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.
I graduated with Bruce Maxwell, and I believe there was another Maxwell family with about 4 or 5 boys. can’t remember first names.
Harold (Butch) Donald, Tom, John & Leroy. Girls were Pat, Eileen, Kay, Pauline
yea..I went to Liberty, St Street and AHS with Donald.
Mainjack
E-mail me at the above name @ Yahoo
Thanks — that way we can keep the family reunion off the blog.
Chris Kern not only had a tryout and went to camp … with the Lions, by the way … he actually played.
http://www.d3football.com/faq.php?question&category=General
ESPN had a sweet halftime spit on their top 5 D3 players that played in the NFL, and then afterwards listed about 10 more that played. They put Ken Anderson as their number one. Pete Metzelaars was in there, too. I love that name.
Nothing wrong with a little family reunion, guys. I thought it was interesting.
Ballard won one World Bowl Championship with the Scottish Claymores and also was a member with the Bengals and Dolphins.
Adamson had a look from the Pathers and Chargers and Kern got into an NFL regular season game with the Lions prior to being released.
pcole,
I wondered what ever happened to Blake Elliot. The show he put on in the 03 Stagg Bowl was one of the D-III classics.
Signed a free-agent deal with the Vikings, broke his leg in workouts, got an injury settlement. Was not able to play when this season started, so he took another settlement, if I recall correctly. This locked him up for the season, so he couldn’t sign elsewhere until 2006, if he is still interested in pursuing a pro career.
lilpeds do you remember if Rich Romer from Union college was on that top five list? I think he played with the Bengals in the 80s?
#1 Ken Anderson
#2 Billy “white shoes” Johnson
#3 ???
#4 Sam Mills
#5 Chris Warren
Yeah Metzelaars was No. 3 I do believe. Being so young (not that young, though), I didn’t know Chris Warren was a D3 player when I first saw that. Man, he was a train. I don’t remember seeing Romer’s name on the top five or the names they mentioned afterwards.
Make no mistake about it, based on what I saw Sat., Garcon has the physical skills to play at the D1 level. Whether he would be a star at the D1 level is another story. It is hard to make a fair evalutation of a player based on seeing him one time. It might also depend on what D1 school he played at. Also, is he a legit 4.4 guy. He sure looked like it on MUC’s first touchdown Sat.
On another topic. Why would anyone go to a non scholarship I-AA school to play football knowing they have no chance to win a conference championship or NCAA bid? I know academics plays a big role in the decision making process but there are a ton of good D3 options out there. Davidson College is the one I am most familiar with. They have played many D3 schools over the years. Just seems kinda odd to me.
Chris Warren was the leading rusher in the ACC as a freshman at UVA. (I think that is accurate) He transferred to Ferrum. Technically, he was a D3 back. In reality, no way! I will probably get pounded for saying that but as a Ferrum alum, hey, lets be honest here. 🙂
allsky, thank you. It IS hard to make a fair evaluation of a player based on seeing them one time. Some may have forgotten that after watching the game.
He honestly used to be one of my favorite players. He was better than Ricky Watters in Seattle! 🙂
allsky7
any idea what would have made Warren leave Charlottesville after leading the league in rushing?
mainjack,
Good question! Doesn’t seem to make much sense does it?
Maybe it was just the lure of Ferrum’s campus. :o)
I’m sorry… I’m sorry… but I gotta be the one that does it….
So, I know that the WIAC is the best conference in D3 and all… but can anyone tell me how many teams the WIAC has in the top 25??? I mean I see alot, but couldn’t add them all up….
I’m not good with numbers, so I was wondering if anyone could help??
That would be a relevant point if 25 were the be-all and end-all of quality. The WIAC has more teams in the Top 80 or so than the OAC does — and the OAC has more members!
Technically speaking, Ken Anderson played in the College Division of the NCAA. He was pre-D3! 🙂
the top 80…. come on… who really keeps track of the top 80….
what’s next the d3 top 100… that will be relevant…
I just had to say it because of all the garbage talk….. funny to me anyways…
The top 80 is relevant because when the first place team plays the last place team, it’s still a decent game, unlike other conferences where the first place team scores 50 in the first half. All the teams in the WIAC are competitive, not saying other teams aren’t in other conferences. So these teams beat up on each other throughout the year.
It is rare what Whitewater did because in the past, not many WIAC champs have gone through undefeated – and with relative ease.
I’m not sure and I’m not speaking for Pat, but I think that’s what he is trying to say.
Man, this blog was going good without any trash talking. Figured it wouldn’t last.
Tradition is defintely on the OAC’s side too. They have more playoff wins than any other conference. Don’t get me wrong I understand that many of them are Mount Union’s, but BW also has a National Championship in its past. Not to mention, they had 4 teams in the Top 25 at some point this year…..Now dont get all fired up, because Im not trying to take anything away from the WIAC, just defending my own!
here we go! 🙂
I dont know if #1 and #80 matched up that it’d be what you’d call a GOOD game….Just because its not a blowout, doesn’t make the caliber of football any more exciting…
I am a Huge Mt.Union Fan. But people be realistic. Just look at the WIAC web-site and look at the weekly results of their teams. That conference had teams playing the following teams this year alone in the regular season, Pacific Luthern, Albion, Linfield, Augustana and St.Johns. If you look at these teams, they all have one thing in common ( Past Nat. Champs) Now Mt. Union has scheduled past Champs as their first game of the year in the past as well, but you take Mt. Union out of the picture. Who does the rest of the OAC schedule for non conference games?
No offense lilpeds but you made me do this….
“The top 80 is relevant because when the first place team plays the last place team, it’s still a decent game, unlike other conferences where the first place team scores 50 in the first half. All the teams in the WIAC are competitive, not saying other teams aren’t in other conferences. So these teams beat up on each other throughout the year.”
WW -v- UWEC 28 to 7
WW -v- UWSP 44 to 12
WW -v- UWLC 29 to 23 (The only real close conf. game)
WW -v- UWP 63 to 28
WW -v- UWO 36 to 7
WW -v- UWS 32 to 10
WW -v- UWRF 35 to 16
They aren’t all complete blowouts but I would call half of them competitive.
I didnt realize we were on the non-conference schedule discussion…I thought we were still talking about conference strengths, and how much better the WIAC is, even though they are quite a ways removed from their last national championship….but atleast their games are competeitive!
Nice work sitlux!!!!
jim – just because they schedule them doesn’t mean a lot if they don’t beat them.
UWEC lost to St. John’s
UWSP lost to Linfield and Hardin-Simmons
UWRF beat Pac Lutheran (That powerhouse with a 3-6 record this year)
UWP lost to Augustana
UWO beat Albion
Not exactly a strong argument to boost the WIAC with.
Allsky7-
I wouldn’t hammer a fellow Ferrum alum- I agree with you- Warren was definitely not a D3 back considering his success in the nfl and the fact he was drafted in the 3rd round
Mainjack-
It wasn’t the allure of the Ferrum campus that drew him there; it was his D in Greek Mythology class. And also in those days, you could only transfer to D3 without sitting out a year. Ferrum also had a legendary coach at that time, and was a d3 title contender.
Enough of that…. How about the D1 transfer winning the Gagliardi Trophy this year?
I’m sure he’s a great kid- but I would have a hard time voting for him for that reason….
Got in town late so I want to congratulate MCT on a great win. They had a great team and definitely were able to take WW out of making the big plays. Too big a hole to get out of when they got it together better in the 4th quarter. The experts were pretty right on when they said the line of scrimmage, coaching and experience would play a part. I think all three did though to differing degrees. Great Raider defense was also a main factor.
Got to say, Pat, that the opening comment attacking WW posters seems alittle tough to me. I have been reading and posting throughout these play-offs and there are always a small number from alot of schools that talk a big game and push the boundries. Every week after a WW win, I would read the WIAC board and the new opponent would come on and tell us how our history indicated an early exit in some colorful ways. It was the same from Central, Linfield, SJU, (which you mentioned,) and MUC. Not much from Wesley as I remember. Even personal attacks and pictures making fun of J. Beaver. Anyway, my only point in bringing any of that up is in response to your comment. I am NOT defending the small handful of obnoxious WW posters, just saying that accusation can be applied to a small number of posters from almost every school. I personally got alittle tired of what seemed a lack of respect from a few posters of all the opponents despite what WW was accomplishing through out the play-offs so it may have made some from WW frustrated and defensive in their posting. Honestly, could it be that bravado is more excepted when you have the Walnut and Bronze to back it up?
Anyway, a very sincere congratulations to a great team, coach and program. Would have done this anyway, but now really inportant because I wouldn’t want to be accused of “slinking away.” LOL
Stupid mistake in first line. MUC, sorry!
For the OAC…for the record we didn’t play a ton of great team in non-conf. but within the conf. you can’t deny that it has strengthened with Capital and Ott. becoming good teams. It used to be a 3 horse race now it’s a 5 horse race.
also accepted, not excepted. Too early!!
Hey wiac don’t take the J.Beaver stuff to seriously I think the name is just amusing and an easy target but attacks weren’t meant against him personally…hell I should know with a last name of Small (insert jokes now!)
sitlux,
Just making a point to Pat. See. when a WW poster gets carried away, it is bad behavior but others are cut slack for something like that because it is just “all in good fun.” Thanks for helping me make the point!!
sitlux
The only thing we know for sure is the Best Team in the Countryis Mt. Union
There is only one way to ever prove who has the better conf. & it will never happen. But, it would be settled if the two conf. would get together and have the OAC/WIAC challenge.
The OAC has more strengths with Mount, JCU, BW, Capital, Otterbein, and ONU….Its only real weaknesses are Muskingum, Marietta, and Wilmington, so i guess you could even say that its a 6 horse race!!! I was just getting tired of WIAC fans downplaying the OAC…..The OAC never uderestimated the WIAC, we respected them……maybe thats why we’re national champs…To understand an opponent, you must first respect an opponent
wiac…I think if you’ll notice there he included several other schools in the list of crow eaters including MUC.
Jim, I love the idea but like you said probably wouldn’t happen. Would be great though similar to the Big10 ACC Challenge except it would actually be meaningful to the season.
Sit Lux:
Thats a basketball tournament though…..It would be hard to duplicate in football format….Nonetheless, it would be interesting to watch!
PCOLE
Out of respect for the two teams who played in this years Stagg Bowl. Can we change the picture at the top of the site?
Wheaton, Wabash, Widener, Rowan, St. John’s (though that one goes both ways).
These were the schools on Pat’s short list, I believe.
MUC – What would be hard to duplicate you take the WIAC teams against the OAC teams in the first game of the season … it’s not a tournament anyway in basketball its just games against the other conference.
wiac – the statement “though that one goes both ways” is in reference to MUC losing to St. Johns the other year with much smack talked on our side. We’re all guilty of smack to some degree and Pat was just asking people to man up and eat their crow that’s all.
Jimjearsa:
Yes, we’ll get to that at some point. It takes a bit for us to select the photos we want to use since we usually only feature graduated seniors in them. Then we have to handle the graphic element.
Plus, to be honest, most of our attention is on D3hoops.com now. For the first two months of the basketball season, we have to allocate some time to that site while focusing mainly on the end of football. Once football is done, we put a “full court press” on there to make up for lost time.
Sitlux
These schools could do this. You do a two year deal. A Home & Home deal and so forth. Just like W-W & Mt. Union did a few years back.
It would be great to see I just think it would be hard to get both leagues to step up to the plate, plus without the revenue to make it worth the trips some schools are likely not to want to make that trip. I was actually surprised to see Mt. do the home and home with WasU since they aren’t exactly driving distance.