Stagg Bowl XLI Live Blog

Moments from kickoff. Purple Raiders are in all white. Warhawks in purple jerseys with silver pants. Mount Union looking for its 12th national championship. UW-Whitewater aims for its fifth. The Warhawks have defeated the Purple Raiders in their past three meetings (2009, 2010, 2011) here in Salem. Listen here http://d3football.com/videolink/stagg-bowl-41 as Pat and Keith provide play-by-play and analysis. Follow @d3football on Twitter for updates. We’ll try to take a more in-depth look here on the blog. Please chime in with anything you see that could swing the game in either direction. This should be a classic. Enjoy!

23 thoughts on “Stagg Bowl XLI Live Blog

  1. UMU DT Tom Lally lining up at DE early. Hoping to pressure Behrendt off the edge. Warhawks eating up the middle of the field, first with a Ratliffe run, then a pass to Kumerow.

  2. Wow. UW-W made that look EASY. Touchdown, Behrendt to Kumerow. Purple Raiders have lots of adjustments to make. 7-0 Warhawks. There were linebackers covering nothing but grass on UW-W’s passing plays. Nearly every play went between the hash marks. UMU weakness exposed early by UW-W.

  3. That’s the break that Mount Union desperately needed after looking overwhelmed early on both sides of the ball. Kocheff the man on the spot to recover the errant snap. And now the momentum turns.

  4. Burke capitalizes immediately and shows off his speed, racing untouched to the corner of the endzone. One bad snap, and now we have a whole new game, 7-7. Game of inches, indeed.

  5. Very questionable PI call on Tre Jones. It looked like he was in perfect position, WR Huber initiated contacted, and pass should have been ruled incomplete. Biggest play of this drive for UW-W

  6. To say Tre Jones is having a rough postseason would be an understatement. Huber goes up and makes the grab on a perfectly placed throw from Behrendt. If UMU is going to double Kumerow and leave Jones 1-on-1 with Huber, Behrendt is going to look the senior’s way often.

  7. This is Adam Turer. I’ve been running this blog the whole time. Decided to log in as myself now. Pat is providing play-by-play here http://d3football.com/videolink/stagg-bowl-41 He’s a multi-tasker, but not enough to do that and run this blog at the same time. Hope you enjoy the analysis. If you have any yourself, please log in and add it.

  8. Kevin Burke’s elusiveness starting to make a difference. They can only bottle him up for so long. Logan Nemeth has sparked the offense with his tough running on this drive. On 4th and short inside the 10, Raiders take a timeout, then get a substitution penalty, vacillating between a field goal attempt or going for it. Settle for a 30-yard field goal, which goes wide left. Wasted drive, possible clock mismanagement. Unusual to see this from The Machine.

  9. Kumerow is 6’5″ and drawing double or bracket coverage. Huber is 6’2″ and has played in the Stagg Bowl before. Mount Union’s cornerbacks simply overmatched so far, especially in the red zone. Behrendt has been as elusive in the pocket as his counterpart, Burke, and has made bigger throws so far. He is playing great, and offensive coordinator Brian Borland is doing a great job for UW-W.

  10. A Mount Union score before the half would be huge. Gonna have to go for it on 4th down and 2 here from the UW-W 26. UMU gets the ball to start 2nd half.

  11. What a throw by Burke and catch by Gainer to convert the 4th down. Raiders hurry up and catch UW-W off guard, Mitchell with a strong run, gets the final push from his O-line, and it’s now a 21-14 game. If UMU D can hold for 29 more seconds, momentum shifts.

  12. Kyle Wismer with the tone-setting play to start the second half, forces a B.J. Mitchell fumble. UW-W back with the momentum, driving in UMU territory looking to build their 7 point lead.

  13. Jordan Ratliffe is running HARD tonight. That last TD run was easy, thanks to some great blocking up front. It’s gut-check time for Mount Union. Burke not only has to overcome the nation’s top defense, but also must put up enough points to save his disappointing defense.

  14. Burke makes his first mistake, throwing a ball up for grabs under pressure. His intended receiver, Logan Nemeth, does a great job of breaking up what looked like a sure interception. Then, Mount Union rushes to the line and runs a snap before replay can review if it was a pick. Coverage downfield and pressure off the blindside from Mykael Bratchett forces the turnover. Bratchett with a big 4th down sack to end what had been Mount Union’s best drive of the game. They were hitting quick pass plays all across the field and had Warhawk defense on its heels for the first time all night.

  15. Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty on Mount Union while Raiders are trying to get off the field and get the ball back to their offense. Not very Mount Union-like.

  16. Another promising Mount Union drive derailed by a turnover. Not only is Whitewater’s defense stout at stopping opposing offenses, but they are aggressive in their pursuit to the football and forcing turnovers. That combination is tough to defeat.

  17. Okay, that’s three questionable PI calls, but UW-W can now just throw the ball deep and expect a flag. Mount Union corners refuse to get their head around at the last second while the ball is in the air. Killer penalties, that time on 3rd and long. At this point in the game, you should know how the game is being officiated and adjust accordingly. Maybe that shouldn’t have been called, but at least the officials have been consistent. If you faceguard step for step w/ a WR and don’t get your head around, you’re gonna get flagged.

  18. A great catch by Kumerow extends the lead to 38-14. Behrendt is doing a great job of finding a variety of playmakers, and UW-W’s skill players are making big plays. More importantly, Behrendt has had a clean pocket nearly all night. Mount Union’s defense has been humbled in every possible way. Behrendt with 4 TD passes and has rushed for 56 yards. Ratliffe has rushed for 99 yards and a score. One more yard and he would be the first 100-yard rusher against Mount Union this season.

  19. 52-14 the final. Very surprising. Congrats to 2013 Stagg Bowl champion UW-Whitewater Warhawks. Quarterback Matt Behrendt the player of the game. Warhawks coaches did an outstanding job tonight. Really dominated the game in every phase.

  20. Congrats to UWW on their victory over Mount Union.

    The best 2 teams played and Whitewater came out on top.

  21. purple raider,

    I disagree, as the final poll indicates UMHB is ranked #2. My opinion is that the two best teams played in Belton, Texas Dec 14th.

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