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ATN Podcast 337: When D-III football is at its best

It seems there can be little doubt that Division III football is at its best on a Saturday afternoon when the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is playing its conference games. They might draw 20,000-plus fans, they might go to double overtime, but whatever the weekend, it always seems at least one or two of the games is going to be entertaining, if not epic.

But Division III is also at its best when it is forward-looking and innovative. When a university for the Deaf and hard of hearing can work with AT&T on a project to help level the playing field for a team that finds it hard to call plays.

We ask Gallaudet coach Chuck Goldstein about how well the new 5G helmet worked for his team in their win against Hilbert, plus we talk about much more in the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. If you prefer a video version with captions of Chuck Goldstein’s interview, and Pat and Greg’s discussion of the conversation, it’s embedded at the bottom of this page.

This edition of the podcast is sponsored by d3photography.com, the licensed photography bureau contracted by D3sports.com.

Yes, UW-La Crosse came away with a great win at UW-Whitewater, shaking off a losing streak to the Warhawks that had reached 19 games. We talk about the Eagles’ new wrinkles on offense and their quality defensive performance as well. Plus, Ithaca finally won a Liberty League game at RPI, and we hear from Ithaca quarterback A.J. Wingfield about that. And we look at the strange way that the Hardin-Simmons at McMurry game came to an end. We also hand out game balls, pick out our stats of the week, answer reader questions, predict winners for some of next week’s games and highlight the big ones coming up in Week 7.

The D3football.com podcast is a weekly in-season podcast by Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas, which was started in 2007.

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.

Full episode:

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

Here’s how to find us on some of the major podcasting apps:

Theme music: Power 2 by DJmentos.
Photos: Doug Sasse, d3photography.com (UW-La Crosse’s Keyser Helterbrand); Gallaudet athletics; Illinois College athletics

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ATN Podcast 323: Down to a fantastic four

No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 12 are the four teams left in contention for a trip to Annapolis, Maryland, for Stagg Bowl XLIX. Mary Hardin-Baylor took down Bethel with a fourth-quarter surge, while Mount Union eased past Delaware Valley, North Central trounced Ithaca and Wartburg did the same to Aurora.

The key story at Wartburg? Just the mere fact that Nile McLaughlin was in the lineup at quarterback for the Knights. For Mary Hardin-Baylor, it was KJ Miller’s 65-yard touchdown catch and run. We’ll hear him talk a little about that. We hear from North Central’s Luke Lehnen and Mount Union’s Braxton Plunk as well after they quarterbacked their teams to victory.

Pat and Greg give out their game balls, one on offense and one on defense, and you can learn more about the status of the big postseason awards that are coming in the next week, plus find out which players were on Pat and Greg’s Gagliardi Trophy ballot.

This edition of the podcast is sponsored by the hosts of Stagg Bowl XLIX, and we look forward to seeing all of you in Annapolis, Maryland, for the Division III football championship game on Dec. 16.

Plus, the end of the season at Bethel and Delaware Valley also marks the end of careers for key players in this run. The end of the 2022 football season for the Royals leaves coach Steve Johnson feeling a little emotional, and Delaware Valley defensive back Blaine Netterman talks about having played with the Nobile brothers since sophomore year of high school, and the future of the Del Val program.

Plus, what’s the difference between rebuilding and reloading? How do those elite teams remain at that level?

Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.

Full episode:

Links mentioned in this podcast:

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

Here’s how to find us on some of the major podcasting apps:

Theme music: Power 2 by DJmentos.
Photos by Juiie Drewes, Wartburg athletics; Mary Hardin-Baylor athletics

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ATN Podcast 316: All eyes on Platteville, plus regional rankings

Some things we can’t seem to avoid talking about every week this season:

  • The Cortaca Jug game in Yankee Stadium
  • The University of Wisconsin-Platteville

This week, Platteville made headlines again, and for the second week in a row, extremely positive headlines as the Pioneers shook up the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 17-14 win against then-No. 3 UW-Whitewater. What in the name of Dan Arnold is going on with this program? How did the Pioneers go from losing back-to-back games by an average of 40 points, to these two consecutive wins against River Falls and Whitewater?

We’ve had these questions. We assume you’ve had these questions. So we ask these questions. We ask them of Ryan Munz, the Platteville head coach, who is our guest on Fast 5, plus maybe a couple of extra minutes at the top of the podcast.

Plus, it’s really time to dig into how the playoffs are set up in Division III football. If you’re new to Division III, this is a must-listen. Even if you’ve been following for a few years, a refresher might be helpful and yes, some things have changed, even if they are small things.

In all, 69 schools merit serious mention in this week’s podcast. That includes the way in which Cortland beat Utica, how North Central handled Washington U., Austin College and Beloit breaking long losing streaks, not to mention Bowdoin pulling off an unexpected victory as well.

In addition, Pat and Greg hand out game balls, spotlight the unexpected in Stat of the Week, make guesses about Week 9 games and more. There’s a list in small type at the bottom of this page of all the teams that are talked about.

Fan question in the mailbag from @mikey_shoultz: What team from the bottom 10 ranked conferences in your conference rankings has the best chance to win a playoff game?

Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.

Full episode:

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

Here’s how to find us on some of the major podcasting apps:

Theme music: Power 2 by DJmentos.
UW-Platteville athletics photo