Round 1 of the FCS Playoffs had a couple of so-called “upsets” with three road teams winning, but only one in my mind was a real shocker, that was Jacksonville State’s destruction of Samford 55-14 as the Gamecocks finish off what was a great day for the Ohio Valley Conference. As for the Big Sky, getting four teams into the tournament for the first time in league history, not so much, as two teams lost today.

Zach Zenner and SDSU took care of Northern Arizona as the Jacks will face EWU next Saturday.

• Furman fell behind early to South Carolina State, but the Paladins took advantage of some big plays, namely by Jarius Hollman, a 90 yard punt return, then a pick six to win a fifth straight game, 30-20. Furman completed just 3 passes in the game and now earns the right to play NDSU next Saturday in Fargo. Furman may not have the name recognition as Wofford and Georgia Southern do, but remember this team beat both of them this season and the SoCon traditionally plays great football. Should be a good matchup next Saturday at 2:30.
• The MEAC and Ohio Valley go in opposite directions: I made it plain last week that I thought each league should have only got one team into the tournament, the MEAC proved me right, Bethune-Cookman ran into the buzz saw  that is Coastal Carolina, while South Carolina State, which had no resume to get in to the field of 24, lost to Furman. Meanwhile, the Ohio Valley, which had not won a playoff game since 2000, got two winners yesterday, Tennessee State clobbered Butler out of the Pioneer, while Jacksonville State was tremendous, rushing for 367 yards to get a date with McNeese State next weekend. Eastern Illinois is still the team getting the spotlight, but if you had the Ohio Valley as the conference with the most teams left, you are a tremendous FCS mind.
• Sam Houston State owns the Big Sky. The Bearkats, who some considered left for dead, save their best football for the playoffs as they ran roughshod over Southern Utah 51-20. SHSU racked up 531 total yards, including 355 rushing, Tim Flanders was great again as they improved their record to 4-0 against the Big Sky the last 2 playoff years. They will play SE Louisiana next week, the Lions beat Sam Houston during the regular season.
• Fordham and Coastal Carolina can score. The Chanticleers and Rams each put up plenty of points yesterday (48 and 37 respectively) but each will receive much stiffer challenges next week, Coastal heads to Missoula, while Fordham plays at Towson. Remember the last time a Patriot League team played at Towson in the playoffs, the Tigers lost (that was Lehigh in 2011).
• SDSU may be the hottest team in the country. Figure the Jacks have been in playoff mode since they lost to Missouri State; they have responded winning five straight games, including a double overtime thriller with Northern Iowa, but also consider they have won 3 straight on the road. Zach Zenner was tremendous again, running for 249 yards and a couple scores, the Jack defense held NAU to just 53 rushing yards and now sets up maybe the matchup of the 2nd round as SDSU plays at Eastern Washington. The Eagles can score with the best of them, but guaranteed they have not faced a defense like SDSU’s.
• We will have 3 conference rematches in the 2nd round and in my mind that’s just no good. Look at Maine, the Black Bears earned the 5th seed and home field, but were placed in same bracket with New Hampshire, the team that Maine just lost to two weeks ago. Eastern Illinois gets paired up with Tennessee State, Tigers are only OVC team to play EIU tough and still lost by a couple of scores, and if there’s one team that SELA didn’t want to see early in the tournament it had to be Sam Houston. That’s why all conference rematches should be bracketed that the earliest they play is the quarters, but that’s another subject for another day.

As we get set for the first round of the FCS playoffs, wanted to give a look at each team that NDSU could potentially play in the 2nd round in Fargo next Saturday, so let’s start with my favorite nickname, the Paladins of Furman.

Furman sophomore quarterback Reese Hannon leads the Paladin offense.

FURMAN PALADINS – 7-5, SoCon Champs

• Started season 2-4, 1-2 conference record on October 12th, won five of last six games, including wins over Georgia Southern, Appalachian State, Wofford and Samford (who’s also in the playoffs). The GSU win just looks better and better considering what the Eagles did last Saturday in Florida, the day that the Paladins beat GSU they held Jerrick McKinnon to 46 rush yds; he racked up 168 against the Bison in Fargo last December.
• Furman was a pretty consistent playoff team in the early part of the 2000′s, making it five times in six years from 2000-2006, just missing out in 2003. They made a deep playoff run in 2005, losing to App State, the eventual national champs in the 2005 semis.
• The Paladins won the National Championship in 1988, they became the first private school to win the 1-AA Championship, they were also runner-up to the title in 1985 and 2001.
• Furman is the only program in SoCon history to have a winning record against App State, which says a lot about its football program.
• Most notable Furman football alum is known to fans in the area, Minnesota Vikings fullback Jerome Felton, who was named a Pro Bowler this past season.
• Reese Hannon makes the Paladin offense go, the sophomore quarterback is coming off a career best game of 326 yards passing against Wofford, when he’s in the lineup Furman is 7-2, when he’s been out, they’re 0-3.
• Furman is not an experienced team, with 44 freshmen and just 11 seniors on the roster.

Furman will play at South Carolina State on Saturday at noon, tomorrow, we’ll take a closer look at the co-champs of the MEAC.