D3football Daily Dose

Pat and Keith are back to help start off your weekend right, and chiming in this week is D3sports.com Deputy Managing Editor Gordon Mann. I won’t keep you with a long introduction. There are key clashes between ranked teams and 19 games against non-Division III opponents. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of the Week 2 slate:

Game of the Week
Gordon’s take: No. 5 Bethel at No. 17 Wheaton (Ill.). Royals quarterback Reid Velo put up good numbers (241 yards, four touchdowns) on relatively few attempts (17) against Concordia (Wis.). The learning curve gets pretty steep in Week 2.
Keith’s take: No. 16 Ohio Northern at No. 15 North Central. Both the OAC and CCIW have the depth to send multiple teams to the postseason, so don’t think a guy like me isn’t arranging brackets in his head just because it’s only Week 2. I especially want to see what the Polar Bears are bringing to the table because there are going to be more OAC teams chasing playoff bids than available slots. You have to chalk Mount Union up for one, so between ONU, Capital, Otterbein, John Carroll and perhaps Baldwin-Wallace or Heidelberg, one or two Pool C teams should arise. On the flip side, I haven’t heard a bad word about North Central.
Pat’s take: No. 2 UW-Whitewater at No. 12 UW-Eau Claire. This one counts — in the WIAC standings, that is. Both teams have plenty of questions to answer and each started the season with tough wins against ranked NAIA teams.

Surprisingly close
Gordon’s take: Wilkes at Montclair State. Montclair State was picked second in the NJAC coaches poll while Wilkes is replacing a four-year starter at quarterback and three-time defensive MVP. But the Colonels gave No. 8 Muhlenberg all they could handle on last week, even leading the game in the fourth quarter.
Keith’s take: No. 3 Wesley at Delaware Valley. I like the Wolverines this year as much as anyone, but I wouldn’t bank on a blowout here. Wesley might actually be extra jacked up to play since last week’s game was cancelled, but the homestanding Aggies have a game under their belts. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a very competitive first half before Wesley makes it a two-score game in the third quarter.
Pat’s take: Dubuque at No. 25 Redlands. The one thing Redlands has going for it is the long trip Dubuque will be taking to Southern California. Well, and the fact that Dubuque might be ripe for a letdown after an uplifting home opener in which the Spartans opened their redone stadium in front of a big crowd. But Dubuque has a game and more than a week of extra practice under its belt and should make it exciting.

Most likely top 25 team to get upset
Gordon’s take: No. 11 Salisbury. Last week Geneva hung with Division II Seton Hill, which had an extra game under its belt. In a week without a lot of good candidates to upset Top 25 opponents, the Golden Tornadoes have a puncher’s chance against Salisbury.
Keith’s take: No. 5 Bethel. These guys are right, there isn’t much to choose from, so I sort of cheated. No. 17 Wheaton winning would technically be an upset, but with the game in Illinois, it’s closer to being a toss-up than the rankings would make it seem. The Thunder not having played would seem to be a weakness, but it also gave the coaching staff extra time to focus on the Royals. Wheaton has the talent to knock No. 5 from its perch.
Pat’s take: No. 21 Ithaca. Not that anyone will take King’s lightly after the Monarchs beat Randolph-Macon last week, but because it’s hard to pick many others. Mary Hardin-Baylor plays a ranked NAIA team that will be playing its third game, for example. Would that be an upset?

Team most likely to bounce back from a poor opener
Gordon’s take: No. 13 St. John Fisher. A lot of good teams have “poor” games against Mount Union. But last week’s 33-3 loss was a little disheartening for those Cardinal fans who were optimistic that their team could keep it close against a relatively young Purple Raider team. They’ll feel a lot better after St. John Fisher beats Buffalo State by double digits at home.
Keith’s take: Concordia-Moorhead. Given the loss at Willamette in the opener and St. John’s and Bethel looming before the end of September, a home date with NAIA Dickinson State is the Cobbers’ season flashing before its eyes. Here’s guessing they handle business and avoid the potential 0-4 start.
Pat’s take: Waynesburg. Even without Robert Heller, the Yellowjackets should handle Hanover. And if they don’t, it could be a long season.

Team playing its opener you’re most curious about
Gordon’s take: Linfield. I took a good, long look at the Wildcats in casting my preseason ballot before deciding to take a “wait and see” approach. The waiting is over, so let’s see what they do on the road against Hardin-Simmons.
Keith’s take: No. 4 Mary Hardin-Baylor. I loved the Crusaders last season, but I don’t have them ranked this high yet this year. They’ll be without their anointed starting quarterback (suspension) in the opener, but handing off to a platoon of backs is work a reserve can do. It’s really the quality of first opponent (NAIA No. 22 Southern Nazarene) and lack of returning starters (three) on offense that concern me. I’ll be checking to see if a defense with seven starters back can carry the load.
Pat’s take: Ohio Northern. They are often highly ranked in the preseason but over the past four years have lost a combined 11 games. That’s not a postseason resume. They’ll have to show better.

Most significant game against a non-Division III opponent
Gordon’s take: Mississippi College at Cumberland (Ky.). After being crushed by No. 24 Millsaps last week, the Choctaws need a bounce back performance to build momentum going into ASC play. Cumberland went to the NAIA playoffs last season.
Keith’s take: UW-La Crosse at North Dakota. Playing against a non-scholarship I-AA is one thing, the Fighting Sioux and their 59 free rides are quite another. When La Crosse beat South Dakota State two years ago as the Jackrabbits were making a similar transition, it was an indication that the WIAC was still Division III’s strongest conference and a reminder that football is football, scholarships or not. The Eagles will rotate sophomores Alex Seguin and Nick Anker at quarterback; What a way to get your young guys some experience.
Pat’s take: No. 19 Franklin at Butler. Butler has had its way with weak D-III teams in recent years and lost to better teams. This game should serve as a reminder that “non-scholarship Division I” is just D-III football with a better weight room.

They’ll be on your radar
Gordon’s take: King’s. The Monarchs raised eyebrows by beating Randolph-Macon last week, 34-13. If they follow that up by upsetting No. 21 Ithaca on the road, they will put last year’s 1-9 season firmly in the rearview mirror.
Keith’s take: UW-Eau Claire. Nineteen returning starters and an opening week win are encouraging; two games against Whitewater are not so much. The first will tell us a lot about the Blugolds.
Pat’s take: Augsburg. And this isn’t to say they’ll beat Wartburg, but that they’ll keep it close. Augsburg beat Wartburg on the road last year, likely keeping the Knights out of the NCAA playoffs, so there is zero chance of Wartburg taking this game lightly.