D3football Daily Dose

1 p.m. kickoffs on the East Coast are approaching, and while Pat and I are checking out Huntingdon at Wesley, like you all, we’ll be watching games — literally, on D3Cast — and scores from around the country. Feel free to join in the conversation below.

We detailed some games to watch in this week’s Around the Nation column and in Friday’s Triple Take post on the Dose. I’ll be following along with you, but give us updates from whereever you are, from La Crosse, Wis. (hint, hint) to anywhere.

No big trips for the D3football.com crew today — I’m at the D3football.com staff rivalry game. My alma mater is Catholic and Keith McMillan went to Randolph-Macon. I first heard Keith’s name while in this press box in 1996, when Keith picked off Catholic’s quarterback four times in a Randolph-Macon win.

Big games on video and audio all over the place. Alfred and Springfield already underway. Gordon Mann is giving D3football.com its first in-person look at Salisbury this season. But you guys are the eyes and ears of Division III football fandom today, as well.

This is one of those weeks where I’ll be following basically any possible game from home.

The world of live video is still relatively new. I’m watching a game where the one camera missed the entire first touchdown, the broadcasters have given the starting quarterback two incorrect names in five seconds.

Waiting for the UW-Oshkosh/Huntingdon video to start at 1 p.m. Lots of games kicking off — feel free to keep us up to date on anything big you notice and we’ll do the same.

Those broadcasters just mentioned a punt rolling to the 55-yard line. Yikes. I know I wasn’t a great broadcaster in college but I knew when I wasn’t in Canada.

Keith McMillan here in Dover, Del. getting a look at preseason USA South favorite N.C. Wesleyan visiting two-time semifinalist Wesley, which returns a large chunk of its past two top-10 teams.

The move to watch for them is the adjustment to new quarterback Jason Schatz, who played receiver last year while longtime QB Chris Warrick was running things. The Wolverines are wearing mismatched road whites, despite being at home, apparently because the new dark blue jerseys haven’t come in yet (file that in the Only In D3 files). N.C. Wesleyan’s got the Notre Dame look, and came out with a ritual I hadn’t seen before, with a player swinging a sledgehammer to the field turf as the team runs in from the end zone to their sideline.

I had previously thought I’d rather be at Rowan-Christopher Newport today, assuming that would be a better game, but seeing how jacked up both teams are here, I’m not regretting being here at all.

Feel free, dear readers, to kick in your thoughts from whatever action you’re watching or listening to today.

Hello everyone and welcome to Salem Stadium. This is John McGraw for D3football.com and I’ll be blogging throughout today’s game between Mount Union and UW-Whitewater. Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan are broadcasting live on NCAASports.com and Pat Cummings is down on the sidelines. Gordon Mann and I will be handling the half time show and already hosted the opening part of the pre-game show.

Kick-off is officially scheduled for 4:13 PM EST. The stands are just about completely full on the home side of the field, full of purple and black clad Mount Union fans. UW-Whitewater will be the visitor and their fans take up about 2/3 of the bleachers on the other side of the field. Fans are still making their way into the stadium from the tailgate. There was a great turn-out at the Stone Station tailgate and we thank the Bridgewater folks for their great hospitality.

It’s a gorgeous afternoon for football. Temperatures right now are in the 60s and there’s not a cloud in the sky. You couldn’t pick out better weather for a football game in mid-December.

For Mount Union, Pierre Garcon was warming up without any type of protective cast on his hand. He looked good in warm-ups catching passes, so we’ll see how he does once the game begins.

Don’t forget, later on tonight, the D3football.com All-America team will be posted on D3football.com. We made the official announcement during the pre-game show. Congratulations to all of those selected.

More from Salem to come. We’ll have scoreboard updates on the front page of the web site.

It’s nine and a half hours to kickoff as I write this. And as the painful memory of nearly seven hours’ drive time on I-80 alone melts from my eyes, it’s time to throw out my predictions. I have Keith’s predictions in my inbox and have tried not to read them so far.

What will we see tomorrow? I hope we’ll see two good games. I fear we’ll see two blowouts. So maybe we’ll get something in between.

Mount Union 35, St. John Fisher 17
There’s been some question as to which players will be available and play for Mount Union tomorrow. In the end, it’s not going to matter. As long as Nate Kmic can play, this is going to be a quick game and a Purple Raider win.

UW-Whitewater 35, Wesley 17
Is Justin Beaver 100%? Can Mario Harris, et al, shut down Derek Stanley and Neil Mrkvicka? Will receiver Michael Clarke be able to get open and pull away for his yardage after the catch? Can either team stop Ryan Kleppe or Bryan Robinson?

Hmm, that’s a lot of questions.

Here’s Keith’s take.

Mount Union 28, St. John Fisher 14: If the Cardinals score more than 17 against the Purple Raiders, they’d be the first to do so this season.

UW-Whitewater 28, Wesley 21: The Wolverines keep it much closer this year, but the Warhawks find a way to win again, preserving a chance to send coach Bob Berezowitz off into retirement with a championship.

Check for updates on the Scoreboard, not to mention our live broadcasts.

OK, so I only picked one score for both games. So sue me.

So here I am for the annual trip to Alliance where the weather is about 30-something degrees and there’s a good wind blowing across the field.

I feel a little silly wearing a Linfield sweatshirt, which I brought to have some fun with the SJU and Whitewater fans before the flight got cancelled. I need to buy some OAC wardrobe for these trips since we make enough of them.

Ric Brienza and “HS Coach” gave me a very pleasant surprise, printing me copies of their game charts which we have named “Brienzas” in honor of Ric. They combine all the players’ vital information in a shell that’s easy to complete for a new team and even easier to update for a team you’ve seen before. Bless their hearts for the help since this was a late change in travel plans.

A few Capital players were milling around at about 10 AM and seemed in good spirits. If nothing else, they won’t be intimidated playing in this Stadium. QB Rocky Pentello and the other four-year seniors are playing their sixth game against Mount Union.

As for the Purple Raiders, they are always good for some stunning stats.

- Nate Kmic averages 7.43 yards per carry and is within striking distance of Chuck Moore’s school record (7.46).
- The Purple Raiders are holding teams to 0.9 yards per carry. That’s about what you should get if your quarterback takes the snap and collapses forward.

The two guys I most look forward to seeing are Pentello to see how he stacks up against other OAC playoff quarterbacks in the past few years (Arth, Adamson) and Matt Kostelnik. A junior safety for the Purple Raiders, Kostelnik has amazing numbers — 44 tackles (fourth on the team), 11.5 TFL (2nd), 7.0 sacks (1st), 4 INTs (1st) including two for TDs. Hello, All-American team.

I’ll post some thoughts at the half and after the game, but the floor is certainly open for other thoughts from Wisconsin, Delaware, New York or wherever else you may be.

We’re barely underway and I’m about ready to close the book on Wheaton. Here’s the way the first six minutes have gone so far:
Wheaton got the ball first, punted.
Punt went 26 yards.
Then Pete Ittersagen, Wheaton’s top corner, got hurt.
Nate Kmic ran for a 52-yard touchdown.
Wheaton went three-and-out, giving up only its eighth sack of the season.
Wheaton punted for 25 yards. Mount Union ball on the Wheaton 35.

… as I write this Wheaton picks the ball off.

Partly cloudy, mid-to-high 40s here at Springfield, no wind as we are about 15 minutes away from kickoff between No. 2 seeded Springfield and No. 7 seeded Curry. I’ll be down on the field shooting for most of the game and won’t be checking in much but wanted to get the ball rolling for those of you at other games and those sitting at home.

Parking lot is packed with tailgaters — in fact, an hour before game time, there was nowhere to park. Excellent football weather, especially for mid-November in New England.

It’s the first meeting of these schools. Should be a quick game — you may have heard that Springfield runs the triple option, plus Curry runs for 227 yards a game so expect the clock to roll.

Welcome to Week 11!

Starting my day off by watching … yes, watching … the Curry/Coast Guard game on the Penn Atlantic video stream. Just saw Curry fake a punt and run for a first down, then bust open a long run which set up the game-tying touchdown. It’s 7-7 late in the first quarter.

You need a strong Net connection to get this video. There’s audio backup on our Scoreboard.

Last night I saw Rowan defeat William Paterson rather handily, and we might be ready to declare the return of the Profs’ offense. The young receivers are beginning to look halfway decent, though I can see why there hasn’t been a lot of confidence in them to date. Their hands weren’t perfect and sometimes their routes weren’t overly sharp.

Cortaca is tied at 7-7 with just under a minute to go in the first quarter. Game day doesn’t get much better than this.