USAR College NCS Fall Series 2018

Top Four D1AA Teams Prove Their Worth

Top Four D1AA Teams Prove Their Worth

The top four ranked D1AA college programs all showed well this weekend.

Sep 9, 2018 by Alex Goff
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Top-ranked D1AA men’s college teams got on the move this weekend with a couple of conference outings, and some additional strong performances in non-conference action.

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#1 Mary Washington

Conference action began early in the Chesapeake, and defending national champion UMW was ready, with a 66-7 defeat of Salisbury. This result opens up some interesting questions. The Chesapeake was formed in the fall of 2016 in order to give a group of strong programs - D1, D2, NSCRO - more consistent competition. It worked … brilliantly, in fact. Those teams were able to run a full-on 2nd-side league (a rare thing, and one they could never do in their old leagues). And in the 72 conference games played in those first two seasons, 20 (28%) were within sevens points - that’s a shockingly high percentage. 

A quick look at four D1AA conferences from 2017-18 shows a close-loss percentage closer to 9%.

This year, though, will everyone be able to keep up with a UMW team that is getting increasingly strong? The opening round shows that Virginia Tech and Mount St. Mary’s are in the hunt. Who else?

#2 Dartmouth

The only highly-ranked team to lose, the Big Green lost to D1A power Army, and by the score of 32-25. The game was tied 15-15 when Army was hit with a red card, but, surprisingly, it was West Point that scored next. Still, it was a solid outing for Dartmouth and shows the program remains a threat.

#3 St. Joseph’s

The Hawks looked very strong in a 42-14 defeat of D1A team Delaware. Some nice work from the Blue Hens kept them close (Luke Persanis scored a try that made it a one-score game). But some superb work from flyhalf Noah Niumataiwalu and outside center Aram Keshgegian ("The Kesh Express" pictured below - John Ahern photo) burned Delaware.  

Niumataiwalu’s poach and flip to Matt Riotto put the freshman in for a try. Another first-year, Bobby Fish, also scored, while Jonathan Ahern also showed well in his debut.    

“It was a nice team effort,” said head coach Dan Yarusso. “Lots of good ball movement among the entire team.”


This is a back-heavy team - that's where their strength is. If the Hawks can bring more grit up front they could be a big problem.

#4 Kentucky 

The Wildcats won big over a Louisville team that had pushed Tennessee the week before.

Flanker Logan Butler has been a superb leader for the Wildcats, and he was augmented by first-year players Aidan Gill and Kai Carlberg. It was Carlberg who stepped in to start at wing after a late injury forced the move, and he was superb on defense against a tough opponent.