Maine, which saw its Atlantic 10 contest with William ‘ Mary – scheduled for this past Saturday canceled due to effects of Hurricane Isabel in Williamsburg – has been awarded a win by forfeit, as decided by the conference.

The move is drawing the ire of coaches and administrators around the league, as the Tribe chose to remain inactive despite being offered the use of Richmond’s facility, and the financial means to fly to Orono and to have the game at Harry Alfond Stadium.

Nonetheless, coach Jimmye Laycock chose not to play despite being able to practice at points during the week. The Tribe will not be tagged with a loss, and will instead have the game erased from their docket and not included in their league record.

This effectively eliminates W’M from conference title contention, as they will play one less contest then the A-10’s other nine members. It also hinders the efforts of senior wide receiver Rich Musinski. The All-A-10 performer currently has 3,484 receiving yards, good for sixth on the conference’s all-time list.

He needs 460 yards in his remaining games to break former URI standout Brian Forster’s record of 3,944.

William ‘ Mary will host their first game on Oct. 11, as Massachusetts visits Walter Zable Stadium.

Gunslingers

The Sports Network, presenter of the Walter Payton Award given to the nation’s top offensive player at the Division I-AA level, has added a pair of potent Atlantic 10 signal callers as candidates based on their early season accolades.

Villanova first-year starter Joe Casamento, as well as Delaware junior Andy Hall, have been placed on the award’s “Watch List” after passing for 1,035 yards and 786 yards, respectively.

Casamento has completed 93-of-126 passes and thrown nine touchdowns and only one interception in leading the No. 3 Wildcats to their first 4-0 record since 1997.

The sophomore leads the A-10 in passing yards per game (258.8), completions and completion percentage (73.8), in his first season under center following the departure of the graduated Brett Gordon.

Last season, Gordon was the runner-up for the Payton Award to Eastern Illinois quarterback Tony Romo, in the closest vote in the history of the award.

Hall, who is ranked second nationally with a 174.1 passing efficiency, leads a Blue Hen offense that is seventh nationally with a 455.0 yards per game average.

He has completed 58-of-86 passes and thrown nine touchdowns, and has also run for 260 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Moving on up

Impressive quarterbacks aren’t the only things keeping the Villanova and Delaware programs in the news.

Coming off a 28-7 win over Northeastern, the ‘Cats have moved up to No. 3 in the Sports Network official Division I-AA poll, their highest ranking since 1997, when they spent six weeks ranked No. 1.

The Huskies, meanwhile, have fallen to 10th in the poll.

Delaware, which is ranked 4th, joins ‘Nova in the top five, while Massachusetts, ranked ninth, gives the Atlantic 10 five teams in the top 10. This is the first time the conference has accomplished this since the Sports Network poll became official in 1993.

The A-10 also has more teams ranked than any other, nationwide, in I-AA for the sixth consecutive week.