Annnnd we’re underway!

Thursday’s night’s action kicked off the Division III season, but Pat Coleman and I kicked off the D3football.com travel season with Friday night’s trek to Union N.J. to watch Kean and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (nee Kings Point).

After a competitive first half — partially due to some Week 1 sloppiness — we came away impressed with the Cougars, a team that returned 21 starters from a 7-4 team, and received considerable preseason notice from observers here in New Jersey and on D3football.com.

The 48-7 final didn’t completely reflect what kind of game it was, as Merchant Marine’s defense held the Cougars to field goals three times in the first half and went in at the break trailing 18-7. Kean was much more impressive in the second half, coming out with a dominating rushing attack and bowling through the middle of the Kings Point defense to blow the game open.

It being the opener for everyone on site, there were on-air glitches, there were photographers getting their bearings shooting game action for the first time since last year and there were people like me, fumbling for the correct terminology to describe wingback sweeps. And I wasn’t on air, I was just talking to Pat.

Still, rustiness aside, it was great to have football back again. Those of you who went to games Thursday night or are headed to them Saturday I’m sure feel the same way.

I’ll get into more in this week’s Around the Nation, but Kean’s got some beautiful new facilities to go with an unprecedented-for-them run of athletic success (the Cougars were baseball champions last year, something that’s very evident when you walk into Harwood Arena, adjacent to Kean Alumni Stadium).

The football season got off to a crazy start Thursday night, as Mississippi College rallied for 21 fourth-quarter points to beat rival Millsaps, a playoff team last season, 27-26 in the annual Backyard Brawl. The message boards have been buzzing since, and with nearly 150 teams getting underway Saturday, the buzz doesn’t figure to stop. Even if stunners don’t follow, a couple top 25 teams are sure to drop when Rowan plays at Christopher Newport and UW-La Crosse goes to Hardin-Simmons.

We’ll be back on the sidelines Saturday checking out No. 6 Wesley and another team that attracted a lot of preseason attention in North Carolina Wesleyan (20 returning starters). There was some serious discussion about splitting up and having me travel to Newport News for Captains-Profs, but we have opportunities to see those teams again soon, so I guess we’ll just have to hear about it from you guys.

What are the biggest stories and concerns on your minds on opening weekend?

16 thoughts on “Annnnd we’re underway!

  1. Kean has kind of struck me as a sleeping giant over the years. It is in a major population center and has commuter train access. The facilities upgrades and some continuity in the coaching staff, which seemed to turnover every year or so, seems to have them headed in the right direction.

    Facilities wise, it is night and day. Back in 1997, I was afraid the pressbox might fall down and there was a bees’ nest some where on it, which made for an interesting afternoon. I didn’t get stung, but there where a few close calls.
    It had changed drastically when I returned in ’04, with the field turf and a press box facility that was top notch. It will be interesting to watch the Cougars make a run in the NJAC.

  2. finally, september 1. game day. I had trouble sleeping and i am not even playing. I am really looking forward to opening day. getting back to dover to tailgate with the other parents will be fun, certainly a lot nicer than the last time in very cold wisconsin. North Carolina Wesleyen will be a good test for Wesley. Wesley has plenty of weapons on offense and the defense returns the core from last year. time to get busy loading up the coolers, etc. Good luck to all the teams starting today and enjoy the game.

  3. Unfortunately, they are probably on the road! Although the timing of the site going down is dubious!

    As for Kean, Looks like the hype may be real. Could they possibly topple Rowan?

  4. And to further Conrad’s Point, I’ve been to Kean’s stadium/press box as well, and it definitely is top notch. If only I hadn’t pronounced the name of the team wrong for a good quarter or so before one of the people in the stands corrected us :D.

  5. I can’t get on Post Patterns either. Not just your PC. Lousy timing with them on the road but that is technology for ya.

  6. Got it. The link on the home page is not working. Go to Scorboard page and then hit the Post Patterns link .

  7. Wesley fans you can listen on the Web to the game on WDEL Del. pre game 12 noon

    It may be that the power of recruiting is shifting in the NJAC among the N.J. schools, Keeler has been gone a few years now so his influence at Rowan has waned and Col of N.J. has a new staff. Mont Clair is still going strong but the Rowan and Col .of N.J. coexisted strength wise with the talent in tha past. Along with stability a winning season or two helps you kids attitude along with the recruiting.

  8. Pat

    Did you here that collective sigh of relief??? There was a news flash that 100 people wearing different football jerseys were seen stepping down of bridge railings!!!!!

  9. According to the Rochester broadcast on WYSL1040, Rochester today is playing without their two top offensive weapons – Jay Jay Vanderstyne and Matt Bielecki.

    UR leads Carnegie Mellon early, 3-0.

  10. I’ll kick in a few live updates today. I suppose I should start a new thread. I don’t know if I can make any live representations of the game (see NCAA vs. Louisville Courier-Journal at CWS), but we can talk about the action across the country so far.

    I have some good anecdotes about recruiting Jersey that I picked up last night for you, PA Wesley. I’ll mention it later, we’re kicking off soon here.

    Best of luck to all across the nation today. Football is back, thank the good Lord!

  11. That’s a joke, by the way, about live blogging in D3. Pretty sure that had to do with TV rights, which we rarely have to worry about 🙂

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