?formerly Division I-AA) level. James Madison comes into the postseason with an 8-3 overall record and finished 6-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association� South Division, a game behind Richmond. Between them, the Mountaineers and Dukes have won the last three national titles (JMU in 2004, ASU in ?5 and ?6).

�ames Madison is one of the best teams in the 16,?ASU head coach Jerry Moore said. �e�l start off against a great football team.?

ASU and JMU are quite familiar with each other, as the two schools ?separated by just 268 miles ?have met on the gridiron 14 times, most recently in 2006 when Appalachian came away with a 21-10 triumph in Boone. In all, ASU leads the all-time series, 11-3, including 31-24 first-round playoff victory in 1995, also in Boone.

�his will definitely be a tough one,?Mountaineer defensive back Corey Lynch said. � have a lot of respect for their program and a lot of respect for their team. We�e got to watch a lot of film and play hard.?

The playoff appearance is the Mountaineers?15th all-time and 13th in 19 seasons under Moore. The Apps are 16-12 all-time in the FCS postseason, including their perfect 8-0 mark the past two years.

The winner of the ASU-JMU matchup will face the winner between second-seeded McNeese State and Eastern Washington on Dec. 1.

Tickets ($20 for adults, $5 for youth ages 3-12 and ASU students) can be purchased online now by clicking here. Tickets can also be purchased in person or by phone by visiting the ASU athletics ticket office in the Holmes Center or calling (828) 262-2079 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Wednesday and Friday of this week Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Northern Iowa grabbed the No. 1 seed on Sunday afternoon when the FCS playoff selection committee announced the 16 teams for the 2007 NCAA Division I Football Championships.

Joining Northern Iowa (11-0) as seeds were No. 2 McNeese State (11-0), No. 3 Montana (11-0) and No. 4 Southern Illinois (10-1).

The playoffs start Friday with a nationally televised game on ESPN of historic proportions when Delaware (8-3) hosts MEAC champion Delaware State (10-1) for the first time at 1:30 p.m. (et).

Delaware was one of a record five teams from the Colonial Athletic Association to make the field. Massachusetts (9-2) won a coin flip with fellow co-champion Richmond (9-2) for the CAA auto bid, while Richmond, James Madison (8-3) and New Hampshire (7-4) were selected with Delaware as at-large teams.

Other at-large berths went to two-time defending national champion and Southern Conference co-champion Appalachian State (9-2), Ohio Valley Conference runner-up Eastern Illinois (8-3), Big Sky runner-up Eastern Washington (8-3) and Gateway runner-up Southern Illinois.

The automatic bids to conference champions were won by Delaware State (MEAC), Eastern Kentucky (Ohio Valley), Fordham (Patriot) McNeese State (Southland), Montana (Big Sky), Northern Iowa (Gateway), UMass (CAA) and Wofford (Southern).

New Hampshire travels to Northern Iowa and the winner will meet the survivor of the Delaware State at Delaware game. In the opposite side of the top bracket, Eastern Illinois goes to Southern Illinois and Fordham travels to Massachusetts.

New Hampshire is one of only four, four-loss teams ever to earn an at-large bid, joining Appalachian State (1992), Idaho (1995) and Montana State (2006).

Eastern Illinois faces Southern Illinois for the third straight year in the first round.

In the bottom half of the draw, Eastern Washington travels to McNeese State and James Madison plays at Appalachian State.

The match-up between JMU and ASU matches the last two national champions. The Dukes won in 2004, while the Mountaineers captured titles in 2005-06.

Completing the bottom half of the draw are Wofford at Montana and Eastern Kentucky at Richmond.

The first round will be played on Friday and Saturday, with the quarterfinals set for Dec. 1. The semifinals will be conducted on Dec. 6-7 and the championship will be played Dec. 14 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The opening three rounds will be played on campus sites.
BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) -- Lex Hilliard rushed for 181 yards and three touchdowns Saturday and Montana capped an unbeaten season with a 41-20 victory over rival Montana State.

Cole Bergquist passed for 274 yards and two touchdowns to Eric Allen while Dan Carpenter kicked two field goals and set an FCS scoring record for kickers in the win.

No. 3 Montana (11-0, 8-0 Big Sky) earned the league's automatic bid in the FCS playoffs and will learn its first-round opponent on Sunday.

Demetrius Crawford rushed for 112 yards and two first-half touchdowns for Montana State (6-5, 4-4), the second one giving the Bobcats a 14-6 lead with 2:42 left in the half.

Hilliard's first score, a 2-yard run, pulled Montana to 14-13 with 42 seconds left in the half and gave him the school record for career touchdowns.

Colt Anderson intercepted MSU on its first play from scrimmage in the second half. Five plays later Bergquist hit Allen on a 31-yard scoring strike less than three minutes into the half.

The two connected on a 23-yard pass with 13:45 remaining to give the Grizzlies a 27-14 lead. Allen had 89 yards receiving.

The Bobcats pulled to 27-20 on a 1-yard dive by Isaiah Taito with 9:24 remaining, but Craig Mettler blocked the extra point.

The Grizzlies' next drive lasted six minutes and ended with a 2-yard TD run by Hilliard that extended Montana's lead to 34-20 with 3:38 remaining.

Loren Utterback intercepted MSU quarterback Jack Rolovich on the first play of the next possession and Hilliard broke loose for a 31-yard scoring run with 2:35 remaining.

Rolovich completed 15 of 27 passes for 240 yards.

Carpenter hit field goals of 51 and 42 yards in the first quarter, tying Marty Zendejas of Nevada with 72 in his career. With his five extra points, Carpenter has 403 career points, breaking the FCS career scoring record for kickers set by Montana kicker Chris Snyder from 2000-2003 DURHAM, N.H.―The University of New Hampshire football team was given the opportunity to play another day on Sunday night when the Wildcats were selected to compete in a first-round game vs. No. 1 ranked University of Northern Iowa in the NCAA Division I Football Championship on Saturday, Nov. 24. Game time is set for 6:35 p.m. Central (7:35 Easterm Time) at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
The 7-4 Wildcats and 11-0 Panthers are both familiar with each other and with playing in the FCS playoffs. UNH is the only team in Colonial Athletic Association history to advance to the Quarterfinals three consecutive years (2004-2007) and UNH is now in the playoffs for the fourth straight year. It was a great day for the CAA as the conference became the first to ever have five teams in the playoffs, with Massachusetts, Richmond, Delaware and James Madison all making the field of 16 teams along with UNH.
UNI and UNH met in the quarterfinals of the 2005 playoffs. UNI scored a 24-21 victory over the No. 1-ranked Wildcats in Durham, N.H., on Dec. 3, 2005. It marks the only meeting of the series between these two squads.
UNI is making its 13th appearance in the FCS playoffs. The Panthers have posted an overall mark of 15-12 in the playoffs. New Hampshire is making its sixth appearance and has an overall playoff record of 3-5. Last season UNH posted a victory over Hampton (41-38) in the first round and lost to Massachusetts in the quarterfinals (24-17). In 2005, the year UNH played UNI, the Wildcats defeated Colgate in Durham in the first round (55-21). In 2004, UNH won at Georgia Southern (27-23) and was defeated at Montana in the Quarterfinals (47-17). UNH also lost in the first round of the NCAAs to Appalachian State in the first round in 1994 (17-10 OT) and lost to Samford in the first round in 1991 (29-13).
Fans interested in purchasing tickets to the NCAA FCS first-round playoff game can call UNItix at 319-273-4TIX (4849). The game can be heard live on the UNH Sports Radio Network and television information will be released as soon as it becomes available...