D3football Daily Dose

Geography, philosophy, competitiveness, rivalry.

All of these factor in to how a school selects its conference affiliation and how conferences select members. And with movement starting back up in the past six months and more rumbling barely beneath the surface, it’s worth some rumination of the ramifications.

I’m sure any moment now, Post Patterns hall of famer Ralph Turner will comment with his thoughts about automatic bids spurring conference consolidation and predicting doom and gloom for Pool B in, say, 2013. But I’ll leave that to him. He can copy and paste it, I’m sure.

Let’s instead just take a look at where teams could go. This latest round of shuffling is still part of the aftershocks of the breakup of the Freedom Football Conference. After the 2003 season, the teams spread to the four winds, with teams heading to the NJAC, UCAA, E8 and Plymouth State left as an independent. The UCAA took on Worcester Polytech, Kings Point and Coast Guard and changed its name to the Liberty League. Then Coast Guard took its liberty of the organization after a year, announcing that after its second year it was heading to the New England Football Conference.

While the Liberty League maintains enough members to keep its automatic bid, it could use an eighth member as a buffer against losing it, which is where the Susquehanna rumors come in. Juniata and Moravian are talked about as heading to the Centennial, which is something that league has been looking at for a while in the name of ease of scheduling. Bringing the conference to nine teams would leave midseason open dates or non-conference games, but would require each school to schedule just one non-conference game, whereas the remaining eight MAC schools could schedule a full round-robin without fear of having the title decided on a tiebreaker.

So what’s next? If the Centennial wants to have 10 football programs, it could look to Catholic, which is within the general geography of the conference (40 minutes from Johns Hopkins and McDaniel, two hours from Gettysburg, slightly further from Dickinson and Franklin and Marshall). Catholic could also go to the MAC, which was a possibility back in the mid-90s when Upsala folded. Allentown (now called DeSales) eventually took the open spot. Juniata and Susquehanna’s departure would presumably open up spots in the MAC’s Commonwealth League (the MAC is split in some sports and unified in others, essentially scamming Division III out of as many automatic bids as possible). The Commonwealth is slightly better travelwise.

Washington and Lee has made little secret of desiring to compete in the Centennial. It sees itself academically as a peer of those schools and already competes in the league for wrestling. But it’s a long trip from W&L to anywhere in the league.

Elsewhere, Buffalo State is in its last year in the ACFC before moving to the NJAC. SUNY-Morrisville, which is a two-year school currently but going to four-year status, is said to be looking at the NJAC and would be a fit philosophically.

That’s the sticking point, usually, that word “philosophically.” In most parts of the country there are overlapping conferences geographically — in the Mid-Atlantic it’s the MAC and Centennial, in New York it’s the Empire 8 and Liberty League, in Ohio it’s the OAC and NCAC, etc. This is almost always because schools that think highly of themselves academically want to associate with other such schools, in hopes of what they think is leveling the playing field. (How level some of those fields are is a subject for the offseason.) So when people say, “why can’t we have one Upstate New York superleague?” and similarly in Ohio and such, that’s the reason. It’s just not going to happen. Heck, in Ohio it used to be that way, with Wittenberg and others in the OAC before breaking off and forming the NCAC. (Similarly with Centennial schools seceding from the MAC.)

But the bottom line remains — the Liberty League is a very insecure group, in terms of the automatic bid. There are just five full Liberty League members which play football, and that includes Rochester, which is evenly split between the Liberty League and University Athletic Association. Hamilton is in the league but plays football in the NESCAC. Kings Point and Worcester Polytech belong to the Skyline and NEWMAC in other sports. And the likelihood of Clarkson, Skidmore or Vassar adding football seems remote. The league needs two associate members for football to maintain an automatic bid unless Susquehanna can fill one of them.

And that’s just one part of the country. There are changes in the works elsewhere as well, with Rose-Hulman pulling out of the SCAC and returning to the Heartland. The SCAC is also safe at eight teams for now and for 2006, but is looking for more football programs. The ASC has nine football programs still after Austin’s departure for the SCAC. The Presidents might be done with their rapid expansion from five to eight (Thomas More, St. Vincent, Geneva), although Seton Hill is still sitting on the NAIA/D-III fence and doesn’t have to declare until next August or so.

With a proposal on the table to facilitate changes in conference membership without losing automatic bids, expect more movement to take place in future years.

Now we throw the floor open.

Interesting to see Lycoming finally do something. Before today, the Warriors had gone 4-12 since wide receiver Ricky Lannetti died of a staph infection the night before the 2003 national quarterfinals. Sometimes tragedies such as a death of a coach or player have lingering effects. Hopefully Lycoming can get back to respectability.

And that win came against a team I was thinking might be the best in the East region before today. The two-headed backfield monster of Alex Baez and Jamie Donovan combined for just 15 carries, with Donovan limited to one carry with injuries.

Then again, Ithaca might still be the best team in the East considering Rowan’s struggles today and the loss of Mike Orihel. If it’s temporary, that’s one thing, but long-term it’s a big blow to the Profs.

Nobody has run the table in the WIAC since UW-Stout did so in 2000, but the way this Whitewater team is rolling, it seems possible. Their schedule wraps up with what is traditionally the bottom three teams (Oshkosh, River Falls and Platteville) at home and a trip to Stout, although Oshkosh is 2-1 and has already beaten Stout, so the Titans can’t be forgotten.

Congrats to Linfield, extending its own record for consecutive winning seasons — it’s now 50. A half-century over .500 is great, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not a record that someone can easily chase, nor has Linfield been in any danger lately of failing to have a winning season. Since it’s not much of a surprise, it’s hard to get all excited over it outside of McMinnville, Ore. Sorry.

Lakeland finally got past Concordia (Wis.) for the first time in five years and has three games (one against Aurora, one game back) left to decide the IBC title. I still remember their weeping and gnashing of teeth from Lakeland’s staff (two or three coaches ago) on the Selection Sunday conference call in 1997 after they went 10-0 against weak competition and justifiably did not make the tournament. (Picture making the North Region field without an automatic bid — not likely.) They’re a few steps away from getting their first chance.

Saw Johns Hopkins on Friday night against Gettysburg. They do have a defense worthy of a couple of playoff wins, but I am not sure who is going to score for them. Gettysburg came in allowing opponents 38 points a game and Johns Hopkins managed 14 — on a blocked punt and one long pass play. That isn’t going to get it done nationally, although if the Blue Jays face another Mid-Atlantic team in the playoffs they might just win, because nobody else in the subregion is that good either.

Interested in:
The whole stretch run for the IIAC, which should be interesting again. Central travels to Wartburg in Week 10. Coe has already beaten Central and lost to Wartburg. Luther’s not out of it yet.
Benedictine quarterback Efi Eyo. Man, this guy has been everywhere, started off at I-AA Fairfield, played at McDaniel, was in camp at Catholic, finally gets a W today for Benedictine, 22-13 against Eureka. Long, strange trip … or something like that.
UW-Oshkosh. Are they for real? no. Real enough to cause trouble down the stretch in the WIAC? You betcha.

Concerned about:
Thiel. Needed double OT against Waynesburg and has four games left against teams that are all at .500 or better right now.
Union. Hail Mary to beat 2-4 F&M? And you want to be my latex salesman …
Bridgewater. That’s a lot of points given up. Surely they knew when Guilford put up 45 on Hampden-Sydney that the Quakers weren’t to be taken lightly. So Guilford scored 46 on Bridgewater.

Oh, and Ferrum and Trinity (Conn.) still have Division III football programs. Now you can’t complain that we’re not talking about you. All those Ferrum gripers out there, hey, I voted for you the last three weeks. You’re barking up the wrong tree.

Barry Bottino of the Northwest Herald in Crystal Lake, Ill., writes about one of our Insiders, Augustana’s J.J. McDowell, and about McDowell’s Insider writings.

The upper midwest should be the focus this weekend, with Top 15 teams squaring off in both Wisconsin and Minnesota. But neither game is necessarily going to wrap up the WIAC and MIAC races. No. 5 St. John’s takes its 6-0 mark to No. 13 Concordia-Moorhead, where both teams could use a little practice hanging onto the ball. St. John’s has turned the ball over 20 times in six games, while Concordia-Moorhead fumbled it 10 times last week alone, losing eight of them. They’re also the top two scoring defenses in the league, allowing 10.8 and 14.0 points per game.

In Wisconsin, No. 10 UW-La Crosse hosts No. 7 UW-Whitewater. This is a rare game for the WIAC in Week 7, two teams that have combined for one loss, and are unbeaten against Division III teams.

Those games are obvious big games, as is the other Top 25 matchup, with No. 22 Carthage at No. 16 North Central. Here’s some others:

Friday Night Audios: Of course, even though we always call this Looking ahead to Saturday, we can’t ignore Friday’s games this time around. Ferrum (6-0) puts its unbeaten record on the line against Methodist (4-1) tonight at Franklin County HS, a home game for Ferrum. And Johns Hopkins (5-0, 2-0 Centennial) hosts Gettysburg (2-3, 1-0) tonight as well. Both games are scheduled to be broadcast online, check our Scoreboard page for links.

Can’t look ahead: No. 3 Hardin-Simmons hosts No. 11 Mary Hardin-Baylor a week from Saturday, but can’t be caught napping on East Texas Baptist this week. Similarly for Ohio Northern against Otterbein in advance of next week’s game at Mount Union.

Playing favorites: Bowdoin is a surprising 3-0 and now hosts Hamilton, a game it would be expected to win even in a normal season. How will the Polar Bears handle success?

This never happens: Kenyon hosts Allegheny this week, and the Lords are actually ahead in the NCAC standings at 2-0 to the Gators 1-1.

Explain this one: When cardiac kids Albright and Delaware Valley play each other, how will it end? Will it end? If it’s boring, does the loser have to go with Susquehanna to the Liberty League? (And yes, this is apparently more than just Post Patterns rumor.)

Didn’t you used to be good? Springfield travels to Plymouth State. These teams have combined for three wins this season, one against first-year program Becker. When this year’s seniors were beign recruited, Plymouth State was in the process of going 7-3. Springfield averaged almost nine wins over the past three seasons.

Words are yummy: Back in our preseason Kickoff special, I predicted that Southern Oregon would be the team that loses to Linfield by the fewest number of points. Hey Raiders, gotta keep it under 15 points. Best of luck with that. Weren’t you supposed to be better than 0-5? Yikes.

But regardless of what happens tonight (I’m heading to Johns Hopkins), my day has already been made. Picked up the local paper and saw D3football.com cited on the front page of the sports section in a story on Frostburg State defensive lineman Kevin Culbert. Of course, it was the Oct. 4 edition, but that’s what was sitting in the lobby of my daughter’s school.

Hey all,
just thought I’d use our blog to link any articles about any kind of D3 football that I’m finding while looking for other stuff. I’ll try to avoid standard game stories and previews, but it’s always nice to know who covers us and who doesn’t. Feel free to post links in comments.

The NYU student paper’s take on UAA football

A story, albeit a couple weeks old, on Daily Dose favorite Ferrum being undefeated.

Here are a few papers to Google to follow certain teams:

The Harrisonburg Daily Record (Bridgewater, Va.)
The Marietta Times (Marietta)
Redlands Daily Facts (Redlands)

There are many more, of course, but my day job beckons.

Every matchup between Linfield and Pacific Lutheran has its own distinct flavor. Our offensive game plan has varied year to year, depending on our strengths and weeknesses.

My first two years featured a dominating run game with two All-American tight ends in Luke Bucheit and Marcus Ward opening holes for the triple threat running back core of Marty Williams, David Russel and Thomas Ford. In 2003 and 2004 we took to the air by going four wide and picking our spots to run inside. But regardless of game plans, schemes, personnel or year, you can count on the game being intense. You can’t ignore the 50+ years of competition between the two teams. Lute week practices are always a little more intense than usual and game days have a little extra buzz around them.

The 2005 chapter stayed true to these themes and they came out firing. The first half of the game they were relentless. Their offense controlled the ball, limiting us to only four possessions and we led by only 8 at the half. But as we always do, the defense made adjustments at half and the offense opened things up in the second half to eventually coast to the win.

At the end of the season, we may look back and see this game as a catalyst, particularly for the offensive line. Watching film, we saw an undersized defensive line that we felt we could push around a bit. We were able to put quite a few guys on the ground running the ball and in pass protection. We took it upon ourselves to physically dominate the game and the attitude carried over into the Whitworth match up. Although the Pirates were a bigger team than the Lutes, we knew we could control their front 7 as well. We were able to run the ball inside and out, and by the 4th quarter I believe they were worn down.

It only took another hour or so to wear us down which normally wouldn’t be too bad but we still had another 6 and half to go on the trip back home. Our trip out to Spokane started with bus loading friday morning at 8. We made it to Kennewick, Washington by 1 where we had walk through practices at a local high school. We were graced with the presence of Thomas Ford who is living in town while playing for the Tri-Cities arena team. Former quarterback Blake Kluse is coaching at the high school and was able to pay us a visit as well. After the traditional road trip buffet for dinner, we set off on the last two hours to Spokane. We finished off the night with step-its in the hotel parking lot before calling it a night.

The morning started with breakfast across the street and special teams meetings to follow. We loaded the bus for the final 15 minutes to the stadium and arrive 2 and half hours before game time. The trip home was much more direct, stopping only once at a gas station to fill up, stretch and get some drinks. Total time in transit: 18 hours.

This week against Southern Oregon doesn’t get any easier. We bus out Saturday morning and are on the road until 3:30 for the 6 o’clock game. We head straight home afterwards, usually pulling in by 1 in the morning.

But this trip could very well be one that will go down in history. If won, Linfield will have reached an unprecedented milestone; 50 consecutive winning seasons. It should be a huge game with hundreds of fans making the trip. But by next week it will have been just another game; 1 more step on our journey for another national championship.

The day the 2005 CCIW schedule came out I grabbed a marker and circled several games that I couldn’t wait to suit up for. October 8th was most definitely one of those dates because that meant we were heading up to Kenosha, Wisconsin to take on the Carthage Redman. Last year we beat them 35-0 at our place, but essentially that meant absolutely nothing considering they were the 2004 CCIW co-champions and made a stellar playoff run. They had accomplished something that this senior class at Augustana has never experienced, and we were well aware of that heading into week 6.

This past Friday I received a call from a good friend of mine that plays football at the University of North Texas. He recently transferred from Miami-Ohio where he played as well, but things were not going as he planned so he eventually found his way onto the North Texas campus. Anyways, he asked how we matched up against Carthage and he asked how our hotel was. Hotel? I told him I was sleeping at home in Rock Island and we were leaving early Saturday morning for our four hour bus ride to Kenosha. Here is a kid who has been involved with two different Division I-A programs so the thought of leaving on a Friday for a game is rare, let alone a game day. There was a moment of silence followed by an eruption of laughter. He was in disbelief as he is accustomed to leaving on a Thursday for a Saturday game. I just laughed and replied, “Frank, that’s Division III football my friend”.

This Saturday’s game met most expectations as it was a hard fought battle between two hardnosed teams on a cold night in Wisconsin. The Augustana offense versus the Carthage defense was the main draw as the stands were full and fans piled onto a hill on- looking the stadium providing a great football atmosphere under the lights.

The first quarter ended in a 0-0 score with solid play by both defenses, but we cracked the scoreboard midway through the second quarter on a Matt Roe 17 yard touchdown pass to tight end Tom McIntire. McIntire’s grab coupled with a with 4th quarter goal line stand(capped by a 7 yard sack by linebacker Joe Youngbauer) were crucial to our victory. While the Carthage defense held our offense in check, the defense pitched a shut out and carried our squad with the leadership of Tom Anthony who rightfully earned CCIW player of the week honors. This squad has adapted a team attitude and it really showed as contributions from all over pulled us together for a victory.

Homecoming week is ahead and we take on the Titans of Illinois Wesleyan(1-4) here in Rock Island. It is essential that we have great preparation for the next five days as we strive to continually improve from week to week. We are looking forward to another test this Saturday as the Augie-Wesleyan game has traditionally been a great game with plenty of emotion.

In the past few years, a handful of coaches have moved down to Division II and Division I-AA. (Yes, we know most people feel that is a move up, but we take a Division III-centric view on such things.) How are they doing?

One of the former Division III coaches who stays on the D-III radar quite a bit is former Rowan head man K.C. Keeler, now head coach at Division I-AA Delaware. It helps that he occasionally references Division III in quotes, like he did this week regarding Delaware potentially giving up its home game because of the condition of the field. Keeler was 88-21-1 at Rowan in nine seasons, including five trips to the Stagg Bowl, all losses.

He’s gone 33-13 at Delaware, including the 2003 national championship. The Blue Hens are 3-2 this year.

One of those wins came against Division II West Chester, home of another Division III coaching alumnus, Bill Zwaan. Keeler and Zwaan are both Delaware alumni and were both up for the Blue Hens job. Zwaan landed at West Chester, leading the Golden Rams to an 11-4 record and the first D-II playoff win in the program’s history. West Chester is 5-2 this season, giving Zwaan an 24-9 overall record.

Former UW-Stout coach Ed Meierkort took Division II South Dakota from five wins to nine his first year and the Coyotes have started his second season 7-0 for a career mark of 16-2. South Dakota is ranked No. 5 in Division II.

Chad Eisele went 31-20 in five seasons as coach at Lake Forest before moving to Division II Moorhead State, where he inherited a team on an 11-game losing streak. It’s been a struggle, but the Dragons did pick up their first win of the season this past weekend, dropping Southwest Minnesota State 37-16.

Jerry Schmitt moved from Westminster (Pa.) to Duquesne, though how much of a move up/down this is is debatable — Duquesne is Division I-AA, but is a non-scholarship program, so he has the same number of scholarships to award as he did last year. The Dukes are 2-3, with a 23-12 win against Robert Morris, the same team Rowan beat a few weeks back.

Hmm … one Top 10 team upset, one hangs on by the skin of its teeth. The legendary Wing-T team gets a passing touchdown for its only points, and wins, while the former NESCAC heavyweight needs its bullpen to close things out.

It’s almost disappointing that UW-Stevens Point and UW-Platteville couldn’t provide better competition for No. 8 UW-Whitewater and No. 12 UW-La Crosse. I mean, you almost go in assuming the upset in the WIAC these days, right? At least UW-Oshkosh restored our faith in WIAC-kiness. (Obvious alert: That’s sarcasm.)

After the Huntingdon/Trinity (Texas) game, the Huntingdon radio broadcaster didn’t realize his commercial break was over and we got to hear him chatting with the fans about how the program was in its second year and doesn’t offer scholarships. News flash — this is Division III, nobody else offers scholarships either. Oh, and it’s Huntingdon’s third year.

Bizarre outcome of the day: Chicago 27, Washington U. 0. Wash U hadn’t lost a UAA game (granted, there are only a few a year) since Oct. 28, 2000. Wash U had the home field, it was Homecoming, and the Bears were 2-3 including a loss to Mount Union. Chicago was 0-4, including a loss to North Park. I had to read the press release to make sure the score was reported correctly.

There’s a line about hope springing eternal, but it can’t be doing much for the Flying Dutchmen, who fell to 1-4 today after Olivet rolled up 604 yards of offense. Travis Sleight accounted for 198 on the ground and 67 through the air.

If I’m a Husson player, I’m pretty pissed off that I spent probably 15 hours in a bus to get down to Southern Virginia only to have them cancel the game Saturday morning because of rain. Yeah, it rained a lot … and? (And if Husson flew, then I’m pretty peeved if I’m the administration that had to pay for that trip.)

Congrats to Kenyon. I hope Wooster isn’t taking the lower half of its conference lightly — between the loss to Oberlin in 2003 and this week the Scots have accounted for two of the most unexpected results in that league in our history.

Then again, without it, the AFCA may well have kept ranking Wooster in the Top 15. Seems like every year the coaches’ poll goes full-bore behind someone in that league that falls flat. Don’t make me cite examples.

No, that wasn’t D3football.com’s Adam Johnson who threw the game-winning touchdown pass for Howard Payne today. Nor was it D3football.com’s Pat Cummings who kicked four PATs and a field goal for Union today (it wasn’t even Union’s Pat Cummings — Ben Rapple got the call for the Dutchmen today).

Martin Luther 16, Minnesota-Morris 8. You’ll never guess how Martin Luther got to 16 — touchdown with two-point conversion, field goal, field goal, safety. Morris’ points came on a touchdown and two-point conversion. Extra points optional, I guess.

Intrigued by:
Huntingdon, still.
Bowdoin, in a morbid curiosity sort of way.
Endicott. (Weren’t you going to do this last year?)

Concerned about:
Baldwin-Wallace. Not going to have a streak of winning seasons much longer.
Texas Lutheran. AFCA wasn’t the only non-D3football.com poll to have a Top 15 lose.
McDaniel. Even dating to the Week 2 win against Seton Hill (just 28-9) this has 4-6 finish potential, even though the Green Terror are 4-1 right now.

Crazy e-mail of the day:

Subject: wASHINGTON & JEFFERSON
Notes: Why would Washington and Jeffersonj be ranked in the top 25. They won’t play anybody that is really a football team???????

The national media is going to flock like … well, a flock of something … to this Northwestern (Minn.) doubleheader story. Northwestern is in the suburbs of St. Paul, a provisional Division III member in its first year, four years away from being a full member. We’ll cover it, of course, but we’ll keep in mind that there are games that affect playoffs and teams who are actually eligible for them.

To wit:

Under the radar key playoff game: Johns Hopkins hosts Franklin and Marshall. Although most games in the Centennial Conference this season matches up 2004 co-champions (there were five of them, after all) this one is likely to have an impact in the final analysis. Question is whether F&M can score — the Diplomats have scored just 42 points in four games while Johns Hopkins has allowed 27 in four games. The schools were picked 1-2 in the conference’s preseason poll, combining for nine of the 14 first-place votes and separated by one point.

Above the radar key playoff game: Bethel hosts No. 7 St. John’s. You might have heard of these two teams. It’s also by far the most important game taking place in the St. Paul suburbs this weekend. This is an elimination game for Bethel. Winner has to take down St. Olaf and Concordia-Moorhead later.

Long road to go key playoff game: Augustana at No. 13 Carthage. Just the second in a list of games between the top four contenders in the CCIW.

Long road to go key playoff game II: No. 8 UW-Whitewater at UW-Stevens Point. Stevens Point might be out of the running with a loss, leaving just La Crosse, Stout, Eau Claire and Whitewater as serious WIAC title candidates. If Stevens Point wins, it’s still a five-team race, even with River Falls, Oshkosh and Platteville as spoilers.

Who-are-these-guys key playoff game: This game almost didn’t get scheduled — it was on, then off, then on again this offseason. And if you don’t know who Huntingdon is, you should soon enough. Even if they can’t hang with No. 10 Trinity (Texas), this is a program in building mode in fertile football ground in Alabama. Hopefully they don’t bail on D-III like the last program in building mode in fertile football ground in Alabama — Stillman.

Letdown potential key playoff game: Look out, Thiel, Grove City takes the Mercer County rivalry seriously and looks to be better than last year. To borrow an overused phrase from Division I-A, this could be a trap game for the No. 22 Tomcats.

This is their playoff game: Lewis and Clark’s short season comes to an end Saturday night at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

Irresistible force/immovable object key playoff game: Alma’s Scot-Gun offense (514.2 yards per game) against Adrian’s defense, led by standouts Mike Lewis and Taz Wallace.