HARRISONBURG — The Colonial Athletic Association entered the 2016 campaign with six of its 12 programs ranked in the STATS FCS preseason poll.
In the opening weekend of the season, the league was able to back the rankings with a solid showing.
Around the country, there were four wins by FCS teams against FBS teams and half of those victories were by programs in the CAA.
Richmond upset Virginia 37-20 in Charlottesville behind a three-touchdown performance from CAA preseason Offensive Player of the Year Kyle Lauletta to spoil the start of the Bronco Mendenhall era.
Like Richmond, Albany went on the road and beat Buffalo 22-16 on Friday.
It’s the first time since 2013 that the league has recorded two wins over FBS programs in the same season.
“This gets our season off to a really fast start,” Richmond coach Danny Rocco said Monday during the CAA coaches teleconference. “And I thought we were at our best in the biggest moments of the game.”
The league nearly had a third win over an FBS foe in Week 1. Connecticut needed a field goal with 11 seconds remaining to defeat Maine in new coach Joe Harasymiak’s debut with the Black Bears on Thursday. Maine wasn’t ranked in the preseason poll and was picked to finish ninth in the CAA by the league’s coaches.
“We’re extremely proud of the way our guys came out and battled,” Harasymiak said. “We wanted to give ourselves a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter, which we did. But we’re a young team and needed to make some more plays in that fourth quarter, so we’ll learn from it.”
Maine will get another crack at an FBS opponent this weekend when Harasymiak’s squad plays at Toledo on Saturday. In total, the CAA has four games in the next two weeks against FBS teams, including the Sept. 17 matchup between James Madison and North Carolina.
In its season opener, James Madison scored the most points of any Division I team — FBS or FCS — all weekend with its 80-7 blowout win over Morehead State.
The Dukes also set a school record with 10 rushing touchdowns in the win. The mark also sits second in the history of FCS for rushing touchdowns in a single game.
JMU coach Mike Houston said when he went back to watch the film of the win, he came away just as he pleased as he did with the outcome of the game Saturday night.
“I think, number one, it was very clean for the first game and at the same time we found plenty that we needed to correct,” Houston said. “But, I do think the effort and intensity level that we played with covered up some of those things that need to be corrected as far as fundamentals or scheme go.”
Of the games the conference had against teams from other FCS leagues, Stony Brook defeated North Dakota 13-9. North Dakota entered the contest ranked No. 19 nationally.
In a defensive battle, the Seawolves yielded only 177 yards of total offense to North Dakota.
“They were a very good football team,” Stony Brook coach Chuck Priore said. “It was a physical and competitive game with both defenses playing at their best. It’s an important win, obviously, when you do that in your first game.”
Richmond moved up to No. 2 in this week’s STATS FCS Poll while JMU stayed put at No. 12. William & Mary, Villanova and New Hampshire all earned spots in the Top 25 at No. 13, No. 22 and No. 24, respectively. Towson, Stony Brook, Albany, Delaware and Maine all received votes.
