Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - The question at North Dakota State is, and will remain, why now?
Most people in Fargo will always feel uneasy about how the news head coach Craig Bohl is leaving after 11 seasons to take over the reins of the University of Wyoming program broke on the day the Bison won their first FCS playoff game in a quest to capture a third straight national championship.
It could have been foreseen that Bohl would move on from NDSU eventually despite his signing of a contract extension right before last year's national championship game.
The 2012 Eddie Robinson Award recipient will never be hotter in the profession, as he has forged a 101-32 overall record at NDSU, including 12-0 this season and an incredible 40-2 over the last three seasons.
At 55, he doesn't want to wait any longer if he wants to jump to the FBS level. Plus, the reported $350,000 that he made as the Bison coach last year, including bonuses, could be raised to upwards of three times that level in his first year at Wyoming.
It's the timing of the announcement that's awkward. Wyoming decided to make its move on Bohl and not wait to get an answer from him perhaps in another month. Fortunately, Wyoming was open to Bohl remaining the Bison head coach through their playoff run. The Bison are trying to become the second team to win three straight FCS national titles.
"There is no perfect time (to announce his departure), but I can tell you the No. 1 goal is the 2013 Bison, for us to take this football team as far as we can go," Bohl said Sunday morning on his regular coach's show on KFGO 790 AM in Fargo. "There may be all kinds of emotions and I certainly have tons of emotions in my heart, but this is about this collective team."
The hope at NDSU is this Bison team will remain focused on its mission. There is plenty of reason to believe it can happen considering the Bison are led by a veteran, playoff-tested group which has answered many challenges over time.
BIG SKY A BIG DISAPPOINTMENT
The FCS conference with the most qualifiers this postseason has been anything but (Big) Sky high.
The Big Skunk, well, that fits when you get a whiff of the results.
Third-seeded Eastern Washington is the only team standing among the Big Sky's conference-record four qualifiers, which also was the high for a conference this season.
Having a smaller number of teams from the West hurt the Big Sky in the geography-driven first round, as Southern Utah and Northern Arizona faced tougher-than-usual opponents in Sam Houston State and South Dakota State, respectively.
But geography was not involved in Coastal Carolina traveling to Montana from the East Coast, unless one considers how the host Grizzlies went south in their 42-35 second-round loss this past Saturday.
With the weather seemingly a big advantage for the Grizzlies, they had little excuse for the way Coastal Carolina took control of the game with four unanswered touchdowns in the first half. It's just not the Grizzlies of old.
The 0-3 start for the Big Sky finally got some positive news in the form of Eastern Washington's 41-17 victory over South Dakota State. Vernon Adams threw five touchdowns to push his season total to 51.
The Eagles have a national championship-type team, and anything less than reaching the semifinals would be a huge disappointment for coach Beau Baldwin and his players. They will host surprising Jacksonville State in the quarterfinals next weekend.
PLAYOFF FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
A roundup of FCS first-round playoff games can be found at http://tinyurl.com/kxd9a5r.
GAME BALLS
Offense - North Dakota State quarterback Brock Jensen posted his FCS-record 45th career win in the Bison's 38-7 win over Furman. Jensen completed 15-of-25 pass attempts for 249 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed another 86 yards and one touchdown on eight carries.
Defense - Jacksonville State had 11 sacks in its 31-10 win at McNeese State, and strong-side linebacker Robert Gray had three of them to go along with seven total tackles and two forced fumnbles.
Special Teams - Despite Maine's 41-27 loss to New Hampshire, Damarr Aultman scored on an 88-yard kickoff return to give the Black Bears their only lead of the game. He had four returns for 143 yards.
SECOND TIME AROUND ...
Well, it feels like the first time.
The three conference rematches ended up with the same results as the first meetings this season. New Hampshire picked off CAA Football champion Maine, 41-27; Ohio Valley champion Eastern Illinois handled Tennessee State, 51-10; and Southland Conference champion Southeastern Louisiana ousted Sam Houston State, 30-29, with a late touchdown.
THE 'ROAD' TO FRISCO
Road teams have faired pretty well in the playoffs, going 3-5 in each of the first two rounds for a 6-10 overall record. The OVC had two of the wins, one each from Tennessee State (first round at Butler) and Jacksonville State (second round at No. 6 seed McNeese State).
CONFERENCE SCOREBOARD
Six conferences are represented among the Elite Eight, with CAA Football and the OVC both getting two teams into the round. The Big South, Big Sky, Missouri Valley and Southland conference all have one team still standing.
Records of the 11 FCS conferences in the FCS playoffs:
Big South - 2-0 (1.000)
Ohio Valley - 4-1 (.800)
CAA - 3-1 (.750)
Missouri Valley - 2-1 (.667)
Southland - 2-2 (.500)
Patriot - 1-2 (.333)
Southern - 1-2 (.333)
Big Sky - 1-3 (.250)
Northeast - 0-1 (.000)
Pioneer - 0-1 (.000)
Mid-Eastern Athletic - 0-2 (.000)
FINAL CONFERENCE CHAMPION
Southern University finished off a superb 9-4 season under coach Dawson Odums, winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship with a 34-27 triumph over Jackson State at Reliant Stadium.
Lee Doss' 16-yard touchown reception from Dray Joseph in the second overtime was the decisive margin. Joseph threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns.
FCS AWARDS
The winners of the four major awards in the FCS - the Walter Payton (outstanding player), Buck Buchanan (outstanding defensive player), Jerry Rice (FCS freshman of the year) and Eddie Robinson (FCS coach of the year) - will be announced on Dec. 16.
The FCS Awards can be found at http://tinyurl.com/yhv6oh8.
THE PICKS
Week 15 Record: 7-2 (.778)
Season Record: 630-221 (.740)
Dec. 13-14
All Times ET
FCS Playoff Quarterfinals
Friday, Dec. 13
No. 7 seed Towson (11-2) at X-No. 2 seed Eastern Illinois (12-1), 8 p.m. (ESPN2) - Towson has to avoid the EIU first-quarter scoring crush that is a ridiculous 243-38 advantage.
Saturday, Dec. 14
Coastal Carolina (12-2) at X-No. 1 seed North Dakota State (12-0), noon (ESPN) - Despite the Bohl coaching news, the Bison can feel Frisco from their half of the bracket.
Jacksonville State (11-3) at X-No. 3 seed Eastern Washington (11-2), 4 p.m. (ESPN3) - It's just too hard to picture Jacksonville State in the national semifinals.
X-New Hampshire (9-4) at No. 4 seed Southeastern Louisiana (11-2), 7 p.m. (ESPN3) - Two strong offenses. UNH's might be a little better.
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