S134 Final 8 Teams
Starting with 32 and down to the final 8 teams. Who are still alive and who dropped out?
Unfortunately, we have to say good bye to Pace, Saginaw Valley St, W. New Mexico, Saint Joseph's, N. Alabama, Ferris State, Central Washington and Humboldt State. Great season everyone and best of luck next year!
Results from Round 2
Virginia State handled business defeating Pace 44-31. Great year for jpnroos who finishes his season at 15-1.
Cheyney delivers an impressive performance, taking out Saginaw Valley State 39-7. That was the largest victory by margin against SVSU all season and they had to play Ferris State and Northern Michigan.
Texas A&M Commerce got a scare in the first half after W. New Mexico run a KR and a PR back for touchdowns in the first half and leading 28-17. Things calmed down in the second half and TAMC won 55-17.
West Chester trailed in the first half 10-7 to Saint Joseph's and was consistently stalling on drives going 3 and out. Some adjustments changed the moment and West Chester bounced back to win 31-10.
Midwestern State had a fight on their hands as North Alabama jumped up quick 21-10 at the half and had surged off excellent special teams play. The second half, N. Alabama faced a different team and lose their momentum early. MSU wins 37-23
Valdosta State pulls off a huge win over Ferris State in a street brawl of an effort. VSU gave up 600 yards and still finds a way to win! Huge win, champ83 seems to find a way in these big games. Great season for coachoatie.
Northern Michigan showed their might taking down Central Washington 69-14. Good job to AJ_Scarlato making it to the 2nd round this year. Spithbodeau has his team fully tuned and is going to be a monster to face.
Winona State where have you been? We finally see two great performances allow 0 points and then only 3 versus Humboldt State. Their team looked excellent all over the board and will hopefully give them a shot versus NMU tonight. Humboldt State exits the playoffs with a CC and 14-2 record.
NEXT ROUND (QUARTER FINALS)
Northern Bracket
Virginia St. (coral_reefer)
vs
Cheyney (waregl72)
It could end being an incredible game between these two teams depending on a couple factors. VSU has some excellent receivers but they are going up against one of the best secondaries in division 2. 16-0 is coral_reefer's best season since taking over his game plan utilizes all positions which will be an advantage in this match-up. Cheyney is going to bring the hurt on the ground and they match well in this game. If they are able to run the ball well, field position could lead to a lop-sided score favoring Cheyney.
Prediction: Cheyney 41-24 as waregl72 keeps the ball out of VSU's hands by keeping the ball on the ground and playing the field.
Southern Bracket Texas A&M Comm (akua29) vs West Chester (2000Champou)
This is a heavy hitter match-up and it's only the quarterfinals. They faced no common opponents and have a 0-0 record when comparing coach vs coach meetings. It will be interesting to see if this comes down to a defensive battle or will a team break out with some explosive plays. Both teams are very similar featuring the 3-4 defense with enough depth and talent to deliver a solid defensive performance. One runs I-Form and the other runs Pro-Set. Overall, the edge moves slightly toward TAMC based on talent.
Prediction: TAMC 28-27 in a grind fest. West Chester has the 4 senior linebackers to go against TAMC's running backs but their offensive line could break down WC's DL enough to win in the 4th quarter.
Eastern Bracket Midwestern State (Linux_Box) vs Valdosta State (champ83)
Tale of the tape in this game has VSU outscoring Midwestern by 30 points. Both are balanced teams but MSU probably depends on the ground game more than VSU has too. Judging by a common opponent match versus North Alabama, Valdosta St has the edge. They are so similar but I think there is just better depth with champ83's team and his ability to game plan in big games will pull this one out.
Prediction: Valdosta State 44-31 will win the battle on the defensive side.
Western Bracket Northern Michigan (spithibodeau) vs Winona State (kwheeler)
Kwheeler got the ship running full speed and has looked really good the last 2 games. Spithibodeau has been here so many times, he has his team performing above the rest. Winona State could have the better defense but the RB Harris with NMU is going to be too much in this one. Harris has been putting up incredible numbers on the ground during the playoffs with highs of 500 yards.
Prediction: Northern Michigan 51-17 due to RB Harris putting in work on the ground and controlling field position.