2012 FCS playoffs semifinals now set

The last two FCS national champions — defending champ North Dakota State and 2010 champ Eastern Washington — are still alive in the 2012 FCS tournament, as the NDSU Bison and EWU Eagles each won their quarterfinal games. The No. 1 Bison beat Wofford, 14-7, Saturday afternoon and No. 2 Eastern Washington took care of business in a thrilling game against Illinois State, 51-35. If the two teams win their semifinal matchups, the stage would be set for a battle of past champions in the FCS Championship Game.

Elsewhere in the FCS quarters, No. 5 Georgia State outran No. 4 Old Dominion, 49-35, and Sam Houston State, last year’s runner-up, pulled a big upset, 34-16, over No. 3 Montana State.

After seeing a big second-half lead disappear, the Eastern Washington Eagles stormed back to handily defeat the Illinois State Redbirds, 51-35, in the quarterfinals of the NCAA FCS Playoffs on Saturday night in Cheney, Wash.

Eagles receiver Brandon Kaufman made his presence known in the second half as he totaled 191 receiving yards and three touchdowns on the night. After Illinois State cut its deficit to 38-35, Eastern Washington began to rebuild its cushion when Kyle Padron hit Kaufman on a 76-yard touchdown pass. The Eagles’ defense stood tall to maintain the advantage, as the Redbirds were held scoreless the rest of the night.

Defending national champion North Dakota State came away with a 14-7 win to advance to the semifinals of the FCS playoffs after a defensive-minded football game that featured plenty of running, eliminating the Wofford Terriers. Wofford ran the ball 51 times, compared to just seven passes, while NDSU passed just 18 times to 38 runs.

Each team turned the ball over twice, but the Bison managed to keep the Terriers off the board for much of the game, despite giving up more than 300 yards of total offense. In fact, Wofford outgained North Dakota State and converted three fourth down attempts against the Bison, but couldn’t convert that in to points.

The Georgia Southern Eagles pulled off a mild upset on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Old Dominion Monarchs in the FCS quarterfinals, 49-35 despite trailing by 14 in the fourth. They’ll advance to take on the winner of Wofford vs. North Dakota State.

Georgia Southern cut Old Dominion’s lead down early in the fourth quarter, when Jerick McKinnon rushed for a 4-yard touchdown, pulling the Eagles within one score of the Monarchs. McKinnon added a 2-yard touchdown run with just over five minutes left to go in the fourth quarter, tying the game up at 35-35.

The FCS playoffs are down to eight teams. The action continues this weekend with four quarterfinal games. It all starts Friday when Montana State hosts Sam Houston State at 8 p.m.

The other three quarterfinal games will be held Saturday. At noon, Georgia Southern will play at Old Dominion. At 3 p.m., top-seeded North Dakota State will host Wofford. The day wraps up at 6 p.m. when Eastern Washington hosts Illinois State.