D3football Daily Dose

Every year I spend my “fall back” extra hour of sleep right here, on the site. Then I look up and think, “crap, is that 2:15 daylight or 2:15 standard?”

So far, still daylight time, I believe.

There’s a couple of teams whom we won’t hear much clamoring for Top 25 consideration after today. Ferrum folks probably will continue. Waxing Greensboro isn’t entirely unique, however. You know the deal, Week 11. Until then it’s just talk.

Saw Wesley just crush Salisbury today. I’ve had the pleasure of watching Salisbury several times in the past few years with Dustin Johnson at quarterback (seriously, the guy is fun to watch), but the Sea Gulls were awful today. They had 11 rushing yards at the half and finished with 76 for the game. Wesley came out with a five-man front that had Salisbury in trouble all day. Meanwhile, Chris Warrick just picked the Salisbury secondary apart (other than All-American Byron Westbrook, whom they worked away from). He hit receivers in perfect stride, and when he didn’t, they came down with jump balls.

Obviously you have to worry about Wesley under less-than-perfect conditions. Dry turf is ideal but a playoff team needs to be able to play in the mud as well, like last week’s 47-0 loss at Brockport.

I would be very surprised now to see Salisbury make the NCAA playoffs. They may struggle at home with Widener next week, because Widener isn’t exactly a pushover.

The three teams who announced this week they were leaving the MAC went 0-3.

Meanwhile, I think those who sat through the entire five-game set at the Metrodome on Friday may still be recovering. Our photographer shot all five games for the league and I have barely seen him online since. (That and the St. John’s/St. Olaf game, which he shot but we have yet to see.) I hope someday the MIAC gets back into the Metrodome.

Interested in:
What Monmouth can do in the playoffs. Will they be like St. Norbert, competitive in every first-round game, or like Lake Forest, the only non-Norbert team to make the playoffs and a 45-0 loser to Wartburg?
Union finally playing one of the other Liberty League front-runners next weekend. Talk about a backloaded schedule. (St. Olaf knows what that is.)

Concerned about:
Hardin-Simmons, though maybe they have found their quarterback by default now.
Can DePauw make it to Monon Bell unscathed?
Rowan, with pieces dropping like flies. Today it was key defender Brian Bond tearing two knee ligaments against Brockport.

Crazy e-mail of the week:
There’s a good set to choose from, including one from a person last night advocating for Johns Hopkins to be in the Top 25. I gave him my honest assessment last night. But I think Hopkins coaches already know they were ranked too high in the AFCA poll … again.

Anyway …

Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by
[name removed] (xxxxxxxxxxxx@uww.edu) on Saturday, October 29, 2005 at 07:17:58 PM
—————————————————————————
Subject: UW-Whitewater
Notes: Don’t you think its kinda weird how Whitewater is ranked number 2 in the nation for D3 football and there were no players from Whitewater in the person-all americans and never get any recognition for what they have accomplished this season. I bet if you go and ask anyone outside the state of Wisconsin and ask them where Whitewater is they would not have a clue. Come on now show everybody out there what UW-Whitewater is all about and give them some props.
Thank You

Well, let’s see, recognition. Whitewater has had people on the Team of the Week twice this season, they are, as noted, ranked No. 2 in our poll, they’ve been on the front page at least twice … oh yeah, and Keith McMillan and I have been there this season.

If people don’t know where Whitewater is, it’s not our fault.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “If ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ were candy and nuts, we’d all have a merry Christmas?” In that sense, this week’s schedule looks like a holiday finger food smorgasbord.

If ONU beats Capital we could be headed for a three-way tie in the OAC. St. Olaf is undefeated but they haven’t played SJU or C-M yet. If Albion beats Hope, they’ll be in first in the MIAA but they still have to play Alma.

Conditional statements (“if…then”) make my head hurt and cause flashbacks to sophomore high school geometry class. So maybe we can get more clarity and less ifs and buts after tomorrow.

That being said, here are my two-cents worth (plink, plink) for this weekend…

Wish you were here: I’ve never been to Collegeville so a hypothetical trip to SJU-St. Olaf would be fun. But I’d pass on that to go to Ada, Ohio where No. 11 ONU battles Capital, who sits just outside the Top 25 and on the fringes of the playoff race.

No disrespect to Wilmington and Marietta, but this is probably the Polar Bears’ last major hurdle to the playoffs that doesn’t involve off the field decisions at the NCAA or OAC level. Capital needs to win to keep their Pool C hopes alive. After last week, I’ve given up making predictions for the OAC. But it would be fun to see how this plays out.

Don’t sleep on this one: Two sub-.500 teams try to keep their playoff dreams going. Bluffton gets Mount St. Joseph. Bluffton (3-4) beat Hanover who beat MSJ. Then again, Mount Union beat JCU who beat ONU. Elsewhere Albion hosts Hope (3-4) who will try to keep their MIAA title dreams afloat. (Hope floats…get it? It was a movie with – eh, never mind.)

I also suspect a rejuvenated Brockport team will give Orihel-ess Rowan a fight in Glassboro. I’d be interested to hear thoughts from any observers on either QB since both figure in their team’s immediate (Rowan) or long-term (Brockport) plans.

Most Likely Top 25 Team to Lose: I’m yet to predict correctly a result in the next category. Think Houston Texans bad. Think Houston Astros with runners in scoring position bad. Think Houston sports fans’ collective opinion of Gordon Mann bad.

But I’ve been solid here, even quasi picking Brockport over Wesley last week. So this week’s pick is…no one. They all win. Del Val and ONU get the biggest scares.

The Super Ridiculous Pick of the Night: We dole out the first automatic qualifying bid into the playoffs. Witt beats OWU. Earlham beats Kenyon. Wabash beats Allegheny. Little Giants, with tie breaker over Witt, clinch the NCAC.

Saturday Night’s Alright: As the days get shorter and the air gets colder, it seems like our selection of good Saturday night games gets more sparse. JCU hosting Otterbein is intriguing, but it’s not being webcast to our knowledge and 6 PM isn’t really night time. PLU and Willamette could be entertaining if the Lutes play an inspired game. You can catch both broadcasts off the scoreboard.

And don’t forget to turn your clocks back tomorrow evening. We’re a full service organization at D3football.com.

Well it has been a few weeks since my last post. I have been a little busy lately with practice and my internship. The internship requires me to put in 450 hours throughout the semester and at the half way point I am at about 200 hours, so I have been doing some nights during the week and also a couple of hours on the Sunday nights. It is going well right now, I am having a lot of fun, learning a lot and definitely making some good contacts that will be useful after graduation.

The last time I wrote in we were preparing to play on the road against Endicott College. That weekend was not a very good one for Falcon fans as we were beat 21-7. The story of that game was turnovers. Our offense just couldn’t get anything going and with 6 turnovers it left our defense on the field for a long time. Nonetheless they played well and beat us on that day.

The following week against Maine Maritime Academy we got back on track with a 21-0 shutout victory. MEMA came into the game with a very high-powered ground game that our defense was able to shut down.

The game against MEMA was also the first football game played on the newly renovated Elliot Field. Even with terrible weather there was still a good turnout of family and friends to support us in our first true home game of the season. The win improved our record to 5-1 and 4-0 in the Bogan division.

This past Saturday was our second straight contest against a maritime academy as we traveled down to scenic Buzzard’s Bay, Cape Cod for a match up with Massachusetts Maritime Academy. It was a successful trip as we came away with a 39-19 win and put ourselves into the driver’s seat in the division.

Although it was a successful trip, it was not a good game for me. It was the first time in my career at Fitchburg that I was pulled from the game. My kicking struggles continued as I missed my first 3 extra points, back up John Hirko came and did a great job making all 3 of his attempts.

With a win this week against Framingham State combined with a Worcester State College loss, we will win our second straight divisional championship. However, a Worcester State win will set up a division championship game next week at home against Worcester State.

I see plenty of angst around the message boards and in my e-mail about the regional rankings the NCAA published today (a day late, by the way — if the NCAA is going to fine schools for reporting scores late then perhaps the NCAA should pay $50 to every ranked school to which it reported a day late).

Remember one thing — regional rankings are not like the national rankings. They do not consider all games. Any win is better than any loss.

We have a lot of info about the playoffs and how teams are ranked by the NCAA in our FAQ. But let’s run through them quickly and take a look at what the salient numbers are.

Almost always these run heavily on regional winning percentage and QOW, the Quality of Wins index. We calculate this for you each week. You can find a link to it on the menu rail of any news page.

I’ve listed regional record, regional winning percentage, and QOW.

East Region
1. Rowan 4-0, 1.000, 12.000
2. Hobart 5-0, 1.000, 11.600
3. Delaware Valley 7-0, 1.000, 10.857
4. Union 5-0, 1.000, 10.800
5. Alfred 5-0, 1.000, 10.600
6. Ithaca 6-1, .857, 10.286
7. RPI 5-1, .833, 10.000
8. St. John Fisher 7-1, .875, 9.875
9. Cortland State 5-2, .714, 9.143
10. Wilkes 5-2, 8.857

Every unbeaten team is by default better than every team with a loss. The rankings are just basically a rehash of the QOW, with the exception of Fitchburg State (6-1, .857, 11.000), the only nod to actual team strength. Also left out, Buffalo State, which has a QOW of 10.500 but only a 2-4 overall record, 1-1 in region.

North Region
1. North Central 5-0, 1.000, 13.500
2. Wabash 6-0, 1.000, 11.333
3. Ohio Northern 5-1, .833, 10.571
4. Mount Union 5-1, .833, 11.500
5. Augustana 5-1, .833, 10.333
6. John Carroll 6-1, .857, 9.857
7. Mount St. Joseph 6-1 , .857, 9.571
8. Carthage 5-2, .714, 10.286
9. Otterbein 5-2, .714, 10.000
10. Capital 5-2 , .714, 9.143

Ohio Northern is out of order in terms of QOW but has the head-to-head win against Mount Union. Similarly John Carroll is somewhat out of order but has a win against Ohio Northern. Left out? Alma, 4-1, .800, 10.400 But there won’t be five OAC teams in this ranking forever.

South Region
1. Trinity (Texas) 5-0, 1.000, 12.400
2. Ferrum 7-0, 1.000, 10.333
3. Mary Hardin-Baylor 4-1, .800, 10.000
4. Thiel 7-0, 1.000, 11.429
5. Bridgewater (Va.) 4-1, .800, 9.000
6. Hardin-Simmons 5-1, .833, 10.333
7. Johns Hopkins 6-0, 1.000, 11.167
8. Salisbury 2-0, 1.000, 13.500
9. Washington and Jefferson 5-1, .833, 8.833
10. Wesley 4-0, 1.000, 12.500

Looks for all the world like Thiel should be above Ferrum, as should Johns Hopkins. Not sure what’s going on there. And our QOW number doesn’t include Ferrum’s game against Chowan — which it shouldn’t, really. Chowan has scholarship players now. If you include the Chowan game, it lowers Ferrum’s QOW even more. No teams left out that have a particularly good reason to be in according to the criteria.

West Region
1. Linfield 4-0, 1.000, 10.250
2. UW-Whitewater 6-0, 1.000, 12.000
3. St. John’s 7-0, 1.000, 10.571
4. Occidental 6-0, 1.000, 11.167
5. St. Olaf 7-0, 1.000, 9.857
6. Coe 5-1, .833, 11.000
7. Monmouth 7-0, 1.000, 10.714
8. Concordia-Moorhead 5-1, 9.167
9. Whitworth 4-1, .800, 9.800
10. Central 6-1, .857, 11.143

Well, Linfield doesn’t have the highest QOW but they hold the Walnut and Bronze. That usually counts for quite a lot. Coe is higher on the head-to-head win against Central, and St. John’s because of beating Concordia-Moorhead.

Regional rankings don’t measure the games that make national rankings most accurate — games between regions. They don’t see the difference between a one-point win and a blowout. All of these things get measured in a national poll.

It’s one of those times where we need to mobilize the power of Division III fans behind one of its own. The online public voting for the Heisman Trophy is now available, and we’ve managed to get Linfield quarterback Brett Elliott added to the ballot (thanks to correspondent Ron Boerger, who got the process started).

The top three vote-getters in the online voting receive the equivalent of a first-place, second-place and third-place vote in the official ballot tally. Now, we’re coming to this late in the game, so we need to get cracking.

Click here to vote

You can vote from a particular e-mail address once per week. Each vote must be confirmed — they send you a link via e-mail to click on to confirm your vote before it will be counted.

Elliott trails by 12,642 votes and has just 12, but if each person who visits D3football.com on a typical Wednesday votes for him, we will catch up. Let’s show yet another national site the power of Division III, like we did to ESPN.com with the Wabash/DePauw rivalry over the summer.

And if you doubt Division III in the Heisman race, don’t forget Plymouth State running back Joe Dudek finished ninth in the balloting in 1985. Some guy named Bo Jackson won the thing that year.

Game day for the Augustana football team started off with a 7:00 a.m. breakfast on campus this past Saturday. Following our traditional pre-game breakfast of scrambled eggs and ham from the cafeteria we loaded the buses and set out for Decatur, Illinois to take on Millikin University. The ride that usually offers nothing but corn and farm houses took a turn for the better with the shifting of seasons as all the leaves were in the midst of changing colors.

For any sports fanatic, fall has to be the best time of the year. The cool air simply smells like football and throughout most of the week some sort of game can been seen. Let’s not forget the excitement that surrounds the baseball playoffs and World Series that comes hand in hand with fall. Speaking of which, though the odds of me jumping on the White Sox bandwagon are about the same as me starting over Reggie Bush this Saturday for USC, I must tip my hat to Ozzie Guillen’s squad and their success as of yet. You have to admire how hard they play and how they feed off of each other’s energy.

They have captured the essence of sports which derives from the chilling atmosphere fall creates. There is nothing that compares to the feeling you get while stepping onto the field under the blue skies of fall while smelling barbeque from distant tailgaters. That is all I could think of while we traveled to take on the Big Blue and as we arrived in Decatur at 11:15, kickoff could not have come soon enough.

Things got rolling early as we jumped out to a 17-0 halftime lead thanks to a stingy defense and a grinding offense. Walking off the field after the first half we found a shaded area right outside the stadium and stayed there for halftime rather than piling into the crowded locker room. It was quite an interesting experience, one a division I football player would never even come close to experiencing as fans of both teams passed close by the entire time. The game ended with us coming out on top by a score of 23-0 as we improved to 6-1 overall.

After the game I was able to hang out with a few players from the Millikin team because my good friend Max Warner plays for them. It was a great experience talking CCIW football with guys I had just lined up against. It was a unique experience hearing them talk about the same things my teammates and I talk about, just from a different perspective.

This Saturday we play host to Elmhurst College who just came off of a tough seven point defeat from North Central College (12th in the nation). As conference play comes to a close we realize that from week to week, it is a one game season. No game is more important than the one in front of us as we take on the Bluejays this Saturday. One slip up could cost us our season and we take that into consideration as we walk out to practice every day.

So I first got a call around 2:15 or so that Ohio Northern was leading Mount Union 21-7 in the second quarter. Ehh, yeah, whatever — if I had a dime for every time someone called me or sent me an instant message that Mount Union was losing, we’d have enough money to stop running pop-up ads.

Oh wait, we stopped doing that a couple months ago.

So yeah, didn’t really think much of it. Got another call at halftime. One late in the third quarter and then another with three minutes or so left in the game. At that point it gets serious — you have to doubt even Mount Union’s chances of scoring twice in three minutes. I’m already on the way out the door from the game I was covering, so I’m heading to a wireless hotspot I know sits about two blocks from the stadium. Got cut off at a stop light. Missed the end of the game. Caught the Mount Union student station giving the final score.

So everyone voting, have fun with your Top 10. I’m thinking of starting with my ballot from like six weeks ago. You know, when Mary Hardin-Baylor was still ahead of HSU and Ohio Northern was in my top 10.

Deep down inside, too, I’ve had this nagging feeling about Hardin-Simmons without Jordan Neal at quarterback. Descriptions of the UMHB defense today reminds me of its performance at W&J in the national quarterfinals last year. Could be time for another roll.

We’re getting close to the time where we’ll start having teams clinch playoff bids. Some of these will involve our favorite 11-letter word: tiebreakers. However, Johns Hopkins is 4-0 with a two-game lead on Dickinson (have not played yet) and Muhlenberg (Hopkins beat them today). They have two games left to play. Lakeland plays Aurora next week and can clinch the Illini-Badger with a win.

Speaking of tiebreakers, we could be seeing them in several conferences. How odd is it for half the HCAC to be in first place and Hanover not be one of the teams?

I had to call the folks at Wesley to confirm that Brockport score. No injuries or suspensions to report. No excuses made for the long bus ride. Wonder what that means for the Salisbury/Wesley game next week.

Congrats to Brad Duesing, definitely back on pace now to get 1,000 receiving yards for the fourth straight year. Only one other receiver has done that, Susquehanna’s Mark Bartosic.

Interested in:
The NCAA’s appeals process. How does it work, really? Is Ohio Northern really off the hook until the appeal is heard? That sounds more like Major League Baseball than the NCAA.
Kalamazoo. Upset Alma. How did that happen?

Concerned about:
Union. For the second week in a row. If you were playing the comparative scores game (always dangerous — ask Mount Union) then look at Union’s results vs. Coast Guard and Kings Point (a seven-point game at home and an OT game), then look at RPI’s (a 17-point game on the road, 41-point win at home).
Wheaton. Looks like the team that played the second half against North Central went to Illinois Wesleyan.

Crazy e-mail of the week:

So, for three years every game that Mt. Union has played has been
significant, but when Linfield
is the #1 ranked team in the nation and defending National Champs their
games and players aren’t
worthy of a mention because??????????????????????
Love you dearly, Wake Up and report Division III football!!??!!??:)

Let’s ask the Mount Union fans what they feel about our coverage the past three years, k? Heck, we don’t even have to go back through three years. Just last week Linfield was on the front page and Mount Union was not. The week before Linfield was on the front page and Mount Union was not. There was a week Mount Union was on the front and Linfield was not (Oct. 1, when Mount Union needed 28 unanswered points to beat Capital). The week before that, neither team was on the front. But that was also Linfield’s bye week. The week before that, Linfield was on the front page and Mount Union was not. And both schools were on the front page for their respective season openers.

Get your facts straight before you complain. Thanks.

But we can’t talk about Week 8 without talking about the tragic death of Minnesota-Morris student and men’s basketball player Rick Rose, who died when the goalposts came down after Morris’ win against Crown, the final game in Morris’ current stadium. Perhaps it’s time to end this tradition. It isn’t worth it.

Absolutely a perfect football afternoon in Abilene, where in a little over an hour the #9 Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders will try to derail the #3 Hardin-Simmons Cowboys. I’ll be keeping a running blog of the events here.

Funny; for some reason there are a LOT more press representatives in the box today (this early) than there were the last time I was here (HSU’s 51-13 demolition of Louisiana College in Week 3). Amazing how two top ten teams will draw the media.

Well, this is a change of pace.

Normally I arrive fashionably late to the weekend Daily Dose parties, but this time I’m the first one here. So I’ll just throw in my two-cents (plink, plink), munch on some hors d’oeuvres and wait for someone else to arrive.

Wish you were here: In my opinion there are two Top 20 teams with must win games this weekend, No. 9 Mary Hardin-Baylor and No. 20 Ohio Northern. The next loss will be the second for either team and will put them firmly on the playoff bubble. In a perfect world I’d watch the Crusaders fight for their playoff life against Hardin-Simmons in Abilene.

UMHB can’t win the ASC because of its rain out versus Louisiana College, so Pool C is its only door to the postseason. Would a 7-2 national runner-up make the playoffs as a Pool C team? Maybe, but it certainly isn’t a slam dunk. And Cru fans know the pain associated with relying on an at-large bid.

This is as close as we’re getting to a playoff game in Week 8. Let’s get it on.

Game that will disappoint: Usually this is Pat’s department, but I’ll “borrow” it since it connects with my last point. It seems every year we go into the off season saying, “You know, if [insert OAC runner-up here] brings everyone back, in the right situation they can beat Mount Union next year…”

Nope. Doesn’t happen. Just ask Baldwin-Wallace, Capital and John Carroll. And I can’t see it happening for ONU either, especially in Alliance.

Don’t sleep on this one: Trinity (Texas) hasn’t blown out anyone this season and I don’t see why that would change with 6-1 Centre in town. In the USAC Methodist gave Ferrum a fight last Friday night. I’d be surprised if they don’t do the same when CNU comes to their place tomorrow.

Most Likely Top 25 Team to Lose: There isn’t much to pick from other than the games involving two Top 25 squads. Maybe Brockport upends a travel-weary Wesley in New York.

Gordon’s Super Ridiculous Pick of the Night: Four words for you – Kenyon Lords, Conference Champs. If they beat OWU tomorrow, it becomes more than a mathematical possibility. PS – I still haven’t nailed one of these. I’m due.

Saturday Night’s Alright: After a quiet Week 7, west coast visitors and night owls get a treat when the other undefeated pacific coast team with an exciting QB plays Redlands. Occidental is the favorite and would be a very compelling Pool C candidate should the Tiger stumble. And it’s always fun when both broadcast teams do such a good job that you don’t know whom to listen to. We’ve got links to both broadcasts on the scoreboard.

There are always a few extra activities going on surrounding homecoming week, and this year’s homecoming was no exception. We were fortunate enough to have former Notre Dame head football coach, Jerry Faust speak on campus and attend a Thursday afternoon practice.

Having a man who once held such a prestigious position address the team after our practice was quite an honor. He handed our program plenty of genuine compliments and it was a thrill to see him get fired up as he stressed to us the importance of team ball. I was impressed with the amount of knowledge he had of our program from over the years and it was flattering to hear him say that he would be following us in the paper in the following weeks. We were fortunate enough to have had the experience of meeting Coach Faust as it was a positive note heading into Week 8 as we took on Illinois Wesleyan University.

The Titans came to Rock Island with a 1-4 record, but records are thrown out the window bearing in mind the tradition this game has held throughout the years. Though Augustana has won 18 of the last 24 meetings, including the last four contests, Coach Barnes was quick to remind us that Wesleyan is the only school in our conference that still has the edge over us in the overall win-loss column.

As the defense played well again, the game broke open in the second half as fullback Mike Guzman tied a school record when he made his way to the end zone from 97 yards out. The final score was 41-15 as the senior class walked away knowing they were one of a few Augie classes that had never lost to IWU.

This Saturday we head down to Decatur to take on the Big Blue of Millikin. I have been looking forward to this game because one, they are a tough team with plenty of athletes, and two, one of my good friends from high school plays for them. Max Warner, our high school quarterback has found himself on the other side of the ball at Millikin and since then there has been plenty of good natured trash talk.

As a team we look forward to the challenge Millikin brings us this Saturday as every game from here on out is our biggest game yet. There is no doubt this will be a hard fought game on both sides of the ball. Let’s just hope no flags get thrown if I meet Max on the field.