Tag: power

Grand Valley State, Ferris State climb the DII football Power 10 rankings

Five more top-25 teams fell this week, albeit only three were upsets. No. 1 Harding steamrolled nationally ranked Henderson State 66-0 and No. 3 Grand Valley State handled nationally ranked West Florida 31-7. With those two impressive victories, the teams sit atop the latest DII football Power 10 rankings.

Now, how about those upsets? Northwest Missouri State football is back on track after a shaky start to the season. The Bearcats have won three in a row with their upset of “first five out” Emporia State and now have two top-25 wins in their last three games.

Remember, these are my rankings. There is no committee or voting body coming up with these teams, just my spreadsheets, notes from coaches and a lot of deep diving into rosters and stats. I try to blend selection committee metrics — like strength of schedule, in-region record and RPI — along with what I am seeing for an overall look at the landscape of DII football’s top teams.

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The DII football Power 10: Week 4

No. 1 Harding | Previous: 1: Okay, it may be time to ask if this version of the Harding Bisons is better than last year’s. And let’s remember, last year’s team went 15-0, won the national championship and ran for more yards than any program in all college football history.

And yes, this year’s team may be better.

This week, the Bisons trounced nationally-ranked Henderson State, one of two true programs they had to worry about for the GAC title. Braden Jay and Blake Delacruz combined for seven rushing touchdowns. The Bisons ran for 546 yards in winning 66-0 and have now opened the season outscoring its opponents 247-10. They have scored 34 touchdowns this season and have only allowed 29 first downs. We all know that the flexbone offense is run heavy, but when the Bisons do decide to pass it is more than efficient: Their opponents had thrown 72 more passes… for a grand total of nine more yards (358 for opponents versus 349 for Harding). This offense is clicking, this defense is clicking, Paul Simmons is one of DII’s best head coaches and the Bisons look unstoppable right now.

No. 2 Grand Valley State | Previous: 3: The Lakers picked up their second big victory of the season, winning by 24 points behind an impressive 17-point third quarter. The Lakers’ defense was super stingy, recording eight sacks, two interceptions and helping GVSU outgain West Florida 436-121. In fact, West Florida’s lone score was by the defense on a fumble return for a touchdown. The schedule doesn’t get any easier with Davenport up next. A win there, and the Lakers resume is super impressive.

No. 3 Valdosta State | Previous: 2: Well, we found something that can finally stop the Blazers’ train: A hurricane. Arguably the most anticipated game of the week — nationally ranked West Alabama vs. Valdosta State — was canceled due to Helene. No makeup date was announced. Regardless, the Blazers are still a good football team.

No. 4 Ferris State | Previous: 10: The Bulldogs scored 84 points. Nope, that’s not a typo. In fact, they have now outscored their opponents 183-13 in the past three weeks, and after dropping 744 total yards (to just 110 allowed), they have totaled 1,928 yards on their three-game winning streak. Three players threw a touchdown pass, six players rushed in a touchdown, and four different players caught a score. This team is good.

The @FerrisFootball steamroller is up 55-0 with 5 minutes left in the first half. This little trickery is what got the scoring started. #D2FB @GLIACsports pic.twitter.com/VoviU843G4

— Wayne Cavadi (@WayneCavadi_D2) September 28, 2024

No. 5 Minnesota State | Previous: 4: Another week, another win. The Mavericks are 5-0 after a 33-20 over Concordia-St. Paul. Quarterback Hayden Ekern is a touchdown machine with 13 combined rushing and passing scores thus far. They have a tricky little three-game stretch coming up, starting with Sioux Falls before moving on to MSU Moorhead and then nationally ranked Augustana (SD), none of which are below .500.

No. 6 Colorado School of Mines | Previous: 5: What a game for Evan Foster. The quarterback erupted for 434 yards and six touchdown passes in a monster 52-24 victory. He found All-American receiver Max McLeod three times for touchdowns, but his favorite target was Flynn Schiele who had 13 receptions for 297 yards and three scores of his own. The Mines train is rolling into its showdown with Colorado Mesa next week.

No. 7 Slippery Rock | Previous: 6: Well, The Rock made what looked like an easy win more tense, watching a 28-0 lead slowly whittle itself away, but in the end, a win is a win. And The Rock now has four of them to no losses. I keep them slightly ahead of PSAC rival Kutztown merely based on strength of schedule, but it will take a decisive victory over a tricky Indiana (PA) team next week to keep them in this spot.

No. 8 Kutztown | Previous: 7: What a victory for the Golden Bears. They trailed 3-0 East Stroudsburg 14-0 after the first quarter and responded with 27 straight points to lock up the victory and remain undefeated on the season. Running back Steven Burkhardt was the hero, rushing for 96 yards and two scores while reeling in a touchdown pass from Judd Novak to account for 18 of the Golden Bears points. A 3-1 Bloomsburg team awaits in what has become a must-win for Kutztown to remain ahead in the PSAC championship game hunt.

No. 9 Pittsburg State | Previous: 8: The Gorillas were on a bye. Nothing to see here except a very good football team.

No. 10 Central Washington | Previous: 9: Speaking of very good football teams, it appears the Wildcats are the team to beat in the Lone Star. They won big this week, rolling Western New Mexico 36-0 and have now outscored their first two conference opponents 81-3. The defense was on the attack: Chase Loidhamer had three sacks and Tanner Volk led the team in tackles. A winnable game at Eastern New Mexico is up next.

First five out (in alphabetical order)

Central Missouri: For the second week in a row, the Mules needed every point to win, walking away with a 36-35 win over Nebraska-Kearney. A huge matchup against Fort Hays State awaits.
Charleston (WV): As long as Chavon Wright is running the ball, the MEC goes through the Golden Eagles. Wright had 164 yards on the ground and three touchdowns, giving him 11 on the year.
Lenoir-Rhyne: The Bears were forced to play Sunday due to Hurricane Helene. They hold this spot because of upsets, but their opponent Tusculum is no walk in the park. Check back for an update should the Bears lose.
Ouachita Baptist: The Tigers haven’t played the toughest schedule, but they have also utterly dominated the teams they played. There is a long way to go, but they deserve this lofty ranking for now.
Western Colorado: The Mountaineers just keep rolling with one lopsided victory after another. This week Royce Pao rushed for three scores in a decisive 53-12 win.

DII football 5 stars: Stats that stood out

The Wheeling Cardinals were out there making crazy plays. They returned three kickoff returns for touchdowns in the first half. Tre Holloway had two of them, and also added on a receiving touchdown for a big day.

Whoa 🤯 @WUCardinals have THREE kickoff returns for touchdowns today… it’s the FIRST HALF. The #D2FB record for most punt return TDs in a game is 3, trying to find kickoff TD record, but this is nuts. Here is Tre Holloway’s second of the day! @TheMountainEast pic.twitter.com/b52M7buE0E

— Wayne Cavadi (@WayneCavadi_D2) September 28, 2024

How about New Haven’s backfield. The Chargers put up 465 yards on the ground and it all came from two players. Christopher Ais ran for 297 yards and Zaon Laney ran for 186. West Virginia State’s all-purpose nightmare had a big day out of the backfield as well, rushing for 63 yards, catching 119 more yards and scoring three total touchdowns.

Here’s a look at five players from each offensive position that stuffed the box score.

Player	Position	School	Stats
Zach Zebrowski	QB	Central Missouri	526 pass, 35 rush, 5 TD
Nino Marzullo	QB	Fairmont State	435 pass, 48 rush, 6 total TD
Brett Pullman	QB	Bentley	484 pass, 5 TD
Jack Strand	QB	MSU Moorhead	475 pass, 5 TD
Evan Foster	QB	Colorado School of Mines	434 pass, 6 TD
Christopher Ais	RB	New Haven	297 rush, 2 TD
Jonero Scott	RB	Miles	179 rush, 1 TD
Jada Byers	RB	Virginia Union	173 rush, 1 TD
Jaiden Abrams	RB	Millersville	172 rush, 19 receiving
Jayden Mitchell	RB	Upper Iowa	169 rush, 16 receiving, 3 TD
Flynn Schiele	WR	Colorado School of Mines	297 receiving, 3 TD
Terrill Davis	WR	Central Oklahoma	217 receiving, 4 TD
Zach Patterson	WR	Central Missouri	195 receiving, 1 TD
Dimitri Mitsopoulos	WR	Ohio Dominican	167 receiving, 1 TD
Jayden Flood-Brown	WR	Barton	162 receiving, 2 TD

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September 29, 2024

Revamped hydro power station could fill an Olympic pool in 30 seconds

BBC

The hydro power station has undergone a £50m refurbishment

A historic Scottish hydro power station has resumed operations after its first major upgrade in 90 years.

The Tummel hydro power station started generating renewable electricity in 1933, using water from a dam system spread across a huge area in Highland Perthshire.

It closed in 2022 so that the two main turbines could be replaced as part of a £50m project designed to extend the plant’s operational life by at least 30 years.

The two original turbines were able to generate 34 megawatts of electricity. The replacements will increase that capacity to 40 MW – enough to power 20,000 homes.

The new turbines have been designed to be almost identical to the 90 year old ones they replaced (below)

SSE Renewables

The original turbines operated for about 90 years

SSE’s refurbishment of Tummel Bridge is one of the largest investments in hydro power in Scotland in modern times.

The whole Tummel Valley scheme contains nine small scale power stations with a total generating capacity of about 250 MW.

Tummel uses water from a dam system which is spread across 400 square miles, from Dalwhinnie to Pitlochry and Rannoch Moor.

The scheme was conceived in the early 1920s when the Grampian Electricity Supply Bill was laid before parliament.

An open water channel, which looks like a canal, carries water from a dam at the Dunalastair Reservoir.

A series of power stations were built along the flow of the water starting with the Rannoch site in1930 followed by Tummel Bridge in 1933.

A three-mile long open water channel, which looks like a canal, carries water from a dam at the Dunalastair Reservoir.

It then rushes through two huge pipes down the hillside above Tummel Bridge and into the power station.

The speed of the water after it has passed through the turbines would be enough to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool in under 30 seconds.

SSE Renewables

Work started on the Tummel power station in 1931 after the completion of its sister site, Rannoch – the building is untouched but the inside has been modernised

The category A listed interwar modernist building which houses the power station has remained untouched throughout the refurbishment while almost everything inside has been replaced.

That includes the floors, stairs, pipework and controls although the original control panels have been kept along with a World War Two bomb shelter.

But while the equipment itself has been modernised, the overall design is almost identical to the original.

SSE’s head of heritage Gillian O’Reilly says there was huge appetite for power in the 1920s

SSE’s head of heritage, Gillian O’Reilly, says that’s testament to the engineering capabilities of the 1920s and 30s.

She added: “It showed a huge understanding of what it was they were trying to do. The precision and the detail that they used through hand tools and basic technology was really quite overwhelming.”

Gillian says that when the scheme was built, around one farm in 10 across Perthshire had access to electricity along with just one croft in a hundred.

While there was some opposition to glens being flooded to create the reservoirs which would supply the hydro power schemes, she says there was also “huge appetite” for power which was already being rolled out more fully in the urban areas of the central belt.

The original control panels have been kept

In 2017, SSE began considering the future role of the Tummel power station including the possibility of replacing it entirely.

The full internal refurbishment is expected to secure its role in the energy mix for at least another three decades.

Computer aided designs have allowed engineers to increase the generating capacity by about 17% from the same volume of water passing through it.

Project manager David Gallacher says hydro-power plays a hugely important role.

He added: “We’ve made use of the existing infrastructure, so the dam, aqueduct system and the building itself all remained. We’ve modernised and upgraded where we can but it’s all stayed the same.”

While dozens of people have been working on the project over the last two years, once operational it will be controlled entirely remotely from SSE’s headquarters in Perth.

The company is looking at upgrading other hydro schemes in Scotland, including at Sloy on Loch Lomond.

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September 19, 2024
ASU faces Texas State in first road game of the season, ‘This is a power four football team’

It’s been clear skies so far for ASU football as they’ve begun their season 2-0 for the first time since 2021. The current season has been an improvement for the Sun Devils after two consecutive three-win seasons.

ASU prepares for takeoff as it goes on the road for the first time this season. Its first landing will be in San Marcos, Texas. The Sun Devils are booked for a showdown with the Texas State Bobcats, who aren’t new to upsetting Big 12 competition.

In 2023, his first year as the Texas State head coach, GJ Kinne led the Bobcats to an 8-5 record and their first bowl game in program history. In his first game as Bobcat head coach, the team upset Baylor 42-31 in Waco. He also led the Bobcat offense to almost 6,000 yards alongside 57 touchdowns.

“He’s one of the youngest head coaches in college football,” ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “I think he’s put together an incredible football team.”

Offense

The Bobcats’ new quarterback is Jordan McCloud, 2023 Sun Belt Player of the Year. McCloud has been in college football since 2019 and has a career 7,455 yards with 63 touchdowns and 27 interceptions.

“He played well last year before he transferred,” Dillingham said. “He can extend plays and keeps his eyes downfield when he extends plays. He’s got a quick release, super quick release doesn’t get hit very much because his release is fast and he knows where to go to the ball.”

Junior running back Ismail Mahdi earned First Team All-American by CBS Sports and 247Sports with over 1300 rushing yards in 2023. With a running back like Mahdi, the Sun Devils might expect to see confidence in the Bobcats’ run game.

“They’re very, very physical,” Dillingham said. “You can tell obviously GJ, he’s a head coach of the football team, and he’s worked for Gus Malzahn and they run almost every run scheme available.”

The Bobcats welcomed back the leading receiver from a year ago, senior Joey Hobert, who had almost 900 yards. Sophomore Chris Dawn, Jr. received a chance this year in the Bobcats offense and he leads the team in receiving after two weeks of action with 163 yards.

Last week, the Sun Devil defense had their hands full with senior Blake Shapen of Mississippi State, who similarly to McCloud, has the experience of being a college athlete for numerous years. The team knows what they can do to try and get McCloud off his rhythm which is something the team did last week against Shapen in the first half.

“It’s about the pictures being the same,” Dillingham said. “And if we can give identical pictures, right, then it doesn’t matter how long he’s played college football, the pre-snap picture he’s getting is the same over and over and over again. And I think for some guys, you can give so many pictures that it overwhelms them.”

Defense

One weakness for the Bobcats is defense. They could not stop opponents on third down letting them convert 46.3% of the time and gave up 32.8 points per game. As a result, they were looking for a new defensive coordinator in the offseason and hired Dexter McCoil Sr., the team’s now former safety coach.

The five-down lineman within the bear fronts has helped the Bobcats hold opposing rushing attacks to 66.5 yards per game which is tied for 18th best in the nation. They’ll be tested this week as ASU comes in with a top-10 rushing attack in the nation, a key matchup to watch on Thursday night.

“Blitz. They’re going to blitz like they’re going to blitz and they’re going to blitz a lot on early downs,” Dillingham said. “Their D line is athletic. They create chaos, and that’s their MO.”

The Bulldogs’ defensive line is led by senior Ben Bell. Bell made the All-Sun Belt second team with 16 TFLs and 10 sacks a year ago. Some of their transfers in the offseason were junior Tunmise Adeleye who comes from Michigan State and senior Steven Parker who came from the University of Incarnate Word.

“Technique is everything as offensive linemen. We firmly believe that the defense doesn’t win anything, we lose it,” ASU offensive lineman and graduate, Ben Coleman said. “And the reality is do you give them space? Do you allow them to make a play on you? Is your set wrong where your eyes are, where your hands are? So as long as you’re disciplined you’ll be able to take care of it.”

The Texas State secondary is also finding early success defending the pass with an 18.4% success rate on pass plays which ranks second in the nation.

“This is a football team that is a power four football team, in my opinion, this team could go win a lot of games and compete in the Big 12 conference,” Dillingham said.

Edited by Henry Smardo, Sophia Ramirez and Madeline Schmitke.

Reach the reporter at danielr1102@gmail.com and follow @daniel_rios72 on X.

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Daniel RiosSports Reporter

Daniel is a senior studying sports journalism. This is his first semester with The State Press. He has also worked at WCSN, OC Riptide, 1550 Sports and AZPreps365.

Continue supporting student journalism and donate to The State Press today.

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September 11, 2024
De Bruyne vents his frustration as Belgium’s loss to France underlines its fall as a soccer power

Belgium captain Kevin De Bruyne appeared to criticize his teammates’ work rate and his coach’s tactics in fiery comments after the team’s latest loss to France that highlighted its fall from the top table of world soccer.

The Manchester City playmaker failed to hide his frustration during Belgium’s 2-0 defeat in Lyon in the Nations League on Monday, especially near the end of the match as he held his hands up in despair and shook his head.

After the match, the 33-year-old De Bruyne revealed that he was frank with his teammates at halftime and said Belgium’s performance “has to be better in every way.”

“If the standard we want to reach is the best, but we’re no longer good enough to get to that level, then you have to give everything,” De Bruyne told Belgian TV station VTM. “If you don’t even do that, it’s over.”

De Bruyne was a member of Belgium’s so-called “golden generation” that got to No. 1 in the FIFA rankings and was among the favorites at major tournaments, even if the team never got to a final. The Belgians lost 1-0 to France in the World Cup semifinals in 2018, and reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup in 2014 and the European Championships in 2016 and 2021.

Domenico Tedesco took over as coach ahead of Euro 2024, where Belgium again lost 1-0 to France in the round of 16, and already appears under pressure because of his defensive approach.

De Bruyne made reference to it in his emotional remarks on Monday, saying Belgium had “too many at the back” which prevented any connection between the forward players.

“I can accept that we’re not as good as in 2018,” De Bruyne said. “I was the first to see that, but other things are unacceptable. I’m not going to say what.”

Tedesco said De Bruyne “has a mentality of a winner” and didn’t criticize his captain for being outspoken.

“He is emotional and disappointed,” Tedesco said, “that’s why sometimes you can sometimes say this.”

Belgium has dropped to No. 6 in the rankings, remaining high up mainly because of its impressive record in qualifying for major tournaments. Indeed, the team was unbeaten between the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024.

However, a poor Nations League campaign could cost it a place among the top-seeded teams when the draw is made for qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.

And Belgium no longer has the star power of a decade ago when the likes of Eden Hazard, Vincent Kompany, Jan Vertonghen, Thibaut Courtois and Romelu Lukaku complemented De Bruyne, the assist king who has underpinned Man City’s recent trophy-laden era under Pep Guardiola.

Hazard and Kompany have retired, Vertonghen quit international soccer after Euro 2024 and Courtois isn’t currently part of the Belgium set-up after a clash with Tedesco. Lukaku, who is 31 and the all-time top scorer for Belgium, is still available but wasn’t involved in the recent Nations League games having only just moved to Napoli after being sidelined at Chelsea.

Along with Lukaku, De Bruyne is the last remaining link to the previous generation but might not be around for much longer, especially with injuries impacting his seasons in the last couple of years at City.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

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September 10, 2024