Without many exceptions ... well, barring one notable one ... preseason predictors expected it to be another great season for Mount Union. And great is how 2008 ended up.

But it was a great season for a bunch of other programs as well. Witness the turnaround of the team that went 0-20 the previous two years and made the playoffs this past season. Consider the playoff performances of the champions of two conferences that had won two playoff games combined in the automatic bid era.

Remember that large set of picks we make in Kickoff each year? Remember all the Division I football magazines that try to rank Division III football teams? We keep score. Read about the great moments and more, see the great pictures, revisit the great (and not-so-great) predictions in the second and final part of Keith McMillan's Around the Nation Year in Review.

Part one of the Year in Review ran the night of the Stagg Bowl.

Also on game night, Ryan Tipps wrote how this Stagg Bowl victory took all 60 minutes for the Purple Raiders to wrap up. Keith McMillan asked whether we would see the same two teams yet again in 2009 in Stagg Bowl XXXVII. We covered the Stagg Bowl photographically from all angles, including tailgaters, pregame, halftime and the postgame celebration and awards.

Frank Rossi blogged on the Daily Dose about a first-timer's experience at the Stagg Bowl, while we also reposted our entire audio broadcast of the game itself.

Toledo coach Tim Beckman announced the appointment of Jason Candle and Patrick Graham to the Rockets' football staff.

Candle, who will coach the Rocket inside slot receivers and running backs, comes from Mount Union, where he has been part of three NCAA Division III national championship teams in his six seasons as an assistant coach. He also played on two national championship teams for the Purple Raiders as a player.

Graham, who will coach the defensive line for the Rockets, was a graduate assistant at Notre Dame for the past two seasons, working with all aspects of the Fighting Irish defense.

Candle joins fellow former Purple Raider Matt Campbell on the coaching staff. Campbell is the team's co-offensive coordinator.

"Jason Candle and Patrick Graham are excellent additions to our staff," said Beckman. "Just like the four coaches we hired previously, Jason and Patrick are quality individuals who have been important parts of winning programs."

Candle joins the Rockets' staff after spending both his playing and coaching career with head coach Larry Kehres at Mount Union College. In Candle's six years as an assistant at Mount Union, the Purple Raiders went 83-4 and won NCAA Division III national championships in 2005, 2006 and 2008. The 2003 and 2007 teams lost in the national championship game.

"Jason Candle has been involved in five national championship teams as a player and as a coach. He knows what it takes to win," said Beckman. "We want to surround ourselves with winners, and Jason is a winner."

A 2003 Mount Union graduate, Candle was an All-Ohio Athletic Conference first-team selection in 2001 as he led the team in receptions (41), yards receiving (778) and touchdowns (nine). He was a key member of the 2000 and 2001 national championship teams and finished his career with 57 grabs for 1,037 yards and 11 scores.

Candle, a native of Salem, Ohio, began his coaching career at Mount Union in 2003 as the receivers coach. In the 2004 and 2005 seasons, he worked with current Rocket assistant Matt Campbell, who was the Purple Raiders offensive coordinator at the time. Candle took over the post of offensive coordinator in 2007, and also assumed the duties as the program's recruiting coordinator.
In Candle's two seasons as offensive coordinator, the Purple Raiders went 29-1, winning the national championship in 2008 and finishing runners-up in 2007. Mount Union players on the offensive side of the ball earned nine All-American honors in Candle's two seasons running the offense. Quarterback Greg Micheli was honored this past season with the Gagliardi Trophy, given annually to the best player in the nation at the NCAA Division III level.