The good, the bad and the ugly
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Good for the region
No. 4 Hardin-Simmons 38, at UW-Stevens Point 12
The WIAC is often deemed “the best conference in the country,” so anytime you can go up there and get a win, it’s significant. Traveling over a thousand miles and winning by nearly four touchdowns? Even more so. The Cowboys had 227 yards of total offense — in the first quarter alone — and the Galusha brothers atoned for an early fumble by older brother Will in holding the Pointers to two field goals and a late touchdown.
The damage could have been even worse had not Cowboy quarterback Jordan Neal been picked off twice in the end zone. Hardin-Simmons ended up with 534 yards of total offense and 122 return yards. Besides the two interceptions, Neal ended up 20-for-28 for 283 yards and a touchdown, and scored on a sneak. Will Galusha led all tacklers with 11, and brother Robert forced and recovered a fumble in addition to his six tackles.
The Pointers received votes but were not ranked in D3football.com’s preseason Top 25. Some other rankings had UWSP as high as eighth.
at McMurry 40, Menlo 30
The “other” football team in Abilene also had a good day, defeating the Menlo Oaks 40-30. The win marked the start of the Joe Crousen era at McMurry, with Crousen having taken over the coaching reigns from longtime McMurry coach Steve Keenun. The win was also McMurry’s first in three tries versus Menlo.
The Indians led 27-13 after three, 33-20 early in the fourth, but Menlo staged a rally to close to 33-30 with 7:20 left. McMurry then put together a five-play, 65-yard drive to bump the lead back to 10, and Jim-Bob Bizzell (now there is a name for someone playing football in West Texas!) picked off an errant Oaks pass at his own 15 to seal the win.
Bad for the region
Wesley 31, at DePauw 26
The Tigers spotted the visitors a 24-point lead early in the third, and a furious rally fell short as DePauw narrowly lost the first game of the Tim Rogers era. DePauw was one completion from making this a “good for the region story,” as Ross Wiethoff's Hail Mary into the end zone was intercepted as time expired.
DePauw’s Jeremiah Marks had 101 yards and two touchdowns to lead both teams on the ground, and Wiethoff added 58. The DePauw quarterback went 14-for-30 for 186 yards, a touchdown, and a score while suffering two interceptions. John Michels added 115 yards on five kickoff returns.
Apologies to my DePauw readers; in last week’s column, not only did I get Wiethoff's name wrong, but I called Blackstock Stadium “Blackhawk.” All I can say, after years and years of following the SCAC, is “duh.”
Plain ugly
at Hampden-Sydney 52, Sewanee 7
J.D. Ricca is one of the top Division III quarterbacks. Even so, it was disheartening to see the Sewanee Tigers get taken apart in last week’s opener. Ricca completed 78% of his passes on the way to a conference-record 494 passing yards. 52 points also set a Hampden-Sydney opening-game scoring record. The Sewanee defense recovered three fumbles and picked off two passes to keep things from getting even more out of hand.
(D-II) Southern Arkansas 51, at East Texas Baptist 7
There’s no shame in losing to an opponent which awards scholarships. That said, when these two teams met last year in Arkansas, the game was much more competitive. East Texas kept it close for the better part of a half — trailing 9-7 with five minutes to go — but got blitzed 42-0 from then. The large margin of defeat may mean that there is still considerable work to be done for Ralph Harris and his Tigers. Here’s hoping that the departure of Austin College to the SCAC next year will give East Texas Baptist the chance to schedule more representative non-conference opponents.
ASC vs. SCAC, round 1
The SCAC took a 2-0 advantage after Week 1:
In Memphis, Rhodes’ Lynx turned back Louisiana College 43-33. This truly was a prizefight, complete with momentum changes from big plays as one team, then the other would take the lead. The teams went back and forth early, but Rhodes put two unanswered touchdowns on the board in the second quarter to take a fairly comfortable 22-10 lead to the locker room. In the second half, Wildcat quarterback Wesley Cooper (24-of-46 for 429 yards) led his team to three unanswered touchdowns to give the visitors a 31-22 lead. In this crazy game, though, no lead was safe, as Rhodes’ Ronald Bozant took the ensuing kickoff all the way to the LC 3. Tyler Lake (a career-high 157 yards) did the scoring honors two plays later. Rhodes held Louisiana College to three plays on its next possession and drove 97 yards to take a lead it would not relinquish. The Lynx’s Chris Lomas forced a Wesley Cooper fumble on the next series, returning it 34 yards to give Rhodes an insurmountable 43-31 lead.
In Sherman, Texas, #11 Trinity held off a game Austin College team 14-3 despite five turnovers. Jacob Cannon performed adequately in his first career start for the Tigers (22-of-35 for 225 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions), but Trinity’s inability to establish the run in the first half kept the offense from developing any consistency. The Tigers did establish the run in the second half, only to have turnovers and penalties again cause problems. Austin’s Brian Womack, the starting quarterback two years ago, caused continued headaches for the Trinity defense. He did so this time from the running back slot, accounting for 80 yards on 17 carries.
Other regional games from Week 1
at Centre 27, Bluffton 20: The Colonels fell behind 13-0 but rallied to defeat the Beavers. Sophomore Jerrod Williams replaced the injured Kevin Phelps at quarterback, leading Centre to two scores. The final margin of victory was provided when senior Michael Swartzentruber picked up a punt which had bounced off a fellow Colonel and returned it 57 yards. Swartzentruber completed the day’s scoring with a 16-yard end-around.
Rose-Hulman 48, at Earlham 41: Engineer Charley Key tied a school record with five rushing touchdowns, and Rose-Hulman needed every one of them to withstand a fierce Earlham comeback. RHIT led by 20 entering the fourth quarter only to see the Quakers roll up three unanswered scores. Key’s final score, a one-yard plunge, capped a 12-play, 54-yard drive resulting in the final margin. 207 yards on 38 carries gives Key the early SCAC rushing lead.
Millsaps at Huntingdon: postponed until Oct. 1 due to Hurricane Katrina.
Belhaven at Mississippi College: postponed until No. 19 due to Hurricane Katrina.
ASC vs. SCAC, round 2
The last chance (until the playoffs, anyway) for the ASC to redeem its cross-conference honor comes Saturday in San Antonio, when the much improved Texas Lutheran Bulldogs open their season against No. 11 Trinity (1-0). The last time these two met (2004), Trinity jumped out to a 38-18 lead in the fourth quarter but was outscored 21-7, holding on for a 41-32 victory. Texas Lutheran returns 19 starters from last year’s young team, led by quarterback Sean Salinas.
It should be an interesting game, and it’s my regional game of the week. There are those out there who feel this game has the potential as a “changing of the guard” between the two conferences. Texas Lutheran needs to win at least one of the three games against ranked opponents on its schedule — Trinity, Mary Hardin-Baylor, or Hardin-Simmons — to get serious consideration for a Pool C bid. This could be the best chance for Texas Lutheran to get a win over a Top 25 team since the Jim Wacker era.
The rest of the slate
No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor at Willamette: Willamette (0-1) had a terrible outing against D-II Western Oregon, getting blanked 35-0. The Bearcats defeated the Western Oregon last season. If there’s one thing the Crusaders (0-0) showed in last year’s playoff run, it’s that travel doesn’t faze them.
Sul Ross State at Southwestern Assemblies of God: SAGU (1-0), an NAIA member that has not had a lot of success over the years, hung up 80 points on Principia last week. Sul Ross (0-0) can take heart in that last year’s 56-7 effort against Principia was SAGU’s only win of the season.
No. 13 UW-La Crosse at Howard Payne: UW-L (0-1) is so hard-pressed to find non-conference games that, in addition to traveling to Texas, it scheduled a D I-AA team last week. The resulting 42-13 loss at South Dakota State doesn’t tell us much, but it gave the Eagles a chance to put on the pads and work out some of the kinks. Mike Redwine replaces Vance Gibson as head coach at Howard Payne (0-0), and has to face UW-L with questions at several positions. Adam Johnson, a transfer from Tarleton State who played in a handful of games in 2004, and was at Division I-AA Rhode Island the year before that, will likely be the starter at quarterback. HPU returns nine defensive starters, which should come in handy against La Crosse.
This is another “statement” game for the ASC, which would like to show the country that people should take it as seriously they do the WIAC, OAC, and other top-level conferences. WIAC readers might laugh, but if HPU pulls this off with a new coach and quarterback, it might be something to think about.
Huntingdon at Sewanee: Sewanee (0-1) got pounded while Huntingdon had an unexpected week off after Hurricane Katrina. The Hawks are an improving team that played near .500 ball last year, while the Sewanee squad is apparently in disarray.
Centre at Kenyon: The Colonels (1-0) have won this game handily the past three years. There’s no reason to expect that trend will not continue against NCAC back marker Kenyon (0-0), which hasn’t played .500 ball in more than a decade (5-5 in 1994).
Mount St. Joseph at Rose-Hulman: The Fightin’ Engineers (1-0) have their home opener against 2004 HCAC champion Mt. St. Joseph (1-0, 10-1 in ’04); the Lions only had 111 yards in a 21-18 opening win against Wilmington (3-7 in 2004). This game is a preview of things to come for Rose-Hulman, as the Engineers join the HCAC in 2006.
South Region Top Five
1. Mary Hardin-Baylor (0-0)
2. Hardin-Simmons (1-0, 0-0)
3. Trinity (Texas) (1-0, 0-0)
4. Texas Lutheran (0-0)
5. Rhodes (1-0, 0-0)
Honorable mention: Millsaps (0-0), DePauw (0-1), Howard Payne (0-0)
Next week
Family calls, so I’ll be in San Antonio for Texas Lutheran-Trinity. Coincidence? You decide. Questions, comments, and story ideas are always welcome at ron.boerger@d3football.com.