Men’s DI-AA: Favorites Advance, Texas A&M Shocks Field

BOYDS, MD – The first day of play in Men’s Division I-AA saw three of the top four seeds advance to the semifinals with a bit of a surprise thrown in. Louisville, West Chester, and South Carolina advanced as expected while Texas A&M was the surprise of the division with an upset win in the quarterfinals.

In the East bracket, fourth seeded Texas A&M opened their day with a 19-5 victory over Babson before upsetting No. 1 seed N.C. State 20-5. The Wolf Pack started their morning with a 32-0 shutout victory over Florida.

The Aggies will face off with South Carolina in the semifinals. The Gamecocks opened with a 26-12 win over Temple before upending Western Michigan 12-7. Western Michigan advanced to the quarterfinals after upsetting No. 3 seed Iowa 19-7.

In the West bracket, top-seeded Louisville squeaked out a 26-19 victory over Nebraska before blanking Sam Houston State 34-0. The Bearkats started their tournament with a convincing 26-7 win against the Volunteers of Tennessee.

In the bottom half of the West bracket, West Chester opened the weekend with a 38-5 triumph over Oregon State before edging out a 17-15 victory over a quality Northeastern side. The Huskies came into the quarterfinal following a 21-0 shoutout of UNC-Charlotte.

Leading the scoring after one day is David McMurtray. The first-year student out of Babson has four tries and added five conversions for 30 points.

All matches streamed live with $19.99 Weekend Pass on NCR TV.

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