Saturday college football: Army-Navy, FCS playoffs and more

Vernon Adams threw for 324 yards and two touchdowns to lead Eastern Washington to a 35-24 win over Jacksonville State on Saturday, clinching the Eagles a berth in the FCS Playoffs semifinals. They will face Towson in the semifinals on Saturday, Dec. 21st in Cheney, Wash.

This game was a close affair early, as neither side could really get ahead of the other. The Eagles got on the board first when Adams hit Connor Kupp for a 29 yard touchdown pass, but Jacksonville State tied the score on the next drive on a touchdown pass from wide receiver Telvin Brown to Gavin Ellis. They would go on to take the lead in the second quarter when Eli Jenkins connected with Anthony Johnson for a 10 yard touchdown pass, but EWU answered less than two minutes later on a Quincy Forte touchdown run. The two teams traded touchdowns again before halftime, and things looked tight at the break at 21-21.

The North Dakota State Bison kept up their dominant form on Saturday afternoon, flattening Coastal Carolina 48-14 in the Fargodome and booking their ticket to the FCS Playoff semifinals. Sam Ojuri rushed for 162 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Bison, who improved their record to 13-0 on the year.

There was some question as to how North Dakota State players would respond in the first game since head coach Craig Bohl announced he was leaving for Wyoming after the season, but those worries were put to rest early when the Bison opened up a 17-0 lead in the first 15 minutes. Ojuri had the first touchdown of the game on a 73-yard run, and Brock Jensen added his own 10-yard touchdown run minutes later. The lead would grow to 31-0 in the first half before Coastal Carolina got on the board with a touchdown run by Lorenzo Taliaferro. NDSU would go into the break with a 34-7 lead, and at that point the game was essentially over.

No SB Nation Live today, but we still have this open thread for you, because we are all wonderful friends.

Here’s the TV schedule for the rest of your Saturday:

Unlike the FBS level, the FCS level still has their two-time reigning champs in line for a three-peat opportunity. The Bison will face a tough Coastal Carolina team here that has won 12 games, but should be favored to win easily.

Our only FBS game before bowl season sees an Army team whose only FBS wins have come against 2-10 Eastern Michigan and 4-8 Louisiana Tech squaring off against a Navy team that has won three in a row and already knows its destination. But that’s fine. It’s arguably the greatest rivalry in all of sports. Expect a lot of running in this one -- the Black Knights have the second-best rushing offense in the nation, while the Midshipmen are right behind them in third.