FT. LAUDERDALE, FLA ‘ Junior quarterback Chris Brown completed 16-of-26 passes for 207 yards and three touchdowns, and carried 14 times for a career-high 78 yards and one touchdown to lead ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ to a 36-24 win over Florida Atlantic (11-3) in the semifinal round of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs at Lockhard Stadium.'xml:namespace prefix = o ns = 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office' />
The Raiders (15-0) advance to the NCAA Division I-AA championship game first time ever on Friday, Dec. 19 in Chattanooga, Tenn., where they will face Atlantic-10 co-champion Delaware. The Blue Hens moved into the title game with a 24-9 win over Wofford.
¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ junior tailback Jamaal Branch also had a big day for the Raiders with a career-high 45 carries for 130 yards and one TD, while junior wide receiver Luke Graham grabbed six passes for 77 yards and two TD’s.
Branch broke four NCAA Division I-AA record: most rushing yardage in a season, most rushing TD’s in a season, most 100-yard games rushing in a season (12); and most carries in a season.
Branch opened the scoring for ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ with his 29th rushing TD of the season on the first possession to cap an 85-yard drive in 12 plays. He scored on an eight-yard burst up the middle.
Lane Schwarzberg booted a 30-yard field goal for a 9-0 lead tying him for the school record for consecutive FG made with eight.
In the second quarter, FAU got on the board on a one-yard run by Doug Parker with 11 minutes left in the half.
¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ came back with a pair of touchdown 1:10 apart for a 23-7 halftime lead. Graham caught a six-yard strike from Brown with 3:49 left, and then on the ensuing kickoff the
Raiders recovered the ball at the FAU 30 when the Owls failed to cover the ball. Nate Thomas recovered for the Raiders.
Three plays later, Brown connected on a 14-yard TD pass with Graham for a 16-point advantage at halftime.
FAU opened the scoring in the second half with a 43-yard field goal by Mark Myers before ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ’s DeWayne Long catch an eight-yard TD pass from Brown with 2:07 left in the third quarter.
The Owls came right moving 74 yards in six plays to score on a one-yard TD pass to Doug Parker from Jared Allen to cut the deficit to 30-17 entering the final quarter.
Brown put the game out reach with 9:19 left when he scored on a three-yard bootleg run for the touchdown. FAU added its final score when they blocked a punt with 5:17 remaining.
¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ had 412 yards of total offense ‘ 205 rushing and 207 passing ‘ while the defense, which had three interceptions, held FAU to 318 yards ‘ 52 rushing and 266 passing.