The 2015 Patriot League offensive player of the year and a first-team All-American will be a junior next season.

Edmonds wrote on Instagram: “I choose to stay with the road that God has put forth in front of me. I know my time will come but only when he knows I am ready for that moment. To my brothers. Thankyou for your support and understanding. I’m a FORDHAM RAM for life and I’ve never been more ambitious for the next two years ahead of us. #NowOrNever”

Edmonds was the FCS freshman of the year in 2014. In 26 career games, he’s totaled 3,486 rushing yards and 4,604 all-purpose yards and scored 49 touchdowns.

Fordham coach Joe Moorhead left the Rams after the season to become Penn State’s offensive coordinator. The Rams promoted offensive coordinator Andrew Breiner to head coach last month.

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Weber, also a Fresno State assistant from 2004-05, will coach the offensive line. He spent the past three seasons as Utah State’s offensive line and associate head coach. After leaving Fresno State, Weber spent a season at North Carolina and six at BYU.

Bernardi, a four-year starter at center for Bulldogs from 2007-10, will coach the tight ends. He spent the past three seasons as a graduate assistant coach at Oregon after two years at Tennessee as the offensive line quality control coach.

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NDSU beat UNI in two tight matchups this season, including 23-13 in the playoff quarterfinals on the way to winning its fifth straight FCS championship.

The Panthers are expected to return a standout team next season and are 3-1 under coach Mark Farley when playing NDSU inside the UNI-Dome. The Panthers hold a 26-22 series lead and the national powers will meet again Oct. 29 in Cedar Falls.

“I feel as though the Northern Iowa-North Dakota State matchup each year always is the national championship, no matter what,” said former UNI cornerback Deiondre’ Hall, who is training for the upcoming NFL Draft. “That rivalry just mean everything to the guys on both sides.”

The Panthers, who finished 9-5 and with a No. 8 ranking in the STATS FCS Top 25,will host Big Sky Conference power Montana on Sept. 10 and also visit Big 12 member Iowa State (Sept. 3) and Eastern Washington (Sept. 17) from the Big Sky prior to their Missouri Valley schedule.

In addition to NDSU, the Panthers will host Southern Illinois (Oct. 1, Homecoming), Missouri State (Oct. 22) and South Dakota State (Nov. 19) within conference play.

UNI will return such standouts as quarterback Aaron Bailey and running back Tyvis Smith, both 1,000-yard rushers, along with defensive end Karter Schult.

2016 Northern Iowa Schedule

Sept. 3, at Iowa State

Sept. 10, Montana

Sept. 17, at Eastern Washington

Oct. 1, Southern Illinois* (Homecoming)

Oct. 8, at South Dakota*

Oct. 15, at Youngstown State*

Oct. 22, Missouri State*

Oct. 29, North Dakota State*

Nov. 5, at Indiana State*

Nov. 12, at Western Illinois*

Nov. 19, South Dakota State*

* – Missouri Valley Football Conference game

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Topping his recently concluded season will be no easy task. Watson won the Manning Award on Thursday as the nation’s top college quarterback.

Watson passed for 4,104 yards and 35 touchdowns. He rushed for 1,105 yards and 12 TDs. His team went 14-1, its lone loss coming against Alabama in Monday night’s national title game in Phoenix.

”I’ve watched the game probably, maybe four to five times already,” Watson said. ”I evaluated myself … the missed throws I had, and the reasons for those missed throws, the reason for the interception.

”I’m just trying to improve my game, someway and somehow,” Watson continued. ”I’m trying to learn from it and get better. We want to be in that championship game next year.”

The award is named after former college and NFL star Archie Manning, as well as his quarterback playing sons, Peyton and Eli.

”I’ve got to put Deshaun right in there with anybody,” Archie Manning said. ”His passing ability was fantastic. His athleticism just shows out everywhere. … He’s got a great future. I know Atlantic Coast Conference defensive coordinators aren’t looking forward to facing him next year and everything he presents in a football game.”

Watson, who was a Heisman Trophy finalist this season, is the 12th annual recipient of the Manning Award and could very well be the 13th if next season goes as he intends.

”We have chance to be one of the best offenses ever in college football” in 2016, Watson said, noting that Clemson should have about eight offensive starters returning. ”That’s our motivation – to be one of the best ever.”

Watson also is likely to be among the top preseason candidates for next year’s Heisman Trophy, and it sounds like he’ll embrace the hype surrounding that, even if it’s not an overriding goal.

”It’s something that, of course, I want to achieve,” Watson said. ”The Heisman, it would be a privilege and an honor to receive that award, but at the end of the day I want to be the best I can be at my position for my team.

”I respect the game and everything that comes with it,” Watson added. ”So if that happens, it happens, but it’s not going to define me and the person I am on and off the field.”

—

AP college football website: collegefootball.ap.org

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The explosive wideout who goes by the nickname ”Hollywood” announced his decision on Twitter late Wednesday night. He addressed his letter to ”Ram Nation” and said there is ”no place like home and y’all will forever have my heart.”

Higgins leaves as the school’s all-time leader in receptions, yards and touchdowns. Rams coach Mike Bobo wished him well on the CSU football Twitter page, posting a statement that says ”Rashard will always be a Ram, and I have no doubt he will be successful as he joins his fellow former Rams proudly representing Colorado State in the NFL.”

During his sophomore season in 2014, Higgins was an All-American with 96 receptions for 1,750 yards and 17 TDs. He had 66 catches for 933 yards and eight TDs this season.

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With three-year, record-breaking starter Jared Goff heading off to the NFL, the Golden Bears will have an open competition with four candidates vying for the starting role when spring practice begins in about two months.

But with three full years to build up the roster and implement his system, Dykes expects a much smoother transition than the one the Bears endured during a one-win season in Goff’s first season as starter in 2013.

”We’ll kind of toss the ball out and see where it goes,” Dykes said Wednesday. ”Hopefully what will happen is two of them will stand out, or three of them will stand out and we’ll give them more reps. We’ll divvy up the reps according to who deserves them and how it plays out. If one guy takes the lead, we’ll invest some more reps and see how he plays. All of that stuff really depends on the play of the quarterbacks.”

The four quarterbacks in the mix for the starting job are last year’s backup Chase Forrest, 2014 second-stringer Luke Rubenzer, who played safety last season, Ross Bowers, who sat out as a freshman last year, and early enrollee freshman Max Gilliam.

Forest threw 18 passes last season as a freshman, while Rubenzer threw 21 passes and ran 52 times the previous season when he came in to spot Goff with his running ability.

With three of the four quarterbacks having experience in the system, Dykes expects a cleaner competition than the one Goff won as an early enrollee freshman in 2013.

But Goff will leave a big void. He holds school records for yards passing (12,200), completions (977) and touchdown passes (96). He improved every season and finished this past year with career highs of 4,719 yards passing, 43 touchdown passes, 64.5 percent completion rate and a 161.3 passer rating.

Depending on who wins the job, the Bear Raid offense might need tinkering.

”That’s one of the things we’ve always done pretty well is figure out what a quarterback can do and adjust the offense accordingly,” Dykes said. ”We have some base things that we do. If we have more of a running quarterback then obviously the offense will change to feature more quarterback runs and more play-action passes and that type of thing than maybe have if you have a pure pocket guy.”

While Cal returns four starting offensive linemen and its top three rushers from last season, the new quarterback will have to break in some new receivers. With Kenny Lawler’s decision last week to leave early for the NFL, the Bears will be without their top six receivers from last season.

Chad Hansen is the leading returner with 19 catches last season and Raymond Hudson had 10. Dykes is looking for Carlos Strickland and Brandon Singleton to step up after sitting most of the past season as freshmen, as well as hoping to get contributions from some incoming freshmen.

”That’s going to be the fun thing about spring football,” he said. ”There will be a lot of guys catching balls and having a competition to get on the radar. … I love the talent level of these guys. I wish they had more experience, but I think it will be a good group.”

With Cal having improved from one win in Dykes’ first year to a 5-7 mark in 2014 to an 8-5 record this past season, recruiting has become easier. Dykes also credited improved relationships with his coaches and high school coaches and the improved academics at Cal that make it easier to sell to high school players and their parents.

”From that standpoint, it’s a night and day difference,” Dykes said.

The Bears already have nine early enrollees for this year’s recruiting class and several other commitments, leaving only a handful of open scholarships to offer to players in the coming weeks.

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The former Wisconsin defensive tackle is finally getting into the College Football Hall of Fame.

”Straight out of the blue. Didn’t even know it was happening. A complete shock,” Krumrie said.

Krumrie, 55, was part of a 16-member class announced last week. He will be the 10th Wisconsin player to be enshrined but the first defensive player to get the honor.

A ceremony in New York in December will culminate a wait that started when he was first eligible for induction about 24 years ago.

It’s not surprising then, that Krumrie didn’t believe Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez when he called to deliver the news. Krumrie now lives in Colorado, where he is a spokesman for a brain imaging facility.

”He says, `You made it,”’ Krumrie, in a recent phone interview, said in recalling Alvarez’s call.

”Made what?” Krumrie responded. ”I didn’t know.”

Krumrie started his collegiate career as a linebacker at Wisconsin before moving to nose guard. He led the Badgers in tackles in each of his four seasons, and ranks third in school history with 444 career tackles.

Krumrie’s 276 solo tackles are a Badgers’ career record. He never missed a start in 46 games.

Outside of Wisconsin, Krumrie might be better known for his NFL career with the Cincinnati Bengals. He broke his leg in the 1989 Super Bowl, and played in two Pro Bowls.

Now Krumrie will also be known as a Hall of Fame member. It is worth the wait for him, even though he did play a less glamorous position.

Defensive tackles aren’t known for making sacks. They’re usually grinders in the trenches who take up blockers to free up linebackers, which makes Krumrie’s productivity even more impressive.

”Any defensive tackle is going to take longer,” Krumrie said.

Asked how he wanted his collegiate career to be remembered, Krumrie said, ”Just as a tough Wisconsin kid that always gave everything he had.”

—

Follow Genaro Armas on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GArmasAP and the AP’s college football site at http://collegefootball.ap.org/

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It’s going to be modeled after what he learned at Ohio State the past two seasons as its defensive coordinator.

Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Ash said his immediate focus was finding ways to get the Scarlet Knights to play better next season after a 4-8 record that led to the firing of coach Kyle Flood.

”We’re not sitting here talking about championships,” Ash said. ”We’re talking about getting better every single day. Does every coach in this profession have a dream of potentially playing in big games like that? Absolutely.”

Ash was in the national title game a year ago, and he said it was unbelievable feeling.

Now the job is getting Rutgers to that level, and it is not going to be easy in the tough Big Ten Conference. He is already behind in the recruiting race with many prospects.

”…We have so many things we have to do to try to get this program going in the right direction, to compete in the division we’re in,” he said. ”We’re going to do that one step at a time. We’re not going to be in any rush, take shortcuts, worry about two years, three years down the road. We’re worried about being the best we can be today and get better tomorrow.”

Since being hired in early December, Ash has assembled a coaching staff that also has Buckeye roots. Eight coaches and members of his supports staff have ties to Ohio State.

”That was really important to me because they’re going to understand the expectations of the program, they’re going to understand the day-to-day operations because a lot of the things I’m going to do are going to be modeled by what we did at Ohio State. So that was important to me,” Ash said.

Scarlet Knights offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons as a graduate assistant at Ohio State.

New defensive coordinator Jay Niemann coached Ash at Drake.

Ash had a plan for hiring coach. He wanted guys with character who could develop relationships with the players. He wanted good recruiters, people who could work together and men who came from successful programs for the most part. He also wants a staff that loyal, especially when times get tough.

”The last thing was high energy,” Ash said. ”We talked about that at the press conference. We needed to change the culture here at Rutgers in the football program, needed to start with positive energy. It starts with myself and the coaches I bring into this program to try to instill the type of energy that we want in this program and in these players also.”

Ash is still looking for one more coach, which will likely be a running backs coach.

Ash, who stayed at Ohio State for its bowl game, has talked to some players and others have come to his office to meet him. He has not had a chance to meet everyone because of the semester break.

When players return on Jan. 19, the offseason conditioning program starts at 5 a.m.

Ash isn’t worried how many recruits he gets next month. He seemingly has 12 players committed at this point.

”We’re not going to take shortcuts and go out and grab somebody that maybe is not the right fit, whether it be character-wise or academically or athletically and take a lot of risk,” he said. ”It’s not just the best way to build a program for the long-term. There’s no number. It’s all about the right guys.”

What Ash wants is a team that competes every day, adding if players aren’t willing to compete they need not show up.

”Eventually when we get on the field the wins will come because of that,” Ash said. ”We have to focus on the culture, the work ethic, the toughness, all the things that make you a successful football team. We have no idea where we’re at right now. We have to find the baseline, a starting spot, and develop the plan to get where we want to be. The rest will take care of itself.”

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Your game is a unanimous choice to join the short list of some of the most dramatic, exciting, fantastic finishes to a college football season.

With one big play after another – by both teams – Alabama beat Clemson 45-40 on Monday night in the College Football Playoff title game.

An instant classic. And no doubt, this one will last for a long time.

The game was a thrill-a-minute. Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry ran for three touchdowns, including a 50-yarder to open the scoring. A daring on side kick with the score tied 24-all led to an Alabama points explosion, with quarterback Jake Coker throwing for two long touchdowns to tight end O.J Howard. Oh, and Kenyan Drake returned a kickoff 95 yards for another score.

Clemson didn’t flinch. Dual-threat quarterback Deshaun Watson threw four touchdown and had 478 total yards – 403 passing. He was virtually a one-man show in keeping the Tigers ahead for a while.

In the end, it was too much Alabama, and the Tide won their fourth national crown in the past seven years. When the game ended, the entire crowd of 75,765 – the majority of them Clemson fans – stood and cheered. Not only for their team, but for the fabulous game they had just witnessed.

Here’s a few other epic games that belong in the club:

NOTRE DAME 10, MICHIGAN STATE 10 (1966)

A tie is an epic? When it comes to this one, it tops the list. Ara Parseghian’s Notre Dame team came into the game unbeaten and ranked No. 1. Duffy Daugherty’s Michigan State team also was unbeaten and ranked No. 2. The game, sometimes referred to as the ”Game of the Century,” ended in controversy as Notre Dame, playing at Spartan Stadium, elected not to try for a score on the final series. The not-so-Fighting Irish ended up No. 1 in the final AP poll. The game featured Terry Hanratty getting knocked out of the game after a sack by Michigan State’s Bubba Smith. The Irish had the ball with 1:01 left after rallying to tie the score, and needed about 40 yards to get into Joe Azzaro’s field goal range. Parseghian chose to run out the clock. Alabama finished the same season 11-0-0.

MIAMI 31, NEBRASKA 30 (1984 ORANGE BOWL)

Miami, which considered shutting down its program due to lack of interest several years earlier, pulled off one of the greatest upsets to win its first national title. Led by gawky yet efficient quarterback Bernie Kosar, Miami built an early lead and the hometown crowd rocked the Orange Bowl. The potent Cornhuskers needed a trick play – a ”fumblerooski” TD by lineman Dean Steinkuhler – to stay in the game. They pulled within a point with less than a minute left, but instead of kicking the extra point that would have assured a championship, coach Tom Osborne decided to go for the win with a 2-point try. Turner Gill’s pass was swatted away by Ken Calhoun, and Miami benefited when higher ranked teams lost in earlier bowl games and rose from fifth to No. 1 in the final AP poll.

OHIO STATE 31, MIAMI 24, 2 OT (2003 FIESTA BOWL)

Miami was poised for another perfect season. They were a unanimous No. 1 choice riding a 34-game winning streak. Ohio State also was unbeaten, ranked No. 2, but appeared to be no match for the speedy `Canes. Led by freshman running back Maurice Clarett, though, Ohio State outplayed Miami for much of the game. But it was a still debated pass interference call in overtime that gave the Buckeyes another chance, and they won 31-24 in double OT. With his team down 24-17 and facing fourth down in OT, Craig Krenzel’s pass into the end zone was called incomplete by one official, but another ruled interference against Miami. Ohio State then tied it, and won it in the second OT for its first national crown in 34 years.

TEXAS 41, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 38 (2006 ROSE BOWL)

This game was like Alabama-Clemson for excitement, but had an even wilder finish. It was a No. 1 vs. No. 2 game, and USC was loaded – with two Heisman winners in running back Reggie Bush and quarterback Matt Leinart. Like Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, Texas QB Vince Young piled up over 400 total yards, but his Longhorns came out a winner when he scored on fourth down in the closing seconds.

FLORIDA STATE 34, AUBURN 31 (2014 ROSE BOWL)

The Seminoles stormed to a 21-3 lead behind Heisman winner Jameis Winston, but Auburn caught up and the lead went back and forth with the Tigers going ahead 31-27 with 1:19 left. But Winston led them to victory – and the national title – with a short TD pass to Kelvin Benjamin with 13 seconds to go.

—

AP College Football website: collegefootball.ap.org

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The school announced Drinkwitz’s hiring with a news release Monday, roughly a week after the dismissal of Matt Canada – who has been hired as offensive coordinator at Pittsburgh.

In a statement, head coach Dave Doeren called Drinkwitz ”one of the bright and innovative offensive minds in our game” who has been able to ”blend some of the most successful offensive styles in the game.”

Drinkwitz had spent the past two seasons at Boise State. He coached tight ends in his first year and then worked as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach last season.

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