From UMass Media Relations FCS vs. FBS
FCS SUCCESS AGAINST FBS
• Already in 2010, six FCS schools (formerly Division I-AA) have
beaten FBS schools. Those six victories are highlighted by UMass’
fellow CAA member James Madison beating No. 13 Virginia Tech,
21-16, last weekend.
• JMU was just the second FCS school to ever beat a ranked FBS
school. The first was Appalachian State upsetting No. 5 Michigan,
34-32, on Sept. 1, 2007 at Michigan Stadium.
• CAA teams have 10 wins against FBS opponents in the last five
years. JMU’s victory last week was the first of 2010, but in 2009,
four CAA teams beat FBS teams.
• The other FCS teams to beat FBS teams this season are: Jacksonville
State over Ole Miss (49-48, 2OT), North Dakota State over Kansas
(6-3), South Dakota over Minnesota (41-38), Gardner-Webb over
Akron (38-37), and Liberty over Ball State (27-23).
http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/umas/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/Michigan_091810_notes.pdf
September 15th, 2010 at 5:42 PM ^
So, how long is it going to take before people can stop writing "formerly Division I-AA" in parentheses after FCS?
September 15th, 2010 at 5:49 PM ^
I wish they'd drop the silly FBS/FCS names and go back to I-A/I-AA. There wasn't a good reason for the change in the first place, and if they institute a playoff system, FBS will be obsolete.
September 15th, 2010 at 6:01 PM ^
but then it will be 1-AA (formerly FCS formerly 1-AA)
September 15th, 2010 at 6:06 PM ^
After which it will shortly switch to an unpronounceable symbol. Early Nineties humor!
September 15th, 2010 at 6:58 PM ^
For those unaware, two members of the CAA eliminated their programs at the end of 2009, so under the rules of that conference (perhaps the entire division, I'm not certain) they have six transfers in from those two schools that should start immediately. It'll still take time to gel though, and this year's wolverine team realizes fully their worth is still being judged and realize they have not proven nearly enough to be forgiven for a loss of this magnitude.
They will be ready, and I think that in large part that attitude, almost always reflected in RR coached teams at WVU stems from constantly battling to keep your position for the starters and those fighting to take their jobs.
Additionally, seldom is someone like DRob seen at our level. I'd imagine the likelihood of seeing anything close to that type of player at II-A is not even computable. Most teams with the tradition of the wolverines are not going to make two mistakes of that magnitude. LC had a bad habit of letting lesser teams stick around. Not so with RR. He, and more importantly the teams knows they simply can't afford to dick around.
Toledo should not be brought up as an offset for anyone wanting to minimize the loss to Appy St. Those two teams, UM vs. Toledo were actually not that distant in terms of being a "complete football team." So many of our upperclassmen went through the motions and our offense was for large part equal to a very inexperienced J.V. team if those still existed in the Big X. It was a case of ugly vs. ugly. Not so much this season.
September 15th, 2010 at 6:39 PM ^
Agree completely 1A/1AA made more intuitive sense - you knew what it meant.
September 15th, 2010 at 7:58 PM ^
I think the whole point of switching to FBS/FCS was to be confusing. When teams started playing more 1-AA teams, they wanted to make it less obvious that your team was playing down a division. Northern Illinois is FBS, but Eastern Illinois is FCS. Who can remember which is which?
I remember reading an article about some nefarious figure in the Big 12 or SEC who was annoyed that it was getting too expensive to schedule MAC and Sun Belt teams and masterminded the change in names, but I can't find the link now. So maybe it was just a pathetic college football conspiracy theory I dreamed up.
September 15th, 2010 at 5:55 PM ^
...of relative success achieved by FCS teams vs. FBS teams, especially the JMU/VT game and The Horror, UMASS is rightly using this as motivation for what normally would seem a hopeless visit to the Big House.
Make no mistake, the Minutemen will have confidence born of these upsets and the example of Appalachian State. As with most underdogs, Michigan's job will be to crush these hopes by the end of the middle of the second quarter. March up and down the field a few times and score touchdowns seemingly at will while stuffing every UMASS drive, and they will be toast. But the longer Michigan allows UMASS to hang around, the more their confidence will grow.
And that's what Michigan's Main Thing will be on Saturday: Crush UMASS's hopes mercilessly and as quickly as possible. Shock and awe.
September 15th, 2010 at 6:13 PM ^
That's so cute!
September 15th, 2010 at 6:18 PM ^
I was at the game when Texas Tech torched UMASS for several hundred yards and a 63-14-ish type score. They've played enough good FBS teams. Michigan might be one of the worst FBS teams they've played since restarting their play vs FBS/1-A teams. That said, UMASS has also had a down two years IIRC. They've been a very solid to top FCS team the last 10 years. Not so much last year.
September 15th, 2010 at 8:28 PM ^