Well, already we’ve got shockers and mild surprises coming in from all over the country.

Obviously, the Christopher Newport beating No. 6 UMHB will shake things up, but Salisbury’s high from beating W&J didn’t last, and New York football got another boost with Brockport’s 21-3 win at the Sea Gulls.

Baldwin-Wallace over Augustana is another top 25 team upset, and Cornell beating Alma was a bit of a surprise.

What results are you catching your guys’ attention?

Not sure if I want to step on Pat and Gordon’s Sunday tradition of “immediate thoughts on Week 1” so the door is open for a separate blog tomorrow if this doesn’t cover the bases.

I was supposed to go to Salisbury at Washington & Jefferson today, before a confluence of events finally got me to admit at 4 a.m. last night that there was a 50% chance I wouldn’t/shouldn’t go.

I still wanted to see the game, a both teams. Perhaps I should have. Because although my first idea for ATN this week died right there on the field (how having 5 O-Lineman back precipitates early success), a new one seems to have been born.

The mid-Atlantic shakeup. It’s only 4:38, and already No. 15 W&J has gone down by double digits and two 2005 conference champions from the mid-Atlantic have taken losses (Ferrum, 49-35 at Guilford and Johns Hopkins, 20-10 at home vs. Rochester).

Salisbury, meanwhile, is a mid-Atlantic 2004 playoff team perhaps on track towards getting back, unlike Shenandoah, who did not impress in a 17-6 loss to Catholic on Thursday.

As for selfish pats on the back, I believe I used the word “smoked” in conjunction with Mount Union-Averett in ATN this week (64-7 final), but I, uh, also, may have, uh, indicated that possibly Waynesburg could hang with No. 8 Wesley. (41-14 final).

You win some, you lose some???

Open for other thoughts …

D3football.com is at two of tonight’s three games kicking off the Division III football season. This is Keith McMillan, here at Shenandoah’s Shentel Stadium, and Ryan Coleman is apparently in the house at Hamline’s game.

Clear weather here, although the remants of Ernesto are supposedly coming up the coast. A couple of big questions will begin to get answered tonight. Will Catholic be better off with another new head coach, one that went 0-8 in one season at Becker? Was Shenandoah’s 1-9 record after a playoff season merely an anomaly? Are either of these teams primed to make any noise this season? Sometimes the first game is a sloppy one and hardly an indicator, but if either team looks good tonight, I’ll let you know.

Not yet ready for the wireless revolution here at Shentel, which is funny because this stadium is about as state-of-the-art as they come in Division III, so I’m on the same computer (I think) that is running the game stats. That said, it might be the end of the quarter or even halftime before I check in again.

There are audio links to the game, Around the Nation is up and we are ready to go for another season of Division III football. (Pause for anthem) … Let’s get it on!