Maybe that’s not the most important thing happening today but it seemed noteworthy, as Keith McMillan, who was taking the local rather than the express from Washington, D.C., to San Antonio, made both of his connections and landed at the site of today’s big showdown less than an hour ago.
Yes, No. 5 Millsaps and No. 14 Trinity (Texas) have a handful of subplots which we have already mentioned on the front page and which Jason Bowen wrote about in Around the South this week, so I won’t rehash them here.
Going on elsewhere, we can confirm a report that eight Delaware Valley defensive starters will not start this afternoon’s home game against Widener because of a violation of team rules. And last night, the three UMAC Dome day games were played at the Metrodome. I wasn’t able to attend because I had Halloween festivities to handle at home, unfortunately. Found it ironic after I saw the event last year despite living 1,200 miles away.
We’ll keep track, too, of who has clinched automatic bids, since we could have a few today. Chime in with what you’re seeing, as always, and if Keith gets on the Internet where he is hopefully he’ll join in. Otherwise I will be watching the game on the live video stream as much as possible.
Nathan, you think this is a credit to Leipold and staff, better schemes this time around? Or was the first game less representative? Or are they just both different teams now?
Playing twice in the RS is hard to read.
Wabash 60 – Oberlin 7
Wabash wins NCAC Title and clinches play-off berth. Anyone know if thats the first bid clinched?
Quick three-and-out for Trinity. Millsaps has 4:00 to work with before the half. If they make a stop, good confidence booster going in. If not … that offensive drive was not good.
Millsaps gains 22 on the first play.
Um, you make the call.
SJF tied w/Utica 10-10 in the 4th? UTICA?
Real underrated play here. Trinity D-line bats a Joseph pass up in the air. A DL goes up to get it. As he comes down, the OL blocking him (Jordan Granville) alertly knocks the DL over and he drops the INT.
Two plays later on third-and-8 Joseph completes a pass to McCarty for a first down at the 19.
If Millsaps scores here, that Granville heads-up play might make a difference. OL love!
Re: Wabash
If they really clinched and none of these other games are over, then yes:
shoes go to RPI for third year in a row, 25-12. RPI-Hobart game next week will essentially be for the LL title and an automatic bid.
scoring parade in the 3rd quarter…tm 35 wj 21 still in the 3rd…trying to get u an update in the umhb game
Millsaps scores on a 9-yard shotgun trap (looks like a draw) up the middle.
28-17 with 1:24.
They are a machine offensively. Even when Trinity gets to the ball on defense, the first tackler isn’t bringing the guy down. Unless it’s on a pass over the middle, in which case the damage has been done.
Joseph and Bryant Wilson run similar offenses and get similar looks at times, but it seems like Joseph is quicker to make up his mind when the hole is there to take off and scramble.
Trinity crowd is quiet. Need a big play here … and there’s a 20-yard-ish completion along the sideline.
Millsaps sack might take us to the half with the same score.
UMHB 20-6 in the 3rd… heres the live stats link
http://www.etbu.edu/php/livestats/football/xlive.htm
tm ball just starting the 4th 35-21 still saints over presidents.. cortland st. comes back wins 24-18
Final at Whitewater…
UW-Whitewater 40 UW-Eau Claire 10
Warhawks break open a close game with a big 2nd half.
Drops a 3rd loss (2nd to Warhawks) on the Blugolds for the year.
Freshman Levell Coppage 27 rushes, 176 yards, 3 TD’s; Jeff Donovan 18-29 passing with 1 TD to lead the Warhawks.
For Danimal…final score
DePauw 31, Austin 28
on forth and goal from the 12 wj stopped at the 1 yard line… 35-21 TM still 4 min left. presidents have all their TO still
2nd half kickoff, Millsaps drives to the 4, Trinity holds them to 4th-and-1 at the 4 … Joseph sneaks off tackle to the left, doesn’t get much, but they give him the first down without a measurement. Next play a Joseph TD pass and it’s 35-17 with 12:00 in the 3rd.
I think that fourth-down stand was Trinity’s chance to get back in the game. Even an FG there is 31-17, two scores instead of three.
Once Millsaps gets in an offensive rhythm, wow.
Saints run out of endzone for a safety 35-23 TM….3 min left wj ball at their own 40 yard line
WJ searching for a miracle in KY… 35-29 extra point blocked… 2:08 left to play.. onside kick coming
kick recovered by TM saints….
Saints break a long run and ice the game.. First PAC football crown for Thomas More…35-29 Final…
congrats to Thomas More…boy does this make things interesting…W&J still in the hunt for POOL C bid but with weak Out of conference schedule will be interesting to see what happens.
Wesley wins the battle of Route 13 once again-36-21!
When does the next NCAA regional ranking come out?
Trinity kicks a 37-yard FG, and Millsaps’ Michael Galatas runs the kick back for a TD, punctuating it with a nice stutter-step cutback to beat the last man with an angle on him.
Block in the back brought in back to the 45.
Second TD taken off the board for Millsaps, although that’ll be less relevant if they score on this drive anyway.
Joseph runs for 7 on 1st down, designed draw. Another 3rd down conversion to McCarty a little later, and Joseph on a 17-yard draw for a TD to make it 42-20 with 5:16 left.
This is now a referendum on how good Millsaps is.
Trinity will likely enter the Pool C crowd, and while the margin of victory can’t help anecdotally (assuming it keeps going in this direction, there is a lot of time left), it’s not listed criteria. But what is is if the opponent you lost to is regionally-ranked, so 9-1 Trinity with a loss to Millsaps is in better shape possibly than a 9-1 team with a loss to a mediocre team. If there even are any of those. (is thinking out loud)
28-3 since Trinity took a 17-14 lead earlier.
Should be on the site Wednesday evening, but rest assured pipe, your boys will be in there.
Big pass play for Trinity, quick TD drive, it’s 42-27 with 2:57 left. Steve Mohr on the sideline clapping his hands as if to say ‘we’re still in this thing.’
Trinity needs a defensive stop though. Haven’t seen one of those since mid-2nd quarter.
done for the day.. enjoy the rest of the games fellas
Trinity gets the stop with 1:11 in the 3rd. First one since 10:37 of the 2nd.
Thanks for the updates, Presidents.
Trinity showing some heart, quicking driving inside the red zone with a few crisp passes in the … you guessed it, seam.
We’re in the 4th quarter now. It’s still a 15-point Millsaps lead, but with Trinity threatening and the crowd suddenly perked up, it feels closer.
Yes, those were helpful.
Well, no sooner do I speak than safety Jacob Hanberry maintains his inside position for an interception in the end zone. Urban was jostling with him too, I think he got flagged for the rare OPI … Millsaps ball on the 20. Trinity threat ended, air goes out of the stadium to a degree. And Joseph twice goes to McCarty over the middle (curl zone).
(not shocked)
Deep sideline completion to Galatas AND defensive PI. Down to the 9, 1st and goal. Haven’t seen many sideline balls.
Metzger 9-yard TD run untouched.
And no sooner did it get interesting than it went to 49-27. 11:43 left.
Stevens Point leads Oshkosh 33-27 in the first OT.
Oshkosh scores and goes for 2 and the win.
Oshkosh 2 point conversion fails at Stevens Point – Pointers win 34-33.
Point kicked their conversion to make is 34-27.
Millsaps INT. Got a feeling the stands are gonna start clearing out. And they might not be done scoring. They don’t really have much in their offense of the slow-it-down variety.
Yeah, quick hitch to Galatas, inside spin move, missed tackle, big play. This could get ugly.
Weird part is Trinity’s not a bad team. They didn’t play their best game, especially defensively, but they have the talent to be a tough out in the playoffs, especially if, say, UMHB is still banged up.
SCAC commissioner Dwayne Hansberry says the 49 is the most points scored by an SCAC team against Trinity.
Trinity puts up a fight on an and-goal series. Down to 4th on the 1. Millsaps crowd briefly chants “go, go, go” as in for it.
Millsaps does, throws a swing pass, one-on-one Bowser in the open field, he’s wrapped up by I won’t say who but a prominent defender … Bowser fights through for the TD. Maybe you could say he “wanted it more” though I’m not necessarily a fan of that cliche.
To Trinity’s credit, I don’t think the stands really ever cleared out.
56-27 BTW. They are going to leapfrog Muhlenberg, at least, in the poll … sorry guy who complained about that last week.
Pointers are this year’s cardiac kids.
How often to you get 2 to win one week, then survive one to win the next week?
Heard that uww beat uwec, guess that is ok. Perhaps uwec had a bad day. Believed they played a closer game earlier in the year.
I think Whitewater hopes to get another shot at Point later in the year…probably give them a beating like the Warhawks did to Eau Claire today. the second time around. SP goes into EC next week. Never dull in the WIAC!
Monmouth rolls Illinois College 78-17 and clinches the MWC. So that’s four teams in – Cortland, Thomas More, Wabash and the Scots.
I was at the UWW-UWEC game today. It didn’t look like there were any extra schemes today for the Warhawks compared to the last meeting or even last week vs. UWSP. I think that Whitewater basically realized that they aren’t invincible and REALLY needed this game to stay relevant in the playoff discussions. Most of the difference in the game looked like UWW just out executing UWEC in most aspects of the game. I give the Blugolds credit for playing a tough game that was much closer than the final score shows.
Best of luck to UWEC against Point next weekend. It’d be great if you could do us a favor and win that one. 😉
Keith
I had to leave before the game ended. Salisbury had some big plays on passes and Curley had a couple of big runs to keep Salisbury in the game but they gave back the momentum on every kickoff giving Wesley short field and Mc Sweeney had a good game running the ball as well as passing. Wesley had only punted once through three quarters. Failed twice on fourth down plays though.
my pleasure fellas.. you guys do an outstanding job~
I think Millsaps clinched today too. They’re 6-0, 8-0 with Colo Coll and B-SC left. Since B-SC doesn’t count as a conference game, and since Trinity is 4-1, 7-1, the best they can do is tie at 6-1 if ‘saps loses to Colo Coll, and they would have the h2h tiebreaker. Everyone else in the SCAC has two conference losses.
I want to make sure to compile a list of who clinched today and who could next week.
Great to see you today, K-Mack!
One comment – you observe that Trinity didn’t play its best game defensively, but (shocking as it is given the 56 points scored), Millsaps didn’t play its best offensive game thanks to the two turnovers on kicks and the early option that went awry. I kept saying things like “if only the DL had caught that pass” and “if only the ball that was intercepted in the endzone had hit the ground first” but if Millsaps doesn’t make the mistakes in the kicking game it probably would have been 28-3 at the half.
I don’t know if the constant no-huddle is something Millsaps does normally or was just a wrinkle they threw in to confuse the Trinity defense. Whatever the case, it was deathly effective.
I was happy to see the heart in the TU kids who tried to stage an unlikely comeback, but the air came out once Hanberry made that INT.
It’s going to be interesting to see what the Majors do with what should be at least two home games in the playoffs, and interesting to see what happens next year after Joseph graduates. No doubt about it, he’s the reason they are where they are today. Oh, and that coach, too. 🙂
Keith–
RE: What’s the difference in the Salisbury-Wesley game? Just the early Wolverines lead?
A couple of things, I think.
First, the defense is really solid. Salisbury had a chance early in the game down 6-0 when Wesley turned it over about midfield. But Wesley forced them into third and long and then sacked Curley forcing a fumble. Wesley scored on a play action pass the next play.
They held SU to under 200 yards rushing and most of that was on three long runs by Curley. Wesley is one of the few team that can take away both the quarterback and dive and be fast enough to get to the pitch.
Second, Wolverine QB Shane McSweeney. He had a great day both running and passing the football. But I love the way this kid plays and so do his teammates. He was downfield throwing blocks for Beavers on reverses and picked up a huge fourth and two at the SU 40 late in the fourth quarter by jumping up and over two Gull defenders. He was maybe the biggest difference in the game and this team. He can take a play that’s a bust and turn it into something.
Third, Larry Beavers. His name didn’t show up much in the box score because Salisbury seemed to think that if they took him out of the game, the Wolverines wouldn’t be able to sustain drives. They doubled him a lot and that opening thing up for others. Also they pooch kicked away from him on every kickoff and gave Wesley great field position, which they were able to capitalize on.
I think that Wesley is better than they were last year and I think that the score reflects that. As in the past 3 seasons, I think this team is as good as any of the top teams in the South Region.