College Rugby Insider: Upsets in the SCRC

By Ted Hardy

What a weekend of action for college rugby! Conference battles are heating up and there were twice as many teams in action this week than in the last few weekends. Rejoice! The winter rugby slumber is officially over and that can only be a good thing for fans of college rugby.

While conference action is in full swing, there were still a handful of non-conference match ups taking place.

Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference

The SCRC was one of the main conferences to kick of their league schedule this weekend. If early season results are any indication of what the rest of the season has in store, watch out! Four games into the conference schedule and there has already been two upsets.

South Carolina 35 Florida 28 – South Carolina (1-0) went on the road and came away with a nail-biting 35-28 win over Florida (0-1). Florida came into the season with some turnover, but remained a pre-season favorite in the SCRC. Disappointed in last season’s SCRC results, South Carolina has laid down a marker for 2013. One week into the season and the Gators season may be in jeopardy. Florida is on the road next weekend to face Tennessee. South Carolina, on the other hand, has a nice jump on the season and is at home to face Vanderbilt.

Kentucky 15 Georgia 0 – Kentucky (1-0) languished at the bottom of the East Division standings in 2013, but have already matched their win total in 2013. The Wildcats not only made the long trip to Georgia (0-1), but shutout the Bulldogs in the second surprise result of the weekend in the SCRC.

LSU 44 Alabama 12 – LSU (1-0) left nothing to risk as they took down West Division rival Alabama (0-1) by a score of 44-12. LSU Flyhalf Allen Alongi accounted for 19 points (2 tries, 3 conversions, 1 drop goal) in the win for the Tigers.

Ole Miss 32 Mississippi State 12 – Ole Miss (1-0) landed the first blow in their annual home/away against arch-rival Mississippi State (0-1).

Northwest Collegiate Rugby Conference

Western Washington 43 Western Oregon 12 – Western Washington (2-0) stayed atop the West Division standings with a convincing 43-12 win over Western Oregon (1-1).

Washington 22 Oregon 17 – Washington (1-1) bounced back from their loss last week to defeat Oregon (0-1)

 
Washington State 43 Boise State 15 – Washington State (1-1) also made up for a disappointing loss last weekend by handling Boise State (0-1) easily. For Boise State, this served as the first of a two game weekend.

Eastern Washington 69 Boise State 7 – In the Sunday match up, Eastern Washington (1-1) took advantage of a Boise State (0-2) squad that was playing their second game in two days. Eastern Washington's Eric Populus amassed a eye-popping 44 points with 6 tries and 7 conversions.  

NCRC Standings as of 2/3/13

EAST

1 - Eastern Washington (1-1) 6 Pts

t2- Idaho (1-0) 5 Pts
t2- Washington State (1-1) 5 Pts
4 - Boise State (0-2) 0 Pts

WEST

1 - Western Washington (2-0) 10 Pts
t2- Washington (1-1) 5 Pts
t2- Western Oregon (1-1) 5 Pts
4 - Oregon (0-1) 1 Pts

Pacific Athletic Conference

Cal 104 Arizona State 0 – Cal only managed 16 tries this week as they routed Arizona State in their PAC opener. Cal fullback Jake Anderson led the team with 18 points on 9 of 12 conversions.  "Their team looks good," said ASU head coach Gary Lane. "As a representative of the PAC, we'll be rooting for Cal this year to achieve the highest possible accolades." Cal faces face stiff opposition this week as they play the first of two games against the University of British Columbia in their annual series.

Southwest Conference

Rice 35 St. Edwards 26 – Rice (4-0) came away with a tight victory over St. Edwards (4-1) in this SWC clash of two previously unbeaten teams. Rice got a 73^rd minute try from Brian Graff to take the lead and a 79^th minute try from Shaun Haby to seal the victory.

Texas State 28 North Texas 19 – North Texas (1-3) made a late surge, with three tries in the final quarter, but it wasn’t enough to take down Texas State (2-3).

Texas 36 Houston 12

In off the field news, this past week the SWC accepted UT-San Antonia as a member of the SWC beginning with the 2013/2014 season.

“On behalf of the SWC, I welcome UTSA as our newest conference member. Shayne Roberson has done an excellent job of coaching and guiding the team, and the SWC looks forward to a long relationship with UTSA that will be beneficial to not only the SWC and UTSA, but also rugby in Texas,” said SWC Commissioner Clayton Jewett.

South Independent Rugby Conference

Florida State 54 Florida Atlantic 3 – Florida State (1-0) dominated their SIRC opener against Florida Atlantic (0-1). The Seminoles surged to 41-3 halftime lead and never looked back.

Middle Tennessee State 22 Georgia Tech 12 – MTSU (2-0) continued their early season success with a win over Georgia Tech (1-1). MTSU currently sits atop the SIRC North standings. The squad will get a big test next weekend as they take on Life’s second side.  

Kennesaw State 24 Memphis 0 – Kennesaw State (1-1) bounced back from a loss last weekend to Georgia Tech to shutout Memphis (0-1) on the road.

Central Florida 66 South Florida 5 – Central Florida (1-0) got their SIRC South schedule off to a solid start with a trouncing of South Florida (0-1).

California Conference

St. Mary’s 81 UC-Davis 0 – The Gaels ran rough-shot over UC-Davis in an early-season California Conference clash.

Cal Poly 28 San Diego State 12 – Cal Poly kept pace in the conference with a win over SD State. The Aztecs have been one of the busiest teams in college rugby, but has struggled to secure wins so far this season.

Santa Clara 34 Stanford 7

Pacific Western Conference

San Jose State 55 Fresno State 22 – San Jose State rolled to a convincing conference win over Fresno State.

Non-Conference

Life 99 Tennessee 0 – For the second week in a row, Life posted a 99-0 score line. This time is was against SCRC favorite Tennessee. The Volunteers are a solid side, so this result serves to show every how far ahead of the curve Life sits.

Arkansas State 70 Texas A&M 7 – Seconded the motion

Central Washington 78 Sacramento State 0 – Third

University of British Columbia 76 Oregon State 3 – UBC prepared for their upcoming clash with Cal by thumping Oregon State. Oregon State has recently had a rash of injuries and have a tough road ahead of them as they take on some very tough PAC opponents.

That wraps up the weekly College Rugby Insider. Next week there should be even more as the Atlantic Coast Rugby League kicks off.

As always, if we don’t know the scores, we can’t include you in the wrap up. It is not that hard to post scores and wrap-ups to Twitter, Facebook, or your conference website. It increases your exposure and interest in your teams. If all else fails, you can email them to me at rugbyamerica1@gmail.com . It doesn’t have to be much… send me a box score and a quote about the game.

 

I love quotes.

That all said, teams/conferences have done a much better job with this in recent years. A few years back, getting the same info I posted above would have taken a million phone calls.