Upsets are already here as college conference play starts, with Virginia and Albany pulling off surprise wins over the weekend.

Air Force opened up the Rocky Mountain season with a convincing 86-24 defeat of Utah State on Friday. The result showed that any concerns about the Zoomies' somewhat inexperienced backline are unfounded. Air Force can run, and with an experienced pack, should be a Rocky Mountain contender. Eric Menser and Tristyn Hanson showed well in the three-quarter line, and among the forwards, captain Elliott Higgins led from the front.



Stony Brook went to Albany on Saturday but did so with some players being unavailable. That proved to be a problem as Albany looked much improved and pulled off a 19-12 upset victory. With high numbers and some talented, if green, youngsters, Albany has a shot at winning its division of the new Liberty Conference. Clint Olaniyi scored two tries for Albany, with Paul Rayder adding one.

Stony Brook head coach Jerry Mirro said the loss wasn't good news, but he saw some potential in his group and expects to regroup for Binghamton at home on Long Island next week.

And another team that is quickly improving is Virginia, which edged a very young Mount Saint Mary's team 20-17 to open up the D1AA Chesapeake Conference season. The Chesapeake has already shown itself to be a competitive conference, with a high percentage of close games. So starting the season off this way is not really that much of a surprise. 



But the Cavaliers were 2-6 last year, and perhaps the major indication that they are on the rise is a 5-3 record for their development team in the Chesapeake Futures Cup.

"The guys did well to stay on the game plan," Virginia head coach Hennie van Zyl said. "They stuck to it, and when they got away from it, Mount Saint Mary's punished us and it was a good learning experience for our guys."

The final few minutes were dramatic, with Virginia going down to 14 men due to a yellow card on repeated infringements.

"The boys held them out, and I was really proud of them for that," van Zyl said. "This is a really tight conference, and I don't know how it's going to go. But it was a good start for us. I am pretty sure Mount Saint Mary's will bounce back. You can't count anyone out." 

See all D1A and D1AA schedules and scores here.

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