(STATS) – By not giving up the football, The Citadel is planning to take the Southern Conference title.
The No. 8 Bulldogs beat No. 5 Chattanooga 22-14 on Saturday at Johnson Hagood Stadium in a matchup of unbeaten teams and the first game between two Top 10 SoCon teams since 2012.
The two teams shared last year’s conference title, but The Citadel (6-0, 4-0) has first place after beating Chattanooga (6-1, 4-1), which has won at least a share of three straight titles, for the first time since 2011.
The Bulldogs and their triple-option offense entered the game ranked second in the FCS in time of possession and they increased their average by holding the ball for 39 minutes, 26 seconds against Chattanooga. All but four of their 81 plays were runs.
The Mocs were on the field for so long that five defenders had at least 10 tackles, led by linebacker Nakevion Leslie with 19.
Quarterback Dominique Allen led the way with 31 carries for 135 yards and two touchdowns.
The Citadel went ahead for good 17-14 when Cody Clark kicked a 37-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.
Mocs quarterback Alejandro Bennfield was penalized for intentional grounding from his team’s end zone on the final play of the third quarter, resulting in a safety and a 19-14 Bulldogs lead.
Clark then kicked a 32-yard field goal with 24 seconds remaining in the game.
Bennifield completed 17 of 28 attempts for 240 yards and a touchdown. The Citadel limited the Mocs’ potent run game to 55 yards.
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STATS FCS TOP 25 SCHEDULE=
Saturday, Oct. 15
All Times ET
No. 3 Jacksonville State (5-1, 2-0 OVC) 34, Austin Peay (0-6, 0-5) 14Running back Josh Clemons (19 carries, 143 yards, two touchdowns) and quarterback Eli Jenkins (15 carries, 117 yards, two touchdowns) led a Jacksonville State offense that had for the ball for less than 24 minutes. Jenkins also had a touchdown pass.
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No. 7 James Madison (6-1, 4-0) 42, New Hampshire (4-3, 3-1) 39
James Madison nearly let a 42-12 lead slip away in the final 10 minutes before holding on in a first-place battle in CAA Football.
Quarterback Bryan Schor accounted for 312 yards (242 passing, 70 rushing) and a career-best five total touchdowns. He threw two touchdowns each to Brandon Ravenel and Terrance Alls and scored on a 5-yard run.
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No. 15 North Carolina A&T (5-1, 3-0 MEAC) 52, Bethune-Cookman (0-5, 0-3) 35
A&T senior Tarik Cohen rushed for 220 yards and three touchdowns. He has gone over 200 yards in three straight wins.
Trailing 35-31, the Aggies took the lead for good on Lamar Raynard’s 37-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Bell with 9:22 left. On Bethune’s next play, linebacker Jeremy Taylor intercepted quarterback Larry Brihm Jr. and returned the ball 24 yards for a touchdown.
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No. 16 Coastal Carolina (4-2) 17, Gardner-Webb (3-4) 7
Coastal avoided an upset with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. De’Angelo Henderson (22 carries, 101 yards) scored on a 1-yard run to push his Division I record for consecutive games with a touchdown to 32 and Tyler Keane threw a 7-yard score to Bruce Mapp.
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Maine (3-3, 2-1) 20, No. 17 Albany (4-2, 1-2) 16
Dan Collins threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns – each at least 40 yards long – as Maine earned its third straight win and handed Albany its second consecutive defeat.
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Holy Cross (3-4) 27, No. 20 Harvard (4-1) 17
Harvard’s Ivy League-record 16-game road winning streak ended as well its 16-game winning streak against non-league opponents. The Crimson hadn’t lost outside the league since a 30-22 defeat to Holy Cross on Sept. 17, 2011.
In his first career start, Crimson sophomore Tom Stewart was 19 of 33 for 219 yards and a touchdown with one interception. The Crimson also lost two fumbles.
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No. 22 North Dakota (5-2, 4-0 Big Sky), beat Southern Utah (3-3, 2-2) 23
North Dakota posted its fifth straight win and took sole possession of first place in the Big Sky. Keaton Studsrud was 20 of 27 for 282 yards and four touchdowns – all to different receivers – and the Fighting Hawks held the ball for 39 minutes, 36 seconds.
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No. 24 Samford (5-1, 3-1 Southern) 55, VMI (3-3, 1-2) 21
Samford quarterback Devlin Hodges remained red hot, completing 35 of 50 passes for 435 yards and five touchdowns with one interception.
Wide receivers Karel Hamilton (12 receptions, 163 yards, one touchdown) and Emmauel Obajimi (8-129-1) were Hodges’ favorite targets, while Kelvin McKnight caught two touchdowns.
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No. 12 Western Illinois (4-1, 1-1 Missouri Valley) at Missouri State (3-2, 1-1), 3 p.m.
No. 11 South Dakota State (3-2, 2-0 Missouri Valley) at No. 1 North Dakota State (5-0, 2-0), 3:30 p.m.
No. 13 Villanova (5-1, 3-0 CAA) at No. 6 Richmond (5-1, 2-1), 3:30 p.m.
Abilene Christian (0-6, 0-4 Southland) at No. 2 Sam Houston State (5-0, 4-0), 4 p.m.
Sacramento State (1-5, 1-2 Big Sky) at No. 10 Montana (4-1, 1-1), 4:30 p.m.
No. 19 Cal Poly (3-2, 1-1 Big Sky) at Portland State (2-4, 1-2), 5:30 p.m.
No. 23 Central Arkansas (4-1, 3-0 Southland) at McNeese (3-3, 2-2), 7 p.m.
No. 18 Eastern Illinois (4-2, 2-1 OVC) at Tennessee Tech (2-4, 2-2), 7 p.m.
No. 21 Northern Iowa (2-3, 1-1 Missouri Valley) at No. 14 Youngstown State (4-1, 2-0), 7 p.m.
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IDLE=
No. 4 Eastern Washington (5-1), No. 9 Charleston Southern (3-2) and No. 25 Grambling State (4-1)
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