Football - NCAA Playoffs - Week 4
NCAA Playoffs - Week 4 Notes
For the third straight year, California will represent both Super Region 1 and the PSAC in the NCAA semifinals. For the first time in its three semifinals appearances, the Vulcans will take to the road as they travel to Maryville, Mo. to take on Northwest Missouri State, which has appeared in the last four NCAA championship games. The Bearcats have met a PSAC team in the semifinals twice previously but this will be Cal's and Northwest Missouri's first-ever meeting. This will also be Cal's first road semifinal game, as the Vulcans played both of its national semifinal games at home in the last two seasons. The Vulcans will be looking to become the first PSAC team since Bloomsburg in 2000 to appear in the national championship game.
PSAC Football - NCAA Playoffs Week 4 Notes - 12/3/09
Quick Hits
- This marks California’s third straight trip to the NCAA semifinals. This is also the Vulcans’ third straight appearance in the NCAA playoffs.
- This will be Cal’s first road semifinal game, as the Vulcans played each of their previous two in the last two years at home.
- Cal has never lost a road playoff game. The Vulcans played all three of their NCAA playoff games at home in 2007, won on the road in the quarterfinal/regional championship game last year, and has won playoff games in each of the last two weeks on the road this year - vs. Shippensburg and vs. West Liberty.
- This marks the sixth straight year that a PSAC has represented the region in the NCAA semifinals.
- The last PSAC team to advance to the championship game was Bloomsburg in 2000.
- Northwest Missouri State has previously played two PSAC teams in the NCAA playoffs, both coming in the semifinal round and both coming at home. The Bearcats topped Bloomsburg in 2006 and IUP in 1999.
- The PSAC placed four teams in the NCAA playoffs this year for only the second time in history. The only other time was in 2004.
- The PSAC will end the season with two punters ranked in the top five in the country in average yards per punt. Shippensburg’s Kyler Ford and Slippery Rock’s Kyle Witman are currently ranked third and fourth in the country, respectively in average yards per punt.
- Several PSAC records were broken by Edinboro and QB Trevor Harris in the Round 2 loss to West Liberty.
- Among them were the single-game records for team passing yards (630), individual passing yards for Harris (630), pass attempts (76) and completions (50).
- The game also broke the PSAC record for combined points (147).
PSAC in Non-Conference Action
The PSAC went 9-5 this year against Division II non-conference competition, and 9-6 overall. This is a large improvement over last year’s 6-9 overall non-conference record (6-8 vs. Division II opponents). Listed below is the conference and record breakdown of the PSAC’s non-conference opponents this year, followed by the PSAC’s record last year in non-conference action.
2009 - 9-6 overall (9-5 vs. Division II)
Northeast 10: 3-1 (Wins - IUP over Southern Connecticut State, Millersville over Assumption, Kutztown over St. Anselm; Losses - American International over C.W. Post)
WVIAC: 2-1 (Wins - Clarion over Fairmont State, Edinboro over West Liberty State; Losses - Shepherd over Shippensburg)
CIAA: 2-1 (Wins - East Stroudsburg over Virginia Union, Slippery Rock over Bowie State; Losses - Lincoln over Cheyney)
GLIAC: 1-2 (Wins - Bloomsburg over Ashland; Losses - Wayne State over Mercyhurst, Saginaw Valley State over California)
Independents: 1-0 (Gannon over Lake Erie)
Division I FCS (CAA): 0-1 (Losses - Delaware over West Chester)
2008 - 6-9 overall (6-8 vs. Division II)
WVIAC: 1-4 (Wins - Edinboro over West Liberty State; Losses - Fairmont State over Clarion, Glenville State over Lock Haven, Shepherd over Shippensburg, Seton Hill over Slippery Rock)
Northeast 10: 1-2 (Wins - Kutztown over St. Anselm; Losses - AIC over C.W. Post, Bentley over Millersville
GLIAC: 1-1 (Wins - Bloomsburg over Ashland; Losses - Wayne State over Mercyhurst)
CIAA: 1-1 (Wins - East Stroudsburg over Virginia Union; Losses - Bowie State over Cheyney)
Independent: 2-0 (Wins - Gannon over Lake Erie, California over Lake Erie)
Division I FCS (CAA): 0-1 (Losses - Delaware over West Chester)
Streaks
There are a couple of streaks in the PSAC that teams will take into next season, some of which teams want to keep going, and others that teams want to break. California has a 20-game winning streak in PSAC West play, which it will take into next season with PSAC divisional play having wrapped up for the season.
On the opposite end, Cheyney will take a 23-game losing streak in PSAC East play into next season and the Wolves are also looking to break an overall 28-game losing streak. Lock Haven will take a 14-game losing streak in PSAC West play into next season and will have one more chance to break an overall 21-game losing streak.
Team Notes
California Vulcans
The Vulcans captured their third-straight NCAA regional championship on Saturday with a 57-35 win at West Liberty on Saturday …Cal U will now face Northwest Missouri State in the NCAA Semifinals …The game is only the 28th all-time meeting in all NCAA history of 200-win coaches with Northwest Missouri State's Mel Tjeerdsma (228) and Cal U's John Luckhardt (205)…The Vulcans have never faced a team from Missouri or any member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA)…This weekend marks the seventh game for Cal U against a Top 25 opponent…Over the last three seasons, the Vulcans hold a 16-2 record on the road with a perfect 3-0 record in road post-season games…Quarterback Josh Portis broke the single-season school record for touchdown passes last week at West Liberty and is one of only two quarterbacks with 3,000 yards in a season.
California (11-3, 7-0 PSAC West) at Northwest Missouri State (12-1, 9-0 MIAA)
Dec. 5- 8:30 p.m.
Maryville, Mo.
Bearcat Stadium (6,500)
NCAA Playoffs - Semifinal
TV: CBS-College Sports
California Conference(PSAC)/NCAA Ranks
Scoring Offense: 35.9 - 1st/15th Rush Offense: 181.6 - 3rd/33rd
Scoring Defense: 20.4 - 3rd/T27th Rush Defense: 112.3 - 3rd/33rd
Pass Offense: 227.3 - 4th/55th Total Offense: 408.9 - 1st/32nd
Pass Defense: 196.4 - 11th/63rd Total Defense: 308.6 - 6th/36th
Northwest Missouri State Conference (MIAA)/NCAA Ranks
Scoring Offense: 42.0 - 1st/3rd Rush Offense: 165.9 - 5th/50th
Scoring Defense: 17.4 - 1st/15th Rush Defense: 86.5 - 1st/11th
Pass Offense: 312.9 - 1st/8th Total Offense: 478.7 - 1st/7th
Pass Defense: 216.3 - 4th/88th Total Defense: 302.8 - 1st/28th
Coaches
California: John Luckhardt (8th year; 205-64-2 career record; 67-27 at California)
Northwest Missouri State: Mel Tjeerdsma (228-80-4, 169-41 at Northwest Missouri State)
What to Expect
After going up against the nation’s best offense, both in terms of yards and points, last week in West Liberty, California will face another prolific offense this week in Northwest Missouri State, which is also ranked in the top 10 in total offense and is the nation’s third-highest scoring team. Northwest’s defense will be one of the best that Cal has gone up against this year, with the Bearcats having one of the best rush defenses in the nation. Both defenses are very similar in terms of the numbers, with Northwest having a slightly better rush defense and Cal having a slightly better pass defense.
The Vulcans had success running the ball last week against West Liberty, as RB Freddie Bacco went for a season-high 173 yards and Cal had about a five-minute advantage in the time of possession, keeping West Liberty’s offense off the field for extended periods of time. The Vulcans also hit on a few big passing plays as has been their M.O. all season long with the potent trio of A.J. Jackson, Terrance Moore and Chedrick Cherry all capable of hauling in long passes for big gains and touchdowns. Cal will likely need to hit on big plays in the passing game to have success on offense in this game, especially if the Bearcats are successful at stopping the run as they have been all year. Only three times this year have the Bearcats allowed more than 100 yards rushing in a game, and only once have they allowed more than 125 yards. Northwest only holds opponents to 11 fewer passing yards per game than Cal averages, so the Vulcans will likely need to get their average through the air at the very least. Overall, the Vulcans average more than 400 yards per game of total offense, which is over 100 more yards per game than Northwest allows, so something will have to give in this matchup.
Something will also likely have to give in the matchup between Northwest’s offense and Cal’s defense, just as happened last week with West Liberty’s offense, with Cal coming out on top in that matchup. Last week, it was the combination of an advantage of time of possession, picking off three West Liberty passes, and jumping out to an early lead, thereby taking West Liberty’s run game out of the equation, that led to California containing the prolific offense. That combination will likely need to work again for the Vulcans to top the Bearcats. Like West Liberty, Northwest has one main running back who gets the majority of the carries, that being LaRon Council, who averages over 100 ypg and has gotten over 60 percent of Northwest’s non-QB carries. Council keeps defenses honest, which opens up the passing game for QB Blake Bolles, who completes nearly 70 percent of his passes and has a big play threat in WR Jake Soy,, who averages over 100 ypg in receiving yards.Cal’s athletic cover corners’ abilty to limit big plays and perhaps pick off a few passes will likely be a key to the game as well.
As was the case last week for both teams, special teams could play a big role in the game, especially if it is a close game and special teams could also be a factor in one team winning by a lot. In the Cal-West Liberty game last week, 5 of Cal’s 11 possessions that were gained by either kickoffs or punts were either at the 50 yardline or on West Liberty’s side of the field. Big games by Cherry and/or Terrence Johnson in the kick return game as well as Josh Gumbert would help Cal, especially if Northwest is shutting down the running game. On the other side, Northwest also has two big-play threats on both kick and punt returns, as Jordan Simmons averages 25.3 ypr while Tyler Shaw is an even bigger-play threat, average 28.0 and having a TD return of 92 yards this year. Simmons also averages a very impressive 12.2 ypr on punts. Both teams have capable kickers as well who are capable from about 40 yards.The Vulcans have attempted six more field goals this year than Northwest, making a combined 10-for-16 between Marc Domonkos and Kevin Hagerman, while Northwest’s two kickers have combined to go only 4-for-10 on FGs, so the Vulcans forcing the Bearcats to field goal attempts may play a big part in the game as well. Northwest’s win last week over Central Washington was decided by a blocked PAT, and with Cal having missed just three PATs all year and Northwest having missed just one, a blocked kick could have a big effect as well.
Series/Game Notes
This will mark the first-ever meeting between California and Northwest Missouri State...Cal has played a PSAC-high six games against nationally-ranked teams this year and has gone 4-2 in those games, including last week’s win over West Liberty...Northwest Missouri has taken on a PSAC team in the NCAA playoffs twice before, both coming in the semifinals and both at home, with the Bearcats have won both meetings - vs. Bloomsburg (33-3) in the 2006 and vs. IUP (20-12) in 1999...While Cal is making its third straight appearance in the semifinals, this is Northwest Missouri’s fifth straight appearance in the semifinals and the Bearcats are looking for their fifth straight NCAA championship game appearance.