There were some puzzling results on Friday and Saturday, and while Keith McMillan and Pat Coleman try to make sense of them, you can listen along in this week’s Around the Nation podcast. What are the prospects now for upsettees Trinity (Texas), Wartburg and Baldwin-Wallace?
Keith returned from a trip to Texas this weekend and gives us his take on Mary Hardin-Baylor. Are the No. 2 Crusaders the team that can challenge Mount Union? Hear Keith’s take. Plus, we explore some of the unlikely names at the top of conference standings.
I just discovered your podcast, and I LOVE IT. Here I am, living in Madison, Wisconsin, where the Badgers rule, but some people also recognize the amazing D3 football programs at so many of the other UW schools. Our son is a grad of UW-Whitewater and our daughter from UW-Eau Claire, so it’s a fun season for us. Even more exciting, though, is that my wife and I are both Mount Union alumni from the early 60’s, when Mount had a team but won few games. We’ve been to 3 of Mount’s Stagg Bowl victories, the most recent in 2005 when the Purple Raiders (that’s my team) beat up on the Warhawks (that’s my son’s team), and we went to the game together. We think we’re the only father-son combo with degrees from both Stagg Bowl teams that year.
Joan (my wife, Mount Union Homecoming Queen 1962) and I drove the 8 hours to Ada last weekend to see the Raiders take on Ohio Northern. I told her that it was likely to be a good game because Northern (1) beat Mount two years ago, the only team to do so in the regular season for a couple of decades or something like that, (2) Northern’s coach is a former Purple Raider and assistant coach, so he should have the inside scoop on the Raiders, and (3) the campus in Ada is a delight, especially with the new Remington statuary lining the path to the impressive stadium. Oh, and Northern also has a wonderful marching band (so does Mount by the way).
I am, of course, biased, but I do know my football. I have never seen a team more talented, better coached, more prepared, and with fewer weaknesses than the Purple Raiders this year. Garcon was dressed but didn’t play. Kmic played most of the first and some of the second quarter but wasn’t in the game at all in the second half. Even without these two consensus all-Americans, Mount was unstoppable. I’m sure you’ve seen the stats: Mount 525 yards or so, Northern 125 with a net minus-9 rushing. As with so many of Kehres’s most impressive wins, the score could have been much worse. To me the play of the game came on an Ohio Northern fake punt, which resulted in a 5-yard loss when no fewer than 6 defensive guys flocked all over the poor guy who took the snap.
It was even fun to see Mount Union punt — twice. I suppose the Mount Union punter is the most boring position on the team, but his second punt went something like 60 yards from the line of scrimmage. And I don’t mean to be arrogant. The Polar Bear players played their hearts out and did some good things. And the Northern fans were gracious, friendly, and good humored. We don’t see much of that in the Big Ten, by the way.
So maybe someone can beat Mount this year, but I agree with you that it will have to be either MHB or Whitewater. My son, though, insists that I spot Whitewater a minimum of 21 points if we have a three-pete of the Stagg Bowl in December.
Mainly, though, keep up the good work. It is so refreshing to hear a couple of bright young guys sit around and talk about d3 football. There is nothing like good d3 football, and it is wonderful to see guys like you keep the rest of us informed.
6364: What a great story! Welcome to the podcast and glad you enjoyed it.
Did I have a mental doubletake or did the podcast repeat itself? Keith and Pat are talking about MSJ vs.Franklin at around the 15:55 time mark, this same discussion is repeated verbatim at the 16:58 mark.
Just listened to the Podcast and I must say, GREAT JOB! Very informative and interesting the way you guys cover so much in such a short time.
Thank you for a such a great website and now the Podcast.
Keep up the Great Work!
Podcasts are great! I look forward to them every week. Do you make them available on a certain day so I can get to them when they are first available. Keep up the good work. A very loyal Wesley fan! Froxe my rear end off at WW. Getting whipped like that and that cold, not good!
We record them on Sunday evening after all the results (and sometimes all the top 25 votes) are in. Pat chops it that night (he’s considering an outtakes reel at the end of the year) and posts it for Monday morning.
Here’s a question for you all:
We’ve done some podcasts with a full script, others with a partial script (talking points) and others stopping and starting the recording, depending on Pat’s clean edit to make it sound nice.
Can you all tell the difference?
Thanks so much for the support; It’s much easier to devote the time to doing it when you know appreciative people will be listening.