Immediate thoughts on Week 16

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Congrats to Mount Union. Nice to have a different champion for once. 🙂 But seriously, I don’t mind if the same team wins a couple titles in a row, as long as the season is competitive and the title isn’t a forgone conclusion.

We’ve had years like that.

First thought goes out to the johnny-come-lately Whitewater posters on this blog. Welcome to Division III reality. It takes more than one hand to count the number of schools’ posters who have come in, talked a big game, then had to either slink away or eat crow. But don’t worry, there’s a long list: Wheaton, Wabash, Widener, Rowan, St. John’s (though that one goes both ways).

Second to those who insisted the national title game was played two weeks ago. ‘Nuff said. Don’t count your chickens before the eggs are laid. This is exactly why covering Division III and ranking teams is so difficult.

Third: Can you imagine this team with two more years of Pierre Garcon and three more of Nate Kmic? In our pregame interview I asked coach Larry Kehres if we were seeing the emergence of the next Chuck Moore or Dan Pugh and he pointed out, of course, that those guys did it for four years. In retrospect, however, I think we’ll be able to look back in a couple years and agree about the breakout.

Fourth: Still thinking about the chicken, Stone Station! Yum!

Also, I enjoyed covering sideline reports for the broadcast today (archive links on the front for those who want to listen in). Good perspective on the game. Thanks to Matt Barnhart of Bridgewaterfootball.com for covering the opposite sideline for me so we could get the latest on both sides.

Good to see the NCAA’s chief executive, Dr. Myles Brand, watching the game from the sidelines. We were able to interview him early in the third quarter for those who want to check it out.

As always, play in the Stagg Bowl would have changed our All-American team. But like everyone else, we lock them in and release them beforehand.

Our broadcasters upstairs correctly noted the downfield blocking by the offensive line on Kmic’s 15-yard touchdown run But I feel I should point out that Garcon was down there as well paving the way.

It was great to see officiating not be an issue. The officials clearly got the three calls right that resulted in the game being stopped for review. But it was fun from the field to see the video board and how the replays shown affected the fans, especially on the non-touchdown catch by Garcon — the play was called out of bounds. First replay comes up and is not particularly conclusive to the layman, Mount Union fans roar. Play is stopped. I call upstairs to Gordon Mann, our producer, and let him know it is absolutely out of bounds. Second replay comes up and shows us nothing new. Finally, the definitive replay shows Garcon indeed got his foot down out of bounds and the Whitewater side roars. I enjoyed the element added to the game and hope fans did too.

Now, on to the Aztec Bowl. Thanks to Wes Hostetler for making us look good with his performance as both a defensive back and a return man, echoing our naming him an All-American at both spots earlier in the day. Elsewhere, lots of good performances came from our picks … just not from the quarterbacks. Ouch.

We throw it open, but don’t forget to come back for more coverage this week and in future weeks as we continue to wrap up the Stagg Bowl and the 2005 Division III football season with Keith McMillan’s year in review column.

233 thoughts on “Immediate thoughts on Week 16”

  1. Actually UWW has a few D1 athletes, 75 was offered a spot in Oregon, Satnley was asked to transfer to Madison, and of course 47 who transfered from Madison. Not to mention Jacobs, who until he got hurt his senior year was a lock to play D1.

  5. I have no problem with D1 quality talent playing at D3 schools. Lilpeds is right.

    D3 is an attitude, a concept. It is what many of us consider to be the highest form of amateur athletics in the US. These student-athletes have no delusions of their talent at this stage of their lives. They are not announcing early for the NFL/NBA/NHL drafts. (It is a statistical aberration, and probably a sociological tragedy, for those who do!)

    These D1 calibre athletes see that their education is most important. They understand that D3 honors the “student” in student-athlete.

    As for a Brett Elliott, I understand that he will finish his degree, has worked on some off-season skills and did not take the beating that his body would have sustained running the scout team offenses at Utah. That may be a slight exaggeration, but he has honored the concepts of D3 and of the Gagliardi Trophy. If he has a successful career in the NFL, then outstanding! He is the sentimental favorite of all of D3, maybe even some Willamette fans! 🙂

    We are seeing a paradigm shift in D3 athletics. The shoestring budgets of D3 universities and and the loyalty of their fans can achieve a critical mass in the world of the Internet. As the entertainment/news market has fragmented, we D3 fans have filled that niche with high value entertainment, thru D3football/hoops.com and other media. We are pleased with the product and it continues to grow.

    Thanks to all who made the Stagg Bowl the success that it was. Stone Station is gaining a reputation for quality and for epitomizing the Spirit of D3. More Stone Stations will continue to appear and prosper and the friendships that they inspire will further enhance the value of D3 athletics.

  6. First timer here….have been reading this Blog for a few days now…….seems like a lot of posters have a mouth problem….Pity…..It is one thing to rib another side..but quite another to call people names…like Mt. Onion and Cheeseheads…shame on you!

    All I can say is congrats to both teams……The Dynasty Continues as if I ever had any doubts….

    Greatest compliment I heard given to Mt Union was when one of the SportsCasters made a statement that USC was the Mt. Union of Div l
    …..now aint that the truth….

  7. Lilpeds – I wouldn’t exactly say WW kept Kmic in check even if you take out that run…if so then Beaver was held in check cause there’s only about a half yard per carry difference between the two if you take out both of their longest gains. Not to mention that stopping him from catching passes out of the back field would also be a requirment in keeping someone in check.

  8. Congrats to Mount Union Purple Raiders for winning their 8th National Championship in 13 years.

    I was wrong – you were right. UWW lost and your team won. Good job.

    It is hard to believe that one out of every five male students at Mount Union is on the football team.

  9. lilpeds-
    re: “let’s be glad you aren’t a recruiter. ”

    How much D3 and non-D3 football do you “really” watch and follow (or played)? Based on your comments the last couple of weeks- I’d say not much.

    Once again- congrats to both teams. It should be interesting next year to see if MUC and UWW are placed in the same playoff region.

  10. Great game. The better PROGRAM won. As I said last week, the difference would be coaching & experience. Coach K knows what it’s like to play for national championships. He knows the preparations that come the week leading to the game. He knows the distractions his kids will face. He knows how to prepare them for it, to keep their feet grounded and their minds focused on the task at hand. To Mount, it was another Saturday in Salem with a gameplan to execute.
    UWW has a very good team with excellent coaching, but they lacked the experience. The experience of not just playing for a National Championship, but preparing for what they’d face down in Salem. It’s a different atmosphere, one that MUC has more experience with then any other DIII team. UWW will be a better program because of this year. I hope to see them again next year at the “Larry Kehres” bowl.

    Way to go MUC! The tradition continues!!

  11. I’m sorry oh holy rigg. You are the almighty. Get real, grow up. Can’t I give MY opinion, too? Or are only you just allowed to? Take it as it is.

    P.S. I guess I stirred up the old pot with that comment eh? Why don’t you take your precious time and go back to some of my comments throughout the week about two of the best D3 football teams playing in the Stagg Bowl. Boy, those were outrageous comments!

    (Now we’ll see rigg copy and paste some of my comments and try to lamely ridicule them) 🙂 Happy Holidays!

  12. SeanGOP

    One team won the game and one team finished second. There were no losers on that football field. Both teams played their As*es off. Glad to see you too manned up ans admitted you were wrong. Respect is something I know MUC & WW have for each other. This was college football at it’s best.

  13. SeanGOP:
    Props to you for coming on and saying what you did. I know when I was at MUC, there were lots of guys that played, although I was not one of them (instead, I sat in the warm press box and called the games). In fact, I seem to recall there being multiple number 97’s, 98’s and 99’s. LOL. Had no idea the ratio was 1 in 5 now, though. Says a lot for the program.

    I think without doubt the game was well played. Mount Union’s defense in the middle part of the game was really the difference, but I give UWW all the credit in the world for a gutsy comeback.

    jimjearsa:
    Couldn’t agree more. No losers. It’s unfortunate when two great teams meet that one has to finish second. I also agree both teams played hard and left it all on the field.

    My hat goes off to Chaulk for gutting it out as well. That was a nasty injury that might have stopped someone else.

    Finally, sincere congratulations to both schools for great years and to Mount Union for #8! I witnessed a LOT of sportsmanship on Saturday with players from both sides helping their opponents back to their feet.

    Happy holidays to one and all!

  14. I have a few comments about the DI-DIII thing. Not looking to start a fight or get into trash talking with anyone, but in my humble opinion: There was probably hardly anyone on that field that could play competitively at DI. Garcon has 4.4 speed…so does every receiver in DI. I really doubt that The Badgers offered Stanley a chance to transfer, because that would be in violation of NCAA rules. If #47 transferred down from D-I to DIII there was a very good reason for it….no one transfers down if they are good enough to play. And Jacobs?????? He goes 22 of 47 against a D-III defense. Jorris was the much better QB,and he would be 4th or 5th in the line of progression of MUC quarterbacks in the past 10 years. Ballard was the best, and he couldn’t play at that level consistently either. These guys are all VERY GOOD D-III players. Could they play D-II? Probably. Could they play D-IAA? Doubtful. Could they play D-I. I don’t think so. There is a reason they weren’t offered D-I scholarships. Bigger, Faster, Stronger….pick one. Again, this is just my opinion, and everyone has their own. But we all love D-III for what it is. Guys playing for the love of the game, because when they graduate they will be done (with very few exceptions).

  16. The same reason Elliot transferred from Utah to Linfield. But good points and I agree. All the kids are great athletes, some stick out more than others, but to compare them and say they aren’t worthy of something like a DI status isn’t fair. I’m just trying to give the players on the field credit for being out there and competing at that level.

  18. IMHO, I would transfer to DIII school from DI too if I had a GOOD chance to win a national championship every year I was there. Hopefully, some of the motivation is for a good education, too…..

    lilpeds:
    You demonstrate my point. Utah wasn’t going to win a DI championship any time soon, so why not transfer to a place you may win multiple titles?

  19. Iceman

    You’re right, Robert Morris is I-AA. But they are non-scholarship, which basically means they are D-III. They do that so they can play D-I in basketball. I think a WIAC team beat Drake this year, and they also are nn-scholarshipped IAA

  21. I think Elliot transferred because he was looking at being behind Smith for his last two years. And quite honestly, that’s why most of these guys tranfer. They want to play, they don’t want to sit out another year, so they drop down a division. And usually it’s a great fit.

  22. pcole:
    I thought that was the case, thank you.

    mainjack:
    Thanks for the clarification on non-scholarship athletes. Does make a difference. I see Robert Morris is DI in hoops, though.

  23. Just because I don’t know, how do you pronounce Kmic? I would pronounce it without the K… like Mic… I apologize in advance for my ignorance, I didn’t get to see the title game 🙁

  24. Sorry pcole. I didn’t mean the Robert Morris “was” D-III, just that they play at a D-III level given that they have no scholarships.

  25. Pat wasn’t criticizing you, he was only pointing out that non-linked teams on schedules are not in DIII

  27. I would point out that not all D1 receivers have 4.4 speed by any stretch of the imagination (look at the recruiting pages if you don’t believe me and you’ll see 4.4 – 4.7 avg.) Garcon could easily play D1, just depends on where. A school like Temple maybe, OSU probably not. Some kids would rather play at a good program and maybe are even at a school for the education 1st and football second. So I’d just caution blanketing all D3 players as not worthy of D1 (several NFL vets might take exception to your line of reasoning).

  29. sitlux,
    great name!!! haven’t seen that term since my college days. And yes, there is a big difference between Temple and OSU. I wasn’t meaning to blanket everyone, but I really believe the number that could move up and compete at D-I is very limited.

  30. Just remeber that they are living their dream of Playing College Football and some will try to go Pro. Most don’t make it but some will. Lets not forget that two of the best players to ever wear a Pro Uniform never played D1 football either, and that was Jerry Rice & Walter Payton. But, they kept pushing for their dream. So lets hope one or two make it from this years D3 crop

  31. Agreed it is limited but watching Garcon (6’1 203) I’d say he could play at a lot of D1 schools, he might not play at an OSU but a Cinci might not be out of the question. I was quite impressed with Stanley as well with his shiftiness after the catch…but obviously from watching just that game I can’t say either runs their routes good enough to make D1 but I’d say they’d be worth a look. Their were several D1 caliber players on both sides of that field, but for many of those guys it’s a question of not being looked at coming out of HS (growing and improving in college) or just not having a desire to ride the pine as #3 or 4 or 5 for your entire college career at a big school.

  32. No no, yeah, I was not ragging on you mainjack. In fact, I agree with you about the non-schol I-AA’s.

    We were told to pronounce the K and accent the second syllable, k-MICK. Berman pronounced the K and accented the first syllable, as if it were KIM-mick (picture Jimmy Kimmel’s name ending in a K).

  33. It would be interesting to see if Pat or any other staff has the breakdown on how many D-III’s have been drafted in the past 10, how many have gotten free agent tryouts, and how many have actually made it to the show.

  34. I know from MUC, Ballard did have a good shot and played in the World League (2 World Bowl championships with Scotland) as well as with Buffalo, Miami and Pittsburgh in the NFL (no regular season from what I recall).

    I also thought Borchert and/or Pugh had tryouts with the Chargers, but I don’t know what happened beyond that.

  35. yea…I was thinking that adamson had a quick look by someone too, in addition to Chris Kern. I think the Vikings brought Kern to camp.

  36. I agree that some may make it at the smaller D1 schools. Jason Taylor played at Akron U. & lets not forget that Jack Lambert wouldn’t have made most D1 big Schools roster, He played for a football powerhouse ( Kent State)

  37. From KSU to Pittsburgh…Lambert will always be a legend. He use to have a football camp in A-town. Does he still do that?

  41. jimjearsa,
    I’m not sure, I’ve been away from A-town for many years, Seems like I remember reading a story about Lambert starting a camp there at one time. maybe it was LK’s camp and he was just teaching.

  45. mainjack:
    I bet you are right. Did you attend MUC?

    I can still remember sneaking onto the field and kicking field goals at midnight. It’s a LOT harder than it looks!

  49. mainjack:
    Yep… FHS very dominant in swimming – still are amazingly enough. Doesn’t hurt they have their own natatorium. I wasn’t a swimmer, but did play hoops until I blew out my knees.

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