Blazers, Bulldogs battle for national title
McKINNEY, Texas — This is it.
No. 3 Valdosta State (13-0) faces No. 2 Ferris State (15-0) in the NCAA Division II national championship Saturday at 4 p.m.
The Blazers, who are vying for their fourth national championship and first since 2012, got their first taste of playoff adversity, trailing at halftime against Notre Dame College and needing to dig deep to hold off the Falcons for a 30-24 victory last Saturday.
No. 3 Valdosta State (13-0)
| Sept. 1 | Albany State | W 45-14 |
| Sept. 8 | Fort Valley State* | W 55-6 |
| Sept. 15 | at West Alabama | W 58-24 |
| Sept. 22 | Shorter | W 52-0 |
| Sept. 29 | at Mississippi College | W 63-42 |
| Oct. 6 | Delta State | W 59-28 |
| Oct. 13 | at Florida Tech | W 51-21 |
| Oct. 20 | North Greenville | W 44-21 |
| Nov. 3 | at West Florida | W 48-21 |
| Nov. 10 | West Georgia | W 47-31 |
| Nov. 24 | Bowie State^ | W 66-16 |
| Dec. 1 | Lenoir-Rhyne^ | W 61-21 |
| Dec. 8 | Notre Dame College^ | W 30-24 |
* — Okefenokee Classic in Waycross
^ — NCAA Division II Playoffs
No. 2 Ferris State (15-0)
| Aug. 30 | East Stroudsburg | W 49-17 |
| Sept. 8 | Findlay | W 59-13 |
| Sept. 15 | at Northwood | W 53-10 |
| Sept. 22 | at Northern Michigan | W 35-19 |
| Sept. 29 | Ashland | W 28-21 |
| Oct. 6 | Michigan Tech* | W 42-24 |
| Oct. 13 | at Grand Valley State | W 35-31 |
| Oct. 20 | at Saginaw Valley State | W 28-14 |
| Oct. 27 | Wayne State | W 38-28 |
| Nov. 3 | Davenport | W 41-17 |
| Nov. 10 | at William Jewell | W 47-6 |
| Nov. 17 | Harding^ | W 21-19 |
| Nov. 24 | Northwest Missouri State^ | W 27-21 |
| Dec. 1 | at Ouachita Baptist^ | W 37-14 |
| Dec. 8 | at Minnesota State-Mankato^ | W 42-25 |
* — at Comstock Park, Mich.
^ — NCAA Division II Playoffs
Blazers coach Kerwin Bell admits his team may have felt pressure to perform at the start last week before settling in for an explosive second half.
“Last week, I think we might’ve pressed a little bit just to get into it,” Bell said. “It was at home, we were expected to win, you’re one game away. I felt just a relief off the team once we sort of got past that point last week. Our kids are excited, but I also think they’re very focused on finishing the job.
“We’re gonna try to play our best and come back with a championship.”
In a battle of the two top teams in the country, Ferris State dominated No. 1 Minnesota State-Mankato 42-25 to advance to today’s game.
A confident bunch all season, the Blazers face a Bulldogs team that has uniquely played 15 straight games without a bye week. Fatigue hasn’t appeared to be much of a factor as the Bulldogs, who are looking for their first national title as well as becoming the first Division II team to win 16 games in a season, hung 457 yards of total offense on the Mavericks last week.
Leading 21-19 at halftime, the Bulldogs outscored the Mavericks 21-6 in the second half.
The Bulldogs are led by junior quarterback Jayru Campbell. Campbell completed 16 of 25 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns last week, including a 55-yard toss to Dion Earls in the third quarter that extended the Ferris State lead to 28-19.
A dual-threat All-American quarterback, Campbell also carried the ball 19 times for 103 yards.
As a team, the Bulldogs have averaged 494 yards of total offense per game this season and in the past three games, Ferris State has averaged 294.6 yards rushing.
Bell sees a lot of his own team when scouting the Bulldogs on film.
“They’re very dynamic on offense,” Bell said. “They remind me of us — a lot of athletes, a lot of guys touch the ball, their quarterback is really special; he can run and throw, sort of like ours in Rogan Wells. So they’re very dynamic.
“Our defense is gonna be the matchup of the year for them. They’ve not been respected as much as they should have as a defense all year. They played their butt off last week. Last week was championship-caliber defense we played that got us in this championship game. I look for them to put out a big time effort against a really good offensive team.
“And then offensively, we’ve gotta score points. This thing is probably gonna be in the 30s or 40s, so we’ve got to go out and be efficient, be really good in the red zone and score touchdowns. I think we’ve had a really good week and it looks like the weather’s gonna be perfect and I think we’ll have a really good game.”
If last week was any indication, points may not be easy to come by.
The Blazers were held to season lows in points (30), total offense (319) and converted just 2 of 10 opportunities on third down. Furthermore, the Ferris State defense allows just 18.8 points per game.
On the season, though, VSU averages a national-best 52.2 points per game and has also set new school records for rushing (3,554 yards, 273.4 yards per game) and total offense (6,838 yards, 526 yards per game).
After a good start to the practice week before departing for Texas on Wednesday, Bell said the team’s mentality is in the right place.
“Guys were really focused,” said Bell, who was dressed in a blue plaid suit. “We talked about it all week, let’s make this a business trip — all the way, up until after the game. We want to enjoy whatever happens after that.
“Our kids are serious about going out there and giving us their best performance. We’ll take that, and it’s a championship game so there’s two good football teams out there and it’s gonna take a big-time effort from all of our three phases to win that football game.”