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The Big Picture: Quartet Of Quarterbacks Shine

The Big Picture: Quartet Of Quarterbacks Shine

Only a single week of the 2019 football season is complete, and the Colonial Athletic Association has shown off plenty of its defining qualities.

Sep 3, 2019 by Kyle Kensing
HIGHLIGHTS: Stony Brook Suffocates Bryant

Team depth, individual talent, exciting styles in all phases — only a single week of the 2019 football season is complete, and the Colonial Athletic Association has shown off plenty of its defining qualities. 

Every CAA member has a game to its credit save for New Hampshire, which will open the season in Week 2 with interim coach Ricky Santos filling in for Sean McDonnell during the latter’s health-related leave of absence. 

Watch CAA Football LIVE on FloFootball All Season Long

Week 1 confirmed some of the preseason projections for certain teams’ identities and some players’ abilities. A few of the most prominent questions inched closer to being answered. Here’s how opening week developed in the Big Picture.

Black Hole … Offense?

The Black Hole Defense garnered deserving attention during Maine’s 2018 CAA championship and historic run to the FCS national semifinals, and the Black Bears still looked plenty overwhelming on that side of the ball in a 42-14 Week 1 blowout of Sacred Heart

However, quarterback Chris Ferguson stole the show to open 2019. Ferguson completed 23-of-29 pass attempts for 423 yards, just four yards shy of the FCS-best for Week 1, effectively spreading the ball among his targets. Two pass-catchers, Jaquan Blair and Devin Young, broke 100 yards receiving at 140 and 104, respectively. Earnest Edwards totaled 84 yards of his own. All three scored touchdowns. 

Ferguson’s numbers are made all the more staggering considering his last completion came with more than six minutes remaining in the third quarter. 

“I’ll always joke with the players, and really [Ferguson], we’ll tell them when [their play] is good, and we’ll tell them when it’s bad,” said Maine coach Nick Charlton, who made his debut in the head role on Friday. “Chris played at a very, very high level. The staff did a good job getting him ready.” 

So if Maine’s defense is the Black Hole, Ferguson is a few more performances from Friday’s away from warranting his own nickname. But black holes draw in matter; Ferguson’s specialty is sending it away with precision passing. Perhaps something invoking jet propulsion… 

Star Players Doing Star Things

Both the Preseason CAA Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year delivered highlight-reel moments in Week 1 wins. On the defensive side, Richmond end Maurice Jackson rumbled to the end zone after Colby Ritten’s forced fumble against Jacksonville Thursday night. 

On the offensive end, Towson quarterback Tom Flacco delivered a signature, dual-threat performance with 328 yards passing and 48 rushing. Twenty-five of Flacco’s rushing yards came in the late fourth quarter, with the Tigers trailing The Citadel on the road, 21-20. 

His long scamper set up Shane Simpson’s four-yard touchdown run, and thanks to Coby Tippett’s interception on The Citadel’s ensuing possession, proved to be the game-winner. 

Although not the Preseason CAA Offensive Player of the Year like teammate Tom Flacco, Shane Simpson wasn’t lacking for buzz coming into 2019. He lived up to his billing in the opener, scoring two touchdowns, one on the ground and one via pass, while producing 74 rushing yards and 37 receiving. 

“Grass fields have been a little bit of his Kryptonite the last couple years, for some reason,” Ambrose said. “[Running backs] coach [Tyree Foreman] knew it, I knew it, and we both decided we weren’t going to say anything about it. And Shane went out there and played a really, really strong football game in all phases.” 

An Alternative Route To Stony Brook

In 2018, Stony Brook relied on the Long Island Expressway to transport the football. That’s the catchy nickname bestowed on dual 1,000-yard rushers Donald Liotine and Jordan Gowins, both of whom are gone. 

The Seawolves also graduated quarterback Joe Carbone. That’s a lot of production to replicate from one backfield, but in the opener against Bryant, Tyquell Fields provided some relief for both. 

Fields scored touchdowns both rushing and passing, and totaled 246 yards after a slow start. 

“To come out of your first start with close to 250 yards total offense, I’ll take that every week,” said Stony Brook coach Chuck Priore. “He told me at halftime, ‘I’m really nervous.’ …But coming out in the second half, I thought he played really well.”

Priore commended Fields’ “long balls,” as well his playmaking with his feet – both in passing and rushing situations. 

“It’s [like having] another running back at certain times, and that was proven with the yards he gained,” Priore added. “The escapability in the pass game is helpful, some of those scrambles. We watched the Flacco kid do it at Towson all last year. Certainly, Tyquell’s not him, but being able to do some of those will be a pleasant addition to our offense.”  

So Fresh & So Clean

William & Mary’s Hollis Mathis became the first true freshman quarterback to start in the program’s history, and all he did with that opportunity was produce a program-record 127 rushing yards in a 30-17 win over Lafayette. 

“He played well in spots,” said Tribe coach Mike London. “One of the things he has is his legs. His wheels are pretty good, he got us out of some third-down situations.” 

As for setting a William & Mary quarterback rushing record, London said: “As a freshman, if he’s done that, then I believe his ability to get better will get better as we go along.” 

CAA vs. FCS

Including Villanova’s season-opening rout of Colgate, CAA teams went 7-1 against FCS conference opponents. A snapshot by league: 

  • MEAC

Delaware 31, Delaware State 13 

Elon 21, North Carolina A&T 24*

  • NEC

Stony Brook 35, Bryant 10 

Maine 42, Sacred Heart 14 

  • Patriot

Villanova 34, Colgate 14 

William & Mary 30, Lafayette 17

  • Pioneer

Richmond 38, Jacksonville 19 

  • SoCon

Towson 28, The Citadel 21 

*Elon’s loss to North Carolina A&T was the lone blemish, but the Aggies needed a 52-yard field goal as time expired to escape this top-25 showdown. 

CAA teams in Week 2 face opponents from the MEAC (Towson vs. North Carolina Central); NEC (UAlbany vs. Bryant, James Madison vs. Saint Francis); Patriot League (New Hampshire at Holy Cross, Villanova vs. Lehigh). 

CAA vs. FBS

Although the Colonial’s streak of Week 1 wins against FBS competition ended, the conference’s teams acquitted themselves well in such matchups. 

James Madison’s showdown with West Virginia and homecoming for Curt Cignetti was the most high-profile. The Dukes took the Big 12 Conference members to the brink in Morgantown, 20-13, and that highly anticipated defense did not disappoint. 

The Dukes held West Virginia to just 294 yards of total offense and 13 first downs. The Mountaineers gained all of 34 yards rushing on 24 carries, a 1.4-per carry clip. 

Both Rhode Island and UAlbany lost road games at Mid-American Conference opponents, Ohio and Central Michigan, but each had a wide receiver turn some heads. First team All-CAA Rhode Island Ram Aaron Parker picked up where he left off with 144 yards receiving against Ohio, while Juwan Green totaled 94 yards and two touchdowns on just five receptions vs Central Michigan. 

The Colonial gets four more cracks at an FBS win this week. 

“Our guys will be fired up. They get to go play in a huge stadium with a really good crowd, against a [Power Five] school,” said Richmond coach Russ Huesman. “You do these things, and obviously part of it is the financial aspect of it. But recruiting – for us to tell recruits we get to play a Boston College, a Virginia Tech, a Virginia, Pitt, those people down the road, it really helps in recruiting.”  

  • ACC

William & Mary at Virginia (Friday)

Richmond at Boston College

  • Mountain West

Stony Brook at Utah State 

  • Sun Belt 

Maine at Georgia Southern