It will be Richmond
Last night, we found out we had one more game. Now we know the Montana Grizzlies will have to beat the Richmond Spiders to earn their third FCS National Championship.
Today's semifinal started out as boring as any football game I've watched in recent memory. You could call it a defensive battle or just slow, boring football. That's up to you. During the second half, things went from a little more interesting to downright ridiculous.
Sidenote: if you want your school, and entire division for that matter, to look completely laughable then play a nationally televised Saturday game on astroturf. Jesus. Get it together UNI.
Back to the game. UNI capitalized on a Richmond fumble and eventually ran the score to 20-7. They couldn't put it away though and proceeded to give up 14 unanswered points. They choked. After giving up the ball on 4th and 1, the Spiders forced a three and out that took only 28 seconds off the clock. With no timeouts and 1:46 left the Spiders drove 62 yards for the score. Richmond kicked it short, which made zero sense with the amount of time left (about 20 seconds). Then UNI attempted to one-up Richmond's odd play choice by running a desperation lateral play when, with one timeout, a bomb down the middle to their stud 6'7" tight end could've set-up a game-winning field goal. That was only a little worse than Richmond's clock management at the end of the second half.
Nevertheless, it was a good, nay, a great game. No one can deny how incredible the drive at the end was, but at the risk of sounding like an arrogant JMU fan, I wasn't that impressed with most of the game. I get the feeling both teams did not bring their best game today, at least for the first 58 minutes and 15 seconds. If Richmond does that again, they'll lose.
CHAMPIONSHIP TICKETS AND ROOM IN CHATTANOOGA! If anyone is interested in tickets to the championship game in Chattanooga before or after they go on sale through your athletics department, I have 5 seats in a row and a room at the Days Inn within a mile of the stadium - the room is a 1 BR suite with 2 Queens, plus sofabed in the living area, fridge, microwave, 2 TVs, perfect for family or group. It is for Friday December 19 only and it is 117.24 including all taxes and fees. Believe me, you want to have a room within walking distance to avoid traffic and parking costs. If you buy my tickets I will not charge you anything to switch the reservation to your name and credit card, but the room rights go with the tickets. Email me at bonnieguy@boone.net or call 828-719-8858 and make me an offer. Good luck to the Grizzlies!
an addendum to the tickets post - you can probably get other nights reserved at the Days Inn or at another lodging site if you stay more days, but it's great to be this close on game day.
Alright. JMU, UNI or App State fan?