Here are three college football games worth watching in Week 12.

Game of the week: No. 14 Stanford Cardinal (8-2, 6-1 Pac-12) at No. 1 Oregon Ducks (10-0, 7-0 Pac-12), Saturday, 8 p.m., WJET (ABC)

Pregame rant: The Ducks are No. 1 in both national polls and second in the BCS standings, but all that will mean nothing if they fall to Stanford.

They won’t, though. The Cardinal aren’t going into Eugene with a redshirt freshman quarterback and beating the Ducks in their final regular-season home game.

Don’t get me wrong. Kevin Hogan is good. Real good.

He was clutch in last week’s win against Oregon State in his first collegiate start. In addition, Stanford is first in the nation in rushing defense.

The Cardinal are allowing 58.60 yards on the ground. So they’re up to the challenge of stopping Heisman candidate Kenjon Barner, who is second in points with 120 (20 TDs) and fourth in rushing (136 ypg.).

Barner had what looked like a right hand or wrist injury against Cal. He’ll likely play Saturday, but if it keeps him from being the difference maker he is, the Ducks could be in the trouble.

The problem for Stanford is it will have the same problem every other team has had against the Ducks. You fall behind early and can’t go score for score with them.

Say Stanford trails 14-0 or 17-3 or 21-10 by the midway point in the second quarter. It will be down 42-20 going into the fourth.

No one can go score for score with the Ducks. No one.

Read the rest of this entry »

“I was nervous. I remember smiling back at him, trying to pretend I wasn’t nervous.” — Travis Rearick

Oct. 16, 2010: Mercyhurst 22, Edinboro 21 (OT)

“The rest is history.” — Trevor Kennedy

Quarterback Cody Harris put Edinboro on top in OT, but could only watch Mercyhurst win the game with a two-point conversion pass./ETN

EDINBORO — Two years after winning in dramatic fashion at Edinboro, Mercyhurst was back at Sox Harrison Stadium fresh off a 28-27 thriller at Indiana (Pa.).

On this day, the Lakers forced overtime on an Gerald Anderson 9-yard run with 59 seconds left in regulation.

“We were down like the whole second half,” said Travis Rearick, who was a starting junior quarterback at Mercyhurst in 2010. “So we were finally excited to get back into it.”

In overtime, Edinboro took first possession and scored on an Cody Harris 1-yard run to go up 21-14. The Lakers answered with Rearick finding Terrence Coon for an 11-yard scoring pass.

Mercyhurst lined up for a PAT to force a second overtime.

Then flags flew.

“They were going to kick an extra point,” Edinboro coach Scott Browning said. “We jumped offsides so it moved (the ball) up a yard and a half.”

A yard and a half closer, the Lakers decided to go for two — and the win.

“It was a momentum thing,” Lakers coach Marty Schaetzle. “It wasn’t a matter of that the play was going to be any better from 1-1/2 or three yards out. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time.”

What?

Read the rest of this entry »

Chad Noce/SRU

In a continuing series of Q&As with local players who are playing area college football, Duane Rankin caught up with Slippery Rock senior tight end Chad Noce to talk about several topics.

Noce and the No. 24-ranked Rock (8-2, 6-1 PSAC West) are preparing for Saturday’s PSAC title game at Kutztown against the No. 8 Golden Bears (9-1, 6-1 PSAC East). Noce, who played defense his year at Slippery Rock in 2008, is known for his run blocking ability at tight end.

A McDowell High graduate, Noce has just two career catches for 10 yards. Both grabs came last season against Gannon, which ironically upset the Rock last week, 33-27, in Erie. With the Rock trying to rebound from that loss, Rankin caught up with Noce to talk about their playoff hopes and the chance to win a championship.

You’re coming off a tough loss, but can make amends in the PSAC championship game. How are you guys feeling right now heading into that game? We’re feeling good. We know we made a mistake. I feel like we overlooked Gannon a little bit. I feel like we were looking toward the next week. We had the Gannon game. We knew we were in the PSAC championship already so I think that played a little part in that loss. Underestimating them a little bit, we’re feeling good. We should be ready to go.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Senior Bryan Kelly and the Gannon defense did the job in helping the Knights shock No. 14-ranked Slippery Rock, 33-27, at Gannon University Field./Photo by Jack Hanrahan/Erie Times-News

What a day of college football in the PSAC. Here are some highlights from the games.

Biggest upset: Gannon stuns No. 14-ranked Slippery Rock, 33-27. The Knights had just three wins, but got four touchdown passes from redshift freshman Daniel Tapscott and forced five turnovers to knock off the Rock (8-2, 6-1). The Rock will still play in next week’s PSAC title game, but Gannon sent them into it on negative momentum.

Biggest comeback: Mercyhurst College rallied from a 24-point, third-quarter deficit to win at Clarion, 42-38.  Anthony Vendemia picked up his first win as a starter to end Mercyhurst’s five-game losing skid. Richie Sanders’ 1-yard run with 32 seconds left put the Lakers up for good.

Two-minute rally: Down 20 points late in the fourth quarter, Edinboro scored two touchdowns and was an onside kick conversion away from having a chance to beat No. 22 California (Pa.).  Instead the Vulcans recovered the onside kick and edged Edinboro, 34-28.

Biggest beatdown: In a battle of Top 25 teams, No. 13 Kutztown destroyed No. 12 Bloomsburg, 52-14, to earn a spot in next week’s PSAC championship game. Kevin Morton threw three touchdowns, no interceptions and ran for another score to lead the Golden Bears to victory.

CALIFORNIA, Pa. – California (Pa.) scored all its first-half points in the second quarter to take a 24-7 halftime lead against Edinboro at Adamson Stadium.

Now on to more important matters.

The No. 22-ranked Vulcans changed their uniforms at halftime. They went from black shirts with white numbers to red uniforms with black numbers. They’re still wearing black pants.

Having both lost to Edinboro and California (Pa.), Mercyhurst College senior receiver Trevor Kennedy and Gannon coach Jim Kiernan have an idea of what the Scots (7-2, 4-2) and No. 22-ranked Vulcans (7-2, 5-1) can do.

The Lakers lost 30-20 to Edinboro at home Oct. 15 and fell 32-26 at Cal in overtime Oct. 22 . The Knights lost 27-0 at home to Edinboro on Sept. 24 and fell 33-6 at Cal on Oct. 8.

So this week, we asked Kennedy and Kiernan how they see this PSAC West showdown between the Scots and Vulcans going today at 3:30 p.m. at Cal.

Read the rest of this entry »

First-year Lock Haven head coach John Allen/LHU

Seeing is believing.

It’s easy to judge a team by its record, especially when it’s winless like Lock Haven (0-8, 0-6 PSAC West) is.

Add the fact Lock Haven lost its 40th consecutive game today at Edinboro by 35 points, 42-7, and it’s even easier to think the Bald Eagles are a joke of a program.

The Eagles have the NCAA’s longest active losing skid regardless of division and set a PSAC record for most consecutive losses.

However, I can say with conviction after watching Lock Haven play today in person that it’s not nearly as bad as all losing suggests.

First off, the Eagles have a very good tailback in sophomore Brandon Brader, who rushed for a career-high 168 yards against Edinboro, which by the way has a defense ranked second in the nation in total defense.

The guy runs hard, always keeps his legs going, has some shake in his game as well and is a player a team can build around.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sophomore Cody Harris threw two touchdowns and ran for another as Edinboro upended Clarion, 21-10, tonight at Sox Harrison Stadium.

No scoring at all in the second half, but here’s the deal.

With a 3-2 record in the PSAC West, Edinboro (6-2)  is two games behind Slippery Rock (7-1, 5-0) and a game back of IUP (5-2, 4-1) and Cal (6-2, 4-1).

The Scots have already lost to IUP and Slippery Rock, but do get a crack at Cal on Nov. 5. In between that, they face Lock Haven next week.

So for the Scots, it’s about trying to make the playoffs.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mercyhurst College has now lost its last four games after falling in overtime, 32-26, at California (Pa.) today.

In a game that had missed PATs, blocked kicks, the biggest play seems to have happened in overtime when Mercyhurst third-year sophomore quarterback Anthony Vendemia threw an interception in the end zone on a 1st-and-10 play from the Cal 10-yard line.

Cal (6-2, 4-1) took possession and scored as Jeff Knox punched it in from four yards out. The Vulcans can still win the PSAC West if they beat IUP and Edinboro and Slippery Rock losses its last two games.

Slippery Rock (7-1, 5-0) plays Mercyhurst at home next week and ends PSAC West play at Gannon, which lost by 28 points at IUP today.

Read the rest of this entry »

Trying to end a three-game losing skid, Mercyhurst College has a 13-7 halftime lead on California (Pa.) in a key PSAC West game at Adamson Stadium.

Mercyhurst sophomore Anthony Vendemia is 15-of-24 for 150 yards, a touchdown and an interception. His 13-yard touchdown pass to R.J. Miller put the Lakers (3-4, 1-3) up 7-0 in the first quarter.

Steven Wakefield has made two short field goals for Mercyhurst with the latter one being a 21-yard at the end of the first half.

Read the rest of this entry »