Montana took over the top spot in the Division I-AA football poll, released by The Sports Network on Monday. It's the first time the Griz have topped the poll since early November, 2002, when their 24-game winning streak was snapped against Eastern Washington in Spokane.
Big Sky favorite Montana (2-0), coming off a 41-23 victory over Hofstra last Saturday in Missoula, received 61 first-place votes and 2,492 points in balloting by media members and sports information directors.
Montana faces its first road test Saturday, squaring off against Sam Houston State (1-1) in Huntsville, Texas. Kickoff is 6:05 p.m., MDT, with television coverage on KECI.
The Griz leaped past Southern Illinois, which fell one notch to second following a 23-22 loss to Division I-A Northern Illinois. The Salukis (1-1) received 26 first-place votes and 2,340 points.
Rounding out the top five were Wofford (1-0), Furman (2-0) and Villanova (2-0). Defending national champ Delaware (1-1) was sixth, followed by Northern Iowa (1-1), Georgia Southern (1-1), Massachusetts (2-0) and New Hampshire (2-0).
Two other Big Sky teams remained ranked in the Top 25. Montana State fell two spots to No. 14 after a 19-0 win over Division II Adams State, while Northern Arizona slipped six spots to No. 19 following a 24-17 overtime loss at Stephen F. Austin.
The Atlantic 10 is showing its strength with four teams in the Top 10.
The most notable may be New Hampshire, which began the season unranked, but opened with a pair of impressive road victories. The Wildcats pulled a 35-24 stunner last Saturday over Division I-A Rutgers, which had defeated Michigan State the week before. New Hampshire won its opener, 24-21, at preseason No. 1 Delaware.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Ricky Santos was named the I-AA national offensive player of the week after setting a New Hampshire school record with five TD passes against Rutgers. Santos, in his first start and only second collegiate game, completed 30 of 40 passes for 385 yards. Santos has completed 40-of-51 passes in two games for 531 yards.
Southern Illinois coach Jerry Kill had no regrets after his Salukis failed on a two-point conversion try late in their loss at Division I-A Northern Illinois. Joel Sambursky's 19-yard TD pass pulled Southern Illinois within 23-22 with 59 seconds remaining in regulation. But rather than kick a one-point conversion to tie the score and set up overtime, Kill opted to go for, well, the kill.
Sambursky tried for a two-point conversion pass to Chris Kupec, and the big tight end was open. However, he slipped just as Sambursky threw, and the ball bounced off Kupec's shoulder pads, incomplete.
"There's no way we could take (Northern Illinois) to overtime," Kill said. "We had a tired bunch of kids. ... We had a good play called. We had a guy open. It was the right call, and there's no question in my mind about it."
In other key I-AA games:
n Delaware continued to struggle. The Blue Hens had to rally from a 10-7 deficit after three quarters to edge unranked Towson 21-17.
n Wofford received a scare in its opener. The nation's third-ranked team was outscored 12-0 in the fourth quarter, but held on to defeat South Carolina State 24-22.
|
 |
 |
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)