Rare 1A pigskin matchups, Independent style

 No. 22 #Marshall (4-0, 2-0 Conference USA)  scheduled a Nov. 7 home football game against Massachusetts, their first meeting since Marshall(then a MAC member) beat UMass 49-20 in 2001 when the Minutemen competed in the Atlantic 10 (1AA). The Herd should romp over the Minutemen who lost to Georgia Southern 49-0.  UMass  can be classified as a schedule filler.

A more intriguing matchup  is an intrastate Virginia battle between Liberty(5-0), led by Malik Willis, visiting VT(4-2) of the ACC. VT beat Liberty in 2016

And I'd be ignorant if I forgot to mention  BYU and Boise St ,  who were  once in the MWC together for a year or two. 

I like Liberty and BYU to win and give Independents more respect this season

Nov 7

BYU(8-0) demolished Boise St 51-17. Zach Wilson threw for 359 yards and two TDs and rushed for a TD.

Nov 7 afternoon

Wow what a wild ending  to the Liberty game. VT called a time out  with 11 seconds to go negating the  block of a FG attempt and a  return for a TD, then let  the Flames  get a first down and kick a FG. LIB 38 VT 35
Marshall destroyed UMass 51-10. Knox rushed for 118 yards and  two TDs for the Herd. 

Nov 16: I wonder if Sankey's SEC freeze on Freeze is still in effect. Apparently this stopped Bama from hiring Freeze as an ASST a few years ago. So folks may want to relax on all the chatter about HF leaving taking the South Carolina job.

Nov 17

 Army was snakebit by Tulane last week, and I suspect Werts and his Georgia Southern (Sunbelt) mates will carry some venom into West Point and pull off a 19-17 win. Taggart's FAU bunch should have fun with UMass, and BYU will take care of N. Bama.

Hugh Freeze's coaching stock will soar higher with a win over NC St (ACC) behind  Malik Willis: 122-180, 1645 YDS, 15 TD   98 CAR, 700 YDS, 9 TD 

Nov 21

UMAss 's only score was a safety in a 24-2 loss to FAU(CUSA) . The Minutemen have scored 12 points in three games this season.

Nov 22

BYU had no problems with N.Bama, but I was  was wrong on two squeakers. Army roared back to edge  Ga Southern 28-27. Close call by the refs on whether GA SO got the ball spiked in time for a last gasp long FG attempt. NC ST blocked a Liberty FG attempt to survive 15-14.

Nov 26

 Liberty should handle UMass easily tomorrow. I wonder if the Freeze chase has cooled down since the loss to NCST.

Nov 28, 2020

Willis train rolls on for Liberty in a 45-0 shutout of UMass.  He rushed for 63 yards and a TD, and passed for 223 yards and 3 TDs 

Sept 22, 2022

UMass to hold Pride Day when Liberty football visits this week. Coach Freeze will have the Flames O ignited, and they'll get past this crap: UMass to hold Pride Day when Liberty football visits.  BTW, LU's field hockey team played at Northwestern in field hockey on Sept. 9, when the Wildcats set that day as their Pride Game. Do you see a trend?

 

 

1a independents squeeze lime in the corona

 My blog from 2016 with information on Independents has grown long and unwieldy. https://busterother5.blogspot.com/2016/06/o5-geography-matters-martial-re-alignemt.html 

Army and BYU matchup for the first time on the football field on 9/19/20. Army has added a few Sunbelt matchups and also has a game with Tulane (AAC).  Liberty U has peppered it's schedule with ACC, CUSA, and Sunbelt opponents.

Notre Dame has joined the ACC for football for this season no matter how they parse the wording.

I can only wonder how  about future football re-alignment and how Independent treat the upcoming hoops season.

Aug 26

Tom Holmoe, the BYU AD who quickly adjusted the Cougars 2020 schedule, played DB for the 49ers in the 1980s, coached for Bill Walsh at Stanford, and later George Seifert for the 1994/95 SB champ Niners.

Sept 1

 Is ODU going to  leave 1a after canceling it's 2020 season while the rest of the CUSA plays. Is Liberty U a candidate to replace them in the CUSA?

Sept 6-Wow, Army demolished MTSU 42-0. They rushed for 340 yards with S.McCoy scoring three TDs.

Sept 13- Army handled ULM. Perhaps they're in the national title hunt ?

Sept 22-  Willis, a transfer from Auburn, played a solid game at QB, and  the Liberty Flames' rushing attack was in gear in a 30-24 win over WKU. FIU (CUSA) is next up for Liberty. Army has a tough one against Cincy (AAC), and BYU plays Troy of the sunbelt , which is an improving conference.

Oct 11: BYU and Liberty are undefeated. Cougars(4-0) beat UTSA , and the Flames(3-0) beat ULM 40-7.

Oct 20:  BYU(5-0) should handle TX St(Sunbelt) behind QB Zach Wilson and Liberty(5-0) will need a huge game from Willis and a lot of O to get by S.Miss(CUSA). Army (5-1) will handle Mercer(1-AA). Army's only loss was to a solid Cincy (AAC) team.

Oct 25. I sound like a broken record raving about  Willis, the transfer from Auburn, who rushed for 97 yards and 1 TD, and passed for 345 yards and 6 TDs in a 56-35 win over USM. Army and BYU won their games easily.