What have we learned?
 E-mail: pat@d3football.com (posted Dec. 23, 2001) |
Let's take a look back at what we've learned over the course of the 2001 Division III football season.
We learned it ain't over
'til it's over
I don't
think Yogi Berra envisioned exactly how his famous utterance would apply
to the 2001 football season. Aside from the usual blaming and finger-pointing,
the one thing we can learn is to play until the final gun, no matter when
it sounds. The lesson to players is that you can't trust anyone in power
to watch out for your best interest on the field.
Sure, we'll see changes out of this, no doubt. In the past, the NCAA has resisted assigning officials to run the clock because they have been concerned about bringing an official in to operate a clock console that they're not familiar with. While that's certainly a valid concern, in the end the operation is pretty simple — turn the switch on or off. Someone else does the more hands-on part anyway, changing down and distance and the score. Count on things changing for next year, because some NCAA folks who viewed the end zone tape in Salem said they felt sick to their stomachs.
Strong words.
The alternate theories flew fast and furious in Salem, everything from an inopportune electrical short caused by the wet conditions to an official compensating for the amount of time it took the game officials to set the ball. My favorite is the Second Thumb theory — that someone else in the box saw the clock hit 0:01 and, while everyone was watching the play unfold, turned the clock off. I realize this isn't a perfect theory, but maybe we can get the Warren Commission to rationalize it for us.
We learned the OAC does
not have two automatic bids
Talk all season
was that the OAC would get two teams in the playoffs simply because they
were the OAC. Problem was that after John Carroll got blown out by Ohio
Northern, that No. 2 team had two losses... and two D-III losses at that.
That wasn't going to cut it in 2001.
People argue that it's the OAC's birthright to get two teams in the playoffs. I ask, why? Each of the last three seasons teams from each of the other regions have played Mount Union a heck of a lot closer than the OAC runner-up has. That's the East's Rowan (24-17 win at Mount Union in 1999), the West's St. John's (10-7 loss in Stagg Bowl XXVIII) and the South's Bridgewater (30-27 loss in Stagg Bowl XXIX). That's while Ohio Northern has played Mount Union five times and never finished within 24 points of the Purple Raiders. The last North team to stay in a playoff game with Mount Union was Augustana, on Nov. 27, 1999.
Once upon a time it was true that the Purple Raiders' closest competition was in its own region (see Allegheny, Albion), but it's not true now.
We learned teams are closing
the gap on Mount Union
It's the second
year in a row that Mount Union fans have predicted a Stagg Bowl blowout
and the team has had to go to the final play of the game to preserve a
three-point win.
Not sure what that says about the Purple Raider fans, the ones who have come into Salem predicting scores like 56-13 and 54-20 and come out professing actual respect for their opponents.
It's a good thing. Division III football doesn't begin and end in Alliance, Ohio. (At the very least, we know it ends in Salem.) But that doesn't mean they won't be our preseason No. 1 team next summer.
We learned preseason picks
aren't all bad
Perhaps the
least scientific thing in college football, aside from the BCS, is a Division
III preseason poll. There's no ranking of recruiting classes, no spring
football and very little interregional play on which to base a national
ranking.
That having been said, I thought we did pretty well with our preseason poll. You see, there's one major way to measure a preseason poll, and that's if your No. 1 team wins the national championship. Alright, so maybe picking Mount Union wasn't that hard. But then again, one of the preview magazines (you know, the kind that devote about a page and a half to D-III) managed to get that wrong.
Allow me to pick out some of the things that people complained about most in the preseason:
No. 10 St. John's — Doubting Thomases (and Doubting Bethelers) said there was no way St. John's could be that high after losing 17 starters. St. John's then proceded to give the doubters more ammunition by going 0-2. We feel pretty good about them right there at No. 10 and 11-3.
No. 19 Central — Also lost 17 starters. Also made the playoffs.
No. 11 Widener — Too low, people said. But people didn't notice, or chose to ignore, that while Mike Warker was a significant upgrade at quarterback, the defense was still an issue. They got the best first-round playoff matchup possible and beat Washington & Jefferson (by the way, preseason No. 13) before giving up 57 points at Bridgewater (preseason No. 6).
And where we failed — Linfield was too high at No. 4, although not all that high. They'd be on my Top 25 ballot to end the season. No. 8 John Carroll made us look pretty good for a while. That is, until they got blown out by No. 22 Ohio Northern. And we didn't pick the WIAC correctly (who did?), although we did note that No. 24 UW-Stout "could be a one-year wonder" so that's almost a save. Plus No. 2 Hardin-Simmons didn't quite live up to the preseason projection.
Five of the Top 20 failed to make the playoffs, and that's really as far as we can fairly judge, since the playoff system isn't designed to get the best 28, or even the best 25 teams in the postseason.
Biggest miss? Has to Emory & Henry at No. 21. Won't make that mistake again.
We learned not all elite
private schools hate football
Swarthmore's
pulling the plug on its football program still inexplicably gets positive
and unbalanced press from CBS. Never mind contacting someone on the other
side of the story.
Thankfully, Macalester did not wander down that crooked path and deny its kids the chance to enjoy football. While they'll miss the full MIAC schedule in the short run, I believe in the long run the program will gain strength and momentum. I look forward to seeing what kind of schedule Macalester plays as an independent.
Too bad for the narrow-minded powers-that-be at Swarthmore. They missed out. And they'll continue to miss out.
We learned the Dixie Conference
is just plain bad
I'm sure this
will offend some people, but you have to realize how the rest of Division
III looks at a conference that was won by a first-year program.
Ouch.
Yes, someday Christopher Newport will be a legitimate force in Division III. But that's only going to benefit the Dixie's name if they don't kick them out first. Or Christopher Newport, which has Division I-AA facilities, could leave us altogether by then. We'll see.
We learned all hope is not
lost
It took Oberlin
44 consecutive games and more than two years with the longest losing streak
in Division III before the Yeomen finally won a game, defeating Kenyon
53-22.
Of course, it only took Concordia (Ill.) one more week after they inherited the longest losing streak to get it off their backs.
That leaves us with Mt. St. Joseph. Or does it? They've lost 16 in a row. Blackburn has lost 14 in a row. St. Lawrence 12.
But Gallaudet, which dropped varsity football from 1995-1999 and has beaten some non-varsity teams in the years they sponsored varsity football, has the longest streak. We just don't know how long it is, but it dates back to a 7-6 win against St. John Fisher in 1991. The question is, how many games is that?
We learned that D-III fans
are generous
In a year where
we needed to rely more and more on our visitors' kindness to help us survive,
you have come through. We appreciate that greatly, and it's why we're
here today.
And in conclusion . . .
And we learned
that no matter what is going on in the world, in the country, or in Ann
Arbor, Miami or College Station, there's still only one pure form of college
football.
And these guys play it. And we watch it.