College Football Notebook

After Saturday’s 28-6 victory over Eastern Michigan, Kent State is still very much in the hunt for a spot in the MAC Championship Game, thanks in large part to former Liberty High School standout Aaron Hull.

Hull, a 6-0, 291-pound senior defensive lineman, has started all seven games for the Golden Flashes this fall and has proven to be one of the best pass rushers in the MAC. Hull has five sacks, which ties him for fourth in the conference. He’s accumulated five tackles for a loss of 23 yards and 21 total tackles this season.

He also has a fumble recovery and made a tackle that resulted in a safety against Baylor earlier this season.

Kent State is 3-4, but 2-1 in the MAC’s East Division, one game back of the divisional leaders. Hull ranks fourth in the conference in sacks and his three sacks in a one-point loss to Bowling Green on Oct. 10 was the fourth-best single-game mark in Kent State history. Hull finished with six total tackles in the game.

IN THE BOOKS: Former Culpeper County High School standout Terence Fells-Danzer has seen playing time in five of Virginia’s six games this season, but the sophomore linebacker hadn’t made the stat sheet until Saturday’s come-from-behind victory at Maryland.

Fells-Danzer was credited with assisting on a tackle against the Terrapins, the first of his career.

BIG VICTORY: Southern Illinois knocked off rival Northern Iowa on Saturday to take control of the Missouri Valley Football Conference race and move up to No. 3 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivison polls. Former Eastern View running back Stevie Strother continued to make an impact for SIU.

Northern Iowa was ranked No. 2 in FCS before the Salukis went on the road and defeated the Panthers 27-20. Strother only got one carry for a single yard, but had a kickoff return for 23 yards. He’s also been earning praise from SIU offensive coordinator Phil Longo for the way the true freshman has fit into the offense with the Salukis’ star tailback Deji Karim, who rushed for 128 yards on Saturday and leads all FCS rushers with 989 yards this season.

“There’s two approaches. No. 1, you have your bread-and-butter plays where you continually give (Karim) the ball and challenge defenses to stop him,” Longo told The Southern Illinoisan. “That’s one way, and then, yeah, each week we’ve come up with some wrinkles here to try to find new ways to get him in space. It also helps that you can complement him with Steve Strother, and you’re throwing the ball well, and tight ends are a bigger part of our system, so I think when we’re balanced like that, it helps Deji.”

The Salukis are 5-1 with the lone loss a 31-28 setback at Marshall in the season opener.

A WIN IS A WIN: Orange County product Bradley Starks had a relatively unproductive day Saturday, but his West Virginia Mountaineers beat cross-state rival Marshall 24-7.

Starks finished the day with three catches, but netted a loss of a yard.