District College Football Preview for Saturday, November 27th

By: Bruce Markey
Thursday, November 25, 2010 | 12:00 AM

College football winds down, this week's preview consists of only two playoff games, one in Division I FCS, the other in Division II. Check back over the weekend for recaps from these two games.

NCAA Division I FCS First Round
Robert Morris(8-2) at North Dakota State(7-4) 7pm
The Colonials make their first trip ever to the NCAA playoffs, traveling to Fargo to meet the Bison indoors at the FargoDome.

RMU was the co-champs of the conference with a 7-1 record, falling to Bryant in the regular season finale. It's the sixth conference title for the Colonials.

Senior running back Myles Russ has ran for 100 yards in the last four games and is the program's all time leading rusher. Russ is sixth in Division I FCS in rushing with 1,246 yards.

Quarterback Jeff Sinclair has thrown for 22 touchdowns this season, leading the NEC. The sophomore from Highlands has thrown for 1,774 yards with just nine interceptions.

Shadrae King leads the Colonials in receiving with 38 catches with seven touchdowns.

Robert Morris is plus ten in turnover ratio. Michael Landers leads Robert Morris with five interceptions.

The Bison was held scoreless in a 3-0 loss to Missouri State in the Missouri Valley Conference finale last Saturday, with just 120 yards of offense.

North Dakota State finished in a six-way tie for third place in the MVC. The Bison had won four straight games. They opened the season with a 6-3 win over Kansas.

Quarterback Jose Mohler threw for 1,145 yards this season with five touchdowns and five interceptions.
Warren Holloway led with 43 catches for 613 yards.

D. J. McNorton ran for 1,118 yards and 9 touchdowns. McNorton also caught 20 passes out of the backfield.

The winner will take on number six ranked Montana State next Saturday at noon in the second round.

NCAA Division II Playoffs Super Region 1
Bloomsburg(10-2) at Mercyhurst(9-2) Noon
For the second straight year it's a rematch of the PSAC State Title Game in the second round. Mercyhurst defeated Bloomsburg 56-37 two weeks ago in Erie.

These are two of the best defensive teams in the PSAC, but the first match up was one of the highest scoring games of the season.

Bloomsburg was the number six seed in the region, the Huskies upset third seeded Cal last week. The Huskies are ranked 20th in the final regular season AFCA Division II poll. Mercyhurst was the second seed, they had a first round bye. The Lakers were ranked 11th in the final poll.

Bloomsburg is led by running back Franlyn Quiteh. The freshman is a finalist for the Harlon Hill Award, given to the best player in D-II. Quiteh needs 118 yards to become only the fourth PSAC running back, and the third from Bloomsburg to run for two-thousand yards in a season. Should he win the award, he would be the first ever freshman to win the award. Quiteh continues to lead the nation in rushing and led the conference with 21 touchdows.

Quarterback Pat Carey saw his ten game streak of throwing for at least two touchdown passes come to an end, but Carey did throw for 1,915 yards and 23 touchdowns with only 10 interceptions. He is third in the PSAC with a quarterback rating of 150.3.

The Huskies have explosive special teams players, Wallace Jamison and Kyle Fisher as kick returners and Tyler Guise in the punt return game. Kicker Dan Fisher is 15 of 16 on field goal attemps longer than forty yards.

Bloomsburg is the most penalized team in the PSAC, averaging 71 yards per game. The Huskies are a plus 13 on the season in turnover ratio.

Mercyhurst has racked up over 400 yards of offense in the last two games, it will be interesting to see how the Lakers will react to the bye in the first round.

Running back Gerald Anderson was shut down in the first meeting, rushing for just 40 yards. Anderson is fourth in the PSAC in rushing, averaging 108 yards per game.

Five of the eight Mercyhurst touchdowns in the first meeting were plays of 25 yards or longer, the Lakers have capitalized on the big plays all season.

Trevor Kennedy is second in the PSAC with 68 catches and ninth with 13 touchdowns, he is a big play threat on offense.

Kennedy also returned a punt for a touchdown in the title game, the kicking game could be a problem for the Lakers. Stephen Wakefield is 2 of 8 on field goal attempts over 30 yards.

Kennedy has racked up the honors this season, MVP of the title game and PSAC West Offensive Player of the Year.

Quarterback Travis Rearick jumped started the offense after taking over the starting job. Rearick has thrown for 1,620 yards and 19 touchdowns in just eight games. Terrance Coon is another big target with 44 catches, six for touchdowns.

Linebacker Bryan Boyce was named PSAC Defensive Player of the Year. Boyce made 79 tackles, has 7.5 sacks and two interceptions. The Lakers are a plus two in turnover ratio.

The Mercyhurst win in the title game was the first over the Huskies in three tries.

The winner meets the winner of Shepherd(10-1) at Kutztown(10-1) next week in the Super Region I final. Shepherd was the fourth seed in the region and finished 18th in the final poll, Kutztown was the top seed in the region, despite not making the PSAC title game, the Golden Bears are ranked 13th.