FCS College Football

Fordham quarterback Mike Nebrich is the leader of an explosive offensive attack.

The Rams entered Saturday's home game against Colgate having scored 350 points in their seven wins this season. Nebrich, who admittedly wasn't at his best at the start of the year, has put up numbers any quarterback at any level of football would take: 190 completions for 2,596 yards and 22 touchdowns. An offense loaded with stars revolves around him.

Except on Saturday, he was on the sideline, unable to play after having surgery Wednesday to remove his appendix.

Thank you to all my friends, family, and teammates for their prayers and concerns. Been a rough 24hours, I'll be back on the field soon

— Michael Nebrich (@YoungNeebs) October 31, 2014

In stepped Peter Maetzold, a senior quarterback who has been a backup for most of his Fordham career.

How much would change with Nebrich out and Maetzold in? On the surface, not much if you consider what took place on Jack Coffey Field Saturday as Fordham beat Colgate 37-13 to improve to 8-1 on the year (4-0 in the Patriot League).

With a number of receivers at his disposal, Maetzold came out of the gates firing. He was 11-for-14 for 126 yards in the first half, throwing two touchdown passes to Tebucky Jones Jr. in the first quarter that gave the Rams a 13-0 lead.

He connected with Brian Wetzel early in the third quarter to put Fordham ahead 25-6. It wasn't until later in the quarter that Maetzold threw his first interception. How did he respond? On Fordham's next possession he led an 82-yard scoring drive that sealed the win.

"You accept your position, but when your name’s called upon you want to perform your best," Maetzold said about getting the chance to start. "We’ve been rolling here for six weeks. It’s great I got to go in there in a more substantial role and keep things going."

Maetzold finished 27-for-38 for 279 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 35 yards.

"It’s a very good job particularly under the circumstances," Fordham head coach Joe Moorhead said about Maetzold's performance. "I think it’s indicative of the type of team player Peter is in the way he’s approached his role as a backup—understanding he’s one play away.

"Every day he comes in he prepares like he’s a starter, he practices like he’s a starter. Peter would be the starter for a lot of other teams at this level. He just happens to be behind arguably the best player at this level.

"I couldn’t be more proud of how he’s approached his role with the team. His number was called upon and he came in and led us to victory. I couldn’t be more proud of him. He’s earned it."

This was not Maetzold's first start. In 2011, he started the Rams' first four games. Last year, he replaced Nebrich in a game against Bucknell and led Fordham to a win.

"The whole team had confidence in Peter," Jones, who caught eight passes for 97 yards, said. "We knew coming in he could do just as good as Michael. We knew Peter would get the ball to the receivers."

No Nebrich, no problem? Not exactly. Though Colgate is a formidable opponent (it entered the game 4-4, 2-0 in the Patriot League), this is a regular season game in November against a non-ranked opponent coming off two straight losses. Fordham will need a healthy and productive Nebrich later this month and in December if it is going to make a run at a Football Championship Subdivision title.

Moorhead said it's too early to know if Nebrich will be able to play Friday night at Bucknell.

"It's day to day from what the doctors say," Moorhead said. "We basically get an update every day and we'll go from there."

Quotations in this article were obtained firsthand.

Charles Costello covers the Fordham Rams for Bleacher Report. A full archive of his articles can be found here. Twitter: @CFCostello

The Idaho State Bengals have not had a very good last decade of play in college football, to put it gently. Following an 8-4 season in 2003 (Jared Allen's last season playing for ISU), the Bengals have finished with a losing record in every season since. It hasn't even been close for the most part, with nine of those seasons resulting in the Bengals reaching only three or less wins.

Particularly disastrous was the four-season tenure of head coach John Zamberlin from 2007 to 2010. The team amassed an overall record of 6-39 and slid clear to the bottom of the FCS. There were few programs in all of Division I in worse condition.

Idaho State turned to head coach Mike Kramer in 2011 to try to rescue the dumpster fire of a program Zamberlin had left him. He slowly began to rebuild the program, starting to create a team that at least had a solid offense, even if it continued to have decidedly losing seasons.

This year, however, Kramer's efforts have started to come to fruition, as the Bengals had made it through eight weeks with a 5-3 record to show.

Now, the Bengals have assured themselves of their first non-losing season since 2003 with a 31-13 win over conference foe Portland State. That brings their record to 6-3 so far with only three games left.

Surprisingly, it was the defense that really came through for ISU. The offense still gained 430 yards overall, but their 31 points were the fewest they have scored against fellow FCS teams this season.

The ISU defense actually gave up 424 yards but more than made up for that by forcing an astounding six turnovers off of five interceptions and a fumble recovery.

Besides guaranteeing the team a record of at least .500 this season, the game was perhaps even more heartening for ISU fans in that it showed a Bengals team full of fight, mental toughness and resolve. Despite giving up over 400 yards and scoring the fewest points they have so far in FCS play this season, the team stayed tough and still won by three scores.

Perennial bottom dwellers don't have that fight and mental toughness, so the game serves as an emphatic reminder that the Bengals are not a pushover any longer and are now once again a program to be reckoned with.

The Bengals are also still in the race for the Big Sky title with a 4-1 record in conference play and two of their three remaining games coming against teams tied with or ahead of them in the conference standings. The other game is their season finale against Weber State, which is currently winless on the season. A winning record is a strong possibility for this ISU team, and the fact they are still in the Big Sky title chase speaks volumes about how far this program has progressed under Kramer.

While the Bengals' 31-13 win over Portland State may have not even shown up on the national college football radar this weekend, it is nonetheless one of the most significant games this week, as it firmly established that Idaho State is now once again a respectable program which has had arguably the biggest turnaround season in all of Division I football.

Fordham's Chase Edmonds has encountered no problems taking his game from Central Dauphin East High School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to Jack Coffey Field in the Bronx.

In Week 1, he ran for 181 yards, a school record for a freshman. In Week 3, he ran for 231 yards, breaking his own record. He followed that up with 174 yards the following week, 142 the next and back up to 187 in Week 6.

On Saturday, in Fordham's 60-22 win over Penn in front of 3,081 at Rose Hill, Edmonds rushed for 101 yards, putting him over 1,000 yards in just seven games. He's the first freshman in school history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season.

"I came in ambitious," Edmonds said after Saturday's game. "I came here with the mindset to compete for the starting spot. Whether 1,000 yards was my goal, I just wanted to contribute to the team as best I could. Anything positive that I get I just take as a blessing."

Edmonds has already been named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week five times this season. He's first in the league and second in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in rushing yards with 1,011, and he's scored 11 touchdowns.

Edmonds' coach, Joe Moorhead, has been impressed with the rookie from day one.

"From the second he stepped foot on campus for summer workouts he's conducted himself like a fifth-year senior," Moorhead said after the Rams' win over St. Francis to open the season. "His approach to the game, his practice habits, his workout habits, his study habits—he treats the game with the respect it deserves and practices as hard as he plays. ... You don't have to be a senior to lead. He doesn't say two words, but he leads by example."

Moorhead added to his praise of Edmonds following the victory over Penn, the sixth win for Fordham this season.

"Guys that can combine the athletic ability and football skills that he has with the intangibles, the work ethic and the practice [and] preparation...everything he's gotten he's earned," Moorhead said. "He's done a fantastic job with his preparation. He does a great job at practice; [he] practices hard. When it comes to games, it's not a surprise why he's having the success he's [had]."

Forget about comparing him to freshmen—Edmonds is one of the top offensive players in the FCS. Last week, he was named to the Rice Award Watch List, an honor given to the top first-year player in the FCS.

Losing Carlton Koonce (1,462 rushing yards last season) to graduation meant that one of the few holes the Rams had to fill was at running back. Ironic, then, that on a team with so many returning starters, Edmonds would be one of its offensive stars.

"He's huge for me personally, for this offensive unit and for the team," said quarterback Mike Nebrich, who threw for a school-record 566 yards and tied a school record with six touchdown passes Saturday. "The guys watch how hard he works in practice. You can lead as a freshman, and I think Chase has proven that with his work ethic.

"Offensively, he's a big part of why we're doing what we're doing. When you have a guy like him who's running for 100 yards a game, it really opens up the defense. It creates a lot of one-on-one matchups, and with the guys we have at wideout, that's usually a favorable matchup for us."

While Edmonds has quickly become a household name around campus, talk to anyone inside the program, and to Edmonds himself, and it's obvious that this is the same old Chase.

"One thing I've learned [is] not to read your press clippings," Edmonds said. "I understand why Coach Moorhead talks about [that] a lot. When you have all these people telling you you're going to be so successful, it's much easier said than done. You really have to focus on the process. You have to take it practice by practice, game by game and so on."

Quotations in this article were obtained firsthand.

Charles Costello covers the Fordham Rams for Bleacher Report. A full archive of his articles can be found here. Twitter: @CFCostello 

Fordham's game last Friday night was a chance for the Rams to show the nation that they were a championship contender. In no way did they disappoint.

Playing in front of a national TV audience (the game was broadcast on the CBS Sports Network) and the 4,376 in attendance at Jack Coffey Field, Fordham put together a convincing 42-18 win over Lafayette.

"When you first put the pads on the kids, this is the kind of night you dream about," Fordham head coach Joe Moorhead said after the game. "Nationally televised game, at home under the lights, against the defending league champion who ruined our undefeated season last year."

In 2013, Fordham was 10-0 before the Leopards beat them, 27-14. Fordham rebounded from that loss, finishing the regular season with a 12-2 record and advancing to the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs.

Nobody who spoke after last week's game tried to hide the fact that the loss to Lafayette lingered in their minds. But the focus was on getting a win, no matter the opponent.

"There were a lot of different factors that motivated us for this game," Moorhead said, "but the most important thing was to get Patriot League win No. 2 and keep our streak rolling at home.

"It's a credit to these young men, how well we practiced this week, how hard they played and how well we executed our scheme. It was a tremendous win."

In many ways, it was a win that symbolized the type of team this is.

Fordham is now 5-1 heading into its matchup with Penn this weekend. Halfway through the regular season, the Rams are firing on all cylinders. They've scored 42 or more points in each of their wins.

They're loaded on offense.

Senior quarterback Mike Nebrich has a ton of options at his disposal. Last week, he finished 23-of-32 for 287 yards and three touchdowns, connecting seven times with Tebucky Jones Jr., six times with Brian Wetzel and five times each with Sam Ajala and Dan Light. Just another day at the office for Nebrich and company.

"It's huge as a quarterback knowing that you have really five guys that you can potentially get the ball to every single play and have full confidence in them," Nebrich said. "You know that whoever gets the ball is going to make a play for you. You don't have to try and force it to one of your big playmakers, if you really only had one or two. It's a great luxury to have for me."

Another great luxury for the offense has been freshman running back Chase Edmonds. Edmonds ran for 187 yards and two touchdowns last week, his latest spectacular effort. This week, Edmonds was named to the 2014 Rice Award watch list, named after NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice and given to the FCS's top first-year player.

Edmonds, who has been named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week five times this season, leads the FCS in all-purpose yards, averaging 212.7 per game, and he has 910 rushing yards (151.7 per game) and 10 touchdowns in the first six games. His 44-yard run late in the first quarter of last week's win got the Fordham offense going. It's one of many times that Edmonds has done that this season.

"That long touchdown was a spark," Moorhead said. "We were sputtering for the first couple of drives. We got it rolling from there. It was certainly the spark that we needed offensively to get us going."

When you score like the offense does, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that the defense has played a big part in the wins as well. Though the offense has been great, there have been games when it's needed time to get going. That means the defense has had to keep the Rams in games to give the offense time to click. With the exception of the Villanova game, when nothing worked for Fordham, the defense has done just that.

"Our defense has played fantastic for the past four weeks," Moorhead said. "If you can keep the opposition under 20 with the ability we have to put points on the board, it's going to give us an opportunity to win on a weekly basis. "

Defensive lineman Brett Biestek led the way last week, recording nine tackles and four sacks. When it was over, he captured what's become a familiar theme for the Rams: The offense might get most of the attention, but the defense has the ability to win games, too.

"Tonight the whole defense really had a great night," he said. "The momentum of the game turned with some of the plays."

On both sides of the ball.

Quotations in this article were obtained firsthand.

Charles Costello covers the Fordham Rams for Bleacher Report. A full archive of his articles can be found here. Twitter: @CFCostello 

What a difference a year makes.

Last season, Fordham beat Villanova—which was ranked in the top 10 at the time—27-24 at Jack Coffey Field in the second game of the season. The Rams ran for 173 yards and forced five fumbles.

Last Saturday, Fordham was routed at Villanova 50-6. The Rams ran for 18 yards and turned the ball over twice.

Fordham and Villanova entered Saturday's game ranked in the top 15 of both The Sports Network FCS Top 25 and the FCS Coaches Poll. This was an early-season matchup between two teams with championship aspirations.

Villanova struck first, and it struck often. And, after lightning struck, the Wildcats really poured it on.

With the Rams trailing 7-3 early in the second quarter, the game was delayed more than an hour due to inclement weather. When play resumed, Villanova scored touchdowns on three consecutive offensive drives and returned an interception for a touchdown, resulting in the Wildcats taking a 33-3 lead into halftime.

Villanova rushed for 300 yards and passed for 214 more. The Rams had 219 yards of total offense. Villanova picked up 28 first downs to Fordham's 14. The Wildcats converted 10 times on third down while the Rams were 4-of-14 on third down.

Nothing went right for Fordham. But guess what? Games like that happen.

They happen to teams that don't win a single game all season. They happen to .500 teams that look good one week and bad the next. And they happen to championship teams. No one said you had to win them all.

Conclusion: No matter how badly Villanova outplayed the Rams Saturday, and no matter how down you might be after a clunker like that, Fordham is still very much in this thing. The goals are still attainable: win the Patriot League title, get into the FCS playoffs and bring home a championship.

There might not be a better coach in the FCS to lead a team out of a game like last Saturday and into a new week with a new opponent than Fordham's Joe Moorhead. In the best of times, he preaches preparation, effort and execution. In the worst of times, he preaches preparation, effort and execution.

Moorhead has shown an incredible ability to rally and lead the troops.

Since he took over as head coach prior to the 2012 season, Fordham is 5-0 after a loss (not counting games that ended a season). That bodes well for a team with a resiliency that has yet to be tested.

Also working in the Rams' favor is the fact that this is a veteran team that's been focused since day one on winning an FCS championship. No one embodies that philosophy and belief more than quarterback Mike Nebrich, one of the top players in the FCS.

Nebrich spent most of Saturday afternoon getting to know the field turf before he was given the rest of the afternoon off after being removed from the game late in the third quarter with his team trailing 40-3.

He finished 14-of-28 for 182 yards and two interceptions. In the opener, he was 11-of-26 for 188 yards and three touchdowns. This is a quarterback who threw for 4,380 yards and 35 touchdowns a year ago, leading his team to a 12-win season.

He's a winner, and he'll respond. My guess is that he has a huge game this Saturday at home against Rhode Island.

Just like you shouldn't have crowned them national champions after their blowout win over St. Francis in the opener, no one should consider the Rams done after a few bad hours of football at Villanova.

On Saturday, they'll have a chance to get back on the right track. Knowing Moorhead, that process started in the Villanova Stadium locker room with his team believing, before it even got on the bus, that an FCS championship is still very much within reach.

Statistics and game information courtesy of FordhamSports.com.

Charles Costello covers the Fordham Rams for Bleacher Report. A full archive of his articles can be found here. Follow him on Twitter @CFCostello.

ESPN's College GameDay will spend Week 3 in Fargo, North Dakota, where it will witness a FCS game between three-time defending national champion North Dakota State and Incarnate Wood.

The show's official Twitter account reported the news:

Heading to Fargo for a game with no bearing on the College Football Playoff or any of the 11 FBS conferences is sure to be met with mixed reviews. For what it's worth, though, the GameDay crew did head to Fargo in September last season, when it saw the Bison beat Delaware State 51-0 to extend its winning streak to 12 games.

Since then, NDSU has extended that winning streak to 26 games, including a season-opening, 34-14 win at Iowa State two weekends ago. Last year, it started the season with a 24-21 win at Kansas State.

"To think (GameDay will come) two years in a row, I don’t know what to say," Bison defensive end Kyle Emanuel told Jeff Kolpack of The Jamestown Sun. "It’s unreal. It’s more than a dream come true."

Despite losing legendary head coach Craig Bohl—who has since moved on to Wyoming and is 2-0 to start his career in the FBS—the Bison remain the biggest draw in the FCS and a team deserving modest recognition. Especially after seeing Iowa State nearly knock off Kansas State in Ames on Saturday, their thorough beatdown of the Cyclones in Week 1 looks all the more impressive.

Besides, where else is GameDay supposed to go? Georgia at South Carolina stuck out as an obvious Week 3 destination during the preseason, but an ESPN-affiliated crew (the folks at the SEC Network) travelled to Williams-Brice Stadium just two weeks ago, and the game it saw between the Gamecocks and Texas A&M was effectively over with 20 minutes left to play.

One can understand why it wouldn't want to go back.

Other bigger games on the Week 3 slate include Tennessee at Oklahoma and...um...Louisville at Virginia? It's not like the GameDay crew had a banner weekend of games to choose from.

Why shouldn't it pack up and head to Fargo?

If the Big 12 is looking for expansion prospects, perhaps the league should look north. North of Kansas. North, toward Fargo, N.D., and North Dakota State.

Last month, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby didn't completely close the door on Big 12 expansion. With the league sitting at 10 teams—and needing 12 to hold a lucrative league title game—the topic came up at Big 12 Media Days.

The Big 12 commissioner said, per freelancer Keith Whitmire for the Deseret News, that expansion was possible only if the school brings "more than pro-rata value."

Between last year and this year, our distribution per school goes up $3.2 million per school. If you do that 12 ways instead of 10 ways, it goes up $2.5 million per school. You've got to have somebody that brings at least pro rata value, and that's a real short list.

I’m not sure about pro-rata value, but North Dakota State has certainly proved its value as a potential Big 12 member on the gridiron.

Saturday’s 34-14 thumping of Iowa State marked the program’s second consecutive win over a Big 12 North foe, and third in the last five years. It was the Bison’s eighth win over an FBS foe in the last nine years, and NDSU extended its win streak to 25 games. Per USA Today's Paul Myerberg, the Bison have the nation's fourth-longest win streak against FBS competition. 

North Dakota State has built something truly special in Fargo, with three consecutive FCS national titles. As Bleacher Report's Ben Kercheval  noted, the Bison’s program DNA is hard-nosed defense and all-out effort. That hasn’t changed this season, although there was reason to believe NDSU might take a step back this fall.

Head coach Craig Bohl, the architect of the recent success, was hired away last December by Mountain West team Wyoming. And 24 seniors at the roster’s core graduated, finishing their eligibility following last season’s FCS national title win over Towson.

Defensive coordinator Chris Klieman was promoted to replace Bohl. And while Iowa State (3-9 in 2013) is nowhere near as impressive a conquest as beating defending Big 12 champion Kansas State with an 18-play, 80-yard, 8:30 touchdown drive, the Bison were solid Saturday regardless.

After spotting Iowa State a 14-0 lead, NDSU scored the game’s final 34 points, with first-time starting quarterback Carson Wentz completing 18 of 28 passes for 204 yards with no interceptions.

It’s unclear if North Dakota State could compete consistently with the likes of Oklahoma, Texas and Baylor, but at the very least, the Bison have proven worthy of inclusion in the Big 12’s middle class, finding success against FBS teams while competing with the FCS-mandated 63 scholarship limit.

BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall has campaigned for his team as a Big 12 expansion target. But if the Big 12 wants a passionate program that has proven it can hold its own with current league members, Bowlsby and Co. could certainly do a lot worse than North Dakota State.

They are Bucknell Football. They are those guys. 

There are a few in every group—the clowns who take it upon themselves to spice up a lame, mandatory event.

In this case, it was a group of Bucknell football players who brought the ruckus to a team photo shoot. A small cross section of the Bisons’ most dedicated goofs arrived for their close-ups looking like a mixed bag of carnival workers and 19th-century robber barons. 

Deadspin’s Sean Newell spotted the pictures of the ragtag troupe, which had enough mustaches, mullets and raised eyebrows on hand to start a stock car race. 

Let’s begin with wide receiver Brandon Farrell, who looks like he just hot-boxed a tanning bed.

Here’s Troy “You talking to me?” Glenn. 

C.J. Williams enjoys yards after contact, fast lawn mowers and Aaron Rodgers cosplay.

Louis Taglianetti will remove your restrictor plate and wax your chest for a nominal fee.

Ben Schumacher can make an orange mocha Frappuccino from scratch.

Jimmy King misses summer lovin’ and having a blast.

He is Clayton Hoffmaster, earl of sandwiches.

Last but not least, we have Matthew Steinbeck, a modern-day Bronalisa and almost certainly the progeny of John Steinbeck. The stare-into-the-middle-distance look is a dead giveaway. 

Well done, Bucknell. You took the preseason by storm. 

No matter what happens this season, you are those guys, and no one can take that away from you. 

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