Albany 19, Central Connecticut 0
(Recap and links)
Central Connecticut State (1-1) was limited to 21 rushing yards, 195 total yards and 12 first downs in losing its home opener to Albany (2-0) one week after upsetting 2013 national championship finalist Towson. Tailback Rob Holloman, selected by The Sports Network as the national FCS offensive player of the week, managed just 33 yards on nine rushes and had only 11 receiving yards.
Central Connecticut State lost three fumbles and an interception in a game delayed for almost two hours by lightning and played in an occasionally drenching rainstorm. The only points scored following the delay between the first and the second halves came on an Albany safety.
Central Connecticut State hadn't been shut out since 2002 when it lost to Robert Morris, 14-0.
Holy Cross 29, Morgan State 26
(Recap and links)
Holy Cross (1-1) has had an almost ridiculous run of close games since the start of last season and the trend is continuing. One week after losing a heartbreaker at Albany in the final minute the Crusaders (1-1) beat the Bears (0-2) on a one-yard touchdown run by Shane Taylor on the final snap of the game. The winning points came on a 14-play, 75-yard drive following a Morgan State touchdown with 3:39 remaining that made it 26-23.
Facing a third-and-one on the final play of the game, Holy Cross was set to kick a field goal to try to force overtime, but after a Morgan State timeout, Crusader coach Tom Gilmore rolled the dice and decided to go for it.
Taylor carried 20 times for 78 yards as Holy Cross played without top tailback Gabe Guild, hurt at the end of last week's loss to Albany. Quarterback Peter Pujals passed for 193 yards and one touchdown and ran for 74 yards and another score while Jake Wieczorek had another big game receiving with 112 yards on five catches.
New Hampshire had the week off.
What did we learn in Week Two?
With Albany shutting down Central Connecticut State, the Holy Cross loss to the Great Danes in a game they dominated on the road a week ago doesn't look that bad.
Given that Morgan State lost to FBS member Eastern Michigan by just three points in their opener, perhaps the Crusaders' nailbiter over the Bears was a pretty good win. On the other hand, Morgan State was picked 10th and last in the MEAC preseason poll.
Central Connecticut State's win over Towson certainly got people's attention but having lost a running back drafted in the third round and a fifth-year quarterback, it's starting to look as if Towson has come crashing back to earth. The Tigers were toppled by West Virginia Saturday, 54-0, and while they certainly weren't expected to win that game or necessarily to make it close, the Mountaineers' 606-122 advantage in total yards is revealing.
We'll know if one of the two teams is a contender, or if they are both pretenders after Central Connecticut State and Holy Cross square off this week in Worcester.
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Check out BGA Premium for coverage of Dartmouth's Green-White scrimmage yesterday. Today is the first "off" day of the preseason camp but as always there will be a story on BGA later today as there is every day until the end of the season.
