Colonial Athletic Association issued the following announcement on Oct. 14
Four of the CAA's five nationally ranked teams face conference road tests this Saturday. #6/5 Villanova visits UAlbany, #8/7 James Madison is at in-state rival Richmond, #12/14 Rhode Island travels to Towson and #14/15 Delaware heads to Stony Brook. Maine hosts William & Mary to round out the league slate while #23 New Hampshire entertains unbeaten Dartmouth.
Four of the five CAA games last Saturday were decided by seven points or less. For the season, an incredible 11 of 16 conference games (68.8%) have been determined by no more than seven points.
Here's a preview of the Week 7 schedule:
AT HOME ON THE ROAD: Road teams have fared well in CAA play thus far, posting an 8-8 record.
SIGNIFICANT STREAKS: Rhode Island is off to a 5-0 start for the first time since 2001. William & Mary is 4-1 for the first time since 2014 and 2-0 in CAA play for the first time since 2004. Elon is 3-1 on the road for the first time since 2017. Villanova snapped JMU's 15-game CAA winning streak and 19-game home winning streak last week. Both streaks dated back to 2018. It was the Wildcats' first victory in Harrisonburg since 2009.
CAA PERFORMS WELL IN NON-CONFERENCE ACTION: CAA Football teams are 16-4 vs. FCS non-conference competition. The 16 wins against FCS foes trails only the MVFC (18-2).
FIVE TEAMS RANKED IN FCS TOP 25 POLLS: Five CAA Football teams are ranked in this week's Stats Perform FCS Top 25 poll and four are ranked in the AFCA Coaches Top 25. Villanova is #5 in the AFCA poll and #6 in the Stats rankings while James Madison is ranked #7 by the AFCA and #8 by Stats. Rhode Island is #12 in the Stats poll and #14 in the AFCA poll and Delaware is #14 in the Stats poll and #15 in the AFCA poll. New Hampshire is #23 in the Stats poll and received votes in the AFCA poll. William & Mary received votes in both polls, while Elon also got votes in the AFCA rankings.
VILLANOVA NAMED NATIONAL TEAM OF THE WEEK: Villanova was named the FCS National Team of the Week by Stats Perform and Athlon Sports after its 28-27 win at JMU last week. Four players have earned National Player of the Week honors from Stats Perform this season - UNH's Pop Bush (FCS Defensive Player of the Week - Sept. 6), JMU's Ethan Ratke (FCS Special Teams Player of the Week - Sept. 13), Maine's Rich Carr (FCS Special Teams Player of the Week - Sept. 20) and W&M's Darius Wilson (FCS Freshman Player of the Week - Sept. 27).
WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE: Six CAA teams are among the top 32 in FCS in turnover margin and eight of the league's 12 squads have a positive turnover margin. Villanova and Elon are both +7, Rhode Island is +6 and JMU is +5. Individually, Rhode Island's Jordan Jones tops FCS with five interceptions and Villanova's Christian Benford is 2nd with four.
UAlbany
• Dropped a 31-24 decision at W&M last week. It was UA's 4th road game of the year.
• QB Joey Carino was 17-of-27 passing for a career-high 244 yards and 2 TD's and also ran for 27 yards at W&M in his first collegiate start.
• Karl Mofor ran for a season-high 126 yards and a TD on 25 carries at W&M. He also made four catches for 40 yards and a TD. Mofor is 7th in the CAA in rushing (304 yds).
• Mohamed Jabbie made a team-high 5 receptions for 66 yards at W&M after having just 6 catches for 66 in the first 4 games.
• Danny Damico recorded a team-high 9 tackles and forced a fumble at W&M. He has 30 stops for the season.
• Jared Verse contributed 7 tackles, 3.0 TFL and 2.0 sacks at W&M. He's 8th in FCS in sacks (1.2 pg) and tied for the CAA lead in tackles for loss.
• Dylan Burns is 5-for-5 on FG's this season, including two from over 40 yards.
Delaware
• Fell 22-15 at Rhode Island last week, ending a 6-game CAA winning streak.
• Dejoun Lee topped the century mark for the 3rd straight game, running for 119 yards on 19 carries vs. URI. He leads the CAA in rushing (94.2 ypg) and moved up to 12th on UD's career rushing list (2,104 yds).
• Zach Gwynn threw for 117 yards and a TD in place of injured All-CAA QB Nolan Henderson at URI. Anthony Paoletti added 39 yards rushing on 12 carries as UD's "wildcat" QB.
• Thyrick Pitts made a team-high 5 catches for 61 yards at URI, including a 42-yard TD reception in the third quarter. He leads UD with 264 receiving yards and 4 TD's.
• Colby Reeder recorded a team-high 8 tackles at URI. He leads the Hens with 32 stops and 3.0 TFL's this season.
• Amonte' Strothers intercepted his first pass of the season at URI. The Hens have had five different players pick off a pass this season.
• UD ranks 28th in FCS in rushing defense.
Elon
• Improved to 3-1 on the road this season after a 33-23 victory at Maine last week.
• Davis Cheek was 29-of-37 passing for 332 yards and 3 TD's at Maine. He tops the CAA and is 14th in FCS in passing (286.5 ypg) and total offense (302.0 ypg). Cheek has thrown for over 300 yards three times this season and has over 7,000 career pass yards.
• Jackson Parham made 6 catches for 71 yards at UM. He leads the CAA in receivng yards (485) and is 3rd in receptions (35).
• Elon has four players with at least 20 receptions and six different players have caught at least one TD pass.
• Bo Sanders made a team-high 7 tackles at Maine after entering the game with 7 tackles over the first five games.
• Elon went 12-for-16 on 3rd down at Maine and controlled the ball for 37:59.
• Torrence Williams had 5 tackles, a blocked kick, a PBU and 0.5 TFL at Maine.
James Madison
• Edged 28-27 by Villanova, ending a 15-game CAA winning streak dating back to 2018.
• Cole Johnson threw for 174 yards and ran for 25 yards and a TD vs. VU. He ranks 6th in FCS in pass efficiency, 19th in passing yards and 20th in total offense.
• Kris Thornton made a team-high 8 catches for 61 yards vs. VU. He leads the CAA and is 5th in FCS in receptions (7.6 rpg) and ranks 3rd in the CAA in receiving yards (76.6 ypg).
• Percy Agyei-Obese rushed for a team-best 83 yards and 2 TD's vs. VU in his second game of the season.
• Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey made a team-high 10 tackles vs. VU and tops the Dukes with 35 stops for the season.
• Ethan Ratke owns the FCS career record for points by a kicker (444) and FG's in a career (81). He's made a FG in 26 straight games.
• JMU ranks 2nd in FCS in rush defense (52.4 ypg), 4th in total defense (251.4 ypg) and 15th in scoring defense (18.0 ppg).
Maine
• Suffered a 33-23 setback to Elon last Saturday.
• Derek Robertson was 19-of-32 passing for a career-high 283 yards and a TD vs. Elon. He has set new career highs in passing in each of his last four games.
• Andre Miller made 8 catches for a career-high 176 yards vs. Elon. He's 5th in the CAA in receiving yards and is averaging 17.3 ypc.
• Devin Young ranks 16th in FCS in all-purpose yards (123.2 ypg) and 26th in kick returns (24.6 avg). He has 21 catches for 190 yards.
• Maine's offense is averaging 15.5 more points at home than on the road.
• DB Fofie Bazzie leads the CAA with 46 tackles and tops the team with 4 pass breakups.
• Shakur Smalls recorded 10 tackles and forced a fumble against Elon. He has 30 tackles and 2 FF this season.
• Freshman Trevin Ewing returned a kickoff 96 yards for a TD vs. Elon.
New Hampshire
• Off last week. Return to action against in-state rival Dartmouth on Saturday.
• Bret Edwards has thrown for over 230 yards in three of his five starts and has 9 TD's with only 2 interceptions.
• Brian Espanet has 5 TD catches this season, which ranks 2nd in the CAA and 10th in FCS. He has 16 catches for a team-high 201 yds.
• Dylan Laube leads the CAA and ranks 7th in FCS in all-purpose yardage (139.0 ypg).
• All-America safety Evan Horn ranks 2nd in the CAA with 6 pass breakups. He also is tied for the team lead with two interceptions and has 26 tackles.
• Gunner Gibson (4.5 sacks), Josiah Silver (4.0 sacks) and Elijah Lewis (3.5 sacks) rank among the top seven in the CAA in sacks.
• Noah Palm had a 93-yard fumble return for a TD against JMU. He also made 8 tackles and has 23 stops over the past two games.
• UNH has forced 12 turnovers, which is tied for the most of any CAA team.
Rhode Island
• Moved atop the CAA standings at 3-0 after a 22-15 win over Delaware last week. Off to a 5-0 start for the first time since 2001.
• Kasim Hill passed for 155 yards and ran for 45 yards and a TD vs. UD. He's 23rd in FCS in passing efficiency and 24th in total offense.
• Justice Antrum rushed for a career-high 122 yards on 30 carries vs. UD, which was his 2nd straight 100-yard outing. He's 3rd in the CAA and 22nd in FCS in rushing (90.4 ypg).
• TE Caleb Warren had a team-high 4 receptions for 88 yards vs. UD. He's made 12 catches for 254 yards in the past 3 games.
• URI ranks 19th in FCS in scoring defense (18.8 ppg) and 33rd in total defense.
• C.J. Carrick's 244 career points are the most by a URI kicker and he's 12 points shy of the program's all-time scoring record. His 40 career FG's are also a URI career record.
• Jordan Jones picked off 2 passes vs. UD and has an interception in 4 of URI's 5 contests. He leads FCS with 5 picks in 5 games.
Richmond
• Off last week. The Spiders return to action on Saturday against in-state rival JMU.
• QB Beau English passed for 193 yards and a TD and added 34 yards rushing vs. Elon in his first start of the season on Oct. 2.
• Aaron Dykes is the only FCS player to score a TD rushing, receiving and on a kickoff this season and he has 6 TD's in 5 games. Dykes has rushed for 242 yards.
• Savon Smith ran for 65 yards on only 9 carries vs. Elon and leads UR with 264 rushing yards while averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
• Tristan Wheeler leads the Spiders with 45 tackles, while fellow linebacker Tyler Dressler has 43 stops. Both are on pace to reach 100 tackles for the 2nd straight year.
• Freshman Aamir Hall made six tackles and broke up a pass vs. Elon. He has a team-high 5 PBU's and an interception this season.
• Richmond ranks 16th in FCS in scoring defense (18.4 ppg) and 30th in total defense (334.8 ypg).
Stony Brook
• Fell 21-14 at Towson last week. SBU's three CAA losses have all been by 7 points or less.
• Ty Son Lawton ran for a team-high 119 yards and 2 TD's on 19 carries at TU. It was his third 100+-yard outing of the season and he leads the CAA with 544 rushing yards.
• Tyquell Fields was 20-of-33 passing for 220 yards at TU. It was his third 200+ yard passing effort of the year.
• Shawn Harris, Jr. made 8 catches for a career-high 109 yards at TU. He leads SBU with 20 receptions for 344 yards and a TD.
• SBU ranks 3rd in the CAA and 33rd in FCS in rushing (173.7 ypg). They have rushed for at least 123 yards in all six games.
• Freshman Tyler King made a team-high 11 tackles at TU. He leads the CAA with 50 stops for the season and has at least 8 tackles in his past four games.
• DB Calique Cato-Jacobs had a career-high 8 tackles and a PBU against Towson.
Towson
• Defeated Stony Brook, 21-14, last week for their first CAA win of the season.
• Chris Ferguson passed for 177 yards and 2 TD's in the SBU win and has tossed multiple TD passes in three of his five games.
• D'Ago Hunter leads the CAA in kickoff returns (25.0 avg) and is 2nd in punt returns (9.4 avg). He also has 58 receiving yards.
• Caleb Smith, Jabari Allen and Darian Street all had 5 catches for at least 40 yards vs. SBU. The trio has combined for 589 receiving yards and 5 TD's this season.
• Towson is 2nd in the CAA and 21st in FCS in passing yards allowed (178.8 ypg).
• SJ Brown had 6 tackles and a forced fumble vs. SBU. He leads Towson with 38 stops.
• The Tigers recorded a season-high 4 sacks vs. Stony Brook.
• Shane McDonough had a 72-yard punt vs. SBU, which is the 6th-longest in FCS in 2021.
Villanova
• Beat #3 James Madison, 28-27, last week. It was their first win at JMU since 2009.
• Dan Smith threw for 258 yards and a TD and ran for 35 yards and a TD at JMU. He ranks 10th in FCS in pass efficiency (155.3) and is 2nd in the CAA with 11 TD passes.
• Rayjoun Pringle made 8 catches for 132 yards at JMU, including a 57-yard TD. He tops the CAA with 6 TD catches and it was third 100+-yard receiving performance.
• Justin Covington ran for 86 yards and a TD at JMU. He's has 408 rush yards this season and is 5 yards shy of 2,000 for his career.
• Forrest Rhyne made a career-high 20 tackles at JMU, which is the most by a Villanova player in at least 18 years.
• VU ranks 5th in FCS in rush defense (66.6 ypg), 21st in scoring defense (19.6 ppg) and 11th in total defense (280.4 ypg).
• The Wildcats have forced 12 turnovers this season, including 9 interceptions, and lead the league in TO margin (+7). Christian Benford is 2nd in FCS with 4 interceptions.
William & Mary
• Rallied past UAlbany, 31-24, last week to extend their winning streak to four. Off to a 2-0 CAA start for the first time since 2004.
• Darius Wilson was 14-of-19 passing for 145 yards and a TD and ran for 33 yards vs. UA. He's completing 71.8% of his throws over the past two games.
• W&M has run for over 170 yards in its past 3 games and ranks 2nd in the CAA in rush offense (176.0 ypg).
• W&M's offense is averaging 29.0 ppg over the past four contests.
• Trey Watkins led W&M with 9 tackles vs. UA and has a team-high 33 stops for the season.
• W&M leads the CAA and ranks 13th nationally with 16 sacks. Nate Lynn (5.5 sacks) and Will Kiely (5.0 sacks) are among the top 13 in FCS in sacks per game and both are in the top three in the CAA in TFL's.
• The Tribe has forced at least one turnover in four straight games.
Original source can be found here.
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