In its first game as a top-25 team since 2016, d3football.com No. 23 Christopher Newport (4-0) escaped constant peril Saturday to outlast Rowan 49-41 in double overtime in Glassboro, New Jersey.
Connor Barry threw five touchdown passes, and Noah Martin’s interception clinched the victory, which enabled the Captains to set a school record with a nine-game winning streak over two seasons.
The Captains, whose only regulation lead was 6-0, yielded 20 unanswered points to fall behind 14 early in the second quarter but kept coming back.
Barry ran for a 14-yard touchdown on a quarterback draw with 47 seconds left, and Jonathan Gates kicked the tying extra point in the New Jersey Athletic Conference opener for both squads. After a Yasir Geter interception, Gates slipped on a potential winning 47-yard field-goal try, which landed well short in the final seconds.
In overtime, Rowan (2-1-1) got the ball first at the 25-yard line and drove for a 1-yard “tush-push” touchdown by quarterback Nate Maiers on the seventh play. CNU answered with Barry’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Colin Hart on third-and-5, and again Gates kicked a tying PAT.
The Captains had the ball first in the second overtime, when teams are required to go for two if they score. Gunner White scored from 3 yards, and Ethan Barham caught a two-point conversion pass.
Rowan drove to first-and-goal at the 6, but a 2-yard loss and incompletion set up third down. In an apparent miscommunication, Maiers threw to the end zone’s left corner, but no Prof was nearby. Martin made a diving interception to clinch the triumph.
Barry was 27 of 44 for 434 yards and had 26 yards on 10 carries. Hart had eight catches for 144 yards. He, J Viernes, Barham and White each caught TD passes.
Maiers was 24 of 44 with two TDs and two interceptions.
Bucknell 33, Richmond 28: Nate Anderson scored a go-ahead touchdown on a 20-yard reception with 2:14 remaining, and Darius Day made an interception in the red zone to seal a victory by the Bison (4-2, 1-1 Patriot League) over the Spiders (3-3, 0-2) in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
Brandon Biagiarelli made the second of three Bucknell interceptions near midfield with four minutes left, and Anderson capped a seven-play, 49-yard drive with a catch over the middle in the end zone. Richmond drove 50 yards before Day intercepted a first-and-10 pass with 1:36 left to essentially end the game.
Ralph Rucker IV was 24 of 34 for 284 yards with a touchdown for Bucknell. The Bison combined for 46 carries for 212 yards and three touchdowns. Michael Cadden carried eight times for 34 yards and two scores.
Chattanooga 21, VMI 14: Justus Durant rushed for 144 yards, Ryan Ingram scored twice on the ground, and Chattanooga won in Lexington.
The Mocs (2-4, 1-1 Southern Conference) had 223 rushing yards on 37 attempts and outgained VMI 346-263 in total offense.
Chattanooga scored touchdowns at the beginning and end of the second quarter to take a 14-3 lead into the half. Josh Williams had a 6-yard touchdown reception six seconds into the frame, and Ingram scored his first of the afternoon with 23 seconds before the break. Ingram added his second touchdown with 2:10 remaining in the third, and the Mocs’ defense held VMI to a field goal to preserve the lead.
The Keydets (1-4, 0-1) scored their lone touchdown halfway through the third quarter as Anthony Allen brought an interception 75 yards to the end zone.
Army 31, UAB 13: Quarterback Cal Hellums ran for three touchdowns in the second half as Army (2-3, 1-2 American) pulled away from the Blazers (2-3, 0-2) in Birmingham, Alabama.
The Black Knights scored touchdowns in the third quarter after the Blazers missed a field goal and Gavin Shields picked off Jalen Kitna, with a 21-yard return putting the ball at the UAB 12. Hellums capped the first drive with a 5-yard run and the second with a 1-yard plunge. He scored on another 5-yard run with 4:10 to play, capping a 20-yard drive after UAB failed to convert on third down again.
The Blazers had a 90-yard drive in the second quarter to tie the game and a 79-yard drive to get a touchdown in the last minute. Kitna completed a 1-yard toss to Xavier Daisy to tie the game at 7, and Ryder Burton scored on a 1-yard run.
