CI Week 16 Highlights

On Saturday, JMU RB Coach De'Rail SIms (@DeRailSims) and ILB Coach Byron Thweatt (@Thweattster32) booked a return trip to the FCS National Championship Game with a 51-16 dismantling of South Dakota State. JMU will meet North Dakota State in the title game on January 6 in Frisco, TX. The Dukes will look to repeat as national champions and duplicate last year's result against NSDU when they went on the road to upset the Bison 27-17 in the national semifinal. The CI Family continued to have success on Sunday as LA Rams RB Coach Skip Peete saw Todd Gurley rush for 152 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 42-7 win over the Seahawks. Buffalo WR Coach Phil McGeoghan (@PhilMcGeoghan) and the Bills kept pace in the AFC Wild Card race with a 24-16 win over the Dolphins. Redskins DB Coach Torrian Gray (@togray14) also picked up a win over the Cardinals. Please find a recap from that game below. 

Washington improved to 6-8 on the season with a home win against Arizona. The Redskins' offense struggled to find its rhythm for much of the day but the defense made several key plays to pick up the slack. DL Anthony Lanier got things started for Washington with a strip sack of QB Blaine Gabbert that OLB Preston Smith recovered to setup the Redskins' first touchdown. Smith also intercepted Gabbert as the Redskin defense limited the Arizona quarterback to just 16-of-41 passing with no touchdowns and a 21.0 QBR. Safety D.J. Swearinger sealed the win for Washington in the final minute when he broke up a pass intended for WR Larry Fitzgerald on fourth down with the Cardinals deep inside Redskins' territory. Congratulations to Gray on the win and impressive defensive performance!

Two more CI coaches will be in action tonight as Tampa Bay LB Coach Mark Duffner and the Buccaneers host Atlanta Assistant Special Teams Coach Eric Sutulovich and the Falcons in an NFC South clash.