Philadelphia, PA -- (Sports Network) - For all of those FCS supporters expecting a sequel to last year's stunning Appalachian State upset of Michigan on the opening weekend of the season, Saturday had been a frustrating day.

From the early moments of a breakfast-time start at LSUon Saturday, Appalachian State showed it didn't have another stunner on its plate in a 41-13 loss. And as the day continued, team after FCS team came up short in upset bids.

There was Delaware's defense keeping the Blue Hens within striking distance of Maryland, but the Delaware offense coming up short.

There was the frustration of Western Illinois leading most of the way against Arkansas in its first game under Bobby Petrino, only to lose when the Razorbacks scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

McNeese State had survived a thunderstorm and lightning delay at North Carolina and looked like it would bring home a BCS scalp until its special teams let it down.

And James Madison, a team which almost every FCS fan thought would beat lowly Duke, instead found itself on the wrong end of a 31-7 thumping.

Northern Iowa played competitively in a 41-17 loss to Brigham Young, Georgia Southern had its chances in a 45-21 loss to Georgia and Villanova acquitted itself well in a 48-21 loss to West Virginia, but those weren't wins.

Then, casting aside the doldrums of a forgettable Saturday, Cal Poly came through just as bartenders around the east coast were asking for their last calls.

Cal Poly appeared that it might be in for another Western Illinois-style dose of frustration when San Diego State took a 27-26 lead on Brandon Sullivan's five-yard scoring run with 6:51 remaining. A two-point conversion pass failed, leaving Cal Poly within a field goal of winning.

Mustang quarterback Jonathan Dally (12-of-20, 220 yards passing, 17 carries, 40 yards rushing) engineered a 63-yard drive over the final 3:39 of the game to set up Andrew Gardner's game-winning 21-yard field goal on the final play of the game.

Ramses Barden and James Noble were among the stars for Cal Poly, as it beat San Diego State for the second time in three years.

Barden, a Payton Award candidate, caught seven passes for 161 yards, including one 47-yard connection with Dally and a 22-yard TD catch that gave the Mustangs a 9-0 lead in the first quarter.

Noble, a two-time 1,000-yard rusher, ran 11 times for 89 yards on an evening when the Mustangs piled up 483 yards as Cal Poly's defense held San Diego State to 379 yards and forced five turnovers.

It was a great tune-up for Cal Poly, which hosts Montana next Saturday and faces another FBS opponent on the final Saturday of the regular season when it travels to Wisconsin.

COMING UP SHORT

Western Illinois nearly gave coach Don Patterson a huge get-well card when it nearly downed Arkansas. Patterson was unable to travel to the game as he recovers from treatment for tonsillar cancer, but he had to have his spirits brightened by the Leathernecks' performance.

WIU lead most of the way, taking a 10-7 halftime lead and expanding it to 24-14 on fullback Javid Milton's one-yard scoring plunge with 10:34 remaining.

But just as fans around the country were remembering how another Arkansas coach - Jack Crowe - had been fired when his team was beaten by The Citadel 10-3 in a 1992 opener, Arkansas came on to avoid this upset.

Razorback quarterback Casey Dick fired a 26-yard TD pass to Greg Childs with just under eight minutes left, and then ran in for the winning score from four yards out with 1:49 left.

Western Illinois managed to get to its own 40-yard line on its final drive, but Arkansas broke up seven passes on the Leathernecks' final possession.

Payton Award candidate Herb Donaldson played a large part in Western Illinois' performance, with 157 yards and one touchdown on 35 carries. The Leatherneck defense played a role by forcing three turnovers, but couldn't contain Dick (318 yards passing) in the end.

ANOTHER CLOSE CALL

Another team that came up short was UC Davis against San Jose State. Bringing back memories of an upset against Stanford a few years back, the Aggies took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and held their advantage for most of the game.

Daniel Afro's 54-yard TD pass to Bakari Grant and a 20-yard Sean Kelley field goal gave UC Davis its lead, and the Aggie defense held the Spartans scoreless for nearly three quarters.

San Jose State finally broke through with 2:07 left in the third period on a three-yard pass from Cal transfer Kyle Reed to Terrance Williams, but the kick was blocked.

The Spartans had one more chance and Reed made it count with a 17-yard scoring pass to Kevin Jurovich with eight seconds remaining. Reed (14-of-18, 132 yards) took San Jose State 64 yards on seven plays in just 75 seconds.

Alfaro was 21-of-34 for 193 yards, while Grant had eight catches for 108 yards. Both teams lost three turnovers.

NOT SO SPECIAL TEAMS

McNeese State was left wondering what could have been after North Carolina rallied for a 35-27 win. The Cowboys out-gained the Tar Heels 391-384, but had several breakdowns in special teams that cost it the game.

Quinten Lawrence returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown to give McNeese State a 14-all tie at halftime, but the Cowboys were repeatedly burned by Brandon Tate (school-record 397 all-purpose yards) and the Tar Heals' return game.

Tate had an 82-yard punt return in the first quarter for North Carolina's first touchdown after he had opened the game with a 56-yard run on the opening kickoff and had another 38-yard punt return in the first period. Tate put North Carolina ahead for good with a 57-yard scoring catch in the third quarter.

McNeese State had a chance to tie the game at 20 after quarterback Derrick Fourroux (14-of-26 for 181 yards and one TD passing, 11 carries for 43 yards rushing) crashed into the end zone from two yards out, but then the Cowboys had the extra point blocked.

The game was suspended for two hours due to lightning strikes.

McNeese State players got back to Lake Charles, La. in time to make preparations for Hurricane Gustav. The players were released to ride out the storm with their families, and the football team could end up regrouping at Northwestern State in Natchitoches, LA, if Lake Charles is hit hard.

McNeese State and Cowboy Stadium suffered severe damage from Hurricane Rita in 2005.

Nicholls State, closer to the New Orleans area, has already cancelled its game on Thursday with New Mexico State, and has evacuated its campus.

Southeastern Louisiana's football team, just an hour north of New Orleans in Hammond, La., has relocated to Oxford, MS on the Mississippi campus to prepare for a game next week with Mississippi State.

NOT OFFENSIVE

Delaware coach K.C. Keeler figured his defense would shoulder much of the team's burden this season, particularly early in the year. The defense played well enough to beat Maryland on Saturday, but the Blue Hens could not generate enough offense to pull out a win.

With Rob Schoenhoft taking control of the Delaware attack, the Blue Hens managed 249 yards of offense, but didn't score until Johnathon Smith barged in from the one with 5:20 remaining.

Schoenhoft completed 14-of-22 for 128 yards passing, but was intercepted with just over three minutes to play to kill Delaware's last chance.

The Blue Hen defense held Maryland to a touchdown each in the second and third quarters, limited the Terrapins to 126 yards of passing and intercepted two passes, one by linebacker Eric Johnson and another by Anthony Walters. Delaware was also rewarded by stopping three deep Maryland drives when the Terrapins missed field goals in the first half.

UNDERESTIMATED

Probably no fan group from the BCS ranks was as obnoxious about its season opener than the supporters of Texas Tech. The Red Raider faithful made predictions of their team hanging 80 or more points on Eastern Washington, and several media members singled out the game as one of the worst FCS-FBS matchups.

Obviously, they didn't know much about EWU, which managed to hang in the game for three quarters before losing, 49-24. The Eagles trailed just 35-24 when Payton Award candidate Matt Nichols (36-of-61 for 335 yards, but three interceptions) fired a 30-yard scoring strike to Tony Davis (13 catches for 114 yards) at the end of the third quarter.

After trailing 21-0 after one quarter, the Eagles came back to make it a competitive game.

But Texas Tech sealed the game with a pair of fourth-quarter scores. Graham Harrell completed 43-of-58 passes for 536 yards with two TDs and one interception for Texas Tech, as the Red Raiders piled up 639 yards of total offense.

GAME OF THE WEEK

The most interesting matchup of the first weekend was No. 4 Richmond traveling to No. 15 Elon, and the Spiders showed they were worthy of the high ranking with a 28-10 victory.

In a game that boiled down to a handful of plays, Richmond came through in the clutch for a nice win.

An 80-yard hook-up between quarterback Eric Ward (17-of-22 for 236 yards and two TDs, 14 carries for 59 yards) and Kevin Grayson put the Spiders on top and two long drives made it a 21-10 game late in the third period.

Elon lost one TD when officials said Terrell Hudgins (10 catches, 78 yards) juggled a potential 45-yard touchdown pass in the end zone, and the Phoenix wasted another threat when sophomore QB Scott Riddle (23-of-39 for 243 yards and one TD) fumbled the ball and Richmond defensive end Lawrence Sidbury recovered on a 1st-and-5 from the Spider 24 with just under 13 minutes left.

On the next play, Josh Vaughan (16 carries, 119 yards, two TDs) sealed the victory with a career-long 72-yard scoring burst.

STREAK BUSTERS

Hats off to North Carolina A&T, which ended a 28-game losing streak, previously the longest current skein in FCS, with a 44-12 victory over Johnson C. Smith.

The Aggies took the drama out of this one in the first quarter by building a 21-6 lead, and expanded it to 37-6 by halftime.

Quarterback Herbert Miller completed 13-of-22 passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns, while Michael Ferguson rushed 15 times for 100 yards and two more scores on an evening when A&T rolled up 454 yards.

Another team ending a streak on Saturday was Stephen F. Austin. The Lumberjacks were winless in 2007, but beat Langston 56-19 on Saturday.

Jeremy Moses hit 27-of-41 passes for 280 yards and six touchdowns to spark SFA after the running game floundered.

OPENING ACTS

A big welcome to the FCS club for Campbell, Bryant, North Dakota and South Dakota, who all played their first games in the subdivision this week.

-Campbell restarted football and played its first game in 58 years against Birmingham Southern, before an enthusiastic crowd of 5.845 fans.

The Fighting Camels led 3-0 for most of the game on Adam Willets' 30-yard field goal in the first quarter. Birmingham Southern scored a touchdown, but had the kick blocked and Campbell tied it again with 6:40 remaining on a 25- yard Willets kick.

But a 48-yard scoring connection between quarterback Joe Thigpen to Luke Chapman gave BSU a 12-6 lead with 4:06 left, and Campbell couldn't come back.

-Bryant stormed back for 22 fourth-quarter points against Central Connecticut State to tie the score at 35, but Aubrey Norris found Nick Colagiovanni for a 70-yard scoring play with 3:25 left to lift the Blue Devils to the win.

Jay Gruber completed 19-of-36 passes for 216 yards and three TDs, but the Bulldogs couldn't keep James Mallory in check. Mallory rushed 29 times for 256 yards and two touchdowns for CCSU's option attack.

-North Dakota had big second and third quarters to beat Texas A&M-Kingsville, 40-14, with quarterback Danny Freund hitting 18-of-25 passes for 260 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Jareko Taylor caught seven of those passes for 107 yards and a score.

-South Dakota whacked around St. Ambrose 52-0, building a 35-0 lead at halftime as Noah Shepard completed 10-of-12 passes for 180 yards and three TDs. Chris Ganious was Shepard's go-to receiver, grabbing nine balls for 141 yards and two touchdowns.

OTHER NOTES

-No. 2 ranked-North Dakota State answered some questions with new quarterback Nick Mertens hitting 16-of-18 passes for 304 yards with three TDs and one interception in the Bison's 41-6 victory over Austin Peay.

-No. 5 Massachusetts survived a bit of a scare from Albany, trailing 9-0 against Albany in the first period before emerging with a 28-16 victory. New starting tailback Tony Nelson pulled the Minutemen out of trouble by rushing for 171 yards and one TD on 20 carries.

David McCarty ran for 125 yards and one touchdown on 24 carries to help Albany stay in the game.

-In a sloppy game played in Orlando, Hampton came back from an early deficit and hung on at the end to beat Jackson State, 17-13, in the MEAC-SWAC Challenge.

Jeremy Gilchrist set up one touchdown with a great catch at the JSU one, and scored the eventual game-winner on a 12-yard pass from Herbert Bynes.

Hampton's defense held the Tigers to 88 yards rushing and 18-of-40 passing and came up big to close off Jackson State's last scoring threat in the final minute.