CAA vs FBS 2010, Part 1

So far this season the CAA is 1-7 against FBS opponents with one game remaining, William & Mary at UNC on Saturday, October 30th. While 1-7 may seem pretty disappointing, there were some bright spots. Of course, there were some blow outs at the hands of the FBS, and that is expected. But there were some games the CAA schools were competitive and only one or two plays away from winning. I wanted to take a closer look at just how the CAA fared against its FBS opponents in 2010.

September 2, Rhode Island 0, Buffalo 31
31-0 blowout win is what every FBS school is thinking of when they schedule an FCS opponent. Buffalo led at halftime 24-0. URI could not do anything against the Buffalo defense and were held to under 100 yards in the first half. This was certainly a game the Rhody Rams would like to forget!


September 2, Towson 17, Indiana 51
This game can be categorized as a definite blow out. There were some positives for Towson in this game though. Towson was able to rack up 227 rushing yards and 165 passing yards for an impressive total of 392 yards of offense, but unfortunately they were only able to put up a total of 17 points. Towson is one of the weaker teams in the CAA but they were able to prove that they could efficiently rush the ball against a Big Ten opponent. Of course, the Towson defense was a completely different story.
  
September 3, Villanova 24, Temple 31
This was certainly a game that Villanova could have and should have won.  The first half was competitive with each team trading off points, but Villanova was able to take a slim 14-10 lead into halftime. Temple scored kicked field goal with two minutes remaining in the third quarter to trim the Villanova lead to one, 14-13. Villanova scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to go up 21-13. Temple countered with a field goal and a touchdown to take the lead 22-21(Temple failed on their 2-point conversion attempt). Villanova kicker Nick Yako nailed a 41-yard field goal with 1:50 remaining in the fourth quarter to regain the lead 24-22. With three seconds remaining in the game, Temple kicker Brandon McManus hit a 43-yard field goal to go up 25-24. Temple returned a Villanova fumble on the in-suing kick off to go up 31- 24. This was definitely a heart breaker for Villanova. It was a very close game stats wise as well. Both teams racked up more than 300 yards of offense and ball possession was split almost evenly. This was a very evenly matched game and unfortunately, Villanova just could not finish the job.

September 4, Richmond 13, Virginia 34
Richmond trailed Virginia 14-10 going into the second half. Virginia opened the game up in the second half by scoring twenty points, thirteen of which came in the fourth quarter. Richmond could not stop Virginia running back, Keith Payne, who racked up 114 yards on the ground and four touchdowns, three of which came in the second half.

September 11, UNH 16, Pittsburgh 38
UNH has one of the most impressive resumes when it comes to beating FBS teams. Here is a little rundown of there last five games against FBS opponents prior to this season:

2009, UNH 23, Ball State 16
2008, UNH 28, Army 10
2007 UNH 48, Marshall 35
2006 UNH 34, Northwestern 17
2004 UNH 35, Rutgers 24

UNH has beaten teams out of the MAC, Conference USA, Big East and Big Ten, many of them were not even close. Unfortunately their winning streak against FBS teams came to a close on September 11, 2010 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh led at halftime 17-3 and added another 21 points in the second half. The Pitt defense held UNH to only 73 rushing yards.



Part 2 coming tomorrow! Stay tuned!