Morning Wrap: More Fallout From The Death of UAB Football

---Sigh---

Late Tuesday afternoon, University of Alabama Birmingham president Ray Watts made official what everyone associated with the UAB football program feared was going to happen.

He killed the football program.

We've been following this story all week and are still shaking our heads over this. It makes little to no sense.

Before we begin editorializing though, check out this video of Watts meeting with the team to drop the big one:



There are varying reports explaining why the decision was made, though from what we understand and have been told, the decision was made long ago.

One item used by Watts to justify the decision was a consultant report by CarrSports. The report was done to quantify the cost of keeping or eliminating football.

It never looked into the possibility of dropping to the Football Championship Subdivision, a more cost effective route for smaller Division 1 level athletic programs.

It also makes apparent their was little or no effort put forth to try and justify keeping the program.

Al.com's Kevin Scarbinsky explains why the report was a sham RIGHT HERE

It's amazing to us in the Football crazed state of Alabama that you'd have the 1st Football Bowl Subdivision team to kill a football program since 1994.

There are multiple factors at play--and from what we understand a lot of them are political. The Alabama Board of Trustees (oversee colleges), a board run by mostly University of Alabama grads, are largely to blame here. No, they haven't been reported on but it's no secret they've been trying to do this for years.

Sure, President Watts did little to nothing to stand up for his schools program, but it just exposes him as a puppet. The Blazer program was not a "Profit" center like the Crimson Tide or like Auburn. But they are projected to break even this season for the 1st time in years.

Success helps with that. Bill Clark led the Blazers to a 6-6 record and bowl eligibility for the first time in many years. That helps with revenue.

Several members of the booster club had guarantees of over $5 million to upgrade and update the facilities. Yet they killed the program.

The fact of the matter is many smaller D-1 schools in Football don't make a lot of money. It's why cupcake games exist. The payday helps with the bottom line. A lot.

It's done for publicity. It's done for image. It's done to say you are a "Big Time" university.

If you ask us. The blame for what happened is squarely on Paul Bryant Jr and the rest of the trustees who considered the Blazers a threat. Why we don't know. But consider this:

About a decade ago, the offensive coordinator for LSU was looking for head coaching opportunities. And the UAB job was at the time open. The two sides met, hammered out a tentative deal only to have it scuttled by the board.

That offensive coordinator: FSU Head Coach Jimbo Fisher.

We wonder how much the world would be a different place had the board not stuck their noses in and interfered.

Alabama's 13 in Birmingham talked to UAB students after the announcement:

Alabamas13.com WVTM-TV Birmingham, AL

UAB Fans and Students Rally for Football Program

((ht: alabamas13.com))

It may be a case of too little too late, but it didn't stop over 400 fans, alumni and students from rallying Sunday night on the University of Alabama-Birmingham campus.

They turned out to show support for the football program that according to multiple reports will be shut down this week by the highly politicized state Board of Regents.

For those unaware--the school has been losing money on the program, which has struggled for success the past few seasons.

However, this season, the Blazers, under head coach Bill Clark turned things around, going 6-6 and becoming eligible for a bowl game for the first time in 10-years.

But the board, which is filled with University of Alabama alumni who don't want to deal with UAB doesn't think having a program that is struggling to stay afloat financially is worth it. Reports have surfaced saying they've already fired Athletic Director Brian Mackin and the school has no games scheduled after the 2016 season.

There are multiple things at play here--the truth of the matter is a lot of smaller FBS (Div. 1) teams don't turn or barely turn a profit. But they still remain a part of their respective universities. UAB has lost several million dollars over the past few seasons, but they aren't even in the Top 5 of that category.

It's amazing that in football mad Alabama, a state with no professional sports (no, the Crimson Tide and Auburn don't count), College Football is the only thing most people there live for.

But like everything else southern, it's caught up in politics. And the board is mostly big, rich Alabama boosters who don't want to foot the bill for someone else.

But enough rambling, here's reaction from those who rallied Sunday night and are going to continue rallying on into the week.

Alabamas13.com WVTM-TV Birmingham, AL

How About Another FCS Win Over FBS...???

((HT: Patrick Netherton his own self))

We include this one because we can...

P-Netherton is the pay-by-play voice for the Northwestern State (LA) Demons and they were on the road last night at Joe Aillet Stadium to take on Louisiana Tech.

All we needed was a last-second field goal for the upset
The HQ got it...


Well called, sir... congratulations...

And that win puts a big dent in the La Tech bowl ideas...

This Didn't Go Over Well: Iowa Sportscaster Slams NDSU Before Iowa State Game

((HT: WHO-TV/96.5TheFox))

If anyone understands the value of the face and heel relationship, it's the HQ...

So, Week 1 is always reserved for the paycheck games mostly... and a lot of folks in the midwest stared at North Dakota State visiting Iowa State as one of those games that was supposed to be chance for the Clones to get the duke. NDSU lost their head coach Craig Bohl to Division I- even as one of the powerhouse schools in I-AA they still had a lot of losses to graduation.

And this came across the airwaves in Des Moines, courtesy of Andy Fales and WHO-TV
Fales wasn't a fan of this game being played period.


A lot of good that did as NDSU pounded Iowa State by 20.

The HQ gives Fales credit for fanning the flames and waving the flag for the home team- even if he was way off...

Syracuse Barely Beats Villanova, And We're Talking Football

((HT: ACCDN))

Without their starting QB, it took a failed 2-point conversion in the bottom of the second overtime for Syracuse to barely beat Villanova (otherwise known as FCS/Division I-AA Villanova)), 27-26.

Syracuse starting QB Terrel Hunt got ejected after throwing a punch on Villanova LB Dillon Lucas.
Hunt also received a 15-yard Unnecessary Roughness penalty on the play and it served as a motivator for the decidedly underdog Wildcats.


While it wasn't the six OT thriller in the Big East tourney, it certainly was a renewal of the rivalry- if only for a night.

Welcome Back, College Football!!! GSU Hits Last-Second FG To Snap 16-Game Losing Streak

((HT: gsupanthers Instagram))

Will Lutz punched a chip shot field through the uprights with a handful of seconds to go for Georgia State's 38-37 win over Abilene Christian at the Georgia Dome.


GSU had a 16-game losing streak snapped with the win- their first since a win over Rhode Island in 2012.

Here's how the team celebrated when time ran out...


Now, the team that had their losing streak broken against ACU last year, New Mexico State visits the Georgia Dome next weekend...

Let's see how the Panthers respond...

UMass Football Asked to Leave the MAC

Insert joke here...

No seriously. The University of Massachusetts and the Mid-American Conference will part ways in 2015. And aside from the requisite jokes being made due to the ineptitude of the Minutemen football program, there's actually a reason for this.

UMass was a football only member of the MAC, the basketball team plays in the Atlantic 10.

According to ESPN.com, UMass was asked to be a full-time member of the MAC, but decided to pass. The problem: The Atlantic 10 is a basketball only conference. And the MAC, well, they wanted all or nothing from the Minutemen.

Read more from ESPN.com RIGHT HERE

So...this has little to no impact on the MAC. They will become a 12-team conference. No big deal, even scheduling in 2016.

UMass has a bigger problem. Perennially one of the worst teams in the FBS (Division 1), they are a bad team now with no home. The school wants to stay where they are, the problem is, where do they go? Most of the smaller College Football programs in the Northeastern U.S are FCS (1-AA) teams. There are several that play in FBS, but they are all in power conferences. None of which would have any interest.

Not a huge story on the Sports landscape here, but an interesting one never the less and one that further enhances a question we often ask: What happens to the non-power schools in the FBS after the playoff and split happens?

And no, there's not a simple answer....

Why Ga. Southern Beating Florida Means More to Me Than It Does You

By now if you are a College Football fan, you know that Georgia Southern beat the University of Florida 26-20 Saturday afternoon.

And yes, anytime an FBS (Div-1AA) team beats a FCS (Div-1) team, it's a big deal. It's even bigger if they beat a team from the once mighty SEC.

It also gives the SEC bashers (everyone who lives outside the Southeastern U.S) more fuel to argue the SEC isn't what people think it is. Especially this year.

You can argue that Florida had so many injured players and was playing their 3rd string QB. And for what it's worth, Ga. Southern was down 16 scholarship players with injury too.

But no, the reason it means more to me than you: I went to Georgia Southern. I was there when the program was in year 2 (1983--I'm old). I was there for the first two National Championships the Eagles won (1985, 1986).

GaSouthern vs. SCState 1985

Going to a smaller school is different than going to a big one. Especially if you live in the south. Sports talk radio, TV and others don't pay attention to the little guys. Ever. They consider games like this a joke.

It's tough when your whole life you get asked "You Georgia or Florida?" or growing up in Florida it was "Florida or Florida State?".

How 'bout neither?

Me…and most of my friends don't consider ourselves bandwagon jumpers. Living in the South, there are millions who claim to be fans of schools they never attended. And many of them are the psychotic ones with the tricked out decorated buses or traveling all over the southeast going to games or doing crazy stuff degrading or trying to embarrass their opponents. Not us.

No, sorry, if you went to a small school like Georgia Southern, that's your team. It's always your team. You don't get to pull for anyone else.

When I graduated from Southern (1988), my friends and I tried to go to all the "Big School" games we played afterwards. We were there in 1986 when we played Florida, in a thunderstorm and set a "Then" stadium record for most yards rushing. We lost 38-14, but we were hoarse for a week.

I didn't get to go to Tallahassee in 1988 when we led FSU 10-6 after 3 quarters. I was working my 1st TV job in Lynchburg, Virginia. And when I came back from working a UVA football game late that afternoon, my Sports Anchor told me "You guys are beating FSU", my 1st response was "I call bullshit". We didn't win, we lost 23-10. But we scared them.

Fast forward a couple years. We were in the stands, at Jordan-Hare stadium when the Eagles walked to the locker room at halftime, leading Auburn 17-3. We all made a pact if we won, we were going to get arrested. We didn't win, but we scared the crap out of them.

It's hard to explain the attachment that I have to the football team. I'm not a crazed SEC type fan who's entire life in the fall revolves around going to or stopping the day to watch every second of the game. I haven't named my dog Eagle or have blue and white painted stuff around my house. I have one Georgia Southern t-shirt and a GSU sweatshirt. But Southern always has a place in my heart.

Heck, how could it not? When I was there, I was at every game. In 1986, I was a DJ on the campus radio station, WVGS. My shift was 10 a.m-1 p.m. And at the time, we started all our games at 1:30. That gave me just enough time to get across campus and make the game.

In 1987, I actually worked the games. I was a Broadcast major and we traditionally shot all the games from the top of the press box. I took it one step further. We scrounged up a second set of gear and while we took turns shooting up top, I would spend the second half and eventually the whole game on the field.

That's where I really got hooked.

Before long I was going to practice on Monday's and interviewing coach Russell and some players about the upcoming game and shipping it to TV stations around the state. By midseason, we started traveling to the games we could drive to. I got to know some of the players and had a couple of them play on my intramural basketball team. And the coolest thing to me, when I saw Erk Russell, he would always say hi to me.

True side story--Every Monday, when I interviewed him, we'd start the same way. "So coach, talk about last Saturday's game. How did the team play and how does it get you ready for next week?" "Well, Phil, 38 is more than 17, we won, they lost, so I guess it was a good week. It should help us be ready when ______ comes to town".

I always have kept up with Georgia Southern Football and always made it known they're "My Team". But I sort of bent my own rule. Some of you know I worked in Sports for a long, long time. And covered the University of Georgia for some 10-years. Got to know some of the behind the scenes folks there and had a nice, cordial relationship with coach Richt. Heck, Brother Jon, Brother Wilkie and I wrote a book about Georgia Football.

And admittedly, I like to see them win.

But Georgia Southern is always in my heart. My 4.5 years there were some of the best--and worst times of my life. I'm so thankful I went there instead of a big school.

True side story--I was accepted at the University of Florida coming out of Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs, Florida. But it was conditional--I would have had to go to summer school and do well before being accepted for a fall term.

I never went.

And if I did, I would never have made it through the core curriculum. I barely made it through my 1st two years at Southern.

So that's why Georgia Southern beating Florida means more to me. Southern had played 20 games against Division 1 schools, we'd never beaten one. Florida had played 47 games against non-Division 1 schools, they'd never lost.

Neither of those statements will ever be said again.


Here's the TV story from fellow Georgia Southern grad Frank Sulkowski of WJCL-TV in Savannah who also knows just how big of a deal this is:

Ga. Southern Beats Florida: Yes, This Really Happened

In a season of bad luck and things gone wrong, we're pretty sure for the once-proud and always big-talking Florida Gators have hit rock-bottom.

The Gators got beat Saturday afternoon by FBS (D-1AA), Georgia Southern 26-20, in the Swamp.

We could go on for a long, long time about all the mistakes Florida and coach Will Muschamp made and how they got beat by a team that threw for 0 yards, but that would be piling on. Wouldn't it?

The now 7-4 Eagles were expected to be a playoff team on their level and are making the move to the FCS (D-1) Sun Belt next season.

But there still isn't a universe that exists where they should beat Florida, yet they did.

429 yards rushing was more than enough for Southern, who up until Saturday afternoon, had never actually beaten an FCS team, never mind an SEC team some thought might compete for a title.

We won't go into too much detail in this story, I will file a column when I have more time, but suffice to say, Florida coach Will Muschamp has a lot to worry about this holiday season. And as for Florida fans. Well, there's always basketball....

ESPN gives us a look at the last play of the game (And yes, I'm still laughing)

 

CFB Shocker: North Dakota State Upsets Kansas State On An 80 Yard Drive

I wonder if Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder will play a game on Friday night again.

It was a big night on the K-State campus.  It was the Wildcats season opener and newly renovated Bill Snyder Family Stadium was unveiled.

However North Dakota State didn't stick to script.

Bison quarterback Brock Jensen led North Dakota State on a game defining 80 yard drive capped off by his one yard touchdown run.




That sealed a stunning 24-21 win for North Dakota State over Kansas State ruining a big night in Manhattan, Kansas.

“We had to score a touchdown." Jensen said. "It was a scenario that we have practiced frequently - every week in practice. It was just one of those moments where we just had to gut it out. It was not easy by any stretch - we were tired and they were tired - but we found a way to just gut it out. That was the guttiest performance that I have seen in my entire life on any level. I am so proud of my team and I just thank God for letting me be a part of this.”

“I would like to congratulate all of our players."  North Dakota head coach Craig Bohl said. "It was a great effort on their part showing determination and resolve when we were down. Many, many teams have come in and Kansas State has jumped up and those teams have folded; our guys did not do that. I thought our assistant coaches made some really excellent adjustments there when we needed to - certainly the fourth down play was huge in the game for us to get that and it was a great win for our program."




Friday nights loss to North Dakota State was the first time a Bill Snyder coached team had lost a season
opener since 1989.

"They are an extremely fine football team." Snyder said.  "They play very hard, and they are a tough football team. They played harder than we did. They were tougher than we were. They were better coached than we were."

Something tells me practice won't be fun for K-State next week.  Louisiana-Lafayette comes to the Little Apple next Saturday.

Southern Utah Wins At The Gun In Mobile

((HT: XOS College Sports))

South Alabama is now a full-fledged member of the Sun Belt Conference... which means games matter in their first full season as a Division I school (or FBS, or whatever you call it...)

Southern Utah came to Mobile in their season opener and made sure the Jags remembered who they invited...

Last-second field goals for the win will do that for you...

Southern Utah went 54 yards in the final 4:43 to the South Alabama 11 where Colton Cook kicked a 28-yard field goal on the game's final play for the win...

"We lost a very important ballgame tonight. We're a better team, but we have to look at ourselves and evaluate what we're doing. We're going to have to win some close games to have a good year this year, and that was one we let slip by," USA Head coach Joey Jones said postgame.

Here's the highlights...


"Everyone is disappointed. Everyone is just tired of seeing this happen," DE Alex Page admitted. "We want t make a change. We thought we had it all together, but we made some mistakes. We backed off a little bit. It's just motivation to come together and really make a change, because I don't want my senior year to be like this the whole time."

The Jags were 2-11 last year and their next game is at Tulane next Saturday...

Is Division I Football Sure About This Whole UConn Thing...???

((HT: AKM Sports Media))

Especially after Towson beat an NCAA division I team for the first time as UConn lost 33-18 at home to the Tigers...

There was certainly a great deal of optimism with opening night...
((HT: WTNH-TV))


But that was squashed for most of the evening at Rentschler Field as Terrance West ran for 156 yards and two touchdowns- both in the fourth quarter. QB Peter Athens threw for 192 yards and another score. Running back Sterlin Phifer caught a 23-yard touchdown and ran for another.

The Huskies had not lost to an FCS team since 2001, when they were making the transition from Division I-AA to Division I.

Here's your Towson postgame with Towson head football coach Rob Ambrose, West and defensive lineman Jon Desir


UConn now gets Maryland and Michigan before a game against Buffalo. If the win doesn't happen there, it may not happen until the season finale against Memphis.

Something to Ponder: Our Plan To Make College Football Equal To All

Yes, this will be column 8,412,338 on how to fix College Football, because whether you want to admit it or not, the game is broken.

And its all about money and equality--or the lack of it.

We started thinking about this the other day when our alma mater (Georgia Southern) was officially named a member of the Sun Belt Conference and took the leap from 1-AA where we were a perennial title contender, to D-1, where we'll never be one.

Really, that's the crux of the problem here.

College Football has become a game of "Have's" and "Have Not's". And to be totally honest, Division 1 Football SHOULD be broken into 2, or even 3 categories.

If you are still reading this; you probably are asking "Why?"

The thought came to me on Tuesday when an Atlanta area Sports Talk Radio host was making completely uninformed commentary on Georgia Southern's jump. In his world view, you are D-1 "Big Boy" football or you don't exist.

And that's the problem in a nutshell.

The blanket just doesn't fit. It has never fit and it never WILL fit.

It bothered me because I want my school to be able to compete for a "National Title", but now, moving to Division 1, they never will.

They can't. They won't be allowed. And they don't have the talent. Georgia Southern could play Alabama or Ohio State or Georgia or USC 100 times and never beat any of them.

Not once. Not ever.

And that's just wrong. If you are a Division 1 school that can only afford a recruiting budget of $2 million a year, how can you compete against a school that pays their coach that much?

How can you compete against a school with a $10+ million a year recruiting budget?

You can't. You will never get the same athlete's, same coaches or have the same facilities.

Ever.

That's why we say College Football should be broken back up.

The Cartel (BCS Schools) control everything. If you aren't one of them now, you will NEVER be one of them. The nature of the system prevents it.

So let them go it alone. Let them play "Big Boy" Football. Let them be DIVISION 1.

Why not have the 40 or so schools with $10+ million budgets and 70,000-plus seat stadiums and $100 million athletic associations play against each other all the time?

Those schools will and will continue to make briefcases full of money because of that. And even some of those 40 or so schools lose some money trying to keep up.

For a smaller D-1 school, there's no way to make any money.

None.

For Georgia Southern, their travel budget just tripled. There athletic budget, the same. Sure, the students agreed to a $75 person increase in their student fees to subsidize it, but that ain't gonna be enough. For a school with 20,000 students. That's $1.5 million. Add in alumni donations etc and no, you still will never be Georgia.

That's why we want to propose a change. A fairly radical change considering College Football doesn't like such things.

But it needs to be done to give the smaller "Big" schools a chance. A way to compete. A way to have their own title.

Here's our proposal:

Make it a "Sub-NFL" type of thing. 4 Conferences with 10 teams each, top 2 in each go to a playoff and a title. ESPN would pay Billions for it. (Well, actually cable and satellite subscribers would---but that's another story)

It's what the general, unknowledgeable public wants anyway right?

Then take the rest of Division 1 and make them a subset. Take your Sun Belts, your Conference USA's, your MAC's and other conferences and let them play under the old system. Or if you want, the old "Corrupt" bowl system.

But the two groups need to be separate.

And it's for the reason's above. And I'm talking about some surprises. Take your Kentucky's out of the SEC, take your Wake Forests out of the ACC and your Northwestern's out of the Big 10.

Because they'll never win the BCS or whatever they are going to soon call it title.

Ever.

Why should anyone in the Sun Belt have to try and go 12-0, win their conference, win a conference championship game and then pray they MIGHT get invited to a playoff game? And then get killed in said game?

I'm sorry Troy, Central Michigan, Colorado State, North Texas and others, none of you will get to the current College Football playoff....ever.

It's not like this level of football would be totally left out of the TV Money, they wouldn't. Where there used to "1" Sports Network (ESPN), now there are 4 of them. And they need programming.

No, none of these schools would not draw the ratings of a Ohio St/Alabama game, but they wouldn't have to.

Think about this:

College Football in many ways is mirroring the current business climate. CEO's and mega-corporations are making money and getting paid in obscene amounts, but the worker's aren't seeing it.

And the workers will never see it.

We know full well, this will never happen. The NCAA should make it happen if for no other reason than to restore some integrity on some level. But the "Cat" is already out of the bag.

The NCAA doesn't control the College Football playoff system now, and it's out-of-control. Someone needs to reign it back in. Someone needs to make it fair to all.

And that's why they should adopt our system. Really it's quite simple:

Division 1(FBS)---The ESPN league (The Top 40)
Division 1A--The FOX Sports league (The next 82)
Division 1AA-(FCS)---The NBC Sports Net League (Stays as is)
Division 2------The CBS Sports Net League (Stays as is)

Because we like video to cap our stories--our thoughts in song form:

Going Big Time: Ga. Southern Finally Takes The Leap

I'm really torn about this....

For those of you who don't know, I am a graduate of Georgia Southern, which recently announced they were moving from FCS (the old 1-AA) to FBS (D-1) Football.

Mind you, I'm no youngin', I was at Southern a long, long time ago. Long enough that the 1st game I saw my school play was as a Division II team in the fall of 1983 at Statesboro High School, their 2nd year of existence.

The coach Erk Russell.

And now my school is what a local Atlanta area radio host called today "Going to Big Boy Football".

Should I be celebrating this? Should I be excited? Should I be relieved?

That's not such an easy answer.

In many ways, it's fun being a bigger fish in a smaller pond. Georgia Southern has won 6 FCS Championships since the program began in 1982. I was there for 2 of them.

The world of College Football is not what it once was. There are essentially two distinct classes. The "Have's" and the "No Chances". By moving to FBS (D-1), we move from one to the other.

There will be no BCS Titles for us.

Sure, we appear to be moving to the Sun Belt Conference, which is the perfect "Entry Level" conference in College Football.

And there is nothing to say if we get real successful against the Louisiana-Lafayette's and Troy's of the world, that we can't move up to a bigger conference.

But we'll never beat Alabama.

Sadly, not in this decade.

Nor the next one.

Maybe, just maybe, we'll catch a couple "Once in a Lifetime" players, make a crazy run, catch a few breaks and get to play in a third tier bowl game.

The "No Chances" in college football, they don't get to play in the Rose Bowl. They don't get to play in the Sugar Bowl, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl or even the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. They get the Motor City Bowl, the Champs Sports Bowl or Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.

But I suppose that is something.

We'll need the extra money D-1 provides, just to pay for that reward, but I suppose it's worth it.

These days nobody pays attention to the lower levels of NCAA Sports. You aren't on ESPN unless you are in the title game. You aren't won't be on Fox Sports 1 either. You may make it to Comcast Sports South or the Regional Fox Sports Net, but that's it.

But you have to make the move.

Georgia Southern outgrew FCS (1-AA) many years ago. But we never could afford to make the move. Playing "Big Boy" football costs a lot of money these days. Sure, if you have a $20 million a year TV contract, you can afford the big travel budget and to pick and choose your opponents.

But not us.

Fly high, you Georgia Southern Eagle, I for one, am very proud of you. Make the move, do what's necessary, GATA and introduce the world to the magical waters of Beautiful Eagle Creek.

Look out BCS, we're gunnin' for ya!~

No, we'll be the ones playing Alabama or LSU on Homecoming, we'll be the ones playing Ohio State or Michigan when they need a breather week. We'll lose.

We may fatten up on the other Sun Belt teams, and hopefully that will happen. If we are lucky, the Sun Belt will expand to 12-football teams and we'll make it to the conference championship.

And then....if we are REALLY lucky, we'll win the conference championship and go to a Bowl game.

Liberty Bowl in Memphis, look out, HERE WE COME!

This happened my second sophomore year at Southern:

ODU QB Throws For D1 Record 730 Yards

((HT: WAVY-TV))

The HQ continues to marvel at OSG High graduate, Collins Hill (GA) High's Taylor Heinecke...

All he did this week was throw for an NCAA Division I record 730 yards in a come-from-behind, 64-61 win against top 20 team New Hampshire... but it still took a Jarod Brown chip shot field goal and a last-second pick to seal it.

His passing numbers were just one yard less than the overall record of 731 set by D3 Menlo (CA) College's Zamir Amin against Cal Lutheran in 2000. The old Division I record of 716 yards was by Houston's David Klingler in 1990 against Arizona State. The D I-AA/FCS record was 624 set by Weber State's Jamie Martin against Idaho State in 1991.

Got all that...??? There'll be a test later on...

Heinecke also ran the ball 11 times for 61 yards. So, that means the 791 yards of total offense beats the 732 by David Klingler in that same game in 1990, and the I-AA/FCS record was 668 total yards by Robert Kent of Jackson State against Alabama in 2001.

Until today...

Here's the highlights... The HQ thinks it's the short version...

ODU comes from behind in 64-61 win