Murray State Senior QB Casey Brockman Looking to Break Record | NCAA.com
Friday, October 26, 2012
More Than a Passing Fancy: Murray State senior quarterback Casey Brockman enters this week’s contest at Jacksonville State with 8,932 career passing yards, just 97 yards away from passing Morehead State’s Chris Swartz (1987-90) for the Ohio Valley Conference career record. He currently ranks fourth among active players at the FCS level in career passing yards. He also needs just 496 yards of total offense to set the OVC all-time record in that category, currently held by Murray State’s Michael Proctor (9,886 yards from 1986-89). Brockman enters the week with 9,390 yards of total offense, which is second among active FCS players. Brockman ranks first nationally in completions (37.0/game), second in total offense (384.29 yards/game), passing yards/game (381.57) and total passing yards (2,671) and fifth in points responsible for (19.17/game).
Lumberjacks Looking for Seven: Northern Arizona heads to Northern Colorado on Saturday seeking its first same season seven-game winning streak since 1958 when it played for the NAIA National Championship and was 11-0 before falling in the championship game to Northeastern Oklahoma. Northern Arizona won its sixth consecutive game with a 21-7 victory against UC Davis, the program’s first six-game winning streak since 2008. NAU is 4-0 in league for the first time since 2008. NAU has only started 5-0 in conference once – in 1996. This marks the ninth time the Lumberjacks have been 6-1 after seven games, having also accomplished the feat in 1923, 1956, 1957, 1962, 1976, 1977, 1993 and 1996 and 2008. Northern Arizona closed the 1978 season with three wins and opened the 1979 season with five wins. NAU hasn’t won seven games in a regular season since 2003, the last time the program made the playoffs.
Raiding the End Zone: Colgate travels to Bucknell this week looking to extend its three-game winning streak. Colgate’s current three-game winning streak has produced 47 points at Yale, 51 against Holy Cross and 57 against Georgetown. The latter two scoring totals were all-time highs for Colgate against the Crusaders and Hoyas, respectively. The combined 155 points is also Colgate’s best three-game total since 1930, when those powerhouse Raiders pitched three consecutive shutouts while scoring 38 against St. Lawrence, 99 versus Bethany and 41 against Lafayette. In addition, if Colgate can reach the 50-point mark against the Bison, it would mark the first time in school history they have reached that mark in three consecutive games.
It Must Be the Halftime Speech: North Dakota State has flat out dominated its opponents in the third quarter, outscoring them 75-7. Northern Iowa scored on a touchdown midway through the third quarter of its game against the Bison, marking the only time an opponent has scored in that frame in seven games this season against North Dakota State.
Hold On Tight: Northern Arizona and Eastern Washington have both only lost one fumble all year, a number which leads the subdivision. On the flipside, Jacksonville has lost 14 fumbles on the season to lead all FCS teams with Jackson State is close behind with 13.
And Then There Were Two: Lehigh and Cal Poly are the only two remaining undefeated teams left in FCS. At 8-0, the Mountain Hawks are off this week, while the Mustangs are 7-0 and will travel Saturday to face Sacramento State. Tennessee State and Harvard, the other two previously undefeated teams, both lost last weekend.
Coach Mac Returns: New Hampshire coach Sean McDonnell returns to Rhode Island’s Meade Stadium, the location of his first game as head coach of the Wildcats on Sept. 4, 1999. The Wildcats recorded a 37-14 victory that afternoon and are 4-3 all-time in Kingston during the Coach Mac era.
A Great Time of Year: Liberty has won its last 17 games played in the month of October, as the Flames’ last defeat in the 10th month of the calendar year was Oct. 18, 2008 against Lafayette at home. In addition, Liberty has not dropped a Big South game in the month of October since 2006.
The Big South Bucs: Charleston Southern’s 2-1 Big South record is its best league start since 2006 when the Bucs were also 2-1 after three conference contests. The Buccaneers are looking for their first 3-1 Big South mark since 2005 when CSU tied for the Big South championship with a 3-1 record. The last time Charleston Southern won three Big South games was in 2009.
Honoring Slocum: McNeese State letterman and college football coaching legend R.C. Slocum will be in attendance at Saturday’s game against Stephen F. Austin and will be honored at halftime. Slocum is being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in December. Slocum was a tight end for the Cowboys from 1964-67 and is still on the school’s career record list for pass receiving (17th) including ranked No. 3 on the chart for tight ends, having caught 74 passes for 945 yards. In addition, he later went on to a successful coaching career at Texas A&M from 1989-2002.
Deja Vu All Over Again? Princeton’s come-from-behind victory against Harvard last Saturday was its first against the Crimson since 2006, which is also the last year that the Tigers won the Ivy League title. Princeton has now won four consecutive games for the first time since 2006, a run that included a 34-31 comeback win against Harvard. The next weekend, Princeton lost 14-7 at Cornell. The Tigers’ opponent this weekend – Cornell.
Going For the Jug: Appalachian State will meet Western Carolina in a battle for the Old Mountain Jug. With the rivalry losing some of its luster as of late due to Appalachian State’s seven-year grip on the Jug, Western Carolina added some intrigue back to the series when it hired Mark Speir as its new head coach last December. Prior to becoming the 13th head coach in WCU history, Speir spent the previous nine seasons (2003-11) as an assistant coach at Appalachian State.
Not Picky: Coastal Carolina senior and graduate Aramis Hillary enters Saturday’s game against Liberty looking to extend his CCU record of 159 consecutive pass attempts without an interception. The second- and third-best streaks of pass attempts without a pick include 137 pass attempts by Zach MacDowall, covering the last 123 passes of 2008 and the first 14 of 2009, while Tyler Thigpen had a streak of 134 attempts covering the last 133 passes of 2005 and the first pass of 2006.
Moving on Up: Columbia senior QB Sean Brackett enters the week just 43 yards behind former Harvard star and current Buffalo Bills starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick for ninth place on the Ivy League’s all-time list in total offense.
Family Weekend Award: The Dr. Edward N. Anderson Award is presented annually to the outstanding player in Holy Cross’ Family Weekend game, which will be this Saturday against Fordham. The working press determines the winner. The award is sponsored by the Holy Cross Club of Greater Worcester, and was originally awarded to the most outstanding player of the Holy Cross-Massachusetts game. It is presented in honor of former Holy Cross head coach Edward Anderson, who had a 129-67-8 record in 21 seasons as the Crusaders’ coach (1933-1938; 1950-1964), and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971.
Game of the Week: North Carolina Central at Bethune-Cookman – This will be a clash of the two remaining unbeatens as well as the top two scoring offenses in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Both teams are 5-2 overall and 4-0 in conference play. It will also feature NCCU’s league-leading run defense against the Wildcats’ conference-leading rushing offense. Bethune-Cookman has won two of the three previous meetings between the two schools, including a 34-6 victory last season. All three of those contests were won by the visiting team. The winner will own its destiny, while the loser will fall back to the pack as Howard, Delaware State and Florida A&M all have only one loss.
