So let’s open the floor up for questions and comments on Bethel at Mount Union and Mary Hardin-Baylor at UW-Whitewater.
A lot of people are expecting a third consecutive all-purple Stagg Bowl. Since the first round of the playoffs, close games have not been the norm. Will we see a great finish on Saturday at either location, or both? What do the Crusaders and Royals have to do to pull the upsets? Why will the Warhawks and Purple Raiders dominate?
Give us your specific thoughts on the matchups, the weather or whatever crosses your mind. And feel free if you’re watching or listening to us to kick in your in-game updates here as well. And as always, enjoy!
Well, not to state the obvious but UWW will have to defend both the pass and the run well next week. I’m not sure they can stop Micheli. He’s on fire right now.
i agree. this was an excellent football game to watch. it seems to have come down to qb play as many had predicted and jones stepped up. welch seemed to underthrow some open receivers. all in all, a well played game for the conditions. we will be heading to salem for the first time next week. i am really looking forward to the game and the fun that i have been told you have when you attend the stagg. hopefully, next year we will be going to watch wesley play.
Congrats to UWW. UMHB had its chances and made a game of it. 1st and goal at the 3 and didn’t score….that was the game right there for UMHB. again…..congrats to UWW.
Wesleydad, have a safe trip!
early forecast for next saturday: 47-33, cloudy, 10% chance of precip. the snow/rain that was forecast earlier in the day has been pushed to sunday.
I hope everyone that goes has an entertaining and safe trip. I also hope you catch a break on the weather. The two times I went it was brutal. Good luck!!
The CRU was a lot better team than the UWW today. I think if the field was half way decent then the score would have been a lot different. UMHB for some reason defeated themselves. Trying to get fancy on the 3 yard line. The Cru defense stepped up and showed their greatness, while the Cru offense played like they were scared to do anything different. At least it doesn’t take long to learn our offense. We have about 6 plays which we run to the either side of the field. The Crusader in me wants MUC to beat UWW by 50. I think its getting a little ridicules that the same 2 teams are always in the finals.
Also, I think UMHB demonstrated they deserved to be there today. After watching both games today….UWW has to turn it up a notch (or two or three, etc) to beat MUC.
This was a great game for both sides. The difference was simply QB play. UWW was much more balanced. UWW defense forced our offensive to make plays through the air, which exposed our weakness. I wasn’t a great fan of our play calling on short yardage and down at the three. This game was more indicative of how I thought the teams would match up when they stayed within themselves. UWW QB was the difference.
Congrats to the Warhawks…two outstanding Defenses on the field today…QB play was the difference – way to go Danny Jones!!
Good luck in Salem!!
I’m just curious if the same two teams have ever met THREE consecutive times for a title in any sport. I’m hard pressed to think of any if so. Speaking of Salem, isn’t 4 a later start than normal? I seem to recall most of the title games kicking off around noon or 1. Any reason/logic behind the later start?
To Pat and Keith – Nice job on the play calling from Alliance today. From having done play-by-play and color for MUC when I was there (88-92), it was fun to listen and remember those times. I will definitely have to remember the “wide right and short but otherwise perfect” line. That was good.
Congrats again on an outstanding D3 season (with one game to go).
Repete, the score in that 2003 game at Alliance was 66-0. I know. I was there. That post brought back painful memories of not feeling warm till the bus hit the PA line after the game. As we all know, that MUC was not the best of all time due to their loss to St. John’s in the Stagg Bowl the following week. However, this team may be the real deal. Good luck to MUC & UWW next week and hope to see everyone at Stone Station! Be sure to stop by for food and I’ll play tunes plus have CD’s and cassettes for sale. See you in Salem!
Well, to paraphrase Prince, “Purple Raiders, Purple Raiders”.
Wow, I’m still warming up right now, it was cold today at Whitewater. I’ll post more later on tonight, but here is what I want to post right now.
I said it would be a lot closer this game than the previous one. Check!
I said that Whitewater would need Schebler back today because it might come down to a field goal. Check!
I said it would be Mount Union and Whitewater again in the Stagg Bowl. Check!
Your awesome BiasD3FootballFan…and a prophet!!
I have to congratulate UMHB and UWW on a great football game. This was a very evenly matched game between two excellent teams, with great defenses. UMHB was impressive. Their fans were right. They came out ready to play and are a much better team than they showed the first time they came to Whitewater. Whitewater had a stronger passing game and a mobile QB. UMHB made some unusual play calls on first and goal at the 3. But UWW also rose to the occasion.
Although anything could happen next Saturday, all evidence at this point seems to indicate we have a three tier Division III at the moment.
Tier one: Mount Union
Tier two: UWW, UMHB
Tier three: Everyone else.
Hope all the kids who played this weekend savor the experience. I hope all the fans who traveled to the games, drive home safely.
Wow…you guess Mount Union UW-W in the stagg bowl. Real tough call there
A great game from both teams today in Whitewater! Both teams played a turnover free game (not counting the interception with 22 sec left in the half). Both teams were well prepared and the only difference was the ability from UWW to make the CRU think about the deep pass. Both defenses were outstanding today and I think the game next week will be a good one. I am so excited to see the Warhawks take on the Machine that is MUC. See you in Salem!
sad thing is he probably spent hours analyzing everything to get to that.
Still waiting for Mille to tell us which “second half” it was, when Mount would be trailing.
Hawks goin to salem! But you never know 3rd time is the charm. Most people pick MUC to win big. But you dont count us out until the game is over. I was almost hoping that we would play MUC because we want to be the ones to beat Mount Union.
I think he was talking about 3 years ago when Ohio Northern beat Mount.
Yeah…
I was surprised to see that MUC actually trailed for 1 minute 38 seconds this year. Frankly, that surprised me. I was sure they hadn’t trailed at all.
For travel plans Raider fans,
What is the hotel that most stay at? I can’t think of the name and want to look for travel plans. Thanks!
Mucfan49
I believe it’s the Wyndham in Roanoke
# tim Says:
December 8th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
MUCnash, I hate to sound like a spoilsport and I am sure someone will flame me for this but UMHB is painful to watch. One of the least imaginative offenses I have seen. It was a close game and their defense played well but man….
As a Cru football fan, I say you are correct. Every week I watch them play and think “wow that’s ugly” but most of the time they’re on top at the end. They had their shots today, but UWW came up big. Great job by the Warhawks. good luck next week in Salem.
Iceman:
Glad you enjoyed the broadcast.
Division II narrowly missed having a three-peat championship game this year. Grand Valley State has defeated Northwest Missouri for the title the past two years. This year they’ll meet again, except it’ll be in the national semifinals.
The artist formerly knowns as Division I-AA had a three-peat championship match-up from 1991-1993 when Youngstown State and Marshall played each other for the title. The Penguins won in 1991 and 1993 with Marshall taking the other.
yes, the official mount hotel is the wyndham.
I was correct!! QB play was the difference today for the cru. Jones played a good game for UWW. To my surprise the Off/coordinator for UMHB made some dumb play calling. Why get fancy when the middle is working, c’mon 1st and 3 and we didn’t score. WOW that was a big turning point. We had our chances and did not capitalize when we should have or the cru would have won today.
We stopped Beaver which to UMHB’s credit because nobody else has stopped their running game like what we seen today. Great job DEF/COORD not so good OFF/COORD.
Great job this year cru, we are proud of you. We will truly miss our seniors but they gave it their all today, and that is all anyone can ask for.
As for the Stagg Bowl, I am pulling for UWW because they are a class act and a damn good football team. The mount are all of those things as well, but since UMHB plays UWW I have to pull for the hawks. I hope my fellow cru buddies don’t get mad but I’m not a hater or a homer.
DallasCru says:
“The CRU was a lot better team than the UWW today.”
No Dallas they weren’t. I know you are disappointed, but that statement is nothing short of ridiculous.
Congrats to all the teams that won today! It hurt to see the QB problems and lack luster offense of our boys. I wish that Coach Fred would get out there and find a 6’2″ QB for the next season who can throw the ball and do it well. The run game is there but we really need to be able to mix it up to play with UWW and MUC. Loyalty only goes so far in the game of football, sometimes you just need to get out there and find an unknown talent and bring them into the mix. I know that there are better recruits out there somewhere and we need to find them, look a little deeper into the large group of freshmen that come into this program every year. You never know exactly what they are made of unless you give them the chance, who knows there might be some guy who was a TE or WR that can throw the ball and do it well, never hurts to look. Sorry for the QB bashing, I just hated to see them not capitalize on the 3 yd line today and also the badly thrown passes, they did make a difference in the game. Congrats to all for just getting this far, maybe next year we can make it to Salem! Guys enjoy the trip to Salem and until next year for me, Good Luck!
DallasCru,
We have all seen games in which one team dominates the statistics, but loses the football game. In those cases, the losing team is still not a “better team” than the winner because the only true objective of each team is to win.
However, for the record, “The Cru” did not dominate the statistics in this game. They were very, very close. The truth of the matter is that UWW held the edge in first downs and total yardage. In addition, “The Cru” put the ball on the ground twice and threw an interception. UWW did not fumble or throw an interception. The UMHB “vaunted” rushing game generated all of 105 yards in 50 carries. I only mention this because the casual reader could look at your comments and assume UMHB actually outplayed UWW. They did not.
I’m not sure what would have inspired your comment saying:
“The CRU was a lot better team than the UWW today.”
They did block an extra point. Perhaps you regard that highly in your evaluations.
bleedpurple,
Ok, we get it. Yes, UWW won the game today. Give the cru some credit, and stop being such a homer.
You failed to mention Beaver was held to 60 yards. Who was the last team to accomplish that? Oh! UMHB held Beaver to 77 yards the first game.
UMHB’s off/coord made some dumb play calling as well. The difference in the game was what I predicted, qb play.
I will be rooting for the hawks next week against MUC. The hawks have a huge task ahead. I would hate for them to lose three straight Staggs. Maybe they can get it done though, I hope so. The last team to beat them in the playoffs(AT THE MOUNT) was, that’s right, UMHB.
Cru Crushed,
If you read my earlier post, I gave the Cru ALL KINDS of credit. For example I said,
“I have to congratulate UMHB and UWW on a great football game. This was a very evenly matched game between two excellent teams, with great defenses. UMHB was impressive. Their fans were right. They came out ready to play and are a much better team than they showed the first time they came to Whitewater.”
I’m not really sure how much more credit you would like for the Cru.
My most recent posts were reacting to a specific quote from DallasCru describing the Cru as “a lot better” than UWW today. Maybe you could explain through a Crusader fan’s eyes how that conclusion could have been reached for today’s game. Comparing my first post with DallasCru’s, it seems like he may be the one you want to be accusing of being a homer.
I will repeat my first quote. This was a very evenly matched game between two excellent teams. Apparently DallasCru didn’t see it that way. Who do you agree with?
I appreciate your support of the Hawks next weekend. I have all the respect in the world for the UMHB program and would root for them next weekend as well if today’s game had gone the other way.
I wanted MUC to win today. Most people are probably reading this thinking I’m crazy but someone is going to beat MUC eventually. And I want the Warhawks to be that team. It will be a tough game for the hawks for sure. But you don’t count us out until the game is over. We played Lacrosse this year and we were down 14 and came back and scored 3 times to win. So MUC fans don’t think your gonna have yourselves an easy victory. Because your not.
UMHB Got beaten today, and I’m ok with that. We didn’t play well enough to beat a better team. That’s ok. What is infuriating is the fact that we have the worst play calling in the world. We can get away with it in the ASC because it’s a joke, but it’s not gonna cut it at the Nat’l level.
I believe we saw the proverbial passing of the baton today from Jarvis Thrasher to Quincy Daniels, who in my mind is a better back anyway.
Credit is due to UWW. They did what they needed to do to win. They passed efficiently, and ran when they had to.
Two great things happened today:
1. Josh Welch is no longer our QB.
2. We’re not going to get annihilated next week.
though i’d share to the d3 world that before the Mayweather vs. Hatton fight, the commentators mentioned Wabash/DePauw as one of the great rivalries in sports. Thought it was neat for d3 to get a little worldwide exposure.
I’m sure this will ruffle some feathers, but, I had the feeling that the UWW offense did only what they had to do to win today-and risked nothing more.
purplehawks…
talk all the trash you want….it didnt work the last two years…and it sure wont help this coming Saturday…No one expects an easy game against UWW…If they do, they are a fool…The last two Staggs have been very competitive games and the Warhawks have shown both times that they have an outstanding program…
gordon ,that yougstown state team was coached by ohio states jim tressell who finds himself in his third title game since his debut at ohio state.
IS anyone Surprised with the championship game? I mean seriously wasn’t this what was planned since the championship game ended last year?
Should we just play the regular season for Conf. Champs and then just let these two play in Salem. Congratulations though it takes a lot to maintain this level of excellence.
It’s truly amazing how the UMHB “fans” on here point fingers at their QB (forgetting he led you to your only Stagg Bowl appearance), offensive coordinator (for his play selection), and your HC (for not recruiting a 6’2″ QB who can throw the ball). It seems your opponents never win the game, you always lose it or you give it away with turnovers. Time to step up and finally admit Whitewater is the better team. With 3 wins the last 2 seasons and no losses against you, it’s rather obvious. Stop making excuses…your whining doesn’t get better with age.
Ok already,
Mount Union beat Fisher 52-10, they beat Bethel 62-14, and these are suppose to be national finals. Mount Union has done the same thing all season. Now we can say their quarterback is great, they have a fantastic receiver, or the running back should be in the pros. But, from my perspective, they have totally outsized the competition. Thus it is more like New England Patriots playing LSU this year. The vast difference in size plus quality is unbeatable. Anyone want to wager a bet that Mount Union will not be the winner next week. Why bother to show up.
Isn’t it time for Mount Union to play D2 or better. Please don’t say how you are just a small school and don’t match up with D2 teams. Maybe you would lose more than one game in a season. Gee whiz! You really don’t match up with the D3 schools, that seems obvious
How many more years of history have to be created to determine you guys are playing three weight divisions down from where you should be.
Would love to hear why anyone thinks they are placed correctly from a competitive standpoint.
i would turn that argument to say the other D3 schools haven’t been able to match up with mount, and that should be incentive enough to keep them working to get to that level.
when UCLA was winning all those national titles in a row, were you arguing to make them play NBA teams?
wjbtms: If you don’t like losing to MUC, then get better.
Or convince Kehres to retire…………..
wjbtms,
“placed correctly” = Mount enrollment of 2,200
wjbtms
I really don’t have the time to spend researching the size of MUC players versus other teams? Maybe somebody else does. They are not supermen – they are normal kids but trained very well. One my start looking at the enrollment at MUC (under 2500) versus some of the other top-ranked schools and say MUC is at a disadvantage. Good point HScoach!
wjbtms: HS is right & so is Buddy…..you want it, you have to earn it! MUC players don’t get athletic scholarships….what kind of talent could they attract if Mount offered athletic scholarships, and then played “bigger” schools on TV every week?!?!
Mount IS placed correctly from a competitive standpoint….they have just wanted it more than everyone else since the early 1990’s. It’s obvious in their preparation and execution.
nathanshin: I believe the first thing i said was that we got beaten by a better team. I was very impressed with UWW. THEY ARE A BETTER TEAM. Maybe all caps will make this more clear. I pay to go to school here. I should be able to criticize the faculty/staff whenever I want. I am blaming this loss on the play calling. Yes. Do I think we could have won this game. No. If we’d had a professional Offensive coordinator, the team still has to play the plays they call in. It’s a matter of execution. I don’t think certain aspects of our team are good enough to compete with the U dub dubs and the Mounts of our division yet. So, please give ME some credit for not being a homer. I’m not. I watch any game. I’ll support any team (minus Hardin-Simmons). And i like to think I’m an intelligent Fan. Oh and in case you didn’t catch it earlier, Whitewater is a better team.
Hope that satisfies you…
Size of MTU and UWW (forgive me for any mistakes as it is Sunday Morning and I may not be fully awake yet):
Position MTU UWW
LT 6’3″ 300 6’0″ 264
LG 6’2″ 298 6’7″ 313
C 6’3″ 290 5’11” 256
RG 6’1″ 284 5’11” 286
RT 6’3″ 297 6’4″ 270
Ave. 6’2″ 294 6’2″ 278
UWW’s LG propatly thows the average off.
Position MTU UWW
DE 6’1″ 207 6’1″ 268
DT 5’11” 265 6’4″ 284
DT 6’2″ 260 6’4″ 300
DE 6’2″ 246 6’0″ 215
Average 6’1″ 245 6’2″ 267
LB 6’2″ 234 6’5″ 240
LB 5’10” 205 6’3″ 230
LB/SS 6’1″ 198 6’1″ 241
Average 6’0″ 222 6’3″ 237
MTU plays a 4-2-5 so they don’t have a thrid LB. Kostelnik is the biggest of the three safeties for MTU.
Not a huge difference for either team. MTU has bigger O linemen. UWW has bigger D Linemen and LBs.
MTU is really not built like they used to be. I think the year MTU lost to SJU in the Stagg bowl their O Linemen averaged as big (or bigger) than Ohio State’s O linemen that year. Since then, they have been focused on speed and strength vs. overall size in the trenches.