S134 The Final Four
Midwestern St. Advances! The MSU Mustangs look to run wile versus the Northern Michigan Wildcats and the Cheyney Wolves prepare to enter the TAMC Lions den.
The quarterfinals offered some incredible games that were deadlocked at half-time. While most of the favorites found a way to win, Midwestern St shocked the nation with a huge win against Valdosta St.
Good luck to the final four contestants tonight, I will do a season finale later this week to recap the games and the National Championship. Great job to all coaches who participated in D2 this season.
Final Four Preview
Cheyney versus Texas A&M Commerce
Both of these teams are incredibly well matched and Cheyney comes in as the #2 core power house versus Texas A&M Comm at #3.
Both teams are very even, but Cheyney gets the nod when it comes to slightly better play makers. Texas gets the nod when it comes to better talent when comparing who is behind the starters. I can see Cheyney jumping out early with some explosive drives but the question will be when the starters have to sub out, will it be enough for TAMC to bring it back.
This one is literally a toss up and we will have to wait a see at the half.
8/7 update: Cheyney's defense holds firm and never allows TAMC to find it's rhythm. Cheyney returns to the NC with a huge win 28-14
Midwestern State versus Northern Michigan
Northern Michigan appears to the have upper hand, but the way Midwestern State is playing is big. MSU took down Valdosta State who beat Ferris State which means this should be a really good game. One thing that really stands out is how consistent Linux_Box's offense is going and his dedication to continue to play balanced. If they can pull this one out, it won't be by much.
8/7 Update: MSU incredible season ends as Northern Michigan returns to the big stage winning 34-10.
Best of luck to two great teams this season.
National Championship Game
Cheyney Wolves vs Northern Michigan Wildcats
Quarterfinals RECAP
Midwestern State versus Valdosta State
Midwestern State is having an incredible year for Linux_Box program. Last night MSU lead 14-13 and we thought VSU would likely take control in the 2nd half and pull it out. This was not the case, instead, Midwestern controlled the clock for 40 minutes and limited Valdosta's States opportunities to score.
MSU went 8/18 on 3rd down conversions while VSU under performed completing only 1 out 13 attempts. The pass completion ratio was huge and demonstrated how lop-sided this game turned out to be in the 2nd half. Surprisingly, MSU only outscored Valdosta 6-0.
MSU has not advanced to the Semi-Finals since season 116. Linux_Box could be considered a possible coach of the year
Northern Michigan versus Winona State
Kwheeler really got his team going this year and the first half of this game looked really competitive. When we viewed the game last evening, NMU led 14-10 but one thing caught my attention... all of Winona St's points were off special teams play. The second half told us the full story, that NMU could move the ball well and Winona struggled to covert 3rd downs and lacked explosive plays.
With 3.8 yards per pass and 2.7 yards per rush, you can really see who was winning the tug-of-war. Excellent season for Winona State and Northern Michigan moves one step closer to return to glory.
Cheyney versus Virginia State
Great play by Cheyney to jump out early with a 17-0 lead in the 1st quarter. Playing from behind, Virginia State ran into turnover problems giving it up 3 times. The 3rd quarter was game breaking with another strong 14-3 run that literally gave VSU no chance to make up ground.
We can see that the first quarter was brutal to VSU and it didn't get much better from there. When they needed to make a comeback late in the game, turnovers played a roll to kill drives. Great season for Coral_reefer and the mighty wolves are now one step closer!
West Chester versus Texas A&M-Commerce
At the half, it was 17-13 TAMC and the stats looked almost identical. West Chester was more efficient on 3rd downs both defenses were limiting big plays. After TAMC went out 24-13 in the 3rd quarter West Chester answered back with a 83 yard kickoff return. It looked like the game would come down to the wire until Texas put together an 11 play drive, then followed up with a 7 play drive for touchdowns. West Chester followed with 2 missed field goals and it everything unraveled.
This is another game where one team found success moving the ball down the field in bigger chunks and won the time of possession battle. One thing to further note, was 6 penalties against West Chester makes it tough to move the chains. Really great season for 2000champou and Texas moves on to the semi-finals.