Life posted two shutouts against Charlotte. /// Photo: Derek Surmont / Life University Athletics •
No major upsets since last week’s opening DI College Fall Top 20 ranking, but a couple of moves were necessary.
Penn State played its first Big Ten match of the season and blanked Michigan in a big way, but backs captain Gabby Cantorna said the contest felt much closer. The biggest takeaway was the influence of freshmen Kayla Canett and Ellie Fromstein. Fallbrook, Calif., graduate Canett helped the Girls High School All-Americans to a runner-up finish at the European U18 7s Championship earlier this month and contributed four tries against the Wolverines. The flyhalf paired well with Fromstein, a Hopkins alumna with plenty of Minnesota Tundra experience, who kept the high-octane Penn State offense moving from scrumhalf. She, too, scored a try. The Nittany Lions play conference newcomer Rutgers, which had its home game against Ohio State postponed, this weekend.
Also in the Big Ten, Notre Dame blanked Michigan State 66-0 for its second win of the season. That output weighted against the inactivity of Princeton (which opens up this weekend against Penn), sees the Fighting Irish leap one spot over the Ivy Leaguer.
Quinnipiac ran away with a 64-3 win over Norwich for the Bobcats’ third NIRA win of the season. The margin of victory reinforced the Connecticut team’s number two spot, and saw the Cadets drop one position. Similar sentiments were felt in Dartmouth’s 51-18 win over Brown, and the Big Green swapped spots with Norwich.
An important game occurs between Norwich and AIC this weekend. We know that Quinnipiac and Army are leading the league, but the bulk of the field needs sorting out. AIC is looking for its first win of the season, taking a 39-14 loss to Army last Friday. The Yellow Jackets are in flux right now, operating with its third coach since going varsity. Notre Dame College will play Quinnipiac at a midway point in Pittsburgh and make good use of Founders Field. Additionally, Ivy Leaguers Brown and Harvard play each other this Friday night. It will be the first Tier 1 NIRA game for the Crimson, which bested Tier 2 University of New England 54-0 last weekend.
As explained in the opening rankings, DI Elite teams that either compete in a fall-based regular season (Penn State) or alongside one (New Mexico, BYU), or have a tough fall schedule (Lindenwood, Life) are included in the rankings. For all but Penn State, all games are listed in their respective records because all of them are technically friendlies.
Lindenwood ran out its developmental side against the Little Rock Women for a 27-7 victory, and will put its first side into play during a double-header against Oklahoma and New Mexico this weekend. For the Lions, only the first side results will be recorded. BYU took down DII Utah Valley 33-14, while Life won JV and varsity matches against the Charlotte Women, handily.
DI fall champion UCONN took on the ambitious St. Michael’s, the DII Rugby Northeast champion. The wind dictated the success of the teams, with UCONN scoring 24 first-half points and St. Michael’s recording 19 second-half points. The Huskies prevailed in their final pre-season game before its Northeast opener against Boston University. Minnesota got its first win of the DI Midwest season, although it is technically recorded as a forfeit. The running scoreboard however saw the Gophers to a 119-0 victory over UW Milwaukee. Minnesota plays Iowa State, which beat Northern Iowa last weekend, on Saturday, and if history repeats itself, then it’ll be a good game.
Air Force, New Mexico, Notre Dame College, Princeton, Indiana (Purdue postponed) and Central Washington were all idle. The game to watch out of this bunch is the Wildcats vs. Army. The Black Knights travel out to Ellensburg, Wash., for the teams’ first-ever meeting.
In terms of teams to watch, we’re keeping an eye on Northern Illinois, which left the hybrid Illinois conference for the DI Midwest this year. UNI beat Iowa State 29-22 in its opener, and we’re really looking forward to the match against Minnesota. We’re also tracking the Northeast, eager to see if any teams will challenge UCONN this fall.
DI COLLEGE /// FALL 2016 RANKINGS
Current Rank (Previous Rank) Team (League Record). Notes
1 (1) Penn State (1-0). Defeated Michigan 128-0
2 (2) Quinnipiac (3-0). Defeated Norwich 64-3
3 (3) Army (2-1). Defeated AIC 39-14
4 (4) Central Washington (0-0). Idle
5 (5) BYU (1-0). Defeated DII Utah Valley 33-14
6 (6) Life (1-0). Defeated Charlotte Women by combined 127-0
7 (7) Lindenwood (0-0). Defeated Little Rock Women 27-7
8 (8) Notre Dame College (1-0). Idle
9 (10) Dartmouth (2-1). Defeated Brown 51-18
10 (9) Norwich (1-2). Lost 64-3 to Quinnipiac
11 (11) AIC (0-3). Lost 39-14 to Army
12 (12) Brown (0-1). Lost 51-18 to Dartmouth
13 (13) Harvard (0-0). Defeated Tier 2 Univ. New England 54-0
14 (14) UConn (0-0). Defeated DII St. Michael’s 24-19
15 (15) Air Force (1-0). Idle
16 (17) Notre Dame (2-0). Defeated Michigan State 66-0
17 (16) Princeton (0-0). Idle
18 (18) Indiana (0-0). Idle
19 (19) New Mexico (0-0). Idle
20 (20) Minnesota (1-0). Defeated UW Milwaukee 119-0 (officially recorded as forfeit)
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