First FCS Upsets in 2013

Well, 2013 is here and FCS schools have quickly shown their bigger brothers that they can compete. On Thursday, August 29th, we only had 2 upsets, despite multiple FCS teams leading at halftime and into the 3rd quarter over their FBS opponents (with Kent St. needing a late rally to come from behind in the 4th to defeat Liberty 17-10).

South Alabama - 21
Southern Utah - 22

I'm not sure how much Southern Utah was paid to come to South Alabama, but I'm sure they're happy leaving with being able to claim a win over a FBS team. This is the Jaguar's second year in the FBS, having started their program in 2009. They were 2-11 last year beating FCS school Nicholls St. and Florida Atlantic, finishing last in the Sun Belt. The Jaguars' non-conference schedule is only getting harder the rest of the year, so it could be a long year for the team.

Southern Utah running back Raysean Martin, left runs to the end zone as South Alabama defensive lineman Jerome McClain pursues.

After all was said and done, the 15,240 at Ladd-Pebbles stadium probably wished for the earlier years, when South Alabama played cupcakes from Division III, II, and the NAIA. Southern Utah intercepted the Jaguars while down 8 and was able to score touchdown. They then held the Jaguars to a three-and-out and the Thunderbirds were able to drive down and kick the game-winning field goal. Head coach Joey Jones has to be disappointed in himself and his players. His kids probably act like they don't know him come Monday in school. That's understandable. It's embarrassing. One computer pegged South Alabama as over 22 point favorites.


AND NOW.....

UCONN.

Many words come to mind immediately...

WOW. PITIFUL. EMBARRASSING. LOL.

Well it didn't take long to have an AQ team lose to a FCS opponent, I'm not sure anyone thought it'd happen in the first night of the season. UConn, taking a page from Pitt's playbook for getting into the ACC, lost to the Towson Tigers Thursday night 33-18. The computer put UConn as over 30 point favorites, for a difference in 45 points. It is simply stunning how Towson played the game against UConn, as they outscored them in every quarter, out rushed, and out defended UConn. UConn had 2 turnovers to Towson's 1. I think the biggest shock is with Lyle McCombs, probably the best, if not one of, the best rushers in the American Athletic Conference (Ex-Big East), was held to 76 yards. Junior Terrance West of Towson greatly outperformed McCombs, scoring twice and getting 156 yards on 36 carries along the way. It was a career high in carries for West and he broke the 100-yard mark for the 12th time in his career.. It was great seeing everyone (30,689) in just utter shock and disbelief at the Rent up in East Hartford, Connecticut. The crowd looked smaller than what was announced as they booed after the first half. They probably did other things after the second half. Four out of the past five years Towson has opened against a FBS opponent. After going 0-7 against FBS schools, Towson beat UConn in their 8th game. Towson is ranked 11th in the FCS preseason polls and pushed LSU for a while last year. After 2 5-7 seasons, this is probably Paul Pasqualoni's worst lost at UConn. With Michigan and Maryland coming into the Rent, it is only going to get harder for the Huskies. They'll have a long 2 weeks to think about this loss as the Huskies don't play until September 14th against Maryland and Michigan the week after. Is this the absolute bottom after the meteoric rise of Randy Edsall's Huskies to the 2010 Fiesta Bowl? Maybe UConn misses ex-DC Dan Brown, now calling the defense as Boston College as the Huskies defense was exposed during the game.

"I'm sure in the eyes of some, this will be considered very, very big," Towson coach Rob Ambrose said. "But we've played good competition before. We've played well but couldn't get a win. In the history of this, I suppose one day people will one day look back at this as very large thing. But the family in this locker room, we have goals. And for us to reach our goals we had to win." “This is important to us because we have played well against FBS teams in the past but we haven’t been able to get a victory,” Towson coach Rob Ambrose said. “We do have team goals and in order to reach those goals, we had to win tonight. It doesn’t matter who we played. We were committed to winning this game.”

It was a homecoming of sorts for Ambrose, who spent seven season as a UConn assistant before taking over as head coach of his alma mater for the 2009 season. His Tigers finished with a 7-4 record last year and a share of the Colonial Athletic Association title, but they didn't receive an invitation to the FCS playoffs.

"From the beginning of the game I saw we could handle them," Terrance West said. "We were prepared for this event today."

The Huskies, who are coming off back-to-back 5-7 seasons, had not lost to an FCS team since 2001 (Eastern Washington), when they were making the transition from Division I-AA to Division I.

"I think they know this is one game and we didn't play well as a team in any area," said UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni. "I think there is some leadership in the locker room and from that regard, I think we'll be fine."

For more info visit: http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=332410041

The Courant has some great videos of a couple delusional UConn fans (wins vs Maryland? Louisville? Michigan!?) somewhere around here, click the back arrow for multiple videos. Videos