By Ryan Tipps
D3sports.com

Those who believe the old adage that familiarity breeds contempt have never met the coaches at Mount Union and UW-Whitewater.

Respect between these two championship-caliber teams have been earned in recent years, rooted early on in a regular season meeting in 2002 and developed through to 2008 and their fourth straight faceoff in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl. What has emerged is a healthy foundation for a rivalry, even if Mount Union's Larry Kehres and Whitewater's Lance Leipold aren't sure that they've reached that stage yet.

"I don't know if it's quite there," Leipold said in an interview with D3football.com. "I think it's more of two very good football programs, one of which has a long tradition [of success] and one that has put itself on the scene in the last four years. I think both programs have great respect for one another."

Though lineups and coaches have changed, their successes, attitudes and discipline has remained the same. Neither team can weigh itself as Saturday's clear favorite, and Kehres and Leipold each extend that courtesy to the other. UW-Whitewater hoisted the Walnut and Bronze last season, giving the Warhawks a legitimate favorite status. However, unlike UW-W, Mount Union is entering Stagg Bowl XXXVI undefeated, highlighting that Whitewater's armor does have flaws and giving a perception that MUC has an edge.

From where they started the year, the arc of their seasons could have been more impressive. Both teams had to replace two-thirds of their starting lineups in September.

Getting to this point, playing in Salem, Va., was a footnote to more pressing needs during camp and the early part of the fall.

"I think we opened the season with a lot of question marks," Kehres said in a news conference early this week. "I didn't want to put a lot of pressure on our team. ... We were really just trying to get off to a good start, let some of the new men get established."

Whitewater traveled an unusually difficult route to the Stagg Bowl. After a 17-16 loss to conference foe UW-Stevens Point in Week 8, Whitewater slipped into the playoffs as a Pool C bid and was positioned at No. 5 in its bracket. That meant just two home games in the playoffs.

UW-Whitewater's defense held on three of four fourth-down attempts in Stagg Bowl XXXV, as well as a third-down goal-line stand. Photo by Ryan Coleman, D3sports.com

"The way these weeks have gone and the route we had to take to get to this game, being on the road, we've had to travel, and not just road travel but some long travel," Leipold said. "In preparation, at least the familiarity helps with some of that preparation time. At a lot of levels of football, it isn't like you go come out with a change in your scheme and your thought. It comes down to executing what you've been doing."

The ability of Mount Union and UW-Whitewater to reload after so many graduations and the narrow 2-1 record in their Stagg Bowl matchups fuels a perception that this can turn into a top-tier rivalry. And though as programs, they have both been in this position before, their fourth meeting carries a status that may have eluded the previous three meetings: This week will be a game by the virtually undisputed Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the country.

Though the Stagg Bowl crowns a clear Division III champion, clamoring in recent seasons has raised questions as to the country's second-best team – a subjective inquiry attempted to be fleshed out in polls and banter. Each season, the Stagg Bowl runner-up was listed in the No. 2 spot on the D3football.com poll. But there were detractors out there. In 2005, some argued that Capital gave Mount Union its best postseason competition. The following year, Capital again lost to MUC by three points in the playoffs, while Mount also faced a tough hurdle in St. John Fisher. Then in 2007, fingers were pointed that Mary Hardin-Baylor, which lost at Whitewater by just nine points in the national semifinals, could be the nation's No. 2.

This season, the certainty about these being two best teams in the county could hardly be more solid. In recent weeks, none others have shown themselves more potent on the field. MUC's and UW-W's trails have been ones of convincing victories.

Whitewater's Leipold noted, "I think that it's been a goal of this program, with [former coach] Bob Berezowitz for a long time, that UW-Whitewater gets mentioned in the sentence. I think now we are in the sentence with Mount Union, and that's been something that we're proud of and are very focused on."

Even if the rivalry status isn't there yet, Kehres and Leipold have parlayed competitiveness into respect -- even leading toward friendship. And definitively, in Kehres' eyes, this year is not about revenge, a trait he condemns as "just not a very healthy idea at any time," on the field or in life.

They are there to play the game, and the athletes are, too. In that vein, with game film to break down, both coaches readily recognize the strengths of the other:

Kehres said, "I don't think there's a D-III team with a better combination of size, quickness, speed and skill than Whitewater. ... We played Whitewater a number of times, and the team has a great combination of size, height and weight."

This year, Leipold points out that Mount Union doesn't "have a Pierre Garcon, but it's an excellent corps of receivers. You can tell that the ball gets spread out, and the accuracy [of the quarterback] ... is ridiculous. It's an outstanding mark of accuracy, and it's going to be a big factor in the game."

This season, despite not having Garcon, who now plays for the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, Mount Union has star players in quarterback Greg Micheli, the Gagliardi Trophy winner, and running back Nate Kmic, the all-time leading rusher in college football history. "What we lack in size, and we don't have very good size," Kehres said, "we have to try and make up for in quickness."

Nate Kmic's 95-yard scamper for a touchdown as a freshman helped seal Stagg Bowl XXXIII. Photo by Ryan Coleman, D3sports.com

Kmic has been especially crucial to Mount Union in bringing the less experienced players into the fold.

He "is one of the top guys in his approach to practice that has played here," his coach said. "Energy is a little bit contagious. If some players have energy, it kind of rubs off. I think Nate helps other men when they don't feel like practicing hard and running hard through each practice repetition."

That effort hit full stride with the team after early-season wins against Ohio Northern and Capital, which showed that the fledgling members of the team could be cohesive.

"We didn't have a focus on the playoffs through much of the season," Kehres said. "A lot of new starters, and just trying to get secure in their own positions. We alternated some spots, so there was kind of pressure on the news starters to kind of hold onto their jobs. I don't think we were doing much looking ahead."

While Mount Union's stars come up in most discussions, UW-Whitewater is a team that is mired, in a large sense, in individual anonymity. UW-W, its coach said, has relied on its skill as a unit.

"It's not a flashy group. It's not a name group, and you know what, that's what's made this even more enjoyable for our coaches," Leipold said. "It's a testament to our coaches and a testament to our team. Because that's the one thing, it's about team, it's about teamwork, and we don't have a lot of household names."

Leipold, in part, also credits the extra games in recent playoffs with helping the team grow.

"We try to emphasize that every week, that our younger players on the scout team have a chance to get better while people in our conference are not practicing," he said.

Offensively, Whitewater's firepower has come, in part, from having two capable running backs, one of which is coming off an injury and may not be at full speed on Saturday. Defensively, Jace Rindahl helps anchor the group, which has shown itself especially adept against the run.

"From a defensive standpoint, we're going to have to tackle well," Leipold said. "That's one thing, not giving up big plays and tackling well. Between the running back and quarterback [at Mount Union], they are excellent, excellent players. ... One of the things that stands out on film is their ability to make people miss tackles on them."

Winning on Saturday has nothing to do with the results of the first 14 games but has everything to do with the development on the field in that time. Pieces gel, plays are ignited or snuffed out and the student-athletes channel confidence and character. It's what they've had to do since the start of the season, when many were not the veterans they have become today.

"I think the key is the players," Kehres said. "Both teams have players that are really committed, and when they got their chance to play, they were ready."

Mount Union has had regular challengers in the postseason before, facing off against Allegheny in the regional rounds in the 1990s and, of course, three meetings with Rowan in the Stagg Bowl over a six-year period.

But Mount Union-Rowan was never like this.

Perhaps they haven't met often enough to be truly considered rivals. But with Mount Union and UW-Whitewater meeting for the sixth time in seven years and now seemingly making the Stagg Bowl a regular destination, it's time to look at it as such.

Does familiarity breed contempt in this case? Hardly. Ryan Tipps looks at the budding rivalry in a Road to Salem feature.

If the Purple Raiders want to get pressure against the UW-Whitewater offensive line, it needs to start up front, with defensive end James Herbert and the rest of the line. The story, in a Road to Salem feature by Matt Florjancic.

Playoff toolbox: Bracket | Pick 'em | Playoff photos | All-Region This week's ATN Podcast | Video: Watch Gagliardi ceremony

For UW-Whitewater, this season keys around the man calling the signals, Jeff Donovan. Scroll down for more or go directly to a Road to Salem feature by Bill Huber.

Our Stagg Bowl XXXVI sideline reporter, Frank Rossi, is bringing a first-hand look at the events around the Stagg Bowl from a first-timer's perspective. Check out his posts on the Daily Dose.

We'll have our predictions on Friday and a look at this new rivalry that is playing out at the highest level of Division III football.

Then, join us for the All-American announcement and pregame show on Saturday morning, as well as our online audio broadcast of the game. Listen to the national broadcast crew that knows the teams and keep the TV on mute.