Code Orange

Appalachian State already defeated Richmond last night 55-35 to advance to the I-AA/FCS Championship Game in Chattanooga next week.  They’ll play the winner of Delaware vs. Southern Illinois, who kickoff at 4pm.

One half of each of the Division II and Division III title games were decided earlier today as, in the first Division II semifinal, Valdosta State defeated California (PA) 28-24.  Meanwhile, two-time defending Mt. Union rolled to yet another Division III title game by destroying Bethel (MN)  62-14.

The 2nd Division III semifinal, Mary Hardin-Baylor vs. Wisconsin-Whitewater, is currently in progress as the other Division II semifinal will be played at 8pm tonight as two-time defending champion Grand Valley State takes on Northwest Missouri State, the team they have defeated to earn each of their last two championships.

We have an interesting situation where the Division I-AA, Division II, and Division III championships may all feature two-time defending champions going for a third in a row.

Division I-AA has never had a 3-time champion.

Division II has had a back-to-back-to-back championship run once: North Alabama did it between  1993 and 1995.

Division III has also has had a back-to-back-to-back championship run three times before: Augustana (Ill) won 4 straight titles between 1983 and 1986, while this same Mt. Union team did it between 1996 and 1998 and again between 2000 and 2002.  Mt. Union has played in 9 of the last 11 Division III championships, winning 8 of them.  If Wisconsin-Whitewater wins their semifinal, it would be the 3rd straight year that they would face Mt. Union in the championship game.

Update 6:44 PM

Southern Illinois defeats Massachusetts 34-27 and will get Delaware at home next week in the I-AA semifinals.

Update 6:39 PM

Tennessee recovers only the 3rd lost fumble all year by LSU and then drives down the field to score a touchdown and retakes the lead 14-13 nearing the end of the 3rd quarter.

Update 6:35 PM

UMass is trying to come back, cutting Southern Illinois’ lead to 34-27, but there’s only 2:20 to go in that game. The winner will play Delaware in the semifinals.

Update 6:22 PM

Tennessee is able to finally put a drive together, but misses the field goal, so it’s still 13-7 LSU in the SEC Championship.

Update 6:11 PM

Tennessee leaves their defense in the locker room during halftime apparently as LSU flies down the field to score a touchdown and goes up 13-7.

Update 6:02 PM

Also, Florida Atlantic defeats Troy 38-32 as the owls pull off the upset to win the Sun Belt conference and earns a bid to the New Orleans Bowl.

Update 5:51 PM

We have our final Division II and III finals today:

In the Division II quarterfinals, Northwest Missouri State defeats Chadron State 26-13, while in the Division III quarterfinals, Bethel (MN) defeats Central College 27-13.

The Division II semifinals are now set as two-time defending champion Grand Valley State vs. Northwest Missouri State, whom GVSU has defeated in each of the last two national championship games, and Valdosta State vs. California (PA)

The Division III semifinals are set as Mt. Union vs. Bethel (MN) and Mary Hardin-Baylor vs. Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Update 5:43 PM

Delaware defeats Northern Iowa 39-27.

Update 5:38 PM

LSU ends a rather sloppily played half offensively for both teams so far by missing a field goal, and Tennessee goes into halftime ahead 7-6.

Meanwhile, Delaware probably just put away Northern Iowa, scoring another touchdown and going up 39-27 with just 41 seconds to go.

Update 5:27 PM

Northern Iowa says not so fast. They cut their lead against Delaware to 32-27 with 4:30 to go.

Update 5:24 PM

We had 3 undefeated I-AA teams going into the playoffs. It looks like none of them will make the semifinals as Delaware is now up on Northern Iowa 32-20 with only 5:40 to go.

Update 5:17 PM

Tennessee finally forces LSU to punt.

Update 5:09 PM

Tennessee once again has to punt. Their 3rd punt of the game. LSU has not punted yet. Yet Tennessee still leads 7-6.

Update 5:03 PM

LSU drives down the field again, but this time they go for it on 4th down and fail to pick it up for only the 3rd time this year.

Update 5:02 PM

Delaware is now up on Northern Iowa 29-20 heading into the 4th quarter. Meanwhile, Southern Illinois extends their lead on Massachusetts 27- 13

Update 5:01 PM

Southern Cal strikes first and they lead UCLA 7-0.

Update 4:46 PM

Valdosta State defeats North Alabama in the Division II quarterfinals 37-23.

Update 4:44 PM

Tennessee gets stop and has to punt. LSU once again drives down the field, but like in their game against Arkansas, fail to get it into the end zone. They stick another field goal on the board and it’s 7-6 Tennessee.

Update 4:40 PM

Delaware retakes the lead on Northern Iowa with a field goal, going up 22-20. Meanwhile, Massachusetts is trying to crawl back in their game, now only down to Southern Illinois 20-13.

Update 4:38 PM

Virginia Tech is ACC Champions, defeating Boston College 30-16. Meanwhile, Hawaii celebrates as BC should fall below them, assuming Hawaii wins tonight.

Update 4:35 PM

Virginia Tech takes care of business this time, picking off Matt Ryan, and taking it to the endzone to take a 30-16 lead.

Update 4:31 PM

Boston College holds Virginia Tech to a 3-and-out, so they get the ball back on the Boston College 35 yard line with only 34 seconds to go, and no time outs. Will we see another BC comeback?

Meanwhile, Northern Iowa retakes the lead on Delaware 20-19 in the 3rd quarter.

Update 4:28 PM

LSU marches down the field, but then Tennessee’s defense stiffens and holds LSU to only a field goal. It’s 7-3 Tennessee in the SEC Championship game.

Update 4:25 PM

Boston College tries another comeback against Virginia Tech, but this time appears to come back short, failing on a 4th down play inside the Tech 15. Virginia Tech takes over with only 2:25 to go.

Update 4:16 PM

Another Division II final: Grand Valley State defeats Central Washington 41-21.

Also another Division III final: Wisconsin-Whitewater defeats Wabash College 47-7.

Update 4:14 PM

The 500 fans in Jacksonville goes wild as someone finally scores again in the ACC Championship as Virginia Tech goes up on Boston College 23-16 with 7:20 to go in the game.

Meanwhile in the SEC Championship Game, Tennessee strikes first, going up on LSU 7-0.

Update 3:48 PM

The ACC Championship game heads towards the 4th quarter with neither team really able to get anything going in the 3rd quarter. Virginia Tech and Boston College are still tied at 16.

Update 3:44 PM

Southern Illinois also leads Massachusetts 13-0.

Update 3:41 PM

Delaware is now up on Northern Iowa 19-10 nearing halftime.

Update 3:41 PM

Appalachian State recovers the onsides kick and advances to the I-AA semifinals to play either Wofford or Richmond.

In a Division II final, California (PA) defeats Shepherd 58-38.

Update 3:37 PM

Central Florida wins the Conference USA Championship game over Tulsa 44-25.

Update 3:35 PM

Appalachian State recovers the onsides kick and goes 3-and-out, but they force Eastern Washington to use all of their timeouts. Eastern Washington once again drives down the field to put another touchdown on the board, making it 38-35. They now need the onsides kick as there is only 28 seconds to go and they have no timeouts.

Also, suddenly Delaware is up on Northern Iowa 12-10.

Update 3:20 PM

Eastern Washington is able to drive down the field to close the gap against Appalachian State to 38-28, but they took a long time with there only being 3:11 left in the game.

Update 3:18 PM

Navy routes Army 38-3.

Update 3:07 PM

Appalachian State recovers an Eastern Washington fumble and probably puts the final nail in the coffin by scoring another touchdown, going up 38-21 with only 6:07 to go.

Update 3:06 PM

A couple of Division III finals:

Mt. Union 52, St. John Fisher 10
Mary-Hardin Baylor 27, Wesley College 10

Update 2:52 PM

Appalachian State is able to get into Eastern Washington’s territory but the drive stalls and EWU stops ASU for the 2nd straight drive. However, they’re still down 31-21.

Also, it’s now 10-o Northern Iowa over Delaware.

Update 2:39 PM

Virginia Tech responds to Boston College, driving down the field and tying the game at 16-16.

Update 2:38 PM

Appalachian State intercepts an Eastern Washington pass, but EWU is able to hold ASU to stay in the game and gets the ball back on a punt.

Update 2:30 PM

The last remaining undefeated team in I-AA Northern Iowa takes a 7-0 lead on Delaware in the 1st quarter.

Update 2:29 PM

Appalachian State once again answers Eastern Washington, putting another touchdown on the board and going up 31-21.

Eastern Washington is going to have to get their offense going. Their three touchdowns have been on a kickoff return for a touchdown, a fake punt, and a 14 yard drive after another long kickoff return. Eastern Washington hasn’t had a single long drive for a touchdown today. Meanwhile, Eastern Washington’s defense hasn’t been able to stop Appalachian State’s offense all day. They’ll need to do that if they want to win this game.

Update 2:20 PM

Boston College responds to Virginia Tech’s touchdown with one of their own. However, Virginia Tech blocks the extra point and returns it for 2 points and Boston College is only able to extend their lead to 16-9.

Update 2:18 PM

Eastern Washington gets their second huge kickoff return, this time for a touchdown, and suddenly it’s 24-21 Appalachian State.

Update 2:15 PM

Central Michigan wins the MAC, defeating Miami (OH) 35-10

Update 2:14 PM

Appalachian State drives down the field on their first drive of the 2nd half and puts up a field goal to expand their lead to 24-14.

Update 2:11 PM

Virginia Tech finally is able to get a drive together and sticks it into an endzone to make it 10-7 Boston College.

Update 1:59 PM

Eastern Washington scores a touchdown on a fake punt on their opening drive of the 2nd half to reduce Appalachian State’s lead to 21-14.

Meanwhile, Boston College works their way down the field and adds a field goal to make it a 10-0 lead over Virginia Tech.

Update 1:38 PM

Virginia Tech fumbles and Boston College recovers and runs it back for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.

Update 1:31 PM

In the Division II quarterfinals, California (PA) leads Shepherd 27-17 at halftime, Grand Valley State leads Central Washington 6-0 in the 1st quarter, while North Alabama and Valdosta State are tied at 6 in the 1st quarter. I can’t seem to find a score for the Chadron State vs. NW Missouri State game.

In the Division III quarterfinals, Mt. Union leads St. John Fisher 21-0 at halftime, Mary-Hardin Baylor leads Wesley College 10-3 at halftime, Wisconsin-Whitewater leads Wabash 7-0 in the 1st quarter, while the Bethel vs. Central College game is reported as being delayed.

Update 1:25 PM

Despite 3 holding calls on their drive, including one calling back a touchdown, Appalachian State is still able to stick it into the endzone, and now it’s 21-7 ASU over Eastern Washington near halftime.

Also, Tulsa strikes back and it’s now 24-20 Central Florida over the Golden Hurricanes. Also, Navy is now up on Army 21-3.

Meanwhile, Virginia Tech is held to a 3-and-out.

Update 1:18 PM

Virginia Tech is back to their usual business in the ACC Championship Game as they block a Boston College field goal.

Update 1:17 PM

Central Michigan now goes up on Miami (OH) 14-3.

Update 1:15 PM

By the way, the Conference USA title game is also going on today. Currently Central Florida leads Tulsa 24-13.

Update 1:13 PM

Eastern Washington gets the ball inside the ASU 5 yard line but fumbles the ball away and is recovered by Appalachian State.

Meanwhile, Miami (OH) gets on the board, but is still down to Central Michigan 7-3. It’s also 7-3 Navy over Army.

Update 1:00 PM

Appalachian State is able to work their way into Eastern Washington territory, but then is stopped and is forced to put it away.

Update 12:52 PM

Eastern Washington returns the kickoff down to the ASU 14 yard line. They quickly put it into the endzone and makes it 14-7 Appalachian State.

Update 12:47 PM

Navy goes up 7-0 on Army. Meanwhile, Appalachian State appears to be having an easier time this week than last week as they go up on Eastern Washington 14-0.

Update 12:39 PM

Eastern Washington gets deep into Appalachian State territory, but a big sack sets EWU back and ASU blocks the field goal.

Update 12:27 PM

Appalachian State strikes first and goes up on Eastern Washington 7-0.

In the MAC Championship, it’s 7-0 Central Michigan over Miami at halftime (the game started at 11am).

Original Post

We start off the day with the MAC Championship game between Miami (OH) and Central Michigan and our first I-AA quarterfinal between Eastern Washington and Appalachian State.

Update 7:37 PM

We’re about to get a trio of good games going tonight. The first is Oklahoma at Texas Tech. Oklahoma should win, but with the number of points Texas Tech can put up, you can never count them out.

Next is West Virginia at Cincinnati. Cincinnati can still win the Big East, but they’ll have to upset the Mountaineers to do it.

Finally, there is Boston College at Clemson for the ACC Atlantic Division title.

Finals:

Wake Forest 38, N. C. State 18

Update 7:15 PM

LSU finally takes care of Mississippi 41-24 (it was closer than that score) and is now 2 games away from the national title game.

Update 7:13 PM

Kansas wins 45-7 over Iowa State and now head into their game against Missouri likely ranked #2 and 11-0.
Finals:

Virginia Tech 44, Miami 14
Western Michigan 28, Iowa 19
Michigan State 35, Penn State 31
Wisconsin 41, Minnesota 34
Washington 37, California 23
Indiana 27, Purdue 24
Houston 35, Marshall 28

Update 6:57 PM

Ole Miss was driving to make it a one score game, but then throw an interception, and add on a penalty and LSU got the ball at the Ole Miss 20 and end up putting it in the end zone, putting the final nails in the coffin. It’s now 34-17 Tigers.

Delaware may have just cost themselves an at-large bid into the I-AA playoffs, especially with 3 other CAA teams vying for a 3rd at-large bid for that conference. Delaware loses to Villanova 16-10. Meanwhile, Appalachian State solidifies an at-large bid by taking care of Chattanooga 37-17.

Finals:

Navy 35, Northern Illinois 24
Memphis 25, UAB 9 (Memphis is bowl eligible)

Update 6:38 PM

It’s a game again in Oxford as Mississippi scores a touchdown to close the gap against LSU 27-17.

Finals:

Central Florida 49, Southern Methodist 20
Tulane 45, Rice 31

Update 6:14 PM

Notre Dame finally wins a second game, defeating Duke 28-7.

Update 6:03 PM

Will Minnesota pull the upset? They’re tied with Wisconsin at 20 near the end of the 3rd quarter.

Here are your final Division II playoff scores of the day:

West Texas A&M 40, Washburn 39 (WTAM will play Northwest Missouri State in the next round)
Central Washington 40, Ashland 24 (C. Washington will play Nebraska-Omaha in the next round)

Update 5:51 PM

Alabama loses to Louisiana Monroe. Yes, that Louisiana Monroe 21-14.

Eastern Illinois finishes up their case for a I-AA playoff at large bid with a 33-17 win over Samford. Also, Montana finishes undefeated and will probably get the #1 seed in the I-AA playoffs after defeating rival Montana State 41-20.
Finals:

Boise State 58, Idaho 14

Update 5:38 PM

It’s official now: Tennessee 25, Vanderbilt 24 Final.

Also, LSU puts some distance between themselves and Mississippi, going up 21-7.

Other finals:

Arkansas 45, Mississippi State 31
Air Force 55, San Diego State 23

Update 5:19 PM

Vanderbilt missed a 49 yard field goal with only 45 yards to go, and Tennessee is still alive for the SEC East title.

Division II playoff finals:

North Dakota 44, Winona State 2 (North Dakota will play Grand Valley State next round)

Finals:

Brigham Young 35, Wyoming 10
Colorado State 42, Georgia Southern 34
Utah State 35, New Mexico state 17

Update 5:11 PM

Tennessee hits a field goal with 2:46 to go to finally go back up on Vanderbilt 25-24.

Update 5:07 PM

I’m back form a quick run to the store while all the Hokies are preoccupied with other things.

In updates, Georgia Southern is trying to worm their way into the I-AA playoffs, but they’re still down to Colorado State 42-31 late in the 4th quarter.

Tennessee has almost come back against Vanderbilt, but the Commodores still lead 24-22 with 7:14 to go.

Notre Dame leads Duke 14-0.

Louisiana Monroe is currently leading Alabama 21-14 in the 4th quarter.

Kansas leads Iowa State 21-7 late in the 2nd quarter.

In other I-AA action, James Madison is making their case for an at-large bid by defeating Towson 23-13. Meanwhile, North Dakota State loses their first game against a I-AA opponent as a I-AA team, losing to South Dakota State 29-24.

In the Division II playoffs, Catawba defeats Albany State (GA) 66-35. Catawba will play Valdosta State in the next round.

In the Division III playoffs, Mary Hardin-Baylor defeated Trinity (TX) 52-23. MHB will play North Carolina Wesleyan in the next round.

Update 4:16 PM

Someone finally scores in the Duke/Notre Dame game as the Irish goes up 7-0 with only 1:17 to go in the first half.

Update 4:15 PM

Missouri finishes out Kansas State 49-32 and guarantees that next week’s game against Kansas will be for the Big 12 North title.

Division II playoffs:

Abilene Christian 56, Mesa State 12 (Abilene Christian will play Chadron State next round)

Division III playoff finals:

Wisconsin-Whitewater 34, Capital 14
St. John’s (MN) 41, Redlands 13 (St. John’s will play Central College next round)

Finals:

Bowling Green 31, Buffalo 17 (Buffalo now bowl ineligible)

Update 4:06 PM

Kansas goes up on Iowa State 7-0. Meanwhile, Mississippi ties up LSU at 7. Meanwhile, Georgia’s gotta love what’s going on in Knoxville s Vanderbilt goes up on Tennessee 24-9.

More Division II playoff scores:

Delta State 45, Shaw 7 (Delta State will play North Alabama next week)

More Division III playoff scores:

Central College 38, Olivet 17

Update 3:53 PM

Georgia puts away Kentucky 24-13. This eliminates Florida from the SEC East race, and Georgia can clench the SEC title if Vanderbilt can hold onto their lead against Tennessee.

Division III playoffs finals:

Wisconsin-Eau Clair 24, St. Norbert 20 (Wisconsin-Eau Clair will play Bethel next weekend)

Update 3:49 PM

Virginia Tech strikes first, going up on Miami 7-0.

North Dakota State hasn’t lost a game to a I-AA team since moving into that division. However, they’re currently losing to their conference rival South Dakota State 20-10 at halftime. Also, Appalachian State goes up early on Chattanooga 7-0.
Division III Playoffs finals:

Bethel (MN) 28, Concordia 0

3:39 PM

Time for a new thread, and look for more lower-division scores once again now that they’re into playoff mode.

Update 3:38 PM

It’s now 17-9 Vanderbilt over Tennessee at halftime.   Also, Duke and Notre Dame are scoreless after the 1st quarter.

Division III playoffs:

North Central 44, Franklin 42

Finals:

Florida State 24, Maryland 16
Georgia Tech 27, North Carolina 25
Florida 59, Florida Atlantic 20
Tulsa 49, Army 39
Update 3:30 PM

Nevermind about Pittsburgh. They get called for a 15 yard penalty, then throw a pick, and Pitt’s outside chance of winning the Big East is over as Rutgers wins 20-16.

Meanwhile, Vanderbilt retakes the lead over Tennessee 14-9.

Update 3:28 PM

Pittsburgh has the ball within the Rutgers 10 with less than a minute to go, down by 4…

Update 3:25 PM

Tennessee goes back up on Vanderbilt 9-7.

I-AA finals:

Harvard ends Yale’s perfect season 37-6.

Division II playoff scores:

Indiana (PA) 45, West Chester 35 (Indiana will play Shepherd next weekend)

Finals:

Connecticut 30, Syracuse 7

Update 3:20 PM

Ohio State defeats Michigan 14-3. Ohio State has now won 4 in a row against the Wolverines.

Division III playoff scores:

Curry 42, Hartwick 21 (Curry will play St. John Fisher)

More Finals:

Illinois 41, Northwestern 22

Update 3:17 PM

Richmond just defeated William & Mary 31-20. That means they and Massachusetts tie for the CAA title. The automatic bid into the I-AA tournament will now be determined by a majority vote of the conference’s athletic directors. Who will they choose? If they want the better team, they’ll probably pick Massachusetts. If they’re nervous at all about Richmond getting a bid as an at-large, however, they may give the auto-bid to the Spiders.

Update 3:14 PM

Michigan just failed on a 4th conversion, which pretty much seals Ohio State’s victory. There is only 3:44 left between Ohio State and a Rose Bowl berth.

Division I-AA finals:

Delaware State 29, Howard 13
Massachusetts 27, Hofstra 5 (UMass clenches a share of the CAA title)

More Division III finals:

Wabash 31, Mount St. Joseph 21 (Wabash will play Case Western)
St. John Fisher 24, Hobart 7
Wesley 45, Hampden-Sydney 17 (Wesley will play Muhlenberg)

Update 3:07 PM

Michigan is running out of time, punting the ball back to Ohio State with less than 7 minutes to go, still 14-3 Buckeyes. Meanwhile, Kentucky is back to within a score of Georgia, 21-13.

Division III finals:

Muhlenberg 31, Salisbury State 21
Case Western 21, Widener 20

Update 3:03 PM

Vanderbilt takes a 7-6 lead on Tennessee.

Meanwhile, in an upset possibility in the Division III playoffs, North Carolina Wesleyan and Washington & Jefferson head into overtime tied at 14.

Finals:

Temple 24, Kent State 14

Update 3:00 PM

Georgia has now widened their lead on Kentucky to 21-13 in the 3rd quarter. Meanwhile, Missouri leads Kansas State 28-18, also in the 3rd quarter.

In another Division III playoff final, College of New Jersey defeats Rensselaer 17-14. College of New Jersey will get the unenviable job of facing Mount Union next weekend.

Update 2:57 PM

New Hampshire trying to worm their way into a I-AA playoff at-large bid, but probably needs help. They made their final case today, defeating Maine 39-14.

Update 2:55 PM

Division II Playoff finals:

Southern Connecticut State 45, Bryant 28. SCSU will play at 11-0 California (PA) next week.

Division III playoff finals:

Mount Union 42, Ithaca 18

Update 2:45 PM

ESPN can’t seem to decide what the score in the Mount Union game is. They had Mount Union with 70 points for a while. Now it’s back to 42. Either way, they’re way ahead.

By the way, Henne is back in the game for Michigan.

Update 2:36 PM

Georgia finally takes the lead on Kentucky 14-10. Meanwhile, Ohio State/Michigan goes into the 4th quarter 14-3.

Update 2:31 PM

BYU can clench the Mountain-West title today with a win over Wyoming and a Utah loss. The Cougars currently lead 7-0.

Update 2:25 PM

It looks like Henne will be coming out when Michigan gets the ball back, but it looks like injuries just attacked Ohio State as well, with Wells appearing to hurt his hamstring.

Update 2:24 PM

Mount Union is showing just why they’re the #1 team in Division III, leading Ithaca 70-18 in their playoff game today in the 4th quarter.

Update 2:19 PM

Michigan finally stops Ohio State in the 2nd half, but Henne stays in the game, despite his poor performance so far.

Update 2:17 PM

Tennessee strikes early against Vanderbilt, going up 6-0 in the first of their last 2 remaining mine fields on their way to the SEC title game.

Update 2:05 PM

Ohio State didn’t wait long. On their first play after the touchdown being called back, Wells runs for a long touchdown anyway, and they go up 14-3 on Michigan.

Update 2:04 PM

Michigan gets the ball to start the 2nd half and promptly goes 3-and-out. Ohio State returns the punt for a touchdown, but it’s brought back due to a blocking in the back penalty.

Update 2:01 PM

Georgia finally gets on the board, but the Bulldogs still trail Kentucky 10-7.

Update 1:45 PM

Missouri and Florida put up more scores as Missouri retakes the lead 21-15 and Florida expands their lead to 35-20 at halftime.

Update 1:38 PM

Michigan misses a 48-yard field goal short to end the first half, and Ohio State leads 7-3 at halftime.

Update 1:37 PM

Perhaps Missouri is looking ahead. Kansas State now takes the lead on the Tigers 15-14. The Wildcat kicker has now missed 2 extra points (it was only 15-9 before, not 15-10 apparently).

Update 1:35 PM

Ohio State’s attempt to go down the field to score suddenly went horribly wrong as Michigan intercepts the ball and returns it inside the Ohio State 40. Michigan has no time outs, however, with only about 20 seconds to go.

Update 1:33 PM

Rutgers takes the lead on Pittsburgh 17-10. Meanwhile, Florida Atlantic scores again, and once again puts themselves within one score of Florida, as the score in that game is now Florida 28, Florida Atlantic 20 near halftime.

Also, Ohio State is driving, trying to score before halftime.

Update 1:29 PM

Michigan can’t do anything with their good field position as the two teams are now a combined 6 for 17 on 3rd down today.

Update 1:27 PM

Michigan pins Ohio State inside the 5 with punt, and Ohio State can’t get out of the shadow of their own end zone, returning the ball to Michigan at mid-field.

Update 1:26 PM

Florida adds some padding to their lead over Florida Atlantic, going up 28-13. Tebow becomes the first player in I-A history to score 20 rushing and 20 passing touchdowns in one season.

Meanwhile, Missouri just can’t shake Kansas State, leading only 14-10. In that game, Jeremy Maclin has set a record for most all-purpose yards by a freshman in Division I-A.

Update 1:15 PM

All of a sudden Florida Atlantic is within a score of Florida after kicking another field goal and closing the score to 21-13.

Update 1:08 PM

Michigan picks up a big 3rd down to keep their drive alive.

Meanwhile, Florida State is destroying Maryland 21-3 in the 2nd quarter. Also, the Florida/Florida Atlantic game, which is supposed to be a blowout, is looking vaguely like a game now, with the Owls now back to within 21-10 of the Gators.

Meanwhile, even if Yale could go to the I-AA playoffs, they might have blown their chance today, as Harvard is now routing them 27-0.

Update 12:59 PM

Ohio State moves down the field and responds to Michigan and goes up 7-3.

Meanwhile, perhaps it was too early to call the Southern Connecticut State game, as Bryant suddenly closes the score back down to 21-20.

Update 12:56 PM

Kentucky is trying to spoil Georgia’s hopes for an SEC East title, and they go up 7-0 on the Bulldogs.

Update 12:51 PM

Missouri making sure they aren’t looking ahead toward their big game with Kansas, goes up on the other Kansas team 7-0.

Update 12:48 PM

I actually just realized this - before I said Illinois was trying to clench 3rd in the Big Ten by beating Northwestern. Actually, if they win and Michigan beats Ohio State, Illinois would actually finish 2nd in the conference. But I wouldn’t expect the Illini to get a bid to the Capital One Bowl ahead of Ohio State in that case, though.

Update 12:44 PM

Pittsburgh takes a 10-3 lead on Rutgers to try to keep their outside shot at the Big East title alive.

Update 12:40 PM

Michigan is able to drive down the field on their 2nd drive, but stalls before the endzone, and the Wolverines kicks a field goal to take a 3-0 on Ohio State.

Update 12:37 PM

It looks like some Division III playoff games are going to be decided rather early. Curry now leads Hartwick 28-0 in the 1st quarter while Southern Connecticut State leads Bryant 21-7, nearing the 2nd of the 1st quarter.

Update 12:30 PM

After getting an initial first down, a fumbled snap and falling down while backing up to pass quickly ends Ohio State’s drive.

Also in score update, Richmond leads William & Mary 7-0.

In the Division II Playoffs, Southern Connecticut State leads Bryant 14-7 and West Chester leads Indiana (PA) 7-0.

Meanwhile, in the Division III playoffs, Curry leads Hartwick 14-0, Mount St. Joseph and Wabash are tied at 7, North Central leads Franklin 14-7, and Muhlenberg leads Salisbury State 7-0.

Update 12:23 PM

Michigan gets the ball, then goes 3 and out, so Ohio State wins the field position battle in the first pair of drives.

Update 12:21 PM

A questionable non-interference call leads to an Ohio State punt on their opening drive.

Update 12: 19 PM

Here are some score update, all in the 1st Quarter:

Illinois 7, Northwestern 0
Connecticut 7, Syracuse 0
Massachusetts 7, Hofstra 0
Harvard 7, Yale 0

12:06 PM

Obviously the big game early is Ohio State vs. Michigan, but there is also Pittsburgh vs. Rutgers (which still has Big East championship implications), Illinois vs. Northwestern, where the Illini are hoping to clench 3rd in the conference, Kentucky at Georgia, and Missouri at Kansas State.

We also get some I-AA matchups and some Division II and III playoff games starting.

The final weekend of football in Division I-AA football is this weekend, as well as first round playoff games (playoffs!? what a concept!) in Division II and Division III.

In Division I-AA, there are still three undefeated teams who can qualify for the playoffs: #2 Northern Iowa, #3 Montana, and #4 McNeese State (#1 North Dakota State is still a Division I transitional and thus isn’t eligible for the playoffs, while #11 Yale can’t go because of an Ivy League policy prohibiting their football teams from going to the playoffs.)

We also have conference championships to be determined and the 8 other I-AA playoff wildcard spots to be filled.  That bracket will be announced tomorrow.

Eight conferences earn automatic bids into the I-AA tournament, 6 have already been decided:

Big Sky Conference - Montana
Gateway Conference - Northern Iowa
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference - Delaware State
Ohio Valley Conference - Eastern Kentucky
Patriot League - Fordham
Southern Conference - Wofford

Meanwhile, two conference championships will be decided today:

Colonial Athletic Association

Four teams are still in contention for this conference title: #7 Massachusetts, #8 Richmond, #9 Delaware, and #13 James Madison.   And it can get messy in this conference.

Massachusetts and Richmond both sit with 6-1 conference records, yet they do not play each other.  Massachusetts plays at #22 Hofstra while Richmond plays at home against William and Mary.  If one of these teams wins and the other loses, then the winner will win the conference and earn the automatic bid.

If they both win, then they are technically co-champions, but the automatic bid will be determined by a majority vote by the conference’s Athletics Directors (excluding the ADs of the schools being voted on).

If both Massachsuetts and Richmond lose and James Madison wins, James Madison receives the automatic bid.

If Massachusetts, Richmond, and James Madison all lose and Delaware wins, then Delaware receives the automatic bid.

Southland Conference

The winner of the McNeeses State/Central Arkansas game will receive the automatic bid.

And then you have to start looking at possible at-large teams, and there are only 8 spots.

At the top of the list have to be #5 Southern Illinois, #6 Appalachian State, and the two teams in the Massachusetts, Richmond, and Delaware group who don’t the CAA automatic bid.  Even if these teams lose today, they are probably odds-on favorites for getting into the tournament (except for the CAA teams, since there are really 6 teams who are possibly in contention for bids, and getting more than 3 teams in may be asking a lot).

After that you get to #13 James Madison (can the CAA get 4 teams in the tournament? Has that ever happened before?), #15 Youngstown State, #15 Eastern Washington,  #17 Georgia Southern, #19 New Hampshire (another CAA team - it’s doubful that they’d get in ahead of JMU if the Dukes win, and I can’t see any conference getting 5 teams in), and #20 Eastern Illinois.

#18 Grambling can’t accept an invite since they already play a traditional game on Thanksgiving Day.

Meanwhile, in the Division II playoffs, here are the games on tap:

Ashland at Central Washington
Winona State at North Dakota
Mesa State at Abilene Christian
Washburn at West Texas A&M
Albany State at Catawba
Shaw at Delta State
Bryant at Southern Connecticut State
Indiana (PA) at West Chester

The top 8 seeds all get byes into the second round.  Also, this tournament is divided into 4 regions, with the four regional champions advancing to the semifinals.  In each region 6 teams go to the playoffs.

There was some controversy this year in the South Region where 10-1 Carson-Newman was ranked in the top 15 in the nation overall and #5 in the region, yet because of rules that allow any conference champion in the top 10 of the regional rankings to get a bid in to the tournament, Carson-Newman was left out.  Carson-Newman’s only loss was to Catawba.

Division III matchups today include the following:

Ithaca at Mount Union
TCNJ at Rensselaer
Hartwick at Curry
Hobart at St. John’s Fisher
Olivet at Central (IA)
Redlands at St. John’s (MN)
Wisconsin-Eau Claire at St. Norbert
Concordia (WI) at Bethel (MN)
North Carolina Wesleyan at Washington & Jefferson
Trinity (TX) [Yes, that Trinity] at Mary Hardin-Baylor
Salisbury at Muhlenberg
Hampden-Sydney at Wesley
Capital at Wisconsin-Whitewater
North Central (IL) at Franklin
Mt. St. Joseph at Wabash
Widener at Case Reserve

I’ll try to update these scores today if I can find them.

The ending to this game may be downplayed because it wasn’t in such a big game, but it is better than the hook and lateral by Boise State. It is better than the lateral kickoff return in the Cal/Stanford game (though no one can beat “the band is on the field!”

ESPN.com has the video up, and if I can find a youtube video of it, I’ll post it, but the jist of it is this: Trinity (TX) is down 24-22 to Millsaps in a Division III matchup with 2 seconds to go. The short of it is that 15 - yes 15 - laterals later, including a once-bounce lateral on the final toss, Trinity scores the touchdown to win. Amazing.

Update, here is the video:

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/video?id=3083220

I tried embedding it, but it didn’t like it…maybe i’ll try later…

Update: here ye go: