We’re in a pretty cool position here at D3football.com, with two people who have seen both UW-Whitewater and Wesley play in person this season. Keith McMillan has seen each once, I’ve seen Wesley once and UW-Whitewater twice. Keith gave you his thoughts in Around the Nation; here are mine.
Even without an equipment miscalculation such as at Brockport State, Wesley could still get blown out, even if they hang onto the football. Wesley is comparable on the defensive side of the ball, perhaps better than the Johnnies up front. Max Sakellaris and Brady Ramseier will have their hands full with Bryan Robinson and the rest of the Wolverines defensive line. They’ll need to keep them off of Justin Jacobs and Justin Beaver to give Derek Stanley time to get separation downfield.
Here are the keys, however: Jacobs will be, by far, the best quarterback Wesley has faced in the playoffs. You have to go back to Week 1 against DePauw’s Ross Wiethoff (Wesley won 31-26) to find one comparable. And this will also be Wesley’s first game in the postseason not played on turf.
On the other side, Wesley quarterback Chris Warrick has a great touch and his receivers will go up and catch anything they can get their hands on. Kevin Nelson, the 5-3 running back, could be successful getting lost behind the tackles. Warrick should fare better than St. John’s quarterback Alex Kofoed or UW-Eau Claire’s Jesse Krzyzanowski, the two quarterbacks I’ve seen play Whitewater this season. Whitewater’s defense gave up yards but not points against St. John’s and gave up both against Linfield. Marcus Lee will have a size advantage working against the Warhawk secondary but Larry Beavers will not.
Pat Cummings and Mark Roberts will be broadcasting this game for us, with pregame at 12:30 ET.
And the prediction: UW-Whitewater 41, Wesley 20.
Now, I have not seen either Mount Union or Rowan play this year (spent too much time flying to O’Hare and back, I guess). But I would find it hard to believe that Rowan can slow Mount Union down enough to win this game. I don’t know if the Purple Raider players will be motivated much by revenge for the last meeting, the 24-17 Rowan win on Dec. 11, 1999, that snapped Mount Union’s first long winning streak.
For highlights of that game, by the way, catch our pregame show, which starts at 11:35 a.m. ET. Gordon Mann and Doug Phillips are our broadcasters in Alliance.
A couple of teams have had success against Mount Union this year, and with differing styles, Ohio Northern by land and Capital by air. Running back Nadyr Albri ran for 149 yards in the snow at Union but just 49 yards on 17 carries at Delaware Valley. Mount Union doesn’t give up much on the ground. Lewis Howes had 245 yards receiving for Capital at Mount Union last week and Rowan will need similar performances from the taller guys, Sakeen Wright and Phil Silva, neither of whom are quite as tall as Howes.
Prediction: Mount Union 45, Rowan 18.
Enjoy the games, everyone.
Finally made it to Janesville, Wisconsin about 15 miles west of Whitewater…should have been here at 11:30am Central…
Left the house at 530am in Philly, got to the airport at 630 (normally a 20 minute drive…but heavy snow falling)…Flight was scheduled for 805am and I was in the last group to load at 830am…it wasn’t looking good for my 2 carry-on bags which carried 2 computers and all my broadcast equipment. Sure enough, I have to check them on the jetway and hope they make it to O’Hare…and then your pick of delays…
Captain Ray tells us we can listen to FAA ground communications on Channel 9…so I tune in…
1. 9:00am ET, United 895 (my flight) pushes back as snow continues to fall with 4 inches on ground already.
2. 9:20 am ET, Continental 1777 (flight at the gate next to where we were…and had been scheduled to leave at 7am, they loaded at 8am)
3. 9:50 am ET, my flight has been waiting for de-icing and pilots on the ground are cracking constant jokes about how long the line is to get de-iced and take off. Pizza delivery requests from USAirways 524, not getting out of Philly til Santa comes from Delta 1320…
All of which is very amusing to me as my husky frame sits behind a woman who appears to have remnants of a bad case of SARS. At least she is wears a mask. Oh…and her seat is stuck in the recline position…it won’t go back up. And she’s a mistress at Sudoku. She’s reading a Japanese print version of a Sudoku (some math brain tease puzzle) and started at the last page (which might be the first…)
I break out the WW-Wesley depth charts and start reading…the plane begins to move. We’re headed back to the gate…not good.
4. 10:00 am ET – United 895 is back at the gate for refueling and the pilots don’t think de-icing will be necessary because the SUN is now out and may have melted ice on the plane.
5. 10:30 am ET – We’re fired back up and pushing back. No de-icing line, so we are able to more farther out on the tarmac than before. We are sitting number five on the ground and it seems from the radio communications, things are moving along.
6. 11:00am ET – After 2.5 hours in the plane (longer than the flight itself), we are now number 2 for takeoff. But, what’s this…a medical emergency plane is on approach for landing and the runway shuts down…there is ONLY one runway operating, so we continue to wait. This radio thing is pretty cool and it made the time pass as I try to listen to follow all the planes…oh, and that Continental 1777 I mentioned before…they just got to de-icing.
7. 11:30 am ET – All looks good to go…
8. 11:31 am ET – Should have known better…well-spoken air-traffic controller informs flights that there has been a massive power failure and all radar at PHL is out. Runway remains closed and we sit. Now, about half the plane is on this frequency listening and you should have heard the groan run through the cabin…hysterical. Then Captain Ray comes on and tells us what we already know…
9. 12:00 pm ET – UA 895 is cleared for takeoff…3.5 hours late, all of it spent in the plane.
10. 1:00 pm CT – UA 895 lands and I begin the trek to baggage claim hoping Olinemom et al can listen to the broadcast tomorrow…as I walk up to the carousel, there are my bags, shockingly…
11. 2:00pm CT – Pick up the rental and notice I-190 is backed up due to bad accident…th eonly way I know to get to I-90 West, which is what I need. So I find a back way only to learn that while there may be an entrance to I-90 East, there isn’t always an entrance to I-90 West…so after failing 3 times to get on, I follow Illinois-72 through Elk Grove Village to get to I-290, which will take me to I-90 West…
12. 2:20pm CT – I turned right on red to get onto I-290 and a cop decides to pull me over (flashes of a smokie who tried to fool Pat Coleman two weeks ago…also in Elk Grove Village). He says I turned right on red when there was a sign posted clearly noted No Turn on Red. I said the sign was exactly the reason I turned…there was a disclaimer listed below the sign…”only when pedestrians are present.”
13. 2:23pm CT – After deciding one of Elk Grove’s finest STILL couldn’t fool D3football.com’s traveling broadcasters, I continue on.
14. 4:25pm CT – I pull into the Janesville, Wisconsin and bed down for the night. It’s 14 degrees outside…if you think Perkins Stadium is going to be a mess tomorrow, heating a 14 degree stadium field might be tough.
In the words of Big & Rich…”If you want a little bang in your ying yang…come along!”
See ya all tomorrow at 11:30am CT for pregame coverage.
MEMO
To: All D3football.com staff and contributors
From: Pat Coleman
Re: Traveling through and around Chicago’s O’Hare Airport
Note: D3football.com is issuing an official Travel Warning regarding the western Chicago suburb of Elk Grove Village. Law enforcement in said jurisdiction has on two separate occasions attempted to dupe D3football.com staff into admitting to traffic infractions that, in fact, did not occur.
Whereas it has become apparent that law enforcement in said jurisdiction cannot be trusted to accurately enforce the rules of the road, D3football.com cannot sanction official travel through this region.
Updated information on travel and security in Elk Grove Village may be obtained from the U.S. Department of State by calling 1-888-555-4747 within the United States, or, from overseas, 1-202-555-4444.
LOL Pat funny story, glad you made it safely. BTW what do you call those depth charts? LOL
Hope very much to see you next week in Salem, till then, safe travels
And in accordance with State Department guidelines…D3football.com has deemed the following airports unsafe for travel:
Murtala Muhammed Airport – Lagos, Nigeria
Port-Au-Prince International Aiport – Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.
That is all.
Yes, Ric…they are Brienzas…
They got some rave reviews from Wesley’s occasional commerical crew, WDEL, who asked me to email them so they could try em out. I gave them the official title and asked them to use those names for future reference.
Great work, d3football.com staffers! Thanks for going the extra mile (literally!) to bring us diehards the live feeds.
Gettin’ ready for the WW game tomorrow morning. A lot of Whitewater students/parents/fans have been ready for this for a loooong time. Unfortunately a lot of those Wesley fans couldnt make the trip. They will miss the best show on snow. A wonderful performance by the UWW. I’ll be there screamin for my team. GO WARHAWKS!!!
Ric, just wanted to note that Brienzas have spread to Mississippi College as well as a result of our trip down there a couple years ago.
I don’t have any horror stories to share, I’m afraid.
I did get to hang out with Tom Wilson (Rowanfootball.com) and Ric Brienza (MtUnionfootball.com), which was very cool.
Plus the hotel I’m at (Comfort Inn Alliance) has pictures of famous guests. Oddly enough, no Pat Cummings or John McGraw.
But there was a photo of 1980s hairband Firehouse!
“I’ve finally found the love…..of a lifetime!”
Hopefully someone out there remembers Firehouse.
Here we go RAIDERS here we go….Here we go RAIDERS here we go !!!!
Go Mount…..kick some Rowan TAIL !!!!!!!!!!!!
Rowan has been so close so often that one might think they will finally obtain the grand prize. The last hurdles are the highest. They are going to need every trick in the bag.
Pat & Pat, they are sweeping the country one Division III school at a time.
Gordon it was great meeting you, but you missed the real fun. I was torn between watching the DIAA semi go into OT or nudity on the Howard Stern show OU#25 turned on in the bar with his gadget. It was pretty funny.
Also, Firehouse was an 80’s band? Say it ain’t so, I would have guessed early 90’s. Man I am getting old.
Given the weather conditions, offensive and defensive stategies….I don’t expect this game to be close. Mount by ATLEAST (2) touchdowns, maybe more. Final score: Mount Union 31, Rowan 14
On to ANOTHER Stagg Bowl…….GO RAIDERS !!!!!!!!!!!!
I also have pictures of famous people that stayed at my house and this one is hanging in my den of Pat…
http://www.sunsetstampede.com/2003-2004%20SITE/IMAGES/jared-w-pants-and-logo2.jpg
Pat Cummings or Pat Cole Ric (lol).
Come on, Pat Coleman and Jared, separated at birth. Its not as funny I guess if you have to explain it.
BTW Firehouse has three really good songs. The already mentioned Love of a Lifetime, Don’t Treat me bad and When I look into your eyes and their first album (lol album, ok CD) was in ’91 so I’m not as old as I thought a 1/2 hour ago.
SPRING FORWARD, WINTER BACK: UW-Whitewater/Wesley game delayed by one hour to allow for field preparations.
WW stands for winter wonderland.
Now a question which will show my ignorance, age, or both. What does “LOL” stand for? Lots of luck, lots of love….????
“Laugh out loud.” Or “Llamas on lipitor.” But it’s the former.
And, Ric, you’re right! Firehouse was a 90s band. “Love of a lifetime” was like our 8th grade ballad. Sigh…I wonder if the cute blonde, Karen James, will ever dance with me. 😉
Thanks, Gordon. I went back to previous blogs in which the “LOL” was inserted. In some cases, it made sense to me; in others, it didn’t.
As for Karen, it was her loss….
See ya at the Stagg Bowl…….AGAIN !! Go Raiders….
Wow.
I thought Wesley’s D-Line would give the Whitewater O-Line a test, but Pat was much closer on that one than I … at least I was closer on Rowan-MUC. And we both had the right winners.