April Absurdity: Day 8 Results

#9 Northern Illinois at #8 Louisiana-Lafayette:
Northern Illinois, 24-21

Halfback Garrett Wolfe led the charge with 78 yards and a touchdown rushing as Northern Illinois defeated Louisiana-Lafayette, 24-21. NIU led 14-0 early with two passing touchdowns, but ULL came right back in the third with two passing TDs of their own. The Huskies kicked a 45 yard field goal with 14 seconds left in the 3rd to take the lead back, but a 41 yard passing touchdown early in the fourth quarter for the Ragin' Cajuns gave them a 21-17 lead. Wolfe then gave the Huskies the lead back with a go-ahead 5 yard touchdown run with 3:21 left in the ball game. NIU had a chance to extend their lead with a field goal, unfortunately for them though, it missed. But, an interception with 29 seconds left sealed the victory for #9 Northern Illinois as they defeated #8 Louisiana-Lafayette, 24-21 in the first round of April Absurdity.

Northern Illinois:
Phil Horvath: 14-22-200, 2 TD, INT
Britt Davis, WR: 6-110
Mark Reiter, SS: 4 TKL, INT, FF

Louisiana-Lafayette:
Jerry Babb: 10-22-219, 3 TD, 2 INT
Derrick Smith, WR: 6-167, 3 TD
Brenton Burkhalter, MLB: 5 TKL, TFL, FF

#12 Central Florida at #5 Utah:
Utah, 30-27 (OT)

Utah backup quarterback Brett Ratliff completed one pass today - but it was a damn important one. The 25 yard touchdown pass in the first overtime gave 5th seeded Utah a first round victory over 12th seeded Central Florida, in overtime, 30-27. Brian Johnson, starting quarterback of the Utes was injured on a Hail Mary attempt as time expired in the fourth quarter, meaning Ratliff would have to lead Utah in overtime. But he was obviously successful, so big deal that was (sarcasm). UCF got a 46 yard interception return touchdown to take a 7-3 lead at the beginning of the second quarter, after which the teams traded points until a 17 yard touchdown pass by Central Florida with 56 seconds left in the game sent us to OOOOOOOVVERRTTIIIIIIIMMME. UCF settled for a 19 yard field goal on their possession, after which Utah scored on a 25 yard pass on their first play to get the win, 30-27.

Central Florida:
Steven Moffett: 20-28-339, 2 TD
Mike Walker, WR: 3-137, TD
Joe Burnett, CB: 4 TKL, INT, TD

Utah:
Brian Johnson: 27-37-413, 3 TD, 2 INT
Marquis Wilson, WR: 8-91, 3 TD
Martail Burnett, DE: 3 TKL, 3 TFL, 2 SK, FF

#13 Mississippi State at #4 Central Michigan:
Mississippi State, 16-7

This is kind of an upset. Let's say why it is an upset, first. Mississippi State is seeded 13th, so wasn't expected to win, of course. Then again, Central Michigan is a) a MAC team (while Miss. State, while crap, is still an SEC team) and b) lower rated than Miss. State. So it's not really an upset. CMU led first with a 62 yard touchdown pass just a minute into the game, but the Bulldogs scored 16 unanswered points (3 field goals, one 71 yard TD pass) to win in the first round of April Absurdity, 16-7.

Mississippi State:
Michael Henig: 10-21-194, TD, INT
Omarr Conner, WR: 6-198, TD
Jeramie Johnson, FS: 4 TKL, INT

Central Michigan:
Brian Brunner: 11-21-153, TD
Damian Linson, WR: 5-114, TD
Thomas Keith, MLB: 6 TKL, 3 TFL

#16 Southern Illinois at #1 Boise State:
Boise State, 42-6

No surprises here as #1 Boise State wins on the blue turf, 42-6, meaning every #1 seed won their first round matchup. Not that anyone expected any different. Jared Zabransky threw for 5 touchdowns in the win.

...there's nothing else to say about this.

Southern Illinois:
QB #12: 6-13-137, INT
HB #24: 18-48
SS #5: 4 TKL, INT

Boise State:
Jared Zabransky: 16-23-283, 5 TD, INT
Jerard Rabb, WR: 7-102, 2 TD
Korey Hall, MLB: 4 TKL, TFL, INT