By MATT PIKE
The College Football season is officially here, with nearly every team in action for Week One of the season, after playing in Week Zero matchups the previous week. Each week on St. Joseph Post, we'll go around the area to tell you how every college football team you care about in the KFEQ listening area did, including Missouri Western State University, Northwest Missouri State, Benedictine, Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, and Nebraska.
Bye weeks: Northwest Missouri State University
MoWest struggles offensively to figure out UCM defense
Missouri Western State Univerity fell at Central Missouri on Thursday night, dropping to 0-2 on the season, losing 49-10 at Walton Stadium in Warrensburg.
After MoWest scored the first points of the game on a 37-yard field goal from Latrell Armstrong the Mules answered, taking the lead on a one yard touchdown run from Damien Brown, ending the first quarter up 7-3. The Gfiffons took the lead back in the second quarter on a one-yard touchdown run from Rickie Dunn with 11:58 to go, from there though it was all UCM, the Mules scoring on six consecutive drives. Jordan Pachot threw touchdown passes of eight yards to Jack Pospisil, 30 yards to Jake Weber, and a five yard pass near the end of the half to Marlon Lindsey to put the Mules up 28-10 at the halftime break.
After halftime, the Griffons got the ball to start the second half and drove 41 yards, but a 44-yard field goal attempt on that drive was blocked. Brown scored rushing touchdowns of eight and four yards in the third quarter for UCM, before Pachot capped the scoring in the fourth quarter with his fourth touchdown pass to his fourth different receiver, finding Cole Watson on a one yard throw. Third and fourth downs were a struggle for MoWest, the Griffons going just 5-of-15 on third down and 2-of-5 on fourth. MoWest was limited to 270 yards of offense, while surrendering 436 yards to UCM.
Dunn was a bright spot for the Griffons rushing 12 times for 90 yards with the touchdown. Crew Myers was the leading receiver with five catches for 83 yards. Isaiah Tate completed 12-of-24 passes for 115 yards.
MoWest (0-2, 0-1 MIAA) is back on the road Saturday to take on Missouri S&T. Kickoff in Rolla is set for 6pm.
Ravens beat heat to trounce Bobcats for first win of season
The Benedictine Raven Football team bounced back after a season opening loss with a convincing road win on Saturday night at the Oak Bowl in Peru, Nebraska, beating Peru State College 47-6.
After the Ravens scored the first points of the game, after just a five play drive, on a 18 yard touchdown pass from Patrick Heitert to Xiomar Hernandez, the Bobcats answered on their first drive of the game with an one yard rushing touchdown from John Holcombe II. But on the ensuing extra point the kick was blocked and Isaiah Hasten returned it 97 yards for two, putting Benedictine up 9-6.
After the blocked point after, the Ravens scored 33 unanswered points, starting with a six yard touchdown pass from Heitert to Matthew Sanford to end the first quarter with Benedictine up 16-6. In the second quarter, Zemar Cheatam rushed for a one yard score and Kylar Haarhuis added a 38 yard field goal late in the quarter to extend the lead. Hernandez put the ball in the endzone twice on the ground after halftime in the third quarter, scoring from two yards out and one yard out respectively, both times on long drives of 10 and 12 plays. The Ravens capped the scoring in the fourth quarter with a 10 yard touchdown pass from Mark Harris to Joey Burke ending another long drive of 11 plays.
Benedictine finished with 430 yards of total offense. Hernandez finished with 66 yards rushing on 17 carries and four catches for 45 yards receiving with a total of three touchdowns. Heitert added 96 yards rushing while going 11-of-19 with 127 yards passing. Joseph Lagafuaina led the Raven receivers with 48 yards on two receptions as 8 Ravens caught at least one pass from Heitert and Harris.
Benedictine (1-1) returns home Saturday, hosting (13) William Penn University (2-0) at 1 pm inside Larry Wilcox Stadium.
Simmons shines in debut as #25 Mizzou crushes Arkansas Pine Bluff
New Missouri Tigers starting quarterback Austin Simmons threw for 252 yards and four touchdowns in a debut that lasted less than a half as the No. 25 Tigers rolled to a season-opening 54-14 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Thursday night.
Simmons, who lost the starting job to Trinidad Chambliss at Ole Miss following an injury last season transferred to join the Tigers, and proceeded to go 17-of-19 through the air, before giving way to backup Matt Zollers for the final series of the first half. Simmons' favorite target was Donovan Olugbode, who finished with eight catches for 116 yards and two of the scores for Missouri. Simmons' also connected with Shaun Terry II, as well as his former Ole Miss teammate Cayden Lee who alo transferred to Missouri, connecting with both four times and each for a score.
Simmons helped the Tigers set the tone early, going 7-of-7 for 61 yards with a 25-yard touchdown strike to Shaun Terry II in the opening drive of the game. After getting the ball back, Simmons hit Olugbode from 14 yards out to cap the next series, then in the second quarter running back Jamal Roberts plowed in for a touchdown early in the quarter. Through the second, Simmons added long touchdown throws to Olugbode, a 35 yard touchdown pass, and Lee, 47 yard score, before his day was done with Missouri leading 37-0.
The Tigers also got two points off a safety on a punt that sailed over Pine Bluff punter George Wiles-Koehler's head, which he kicked out of the back of the endzone, and a Blake Craig 32 yard field goal at the end of the half, going into halftime up 40-0. Out of the halftime break, the Golden Lions got on the scoreboard in the third quarter on a 27 yard touchdown run from Za'Marion Webber. In the fourth quarter, Zollers rushed for a five yard score, the first rushing touchdown of his career, which Arkansas Pine Bluff answered with a 16 yard touchdown pass from Jack Schierholz to David Brewer IV. The Tigers capped the scoring with a nine yard score by Preston Hatfield
Roberts, getting the start in place of All-America running back Ahmad Hardy, rushed for 47 yards and a touchdown. Hardy is still recovering from a gunshot wound that he sustained as a bystander earlier this year. Left tackle Cayden Green was also sidelined in the game by an undisclosed injury. Jack Lange got the start and played well in his place.
Missouri (1-0) will travel to Lawerence on Friday to face Kansas (1-0). Kickoff is at 7pm. The game will be televised on Fox. It will not air on KFEQ due to Royals baseball and High School Football.
Jayhawks shake off slow start in dominant win over Long Island
The Kansas Jayhawks shook off a sluggish start, rolling to a 51-6 victory over Long Island University in their season-opener on Friday night at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
The new starting quarteback for the Jayhawks after serving as a backu last season to Jalon Daniels, Isaiah Marshall threw for 246 yards and two touchdowns, Yasin Willis ran for 72 yards and two scores in his Kansas debut. Buffalo transfer Nik McMillan had six catches for 130 yards and a touchdown, and Tate Nagy added a second-half scoring catch off a deflected pass to help Kansas roll to victory, after starting the game leading just 6-0, on a five yard run from Willis, with a two point conversion attempt failing.
The first quarter ended with the Jayhawks holding just that 6-0 lead. In the end though, Kansas piled up 613 yards of total offense in the return of Andy Kotelnicki, their former offensive coordinator who departed a couple of years ago for the same job at Penn State, but returned to the Jayhawks as the associate head coach earlier this year. After a 32 yard field goal by Martin Connington to start the second quarter, Willis added a 10 yard rushing touchdown to make it 16-0. Later in the quarter, Jalen Dupree’s scored from three yards out, before Marshall tossed a 19-yard touchdown pass to McMillan that sent the Jayhawks into the halftime break with a 30-0 lead.
The Jayhawks soaked up most of the third quarter with another touchdown drive, a 15 play drive that lasted almost seven minutes, ending with Marshall finding Nagy on the six yard touchdown pass. From there the backups came on, Micah Johnson scored in the fourth quarter on an eight yard jaunt and Donald Collier added a three yard touchdown run. Long Island kicker Will Johnson hit two field goals, both from 39 yards, for the lone points of the game for the Sharks.
Next, Kansas (1-0) Kansas hosts Missuri (1-0) on Friday night for the first time since October 29th, 2005. Kickoff is at pm and the game will air on Fox.
Wildcats trounce Colonels 71-3 to open Colin Klein era in Manhattan
The Kansas State Wildcats opened the Collin Klein era by trouncing the Nicholls Colonels 71-3 on a sweltering Saturday night at Bill Snyder Family Stadium .
Avery Johnson threw for 199 yards and had four total touchdowns in just over a half, Rodney Fields Jr. ran for 101 yards and a score, and Joe Jackson had touchdowns on the ground and through the air, and Jaron Tibbs and Josh Manning also had touchdown catches for the Wildcats, who looked every bit as dominant as they did back in 2012, when Klein was their Heisman Trophy finalist at quarterback leading them to the Big 12 championship. Klein had been serving as the offensive coordinator at Texas A&M when Chris Klieman abruptly retired after last season and was hired as the head coach at Kansas State shortly after
Johnson wasted no time finding Tibbs to cap the game's opening drive with a seven yard touchdown pass, breaking a tie with Will Howard for the school record with his 49th career TD pass. Johnson added a touchdown on the ground rushing for a 10 yard score with a two point conversion run from Linkon Cure, and the Wildcats capped the first quarter scoring with a special teams touchdown as Brandon White bounced off a series of defenders for a 65 yard punt return touchdown, leading 22-0 at the end of the first quarter after the extra point.
In the second quarter Fields Jr. rushed for a 26 yard score, and on the following drive the Colonels put their only points of the day on the board with a 32 yard field goal by Kingston Phan. Johnson ended the second quarter scoring with his 50th touchdown through the air on a 43-yard strike to Jackson, putting Kansas State up 36-3 at the halftime break. In the third quarter, Johnson threw another touchdwn to Manning from 11 yards out as the Wildcats continued to pull away. Jackson rushed for an 11 yard score in the third and Jay Harris scored from 11 yards as well, extending the Kansas State lead to 57-3 at the end of three quarters.
Sophomore running back Monterrio Elston Jr added a 46 yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter for the Wildcats before backup quarterback Jacob Knuth rushed for a two yard score to cap the scoring. Kansas State piled up 559 yards of offense and finished just five points shy of the single-game school record.
Up next, Kansas State (1-0) welcomes Washington State to Manhattan on Saturday. Kickoff is at 11am and the game will air on TNT.
Nebraska pulls away in fourth quarter to top Ohio in season opener
Nebraska pulled away from Ohio in the fourth quarter and the Cornhuskers secured a 49-21 victory on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in their season opener.
Anthony Colandrea, the UNLV transfer making his first start for the Cornhuskers, led five straight touchdown drives to turn a close game into a blowout, passing for 275 yards with three touchdowns and running for a fourth going 18-of-32 through the air. Jamal Rule ran for 122 yards and scored three times, becoming the first Nebraska freshman running back to rush for 100 yards in an opener since 2004.
The Cornhuskers got all they could handle for three quarters from the Bobcats after Ohio came away with points on their first three possessions, and were within a missed field goal of taking the lead in the third quarter, even being within seven points early in the fourth quarter. To start the game Nick Poulos threw a four yard touchdown pass to Riley Neer, putting Ohio on top, before Nebraska answered with a one yard touchdown run from Rule. Will Hryszko hit field goals of 42 and 45 yards, to take a 13-7 lead early in the second quarter. With 8:13 remaining in the half, Rule caught a 24 yard receiving score from Colandrea, putting the Cornhuskers ahead once again 14-13, which is where the score held at the haltime break.
In the third quarter, after Hryszko missed a 44 yard field goal, Nebraska responded by extending their lead, Colandrea rushing for a 13 yard score and after a punt they added on more as Mekhi Nelson rushed in from 29 yards out to make it 28-13 going into the fourth quarter. Poulos rushed in from one yard to start the fourth quarter and the Bobcats got within a touchdown after a two point conversion pass from Poulos to Dom Dorwart, but again Nebraska answers as Nelson caught a short pass from Colandrea and split four defenders on his way to a 51-yard TD. WIth 5:57 left in the game Rule scored his final touchdown of the day on an 11 yard rush, before Colandrea capped the scoring with his final touchdown, a nine yard pass to Kwazi Gilmer.
Up next, Nebraska (1-0) hosts Bowling Green (0-1) on Saturday. Kickoff is at 6pm and the game will air on FS1.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.